Yesterday, the governor of the State of Washington extended the existing "shelter-in-place" order till May 4th. Looks like we're going to be doing this, for a while.
Can't say as how I'm all that surprised.
From a health perspective, it only makes sense to do whatever is possible to limit the number of people infected by this virus. I'm not really seeing too many "curves flattening" yet, but I also imagine there's a good bit of lag time between people isolating, and actual tested cases being confirmed.
Salmonberry in bloom
The ECONOMIC Ramifications...
Of course, as we keep people at home, the economic ramifications become increasingly far-reaching. In a place like the USA — where an estimated half the population is the proverbial "one paycheck from destitution" — the landscape is probably going to change considerably.
I have a gut hunch that the so-called "Investor Class" is going to shrink quite a bit... because having food and friends and toilet paper becomes more important than having a stock portfolio.
Just from first hand experience, I can tell you that most "poor people" already know how to "live without."
I'm glad we got our property taxes paid... one more complication off the radar.
Flowers within flowers...
Enough Worrying... It Doesn't Really Help!
I find myself not worrying all that much... perhaps because worrying isn't particularly useful. Especially, when that worry concerns things we have no control over.
It's ironic that I used to "horrify" people I knew at "upper middle class" functions by explaining that the only way for humanity to ultimately "save itself" was by allowing the current economic system to collapse.
Not that I am a proponent of a "fall of a cliff" type of collapse, however... I always hoped we could manage a long slow implosion that would allow people to gradually adapt to new ways of doing things.
Maybe that can still happen... we just needed a catalyst. In this case, Covid-19 intersected with the Russia/OPEC oil situation.
Hairy leaves...
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...
Since eBay is offering extensive "free listings" for sellers this month, I have set myself the ambitious goal of adding 1,000 new items to my various eBay shops this month.
I'm grateful that at least one of the things I sell — old stamps for collectors — happens to be a pretty perfect "trapped at home" type of pastime.
As long as the Postal Service keeps going, building a stamp collection is totally possible while in quarantine... and it doesn't have to cost very much, either.
Mrs. Denmarkguy is responding to several local/regional appeals for fabric face masks for "second line" healthcare workers. Some "experts" assert that they "don't protect you," but the FACT is that 50% protection is better than ZERO percent protection. Simple math. Case closed.
And that's about it, for now.
Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there!
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Created at 20200403 10:28 PDT
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