On the bright side, I dealt with a medical person who USED COMMON SENSE! I have a bunch of prescriptions I take and I haven't been to the doctor for almost a year. I'm completely out of one and the others expire at the end of April. I'd planned on making an appointment in April ... but I figured they wouldn't be taking regular appointments until things settle down. I went through the phone tree and jumped through all the hoops to have someone authorize the pharmacy to give me a new prescription. They said I'd have to have the pharmacy contact them. So I called the pharmacy and went through their phone tree. Then I got a text from the pharmacy saying that the medical provider wouldn't let me get a new prescription without an appointment. So I called them back and explained the situation; they aren't making any appointments until after May 18. BUT, since I did get someone with some common sense, she contacted the pharmacy and I should get my prescriptions ... she said tomorrow, but this week will do fine. (There's one prescription I got last summer for a respiratory infection that I'm over ... and I had a bad reaction to it ... but they keep trying to re-proscribe it for me ... bah!)

Timelies all!

Health~ma to your dad, JZ.

I was home today and Mr. S has been awful, again. I did get the small amount of work done that I had to do.

Glad to hear your dad's condition looks promising, JZ. That is mega-scary, especially now!

Much health ~ma to your whole family and especially your dad, JZ. I am glad his x-rays were clear.

Just catching up after the day of virtual teaching. So many good health vibes for JZ's dad and Trudy's household, and support and strength to askye, Sheryl, sj, and anyone else who needs it.

ND and I were interviewed for the NPR Marketplace podcast "This is Uncomfortable" this morning, so you may hear us next week if you listen to it (it's a great podcast, fwiw). The host, Reema Khrais, wanted to talk with a small business owner who has had to lay people off. We both teared up during the interview.

I feel better after therapy.

In other possibly good news:

The coronavirus is not mutating significantly as it circulates through the human population, according to scientists who are closely studying the novel pathogen's genetic code. That relative stability suggests the virus is less likely to become more or less dangerous as it spreads, and represents encouraging news for researchers hoping to create a long-lasting vaccine.

[link]

We go to shelter in place state wide tonight at midnight. Most of the known cases in the state are on Oahu, so, in consultation with the director of the small local hospital, we went ahead with game night (attendance:8) last night. We had 2 people making "ignore the lockdown" noises, both white dudes between 30 and 50. It's so frustrating. Having someone hooked into the county public health info helps us immensely in our decision-making. We're going online next week. If anyone wants to play an online board game (with optional videochat) let me know. DH will want to play more than I do, as he's the out of work extrovert in the relationship.

They put out a call for people to take foster dogs, so we're on that list. I'm trying to get it set today, so DH can get dog food in town, where he went to pick up his new CPAP (appt was for tomorrow)

I am super pissed at the county right now. Wisconsin's governor issued a "safer at home" order mandating closures of non-essential businesses. But since we are classified as "government employees," they have not decided to send us home.

We are closed to the public. There is virtually NO essential services circulation aids and library associates CAN do. After twiddling my thumbs most of Monday, I opted to stay home yesterday, burning a vacation day, thinking the county would send us home since the state is shutting down at 8 AM.

But NO. There is no official decision. We're not sure when, or IF we can access the supplemental pay they arranged last week. And they make us burn all our vacation time first. And not let us use accrued sick time UNLESS WE CONTRACT THE VIRUS.

My boss is pissed. Admin is supposed to discuss work from home options with HR tomorrow. I said fuck that and burned another vacation day, which means I only have one week left.

How hard is it to say, non-essential government employees, go home? They've arranged pay for two weeks. Then they can reevaluate when the governor rescinds the order.

For fuck's sake.

That's fucking enraging. It's so clear what the trends are.

I get that the county is a big entity. I get that they have essential employees with important jobs. All the more reason to dismiss non-essentials so they can keep those important employees healthy!