Here in Oregon we’re entering week two of the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020. Cases are continuing to rise along with deaths. Washington County where Mia and I live is leading the charge which makes me slightly nervous.

Both Mia and I have been deemed essential by our employers and much of what I have had to do lately cannot be efficiently done remotely so it is off to the workplace I go. Neither of us are experiencing any major anxiety but we’re both definitely more stressed than normal.

The governor issued her stay at home order but since we both have to be at our jobs for the most part it makes it hard to stay in place.

Having been designated essential means we are both at work during the day and cannot run out for the “hot items” of the current panic buying frenzy. By the time either of us can hit up a store the shelves are bare again.

Just exactly how much freaking toilet paper do people need? On top of that why is this the commodity taking the hard hit. I honestly would have thought people would be stocking up on things like….you know….gasoline, propane, etc. Maybe that is the next step? I did fill up our propane tank for the grill the other day. God forbid something happen to the natural gas supply but we’d at least have a means to cook some food.

Not everything is doom and gloom. Mia and I headed out on a nice bike ride last Saturday.

We both also get greeted by things like this on a daily basis:

Lastly let’s talk about “essential”. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines essential as:
Definition of essential (Entry 2 of 2)1: something basic the essentials of astronomy 2: something necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable

As Government I am a firm believer that our main goals should be health, safety, welfare and transportation needs of our citizens. We need/want police, fire, EMS, etc to be working in the times of crisis. People want to know when they turn on the tap that water will come out, that if there is a fire there will someone there to douse the flames.

Next we move to those not so government items but still considered essential by most citizens. Electricity, natural gas, garbage pickup, and commodities in the grocery store (except apparently toilet paper and bleach).

What I cannot understand is why the hell some golf courses are still open. Heck liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries have been allowed to remain open, apparently they are essential. The sarcastic side of me thinks it’s because our glorious state officials would rather have the populace self medicating themselves.

That is about it for now.

Thanks,
-Pete