One thing I learned from therapy is that I'm really very good at handling Actual Emergencies since I have had so much practice calming myself.

It turned out that the person who set off the closing of our campus yesterday because they were being tested for coronavirus didn't actually have it. Which is good to know, but as long as they had closed the campus anyway, it's not going to reopen anytime soon. The board of regents then closed the rest of the campuses in the state as well. I was supposed to drive down to the community college Monday to meet with my colleagues to figure out how to best coordinate our online teaching efforts, but I guess that'll have to be done online, too.

I somehow blew off the fact that I actually need to know how to set up a Zoom meeting myself. Luckily our IT staff is on point, so they have drop-in sessions all day!

Tom's anxiety and mine are kin.

You should not be going to any public events. They just cancelled Broadway and baseball. That's your clue to not go to a BMX competition.

I'm going to high five you Pushing Daisies style, Hec. That's exactly what I thought when I read Laura's post.

Laura, you stay safe. Son's FIL's BMX competition is not a reason to expose yourself to this virus.

Hi Nilly. I'm sorry to read you had to quarantine yourself and hope you are well. I'm so glad that provided a little time for you to check in here though. I love reading about your Pi-Babies.

Cashmere, I'm so sorry about everything you're going through with your family.

The upside is that the current situation isn't making me any more anxious than I already was; it's just shifting things around a bit.

^^^^^^THIS.

Although the white house response has been predictably abysmal I have been encouraged by the rest of the population. States, cities, private industry, religious organizations, schools, and individuals are stepping up.

Yes, I absolutely intend to stay safe. The only reason I am considering the BMX event is the way the "crowd" gathers. First, pretty much only the family of competitors attend, and they are spread out around the tracks. It isn't really a crowded thing where I would be in close contact with anyone other than my family. We'll see.

I'm not an anxious person, but I am realistic. Grateful I have worked from home for years. I don't expect my medical office customers to object to my skipping in person visits for a while.

COVID-19 Dump;

Some of you already know this. C's suite-mate returned to their dorm last Thursday night (March 5) from NY, with a respiratory illness, wearing a face mask that whatever hospital there gave him. We know he had a chest X-ray (not the results). We know he tested negative for influenza.

The suite-mate *thinks* it's not coronavirus, "Because they didn't test me." We weren't testing ANYONE last week, let alone 20-year-old boys who hadn't traveled out of the country.

C does not share a bedroom with the boy. They do share a common area, fridge, table, bathrooms, sinks. They're in honors housing, so their suite is three 2-man bedrooms.

C told everyone he was on immunosuppressants when he moved into the suite in January, but I guess it didn't sink into their 20-year-old male minds, because it wasn't about food, sex, or gaming.

Anyhow, C didn't tell me until the next day, because he had a meeting and a lab he "couldn't miss." He stayed out of his dorm all day until his last class was over at 5:00pm. DH met him there and packed his stuff for him, and they left. This (March 9-13) was their spring break week anyhow.

I notified the university. A dean who's on the Covid-19 task force called me early this week and was very kind, but the conversation was useless. They can't compel that kid to get tested, and nobody's testing 20-year-olds who aren't hospitalized and don't have underlying health conditions anyhow. If this boy were to test positive, we'd be notified by public health officials, but no one's going to test this kid.

We'd made the decision to request distance learning as a reasonable accommodation and I drafted a letter for C to submit. He was reviewing it when the university decided they'd transition to distance until at least early April.

I'm holding off on submitting the request for now, because I suspect the semester will finish with everyone doing distance learning anyhow. I'll wait to squeak my wheel when we need the grease.

C has been in the house (or walking the dog around the block) for the past week, but we didn't have him isolate from us inside the home, because we don't even know if he's been exposed to it.

DH has been working from home since he picked up C (he informed his employer, which is a big Boston hospital and they told him to stay home, then had him come in for "team building" yesterday, which was weird, but he drove in, instead of taking public transit, didn't stay the whole day, and he's at a business office that's not on the main campus, so there are no patients or healthcare providers there).

Oldest son's company is trying out work from home today, but I suspect they're moving to it overall. It's like people need the first domino to fall before they'll do anything.

Daughter had just quit her job in a fairly remote office. She had applied to work at a local Hot Topic, but last night we told her it wasn't really time for a mall job, and we'll help her with money (she is only 21 and still lives here -- left college after 2 years, while she figures out what she really wants) 'til we get a better handle on this thing.

We were just told we'll be closing to the public as of 6pm today. I am taking my laptop home and am supposed to report to work on Monday, but only because I'm a manager. It seems like public service staff are going to be staying home, but getting paid.

We were just told we'll be closing to the public as of 6pm today.

Shit, I'd better go pick up the book that's on hold for me.

Ha, one of my colleagues just called her 85 year old mother and I could hear her saying, "Go get your books, go get your DVDs, because we might be closed for three weeks."