Striking pictures show Hurricane Ida sweeping US Gulf Coast https://t.co/mnjdDRgN3j
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 30, 2021
Holding those of you in the area in our thoughts… check in as and when you can.
Our whole-of-government effort is already hard at work. We will be here to help the Gulf Coast region get back on its feet as quickly as possible — however long that takes. pic.twitter.com/LO4G4I13Am
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 29, 2021
Elsewhere:
The U.S. has the capacity to evacuate the approximately 300 American citizens remaining in Afghanistan who want to leave before President Joe Biden's withdrawal deadline on Tuesday, senior Biden administration officials said. https://t.co/Z2rHiA1Ldj
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 30, 2021
President Biden is planning to withdraw the U.S. ambassador and all diplomatic staff in Afghanistan by Tuesday, and it is unclear when — or if — they might return to the country, according to two U.S. officials. https://t.co/rmYuYFbGed
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 29, 2021
Baud
Thanks, Joe.
OzarkHillbilly
How many paper towel rolls is that?
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
All of them, Katie.
Quinerly
Well… JoJo las Orejas and I are in true countdown mode. Leave Fri for 4 months in CO, NM, and AZ. The Sienna is outfitted for sleeping and camping in parks in Southern CO in Sept and through AZ in Dec. With some hotels mixed in…. my regular rental casita in Santa Fe in Oct and Nov. This is the trip that I started planning in Nov to stay sane when I had the luxury of hibernation after early retirement at the end of 2019. It will also be JoJo’s first trip back to his native New Mexico since I adopted him from Espanola Humane Society in February, 2020. His “Aunties” are planning a birthday party for him in October. ?
I have debated about canceling the entire trip since the Delta surge. I have also considered canceling the CO portion and just going straight to NM the end of Sept. Hope we are doing the right thing.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone ?☺️☺️
Ken
@OzarkHillbilly: I wonder if the effort will be complicated by local Republican politiicans doing something stupid. For example, if they refuse to accept federal aid.
debbie
Can’t wait to see how many Louisianians vote against Democrats, even though they provided a far better response to disasters. //
Betty
I hope FEMA is better prepared now than they were in 2017. People in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands were very frustrated with the response then. This Administration hasn’t had much time to gear up for this level of disaster. Here’s hoping.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
narya
Good morning, everyone! Lovely sunrise this morning, and the cooler temps made the run so much more pleasant. And my agency is giving everyone off on Friday as well as Monday, so another four-day weekend in the offing (I took off last Friday, too).
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Looks like I picked the wrong week to buy a time share in the Khyber Pass
Baud
@debbie:
This won’t move any votes.
Baud
@Ken:
The governor is a Dem.
John S.
@Quinerly: I spent the entire month of July in the Blue Ridge mountains of NC. Granted, it was before the shit really hit the fan, but I felt much safer there than I do now in South Florida. I have absolutely no regrets.
Just stay safe and continue to take the same precautions you’ve likely been taking. Wear your mask, avoid large gatherings (especially indoors) and wash your hands.
SiubhanDuinne
@Quinerly:
i wish you and Jojo a safe, happy, and memorable trip. Please send us lots of postcards from the road!
OzarkHillbilly
@Ken: Yeah, they’ll try to ratfuck it. Then when all is over they will take credit for the successes.
satby
So I’ve referred to her as my daughter-in-law for almost 14 years, but last night my older son and his partner became officially engaged.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Tax breaks, here we come!!!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I take it is still too early to get the extent of the damage, from the hurricane. I will take it as a given the “Biden is weak!” stories were written last week.
Baud
@satby: Congrats!
OzarkHillbilly
Musical interlude: Mo Ghille Mear (My Gallant Hero) – The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin.
debbie
@John S.:
Pack lots of Purell too!
OzarkHillbilly
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: A hard rain is still to fall.
debbie
@satby:
Congratulations!
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Have you heard from your son?
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: My wife got a text about 5 PM yesterday, nothing since. Considering the power situation, I don’t expect to hear anything at all today.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
News said Verizon and T-Mobile we’re still up but AT&T was down.
Danielx
Old friend in Baton Rouge, still waiting to hear from him this morning…said yesterday pm his house was getting power washed with horizontal rain with 60 mph wind.
Quinerly
@John S.: thanks. My brain says, “I got this.” My heart, though, is very angry and selfish. It’s a mixture of things… Probably like it is with all of us. I’m so angry that we are now back in this mess l have been in a full on rage for about a month (which is why it is best for me to be back in hibernation after those few weeks of being out and about). I’m feeling really selfish too… The whole “if I can’t do exactly what I want to do and how I want to do, why bother?” thing. The small, selfish things…. I like restaurants and local bars. I love talking with and meeting strangers on these long, driving around trips. I love checking out the local music scenes on these trips. Obviously, my wings have been clipped.
Thanks for piping in. Much appreciated.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: oh, I’m such a sucker for the old language! Go raibh maith agat!
@Baud: @debbie: thanks ☺
Quinerly
@SiubhanDuinne: ❤️
Matt McIrvin
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: This will be Biden’s Katrina and proof of his failure no matter what he does or how it shakes out. And some fraction of liberals will swallow it. “Well, if Bush or Trump were President I’d probably be blaming all of this on him, so to be fair, I need to bend over backwards to be hostile to Biden now. Etc., etc.”
A friend pointed out to me yesterday that CNN seems to have flipped completely to being a copy of Fox News. I haven’t had the pleasure of watching it.
Kay
The tv coverage yesterday was sort of admitting this- but steered carefully clear of anything controversial, like maps.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
They were fine on the hurricane coverage. I think it’s because the regular personalities were off so they had more of a straight news reporter. That can’t last forever, obviously.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: Your son, and my friend’s daughter a bit further east of NOLA: waiting for word.
Ironically, Ally was evacuated to Baton Rouge with neighbors for Katrina 16 years ago when she was 12, but she and her boyfriend decided to ride out this one. Her mom, who stayed through Katrina because grandma wouldn’t leave is beside herself.
SiubhanDuinne
@OzarkHillbilly:
I love that song. It’s very similar melodically to a song I first knew as a Hebridean folk song, “Westering Home,” but which I subsequently learned was written in 1920 by Hugh Roberton.
In this video, the song starts at 2:25; but the whole thing is worth watching for the glorious Islay scenery: https://youtu.be/ZtTuc3wig4c
Kay
debbie
@Kay:
Some frightening photos on his feed.
Soprano2
@Quinerly: IMHO you should take your trip and take extra precautions where you feel it’s necessary. Delta is everywhere, so you aren’t necessarily in more danger in those places than you are where you live. I assume you’re vaccinated, so you should be as safe as you can be. I’m one of those who thinks we can’t stop doing things and living just because of Covid; we’re going to have to learn how to live with it, because it’s never going away. People are going to have to accept that there is a small chance they will contract Covid no matter what they do; to me the best strategy is to get vaccinated and take other precautions if you feel more comfortable doing so.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@satby:
Congratulations
satby
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): thanks!
waratah
@Quinerly: My sister in Australia is your twin and I am having to talk her down every day during the lockdown they have. She manages to find a reason to escape briefly every other day even to pick up groceries they bring to her car.
Spanky
Ida’s track takes it up the Mississippi and Ohio riversheds, so it’ll be many days giving all that water back to the Gulf. Through New Orleans.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
The most important calling for a true liberal is to convince right wingers of how fair they are.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Quinerly: Everything feels up in the air and it’s hard to plan. I have a pop-up book sale in my building on Sept 14. When I agreed to it, things looked good. Now the best I can hope for is that it goes forward but everyone has to wear masks.
OzarkHillbilly
@SiubhanDuinne: I like.
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
Wow, haven’t encountered a pop-up book in eons.
One thing no Kindle can handle.
;)
Kay
@debbie:
Not “frightening” for me. I think photos help people get their heads around the enormity of it. That’s what I struggle with anyway- the size of it. If I can “know” it on some level I’m less frightened. Find the edges of it. They did do some commentary in the coverage about how the hurricane was less “over land” and more “over ‘inland’ waters” but they didn’t draw any connections to land loss so if you were watching you’re thinking “but why is this different?” because I think of Louisiana as really freaking wet just broadly.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@NotMax: LOL.
My building does these pop-up sales fairly regularly. Sometimes outside vendors come in with clothes or stuff like greeting cards and wrapping paper that some people can’t get out to buy.
On Sept 5, another resident is selling the jewelry she makes, so we’ll both be there. I hope.
Quinerly
@Dorothy A. Winsor: that sounds fun. Good luck with that. ❤️
WereBear
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Try recruiting volunteers to help with social distancing, pacing, etc?
All about everyone’s comfort level, of course.
Mary G
My days of no insomnia are now over. So much shit raining down it’s hard to know where to look first.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@OzarkHillbilly: damn, the videos of the wind damage were something else.
rikyrah
@Betty:
I think it helps that there are people there now who actually WANT to do the job.
Matt McIrvin
@Quinerly: The question of “how careful should vaccinated people be?” is so up in the air.
I’ve heard people I consider reasonable say everything from “get vaccinated and live your life, at this point everyone’s going to get COVID so just trust in your vaccination to keep it from being too bad” to “total lockdown, get vaccinated and then stay the fuck home and avoid human contact as if you were unvaccinated, because even if you get a subclinical infection you might be breeding the doomsday variant”.
Personally, I have been following neither of these paths.
Kay
Strong defense of Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.
I think it’s important for the people who oppose open-ended military operations to defend him. The pro-war side is big and they have a lot of clout, as we’ve seen from the direction of the coverage. If we go back to the Bush-Cheney approach we’ll be stuck in an endless loop of terror/war on terror for another 20 years. Biden took all the hits. It’s time to back him up on it or shut up about being opposed to these wars.
Quinerly
@waratah: l’m normally very social. Just have been in an odd place in my habits and I guess in my mind since 3/2020. I was on the Navajo Nation finishing up a trip I started in Jan. Covid was just hitting the Reservation (my Navajo guide ultimately died of it a few weeks later). I started driving back to St Louis with new puppy. It was just as people were really starting to take precautions in rest stops/gas stations in Texas and Oklahoma. The world just started having a different feel for me on that drive back, with multiple piss stops for JoJo. Hard to explain. Sticks in my mind. I got back to St. Louis the day before everything shut down. And I just shut down….groceries delivered, etc. The pup JoJo became my world. In March of this year, I drove 3.5 hrs one way to get leftover J&J vax at a National Guard event since my age group wasn’t up yet.
I’m not special by any means. I realize how much this has affected all of us. I’m just so disappointed that we are back in this place. I think I coped with the change in my life from 3/2020-3/2021 by just “blanking out.” Has me thinking long and hard about the passage of time. Life in general…
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: I have been mostly shutting up about Afghanistan because the main lesson I took away from the Bush years was that I can’t trust my gut or my reasoning AT ALL about these subjects, so I should shut up and listen instead of saying anything. But the thing is, the people who present as experts have been no good at this either.
rikyrah
@Quinerly:
Hope that you and JoJo have safe travels.
Why CO? Is it a hotspot?
I would think more AZ than CO.
But, whatever you decide, just be safe.
If you travel, I would never eat inside a restaurant. I would be always ‘ to go’.
Protect yourself against the lying unvaccinated.
Quinerly
@Matt McIrvin: I guess my biggest concern is even getting a mild case of it in CO while living out of a van with a dog who still thinks he’s a puppy (will be 2 in Oct) l got spooked about a month plus ago. 4 vaccinated friends here in St Louis caught Covid in the CO Springs area. Two couples, separate trips. The one husband is still not feeling great. Fatigue. Cough.
Quinerly
@rikyrah: thank you, sweet girl. Always appreciate your comments and posts.
Quinerly
@Soprano2: thanks so much!
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
A lot of the “expert” commentary, to me, seemed like blatant ass-covering. I mean, it’s fine, I can still weigh the validity of what they’re saying but does the blatant ass-covering make them less credible to me? Yes, it does. I think this is the correct way to approach it. I don’t, actually, have to willfully ignore self-interest when evaluating information. That’s insane and no one does that in real life. You roll it in as a factor. They want to bring in the architects of this to tell me the foundation was solid when the building collapsed? Okay, but I’m adding “architects of this” to my evaluation. If it were me I’d ask an architect who doesn’t have a personal and career and financial interest, but I don’t do the booking.
zhena gogolia
@Kay: He has been by far the best commenter on this whole situation.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WereBear: The governor has issued an order that as of today, masks are mandatory inside. I’m guessing management will have a tough time getting the old folks to go back to masking.
MattF
‘In solidarity with the people of Louisiana, Ted Cruz is on his way to Cancún.’
James E Powell
@Kay:
I’d love it if the narrative could swing in that direction. I’d settle for it ending up a net neutral politically speaking.
Nicole
@Quinerly:
I hear you. I agree with others who say we have to get vaccinated and mask up during periods of high outbreak, but that we’re also going to have to learn to live with Covid, as it’s now endemic, like the flu. Fortunately, if vaccinated, one is highly unlikely to get sick at all, and even less likely to get very ill, and I think that’s what to focus on (we wear the masks to keep from spreading to others). Other than having an active case of the flu, I don’t think it stops us from traveling. Take precautions and have a wonderful trip; we’ll look forward to reports from the road.
(But I’m so with you on the frustration. I’m with satby and helenfromeire today, looking at my fall trip to an EU country likely being postponed if the new restrictions on vaccinated travelers are too onerous, which is a bummer. I’m turning 50 this year and I’ve had cancer twice in the past 5 years and darn it, it would have been great to have celebrated completing another turn around the sun someplace I’ve never been. But so it goes. I will gladly live vicariously through road trips of others who own cars. :) )
Scout211
Meanwhile, here in NorCal the Caldor fire is moving quickly to the east. TheTahoe basin is now under an evacuation warning and Echo Summit and Meyers in the highway 50 area and the Silver Lake and Kirkwood areas of highway 88 are under mandatory evacuation orders.
Both highway 50 and highway 88 are closed to traffic due to the fire, so the routes toward the west from Lake Tahoe are limited to interstate 80 only.
https://www.kcra.com/article/caldor-fire-el-dorado-county-aug-29-evacuations-tahoe-warning/37427381
rikyrah
@satby:
YEAHHH!
mrmoshpotato
@Betty:
Thankfully for those who will be in need, we have an actual president now, and not the Kremlin’s orange fascist shitstain.
frosty
@Quinerly:
Have a great trip! Re: delta, the camping shouldn’t be a problem. We did it in 2020 when COVID first took off. As far as the hotels, fingers crossed that we’ll have passed the peak by then. It was 6-8 weeks in India and the UK, which means … counts fingers since early July … about now. Oh.
Ramalama
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Did you hear an interview with a pissed off Susan Glasser and Molly Jong-Fast going OFF on Biden for Afghanistan (and Democrats)? I mean was she not alive in 2001 when people lost their livelihoods for objecting or questioning the blob?
rikyrah
@Kay:
I completely back 46. He did the right thing.
Let the GOP run on sending soldiers BACK to Afghanistan.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Nicole: I gather the issue is in cumulative and not the individual, so many people get sick at once that small percentage who need serious medical care overwelems the system.
Kay
@zhena gogolia:
This is harsh, but they seem addicted to lying about this war. I suppose they think this is “advocacy” and they put it in some noble frame but the fact that they’re still operating under this assumption that lying to the public is the “noble” route is really disturbing to me.
What they built fell down in the first stiff wind. They’re really going to continue to insist to the public that it was resilient and solid? They were just dramatically and publicly shown to be liars. I’m not even asking for an apology. I would settle for “stop adding new lies”. No projections from you people! You are OUT of the projections business.
How can they possibly say what WILL happen when they won’t even admit what HAS happened?
It isn’t a mystery. The Washington Post did a huge expose using their own documents and correspondence. They’re all aware of it.
rikyrah
@Quinerly:
Please get your J&J booster shot before you go.
I guess you already know this, but, the Native Reservations are some of the most vaccinated places in the country.
Ramalama
@rikyrah: I’ve been arguing like an idiot against a bunch of proud anti-vaxxers on Twitter and this Covid survivor page on facebook (some of whom, yes, are taking Ivermectin). Never occurred to me that there’d be people who’d lie about the vax. But of course.
NotMax
Music for Ida: Summer Storm.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Ramalama: I refused to watch the news because of that kind of reality TV crap; there is no useful information it. That always begs the question “What should have Biden done instead, besides another twenty years of war for which no one in this country wants?”
rikyrah
@Kay:
It is not harsh. Cause, it’s the truth.
Baud
@Kay:
This is 100% accurate.
NotMax
@Enhanced Voting Techniques
Unfriended Afghanistan on Facebook, silly.
“There. Problem solved.”
//
Enhanced Voting Techniques
It’s also hilarious transparent to me, it’s always “this why you are wrong” never “this is why I am right”, basically an argument from authority . I’ve mentioned the few times I’ve encountered journalists on twitter and my god do they ooze condensation.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@debbie: AOT,K.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@Baud: the voters of louisiana still remember how the obama-biden regime botched katrina response.
long memories, & bad memories…
Kay
@Baud:
Such cowards. They’re withholding judgment until they see how it plays out. Not a luxury Biden has.
The Moar You Know
@Matt McIrvin: They have. They seem to have decided in the last couple of weeks that Trump or a reasonable facsimile is preventable without giving fair or honest coverage to Dems.
They are wrong.
NotMax
@MontyTheClipArtMongoose
Recall Dubya, after dragging in generators and whatever the contemporary equivalent of Klieg lights are, giving an address while standing in front of a building (a church?) with a tower prominently showing a stopped clock.
Nicole
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: All the more reason for vaccination since that’s one individual choice we CAN all make that will severely reduce the chance that we’ll be one of the ones overwhelming the system. And masking up during times of high transmission (like now) will help reduce risk of us spreading it to anyone else who may not be vaccinated.
I’ve lived in NYC since the early 90s and spring of 2020 was the worst I’ve experienced here. Worse than 9/11. I’m still very, very anxious; I never stopped masking indoors, but Covid is not going to be eradicated; that horse is waaaay out of the barn. We have to figure out how to get it to a manageable level of risk, meaning we reduce our risk of severe illness/dying from it as much as we can. Being vaccinated and masking in public areas on travels is a very manageable level of risk.
(That said, I sure don’t blame the EU if they say, “Fuck this shit” to potential American travelers. I’m very disappointed, but I get it. They need to look out for their own nations’ health.)
mrmoshpotato
@MattF: Which Louisiana Senator will flee to Cancun first?
Kay
Notice how she moves the goalposts. Why, she would have accepted something less than tens of thousands of Americans in open combat with the Taliban! Why weren’t didn’t Biden allow Raytheon to submit a counter offer?
zeecube
We evacuated from St Tammany Parish (north of New Orleans) to Houston, but my daughter stayed in place with her in-laws (they are on high ground, in a clear field, and had a whole house generator and provisions). She was able to make it to our house to inspect for damage. We were fortunate. Downed tree, power line pole and fence, but house intact. Downed trees and power lines everywhere. She could not check on our office as roads into town blocked by debris. So, hoping for best. BTW, their generator broke last night. Lucky for her, we reserved rooms for her in Houston before the storm, If she can get here.
No power and most of the parish without cell service. Seeing folks who are online looking for gas and water. This all seems very similar to extent of damage St Tammany suffered in Katrina. Likely it will be a few days for roads to be passable, and weeks until utilities restored. It’s a mess.
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
“Give me Club Med or give me death!”
//
Mike in NC
Trump claimed that he couldn’t assist Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria because it was an island in the ocean, surrounded by water. Had nothing to do with the fact that he was a psycho who despised Puerto Ricans who didn’t buy his shitty condos.
waratah
@Quinerly: I wanted to let you know I understand how you feel. My sister had a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands booked and refused to cancel until the cruise line did. I try to help her by distracting her and giving her somewhere else to direct her thoughts.
Quinerly
@frosty: first 2 nights are hotels in Kansas. ? We get a late start Friday since I have to load everything the AM of. Advantages of living in the inner city with no garage. Love my neighborhood of 37 years but can never leave anything visible in a car overnight. Taking my time to get to my first “touristy” stop Sun AM…. Sandcreek Massacre Historic Site, then first night sleeping in the van at John Martin Reservoir SP, CO. Then, 2 nights in CO Springs at a Santa Fe friend’s family home that she still owns. Hence, my being a little spooked about CO Springs.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: I’m fine with Shithead Ted throwing himself into the Sun.
NotMax
@Quinerly
Good of you to give advance notice so that the sudden noticeable dip in the percentage of Missourians masked and vaccinated after you cross the state line will be anticipated.
;)
Quinerly
@waratah: totally get it. Appreciate your words. So much gets lost, I think, when typing this stuff out. I guess I have reached a point that is it really worth the effort to go out… Do much of anything. Then I snap back.
Quinerly
@NotMax: ?❤️???
Soprano2
I wish every reporter would ask them this question in every interview. They cannot admit that the government they stood up and spent 20 years promoting folded like a house of cards in 10 days. It was built on a foundation of sand, but for some reason they want our military to keep propping it up and defending it! Tell us why our people should risk their lives for this.
Booger
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I sure hope autocorrect changed that from ‘condescension,’ because otherwise, ooh gross.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@zeecube: I’m glad your house is ok. I thought you were mostly conveying good news until I got the line about the broken generator. Hope your daughter continues well.
Nicole
@Ramalama:
I saw on Twitter this morning, a photo someone posted from a feed supply store of a note stating that ivermectin will only be sold to horse owners, and customers must bring a photograph of themself with their horse for proof.
(The person posting the photo asked, how many horse owners carry a photo of themself with their horse? He’s clearly never owned a horse.?)
SiubhanDuinne
@Mary G:
Not up!
Almost Retired
@Quinerly: fwiw, we did much of your trip in reverse earlier this month: Los Angeles to St. Louis for a wedding via Santa Fe and visits to relatives in Colorado Springs and Kansas. Compliance levels in CO Spgs and Wichita seemed high enough although we were careful (as always) and only ate indoors if the restaurant configurations offered distanced tables or booths. Hotel protocols seemed as strict as they are here in California. We through caution to the wind and came back through the Dakotas, but we survived that (largely by not interacting with the natives and sticking to nature, ill-advised pit stop in Sturgis notwithstanding). Go for it!
Barbara
@Quinerly: My family went to NH last week, and there were a few situations that made me uncomfortable. Coming back, I am trying to lay low and not see too many people. I have been wearing a mask indoors for more than a month. Retail establishments in NH were inconsistent on the issue of mask wearing. Most advised but did not require it. The bigger retailers (LL Bean, Garnet Hill) required it.
The next issue for us is a long delayed wedding reception in NC. I feel for the couple, they probably thought things would be calm enough by September when they started planning. But there seems to be quite a bit of magical thinking, that somehow the vaccine would “save us” even if they, personally, didn’t get vaccinated. No one is willing to tell us the vaccination status of other people who are going to be there.
NotMax
@Nicole
‘”Good try, but there’s no question that’s Secretariat. Fourth one today, too.”
Lapassionara
@Quinerly: Have a great trip, Quinerly. Post early and often, as I travel vicariously through you and Jojo.
Barbara
@Kay: It’s not just ass covering. It’s rampant conflict of interest by people working as consultants, board members or employees of large contractors who have been receiving the opposite of a peace dividend for nearly two decades.
rikyrah
@Barbara:
Oh HELL NO!
They can’t tell you the vaccination status of those attending?
Uh uh.
Better buy a really nice gift and send them your regards.
rikyrah
IDA was so powerful that she reversed the flow of the Mississippi.
Damn.
Barbara
@rikyrah: Yeah, I know. It’s my nephew and his new wife. We feel bad about the whole thing. We are all vaccinated and some of us feel more secure about what that means for us than others. It’s going to cause a rift if we don’t go. I know that one of my daughters is going to bow out.
Eunicecycle
A judge in Ohio orders a hospital to administer Ivermectin. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/08/30/judge-orders-cinci-hospital-to-treat-covid-19-patient-with-ivermectin-despite-cdc-warnings/
NotMax
@rikyrah
And get hit with a fat invoice from the wedding couple?
(Presume you’ve already heard about that.)
Quinerly
@Almost Retired: this part of CO will be new to me…. Tnidad, Pagosa Springs, Crestone, Alamosa, Durango, Ouray, Silverton, Telluride, Mancos. Eventually make to Marble Canyon and Page, AZ end of the month. Was there on a long trip that included Utah in 2017. Finish up September camping at the North Rim of Grand and Mesa Verde. Hotel with friends in Farmington, New Mexico (where I was when Covid hit 3/2020) and Chaco before cruising into SF for the 2 months. If I have to hunker down there, I at least have a roof over my head and know the area like the back of my hand. Thanks for piping in. ?
Ksmiami
@Ramalama: Don’t. It’s not worth it. Let them die. We will be better off
zeecube
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Daughter will be fine. She’s resilient and resourceful. Switch broke on generator. If they can connect with company, should be able to get part to fix. Funny part is, pre-storm, she asked us to make reservations for next week as she thinks she could put up with her inlaws for only a week max.
Quinerly
@Lapassionara: ?❤️???
Another Scott
@Quinerly: It’s hard. I’m sorry.
But we really have made amazing progress even with the multiple waves we’ve been suffering. Remember back in the winter and spring of 2020 when it seemed hopeless and that it would be 5+ years even to have a vaccine if things went the way they normally went…
Things are getting better again – infection rates are dropping in Mississippi, R is dropping just about everywhere.
Yes, things could have been much better. With competent leadership that wasn’t actually trying to get people killed, things would have been better still. But there’s reasons for optimism.
Repost – Dean Baker at CEPR – Denmark and the case for optimism:
We have competent leadership now and are making progress.
Hang in there. Best of luck with your decisions.
Cheers,
Scott.
Quinerly
@Barbara: lots of hot spots in my birth state of NC. Where is the wedding?
Ksmiami
@rikyrah: locals are over 70 percent vaccinated but they’ve been inundated with unvaxxed vacationers
Ken
@Eunicecycle: The hospital could try those magic words, “This is not covered by your insurance.”
Quinerly
@Another Scott: thanks. Your comments are always so kind and thoughtful. Much appreciated.
NotMax
@Quinerly
What, no Fruita?
Too late in the calendar for the Headless Chicken Festival, though.
zeecube
@debbie: If equation is x – y = z, then x is 100%, y is rate of Covid vaccination in LA, and z is % of people who vote Republican. Z can also be % antimaskers in LA.
Eunicecycle
@Ken: This story was the first thing I saw this morning on the news and I had to walk away for several hours.
rikyrah
@NotMax:
I have. I think that’s ridiculous.
Kent
Regarding Ida.
One of the towns that was in the epicenter is Grand Isle, LA, which is a barrier island beach town on the top of LA. Go to google maps, look at the location of Grand Isle, look at the texture of the surrounding land, and then use google street view to walk around the town looking for any high ground. I’ve been there. You won’t find any.
Now imagine what a Cat 4 hurricane with 6-9 ft storm surge did to the place. I don’t think we have seen any video of pictures of that place yet but I have to wonder how much of it still exists.
NotMax
Wrong linky above. Fix.
@Quinerly
What, no Fruita?
Too late in the calendar for the Headless Chicken Festival, though.
Soprano2
That doesn’t mean that was in any way a viable option. I assume the NY Times never mentioned that she’s on the board of Raytheon. You’d think that would be an important fact for the readers to know.
Feathers
@NotMax: Thanks for the link, finally read the story on the invoiced wedding reception. LOL. It was a destination wedding! In Jamaica! For people from Chicago! During a pandemic! Having done some event planning, how did they not know who was attending? It’s a lot of work and money to get from Chicago to Jamaica. Did they not work with the hotel to find out who had booked in their room block? That’s one way to get a count. This is why wedding planners can be worth the money. Would love to see a follow up story talking to their friends.
Ken
@Kent: There was a report last night that Grand Isle was completely underwater. I haven’t heard anything specific to Grand Isle since then.
Baud
@Kay:
Cowards is an appropriate word.
JPL
@Eunicecycle: WTF
We are so screwed.
piratedan
@Quinerly: drop me a line if you need some additional AZ oriented options for S. AZ state parks and things to do in Tucson. Would be happy to meet for lunch if circumstances allow and the vibe is right.
Nicole
@NotMax: ??? I wouldn’t put that past some right wingers.
(My brother commented that, for actual owners there should’ve been a follow-up note saying photos limited to one per owner. ?)
Spanky
@SiubhanDuinne:
From MaryG:
That’s the Ivermectin kicking in.
JPL
@Quinerly: Have a wonderful time. Since GA is a hot spot, a local doctor reminded people that the virus spreads through the air, so wear a mask. He also said although rare, it can enter through the eyes. If you don’t have eyeglasses, you might want to consider buying some clear ones on Amazon.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Nicole: Well do keep in mind the evolutionary pressure on COVID is to be both more contagious and less lethal. Eventually it will end up like The Flue.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Mike in NC: That or Trump is such a dimwit he doesn’t realize Puerto Rico is part of the United States. Then again it could be both with Mr Stable Genius.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Booger: Curious how both words accurately describes them, isn’t it? Sometime the Autocorrect seems to know better lol
laura
@Quinerly: Gather up your chispa, and go with a light heart and a dog who I hope has learned a bit of English over the last year or so. Let your knees knock until you recover that traveler’s itchy foot. This trip will be different from past trips, and maybe in some ways better or more meaningful. Take every precaution and avoid the avoidable, but have that cactus pear cheesecake. If you feel that you are in danger come home, but go and go with a light heart. Also, pics or it didn’t happen.
Yarrow
@Quinerly: Colorado Springs has a lot of Christianists. It’s the home of Focus on the Family. That’ll be part of the reason cases are higher there.
As for staying safe, remember that Covid is an airborne virus. Outdoors in safer than indoors in almost every case. Get some good N95 masks or equivalent to have on hand for any questionable setting. Avoid crowds and look for outdoor patios and so forth.
In general, as happened last year, cases will start to drop in the south as the heat of summer wanes and people are less inside in the a/c. They’ll increase up north and in other colder places as people spend more time indoors in the heat. just keep that in mind as you travel and make decisions about where to go and what to do. Enjoy your trip.
sab
@satby: What was the rush
ETA: //
I have two “daughters-in-law” five plus years into the relationships. I blame the parents.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Barbara: Don’t discount egos in all this; the whole “my buddy is a SERIOUS person in DC so that makes me a SERIOUS person”. I rather suspect if was just as simple as DOD contractors looking for the buck they would have a more coherent message and avoid direct attacks on the politicians who set the budgets for their contracts. (not to mention the Contractors have the Cold War with China to make up for end of the Afghanistan War) There is a whole segment of the Defense Industry who have been dreaming of this withdraw for twenty years and money it frees up for Airforce and Navy contracts.
Just Chuck
@Feathers:
I suspect that’s a much shorter list now than it was before the wedding.
rikyrah
@Kent:
I read that it was completely under water.
Splitting Image
@Kay:
Precisely this. It may turn out that the Mango’s surrender to the Taliban will turn out to be the only good thing he ever did. I’m currently leaning that way myself. But if one wanted to complain, the time to complain was 18 months ago.
Biden has done as well as anyone could have with the hand he was given. There is nothing to do but keep the violence to a minimum until the last plane leaves, then turn the mission over to the diplomatic corps.
Matt McIrvin
@Quinerly: My summer vacation travel has been more modest and confined to Massachusetts. The one that felt hairy was in early August, when cases weren’t as high as they are now but Delta had clearly already gotten a foothold–and one thing we were planning on doing, with tickets I’d gotten as a birthday present, was to go to Six Flags New England near Springfield.
I decided to go ahead and do it. We masked up and stayed outdoors. But almost nobody else was wearing masks in the park, the social-distancing protocols parks had apparently been doing earlier in the pandemic were basically gone, and some of those roller-coaster lines basically involved being trapped under a tent in a scary crowd of teenagers. Though none of us (as far as we can tell) caught COVID, I’m not at all sure it was wise. I wouldn’t have done it if it were, say, Silver Dollar City in Branson!
That said, I do think riding those coasters was a great cathartic boost for my mental health. Maybe enough of one to be worth the risk. These are the calculations we’re all doing.
Sure Lurkalot
@Quinerly: We did something similar in fall 2019…Carbondale, Telluride, Delores, Alamosa. Hiking everyday, beers every afternoon. Mesa Verde is a wonder as are the dunes. Check out Absolute Bakery in Mancos. Best breakfast, maybe best meal of the 2 week trip.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
Good things I am thankful for this week- my daughter got married and the whole weekend was gorgeous. They just closed on their house and I am going to be a grandma!
Now the stuff that’s not so good. My awesome niece and her boyfriend flew up from Houma, Louisiana about a week before the wedding, which was Saturday. And Ida happened . Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes have massive damage and no power and no water. There is a curfew and they are not allowing people back in due to the lack of running water. Carl service s shot and they can’t get word about his family, his home and business or their two dogs and two cats( they had friends who took their animals to try to keep them safe)
J R in WV
@Barbara:
Either they don’t know the vax status, or if they do know, they know it’s bad, as in not vaxed. I would decline to attend unless masks are required at all times. Sincere apologies to the happy couple, but just not worth the risk. Risk / benefit calculations have changed dramatically over the past 2 years.
We have been completely masked since march of 2020 for all indoor public activity except dental work… and our dental clinic is totally vaxed and masked for all actual practitioners. Clerical staff not necessarily masked, but they aren’t reaching into my mouth…
We went to a fully vaccinated 74th birthday party at a friend’s farm last spring, and had dinner out doors on a patio with good friends next door last spring. That’s all our social events past Balloon Juice (which has been a sanity saver!) since midwinter 2020.
Ramalama
@Nicole: Friend of mine has horses. I asked her if she was running low on certain suddenly-popular supplies. She also followed the same forum (both of us Covid survivors) and caught on much quicker than me with the eejits taking horse dewormer and … stocked up on Ivermectin early.
She knows other farms that are running into some trouble because they need it (and can’t locate it).
Ramalama
@Ksmiami: I’m too combative to actually make a difference.
Quinerly
Very late back to this thread. Thanks for all the kind, helpful, supportive words. Truly appreciate.
Quinerly
@laura: ?❤️???
Quinerly
@piratedan: emailed you!