I was numb after looking at Wikipedia’s coronavirus statistics for Rio Arriba county tonight. We had jumped from 37 reported positive tests on Tuesday, May 26, to 43 with our first death. That was six new cases in three days. It meant 15 active cases in the past 14 days, more than at any other time.
My first reaction was one of futility. We had managed to get through the beginning of the pandemic relatively unscathed. That may have been more because outsiders weren’t traveling through the town than our own proactive actions.
But now that the governor is beginning to let businesses open, all the dislocations suffered by our local businesses are for naught. We’re worse off than we’ve ever been.
Then I got angry about the lack of information. The state is only sending information to whatever source Wikipedia uses a few times a week. No more daily updates. There hasn’t been a comment posted on Rio Arriba county since May 2.
We have a weekly newspaper, which means anything it reports if out-of-date when it appears.
Rio Arriba is a large county. It’s larger than the states of Rhode Island, Delaware, and Connecticut. What does six new positive tests mean when they are spread over 5,896 square miles?
They may not even be in the Española valley. They could be in Abiquiu or Chimayó, which are more likely to attract outside visitors. Or, they could be up near Chama and Dulce, which are more than 80 miles away and closer to the Navajo outbreak.
Sometimes, just to get some perspective, I look at the statistics for my home county in Michigan. It has reported 366 cases and 22 deaths. When that number is divided by the county population, it means there have been 268 reports for 100,000 people. In Rio Arriba county, that number is now 108 per 100,000.
I have the same problems with getting information on my home county as Rio Arriba. The only daily newspaper now is owned by a chain, and keeps its website closed to non-subscribers. Like Rio Arriba county, it has no television stations, and never has.
It’s geographic size is much smaller, but it has three good sized towns or cities, plus several villages larger than anything in this county. When I tried to find out if any of the illnesses were in my hometown, I could find nothing online. I have no idea if anyone I know was affected or threatened.
Some in government think the less information it provides, the better off it is because it assumes we can’t be mad about what we don’t know. It doesn’t understand it’s the unknown that is so dangerous.
If I knew more about where the cases were in Rio Arriba county were I could act to avoid those areas. Since I don’t know, I have no choice but to be even more wary about going into town.
Sources:
Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Updated 29 May 2020. Wikipedia also was the source for other statistical information.
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Tuesday, May 26
Today’s trip to the post office marked the beginning of the third billing cycle since the beginning of the lock down in New Mexico.
Last week when I went in, the two people ahead of me were buying money orders. In answer to some comment, the clerk said they had noticed an increase in that particular business.
Traffic seemed heavier on Riverside, and the drive-ins all were full around noon. The food truck that installed picnic tables had added more, and they all were full. Few people were in the grocery store.
People wore masks, but had no sense of distance. They follow the floor markers, but, if the tapes aren’t there, they crowd each other. It’s difficult to pass people in aisles when they still walk down the center.
I don’t think these are deliberate attempts to flout medical guidelines. I think people have no sense of space. When they drive, they are taught to maintain a safe distance between themselves and the car ahead. However, the cars on the sides are closer. They’re peripheral vision is used to moving in rectangles, not circles.
As of Sunday, Rio Arriba County had an accumulated total of 37 diagnosed cases of coronavirus, with 9 of those in the past two weeks. There had been four reports since May 19, or one a day.
Sources:
Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Reviewed today, May 26.
Last week when I went in, the two people ahead of me were buying money orders. In answer to some comment, the clerk said they had noticed an increase in that particular business.
Traffic seemed heavier on Riverside, and the drive-ins all were full around noon. The food truck that installed picnic tables had added more, and they all were full. Few people were in the grocery store.
People wore masks, but had no sense of distance. They follow the floor markers, but, if the tapes aren’t there, they crowd each other. It’s difficult to pass people in aisles when they still walk down the center.
I don’t think these are deliberate attempts to flout medical guidelines. I think people have no sense of space. When they drive, they are taught to maintain a safe distance between themselves and the car ahead. However, the cars on the sides are closer. They’re peripheral vision is used to moving in rectangles, not circles.
As of Sunday, Rio Arriba County had an accumulated total of 37 diagnosed cases of coronavirus, with 9 of those in the past two weeks. There had been four reports since May 19, or one a day.
Sources:
Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Reviewed today, May 26.
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Thursday, May 21
I finally got the filters changed on my well today. It was more than two months after their annual change date and everything was encrusted with dirt.
When I tried to contact the company earlier, its voice mail was full. I mentioned Monday I had gotten put off when I called again. After I didn’t hear Tuesday morning, I tried again around noon. The person had gotten the note, but hadn’t bothered to call.
It’s not that they were that busy. She scheduled the service for the next morning. When no one showed up yesterday, I called at noon. Oh, they’d had an emergency, but hadn’t bothered to let me know. She thought he could come late in the day, but called later to say he couldn’t. I spent most of the day in the house waiting for the phone to ring.
He appeared this morning. I asked if the company had stayed open, and he said it was considered an essential business. During the time when people were shopping in a panic, he said the office got so many calls the service people couldn’t keep up. Individuals were afraid they wouldn’t have water.
It was the same irrational fear that led people to buy up the bottled water supply. My local grocery still has a limit of three bottles of drinking water per customer per visit.
Then, the reign of terror set in. The number of calls declined, and the company reduced its staff. He said people treated them with fear. One person sprayed him with disinfectant before he could enter the house. Those chemicals aren’t made for use on human beings.
After that, he said the company stopped servicing filtration units in homes. It did continue to do ones in wells, garages, and other outside places. He and his co-workers had no desire to be near strangers who could be carrying the coronavirus, and whose houses were unknown environments.
We agreed people couldn’t be trusted. It wasn’t just that they could be asymptomatic carriers. There were ones who would lie about their physical condition because they didn’t want to be inconvenienced.
He reminded me Santa Fé has a lot of wealthy people who constantly fly in and out. They are the ones who are most likely to be carriers, and often the most self-centered.
When last I checked, Santa Fé had had 126 people test positive for coronavirus and three die. We were still at a total of 33 on March 19, of which nine cases had appeared after May 1.
Things have calmed down now. The customers the service people see have settled into the coronavirus routine.
Service calls are still a bit like the meeting of two dogs. Each walks around the other, deciding if it’s safe to get closer.
I had on a mask when I opened the gate, both because of the bad air and the virus. He put his on as soon as he got ready to get out of the truck. I have no idea if he wore it in the well. I was elsewhere in the yard, within shouting distance if there was a problem.
I had to sign some paper before he started. Would I trust his pen, or did I want to supply my own? I didn’t have one with me, so took the chance. It’s not something I would have thought of, but he’d seen customers with varying levels of fear.
When I realized the company had been open all along, I mentioned the full voice mail. It was purchased by an out-of-state company some years ago, and its central office tried to handle answering the phones. I gather the local office staff was part of the reduction in forces.
Then he said there were problems with the phone system, which still weren’t resolved. He wasn’t sure if it was Century Link or ComCast. Working remotely has taxed the technical knowledge of many and uncovered limitations in their hardware and software.
I haven’t talked with anyone other than my one friend who has admitted having had the virus, or knowing someone who did. However, everyone I meet is either in the at-risk group or has a family member who is. The serviceman said his mother and mother-in-law were in that pool and his wife was close. In addition, there were children in the home.
He hadn’t much like working the past few weeks, but he had few options. He was a manager, not a technician, and had been pressed into service.
In the end, I didn’t get a receipt. Supposedly, someone will email me one. I foresee more phone calls at long distance rates to get services that should be routine.
Sources:
Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Checked on May 21, but last updated May 19.
When I tried to contact the company earlier, its voice mail was full. I mentioned Monday I had gotten put off when I called again. After I didn’t hear Tuesday morning, I tried again around noon. The person had gotten the note, but hadn’t bothered to call.
It’s not that they were that busy. She scheduled the service for the next morning. When no one showed up yesterday, I called at noon. Oh, they’d had an emergency, but hadn’t bothered to let me know. She thought he could come late in the day, but called later to say he couldn’t. I spent most of the day in the house waiting for the phone to ring.
He appeared this morning. I asked if the company had stayed open, and he said it was considered an essential business. During the time when people were shopping in a panic, he said the office got so many calls the service people couldn’t keep up. Individuals were afraid they wouldn’t have water.
It was the same irrational fear that led people to buy up the bottled water supply. My local grocery still has a limit of three bottles of drinking water per customer per visit.
Then, the reign of terror set in. The number of calls declined, and the company reduced its staff. He said people treated them with fear. One person sprayed him with disinfectant before he could enter the house. Those chemicals aren’t made for use on human beings.
After that, he said the company stopped servicing filtration units in homes. It did continue to do ones in wells, garages, and other outside places. He and his co-workers had no desire to be near strangers who could be carrying the coronavirus, and whose houses were unknown environments.
We agreed people couldn’t be trusted. It wasn’t just that they could be asymptomatic carriers. There were ones who would lie about their physical condition because they didn’t want to be inconvenienced.
He reminded me Santa Fé has a lot of wealthy people who constantly fly in and out. They are the ones who are most likely to be carriers, and often the most self-centered.
When last I checked, Santa Fé had had 126 people test positive for coronavirus and three die. We were still at a total of 33 on March 19, of which nine cases had appeared after May 1.
Things have calmed down now. The customers the service people see have settled into the coronavirus routine.
Service calls are still a bit like the meeting of two dogs. Each walks around the other, deciding if it’s safe to get closer.
I had on a mask when I opened the gate, both because of the bad air and the virus. He put his on as soon as he got ready to get out of the truck. I have no idea if he wore it in the well. I was elsewhere in the yard, within shouting distance if there was a problem.
I had to sign some paper before he started. Would I trust his pen, or did I want to supply my own? I didn’t have one with me, so took the chance. It’s not something I would have thought of, but he’d seen customers with varying levels of fear.
When I realized the company had been open all along, I mentioned the full voice mail. It was purchased by an out-of-state company some years ago, and its central office tried to handle answering the phones. I gather the local office staff was part of the reduction in forces.
Then he said there were problems with the phone system, which still weren’t resolved. He wasn’t sure if it was Century Link or ComCast. Working remotely has taxed the technical knowledge of many and uncovered limitations in their hardware and software.
I haven’t talked with anyone other than my one friend who has admitted having had the virus, or knowing someone who did. However, everyone I meet is either in the at-risk group or has a family member who is. The serviceman said his mother and mother-in-law were in that pool and his wife was close. In addition, there were children in the home.
He hadn’t much like working the past few weeks, but he had few options. He was a manager, not a technician, and had been pressed into service.
In the end, I didn’t get a receipt. Supposedly, someone will email me one. I foresee more phone calls at long distance rates to get services that should be routine.
Sources:
Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Checked on May 21, but last updated May 19.
Friday, May 22, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Wednesday, May 20
I got a phone call from the ophthalmologist in Santa Fé. I suspect everyone whose job involves contact with people is feeling the effects of isolation. He talked more than I would have expected.
He first wanted to assure me it was safe to see him. He said everyone who came in the office had to be wearing a mask and had their temperature taken. Then, they had to wash their hands.
He also told me he has a UV/ozone system installed to clean the office that runs in the night. I’m not sure how effective that is—some reports on the internet indicated the procedure was used in laboratory conditions, but others indicated there were a great many scam companies. Whether or not it works, it was a signal he cared about his practice and that practice included the sort of upscale or New Age people who would be aware of such cleaning procedures.
Next, he told me he had just read an article that indicated there’s no evidence yet that the coronavirus has penetrated any of the cells in the eye. That told me he’s one of those doctors who seriously tries to keep up with the literature.
I told him I had been seeing someone in Española, but that Eye Associates had closed the office. I said I was looking for a new doctor because I didn’t fancy driving down from Los Alamos with dilated eyes.
He knew my doctor. I rather gather Angela Bratton is well known, and highly respected. He said he had seen her at various professional meetings. He also understood why I wouldn’t want to make the drive down the hill after seeing her.
He told me Eye Associates had had to shut down its Santa Fé office completely. There was no way it could enforce social distancing, and the lobby seating area was a real problem.
I’d been in it once, and knew it was carpeted with upholstered chairs. The place in Española had a vinyl tile floor and aluminum chairs with plastic seats.
Environment and sanitation are everything. I’ve gotten so I judge every store and office I enter by how easy it would be to keep it clean.
My greatest anxiety about seeing an eye doctor was all those machines they use. There’s the one where you place your chin in a particular location, and then press your forehead against a bar. That puts your face in the exact position of the last person there. If he or she were infected, it is likely you would be exposed to surviving droplets containing the coronavirus.
The other contraption is the one used to do the refraction. I wondered how one ever keep all those lenses clean. And then, there’s all those mechanical parts that hold them together. Again, it helps that things are sanitized at night, but the machine is only as safe as the people who were before me on that day.
I got the impression he might have been open, at least partially, during the lockdown. He mentioned some of his patients were beset by intense fears of the virus.
Someone recently died in his family (not from coronavirus), and I deduced that may be one reason the office is closed for a couple weeks.
The person had been in military and the cremated remains would be interred at the National Cemetery. Of course, there currently are no military funerals with Taps.
In addition, he said he was trying to get a mass said. Again, nothing could be public, rituals still matter.
I suspect every person with a private business is hurting. I have an appointment just a few days after he reopens in June.
He first wanted to assure me it was safe to see him. He said everyone who came in the office had to be wearing a mask and had their temperature taken. Then, they had to wash their hands.
He also told me he has a UV/ozone system installed to clean the office that runs in the night. I’m not sure how effective that is—some reports on the internet indicated the procedure was used in laboratory conditions, but others indicated there were a great many scam companies. Whether or not it works, it was a signal he cared about his practice and that practice included the sort of upscale or New Age people who would be aware of such cleaning procedures.
Next, he told me he had just read an article that indicated there’s no evidence yet that the coronavirus has penetrated any of the cells in the eye. That told me he’s one of those doctors who seriously tries to keep up with the literature.
I told him I had been seeing someone in Española, but that Eye Associates had closed the office. I said I was looking for a new doctor because I didn’t fancy driving down from Los Alamos with dilated eyes.
He knew my doctor. I rather gather Angela Bratton is well known, and highly respected. He said he had seen her at various professional meetings. He also understood why I wouldn’t want to make the drive down the hill after seeing her.
He told me Eye Associates had had to shut down its Santa Fé office completely. There was no way it could enforce social distancing, and the lobby seating area was a real problem.
I’d been in it once, and knew it was carpeted with upholstered chairs. The place in Española had a vinyl tile floor and aluminum chairs with plastic seats.
Environment and sanitation are everything. I’ve gotten so I judge every store and office I enter by how easy it would be to keep it clean.
My greatest anxiety about seeing an eye doctor was all those machines they use. There’s the one where you place your chin in a particular location, and then press your forehead against a bar. That puts your face in the exact position of the last person there. If he or she were infected, it is likely you would be exposed to surviving droplets containing the coronavirus.
The other contraption is the one used to do the refraction. I wondered how one ever keep all those lenses clean. And then, there’s all those mechanical parts that hold them together. Again, it helps that things are sanitized at night, but the machine is only as safe as the people who were before me on that day.
I got the impression he might have been open, at least partially, during the lockdown. He mentioned some of his patients were beset by intense fears of the virus.
Someone recently died in his family (not from coronavirus), and I deduced that may be one reason the office is closed for a couple weeks.
The person had been in military and the cremated remains would be interred at the National Cemetery. Of course, there currently are no military funerals with Taps.
In addition, he said he was trying to get a mass said. Again, nothing could be public, rituals still matter.
I suspect every person with a private business is hurting. I have an appointment just a few days after he reopens in June.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Tuesday, May 19
Air quality has been bad this week, as smoke as come with the winds from fires in México.
I first noticed the problem last Thursday, May 14, when I suddenly had problems breathing outside around 10:30 am. The next day I checked the air quality screen on the NOAA website, and saw vertical smoke was going into Texas.
Saturday, I woke up with breathing problems. I tried inhaling oxygen from one of those oxygen machines they sell to gym rats, but still had to take medicine. I finally had to put on a mask to be outside around 9:45 am. The NOAA map showed heavy smoke in west Texas.
Yesterday, NOAA’s map showed smoke was covering this area. I had to put a mask again around 7:30 pm, but this time in the house.
Today the map showed smoke still covered the area with a particularly thick plume west of the Rockies and a concentration of surface smoke around Albuquerque. I didn’t want to waste a mask, so stayed in the house.
Around 9:30 am, I had to put the mask on anyway, again when I was in the house.
I couldn’t let my low inventory of masks stop me from wearing one, so I ventured onto Amazon. I entered my usual band, and other brands came up. I didn’t much care who made it, so long as it worked.
None were being sold by Amazon, and none had inflated prices. I read Amazon was trying to remove those vendors from its marketplace.
Some of the third party vendors said they were shipping direct from China. That would take too long, and I wasn’t real sure they would arrive. Rumors persist the federal government is impounding masks and other protective gear from China, though I think that’s usually limited to medical grade.
I didn’t need something to protect me from the virus. Well, I do, but those aren’t available. What I need is something to protect me from dust, pollen, chemical fumes, and smoke. Scarcities caused by the coronavirus had made them impossible to get earlier.
I took a chance on a vendor with a relatively low customer approval rating. It actually claimed to ship the same day.
Since I’ve learned vendors sometimes create labels that trick Amazon into thinking they’ve shipped when they haven’t, I checked the Amazon website. The postal service tracing said it was delivered to a post office near Los Angeles and had been transferred to the City of Industry distribution center.
As they say, it’s in the mail, but one of the bottleneck areas.
Still, knowing the masks actually are coming means I can use the ones I have when I need them, without worrying about running out because of the virus.
This is a copy of the smoke map I made while I was preparing to post this. On Tuesday, that gray area covered New Mexico.
I first noticed the problem last Thursday, May 14, when I suddenly had problems breathing outside around 10:30 am. The next day I checked the air quality screen on the NOAA website, and saw vertical smoke was going into Texas.
Saturday, I woke up with breathing problems. I tried inhaling oxygen from one of those oxygen machines they sell to gym rats, but still had to take medicine. I finally had to put on a mask to be outside around 9:45 am. The NOAA map showed heavy smoke in west Texas.
Yesterday, NOAA’s map showed smoke was covering this area. I had to put a mask again around 7:30 pm, but this time in the house.
Today the map showed smoke still covered the area with a particularly thick plume west of the Rockies and a concentration of surface smoke around Albuquerque. I didn’t want to waste a mask, so stayed in the house.
Around 9:30 am, I had to put the mask on anyway, again when I was in the house.
I couldn’t let my low inventory of masks stop me from wearing one, so I ventured onto Amazon. I entered my usual band, and other brands came up. I didn’t much care who made it, so long as it worked.
None were being sold by Amazon, and none had inflated prices. I read Amazon was trying to remove those vendors from its marketplace.
Some of the third party vendors said they were shipping direct from China. That would take too long, and I wasn’t real sure they would arrive. Rumors persist the federal government is impounding masks and other protective gear from China, though I think that’s usually limited to medical grade.
I didn’t need something to protect me from the virus. Well, I do, but those aren’t available. What I need is something to protect me from dust, pollen, chemical fumes, and smoke. Scarcities caused by the coronavirus had made them impossible to get earlier.
I took a chance on a vendor with a relatively low customer approval rating. It actually claimed to ship the same day.
Since I’ve learned vendors sometimes create labels that trick Amazon into thinking they’ve shipped when they haven’t, I checked the Amazon website. The postal service tracing said it was delivered to a post office near Los Angeles and had been transferred to the City of Industry distribution center.
As they say, it’s in the mail, but one of the bottleneck areas.
Still, knowing the masks actually are coming means I can use the ones I have when I need them, without worrying about running out because of the virus.
This is a copy of the smoke map I made while I was preparing to post this. On Tuesday, that gray area covered New Mexico.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Monday, May 18
The Santa Fé Attitude thrives despite the coronavirus.
That’s my term for the arrogance of many in that city who think that, because they have no competition, they can ignore their customers.
Now that businesses are being allowed to open up, I called two to make appointments.
One was the company that services my well. When I called some weeks ago, its voice mail was full. It was obvious no one was checking it.
Today when I called I was told the person who makes appointments was not available. The individual who answered said I could leave my number and someone would call back.
I would think they would be hungry for business and would have trained people to backup each other.
Then I called an ophthalmologist. The tape was much friendlier. It said to leave a message and someone would get back to me. The voice said they didn’t check daily, but did check.
The problem was that now that it’s possible to make appointments, they are closing the office from May 15 to June 8.
I really don’t have a problem with individuals wanting to extend their isolation for a longer period. The virus is still dangerous and much about its behavior isn’t known, and won’t be known until it’s been around a full year.
All I can do now is to wait to see if either bother to return my call, or if we’re back to business as usual when Espanola calls aren’t returned. Sometimes that’s because people forget to dial the area code, and sometimes I suspect its because they don’t want our business.
So far, the other eye doctor, whose office promised to call as soon as it was making appointments, hasn’t bothered.
That’s my term for the arrogance of many in that city who think that, because they have no competition, they can ignore their customers.
Now that businesses are being allowed to open up, I called two to make appointments.
One was the company that services my well. When I called some weeks ago, its voice mail was full. It was obvious no one was checking it.
Today when I called I was told the person who makes appointments was not available. The individual who answered said I could leave my number and someone would call back.
I would think they would be hungry for business and would have trained people to backup each other.
Then I called an ophthalmologist. The tape was much friendlier. It said to leave a message and someone would get back to me. The voice said they didn’t check daily, but did check.
The problem was that now that it’s possible to make appointments, they are closing the office from May 15 to June 8.
I really don’t have a problem with individuals wanting to extend their isolation for a longer period. The virus is still dangerous and much about its behavior isn’t known, and won’t be known until it’s been around a full year.
All I can do now is to wait to see if either bother to return my call, or if we’re back to business as usual when Espanola calls aren’t returned. Sometimes that’s because people forget to dial the area code, and sometimes I suspect its because they don’t want our business.
So far, the other eye doctor, whose office promised to call as soon as it was making appointments, hasn’t bothered.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Friday, May 15
Maybe the $1,200 payment is having an affect. Today was the first time, since the lock down began, that there was a line in the post office so long someone came to handle just the package requests.
The postal clerk opened the top of the Dutch door outside the lobby to take slips, shut it, and disappeared. That was useful, but dangerous to the clerk because there was no protective barrier there like the plexiglass shields and barriers than enforce the 6' distance inside.
People were a bit friendlier in other places. Individuals rarely speak to strangers in Española or elsewhere. If someone does attempt a conversation, he or she is treated like a mad person to be avoided. It’s actually a pretty good way to enforce social distancing.
This time a woman in the grocery store asked if she could pass me. The aisles were so narrow, it was impossible to stay apart. Usually people just go by without thinking, leaving it to me to get as far away as possible from them.
I was hesitating at the head of another aisle when a man wanted to get through. He named what he was after, and I said I was trying to find the peanut butter. He didn’t recall exactly where it was but remembered it was with the honey on the right hand side near the back end of some aisle on the other side of the store. It was.
I left the grocery to get something from each of the drug stores. I noticed the long line of cars in the pharmacy pick-up line. I hope people weren’t waiting to get refills until they got money.
I passed a women in the second store who said she’d just seen me in the other.
While the shelves still were bare in the sections with paper goods and cleaning supplies, I noticed one business had a sign advertising it had toilet paper. Another had a notice saying it had "Masks for Sale."
By the way, the search for peanut butter wasn’t some whim. My fingernails got more brittle in the past week. I took that as a sign of protein problems, and that the white rice just wasn’t as good as the brown.
There were two alternatives: mozzarella cheese or peanut butter. I try to avoid dairy products because my doctor has concerns about my cholesterol levels. And, of course, there always are those chemical additives.
The grocery had all the major peanut butter brands, plus the house brand and one geared to the health conscious. In addition to the added sugar, they all had additional oils. Most used palm or cottonseed. The healthy alternative had flax seed oil. None of those added ingredients are healthy.
Pure peanut butter has two problems. The oil and solids separate, and one has to set a container on its lid for them to begin to mix. That’s the reason some chemicals are added to the popular brands.
The other problem is there is something in the peanut supply. I can use one jar with no problem, and react to the contents of another of the same brand. It’s always chance.
I ended up with the cheese, because I didn’t want to drive to Santa Fé just to buy a jar of peanut butter.
The postal clerk opened the top of the Dutch door outside the lobby to take slips, shut it, and disappeared. That was useful, but dangerous to the clerk because there was no protective barrier there like the plexiglass shields and barriers than enforce the 6' distance inside.
People were a bit friendlier in other places. Individuals rarely speak to strangers in Española or elsewhere. If someone does attempt a conversation, he or she is treated like a mad person to be avoided. It’s actually a pretty good way to enforce social distancing.
This time a woman in the grocery store asked if she could pass me. The aisles were so narrow, it was impossible to stay apart. Usually people just go by without thinking, leaving it to me to get as far away as possible from them.
I was hesitating at the head of another aisle when a man wanted to get through. He named what he was after, and I said I was trying to find the peanut butter. He didn’t recall exactly where it was but remembered it was with the honey on the right hand side near the back end of some aisle on the other side of the store. It was.
I left the grocery to get something from each of the drug stores. I noticed the long line of cars in the pharmacy pick-up line. I hope people weren’t waiting to get refills until they got money.
I passed a women in the second store who said she’d just seen me in the other.
While the shelves still were bare in the sections with paper goods and cleaning supplies, I noticed one business had a sign advertising it had toilet paper. Another had a notice saying it had "Masks for Sale."
By the way, the search for peanut butter wasn’t some whim. My fingernails got more brittle in the past week. I took that as a sign of protein problems, and that the white rice just wasn’t as good as the brown.
There were two alternatives: mozzarella cheese or peanut butter. I try to avoid dairy products because my doctor has concerns about my cholesterol levels. And, of course, there always are those chemical additives.
The grocery had all the major peanut butter brands, plus the house brand and one geared to the health conscious. In addition to the added sugar, they all had additional oils. Most used palm or cottonseed. The healthy alternative had flax seed oil. None of those added ingredients are healthy.
Pure peanut butter has two problems. The oil and solids separate, and one has to set a container on its lid for them to begin to mix. That’s the reason some chemicals are added to the popular brands.
The other problem is there is something in the peanut supply. I can use one jar with no problem, and react to the contents of another of the same brand. It’s always chance.
I ended up with the cheese, because I didn’t want to drive to Santa Fé just to buy a jar of peanut butter.
Friday, May 15, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Thursday, May 14
A pandemic cannot be quantified. Numbers are symbols created to replace specifics instead of generalizations. As children, we learn five apples and five thorny tumbleweeds are the same thing as the number of fingers on one hand. The fact that hand should grasp the one and not the other is relevant to getting through the day, but not to passing arithmetic class.
As of May 13, Rio Arriba county had an accumulated total of 28 cases of coronavirus. [1] If one only counts the past two weeks, we have at least 14 known, active cases. [2] It will be at least a week before we know how many those individuals infected before they were quarantined.
But that means nothing unless you know one of the 14 or 28.
Yesterday, a friend in another part of the state wrote me he/she [3] probably had the virus the end of March, but he/she didn’t see a doctor, and nothing was reported. Now, a month after the fever passed, the person still has viral pneumonia. Not a statistic, but a life endangered.
Today another friend sent a message his/her spouse died. The cause was not the virus, or any of its complications. But, the individual was staying in a nursing home. One assumes, the employees in the facility were distracted by virus, and the person’s last weeks weren’t as comfortable as they might have been. Not a statistic, but a passing made more miserable than necessary.
Now, my friend is waiting to learn if their children can come console him/her or if it still is too dangerous to travel. Not a statistic, but mourning made more burdensome.
Isolation can be endured when one can buy groceries and stay occupied during the day. It is not healthy when it dams the flow of human emotion, and the nights are empty. There are times when people need other people near then, watching over them.
Today, the Federal Reserve issued some general numbers on employment. It said 36% of those who lost their jobs thought they couldn’t pay all their bills. Jerome Powell noted: "This reversal of economic fortune has caused a level of pain that is hard to capture in words, as lives are upended amid great uncertainty about the future." [4]
New Mexico has updated its unemployment statistics through March. Of the 16,801 in Rio Arriba county’s workforce, 1,108 have lost their jobs. That’s 6.6% of the total, perhaps a lesser number of households, since more than one person may work in a family. [5]
One is certainly more likely to know one of the 1,108 who’ve lost a paycheck, than the 28 people who tested positive for coronavirus. This is not an abstraction; it’s a neighbor or a neighbor’s child. My one friend’s children all lost their jobs early; the other is self-employed and not usually eligible for unemployment.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Last updated 13 May 2020.
2. The virus usually passes in two weeks; sometimes it lingers, and some bouts with it are shorter. I’m using 14 days to define active cases.
3. The details of my friends’ lives are their business. I hate the clumsy "he/she," but this is one time it’s appropriate.
4. Victoria Guida. "Job losses have now hit 40% of low-income homes." Politico website. 14 May 2020.
5. "Unemployment Rate by County." New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions website. Checked, 11 May 2020. The numbers used to define the unemployment rate never make sense. According to the Census, 54% of the county’s population is between the ages of 18 and 65, the ages when one is part of the work force. 54% of the estimated 2018 county population of 2,095,428 is 1,142,008. [6] But, the state says only one 1.4% of that group is in the workforce. Who are the others? Housewives, students, ranchers and farmers, the self-employed, possibly the Pueblos. Like the coronavirus disease rates, something is missing.
6. United States Census numbers from Wikipedia. "New Mexico."
As of May 13, Rio Arriba county had an accumulated total of 28 cases of coronavirus. [1] If one only counts the past two weeks, we have at least 14 known, active cases. [2] It will be at least a week before we know how many those individuals infected before they were quarantined.
But that means nothing unless you know one of the 14 or 28.
Yesterday, a friend in another part of the state wrote me he/she [3] probably had the virus the end of March, but he/she didn’t see a doctor, and nothing was reported. Now, a month after the fever passed, the person still has viral pneumonia. Not a statistic, but a life endangered.
Today another friend sent a message his/her spouse died. The cause was not the virus, or any of its complications. But, the individual was staying in a nursing home. One assumes, the employees in the facility were distracted by virus, and the person’s last weeks weren’t as comfortable as they might have been. Not a statistic, but a passing made more miserable than necessary.
Now, my friend is waiting to learn if their children can come console him/her or if it still is too dangerous to travel. Not a statistic, but mourning made more burdensome.
Isolation can be endured when one can buy groceries and stay occupied during the day. It is not healthy when it dams the flow of human emotion, and the nights are empty. There are times when people need other people near then, watching over them.
Today, the Federal Reserve issued some general numbers on employment. It said 36% of those who lost their jobs thought they couldn’t pay all their bills. Jerome Powell noted: "This reversal of economic fortune has caused a level of pain that is hard to capture in words, as lives are upended amid great uncertainty about the future." [4]
New Mexico has updated its unemployment statistics through March. Of the 16,801 in Rio Arriba county’s workforce, 1,108 have lost their jobs. That’s 6.6% of the total, perhaps a lesser number of households, since more than one person may work in a family. [5]
One is certainly more likely to know one of the 1,108 who’ve lost a paycheck, than the 28 people who tested positive for coronavirus. This is not an abstraction; it’s a neighbor or a neighbor’s child. My one friend’s children all lost their jobs early; the other is self-employed and not usually eligible for unemployment.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Last updated 13 May 2020.
2. The virus usually passes in two weeks; sometimes it lingers, and some bouts with it are shorter. I’m using 14 days to define active cases.
3. The details of my friends’ lives are their business. I hate the clumsy "he/she," but this is one time it’s appropriate.
4. Victoria Guida. "Job losses have now hit 40% of low-income homes." Politico website. 14 May 2020.
5. "Unemployment Rate by County." New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions website. Checked, 11 May 2020. The numbers used to define the unemployment rate never make sense. According to the Census, 54% of the county’s population is between the ages of 18 and 65, the ages when one is part of the work force. 54% of the estimated 2018 county population of 2,095,428 is 1,142,008. [6] But, the state says only one 1.4% of that group is in the workforce. Who are the others? Housewives, students, ranchers and farmers, the self-employed, possibly the Pueblos. Like the coronavirus disease rates, something is missing.
6. United States Census numbers from Wikipedia. "New Mexico."
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Sunday May 10
Anyone my age is in the at-risk group for suffering serious consequences from coronavirus. At the same time people have been kept from seeing others by lockdown orders, they seem to be thinking more about each other.
Children post comments on the internet venting their frustrations with their parents. This is an opportunity to show they care and help, and their efforts sometimes are ignored.
Generations pay attention to different stimuli. Children, who read stories about the seriousness of the virus, are annoyed their parents are ignoring their advice because the news shows they listen to are telling them the virus is a hoax, and everyone should go back outside.
I have a friend who tells me her son doesn’t want her to leave the house except to buy groceries and walk the dog. He would prefer she let her neighbors do her shopping.
She resists, she says because she likes to pick out things for herself.
It’s a quiet way of saying, I may be old enough to be vulnerable, but I’m not infirm. I’m quite capable of looking after myself.
These admonishments are ways family members, who may be reticent, can say I love you, I care, without actually having to show an emotion.
It’s even harder for friends and neighbors to make such emotional declarations. Their offers to go shopping aren’t just excuses to get out of the house. They’re ways to say "you matter to me."
I got an email from a friend today that just said the tests were negative. No prologue, no explanation.
I suspect this person was still running errands for others. He wasn’t just saying "I’m not infirm," but "I’ve always been someone who looked out for others. This is needed more now than ever. I can’t let my selfish concerns stop me from being who God intended me to be."
Children post comments on the internet venting their frustrations with their parents. This is an opportunity to show they care and help, and their efforts sometimes are ignored.
Generations pay attention to different stimuli. Children, who read stories about the seriousness of the virus, are annoyed their parents are ignoring their advice because the news shows they listen to are telling them the virus is a hoax, and everyone should go back outside.
I have a friend who tells me her son doesn’t want her to leave the house except to buy groceries and walk the dog. He would prefer she let her neighbors do her shopping.
She resists, she says because she likes to pick out things for herself.
It’s a quiet way of saying, I may be old enough to be vulnerable, but I’m not infirm. I’m quite capable of looking after myself.
These admonishments are ways family members, who may be reticent, can say I love you, I care, without actually having to show an emotion.
It’s even harder for friends and neighbors to make such emotional declarations. Their offers to go shopping aren’t just excuses to get out of the house. They’re ways to say "you matter to me."
I got an email from a friend today that just said the tests were negative. No prologue, no explanation.
I suspect this person was still running errands for others. He wasn’t just saying "I’m not infirm," but "I’ve always been someone who looked out for others. This is needed more now than ever. I can’t let my selfish concerns stop me from being who God intended me to be."
Saturday, May 09, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Friday, May 8
Today was the first day I went into town and didn’t stop in any store. I went to post office, picked up my mail, and returned home.
This was a direct result of observing other people’s responses to taking precautions against coronavirus.
At the very time when we need accurate information, it has disappeared. Wikipedia reported the number of infections in Rio Arriba County had increased to 24 on May 2. There have been no updates since. I checked its entry for Michigan, and it still was being updated after May 2. [1]
The New York Times published an analysis of excessive deaths by state. The logic is simple. If an average of ten people have died in an area each of the last five years, and the number jumps to fifteen then something must be happening.
Closer analysis of data in New York City has shown people who have the virus simply don’t get help and die at home. People who are having other medical problems, like heart attacks, don’t call for help because they’re afraid of getting sick if they do. And, as doctors become better acquainted with the evolving disease, they’ve discovered some of the heart failures, in fact, were caused by the stress on bodies fighting off coronavirus.
All these deaths are related to the pandemic, though some are indirect.
The Times story did not include New Mexico, because these is "no reliable data since March 15." [2]
So, just when some businesses are beginning to reopen, we are more in the dark about the dangers.
I had been buying things for future use, and today decided I had enough to last the summer. I didn’t need to add to the stockpile, and so wouldn’t go to the grocery unless I had to shop for something else.
Other people’s recklessness led in my greater caution.
Stockpiling turned out to be wiser than I expected. I tried to order white popcorn on Amazon today and found the brand I prefer was delisted. No expected delivery date means nothing is available until this year’s crop is harvested.
I found through experience my body has problems with yellow popcorn, but not with white. Unfortunately, stores usually carry the yellow. The cheapest brands don’t pop well. So, I had begun relying on Amazon.
This is not as serious a problem as the organic brown rice. The local grocery had an acceptable brand, that I began buying. Now, of course, it’s gone. Amazon still had it, and a number of other choices.
At least I’m don’t eat meat. Not because I’m against aspects of the cattle and pork industry, but because I’m allergic to penicillin, and the antibiotic is in the feed. Over time, I’ve became so sensitive through constant exposure, that I had to stop eating meat, except when I’m in restaurants.
Problems with the meat supply have been building for years. During the 1970s, meat packers closed their plants in union states and moved them to rural areas with right-to-labor laws. Wages went down, and union workers were replaced with immigrants who were kept in order through fear. [3]
Then, the industry begin consolidating. Today, four companies control 75% of the beef supply. [4] National Beef and JBS are owned by Brazilians. [5] A Hong Kong conglomerate controls Smithfield. [6]
Whenever ownership is not local, managers are less concerned about workers because they are not their neighbors. When the owners are in another country, we are reduced to colonial status with no rights.
Problems were flagged at various times. The Trump administration okayed the National Beef purchase in 2018. [7]
Then, when things shut down mismatches appeared in the food supply. Farmers and ranchers who supplied restaurants were begging the Department of Agriculture to buy their products. It didn’t. [8]
People pointed out the fact that the surplus meat stored in freezers for the restaruants couldn’t be diverted to retail stores because meat processing plants that cater to restaurants have been slow to respond to a changes in demand. [9]
Now that coronavirus has caused meatpacking plants to close, the head of Health and Human Services is saying it’s the workers fault they’re sick. Their living conditions are poor. [10] Never mind the fact that people who make low wages are forced to share housing.
People in the Española area still are sharing housing from the 2008 economic downturn. Some are adult children who’ve returned to live with their parents, some are people who’ve taken in boarders, and some are families sharing trailers. [11]
Donald Trump is saying meatpacking plants must stay open, [12] and governors of the states are saying they won’t collect data on illness in them. [13]
If people stop eating meat, it won’t be because they can’t afford it or it’s not available in the local stores. When people are kept ignorant, they act out of fear.
By the way, I got another taped phone call from another politician who was using coronavirus as a campaign issue in the June 2 primary.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico" and "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in Michigan." Updated daily.
2. Josh Katz, Denise Lu, and Margot Sanger-Katz. "What Is the Real Coronavirus Toll in Each State?" The New York Times website. 5 May 2020.
3. "Hispanics in Iowa Meatpacking." Rural Migration News. October 1995. University of California at Davis website.
"History." The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. 2016.
4. More Foreign Ownership of U.S. Beef Processors Raises Food Safety Concerns." Investigate Midwest website. 18 December 2019.
5. Investigate Midwest.
6. Isis Almeida and Matt Day. "U.S. ‘Perilously Close’ to Meat Shortage After Major Plant Closes Over Coronavirus." Time website. 13 April 2020.
7. Investigate Midwest.
8. Helena Bottemiller Evich. "USDA Let Millions of Pounds of Food Rot While Food-Bank Demand Soared." Politico website 26 April 2020. "‘It’s frustrating,’ said Nikki Fried, commissioner of agriculture in Florida. Fried, who is a Democrat, and much of the Florida congressional delegation asked Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue nearly a month ago to use his broad authority and funding to get more Florida farmers plugged into federal food purchasing and distribution programs as the food service market collapsed. ‘Unfortunately, USDA didn’t move until [last week]’."
9. Rachel Rabkin Peachman. "Amid Meat Supply Disruptions, Consumers Have Options." Consumer Reports website. 30 April 2020.
10. Adam Cancryn and Laura Barrón-López. "Azar Faulted Workers’ ‘Home and Social’ Conditions for Meatpacking Outbreaks. Politico website. 7 May 2020.
11. You can tell densities have increased from the number of parked cars. I have a friend who lives in a middle-class neighborhood in Santa Fé who says street parking has become a problem because so many still are renting out rooms.
12. Liz Crampton and Gabby Orr. "Trump to Order Meat Plants to Stay Open as Worker Deaths Rise." Politico website. 28 April 2020.
13. Allison Quinn. "Nebraska Won’t Track COVID Cases at Meat Plants, Governor Says." The Daily Beast website. 7 May 2020.
This was a direct result of observing other people’s responses to taking precautions against coronavirus.
At the very time when we need accurate information, it has disappeared. Wikipedia reported the number of infections in Rio Arriba County had increased to 24 on May 2. There have been no updates since. I checked its entry for Michigan, and it still was being updated after May 2. [1]
The New York Times published an analysis of excessive deaths by state. The logic is simple. If an average of ten people have died in an area each of the last five years, and the number jumps to fifteen then something must be happening.
Closer analysis of data in New York City has shown people who have the virus simply don’t get help and die at home. People who are having other medical problems, like heart attacks, don’t call for help because they’re afraid of getting sick if they do. And, as doctors become better acquainted with the evolving disease, they’ve discovered some of the heart failures, in fact, were caused by the stress on bodies fighting off coronavirus.
All these deaths are related to the pandemic, though some are indirect.
The Times story did not include New Mexico, because these is "no reliable data since March 15." [2]
So, just when some businesses are beginning to reopen, we are more in the dark about the dangers.
I had been buying things for future use, and today decided I had enough to last the summer. I didn’t need to add to the stockpile, and so wouldn’t go to the grocery unless I had to shop for something else.
Other people’s recklessness led in my greater caution.
Stockpiling turned out to be wiser than I expected. I tried to order white popcorn on Amazon today and found the brand I prefer was delisted. No expected delivery date means nothing is available until this year’s crop is harvested.
I found through experience my body has problems with yellow popcorn, but not with white. Unfortunately, stores usually carry the yellow. The cheapest brands don’t pop well. So, I had begun relying on Amazon.
This is not as serious a problem as the organic brown rice. The local grocery had an acceptable brand, that I began buying. Now, of course, it’s gone. Amazon still had it, and a number of other choices.
At least I’m don’t eat meat. Not because I’m against aspects of the cattle and pork industry, but because I’m allergic to penicillin, and the antibiotic is in the feed. Over time, I’ve became so sensitive through constant exposure, that I had to stop eating meat, except when I’m in restaurants.
Problems with the meat supply have been building for years. During the 1970s, meat packers closed their plants in union states and moved them to rural areas with right-to-labor laws. Wages went down, and union workers were replaced with immigrants who were kept in order through fear. [3]
Then, the industry begin consolidating. Today, four companies control 75% of the beef supply. [4] National Beef and JBS are owned by Brazilians. [5] A Hong Kong conglomerate controls Smithfield. [6]
Whenever ownership is not local, managers are less concerned about workers because they are not their neighbors. When the owners are in another country, we are reduced to colonial status with no rights.
Problems were flagged at various times. The Trump administration okayed the National Beef purchase in 2018. [7]
Then, when things shut down mismatches appeared in the food supply. Farmers and ranchers who supplied restaurants were begging the Department of Agriculture to buy their products. It didn’t. [8]
People pointed out the fact that the surplus meat stored in freezers for the restaruants couldn’t be diverted to retail stores because meat processing plants that cater to restaurants have been slow to respond to a changes in demand. [9]
Now that coronavirus has caused meatpacking plants to close, the head of Health and Human Services is saying it’s the workers fault they’re sick. Their living conditions are poor. [10] Never mind the fact that people who make low wages are forced to share housing.
People in the Española area still are sharing housing from the 2008 economic downturn. Some are adult children who’ve returned to live with their parents, some are people who’ve taken in boarders, and some are families sharing trailers. [11]
Donald Trump is saying meatpacking plants must stay open, [12] and governors of the states are saying they won’t collect data on illness in them. [13]
If people stop eating meat, it won’t be because they can’t afford it or it’s not available in the local stores. When people are kept ignorant, they act out of fear.
By the way, I got another taped phone call from another politician who was using coronavirus as a campaign issue in the June 2 primary.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico" and "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in Michigan." Updated daily.
2. Josh Katz, Denise Lu, and Margot Sanger-Katz. "What Is the Real Coronavirus Toll in Each State?" The New York Times website. 5 May 2020.
3. "Hispanics in Iowa Meatpacking." Rural Migration News. October 1995. University of California at Davis website.
"History." The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. 2016.
4. More Foreign Ownership of U.S. Beef Processors Raises Food Safety Concerns." Investigate Midwest website. 18 December 2019.
5. Investigate Midwest.
6. Isis Almeida and Matt Day. "U.S. ‘Perilously Close’ to Meat Shortage After Major Plant Closes Over Coronavirus." Time website. 13 April 2020.
7. Investigate Midwest.
8. Helena Bottemiller Evich. "USDA Let Millions of Pounds of Food Rot While Food-Bank Demand Soared." Politico website 26 April 2020. "‘It’s frustrating,’ said Nikki Fried, commissioner of agriculture in Florida. Fried, who is a Democrat, and much of the Florida congressional delegation asked Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue nearly a month ago to use his broad authority and funding to get more Florida farmers plugged into federal food purchasing and distribution programs as the food service market collapsed. ‘Unfortunately, USDA didn’t move until [last week]’."
9. Rachel Rabkin Peachman. "Amid Meat Supply Disruptions, Consumers Have Options." Consumer Reports website. 30 April 2020.
10. Adam Cancryn and Laura Barrón-López. "Azar Faulted Workers’ ‘Home and Social’ Conditions for Meatpacking Outbreaks. Politico website. 7 May 2020.
11. You can tell densities have increased from the number of parked cars. I have a friend who lives in a middle-class neighborhood in Santa Fé who says street parking has become a problem because so many still are renting out rooms.
12. Liz Crampton and Gabby Orr. "Trump to Order Meat Plants to Stay Open as Worker Deaths Rise." Politico website. 28 April 2020.
13. Allison Quinn. "Nebraska Won’t Track COVID Cases at Meat Plants, Governor Says." The Daily Beast website. 7 May 2020.
Wednesday, May 06, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Tuesday, May 5
Utility billing cycles don’t always mesh with weekly visits to the post office, and so I had to go into town again today.
In the past week, politicians have begun their campaigns for the June 2 primary. Big signs have cropped up on fences, and in the empty space in front of the union halls at the junction of the Griego (south) bridge road and the road to Los Alamos.
I’ve already hung up one politician’s phone call. An advertisement on the radio was giving instructions on applying for an absentee ballot. That was rather confusing because Friday I got a notice from New Mexico Secretary of State informing me it was sending absentee ballots to all registered voters.
I was relieved. My local poll doesn’t get a lot of people, so it would have been possible to keep some distance from others. If that were closed, I don’t know what would have been the alternative. I always see lots of activity on election day in the public library parking lot, but that’s closed right now.
When Wisconsin held its primary on April 7, officials kept tract of people who came down with coronavirus after. By April 27, forty people who had participated had positive tests for the infection. [1]
My mail included two fliers from candidates. One was a routine listing of qualifications. The other was emblazoned "Corona Virus Lessons learned." The other side said "if the coronavirus taught us anything, it’s that science matters and our leaders must put the wellbeing of the PEOPLE above their own or those of special interest groups!"
Another item in my mail box was a statement from my bank. I saw the IRS deposited $1,200 in my account on April 15. The bank issued the statement of April 24. I have no idea why it took eleven days for me to receive it. I doubt the post office was the culprit.
In addition to the bank statement, I got a envelop from the IRS containing a letter from The White House telling me my "Economic Impact Payment Has Arrived." Trump’s signature was blurred from the printer. The reverse was in Spanish.
Trump has been pushing states to lift their restrictions on businesses, even though the Centeres for Disease Control believed the national death rate would increase from 2,000 to 3,000 by June 1. The number of new cases discovered a day would increase ten-fold in the month, from 25,000 to 225,000. [2]
Our governor allowed some business to open last week.
I noticed even fewer people were wearing masks in the post office and two hardware stores I visited. In one, a clerk was mingling with customers, and none were taking precautions.
When I checked Wikipedia a few moments ago, I see the number of coronavirus cases in Rio Arriba county has nearly doubled since I last looked. The number has gone from 14 to 24.
The history showed one or two cases were reported sporadically in March and April. Four cases were reported on May 1, and four more on May 2. [3]
We have entered a more dangerous time.
Sources:
1. Kate Riga. "A Jump In Wisconsin’s Election-Related COVID Cases Brings Total To 40." Talking Points Memo website. 27 April 2020.
2. Josh Kovensky. "New Gov’t Document: COVID Deaths Projected To Increase To 3,000 Per Day By June 1." Talking Points Memo website. 4 May 2020. The numbers come from an internal report that was leaked to The New York Times. "White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere pushed back against the document, saying that it had not ‘been presented to the Coronavirus Task Force or gone through interagency vetting. This data is not reflective of any of the modeling done by the task force or data that the task force has analyzed’."
3. Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Updated through 2 May 2020.
In the past week, politicians have begun their campaigns for the June 2 primary. Big signs have cropped up on fences, and in the empty space in front of the union halls at the junction of the Griego (south) bridge road and the road to Los Alamos.
I’ve already hung up one politician’s phone call. An advertisement on the radio was giving instructions on applying for an absentee ballot. That was rather confusing because Friday I got a notice from New Mexico Secretary of State informing me it was sending absentee ballots to all registered voters.
I was relieved. My local poll doesn’t get a lot of people, so it would have been possible to keep some distance from others. If that were closed, I don’t know what would have been the alternative. I always see lots of activity on election day in the public library parking lot, but that’s closed right now.
When Wisconsin held its primary on April 7, officials kept tract of people who came down with coronavirus after. By April 27, forty people who had participated had positive tests for the infection. [1]
My mail included two fliers from candidates. One was a routine listing of qualifications. The other was emblazoned "Corona Virus Lessons learned." The other side said "if the coronavirus taught us anything, it’s that science matters and our leaders must put the wellbeing of the PEOPLE above their own or those of special interest groups!"
Another item in my mail box was a statement from my bank. I saw the IRS deposited $1,200 in my account on April 15. The bank issued the statement of April 24. I have no idea why it took eleven days for me to receive it. I doubt the post office was the culprit.
In addition to the bank statement, I got a envelop from the IRS containing a letter from The White House telling me my "Economic Impact Payment Has Arrived." Trump’s signature was blurred from the printer. The reverse was in Spanish.
Trump has been pushing states to lift their restrictions on businesses, even though the Centeres for Disease Control believed the national death rate would increase from 2,000 to 3,000 by June 1. The number of new cases discovered a day would increase ten-fold in the month, from 25,000 to 225,000. [2]
Our governor allowed some business to open last week.
I noticed even fewer people were wearing masks in the post office and two hardware stores I visited. In one, a clerk was mingling with customers, and none were taking precautions.
When I checked Wikipedia a few moments ago, I see the number of coronavirus cases in Rio Arriba county has nearly doubled since I last looked. The number has gone from 14 to 24.
The history showed one or two cases were reported sporadically in March and April. Four cases were reported on May 1, and four more on May 2. [3]
We have entered a more dangerous time.
Sources:
1. Kate Riga. "A Jump In Wisconsin’s Election-Related COVID Cases Brings Total To 40." Talking Points Memo website. 27 April 2020.
2. Josh Kovensky. "New Gov’t Document: COVID Deaths Projected To Increase To 3,000 Per Day By June 1." Talking Points Memo website. 4 May 2020. The numbers come from an internal report that was leaked to The New York Times. "White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere pushed back against the document, saying that it had not ‘been presented to the Coronavirus Task Force or gone through interagency vetting. This data is not reflective of any of the modeling done by the task force or data that the task force has analyzed’."
3. Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Updated through 2 May 2020.
Sunday, May 03, 2020
Journal of a Plague Year, Friday, May 1
Today is the first of the month. When I made my weekly trip into town, I noticed one bank and one credit union were especially busy. Traffic for one caused congestion on Paseo de Oñate. I assume it indicated how many people receive monthly checks or other cash vouchers.
It also was the first day of the first phase of New Mexico’s reopening. The Sonic on the south side of town was open for the first time this year. It had been doing some kind of construction maintenance earlier.
I also noticed the parking lot for the Laundromat was filled. I’ve been in enough of those to know people were too close to one another inside. Machines are three feet wide. While one spends little time at their maw, one has to sit somewhere while the machines run, and there never are enough chairs.
My stop at the grocery store was shorter because fewer people were in line. Panic buying is long gone, and people are back to their normal buying patterns or living on their reserves.
The visit to the local hardware to see what plants had arrived was equally short. Judging from lines in past years, most people shop in the local big box. The weather is as much a variable as the coronavirus in determining purchases. It’s too warm right now to put anything out. Those with experience are probably waiting to see what happens next.
In between those discretionary stops, I went to the post office. The Postmaster says volumes are down nationally and its losing money, again.
I haven’t noticed any great change in the mail I receive. I still get that weekly wad of advertisements which brings the local PO money, while increasing the trash in its bins. Today I also got three bills and five catalogs, along with a couple other advertisements.
It may be people are receiving fewer packages from Amazon. When I’ve been near the lobby, there seem to be fewer people with yellow cards indicating they have something to pick up. In normal times, one employee may get things for several customers at one time. Now, with only four people allowed in the lobby, that doesn’t happen.
Package volume, no doubt, peaks just before Christmas, and falls in the first months of the year as people pay off their holiday bills. With individuals working fewer or no hours, shopping for anything but food and diapers is a luxury that could affect mail volumes here and elsewhere.
I’m on social security. My income is the same every month, no matter what happens.
I buy three types of things on line. One are necessities that I can’t reliably find in local stores, like organic brown rice and computer printer ribbons. I order them when my current supply is getting low.
Once in a while I decide I want something new, say some leggings or something for the house. I usually look in local stores, and, when I don’t find what I want, go on-line. These purchases are erratic. They may be the volume whose decrease has been noticed by the Postmaster.
The third thing I buy are books. Again, these go in spurts, driven by whatever I need for research. I may go months without ordering anything, and then may buy a lot a one time. This year, I ordered some books in February, and many more about two weeks ago.
Some of the sellers on Amazon seem to be large companies with branches in several cities, but many are small bookstores and individuals selling things they’ve accumulated and no longer need. They may not be our local small businesses, but they are small businesses local to someplace.
I noticed this time, these smaller venders shipped the same day they got the order. Usually it’s the next day. That suggests more were at home, and, just as important, logged in to their computers.
The post office seems to be doing things that increase its costs. Most items I receive are shipped from a local post office to a regional center, and from there to Denver. The Denver distribution center then sends them to Albuquerque around 7 pm. They leave there around 5 am and usually are available to me around noon.
However, that doesn’t seem to be necessary. Two of the packages I received today bypassed that intermediate step and went from their regional centers in Missoula, Montana, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, directly to Albuquerque.
What was more costly were the two that went from their regional center to Denver, and then to Las Vegas, Nevada, to sit, before they were forwarded to Albuquerque.
Much of the processing is automated, and the weight of a book is trivial in an airplane load. However, all those unnecessary steps add unnecessary pennies to the cost of my shipments that, when aggregated, affect the total expenses of the Postmaster.
I’d rather those pennies went toward the underfunded retirement fund that pays our local postal clerks.
End Notes:
Sara Boboltz. "The Postal Service, On The Verge Of Collapse, Is Begging For Funding." Huffington Post website. 10 April 2020.
It also was the first day of the first phase of New Mexico’s reopening. The Sonic on the south side of town was open for the first time this year. It had been doing some kind of construction maintenance earlier.
I also noticed the parking lot for the Laundromat was filled. I’ve been in enough of those to know people were too close to one another inside. Machines are three feet wide. While one spends little time at their maw, one has to sit somewhere while the machines run, and there never are enough chairs.
My stop at the grocery store was shorter because fewer people were in line. Panic buying is long gone, and people are back to their normal buying patterns or living on their reserves.
The visit to the local hardware to see what plants had arrived was equally short. Judging from lines in past years, most people shop in the local big box. The weather is as much a variable as the coronavirus in determining purchases. It’s too warm right now to put anything out. Those with experience are probably waiting to see what happens next.
In between those discretionary stops, I went to the post office. The Postmaster says volumes are down nationally and its losing money, again.
I haven’t noticed any great change in the mail I receive. I still get that weekly wad of advertisements which brings the local PO money, while increasing the trash in its bins. Today I also got three bills and five catalogs, along with a couple other advertisements.
It may be people are receiving fewer packages from Amazon. When I’ve been near the lobby, there seem to be fewer people with yellow cards indicating they have something to pick up. In normal times, one employee may get things for several customers at one time. Now, with only four people allowed in the lobby, that doesn’t happen.
Package volume, no doubt, peaks just before Christmas, and falls in the first months of the year as people pay off their holiday bills. With individuals working fewer or no hours, shopping for anything but food and diapers is a luxury that could affect mail volumes here and elsewhere.
I’m on social security. My income is the same every month, no matter what happens.
I buy three types of things on line. One are necessities that I can’t reliably find in local stores, like organic brown rice and computer printer ribbons. I order them when my current supply is getting low.
Once in a while I decide I want something new, say some leggings or something for the house. I usually look in local stores, and, when I don’t find what I want, go on-line. These purchases are erratic. They may be the volume whose decrease has been noticed by the Postmaster.
The third thing I buy are books. Again, these go in spurts, driven by whatever I need for research. I may go months without ordering anything, and then may buy a lot a one time. This year, I ordered some books in February, and many more about two weeks ago.
Some of the sellers on Amazon seem to be large companies with branches in several cities, but many are small bookstores and individuals selling things they’ve accumulated and no longer need. They may not be our local small businesses, but they are small businesses local to someplace.
I noticed this time, these smaller venders shipped the same day they got the order. Usually it’s the next day. That suggests more were at home, and, just as important, logged in to their computers.
The post office seems to be doing things that increase its costs. Most items I receive are shipped from a local post office to a regional center, and from there to Denver. The Denver distribution center then sends them to Albuquerque around 7 pm. They leave there around 5 am and usually are available to me around noon.
However, that doesn’t seem to be necessary. Two of the packages I received today bypassed that intermediate step and went from their regional centers in Missoula, Montana, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, directly to Albuquerque.
What was more costly were the two that went from their regional center to Denver, and then to Las Vegas, Nevada, to sit, before they were forwarded to Albuquerque.
Much of the processing is automated, and the weight of a book is trivial in an airplane load. However, all those unnecessary steps add unnecessary pennies to the cost of my shipments that, when aggregated, affect the total expenses of the Postmaster.
I’d rather those pennies went toward the underfunded retirement fund that pays our local postal clerks.
End Notes:
Sara Boboltz. "The Postal Service, On The Verge Of Collapse, Is Begging For Funding." Huffington Post website. 10 April 2020.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)