Coronavirus: Los Angeles #11

As always: many of us get too many emails already, even before this pandemic.  

So, if you would like these to stop, please feel free to say so.  (You won’t be the first to do so.)

Thursday, April 16:

Our routine has now developed into two walks in our neighborhood each day; one in the AM, and one in the PM.  Typically about 1-1/2 miles each, fully masked up and carrying hand sanitizer. Until 2020, our morning walks usually included a stop at Pete’s at 3rd and Fairfax, where we knew all the baristas well; sadly, this Pete’s closed at the turn of the new year. 

Then we moved our loyalty to GroundWorks, about 3 blocks west on 3rd. But, we have not been into any stores now for about four weeks.  I ask Nadine: “how long can we hold out before our yen for a store-bought Americano(her) or latte with oat milk(me) will overcome our caution?"

On the way out of our apartment, we run into Donovan, a good friend of Atheana and Cory who live next door.  Donovan used to have a red Mohawk, but has shaved that off, and he is wearing a mask; at first we don’t recognize him.

We each received our $1,200 Treasury checks in our bank account.  Unfortunately, since it was a direct deposit into the bank, we don’t get a copy of the Dear Leader’s signature.  Sad, very sad.

Friday, April 17:

Is it sinful to spend the whole day in one’s PJ’s?  So far, this is only a hypothetical question. But, still in my pajama bottoms, I have taken the trash down to the basement once or twice.  

A meditation teacher notes that this is a hard time for most of us, staying home alone, but may be Heaven for introverts.

Our son Phil is, among other things, a terrific photographer.  ( To sample his nature photos, go to: www.oceanlight.com ).  He has been working for many months to collect and organize and scan hundreds of old photos from the family, and that project is finally coming to fruition.  Seeing some of these old faces and places is fun and brings back a lot of memories, though I must say there are also many of them where I can not remember who all those people are, and what I/we were doing there.

On the down side, got a popup message from Apple that my iCloud storage was about full. Putting all these photos into this iMac has filled up our 50GB iCloud storage, so now we have to pay Apple an added $2/month to bump it up the 200GB.   Could not figure out how to increase it on my own, so had to call Apple support to get it done.

Saturday, April 18:

Several editions ago, I told of our little saga of ordering TP on Amazon.  Some confusing messages coming back from the vendor in China. In response to the tracking info provided, was told that our shipment was on its way, destined for “Germany”.

Now the LATimes has an article with this headline: “Cash down the drain for online TP buyers?”   A fool and his money are soon parted.

Large Amazon grocery delivery on the ground floor of our building, apartment MK, including a 12-pack of Coke.  It has been there for at least 24 hours.  I look at the label, and they have delivered it to the wrong building; it is for the building next door.   

We walk next door and ring the bell at MK; a nice young lady answers.  We talk and she tells us she has already gotten her money back from Amazon; why don’t we just take the items and use them ourselves.  But we don’t drink Coke. 

She comes back with us to our building, and she takes the Coke, and we take the paper towels and the TP, and thank her.  She is here from South Korea for a year, studying at UCLA, her two kids, 1st and 2nd grade, with her; her husband is stuck in Korea, at least for now.

Sunday, April 19:

Phone call with our son Elliott in DC.  He looked at his horoscope…and its the same as last week!!  Lots of badminton in their backyard.  Daughter Lina, twelve, is the best player in their house.

Morning walk.  Up to Beverly Blvd and the small corner market there.  TP and paper towels.  Heading home, see our neighbors John and Eileen Zwiers thru their windows.   It’s John’s birthday today, #58.  They are going to play Charades on Zoom with his three sisters and their spouses.

It seems every one  is into cooking and baking.  

Our nephew Benjamin in Stanford sent us a text with photo of his latest creation.  He is cultivating his own sourdough starter, and his loaf looks great.  

John (see above) is going to try his mother’s bread recipe.  

Nadine also got yeast at the market; goes on YouTube and finds a video; dough (not sourdough) is now rising in the bowl, and the oven is heating up.  Result was excellent (see photo below)

Nadine’s cousin Bruce's (Bay area) 70th birthday party on Zoom.  Great to celebrate with him, and to see family members we have not seen in a long time.  Locations included Bay area, NYC, CT, Yosemite?, Kings Canyon?, Jerusalem?, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Glasgow.  The question mark is because Zoom users can insert “backgrounds" of their choice.  But if you have used Zoom, and who has not at this point, you already know that.

That’s It For Now

 

Stay safe, wash your hands, keep your distance, be kind to one another, and call your (mother if possible).

Coleman

Photo/Video Gallery

There is an apartment near us with a family with one boy and one girl.  The children always have posted on their front door some "words to live by”.  

Here is their latest; rather on target I would say.  (Boy in blue; girl in red)

Nadine’s first bread baking effort pays off:

Coronavirus: Los Angeles #10

As always: many of us get too many emails already, even before this pandemic.  

So, if you would like these to stop, please feel free to say so.  (You won’t be the first to do so.)

Sunday, April 12:

First Amazon Prime truck drives up to our building at 7:15 AM.  A sign of the times we are in.  

Jeff Bezos must be making a fortune…a 2nd fortune, that is...or maybe his nth fortune.

Three Americans, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, together have as much wealth as the bottom 50% of all American families.  At least, as far as I know, they didn’t start out with big funding from Daddy.

Early morning walk.  All the parks in Los Angeles, including PanPacific Park, are closed for Easter Sunday.  Have to take a different route.  

The waiting line at Whole Foods seems to always be about the same; one long city block, spaced out diligently at 6 feet apart; the wait time to get in is about 25 minutes.  Very uncrowded in the store, no lines at checkout counters.  

No lines at CVS, where the spacing guidelines have been marked on the sidewalk and face masks are now required by law.  (see photos below.)

Later we catch Saturday Night Live (from Saturday).  A great effort, not the same energy, but thanks for doing it.  I liked Weekend Update as the best segment.

Then, another episode of Homeland.  We are wondering how it will end? Nadine thinks Carrie will die; I can’t imagine that happening.  We’ll see.

Monday, April 13:

Early morning meditation with Lesley Hyatt on Zoom.  Nadine and I are sitting, rather stiffly in appearance, on our couch in the den, looking like the couple in American Gothic. 

Lesley asks us to focus for a while on the sounds in our environment.  For us, this may include barking dogs, owners telling dogs to stop barking, delivery trucks (see above), trash trucks, etc.  

But today our neighborhood is rather still, and the half-hour passes quickly and is very quieting and restorative.

Tuesday, April 14:

9 AM: Nadine tries Zoom pilates with Robin Martini, in the Bay area.  Robin’s class was recommended by our daughter in Paris, Ashley, who is also in the class also; it’s 6 PM there.

Morning walk. We live in the neighborhood in which Nadine grew up.  About half-way between downtown LA to the east, and the beach at Santa Monica to the west.

The neighborhood feels strangely quiet.  Nadine says it’s feels like "The Truman Show", with Jim Carrey; a false or unreal world.  If we walk too far, will we bump into the edge of the world?

We head north from Park La Brea on Gardner St towards Beverly Blvd, past our local library, which is now closed. 

At home, I have three books checked out, but I can’t return them; the book deposit slot is taped shut.

From Beverly, we head back south on Vista.  This is the street where Nadine and Darryl lived when their first son, Adam, was born, 55 years ago; he is now a rabbi in Vancouver BC.

We decide to pick up dinner for tonight.  Our friend Analee Pasette in The Valley tells Nadine that Sharky’s, a Mexican grill chain, is also selling TP and vinyl gloves.  Who nu?  

We order a chicken bowl with chips and salsa...and the TP and vinyl gloves...on the Sharky’s website, and drive over there for the pickup. Everything goes very smoothly.  

Except the TP is "single-ply”. TMI?   I remember this from my childhood; Nadine says she does not.  (Analee’s husband Tony also complained about the 1-ply)

Wednesday, April 15:

FaceTime in the morning with Ashley and her husband, Neil; they sipping on glasses of wine in Paris; it’s 6PM there.

Neil, working mostly from home there, is enjoying this Paris without the normal big-city hustle and bustle.  The Eiffel Tower and the park around it are right outside their windows; trees are in full leaf, and he can hear the birds singing. 

This is the longest uninterrupted 2-on-2 conversation we have ever had with Ashley and Neil; What a treat!!

Two deliveries from Instacart yesterday.  We are totally out of $1s and $5s for tips to delivery persons, whose efforts we really want to acknowledge.  Can’t remember when we last used cash for anything.

California governor, Gavin Newsome, having regular noontime briefings.  I appreciate that yesterday one of the issues he focused on was what is being done for some of the most needy segments of our society, including foster children and the homeless.

That’s It For Now

Stay safe, wash your hands, call your mother, keep your distance, and be kind to one another.

Coleman

Signage outside our CVS at 3rd and Fairfax:

Face masks drying out in the shower after being washed:

A neighborhood child’s tribute to those who are serving us during the pandemic:

Coronavirus: Los Angeles #9/Final

My apologies to my readers.  Edition #9 “escaped" from my Drafts file prematurely.  This is the final version.

(This editor pressed the “Send" button instead of the “Save" button.)

As always: many of us get too many emails already, even before this pandemic.  

So, if you would like these to stop, please feel free to say so.  (You won’t be the first to do so.)

Wednesday, April 8

Anecdotal observations from our daily walk, this time thru PanPacific Park.  The Asian-Americans are almost all wearing masks; thank you guys.  The younger-Americans are the ones who most often are not wearing masks; shame on you guys.

Facetime Seder with Adam and family. As always, Adam does a great job of shepherding us thru the steps of the seder with fun, joy and nuggets of understanding.  

Na’amah, as always, irrepressible in front of an audience and a camera, did a great job with Ma Nishtana.  

Nadine cooked up a storm: matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, Deb’s charoset recipe, and noodle kugel.  A feast for just the two of us.

Did you know?  Most of the Shabbat prohibitions apply for the first two days and the last two days of Passover, but not for the middle four days.  However, the restriction against cooking does not apply during the holidays.

Thursday, April 9:

Now that Sanders has officially withdrawn from the Democratic nomination contest, praises are appearing in opinion pieces.  I did vote for Sanders in the CA primary, mostly because I believe the moral outrage in his message is valid and needed to be heard.  Now he strikes me as similar to the prophets of the Old Testament, to most of whom many Israelites did not paid attention during their prophecies.

LA mayor Eric Garcetti has issued an order.  Starting this weekend, store managers may refuse to allow persons to enter their premises if they are not wearing face covering.  Good for our mayor!!

2nd night seder with Nadine’s brother Curt, his wife Deborah, their son Benjamin at Stanford, and five of Benjamin’s friends.  Some tech difficulties with Zoom at our end, but it was fun just the same.

So good that we have these technologies that allow us to share these holidays with family and friends.

And Easter coming up for so many.

Friday, April 10:

Found a new and excellent meditation on Monday and Friday mornings with Lesley Hyatt, who is a good friend with both our son Adam, and our daughter-in-law Nadia.  Zoom working as intended.  And perfectly synchonized with the arrival of the noisy trash truck outside our window; fortunately I now know how to mute our microphone.

News reports that food banks and food pantries are seeing a large growth in demand; many more needy persons showing up.  The food pantry where I was volunteering, SOVA/Pico, unfortunately had to close because most of the volunteers where older and decided they could not risk the exposure to both clients and each other.  But in many cases, the pantries that are still open are being staffed up by younger people who are filling in and keeping things going.  Hats off to them.

I am a compulsive type.  Used to starting each day with making up a “to-do” list, and then checking off the boxes as the day progresses.  Nadine has complained in the past that “you are always busy”, and she is correct.  But now with few things on the schedule, and a lot more uncommitted time, I am finding that I am slowing down more and being a little more observant of my environment and myself.  Per our cousin Barbara Heitz, “your life has slowed down and your focus has turned to the minutia of daily life.”  Even making diary entries most days.

Saturday, April 11:

Afternoon walk, with mask, sun glasses and hat.  My iPhone does not recognize me anymore; have to enter my passcode.

Got home and logged on to this computer.  It sends me a message that I have “a new memory”.  From my computer to God’s ears.

Watching too many European female murder detective shows.  The heroine always has a surly teenager, and an ex-husband with a pretty girlfriend; there is a problem with a video that someone took of her child; and every time she tries to talk with the him/her about it, her phone rings and she has to leave immediately for work; an important break in her murder case has occurred.

That’s it for now.

Happy Passover and Happy Easter, as appropriate.

Stay well, keep your distance, wear your masks, call your mother, wash your hands, and be kind to one another.

Coleman

From our friend Michael in The Valley:

(Are we all totally consumed with the TP shortage?)

“Ran out of toilet paper, and now using lettuce leaves.  Today was just the tip of the iceberg; tomorrow romaines to be seen."

The answer to prior quiz:

The actress who played “Alice Nelson” on the Brady Bunch was Ann Davis.

Coronavirus: LA #7

As usual: many of us get too many emails already, even before this pandemic.  

So, if you would like these to stop, please feel free to say so.  (You won’t be the first one.)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1:

April Fools Day: Alan Canter says it’s false news that he is 79 today.  But it’s not.

With most of our old weekly schedule wiped clean, each day seems like the last.  What day of the week is it, I wonder?  

One might think that time would be going by slowly, but it seems to be the opposite.  Each day flies by, and soon it’s dinner time, and the day is almost over.

THURSDAY, APRIL 2:

How can we celebrate Pesach? On Zoom?  Nadine needs some staples for the food items, so we walk to Beverly and LaBrea, a very Orthodox area, where there is a neighborhood kosher market.   The store is very busy, and it’s impossible to maintain 6-foot distance from everyone else.  We are wearing our masks, but are concerned about possible exposure.  But we get everything she wanted there: matzo, egg noodles for kugel, gefilte fish, and sharp horseradish!  3+ miles roundtrip. 

My Thursday classes are available again, thanks to the internet.  R. Wolpe on YouTube.  Both R. Lebovitz  and UCLA/MARC meditation on Zoom.

Wolpe comments on how fortunate we are in this time to have the internet at this time, to stay in touch in various ways.  What if we were home alone with just the telephone and the USPS?  (How did our ancestors survive?)

Walking home, we talk about things that are troublesome in this time.  A song fragment pops into my head: “do I worry”.  That’s all; no other words, no melody.  

Hours later the whole thing jumps out at me: “Do I Worry” by the Ink Spots.  Here it is on YouTube: Do_I_Worry

How nostalgic this song is to me.  The Ink Spots had a unique style.  

I am a nostalgia lover.  One of the shows we are watching is “The Plot Against America” (HBO) based on the novel by Philip Roth.  The time period is 1940.  The story, an alternative history, is dark.  But, I love the vintage cars, the vintage clothes, and the vintage radio broadcasts.  The voice of Walter Winchell.

FRIDAY, APRIL 3:

We have put our cleaning lady, Alma, on hold, but intend to keep paying her as usual for as long as we can. So Nadine declares that we have to do the cleaning ourselves; I have been resisting this since the last time Alma came. (It’s not that big a deal; we live in a 1,200 sq ft apartment.)  We divide the work in two, hers and his.  I put my tasks on my iCal: Monday/den; Wednesday/living area; Friday/my bath.

On March 19, we ordered TP on Amazon.  The seller is Yinmeng Home.  (First we get the coronavirus from China, and then the TP.)    

On March 24, we get an email; our shipment has gone out, the carrier is EUB, and there is a tracking number.  I enter the tracking number into the website Global Package Tracking.  The good news: estimated delivery date: April 3 thru April 7.  The bad news: Destination is shown as Germany!!

SATURDAY, APRIL 4:

Morning walk to Farmer’s Market, where there is an abundance of fresh produce and virtually no lines.  Get just about everything we went there for.  Walked past WholeFoods; the line is a block long, but that’s because everyone in line is about 6’ separated from the next person.  It appears that about 80% of those in line are wearing masks.  Passers-by on the sidewalk cheerfully make way, as do we, so we are not too close to each other.

Our synagogue, Lev Eisha, has recorded a Shabbat service on YouTube.  Just four persons: Rabbi Toba August, canter Cindy Paley, vocalist Robin Winston, and a man on percussion who I do not recognize.  Each separated by 6’.  We viewed the service today at home. As usual, we especially enjoyed the Rabbi’s messages and the singing.  It’s not the same as being there and seeing and greeting our friends, but it was good to be able to see and hear and sing along.

FRIENDS WRITE:

Armin from West Hollywood, and a co-volunteer at SOVA food pantry (until it closed about a week ago):

"Thursday, 4/2...went shopping at Ralph on Wilshire...arrived at  7:00 am...NO line, went right in...same thing happened 2 weeks ago

Got 4 rolls of toilet paper (only package left) ; Matzo and eggs ($4.00 per doz).....I'm ready for Passover!”

Rick from The (San Fernando) Valley:

"Obviously you are getting cabin fever.  Lots of free time on your hands.  Hence each chapter of you blog gets longer.  Keep it up!  I too am getting cabin fever."

Libby (my first cousin once-removed) from Virginia:

"So sorry that you guys have it so bad. We are on a moderate shut down but it’s inching towards full shut down soon like you.  We get outside and play wiffle ball in the yard with kids cause it’s safer then being inside.  Grocery stores are open and so is Lowe’s ! Len flew the last flight back from Edinburgh about a week ago! Grateful that he’s safe and trying to stay sound in this shut down!"

Irv from the OC:

"A wonderful thing happened here Sunday.  One of the neighbors with a back patio that juts out into the lake stood in front of a music stand and with guitar in hand and a loudspeaker system in place, serenaded the locals - John Denver, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Everly Brothers - all the oldies.  People got in their party boats and floated toward him.  They pulled their chairs out onto their docks and they came with blankets and laid them out on the lawn around the lake.  It was magical!  Everyone cheered and applauded.  Our neighborhood, normally void of people,suddenly became a community for a magical hour.  He'll do it again Sunday.   Stay safe,   Irv"

HUMOR:

From my brother, Stan.  Another way to address the shortage of face masks:

https://youtu.be/Uob0AuMZynY

From our friend Michael in the Valley:

"Because of the severe COVID-19 problem, a shipment of horseradish for the seders is stranded in the Madrid airport.

So, unfortunately, the chrain in Spain stays mainly on the plane.”

(My online English dictionary did not recognize “chrain”, but Google did.)

THAT’S ALL FOR NOW:

Stay safe, wash your hands, call your mother, keep your distance, and love one another.

Coleman

PHOTO GALLERY:

The US census had an original date of April 15.  I think it has since been extended.  Advertising continues.

Not sure if this sign is in Arabic or Farsi. I suspect it’s Arabic because of the “ar” at the end of the web address:

Coronavirus: Los Angeles #8

As always: many of us get too many emails already, even before this pandemic.  

So, if you would like these to stop, please feel free to say so.  (You won’t be the first one.)

Sunday, April 5:

A few of you have told me that perhaps these emails were too lengthy.  Now your feelings are confirmed by an expert.  Today we spoke with our son Elliott in DC, and his 12-year-old daughter, Lina, who is quite mature for her age.  

I asked Lina if she was reading my emails, and she said she was.  

Then I asked her to be honest with me and tell me what she thought of them.  She said: “Zayde, I think they are a little too long”.  From the mouths of babes……

We are going to do two Passover seders this week.

On the first night, with our son Adam and family, in Vancouver, via FaceTime.

On the 2nd night, with Nadine’s brother Curt and his wife Deborah in Thousand Oaks, and their son Benjamin at Stanford.  Using Zoom.   We don’t have a laptop.  So plan to move our desktop iMac into the living area for this occasion. 

Monday, April 6:

It started raining hard last night, and into the morning.  If I seem somewhat obsessive about rain, well I am.  For those of you who do not live in a semi-desert climate, this may be hard to understand.

Our rainy season is typically from Thanksgiving to Passover/Easter, and our rainfall has been below average this year.  So, we are glad to get some more before it stops completely for about 7 months.

Sleeping in later, without the normal reasons to rise and get dressed early.  Staying in PJs for an hour...or more.  The pace of life has definitely slowed down.  But, although we have no outside the home activities anymore, yet there seems to be much to do.  The new normal.

Tuesday, April 7:

We are all in this together it seems: in LA, in California, in America, in the whole world.  Some sooner than others, but I think all eventually.

But some are much more exposed to danger than others.  Charles Blow writes in today’s NYTimes: 

Of workers in the top 25% earning quartile, over 60% can “telework” from home; of workers in the bottom 25% earning quartile, less than 10% can “telework” from home.

Nadine talks to the Instacart delivery man.  He is working 12-hour shifts.  She tries to give him a cash tip but he won’t take it.

Wednesday, April 8:

This stay-at-home period has stimulated a deluge of creativity, resulting in many more emails and texts and FaceTimes and ZoomMeetings:

• Coronavirus newsletters, of varying levels of authenticity and credibility
• Ladies' chain-letters requesting recipe submissions
• Funny dog and cat videos
• Alternate Haggadahs for this unique Passover season

Humor?:

Seen in the personal ads section:

"Single man with toilet paper seeks woman with hand sanitizer for good, clean fun.”

Things to look forward to:

“Fauda", season 3, is coming to Netflix on April 16. Israeli secret police vs Palestinian insurgents.  Violent and anxiety-provoking, but very good.  If you have not seen it before, better start with the first season.

At the end of this year, with so many couples being isolated for so long, expect a rash of new-borns...and a rash of divorces.

That’s all for now:

For those who celebrate Passover: Hag Sameach

Stay safe, wash your hands, call your mother, keep your distance, and love one another.

Coleman

Photo Gallery:

TP in limited supply:

El Coyote, a local landmark Mexican restaurant (1937), with red naugahyde upholstery and waitresses in billowing colorful dresses, and one of many local settings in “Once upon a Time…in Hollywood”, is closed.  Not even for takeout.

From our daughter Ashley; an early Zoom meeting.

For extra credit: The housekeeper was named “Alice Nelson”.

Q: who was the actress that played Alice?

(Answer in next email)

Coronavirus: Los Angeles; Tuesday, March 31,2020

SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2020:

Nadine is more cautious than I would be, on my own, about being close to other people: ex: shopping in a brick-and-mortar store.  We have not been in a real store for ten days now.  Thus, my chatter about ordering on-line in earlier letters.  I think I overdid it, so no more of that for a while.

A lot of stores have been setting aside the first hour of the day for seniors.  Our friend Arnie in The OC decided to take advantage of this, and went to Ralphs early for this hour.  There was a huge line of old people waiting.  He estimated it would be two hours before he could get into the store, get his shopping done, and check out.  So, he came back later that day about 5PM, and there were no waiting lines and no checkout lines (and few old people).  So much for that great idea.

I am struck by how uneven the burdens of this epidemic are on various groups in our country (let alone the world).  

• People like us are relatively comfortable; not worried about our income, at least for the present, which is mostly pensions and Social Security.  Don’t have to go out at all.  Have just about everything we need and want, at least for our physical needs.
• Then there are those who have lost their jobs or most of their income, with no reasonable way to get it back in the short term, and are also asked to stay at home.  They must worry a lot about their finances, and wait for the “corona checks” which they are told will be arriving..
• Then are those who are home alone, and can get little or no human face-to-face contact.
• Next are those who must go to work to keep the basic wheels of our economy going; food supply, utilities, deliveries, fire and police, etc. and risk exposure themselves.
• And finally the health workers, who must go to work, and who are exposed to being infected, often it appears without the normal protections for their own safety.

SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2020:

A friend with direct knowledge reports that gun sales are up in the USA.  "Smaller gun shops can not get any new shipments in”.  

Why is it that whenever there is some kind of emergency in America that people go out and buy more guns?  We already have almost as many guns as people.

My winter garden is still producing.  Only one head of cabbage left to harvest, but still a lot of potatoes in the ground, and the chard just keeps growing and growing.  The cosmos are blooming like crazy, and marigolds are starting to bloom, and the zinnias and sweetpeas will be in bloom soon.  “Volunteer” tomato plants from last year’s fallen fruit are also popping up now.  Lots of ladybugs in the garden; this is a good thing because they eat aphids.

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2020:

Times like this seem to bring out the best...and the worst...in people.  Our building has 150 apartments.  We live on the 3rd floor, and to avoid using the elevator, we have started walking up and down the staircases. 

Today, as we were coming back up the stairs, we saw an opened Amazon box left on a landing. In it were some supplies for a CPAP machine (used by persons who have sleep apnea, including me, so I recognized what the contents were).  It was addressed to our neighbors in the apartment above us, a family from Peru, with two kids; the husband is attending USC for a year to get an MBA.  I took the box  up to them, and returned it, which they appreciated very much of course.

What is happening is the low-life scavengers are in our community, and know when the delivery vans roll in.  They wait, and then enter the building, and take packages that have been left in the mail lobby, or in front of individual apartment doors!!

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020:

Hard to believe that the first three months of 2020 are over.

We take our morning walk. Virtually no cars on the streets. At intersections,  pedestrians are crossing the street against the "don’t walk" sign, because there aren’t any cars.  

Passersby on the sidewalk move over, as do we, trying to maintain at least 6 feet distance. Even the dog walkers.  But the dogs don’t realize they’re not supposed to be friendly to strangers.

Construction projects still going forward.  On-going is the construction of the Fairfax and the LaBrea stops for the Wilshire subway.  A large 25-story apartment building near our house.  

On LaBrea, an OSH store closed about a year ago.  Now being remodeled.  The workers said it will be a Target store.

There is already a Target at La Brea and Santa Monica, and another at La Brea and San Vicente, about 3 miles apart.  Now there will be a third half-way in between.  Now many Target Stores do we need in our neck of the woods?

POLITICAL STUFF:

In the NYTimes on Saturday, Timothy Egan reports: “The public radio station in Seattle, KUOW, has stopped airing Trump’s live briefings, because the volume of misinformation he puts out cannot be corrected in real time.”

I hesitated on this, thinking about “freedom of the press”.  

But if the media are free to publish whatever they choose, they must also free to not publish whatever they want.

Also, don’t the people have a right to know what the President is saying, and let them judge for themselves about his accuracy and motives.  Yes, they do I am sure they will always be able to get the unedited version on Fox news.

I say congratulations to KUOW.  It doesn’t matter who is putting out untruths and uninformed, let alone dangerous, opinions.  I hope other media will get this message, and start editing these live briefings and adding some context before publishing them.

For more, see the KUOW statement on their website:

https://www.kuow.org/stories/kuow-statement-on-live-white-house-coronavirus-task-force-briefings-35a2 

And you can sign an on-line petition:

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/ending-live-daily-coverage-of-trump-s-covid-19-briefings?share=79f424fd-5d79-496c-b97d-ecf6bb3b72c9&source=email-share-button&utm_medium=&utm_source=email

JEWISH HUMOR:

Our friend Rick’s wife Lois said to him: “Maybe we can do Passover on Zoom”. To which he replied: “Yes, Lois, I think June would be fine.”

In case this epidemic lasts thru the year (God forbid), the motto for Hannukah this year will be “The holiday where we make one roll of TP last eight days.”

Stay safe, wash your hands, call your mother, keep your distance, and love one another.

Coleman

MY PHOTO GALLERY:

A cheer-leading sidewalk artist in our neighborhood:

An enterprising neighbor:

Kobe-mania has subsided a lot, but it’s not over yet: