May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future.
39 thoughts on “March 17, 2020: Pat’s”
Our bishop is "recommending" that we have no in-person worship services for at least the next two weeks. Our church council will talk about it tonight, but I assume I will be learning about the wonderful world of livestreaming.
We went to pre-recorded service this past week and for next week (it went well IMO), but pretty sure they're going to make it (at least) a four-week effort. Thank God for electronic giving, but as it is payroll will be difficult in the near future, I'm sure.
Our local & county public health officials have determined that liturgical services are an unnecessary risk to public health, so all services for groups over fifty are officially prohibited until further notice.
I'm curious about funerals. We attended one for Mrs. Twayn's aunt a couple of months ago and there were a lot of people, mostly seniors, in attendance and confined in close quarters. Do you know if there's been any guidance given on that? I heard that in Italy they've closed some cemeteries until further notice and cremation capacity has been pushed to the limit.
The bishop said we should "exercise thoughtful discretion". I guess we'll have to make a decision if/when the time comes.
Just got an email from our local funeral home. They are recommending the following: private family visitations with the pastor there for prayers and messages; private family burials; suspending receptions and lunches; public memorial services at a later date. Not optimal, to be sure, but unfortunately reasonable under the circumstances.
The high-school aged son of an academic acquaintance died over the weekend (not COVID-related, but sudden illness). They are in similar straits. Small, family service. It's heartbreaking enough to see a family having to deal with the tragedy, but to compound it by complicating the grieving in this way is really tough.
Our church will not be having services the next two weeks. The sermons will be videotaped ahead of time and put on YouTube Saturday night. It's a little easier than trying to livestream it.
We've started the effort of cancelling and requesting refund for the various pre-expenditures for our Ireland trip. So far the bus from Galway to Dublin is non-refundable (~€20 each), and the Galway tour has a €5 fee; haven't tackled hotel and airfare yet, but those should be straightforward. I hope.
Anyone feel like playing cribbage?
can I abandon all my work duties?
Well, it's not like we can stop you...
Played a game last night with AJR. She beat me.
She turns 10 on Friday and she's as good as anyone I know (or somehow has super luck).
A five-sided family cribbage tournament is definitely going to be in the works for the next few weeks. If only LBR could do the math...
I'm envisioning a round-robin where everyone plays everyone else twice (so, 20 games), followed by a double-elimination tournament.
Yes.
I do miss my cribbage leagues already. The most minor of cancellations in my life and community, but it's been interesting that many of our players are posting on social media small cribbage matches they are hosting at home.
We were going to do some Irish stew for dinner tonight, but the Mrs. picked up a big roast the other day so we've got that in the crock pot instead. Roasted potatoes (very hard to find these days) and carrots, green salad and soda bread (there's plenty of buttermilk available). Also some Irish red ale and Irish whiskey. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.
I grilled four NY strips over the weekend. We were supposed to have friends over. Instead, we have leftover steak for the week. the Mrs and I split one the first night and had steak salad last night. Maybe tacos tonight.
I made French onion soup on Sunday:
- sauteed sliced sweet onion (for about 30 minutes) in butter until they were carmelized
- added minced garlic, fresh thyme, bay leaf
- poured an 1/8c of Cognac to deglaze, then
- bone broth with some boulllion flakes (WF was out of beef broth) and dry white wine, salt n' peppa
- let that stew for a while, while toasting a baguette cut in half
- added a tbsp of white wine vinegar (some other recipes use port here)
-once the baguette was toasted, poured the soup into oven-proof bowls, covered the soup completely with baguette slices, then
- coated liberally with grated Gruyere and Swiss cheese, broiling until there was a cheesy-gooey-toasty top.
Noice!
The Mrs. tossed a curveball and served up some colcannon (cabbage/bacon variety) with the roast. Delicious!
We pulled sausage, parsnip, & apple stuffing left over from Thanksgiving out of the freezer. It was in excellent condition. I mixed, then reduced, some leftover chicken & beef stock, added some Better Than Bouillon, made a blond roux, and finished the gravy with butter & black pepper.
No surprise my Peru trip is off. Peru also getting the Corona virus and they shut down things immediately. My son has a co-worker's spouse who is stuck sheltering in place in Cusco (where I was going) until April 1. Enforced by Police and Military.
Trekking company wants to reschedule for September/October (If we have a functioning society still) and waiving any change fees (ooh, thanks). AirBnB gave full refund. I'm working on canceling flights but Travelocity bogged down. American's policy is full refund since I booked them in January so I'm confident I'll get my refund.
That sucks. Wife and son got back last week.
A door-to-door “contractor” just came by, trying to sell us on a roof “assessment” & new siding. WTF, people.
Got a thing in the mail saying that my current Rx plan requires me to fill my maintenance meds through a home delivery pharmacy (to receive coverage).
Hmm - when I go into the place to get my Rx I buy at least $40 of other crap (math, people).
Their list of Language Assistance Services: English (really, do they need to list this), Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Russian, French Creole, French, Portuguese, Polish, Japanese, Italian, German, and Farsi. French Creolers, salye!
Talked to my boss today. He ordered me to stay home and work here until further notice. This is not company policy, but he’s not listening to that. Staying home. Probably for a long time. And that’s okay.
Sounds like a good boss. Hope all's well with you & your family, Stick.
If any Minnesotans are in the mood to talk to legislators, could use some help. Today the house did not pass SF 4200 (though the senate did) to help expand mental health coverage (including telemedicine) for our most vulnerable and mentally ill folks in the state. A lot of our clients are afraid to meet with us and we are banned from visiting people in shelters, so the only way to provide service is by phone. But right now the house is refusing to fund it and are taking a 10 day break.
Agencies are still working full-time right now trying to provide the best care telephonically, but if we don't get paid for that work the quality and availability of care could start to deteriorate fast.
Beau, thanks for this. Should we specifically be contacting our state house representatives to advocate for passing SF 4200?
Mr. NaCl works at a homeless services agency, and while he isn't directly involved with the clients, he's part of some of the conversations about how the organization is going to handle things during this time--it's not easy.
Your own representative is best. If you want to do more, three members who opposed it were Tony Albright, Deb Kiel, and Anne Neu. Also, speaker Hortman would have to agree to reconvene. I e-mailed all of them.
Wish I could help, Beau.
Telepsychiatry and warm lines and the like are pretty important pieces of the puzzle already, and going to get way, way, way more important in the coming weeks. California also has been experimenting with a variety of mobile/Internet services to see how well those could meet some of the need.
I can make some calls and write some emails. Are there talking points available?
The talking points are basically what I wrote above. If you have any brief, personal story to share related to mental health that is relevant, then that's fine too.
It might be time to reconsider our garden’s composition this season.
We've done a pretty substantial garden the past several years. Philosofette is already starting to plan out this year's, with an eye towards a possible extension of this social distancing stuff. Maybe a few more early-season things (lettuce, peas), and then rotate them out, if things are really going long.
we were going to have a couple more raised beds built in the coming weeks (we have one already). The urgency to do some bed prep has gone up from "nice to have" to "really would like to have".
Looks like I might also want to find a spot for our deep freezer (which we have not used in about ten years) and start thinking about what should go in it.
I really don't expect things to go all Mad Max, but some parts of the economy are really going to suffer, and lots of peoples' lives are going to be massively affected. Mine might be inconvenienced. After all, I have a (pretty) secure job with good benefits and a defined benefit pension.
I am mentally preparing for making a lot more charitable donations and figuring out how to support local businesses during the hard times that are coming.
Those strike me as prudent things. We built our raised beds several years ago and will need to amend the soil this season. I need to commit to more work out there; Mrs. Hayes is the green thumb, I’m the roustabout.
Having conversations about the coming months is delicate work right now. I’m probably worrying more, or carrying my worry more, and I’m feeling it drag on my brain. Talking about preparing for hard times, even when not to Mad Max scale, feels like a dance between careful foresight & persistent anxiety.
As you are, I’m counting my blessings for being vested in the state pension plan and having a fairly secure job at the moment. Where I can help others, I will. If things last through fall, I won’t know what comes next.
Our bishop is "recommending" that we have no in-person worship services for at least the next two weeks. Our church council will talk about it tonight, but I assume I will be learning about the wonderful world of livestreaming.
We went to pre-recorded service this past week and for next week (it went well IMO), but pretty sure they're going to make it (at least) a four-week effort. Thank God for electronic giving, but as it is payroll will be difficult in the near future, I'm sure.
Our local & county public health officials have determined that liturgical services are an unnecessary risk to public health, so all services for groups over fifty are officially prohibited until further notice.
I'm curious about funerals. We attended one for Mrs. Twayn's aunt a couple of months ago and there were a lot of people, mostly seniors, in attendance and confined in close quarters. Do you know if there's been any guidance given on that? I heard that in Italy they've closed some cemeteries until further notice and cremation capacity has been pushed to the limit.
The bishop said we should "exercise thoughtful discretion". I guess we'll have to make a decision if/when the time comes.
Just got an email from our local funeral home. They are recommending the following: private family visitations with the pastor there for prayers and messages; private family burials; suspending receptions and lunches; public memorial services at a later date. Not optimal, to be sure, but unfortunately reasonable under the circumstances.
The high-school aged son of an academic acquaintance died over the weekend (not COVID-related, but sudden illness). They are in similar straits. Small, family service. It's heartbreaking enough to see a family having to deal with the tragedy, but to compound it by complicating the grieving in this way is really tough.
Our church will not be having services the next two weeks. The sermons will be videotaped ahead of time and put on YouTube Saturday night. It's a little easier than trying to livestream it.
We've started the effort of cancelling and requesting refund for the various pre-expenditures for our Ireland trip. So far the bus from Galway to Dublin is non-refundable (~€20 each), and the Galway tour has a €5 fee; haven't tackled hotel and airfare yet, but those should be straightforward. I hope.
Anyone feel like playing cribbage?
can I abandon all my work duties?
Well, it's not like we can stop you...
Played a game last night with AJR. She beat me.
She turns 10 on Friday and she's as good as anyone I know (or somehow has super luck).
A five-sided family cribbage tournament is definitely going to be in the works for the next few weeks. If only LBR could do the math...
I'm envisioning a round-robin where everyone plays everyone else twice (so, 20 games), followed by a double-elimination tournament.
Yes.
I do miss my cribbage leagues already. The most minor of cancellations in my life and community, but it's been interesting that many of our players are posting on social media small cribbage matches they are hosting at home.
We were going to do some Irish stew for dinner tonight, but the Mrs. picked up a big roast the other day so we've got that in the crock pot instead. Roasted potatoes (very hard to find these days) and carrots, green salad and soda bread (there's plenty of buttermilk available). Also some Irish red ale and Irish whiskey. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.
I grilled four NY strips over the weekend. We were supposed to have friends over. Instead, we have leftover steak for the week. the Mrs and I split one the first night and had steak salad last night. Maybe tacos tonight.
I made French onion soup on Sunday:
- sauteed sliced sweet onion (for about 30 minutes) in butter until they were carmelized
- added minced garlic, fresh thyme, bay leaf
- poured an 1/8c of Cognac to deglaze, then
- bone broth with some boulllion flakes (WF was out of beef broth) and dry white wine, salt n' peppa
- let that stew for a while, while toasting a baguette cut in half
- added a tbsp of white wine vinegar (some other recipes use port here)
-once the baguette was toasted, poured the soup into oven-proof bowls, covered the soup completely with baguette slices, then
- coated liberally with grated Gruyere and Swiss cheese, broiling until there was a cheesy-gooey-toasty top.
Noice!
The Mrs. tossed a curveball and served up some colcannon (cabbage/bacon variety) with the roast. Delicious!
We pulled sausage, parsnip, & apple stuffing left over from Thanksgiving out of the freezer. It was in excellent condition. I mixed, then reduced, some leftover chicken & beef stock, added some Better Than Bouillon, made a blond roux, and finished the gravy with butter & black pepper.
No surprise my Peru trip is off. Peru also getting the Corona virus and they shut down things immediately. My son has a co-worker's spouse who is stuck sheltering in place in Cusco (where I was going) until April 1. Enforced by Police and Military.
Trekking company wants to reschedule for September/October (If we have a functioning society still) and waiving any change fees (ooh, thanks). AirBnB gave full refund. I'm working on canceling flights but Travelocity bogged down. American's policy is full refund since I booked them in January so I'm confident I'll get my refund.
That sucks. Wife and son got back last week.
A door-to-door “contractor” just came by, trying to sell us on a roof “assessment” & new siding. WTF, people.
Got a thing in the mail saying that my current Rx plan requires me to fill my maintenance meds through a home delivery pharmacy (to receive coverage).
Hmm - when I go into the place to get my Rx I buy at least $40 of other crap (math, people).
Their list of Language Assistance Services: English (really, do they need to list this), Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Russian, French Creole, French, Portuguese, Polish, Japanese, Italian, German, and Farsi. French Creolers, salye!
Talked to my boss today. He ordered me to stay home and work here until further notice. This is not company policy, but he’s not listening to that. Staying home. Probably for a long time. And that’s okay.
Sounds like a good boss. Hope all's well with you & your family, Stick.
If any Minnesotans are in the mood to talk to legislators, could use some help. Today the house did not pass SF 4200 (though the senate did) to help expand mental health coverage (including telemedicine) for our most vulnerable and mentally ill folks in the state. A lot of our clients are afraid to meet with us and we are banned from visiting people in shelters, so the only way to provide service is by phone. But right now the house is refusing to fund it and are taking a 10 day break.
Agencies are still working full-time right now trying to provide the best care telephonically, but if we don't get paid for that work the quality and availability of care could start to deteriorate fast.
Beau, thanks for this. Should we specifically be contacting our state house representatives to advocate for passing SF 4200?
Mr. NaCl works at a homeless services agency, and while he isn't directly involved with the clients, he's part of some of the conversations about how the organization is going to handle things during this time--it's not easy.
Your own representative is best. If you want to do more, three members who opposed it were Tony Albright, Deb Kiel, and Anne Neu. Also, speaker Hortman would have to agree to reconvene. I e-mailed all of them.
Wish I could help, Beau.
Telepsychiatry and warm lines and the like are pretty important pieces of the puzzle already, and going to get way, way, way more important in the coming weeks. California also has been experimenting with a variety of mobile/Internet services to see how well those could meet some of the need.
I can make some calls and write some emails. Are there talking points available?
The talking points are basically what I wrote above. If you have any brief, personal story to share related to mental health that is relevant, then that's fine too.
Enjoy your fresh vegetables while you can.
It might be time to reconsider our garden’s composition this season.
We've done a pretty substantial garden the past several years. Philosofette is already starting to plan out this year's, with an eye towards a possible extension of this social distancing stuff. Maybe a few more early-season things (lettuce, peas), and then rotate them out, if things are really going long.
we were going to have a couple more raised beds built in the coming weeks (we have one already). The urgency to do some bed prep has gone up from "nice to have" to "really would like to have".
Looks like I might also want to find a spot for our deep freezer (which we have not used in about ten years) and start thinking about what should go in it.
I really don't expect things to go all Mad Max, but some parts of the economy are really going to suffer, and lots of peoples' lives are going to be massively affected. Mine might be inconvenienced. After all, I have a (pretty) secure job with good benefits and a defined benefit pension.
I am mentally preparing for making a lot more charitable donations and figuring out how to support local businesses during the hard times that are coming.
Those strike me as prudent things. We built our raised beds several years ago and will need to amend the soil this season. I need to commit to more work out there; Mrs. Hayes is the green thumb, I’m the roustabout.
Having conversations about the coming months is delicate work right now. I’m probably worrying more, or carrying my worry more, and I’m feeling it drag on my brain. Talking about preparing for hard times, even when not to Mad Max scale, feels like a dance between careful foresight & persistent anxiety.
As you are, I’m counting my blessings for being vested in the state pension plan and having a fairly secure job at the moment. Where I can help others, I will. If things last through fall, I won’t know what comes next.