Plague post o' the day

RantWoman logs the following pandemic points:

--RantWoman is brewing a special tirade about people including both the President and vice-President dissing public transportation, twice in two days in connection with pandemic concerns. The full tirade deserves its own post.

--RantWoman has been somewhat neglecting one line of work because of all her disaster preparedness activities. Disaster preparedness is not the only reason, but the whys are another post. Today, an email related to this line of work brought the sobering reminder that RantWoman is in interpreter databases and IS getting information related to masks and personal protection and such work. RantWoman is very glad to know such messages are going out.

RantWoman is also vexed by one point about all this parade of mask information: what if one's client is hard-of-hearing and needs to be able to read one's lips? Is this another job for video Skype from another location? Should interpreters just stock up on thos plastic riot shields favored by some police forces? RantWoman is not going to meditate endlessly on this question in the hypothetical vein mainly because she has other worries in queue ahead of that.

--RantWoman gratefully in fact notes the COMPLETE lack of pandemic anything at her eye care provider's today.

--Little Sister is surprisingly light-hearted and freakout free. KNOCK ON WOOD about her staying that way. At one of her medical encounters, Little Sister snagged masks enough for her household and for RantMom as well. In light of the above email, RantWoman figures she can get a mask if necessary. Well RantWoman reckons that she most certainly hopes people will balance their concerns with other realities and pace themselves if health care providers have masks if needed. Is RantWoman being unduly optimistic here at least about continued supply of things like masks? Possibly!

--RantWoman found a pair of much-admired former co-workers via social networking. Former co-workers are living in Mexico City and one of the pair provides interesting piquant details about greeting practices during these times, worthy of its own post, and about masks: Former co-worker wonders how safely to dispose of used masks in a country where multiple people will go through the trash as soon as it hits the curb and even more when it hits the dump.

--RantWoman notes with appreciation the energy and focus of one of her disaster preparedness team members. This person industriously researched one place to get a specify category of masks and then wanted to know more options. RantWoman is generally into do not panic--yet--mode so she does not entirely want to interact with the whole subject. This was one factor in her desire to support team member's own initiative (and possibly to benefit from the research) while offering only a little energy in return. RantWoman is considering whether her project team needs to do anything for our specific context other than refer people to the many sources of info currently available.

Pandemic flu, at least as experienced in the US so far seems likely to be a slow water torture of a stream of stress. It is GOOD not to have to fly into disaster mode full-bore, but coping with the slowly evolving water torture aspects is its own set of skills for sure.