Sorry to hear that Piff - hopefully you can get EI to help defray the loss of income. My son's place of work has closed, he's been laid off for the duration - potentially will have lost his job, if they don't reopen.

Existentialism, Nihilism, Absurdism? I've got no advice. I'm still struggling to figure out why I have so many sock orphans.

Could come in handy if there's a toilet paper crisis. I'm a caretaker and have 7 cases of 2ply at work, and the keys for several different types of commercial dispensers. If the Chinese curve model holds true and we ride this out for 2 or 3 months there should be gradual easing of restrictions. We should be able to handle that without getting all Lord of the Flies. Why, when I was a boy we were under threat of nuclear attack and we didn't collapse. Canadian Pacific built and stocked a bomb shelter in the basement of our railway station, and at school we learned to crawl under our desks and protect our heads with our arms. This is an inconvenience, not the end of the world, and it isn't the last or worst pandemic the world is likely to face; so we could in fact be practicing for an even more devastating one, so it's important we learn from it.

I’m usually more pro cynicism than positivity but ...

Well put Caretaker - I agree and will try my best to adopt these sentiments

Self-isolation perhaps isn't so bad. My daughter just informed me that North Korea only had a single case of coronavirus and they shot him. Containment complete.

Would it be bad form say if your wife is spending a week in Mexico with her girlfriends and is due home on Saturday that you suggest she self isolates for 14 days somewhere else?

Hi there. Nice to see you appearing more than the once

Yes, to everything you said. The mention of the fee wasn't a dig, it was strictly in the context of Jsmth's situation with their doc apparently insisting in a face to face appointment - in three weeks time, despite their doc having cancelled two appointments already and the renewal script needed in a week.
J expressed a wish to see such things done by phone and I mentioned that our province has just announced such a procedure - and for more than a prescription renewal.

Do you remember you once referred to the practice of some docs where after a referral to a specialist, instead of the specialist doing a normal follow up, the patient's regular doc would re-refer to the specialist because the fee for a referral was higher than for a regular follow up?

With that in mind (and probably a little bit of my own doc happy to have double appointments in one time slot ) I was thinking that his doc - if paid by the 'fee per consult' method - might still want face to face even if telephone consult was allowed.

So it was specific to J's situation with his doc. Maybe I should have put it differently.

sorry your place of work is closing.

my little Pom is due for a haircut but I’m not going to Pets Mart...I’m staying home. Goodness knows what she will look like in a few months time.

This morning we were up at 5 and went down to our condo, just a 20 min ride away, to bring back food and supplies that were there. We are staying out of downtown and I wanted to get them before the rate of infections gets too bad. On the way back we stopped at Rabba. It was 6.30 so I thought it would be quiet. Wearing gloves we bought a loaf and milk. The shelves were full...just like a normal day. Plenty of loo rolls too.

Eurovision Song Contest has been cancelled, for the first time in 64 years

Oh no!

I renewed my prescription yesterday and they wouldn't let me pick it up, delivery only for the time being. Also yesterday at No Frills and Wholesale Club the fresh meat and poultry sections were heavily depleted (but there was still some) as well as noticeable holes in the canned goods shelves, also at Giant Tiger (though they don't have much anyway). It must be from people filling up their freezers, and my take on this is fine, some people who live out of town, people who have families and want to make sure they're ok in case they want to or have to stay home. The supply chain will catch up soon because the freezers can only hold so much, and people can only eat so fast. I'm confident enough that I haven't bothered plugging in the freezer in the basement, and didn't bother going out early to take advantage of the new senior's shopping hour at the grocery stores that are doing it. I want to get gas while it's still 73.9, a new bottle of Lemon Hart and a case of Diet Coke, some brown sugar and some baker's chocolate, a dozen tortillas and some chicken thighs if I see them. Maybe a big can of tomato juice in case I need Bloody Marys, then I'll be prepared. It's hard enough for me to rotate the stuff in the freezing compartment in the fridge so I'm not wasting space up there, but I have considered getting a little energy-efficient freezer at some point. I helped a friend bring a little Danby home about a month ago and it seemed like a nice unit for about $220 on sale. I think freezers like that will be out of stock for awhile too.

Are you stocked up on the flower? BC stores haven't shut down yet.

Oh yeah, flower, gummies, shatter, good for months, but I have no fear of a shortage.