{"id":4723,"date":"2020-03-19T19:47:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T23:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=4723"},"modified":"2020-03-19T19:57:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T23:57:08","slug":"day-7-covid-19-pandemic-march-19-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=4723","title":{"rendered":"Day 7 COVID 19 PANDEMIC MARCH 19, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
Day 7   COVID 19  PANDEMIC    MARCH 19, 2020<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
1 ) Borders closing all around he world.  American government said “Stay home\u201d .  If you decide<\/div>\n
to travel after today then you cannot expect help to get back. Same message applies to us I imagine.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
2) Italian deaths from COVID 19 now higher than deaths in  China.   Iran also in terrible shape asking<\/div>\n
UN for help.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
3) Some Cruise ships still cannot find  ports to disembark passengers.  Reminds me of descriptions<\/div>\n
of Europe during the Balck Death Plague long ago.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
4)  Please take a close look at Trump.  I feel he has  lost control.  Seems stunned.<\/div>\n
Comments are hard  to understand.  Turns to VP Pence often  (and VP Pence blathered in a cover up manner today).<\/div>\n
This is hard for me to say BUT WHO IS IN CONTROL?   I hope I am wrong. <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
5)  Also The blame game has started…<\/div>\n
China and USA\u2026lies and  counter lies.  Obvious the virus<\/div>\n
came from that wild foods market in Hunan\u2026but whisper campaign<\/div>\n
blames the US Army\u2026imagine that\u2026lies and counter lies. A terrible situation.<\/div>\n
I only became aware of the virus when the Chinese gov\u2019t began construction of those instant hospitals.  Someone<\/div>\n
must have known a disaster was unfolding.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
6)  THERE are only 2.8 hospital beds  for every thousand people in the United States. Not nearly enough.<\/div>\n
One solution that makes sense is the conversion of big hotels into temporary hospitals\u2026that<\/div>\n
idea may sound obvious but no doubt there are big problems.  Then the big cruise ship owners offered<\/div>\n
their ships as hospitals.  Not a bad idea, providing there is a port city.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
8) Did I really correctly read that Trump is placing responsibilities for recovery from COVID 19 on the American States?  i.e. \u201cI am not a clerk\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
9) Apparently the federal government knew the USA could not handle a pandemic in a report received more<\/div>\n
than a year ago.  Did Trump eviscerate America?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
10)   Now,what you have been waiting for…<\/div>\n
LOST in Paradise\u2026Patricia and Dave<\/div>\n
(for new recipients of this journal, Patricia and Dave are two Canadians currently stranded on tip of Florida\u2026i.e.Lost in Paradise)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cLook at that Dave.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYep, birds have wings but we do not.”<\/div>\n
\u201cAdam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThat comment is pushing it a bit.”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
(Patricia and Dave hope to catch the last flight to Canada at the end of March.  Their backup plan<\/div>\n
is to buy a wreck and drive it to Canada\u2026.a flight like was done in Grapes of Wrath.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
(This is the new owner of their boat which will be left behind)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
FLASHBACK:  OTHER DARK TIMES<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
7)  THE closest similar event that Marjorie and I faced was years ago<\/div>\n
when the Soviet Union collapsed and our son Kevin was teaching in Slovakia at a teachers wage<\/div>\n
of $125 per month and initially lodged in a jail cell in  Bratislava.  The Slovaks had been hit hard<\/div>\n
with a double whammy\u2026the fall of  the Soviet Union\u2026and the split of the Czechoslovak Republic.<\/div>\n
Slovakia was in a state of near economic collapse which became apparent when Marjorie and I<\/div>\n
paid a visit on our March break in Canada.  Perhaps best described in first person.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now Imagine it is  dark,  mid-March \u2026no leaves, no grass\u2026bleak\u2026.with an unmarked winery beyond the church\u2026cobbled street\u2026suspicious faces.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cDad, we  have arranged a party in a Slovak winery outside of town.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWho is \u2018we\u2019?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAll of the American School volunteers.\u201d<\/div>\n
(Actually all were getting $125 per month to cover living expenses but nothing else\u2026and even<\/div>\n
that amount was tough on the Slovaks.)<\/div>\n
\u201cWe have hired drivers to get us there.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo street signs\u2026no bill boards\u2026no street lights\u2026night time\u2026not many people<\/div>\n
around.  These villages seem deserted.  Ancient villages with front doors right<\/div>\n
at the roadways.  Everything is rather gloomy, Marjorie.  Dark\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHere  we are dad.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNothing here\u2026just a couple of barns and some houses.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThe barn is the winery\u2026you\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPssst. Alan, this does not look good.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo sign\u2026no light\u2026a bit run down\u2026scary.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMom,  I know what you are thinking, don\u2019t worry,  Slovakia has adjusted to communism. Their ways.\u201d<\/div>\n
( And we descended into a vaulted cellar lined with wine casks and people)<\/div>\n
\u201cWelcome, welcome,  your dinner is ready\u2026bottles of wine at each table\u2026more if you want.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDad, in your honour, they have brought in musicians in traditional  dress.\u201d<\/div>\n
(Our group of about 12 or 13 young people and Marjorie and me were fed  traditional food\u2026meat, <\/div>\n
potatoes, beets, bread\u2026while the music  played.)<\/div>\n
THEN THE MUSIC  STOPPED\u2026THE WAITERS FACES HAD TURNED TO STONE\u2026SOMETHING WAS WRONG.<\/div>\n
\u201cKevin,Why suddenly so quiet\u2026why are they so subdued suddenly?<\/div>\n
\u201cThey do not think we can pay for all this\u2026they think they have made a big mistake.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cKevin, tell the boss man that I will pay for it all\u2026food, wine, music\u2026everything.\u201d<\/div>\n
(that decision, I feared would wipe out all our cash\u2026but I had  to do it .. no alternative_<\/div>\n
\u201cHow much, Kevin?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThey want $140.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIs that all?  Give them this…$150\u201d  (I had figured three or four times that price)<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd Kevin, pay them quietly\u2026no big presentation\u2026slip the money to the boss guy\u2026now.\u201d<\/div>\n
THEN THINGS CHANGED AND THE BAND PLAYED ON<\/div>\n
(The little band started to play with gusto and more wine was put on each table.  Wine bottles<\/div>\n
with no labels I noted, and desserts arrived.  We sang and maybe danced the night away.<\/div>\n
And when we got ready to leave we were all given a bottle of  wine to take away with us.  No one<\/div>\n
really knew who had paid the bill.  May have suspected.  But I did not have to play the awful role of<\/div>\n
the big spender.<\/div>\n
That was an evening I will never forget.)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Why tell you this story?  Because we are now at that stoney moment in our lives. A moment when something<\/div>\n
big is wrong.  A moment when we cannot pay for everything that is needed\u2026a moment when many of us<\/div>\n
fear for our jobs, most fear for their health.  Many fear for America\u2026<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
OR, put another way, We are standing in a small Slovak village with no lights and a pot holed  road cobbling its way past houses<\/div>\n
with dour faces.  In front of us is a winery but we cannot see it. There are no signs.  We hope that behind<\/div>\n
those ancient doors there will be light, food, music and revelry.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
There was another bright moment on that trip.  Kevin asked me to teach a lesson in the high school where students<\/div>\n
longed  to learn English.  I thought that would be difficult.  Not so.  The moment I entered the room everyone<\/div>\n
stood up at attention and said \u201cWelcome, Mr. Skeoch\u201d.   A sunny moment as Justin Trudeau would say. (Sunny Ways)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Let\u2019s hope. \u2018We can but hope that somehow good will be the final goal of ill,\u201d as someone said in a book I read  long ago.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
yours,  alan<\/div>\n
(claustrophobic feeling tonight)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 7   COVID 19  PANDEMIC    MARCH 19, 2020 alan skeoch 1 ) Borders closing all around he world.  American government said “Stay home\u201d .  If you decide to travel after today then you cannot expect help to get back. Same message applies to us I imagine. 2) Italian deaths from COVID 19 now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}