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Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Chinese Coronavirus Review for March 2020

Well, folks, yesterday was supposed to be the day that all County employees would return to the office, per our original orders from the County Manager. As you can see, it's March 31st. And I'm still working from home. Last Monday, our Work from Home order was extended to April 6th.

On March 12th, all of the parkruns in the United States were cancelled, until further notice. The Fallen heroes 5k, which would have been run on April 5, was cancelled on March 24. Luckily, I was able to use the registration I already paid for 2021. I just hope I remember that I'm already signed up for it, and don't schedule a different race on that day!

On March 24th, my county/city issued a "Shelter in Place" order, based on the order from Broward and Miami/Dade counties. The next day, Osceola County issued a Stay at Home mandate through April 9th, which meant, of course, that Disney was closed through April 9th. 

On March 26, the US reached 1,000 deaths nationwide, and led the world with total Covid-19 cases (more than 82,000 at that time). It was around this time that I started noticing that many people (conveniently mostly Democrats or Liberals) began using this information to punish or discredit the Trump administration, blaming him for this high case count. Well, of course we're going to have ore cases than, say, Italy or Sweden... we have more PEOPLE! When looked at it, per capita, we are something like 15th or 16th in cases. Which, of course, is why they skew the statistics the other way.

On March 27th, Trump signs a massive Stimulus package, granting $1200 to every American, and $500 per child. Walt Disney World and Disneyland both announce they will be closed "Until further notice," which hurts my heart, because that meant that Cast Members would be unemployed until further notice.
At this point today, roughly 95% of all Americans are under some sort of quarantine or lock-down, as 42 states have issued Stay at Home orders. 
How am I holding up? Well, so far so good. I've had enough to keep me busy. I'm an Admin Assistant, so 90% of my actual job is assisting people. And if I'm at home, there's not a lot of people to assist, so I've decided that I will ensure that I'm at or near my computer as much as possible so that when (if) emails come in, I am available. In other words, I'm not vegging out on the couch watching Netflix and chomping popcorn. BUT, because there are long periods of no assisting happening, I'm also taking time to binge on various YouTube videos (see my Plague List, below) and organizing digital files on my computer. It was also kind of nice to go get my bi-weekly massage appointment, but in the middle of the day. Sadly, I got a text message from her a few days ago, and the owner is closing (they are deemed Non-Essential) until the pandemic is over, so I don't know how long I'm going to have to go before I am able to get another massage...

In the past week or so, I've noticed that my years of frugal living and borderline-hoarding has served me well. There's plenty of snacks in the house for when I get the munchies. I have lots of recycled paper to print on (didn't think about grabbing paper when I left the office last week, duh), I use cheap ink from Amazon, I have pens out the ass because I'm always grabbing them at Expos, I have piles of spiral notebooks left from Back-to-School sales, and I have tons of Post-Its from a great $1/1 coupon deal from a bajillion years ago (the Post-Its were marked down to a buck each, so I got something like 20 pads of notes for free!).


I'm starting to enjoy not hate working from home, though it's still not my cup of tea. It's nice to be able to take both Hubby and the Kiddo to and from work, so that they don't have to rely on the buses. And I always stop to get a fountain drink from the gas station before I come home. I've been trying to support both my local and chain restaurants by picking up lunch every day, but lordy, I'm gonna get fatter if I keep doing that! I like that I can watch YouTube videos, or Facebook Live videos while I work. Or I can crank up music and not have to worry about other people around me. Those are good things.

But I hate trying to decipher my boss' cryptic emails. Or having to wait a day or so for responses to emails. Yeah, I could call people, but I don't do that in real life... why start now? I hate having to use the work laptop to access my remote desktop, or do sensitive work on it - the screen is only 15", whereas my desktop is 27" (yes, I'm blind, I know). However, I've discovered that there's not that much sensitive work I must do on the laptop, so I've taken to doing 95% of my work on my desktop.

Also, because of the County order, Planet Fitness shut down on the 20th. So at this point, I have no parkrun, no gym, no massage, and no daily interaction with coworkers... God grant me the strength to make it through this ordeal without gaining 50 pounds. 

So, for now, I'll hunker down for another week of fun at home and see what happens next week!

As promised, here is my YouTube Plague List
(a.k.a. the channels I'm subscribed to and addicted to!)
Alton Brown

Friday, March 20, 2020

Hong Kong Fluey Sent Me Home

Welp, the world is going haywire folks.

In December and January, a weird virus (Coronavirus, or Covid-19) started working its way throughout Asia and eastern Europe. For a while, it didn't seem like it was going to be a huge deal, but in January, it crossed the ocean and showed up in Western America. At first we were told it still wasn't that big a deal, because there was no human to human contact (due to faulty intel from China), but then there was human to human contact, so hand washing and sanitizing became uber-important. President Trump (again, relying on intel from China) didn't seem all that concerned and told us that it was all under control. At the end of January, Hong Kong Disneyland was the first Disney park to shut down.


A few days later, the White House created a Coronavirus Task Force, and restricts travel from China (except for American citizens returning home), which of course, Democrats deem racist. At this time, the World Health Organization declares a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. USA also declares a Public Health Emergency.

To discredit President Trump, New York City's Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot tweeted her suggestion that NYC'ers "Join the parades {for Lunar New Year} and don't believe misinformation from POTUS." NYC Health Council member Mark Levine reiterated that a huge crowd is powerful defiance against the "scare tactics" of Trump. WHO stated that there was no need for measures that interfere with travel and trade to halt Covid-19.

The Democrats, who have been spending the past years trying to discredit President Trump, completed their Impeachment Trial, impeaching President Trump on two counts (the Senate, of course, threw them out or whatever it's called). I only bring this up, because if they had spent as much time paying attention to Covid-19 as they did trying to find something to charge Trump with, many states would be much better off right now. But then again, a lot of things would be better off right now, if they stopped the Trump witch hunt... but I digress.

In February, the first death occurred, in California (though it was not identified or reported as such until after April). Also in February, the doctor who raised the covid-19 alarm in China (back in December) died (many say that he was murdered by the Chinese government for whistle blowing).

Speaker Nancy Pelosi also decided again to "stick it to Trump" and while in a visit to LA's Chinatown, she tells people to "come down and join the crowds" on the same day that Trump asks for $2.5 billion for personal protective equipment and vaccine development. The next day, the CDC warns about likely spread in US, urging citizens to "prepare for the expectation that this might be bad." The first positive test in USA was announced on February 26. Tokyo Disney Resort opts to close until March 15th due to Covid-19 (it was later extended for many more months).

On Leap Day, US announced (what was then believed to be) the first Covid-19 death in Washington State. The WHO stated "travel bans to affected areas, or denial of entry to passengers coming from affected areas, are usually not effective in preventing the importation of cases, but may have a significant economic and social impact." (In other words, WHO is joining the Fuck Trump dog pile). Also joining the dog pile, is NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio, who urged NYC'ers to "get out on the town despite coronavirus" and visit the cinema.

Closer to home, my county published its first press release, simply suggesting testing for anyone who may have been exposed.

On March 9th, Governor DeSantis declared a State of Emergency for Florida. Two days later, WHO redefined the outbreak as a Pandemic (dun Dun DUN!). Trump restricts additional travel from Europe (and later UK and Ireland). On March 12, Broadway went dark, and the NBA cancelled March Madness. Closer to home, my county urged the public not to participate in mass gathering (much of this was centered around Gator Nationals, which was later postponed). The next day, Trump declared a National Emergency. On this same day, our county library system suspended all of their programs, and the government schools were shut down until March 30th (one week of that was Spring Break anyway). Over in California, Disneyland shut down through the end of March.

On March 15 (the Ides of March, interestingly enough), a lot of stuff happened... The CDC warned against holding or attending gatherings with more than 50 attendees, for at least eight weeks (which would be through mid-May); Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris both close through the end of March; locally, the county library closed all of their branches through the end of the month.

On March 16, NYC closed all of their government schools, and Trump urged people to congregate in groups of 10 or fewer, and to restrict discretionary travel (though no mandatory quarantine or curfew). Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti ordered bars/movies/gyms closed, and restaurants could only offer takeout and delivery.

On March 17th, while I was out of pocket at the polls, our county issued their first County Emergency Order, limiting public assembly at 50% capacity for non-essential places, restrictions on restaurant hours, and restrictions on gathering sizes and mandatory social distancing. It was announced that all County offices would be closed to the public (though the county employees would work from home when possible). Also, at this point, all Disney construction was ceased, resorts closed, and Disney Springs shut down. And sadly, the Star Wars Rival Run Weekend was cancelled (only weeks before the race was scheduled to run). 

On March 19th, California issued a Stay at Home order for all 40 million state residents (NY followed suit the next day).

On March 20th, NYC was deemed the US Outbreak Epicenter, and DeSantis gives Floridians "Safer at Home" Orders (though, again, no mandatory quarantine or stay at home orders).

I really wanted this Year in Review thing to be a lot more succinct, but no dice, I guess...

Anyway, closer to home, that brings us to Thursday, March 19th.

While I was recovering from working on Election Day, word came down from the Board (I work for the county government) that the County was going to be shutting down on Friday (as mentioned above). My boss texted me on Wednesday about this, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I got to work on Thursday.

When I got there, it was already pretty quiet, with many staff members already working from home. I used all Thursday to get things in order, setting up a VPN on my work laptop, making notes of passwords, grabbing various office supplies like highlighters and staples to use while at home. We were told that the office would be closed until the end of March. I made sure I had everything I needed for 2 weeks' at home and I closed up my office.

So, as of right now (Friday afternoon), I'm stuck working from home until March 30th, and then I'll go back to work.... We'll see how this goes!

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Who Are These People? - First Time as a Poll Worker


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WARNING!
Shit's Gonna Get Political
If You Don't Want To Read It, Please Move Along to Another Post
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I grew up pretty non-political. I don't remember hearing much from my parents when I was a kid. Hell, I spent most of my adult life not even registered to vote! When I was younger, I was led to believe that my vote didn't really matter, it'd be cancelled out by someone else anyway, so why even bother? So, I didn't bother.

In 2008, I was not happy with either choice put up by either party. I wasn't in love with Cheney and I damn sure wasn't in love with Obama. But of the two, I would have much rather had Cheney as President. This was also really the first time I started paying attention to politics, and the machinations of elections and campaigns. Even back then, the media and Hollywood were using their powers to discredit Cheney/Palin as much as they possibly could (who can forget Tina Fey's portrayal of Palin, and the joke - LIE - that will live forever, that Palin said she could see Russia from her porch?). But I didn't vote. And Obama was elected.

Did I learn my lesson in 2012? Did I vote? Nope. I actually thought that the country had learned it's lesson from the horrible debacle that was Obama's (1st) term, and would handily elect Mitt Romney. We all know how that turned out.

So in 2015, I made sure that all of us (me, Hubby, and the Kiddo) were all registered voters. I watched news and social media like a hawk, trying to learn as much as I could throughout the year, about all seventeen Republican nominees, while also learning everything I could about Hillary's dirty past. And day in and day out, it blew me away how the television news, newspapers, Twitter, Facebook, and all manner of elites pushed and pushed and pushed their Democrat nominee. They lied about any Republican they could. They hid detrimental information about Democratic candidates. It was more of the dirty pool from 2012, but ramped up to the 10th power.

This household voted Republican in the Primary (we voted for Ted Cruz), and we voted Republican in the General, three little votes helping to usher in Donald Trump to the White House. And since the day he came down his silly golden escalator, this man has had to put up with some serious bullshit on a daily basis, 99% of which he doesn't deserve. But even worse than this torment and bullying was the outright lies and half-truths told about him and his people.

Gratuitous Use of Deadpool on the Escalator GIF

So, in the past year or so, I've gotten a lot more interested in politics, both nationally and locally. Locally, because though Florida voted for Trump, the county I live in is so blue, it's practically navy, especially in local elections.

A few months ago, at work, we got an email from HR stating that the local Supervisor of Elections was requesting County staff (of which I am one) to train to become Poll Workers. HR liked the suggestion, and even offered paid leave for us (on top of whatever we're paid if we work as a Poll Worker). Well, I've lived in this county long enough, and I've worked for this government long enough, and they never do things like this... All I could see was that the Democrats wanted to have more Democrats working polling places, possibly to commit types of voter fraud (especially after 2016, with Broward and Palm Beach County). So,I signed up to be a Poll Worker, mostly so that I could see for myself what goes on behind the scenes, and document it, if I saw anything untoward.

I'm happy to say that I didn't see anything. At least not at my precinct.

After a training a few months before, I was assigned to be a Ballot Distributor at a precinct that wasn't my precinct. I was told that each polling place, by law, is required to have both Democrat and Republican Poll Workers. (So, basically this told me I'd be in a room full of Democrats all day!) Also, it was heavily suggested that I accompany the Election Clerk that evening, when the ballots are returned to the Supervisor of Elections office (again, for the same reason of two parties). 

So, bright and early Tuesday morning, I packed a bag full of snacks, journals, soda, and other random stuff, and made my way to my precinct. It was a beautiful church, nestled back in the woods near a creek.

Exterior view of my Precinct

I ended up being the first one there, at 4:30, but C (the Election Clerk) came in right behind me, followed by BS (the Ballot Scanner), AC (the Assistant Clerk), D (the Deputy, not like a police deputy), and two EOs (EvID Operators, the ones who check IDs).

Interior view of the precinct (illegal to take photos of a polling place during an election)

Once inside the gorgeous sanctuary, we had to set up the room. Luckily, on Monday night, members of the Church had already set up tables and chairs for us. I went around and put up privacy screens on the tables, and spread them 6-feet apart (as apparently Chinese Coronavirus has infiltrated the United States and is getting bad).

Privacy screens similar to what we used

At 7am, the polls opened, though we only had one or two people that early. It was mostly Democrat for the first hour; I didn't give out my first Republican ballot until almost 8am!

In our county, the process is relatively simple; present your ID to the EvID Operator, who will give you a slip of paper, which tells me (the Ballot Distributor) what type of Ballot to give the voter. At the top of the ballot there is a number and a letter (such as 69R, with the number representing the precinct, and the letter representing the party affiliation). It was my job to show the voter that the slip matched the ballot, and then give them a blank ballot. Very simple process!

Around 9:30am, a lovely congregation member brought us all donuts! And then we were joined by Mrs. T, sitting in as a Poll Watcher. I wish I'd interacted with her more; I was curious what she was looking for, and if she felt vindicated or let down that she did or did not see what she was looking for.

There was a mid-morning rush at 10am, and coupled with a blind voter (I've met her before, she's a lovely woman) who has to use one of the ballot scanners to "read" the ballot to her, there was a tiny back up, but nothing major, and it calmed again by 11.

With the way the room was set up, it was kind of disjointed, in terms of team work; the EOs and the Deputy were huddled together, while the Clerk and Assistant Clerk sat together between me and the EOs. On my right was the BS, all by himself. So, on my side of the room, it was very quiet and peaceful; on the other side, the EOs and the Deputy spent all day talking about Covid.

At 11:30, I took my lunch, enjoying a delicious baked pasta prepared by another clergyman, and local chef (they said it was mac & cheese, but it was full of bechamel and Alfredo, so not quite). I was back at my table by noon.

I had my first real "sleepy" yawn at 2:45 and starting drinking cans of Pepsi I brought with me. Also at this time, we'd had 208 total voters (with 29 Republicans and 11 Independents). Also, at this time, we began to have voters who didn't understand how to vote.

Voter Story #1
Jim the College Kid was given a "No Party Affiliation" ballot because he's a registered Independent. Florida is a closed Primary state, so he couldn't vote in the Democratic primary. He had absolutely no idea why, and continually said, "But I voted for Obama, man!" Once the Clerk explained to him what the issue was (though the kid swore up and down that we were wrong), he had the kid fill out a Change of Party Form.

Voter Story #2
Instagram Susie with a very heavy accent took her "No Party Affiliation" ballot and then came back up, asking me "Who are these people?" pointing to the local elections for County Commissioner and such. I explained that they were the people running for commission, and she said, "How do I know who to vote for? Where are their letters?" Uh, what letters? Oh, letters! Holy crap, woman... she didn't know who to vote for because none of them had a letter (D) or (R) behind their name! Basically, this told me that this woman has no idea what she's doing, who any of these people are, what any of these people represent, and she would vote for them solely on the letter behind their name!

At one point, the Clerk came by and told each of us what we'd be paid for working as a Poll Worker (EvID gets $180, Deputy $160, Scanner $170, and Scanner $150). Wow! I got paid about 3 weeks later, and it went into a separate savings account for an epic adventure next summer; more on that in a future blog post.

At about 5pm, the evening rush showed up, and with no lines, we closed the polls at 7pm. I had to count all used and unused ballots for each ballot type. I had to count all the EvID slips. These two numbers should total the same (they did - we had 334 total voters in this precinct). After that, we had to break down the tables and chairs while the Assistant Clerk and the Ballot Scanner handled the technical aspect of uploading results. I also assisted the Clerk with running all of his numbers, ensuring everything added up, and we were finally done around 8:45 (we would have been done sooner but the Ballot Box had to be rebooted, which added 45 minutes worth of wait to our evening). Not to brag, but he said it was the first time he'd gotten all of the numbers and math to come out correct on the first try!


Everyone else was free to leave, but I had to travel with the Clerk back to the Supervisor of Elections office (15 minute trip, maybe) to turn in the paper ballots and all other paperwork. After a 10 minute wait in line, we went back to the precinct, dropped me off at my car, and I was home by 9:15pm.

I am sooooooo tired today; I am so glad I took today off! The Kiddo and I are going to have a bit of a Ladies' Day. After I take another nap, perhaps.
   
  
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Hi, folks! Lazy here... 
Coming back and editing some of my posts from this year...

 
On March 9th, Governor DeSantis declared a State of Emergency for all of Florida. At this time, shanghai Disneyland also resumed limited operations (they fully reopened in May). On March 11th, the WHO redefined the outbreak as a Pandemic. President Trump restricted travel from Europe (and later, UK and Ireland as well). On March 12th, Broadway goes dark and March Madness was cancelled. Locally, our county was urging the public to not participate in mass gatherings (this was mostly aimed at "rednecks going to GatorNationals," which was later postponed). On March 13th, President Trump officially declares a National Emergency. Many people scream finally! while others scream Oh no, Martial Law!

On March 13th, our local libraries suspend all programs, and all government schools close until at least March 30th (later extended to the end of the school year). 

In California, Disneyland temporarily closes on March 14 and will stay closed through the end of March (as of June 4th, it is still closed).  

On March 15th, the CDC warns against holding or attending gatherings with over 50 people, for at least eight weeks. With this news, the local library closes all branches throughout the end of March, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris closes through the end of March, and Disney Cruise Lines suspends all travel through the end of March.The next day, on March 16, NYC closes all public schools through April 20th (and later, the remaining school year). On that same day, Trump urges groups of 10 or fewer, and restricts discretionary travel (but no national quarantines or curfews). Mayor Garcetti of Los Angeles orders bars, theaters, and gyms closed, and limits restaurants to takeout or delivery only. 

On March 17th, (while I was working as a poll worker, and away from any social media) my county issued its first Emergency Order 2020-02 limiting public assembly (50% for non-essential places; restaurants can only be open during specific times; 10 or fewer for all gatherings, etc), and County offices would be closed to the public (though essential services would still take place). Also, all Disney construction ceased at this point. 

On March 18th, Trump signed the second Covid-19 Relief Bill. China begins to report no new local infections (but since China's a huge lying liar who lies, are we really going to believe them?)