malada

Yesterday I was washing my hands for the umpteenth time when I suddenly felt afraid.

I've been handling this COVID-19 thing pretty well - head down, nose to the grindstone, 'what needs to be done?' mode - then go out and do it. I'm a bit stressed out at work - even though I'm working from home - as so many changes need to be dealt with and I'm usually waiting on someone else who's equally stressed out further up the chain. I've been concerned, angry, busy, but I haven't felt afraid.

At that point, I did.

I've done what I can... I think, and that's about the limit of my abilities. I'm not in bad health but I am 'of that age' but I know people who are older and in worse shape. I don't really feel afraid for myself or for others... I just felt afraid. Scared. The world is Not Okay and this is Not Fine.

The moment passed after a time. I'm sure I'll have those moments again... probably more as the weeks progress. From the research we haven't reach peak infection in our area yet - I'm guessing if we keep the social isolation up we'll peak in another two, three weeks. Locally, the hospitals and health care systems are okay at the moment but I know the worst is ahead of us.

We have supplies, we have power and high speed internet. We're doing okay. I know that I will get scared again but I hope I won't be living in a state of continual fear.

Stay healthy folks.

-m

With *no* face masks of any kind available, it was time to break out the sewing kit and scavenge a sheet from the rag bin. Flannel may not be the best but it's soft and comfortable.

I do not own a sewing machine so everything had to be done by hand. I'm honestly not very good at it.

I snagged some half inch elastic before going into the Grand Bunker of Doom - because I couldn't find any quarter inch elastic. I got some bandana material too because it was red and on sale.

My first attempt was based on a 'tee-shirt dust mask' I found on You Tube, but I doubled up the fabric for extra protection. It covers my face very well but uses a lot of elastic.

My second was based on a standard pattern for a cloth surgical mask off the web. Right now there's a lot of videos and instructions so take your pick. I used the 9 inch by 7 inch rectangle, doubling up the fabric for extra soft goodness. The half inch elastic doesn't make for a good fit behind the ears. The length was off too but that was simple to fix.

Tomorrow I go for version 3 - carefully cutting the elastic lengthwise but sticking with the 9 x 7 rectangle. Sewing by hand makes me appreciate the work women have done (usually with little repayment) for centuries.

It won't stop the virus but it will prevent me from touching my face. It might stop the water droplets that may carry the virus expelled by someone coughing. It *will* flag people to stay the heck away.

This is a system failure folks: Quarterly Earnings Capitalism cannot cope with even a mild pandemic. I'll rant on this another time.

Stay healthy people.

-m

Yesterday I spent scrambling at work getting all the things I needed to remote in from home. Then I hit my doctor's office (regular visit) then went to the stores.

No bottled water.

No toilet paper.

Almost no pasta.

No disposable gloves.

No face masks.

Lucky for me, I had bought disposable gloves months ago because I was going to be moving fiberglass insulation around. I had to postpone that work so I've got the gloves if needed.

I'm sewing my own face mask - by hand - from old sheets. It won't protect against airborne viruses but it will prevent me from touching my face. It'll make a good dust mask.

We've kept a supply of food and paper supplies handy in normal times so anything I bought was just odds and ends and to top off what we might need in the long run: like more coffee.

One advantage to working at home - better coffee.

It's weird not driving into work. I just have to turn around, boot up the laptop and do 90 percent of what I normally do. We did have another VPN connection that upped it to 95 percent but it stopped working correctly in mid key stroke.

To top that off... it seems our network at work is being attacked. I know IP addresses can be spoofed but our engineer reports that the attacks seem to be coming from Russia.

F*ck them.

I will have to run into work Monday just to check a few things and cycle some paperwork. *Most* of my work is on my laptop or Google Drives but a few important notes are still on paper.

Hopefully the VPN problem will have been worked out when I log into work in about an hour. I'm dressed, my hair is brushed (I could use a shower though) just like a regular day.

Stay healthy folks.

-m

After a prolonged drought I've started writing again. A few months back I finally finished a novel (fantasy) that I had started years ago as a prequel to a novel I wrote a decade (?) ago.

Both need major rewrites.

Just before the corona virus hit Big Time I had the idea for a runaway virus - Captain Trips* style - and the people who survive it. The characters are coming to me fairly easily and I've got an idea where it's headed... but I'm not sure it's the best time to write such a story.

I'm considering just outlining the virus story and shelving it. I'd like to go back to my characters in the fantasy setting because there's more fun stuff to explore.

What do you folks think?

-m

*Captain Trips was the nickname for the disease than ravaged the world in Stephen King's "The Stand". My version has a 90% infection rate and a 1 in 5,000 chance of survival if you do catch it. Yeah. Grim.

China: (belatedly) We got to science the sh*t out of this!

Japan: We got to science the sh*t out of this!

Korea: We got to science the sh*t out of this!

USA: Let us pray....



We're f*cking doomed.

-m

I gifted one of my rescued computers (that's running a *mostly* legit copy of Win 7 home) to a friend who was basically running his business on a Windows XP machine.

The XP machine didn't have anti virus or a firewall because, "It slowed the machine down."

*face palm*

He complained that the Win 7 machine was acting slow (well, it *does* have a firewall and anti virus) so I dropped over to find the desktop *covered* with documents. Not links, actual documents.

He had to open each one because he didn't remember what most of them were.

*head desk*

I had to teach him how to drag and drop files AND how to cut and paste files. I had to show him where the bold and italic buttons were in Libre Office - because he was used to MS Word. I didn't ask which version.

*chew carpet*

Then he asked me to put the standard Windows XP backdrop on the Win 7 machine to make him feel more comfortable using the new system.

*blank stare*

We cleaned up his desktop a bit and took the Bliss backdrop off of Wikipedia. Maybe another time I pull it right from the XP machine because the resolution of the png on the Wikipedia page was kind of meh.

At least his payroll is done by an outside company. In the end he was much happier although there's still some weird issues he told me about. I think the problem exists between the chair and the computer.

-m

With support ending for Windows 7 I know a lot of people are worried about upgrading to Windows 10 (blech) or fretting about switching to another operating system.

I've been a Linux user for over a decade and I'm not going to preach (right now) because although a good Linux distribution could fill most people's needs without the spying and the slow, endless updates from Microsoft - there are pitfalls that even a seasoned penquinista can fall into.

Like last night with Linux Mint.

I've installed Mint on my Audio Production machine and after dealing with a few quirks I was starting to feel comfortable with it. I had almost made up my mind that Mint would be a good replacement for Windows 7 (or sheeeh - Windows XP) because it has that Windows look and feel.

when a kernel update *broke* my Nvidia graphic card drives. And broke it _badly_.

I've been using Xunbuntu for many years, Ubuntu before that, pure Debian before that. Nvidia's closed source drives have always been a sticking point both technically and philosophically for Linux users. When they work they're great - when they break, it sucks.

In my memory I've *never* had a problem with the Nvidia drivers using Ubuntu. What drew me to Ubuntu was the _ease_ at which it handled the drivers. It detected my Nvidia card, asked if I wanted to install the proprietary drives, and if I said yes, it just installed them. No problem. Kernel updates? Ubuntu just installed the safest ones - no problem. I thought Mint was following Ubuntu and I was surprised when it wanted to install a more advanced kernel. I chanced it (this is not may main system) and it installed without a hitch.

Until last night.

Mint wanted to install the latest, hottest kernel and using my Ubuntu reflexes I said, "Okay."

After a reboot my screen resolution went to 640 x 480 - and I couldn't change it. I tried to reinstall the Nvidia drivers - and machine supposedly did, but the screen resolution failed to change and it keep trying to reinstall the drivers.

I dropped back to the previous kernel but the damage had been done. I tried to roll back the system to an earlier state (I like this feature) but the button to select this feature was at the bottom of the screen which I couldn't see or get to. Diving deeper it seems the drivers are so badly broken even removing them and reinstalling them would not work.

I gave Mint a try and it blew it.

I might have been fine if I refused to upgrade the kernel or had an AMD video card - but the I'll be wiping the drive and reinstalling Xubuntu. It's a lighter desktop and more conservative in it's approach to upgrading.

Pain in the neck? Yes. But the point is... I have choices. There are lots of other distros to choose from to suit my tastes and desires. Xubuntu has the menu button on top of the screen - not the bottom - so it's DIFFERENT from Windows. Scary. (LOL) I could change it to make it more Windows like, but I can't be bothered.

And all my software is available online for free. No reinstall hassles.

So if you're in the mood to try Linux... just be careful, okay? And back up your data. Mint might be good for you if you're conservative with updates and you have AMD graphics. I don't like the weird Gnome desktop of mainstream Ubuntu and Xubuntu is clean and light.

-m

Maybe it's because I'm a bit over tired - but I saw a photo of a bunch of guys* holding up signs saying "WE ARE Q" and the first thing I thought was "WE ARE QUEER"

I'm sure they fit the more old fashioned versions of the definition, not the sparkly rainbow 'new' version but I still think it's funny.

Mock them without mercy - they deserve none.

-m


*of course, it's always guys

For I while, I dreamed of being a drummer in a rock band.

I got as far as buying a drum set, taking lessons and actually being in a few bands. We never played out but we had fun.

My two inspirations: Keith Moon of the Who and Ginger Baker of Cream.

Both were powerhouses of rock drumming. Keith was *infamous* for his wild behavior both on and off stage along with his mad drumming skills. Ginger was a jazz artist who had a side interest in African polyrhythms. Skilled behind a drum set, arrogant in demeanor he pushed his musical partners to new heights with his intricate and hard playing. They were both awesome.

Keith died by his own hand over a decade ago. Ginger remained - as one reporter put it - "a force of nature" - to the end. He was 80.

So Death claims another one of my heroes of youth. I'm saddened but I know that no one and nothing lasts forever.

-m

Since impulse control of people with guns has failed we might as well have gun control.

We've tried their way of "an armed society is a polite society" and "good guys with guns". It's failed. Time to take their f*cking guns.

-m