Well,  I'm still alive.  I haven't left the house in three weeks!  My mom said, "how is that different then any other day you have? "  it's different  because I CAN'T go out now!  I've found all kinds of things I want to do outside this house! ..  Oh,  who am I kidding,  I love it!!!!
        That being said,  special thanks goes out to the "front lines" of this mess,  docs,  nurses,  police,  fireman,  emts.
            ..... And all the folks trying to feed,  shelter, and give a nice smile to all of us.  We have countless other folks to thank every day!
             It was really upsetting to lose John prine today.  He was such a great story teller/ song writer, and put on some of the best shows ever!  He brought his wife out on stage once,  it's a moment I won't forget!  He was only 73, that's pretty young
      My brother,  Stevie,  is the family doc for this county.  I worry to death about him.  We've only had one case  in our county.  One,  big surprise,  was my neighbor...... Seriously?  I live in a really big county,  but not much of a population.  It's a bit odd for anyone around here to go out for much of anything.  Most persons grow,  raise,  or kill something we can eat.  So,  plenty of veggies,  eggs, goat cheese,  ..... What meat you want to eat could be an acquired taste! 
       I'm skipping  around,  forgive me.    I had to get blood drawn the other day,  no way in hell I was going  into that office ( my brothers partner is my doc)! 
        So,  I had a great moment that I should have taken a picture of..... I backed up the 240 as close as I could get to the doctors back door.  I opened up the back gate and someone took blood from me while I sat in the VO....... Priceless moment!!!! 
         Anyhow,  I finally put a tool / sold one on eBay.  For those that know me,  it's a big achievement!   I'm not sure what finally spurred me to list something.  Perhaps it finally got to me....  Having all of my furniture in the shed,  and having nowhere to sit,  except for one remaining couch.  Maybe it's because I know I'm sitting on "a pile" of money (in tools...  The only currency I know.  Maybe it's because I have all shelves in the house and my shop occupied by those pesky tools.  Maybe it's because the last person I showed my shop to gaveme  a "you are truly crazy" look......  Not that,  I'm used to those looks!  My friend,  Annie,  somehow puts up with me,  I'm not sure why.
        Someday,  I'll have to move the three huge bins of wrenches on my front porch.....  No one seems to like them there.    The only option I can think of is to bring the wheelbarrow around and start moving them,  I guess to the shed.    Hmmmmmm,  that's the shed full of my furniture.  I guess I could  move the furniture onto the lawn and cover it all with a tarp.     
         My friend said,  "do you realize that you're about to move all of the furniture that's supposed to be in your house onto the lawn?  Don't you think there's something wrong with your logic? "
         "nope,  don't see a thing wrong with my logic.  Do you think there's something wrong with your logic? " 
          That's always fun to say.  Persons start thinking,  "I don't know,  is there something wrong with my logic? Maybe there is,  do I think to much?  Do I not think enough?  Why am I having these feelings?  Who told me to think a little,  but not too much.....  What's the right amount of thinking? "
       Ohhhhh,  those are fun moments!!!! 
       Boy,  since we're all fairly stuck at home,  you should try messing with someone! 
        "you know,  one of your toes is longer then the matching toe on the other foot. Do you know what that means? "
"what does it mean?  Oh God,  is that a good or bad thing? "  just let them stew.
          "do you realize that you only cross your "ts" half of the time?  You know what that means? " it can be a total lie,  and someone starts thinking about it.  " I better get out the last letter that I wrote.  I don't think I did cross all of my "ts".  Does it matter what day of the week,  or month it was when I didn't cross them? "
    Most of us have watched the news that has that running ticker at the bottom  of the screen.  Inevitably,  we hear part of the news and read part of the ticker...  Some have a phone or tablet going at the same time.  This can only lead to one thing:  thinking we've just read,  heard,  or watched the complete news of the day. 
           This is what actually happens: "did you hear Boris has the coronavirus? He got it from a tiger in the USA.    It makes sense since those Russians caught it from a snake,  or a monkey?  Hell I can't remember.  But,  did you hear what happened here? I couldn't read or hear it all.  I'm pretty sure a purple,  yellow bellied monster came out of the river!  Can you believe  it?!! "
      "no,  I really can't.  But did you hear about the blue haired moose that lives in the foothills here? "
        "I've never heard of them!  How big are they? Will they attack dogs? "
          It's just too easy.  "
      "they're three times the size of a deer,  but the problem is their  fangs.  Yeah,  that makes it pretty hard for anyone to live if faced with the blue haired moose. If you run across one,  you may as well assume you won't make it.  "
        Lesson learned: read and watch several different sources/news channels.  Don't read the ticker...  You get half a sentence and it goes to a commercial.  Oh,  kiss or hug the friends/ partners you have,  love your family and your friends.
        I guess  that's about it.  Oh,  watch out for a blue haired moose!
        I write a whole "lot of nothing".  But,  I'm assuming and hoping everyone is trying to stay at home.  So,  you've got nothing better to do then read this post.
    On a serious note,  I hope folks are doing OK.  I hope everyone is sticking to themselves, and I pray everyone is healthy. Use this time of seclusion  to get in touch with loved ones (yes,  I've resorted to,  "I wonder how that friend of mine that I haven't seen for 20 years is doing").  If you have a trade,  serious hobby,  or stuff you always meant to do.....  Here's your moment to shine!
Cheers,
So far virus free bird

Nice to get an update been a while since we've heard from you. Glad all seems well on your end.

I have been wondering how you were doing during this unique situation.

I too have been stuck in the house have literally not left the property in 3 1/2 weeks and only been outside a few times. My big outing is rolling the trash cans to the sidewalk and back again. In truth it suits me and I don't mind the isolation. My wife on the other hand is crawling up the walls she's got cabin fever pretty bad but we have a lot of work to do around here so there is plenty to do.

Hope you and your family stay well.

Good to hear from you, love the embellishments.

I have wondered just what kind of bird you represent.  After that last blog it might be a talking crow, or maybe a black buzzard. It appears doubtful that it is a bluebird of happiness.  On the other hand there are thousands of birds that you might be, such as a Carolina house wren.  Carolina house wrens like to nest on porches, sheds and other places you mention.  Last year one even nested in my tractor.  Good to hear from you again bird, take care and be careful.

Good to hear from you. Stay safe.

It is great to hear from you anytime, Bird !
Glad you are virus free and doing well. My wife and I are doing ok and staying home except for one or two necessary trips to town.
We really miss seeing our grandkids, but it is wise to stay safe. I was in the hospital two weeks ago and was tested for the virus with a negative result.

Please keep us informed of things your way, we love our Bird and her ramblings !

Good to hear from you, Jennybird*, and glad to hear that you're hanging in there in the mountains.  Strange that your neighbor is the first case in the county.

I've been fretting about what's going to happen when the virus starts getting out to the rural areas.  Yes, the cities have been hit hard, and people are forced to be closer together, so transmission is easier; but they've also got a more robust medical system.  In counties like yours, Bird, with one family doctor, and, if there's a hospital at all, it's the size of a McDonald's, well, it's just scary to think about.  I just hope that the peak has passed in the cities, so that the medical folks there can take a deep breath before heading out to the rural areas to help.
--------------
*That's the kind of bird she is, Coolford.

"*That's the kind of bird she is, Coolford."

"So far virus free bird"

Well, virus free or free range...it hasn't affected your ability to tell a good story and I appreciate the heck outta that.

I hope everyone here stays well (assume my higher temp is because i was out in the sun today after our storms last night).

Anyone remember the lines to get Polio vaccine when Salk came out with it?   We'll probably have the same thing if they come up with a good one for Corona.

Doesn't give one a lot of hope when the local (quite large) hospital has a patient die and then discover she has the virus.  Oh yes, they had not been wearing masks and now they are trying to track the 80 to 100 workers that came in contact with her during the past week.  So, it is a good time to stay out of hospitals if you can.

My wife's schoolmate is a nurse.
Her husband died of the virus, the first fatality in Kansas. 
She was in contact w/ him and began to show symptoms.
Her son, an MD, had to fight like hell just to get his Mother tested.
She is positive.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article241867591.html

Quote from: p_toad on April 08, 2020, 08:34:01 PMAnyone remember the lines to get Polio vaccine when Salk came out with it?

Yep.  At my junior high, on a Saturday.

I got the sugar cube version.

Quote from: Bill Houghton on April 09, 2020, 02:53:48 PM

Quote from: p_toad on April 08, 2020, 08:34:01 PMAnyone remember the lines to get Polio vaccine when Salk came out with it?

Yep.  At my junior high, on a Saturday.

I got the sugar cube version.

We got the shots first, and then another line a year or more later when the Sabin vaccine came out.   yeah, around then.     think i'll take my chances after they get a tested vaccine for this.   by the way...anyone know why the news media keeping calling this thing a "novel coronavirus" as opposed to just a coronavirus.  It's apparently one of a family of corona viruses.

Quote from: coolford on April 08, 2020, 07:25:20 AM
I have wondered just what kind of bird you represent.  After that last blog it might be a talking crow, or maybe a black buzzard. It appears doubtful that it is a bluebird of happiness.  On the other hand there are thousands of birds that you might be, such as a Carolina house wren.  Carolina house wrens like to nest on porches, sheds and other places you mention.  Last year one even nested in my tractor.  Good to hear from you again bird, take care and be careful.

Carolina wrens build a lot of false nests to make it harder for the predators to find the real ones.  It is amazing how much energy they have.  I once watched one build a nest in the grill of my truck one morning in 2-3 hours.  I felt bad cleaning it out.

Quote from: p_toad on April 09, 2020, 05:05:04 PM

Quote from: Bill Houghton on April 09, 2020, 02:53:48 PM

Quote from: p_toad on April 08, 2020, 08:34:01 PMAnyone remember the lines to get Polio vaccine when Salk came out with it?

Yep.  At my junior high, on a Saturday.

I got the sugar cube version.

We got the shots first, and then another line a year or more later when the Sabin vaccine came out.   yeah, around then.     think i'll take my chances after they get a tested vaccine for this.   by the way...anyone know why the news media keeping calling this thing a "novel coronavirus" as opposed to just a coronavirus.  It's apparently one of a family of corona viruses.

"Novel" as in unusual. This is the first of this particular corona virus, as opposed to the flu, common cold, etc.
I remember  lining up for both of those, and glad to have done it. Hope I'm around to line up for this next one.

Mike