| From: Graystone | 3/22/2020 10:00:02 AM | | | | | | Fluidity
or
Fake olds
The news stories coming out of Italy and the mathematical progression of contagion allow no or here, it is going to happen and when and how it happens to most people is critical. The CMO of British Columbia has indicated the progression of contagion in BC is following the same track as the progression in Italy, buckle up, this is simple math. We have a little more time but really just a sliver. In Quebec the first person has been arrested for breaking quarantine. In Italy the army is being mobilized and the lockdown is getting more severe, but hey, you and I can both use Google and we can both do math so we are seeing the same set of scenarios develop. Like a tsunami, you can cling to what you wish but I can say with certainty that I am on the balcony of self imposed isolation and can tell I am better off than those being washed away, their platitudes and attitudes are being washed away with them, goodbye Dana White goodbye. I have instructed all of my children to STAY HOME, DO NOT HAVE VISITORS OVER, DO NOT VISIT, DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE. Not totally true, what I actually said to them was "do not to listen to any lunks". Being my children they know exactly what a lunk is and can spot lunks from a great distance.
We are a vulnerable group here, we are mainly old, we have a lot of collected wisdom even if that is hard to perceive sometimes. You cannot really distance yourself Ron, not from us. Understand that for better or worse we are your mates. I just want you to know that. I know I am a person and a presence, I understand that I chose that role and have really never stopped doing what I am. I have no right to instruct you but I can certainly tell you I care. Take care of yourself old man and I will do my best to take care of the things that I can take care of. |
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| From: Graystone | 3/23/2020 9:44:01 AM | | | | | | Waiting is
or
Grok
There are secret languages all around us. They permeate the spaces we inhabit and they get spoken and they are learned without ever being taught or studied. I could give you countless examples but anyone who heard Mr. Smith understands immediately how the connections form and who the speakers and listeners may be. Some of these languages are physical, they are gestures, smiles or movements of muscles that deliver extra power to the words they drive forward. Some are cerebral, they are professional poker games delivering pure proof, you almost believe the players are there listening to the analysis and seeing the same screens you see. The way we have been caring for what is most valuable, us, is coming to an end. What is certain is that we are really not prepared for what is currently transpiring. A time of change is upon us and we are going to be broken, or not.
Not accepting the new but rejecting the old. We were there weren't we? Ushers for the infant powers that now control the realms in which most of us find ourselves living. The little fish are real in way that only Amazon might fully comprehend, or perhaps Alphabet. When I first tried to describe the little fish of the new land, oh so many years ago here on SI, I used the words of Wilbur Smith because they emphasized the power of multiplicity magnified. We are entering a different era in the new realm and we are destined to be powerful in a way never seen before. Us, the little fish of the new land with our Walmart shopping and our Amazon ordering, we are the true pipers, the engine of reality that churns away creating itself under a facade of governments and corporations, the cardboard creations of our childhood. We give VOICE to ourselves. Our value to the previous is obvious.
The irony that a future component of the new land and it's infrastructure arrives as a true "viral" message should not be lost on us here on SI. We have watched the entire show this far, we have helped create this way, we have scripted the changes in some small measure. Consider that the word viral has a very different meaning for those who really live in the new land. I am ashamed to stand here and state the obvious without offering anything else, waiting is. Fullness, when it arrives, and it will, won't require previous, it will come with it's own conclusions. |
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| To: Graystone who wrote (1268) | 3/24/2020 9:40:33 AM | | From: Graystone | | | | Afraid of the sun
or
Bellering
What are we afraid of?
Only you know what you fear and for most of us we don't know why we fear what we do. My daughter's green conures live with my wife and I, they were evicted from her apartment in Regina. Obie (Oberon) and Nia (Titania) are beautiful roommates. Obie controls the people who know him because for most of them he has bitten them and drawn blood. His bites are about what you would expect and there really is no reason to "fear" him, his bite is the bite of a small bird. But it is clear that his few ounces of feather and fluff properly wielded, can affect things around him. Regardless of what our fears are, we are all like Obie, we have what we have and we need to use it to affect the world around us, to create a life we want to live, not one we have to live. My good friend Graham lives down near St. Catherines somewhere. Graham is ginger and he is afraid of the sun. A hat is almost always compulsory and when we walk around Graham is always aware of the sun and where it is shining so we are always on the cool side of the street. His fear of the sun is justified, even short exposures can cause tremendous damage to his skin because he burns so easily. I don't share his fear, I have an epidermis that barely weathers and yields only slowly to any type of erosion. I can spring ski with goggles and you can hardly tell I've had them on yet I still walk on the cool side of the street. I won't try to quantify risks for anyone. I have been bitten by Obie numerous times because he really hates men, I walk an the cool side and I am not afraid of the sun.
We have had many battles over the aeons with many viruses. We have defeated them time and time again but the war will never end, they vie for control of the biome just as we do and they survive and prosper in our midst. This isn't about fear of the unknown, we have a good grasp of what is happening, it is no mystery and it has happened before. No, the problems we face today are purely structural and any bellering you hear from whoever is the pain of the old order as it is trimmed to fit this opening. The math is the math, the overwhelming numbers of victims, that is the problem we all face and it simply isn't business as usual. Our systems will be overwhelmed in the next few weeks and we all need to fear that. Time to help those you love, get them what they need to self-isolate. Exhort, coerce, pay, plea, beg, ask, demand, reach out, DO IT NOW. Get off your couch of fear and self-pity and denial, act. Do what you can to get everyone you know to do their part, we need to slow the transmission of the virus. This isn't fear of the unknown. |
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| From: Graystone | 3/25/2020 10:47:12 AM | | | | | | My business, your life
or
My life, your business
This is the crux of the current crisis and it is a mean and hard fight and it will be a mean and hard fight for awhile. The math hasn't changed and trajectories are clear, many are going to die because we lack the resources to save them. The cost of this crisis to certain industries will be overwhelming and in some cases terminal. Evidence that the virus can linger up to 17 days is another hard edge in the battlefield. So now it isn't just vigilance in the moment, it is vigilance always. Constant testing will be the norm for a time. Who is going to pay for all these tests. Where are the resources? Where are all the resources we need to protect "us" in this particular battlefield? Who has the things that we all need right now? There are things we don't need; PSAs, feel good about us caring advertisements, platitudes. No, in a few days we are going to need rent and food and this is occurring everywhere. Each one of us has been given an opportunity to help ourselves, that we assist all by doing a simple thing is a fortuitous by-product so stay home. I hope you have reached out to those you love, I hope you have taken steps to gird yourself and strengthen your bastions. I hope you have taken this seriously and have marshaled your resources to shelter yourself and those you love.
The heat of this battle is in the clash about us, the value we represent and the way that value has been constantly and generally harvested. If your business is in a hard way then you immediately recognize the importance of my life to your business and you should take steps to preserve my life, which is your business. Relief is needed at the front lines, it is needed for tests and for food, rent is probably not being paid by many this month as money is needed for food instead. Medical workers need relief, they need help and equipment, more PPE and more test kits and more ICU beds and ventilators. Where are the resources our society should have to deal with this crisis? I understand how valuable my work is to me personally, that I can continue to help and get paid, I value the fact that this is supported by the company that controls my days. With a little prodding they have reacted by recognizing that their workforce is their company. It helps that they are a widely held company, it helps that they are public facing, it helps they have empowered their safety officer. I am a sub and my prime immediately purchased safety equipment for every one of his subs, N95 masks, face shields, disinfectant. If you are unfortunate enough to be dealing with those who think you should just be totally willing to die so their business can get back to normal in a few weeks I can only offer the suggestion that bio-films show the way to resist, just lock it down altogether. We really need to know who is willing to suck out our life and the lives of our children and grandchildren so they can pretend it is a business as usual. I have been telling my children that we could be locked down as long as 8 to 10 weeks. I am factoring in the actual infected at ten times the current tested number, so for me Alberta's 300 cases means that there are currently 3000 people walking around coughing and sneezing with the coronavirus. Avoidance becomes more difficult as time passes and ICU beds are getting filled quickly in most places. In this battle you just need to last, that is the key to winning the war.
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| From: Graystone | 3/26/2020 11:30:57 AM | | | | | | Eggs, butter
or
Snacks, candy
There is a fine line between stupidity and foresight and I am sure at this point many people are dealing with one or the other. I see that on the Ride the Tiger thread someone mentioned a forthcoming baby boom, that is is probably only half the equation, I foresee a forthcoming divorce boom as well. It is difficult to fully encompass the extent of the change but this new coronavirus is in many ways acting as a catalyst for a variety of reactions on our planet. Again, the extent of reactivity has not been plumbed yet but certainly the use of superlatives can stop, we are never going to see another event like this in our lifetime.
I sent my older brother some $$$ this morning and met him at the store. Prior to the disease that sidelined him he was a professional chef and a pretty good one so his shopping is food wise. He has a lung condition that has been aggravated by years and years of medications and he is definitely vulnerable. This morning I gave him a can of Lysol wipes, a bunch of nitrile gloves and two N95 masks to use when he goes out to check his mail, do laundry in the building or when he is riding in the elevator for any reason. I met him at Safeway this morning and let him load his shopping bags into the back of my truck after he had shopped. I drove his groceries to his place while he walked. I did some shopping myself and stocked up on the necessaries, instant jello, Pillsbury Cinnamon buns, Skittles, Glossette Raisins, Passion Flakes, Ah Caramels, Liberte Flans, RipL Chips, Cheeto's , Jarrito sodas in Mango, Guava, Pineapple and Strawberry, Lune Moons, Joe Louis' and several small bags of Lay's Classic Chips. It wasn't all wise though because I also got broccolini, green beans, packaged salads, shallots, jalapenos, little tomatoes, Palmolive dish soap, extra virgin olive oil and freezer bags. I am going out shopping again soon, not only to get the eggs and butter that Rocks sent me out to buy originally, but to get a large container for water so I can set up a handwashing station in my truck. I am really feeling the pinch of no drive-thru but I did discover that you cannot put cream in your tea if you want to use a Thermos. After only a few hours the tea becomes undrinkable. I am carrying the cream in a little Tupperware to add as I drink and that works. And if you cannot find the Tim's Orange Pekoe Tea the Salada OP is a reasonable substitute that most Canadians will be familiar with. |
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| To: SI Ron (Colonel Sammy) who wrote (1272) | 3/27/2020 10:27:52 AM | | From: Graystone | | | | Viral kindness
or
Shields
The rain of information that has started is making it very difficult to see. There are so many easy targets but it isn't time to be swinging, virtually everyone who really thinks there is some value in our division is going to fall soon, there is no break in that attacking front line that I can see. There may be enclaves that can hold on for awhile but right now the virus is just shooting fish in a barrel. Shooting is a bad word, it conveys a danger that is not be present for most people as many of those shot will get right back up again, but so many don't. The line has held in some places and the danger level is still low, in other places the line has crumbled and the battlefield is a rout with many many losses. Everyone needs to use their resources to shield the things they wish to see survive. It is a rare battle that starts with everyone nailed down flat by a deluge of information and images that shatter worldviews.
This is not WWI or WWII where nation contended with nation, every entity on this planet is vulnerable in some way, including the nations in which we live. Air Transat alone reported it has repatriated 46,000 Canadians in the last two weeks. Every nation is calling home it's citizens and closing it's borders and this is an unprecedented happening. Corporations from large to small, multi-nationals or local have been for the most part, stripped of their bio-component, again, an unprecedented happening. The gulfstream of ongoing payments that represents the backbone of the global supply chain has been cut off. That we are in the early stages of this human tragedy is not to be doubted. So hunker down, throw your shield out to cover that which you care for and pay attention to these words of Singapore DPM Heng Swee Keat in an address to parliament "“We have saved up for a rainy day, the COVID-19 pandemic is already a mighty storm and is still growing.”
So get down and stay down so you can fight on until tomorrow or next month or next year. There is a good chance that we will all learn the true value of unity. For many of us that unity is already found here, in our digital home, at our digital hearth, SI. If I have ever been unkind to anyone here...they likely deserved it. |
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| To: greg s who wrote (1274) | 3/28/2020 10:25:26 AM | | From: Graystone | | | | Resources
or
Counting raindrops
Individually each rain drop isn't much and in this storm each drop could matter. The spray of micro-droplets that accompany speech are likely a major source of transmission. If you and I were in the same space our sibilants would spray little droplets contaminating the surfaces near us, whatever they might be, I have started conserving nitrile gloves by using one glove and keeping one hand in my pocket. I have found that this actually heightens my awareness of which surfaces I am protecting when I am working around my vehicle. I don't want my vehicle door handles to become hot surfaces. The customers are for the most part very understanding but that isn't always the case. Yesterday I had a move order for a customer, peter m, who had moved to a new condo. He thought the policy adopted by our company of no entry into customer homes was, in his words, "absolutely fucking ridiculous". I am doing my best to get services working but without his cooperation the chance of a positive outcome diminishes. I explained it was the only option he had, there was no choice here, he simply has to be my hands and eyes in his house or no service. So we tried, peter m had already identified the jack where he would like to put the modem, he said he was at the jack and he had everything from his old house, he advised there was a power outlet and a coax/phone outlet. I told him to get the phone cord and plug it into the wall and then into the green port marked DSL1 on the modem, he said OK he had done that. I told him to get the modem power supply and advised he could identify the correct power supply from all the others because it had a small light on it that would light up when it was plugged into power. He said he had it and he said he was ready when I asked him if he was. I told him to connect the power supply at the plug and modem watch the Internet light on the modem to confirm the modem was powered up and had started the POST. At this point I received no response from peter m and I started to hear all sorts of noises coming from my phone (picture me holding my phone out in front of me and looking at it in astonishment). There was crashing, banging, grunting, I could hear things being moved, steps coming and going, this continued for almost five full minutes, I have no idea what peter m was doing, none, not a clue. He came back to the phone and advised me that the modem wasn't doing anything, nothing at all. So I asked him to look at the power supply, he asked why? I reminded him about the power supply light that would light up when it was properly plugged in to power, something said just minutes earlier. I heard some more shuffling and moving of objects and a faint "oh" and then peter m said it was powered up. I told him the green flashing light on the front marked Internet didn't matter, it just meant the modem was starting and asked him to please watch the small green light under the DSL1 port on the back, the "sync" light, and tell me if it started to flash green or if it flashed at all, there was no response from peter m, just silence. After about 45 seconds (coincidentally, the length of time the POST takes) he reported that the Internet light was now orange, I asked him if the sync light had flashed, he replied, "the what?". So I had to repeat that explanation as well and had to verify he was indeed watching the sync light when we rebooted the modem. We repeated the whole process of going through the POST and the sync light didn't blink at all. peter m really seemed surprised as in his mind we had completed all the required work, I told him we were just starting. I could tell you how the entire two and a half hour service call went but but most readers have already gotten to the unsuccessful ending and I sincerely hope you do as well greg s.
I am in love with so many of us right now. I was watching a group of French citizens working out together on their apartment balconies demonstrating the way to fight back is to link up, like a biofilm. This is our future, we are being catalyzed. I am a technician and I decided last fall that I could not face a winter without some type of remedy. So I dug up my wife's beloved rhubarb, moved the entire patch to a new location and started to work. I poured a concrete pad and added a new breaker to the garage power panel. I built a really nice room connected to my garage. I fitted it out with used windows and a door, it is almost all glass, three walls are all window. I ordered a hot tub on Wayfair, a simple 5 person plug and play hot tub and set it up after it was delivered. Did you know that Wayfair will deliver your hot tub for free? I purchased an AR500 from Aqua Rest Spas and it was shipped from Georgia or South Carolina I think. I was able to use the spa all winter and it made a huge difference for me. Even now Rocks and I are so happy to have this small pleasure with us in isolation. That is why I am learning about biofilms, they play a role in spas. However Rock's thinks the real problem facing some people now is the problem our neighbor faces, she is an elderly lady who is all alone. If you know someone who is all alone right now then reach out and try to stay connected by phone or fenceline. Consider ways to create video links, my wife and daughter are now linked by Alexa's drop in feature after I bought my daughter one of the new Echo 5's for her house in Regina. If you have the ability to increase your availability to others, then take it. This is not a time to be counting, either coup or costs and more personal online connections are one fallout from this reaction that we can use.
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