Day 1- My New York State flag arrived. I decontaminated it. Then i jury rigged a flagpole out of an old pool cue and hung it, in a very safe way, off my fire escape. Then I hoisted my Bernie 2020 flag on the roof off an old pipe that sticks up high enough to be seen from the 7 train. I’m ready to vote for Biden if I must, but thats so far down the road now, who knows?

Days ago i shaved off my beard for 2 reasons. It made me touch my face and it would stop a good seal on an oxygen mask. I also buzzed my chest in case i need the paddles of life. Hey, at this juncture I want to be 100% ready for 10% possibilities. Seems the only way.

The presidents daily displays of ineptitude only make it worse. He should stay off TV.

I talked to my bio-dad Eddie. He’s a nice guy.

I also spoke to my amazing Uncle Richard, who i fear for most. He’s a dedicated and very kind Roman Catholic Priest who learned Spanish to administer to that community. Hes an amazing and selfless leader to his flock. He sees a lot of people, I’m afraid he may have been exposed to the virus. He wouldn’t care. Hes truly kind and a great leader of Catholics.

I told him he had been a great uncle. He was the first to appreciate my intellect and helped me develop it. I was one of few 4th graders to have read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia all thanks to him. The last movie I watched with him was TOLKIEN and we both enjoyed it.

I also exchanged emails with my mother.

I only heard sirens 3 times today. My neighbor Abe works for the MTA. He says its not a gauge of police activity as the cops and EMT’s are smart and do not want to panic us. The streets are pretty empty. He theorizes they are simply not using sirens. I noted it for consideration. I will now try to listen for the Squelch they use to warn of pedestrians in their path. They have to use that.

I’m fairly well secured. I apocalypse shopped for a week and totally destroyed a high interest credit card. I don’t care.

I may be an asymptomatic carrier or I may still be negative. There’s still no way to know. I feel weird but i did drink a bit for the first time in a couple of weeks. Truth is i kicked down a paywall due to finally having a positive reversal of fortune.

Since January I have again had a subscription to the New York Times. I was aghast at the tales of the COVID-19 virus and I slowly started prepping.

Today i mostly finished my apocalypse shopping and i think people seem to have stupidly overlooked things like the sanitizer i easily bought at the hardware store. Its industrial strength and you can dilute it a lot and and its still effective. I also bought de-greaser. Its pretty hostile to viruses and the COVID-19 virus is apparently covered in lipids, aka fats, aka grease. So There’s a good shot that de-greaser will kill it. Im also good on pesticides and fly strips. Im not risking insects being carriers in New York City cramped-ness. I think im okay

As my kays and 20 bucks in quarters soak in a bath of mouthwash Im only starting this now to make my experiences known as I face what i think will be a mighty pandemic

I also put on my biological fathers Vietnam Dog tags. They made it through the Tet Offensive. Now, blessed by my Dad Johns brother, the Kindly Father Richard, i put them on to deliver me through this chaos. Im an atheist, but you cant be too careful.

Feel weird but hoping its alcohol. I had to get a little drunk tonight. I am glad i had the means to do it.

I dont feel so great but its not COVID symptoms.

If im up to it, and i really hope this is hayfever or something, I’ll talk about the art of second best apocalypse shopping tomorrow. You can still be safe. People have apparently forgotten stuff like coffee and, astoundingly- bar soap! I have a lot.

Stay safe, wash your hands. Don’t touch your face, ration your sanitizer and food.

More tomorrow

Day 2 –

The presidents racist account of the situation is a fresh insult every day. He was a complete jackass again today addressing the nation.

Heard the first siren about 4 pm. My mother panicked and broke quarantine. Im pretty scared for her. Here unwillingness to tell me what she was thinking and what she had decided to do drove her to put herself in a couple of situations she could have been exposed in. She clearly tunes out everything I say.

Mostly i argued with her that she never needed to leave the house and she just kept making excuses. Now she seems to maybe believe that she can bank from home. All so Unnecessary. Im just angry

Sunday Mar 22 – Day 3

9:08 AM  -Yesterday i spoke to some neighbors, from a distance. even the smarter people are least a bit short and angry.

i dont want to go to the bodega much. the bodega workers are okay people, but the owner is a dick and he was scared and anry on wednesday. hes taken  no precautions and ran a dirty store and now hes upset? he sold the last of the cleanser rather than use it to have customers sanitize their hans, He didnt care about playing it safe before. anger wont help him.

i find so far my OCD & fear of germs were actually crazy…..last week. now i see how very minor my OCD was. The routine i have now actually adds up.

i have outside clothes and inside clothes. once the outside clothes are on i know im funky and i can only touch my face when i am freshly sanitized.

I only heard sirens twice. I think going to sleep at 9 pm probably figures in. I picked the right time to get a memory foam bed and upgrade the apartment.

I’m okay on food. Currently obsessing on the need for one more quality spray bottle. The hardware might still be open and its cold. less people will be out. My pre-shower routine today is to go to the Hardware store. Maybe no one will breath on me. i leave at 10 am.

9:58 Heard from my mom. she seems to have pulled off her frantic move without making any overt mistakes or even seeing any humans who weren’t sealed in their cars like she was.  Some banks are closing. moms agreed to check in for 6 days.

Time start thinking about gearing up to visit hardware store.

12:12 PM- got the last couple of for real spray bottles from the hardware store. I will need some it to make it through tomorrows pharmacy run.  In 36 hours the spray bottles have almost disappeared and are going for 4.99? I have several aluminum bucksets. In good times they were for beers on ice. Now they represent the several degrees of isolation my possessions that leave the house have.

 

Update 420 pm. Woodside has very little foot traffic. Its something like what you’d expect in a small town.

7 Train is still running for now.

Sirens on and of since 4. last ones were closer.

Angela Merkel and Placido Domingo have tested positive. Probably because outside America there are tests. a medical friend just asked we all donate to help get PPE. i gave what i could. i wrote a letter with a card and a hundred pre-plague bucks to my nephew. I feel terrible Jake’s sixteenth falls amidst this mess. It sitting on the radiator for awhile.  Sterilizing.

I haven’t seen or heard a plane today.  That’s highly unusual being under the flight path for LaGuardia. Come to think of it i didn’t see any yesterday that I can recall.

7:39 PM the presidents press conference was again a complete an unmitigated disater. Throwing shade at possible corona virus sufferer Mitt Romney? It was a low, low moment in an already awful presidency.

The Senate’s actions are baffling, they still were going to their gym? Some of these people truly don’t believe in Science.  But of all people Rand Paul? His father was Medical Doctor. He proved you could be a nut and a medical doctor at the same time. Could he not believe in germ theory? He does love 18th century ideas like the Gold Standard a great deal, could he be so ignorant? I wonder what ever happened to the school that let Rand Paul get licensed to operate on peoples eyes. Look at the stupidity of their graduate on basic Germ Theory! No WONDER he changed professions!

8:06 PM sirens, somewhat close. lots of siren squelches.

Update 9:05 pm – squelches and distant sirens. The Mayor was just on CNN. He clearly can’t really react to Trump’s insanity as a feud at this point would just bring out the dictator that Trump wants to be.

9:47 PM – I knocked back an anti-anxiety pill and my nightly shot of jameson after the last entry.   i hear an ambulances siren squelch as i write this and look to end my day listening to a book on tape. i have all the medication i need. im still gonna venture out for more if my prescription shows up tomorrow. Because I think this will last a long time.

Monday March 23, Day 3

9:05 AM – awoke at 8 am and i dozed on and off for a half hour before i grabbed some  of my limited and precious supply of coffee. I heard distant sirens for a moment ago. The weather sucks. Its overcast and rainy, there was even a moment of hail. I heard the jets engines momentarily drown it out, the hail didnt last long. the plane seemed to be taking off.  So people are still leaving, ot at least the wealthy are. Sounded like a big commercial jet. The 7 train is still running too.

New York is now the epicenter of the nation’s impacted zone. I realize there will be no trip to the dentist to fix my wonky tooth. At least it doesnt hurt, its a potential problem, though.

The internet has moody at best since this started to get real Friday. Its up and down, spiking then lagging.

DeBlasio is now mayor of one enormous Ground Zero for the pandemic. He’s in the same position as the mayor of San Juan. The whole country is now going to get the same treatment the people of Puerto Rico got after their hurricane.

The president is a complete idiot whose making this worse.

3:47 – My meds are ready, this is about the last time I want to go out til work Wednesday.  Its pouring and thats not gonna help my limited Improvised PPE. In a sick way I feel like Im playing Tom Clancy’s The Division! This will be the end for most of the current “outside” clothes. i surely need my hoodie

4:57 PM – back and cleaned up and into my inside clothes after a rainy trip to the pharmacy. some people had masks, not everyone knew to stay back. I had to ward off some people. There is no sanitizer of any kind. There is  no dish soap, there is limited hand soap. They did just have alcohol swabs out where anyone could grab them. i resisted the urge to buy all 8 boxes. I can use atm machines and pinpads at reduced risk with these. i left 4 or more boxes.

I need B12 injections monthly. Its as much as i usually buy, I’m just gonna use them all instead of having them expire for a change.

Friday –

Wow this week was a fucking drag. I take silkwood showers twice a day. Inside clothes vs outside clothes is a constant stresser and I’m already afraid to leave the house on wednesday! Ouch!

I went up to the roof, I am not too happy with all the dog shit up there.

Prices at the Bodega are up 10% out of nowhere this week. I am gonna try to use that dump even less.  His dickishness endangers the whole building. May time for to call the Law on Mo. He’s been a dick for years anyway

Saturday- 1:29 AM

The new dat started like the old day ended. In sirens. Theres been sirens pretty much nonstop from here. Its so quiet I guessI  can hear most of the traffic going to Elmhurst. It’s getting scary. I hope Im not infected.  The tightness in my chest could just be from climbing on and off the fire escape. I definitely beat myself up climbing in and out the window. I guess I really ain’t a kid no more.

On the other hand – I never hoped I had a brittle old man injury before. This time I do. I really do.

I dont know if I can sleep. I am definitely slightly scared.