Diane’s friend Sandie (who taught with Diane for years and is a member of Diane’s Book Club) is a master at sewing who offered to make us a pair of coronavirus masks. I chose the Super Hero theme and Diane chose a Blue theme (her favorite color). Do you have a coronavirus mask?
Ann made us each one.
Jeff, I marvel at the sewing skills some people possess. I couldn’t sew a button on a shirt without difficulties.
What a nice looking pair!
Hope you’ll stay well!
We have only simple white masks which we use when going shopping but my wife’s sister who is into quilting and her friends made a lot of masks for people in the poor city in Eastern Hungary where they live …
Maybe we should ask her to send us some?
Wolf, the Centers for Disease Control here are recommending cloth masks.
I have a homemade one from a woman in my building. Not as good as the real thing but since the real thing is impossible to get it will have to do. They keep telling you to use hand sanitizer but their is none to be found so soap & water will have to do for now. Also rubber gloves are non existent. Went to Kroger yesterday and noticed their cleaning product shelves bare. Can’t even get dish soap. And tp is still pretty scarce.
Steve, we’re seeing scarcities of sanitizers, gloves, and cleaning products here, too. But, fortunately, Diane stocked up on all that stuff early in the coronavirus pandemic.
Steve I made hand sanitizer by mixing alcohol (at least 70%) with aloe vera gel. The gel is just to keep your hands from drying out. I did 80/20.
We have tp on the shelves, sporadically and no shortage of dish soup. cleaning products are there, but limited choices. I have a good stock of rubber gloves as when a cousin died last year, her son gave me 2 full boxes (i use them under gardening gloves and when mixing meat loaf or cleaning) if you give me your address I’ll send some to you, but they are medium.
I ordered one from etsy (with dogs on it). I had heard that fabric was in short supply to make masks, as fabric stores are closed, so I found some I had bought years ago and never found a seamstress to make a jacket for me. I sent it to Dana Cameron who was making masks, but the fabric wasn’t suitable for the masks. She’s sending me one from fabric she had. Hope they can find something to make with the fabric I sent.
Maggie, Jackie’s last Principal at the first elementary school she taught at was obsessed with cleanliness and ordered hundreds of boxes of gloves. We still have a box from 20 years ago.
Jeff, Diane had a Principal who was obsessed with germs. Diane had gloves and masks from that period of her teaching career.
Maggie, Diane just returned from her weekly shopping trip to Wegmans. Diane found everything on her list except for…yeast! Everyone is home baking now so there’s a dire shortage.
Funny coincidence!
Yeast is almost impossible to get hin Europe, in Britain as well as in Germany and Hungary.
Re masks:
As I understand the experts those simple cloth masks just are a kind of protection for other people – the viruses that you send out when breathing, speaking, coughing if you are infected have a smaller chance of getting out.
Only the “real” expensive masks protect their wearers.
A real man walks into a crowd without a mask and takes deep breaths!
Bob, and then that guy starts coughing, and choking, and ends up dying in the aisle of a grocery store.
and infecting others, maybe loved ones
Colorful!
We have a couple we got at an urgent care last week, but Jackie ordered a couple from Amazon that should come in a week.
Jeff, you can’t have enough masks. Ours have to be washed after each use.
I went through most every one advertised on Amazon and all had a shipping date of May 22 as the earliest.
Steve, there’s a tremendous demand for coronavirus masks. I saw a box of N95 masks on eBAY going for $699!
We got a date of April 10 to 20 from Amazon
Jeff, most of my AMAZON orders are coming in a week instead of the 2-day delivery, which is understandable given these terrible times.
I got mine on etsy from river dog gear It was about $7 plus shipping and tax for a total of less than $12 and should be shipped in about 4-5 days from Utah.
There are a lot of masks on etsy, but many from out of the country
I have some dust masks left over from a couple years ago. Don’t know how effective they are, but they’re all I’ve got.
Michael, some masks are better than no masks.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2659878757666621&id=100009335696075&comment_id=2660210830966747¬if_id=1586090347551578¬if_t=feed_comment
Dan, thanks for the link!
I have some of the kind you get in drs offices. I wear them while dusting and vacuuming. I only have a few.
I’m staying put for 2 weeks, only going out to get my mail once a week.
I see a lot of cereal and soup in my future
Maggie, CNBC experts predict higher stock prices for General Mills and Campbell Soup. And, I wish I bought some liquor stocks. Those stocks are rising fast!
Granddaughter Amy sewed masks for the whole tribe last night. We’ll be getting ours today. I wanted a Lone Ranger-type mask, but it is just not to be.
Jerry, I’m sure you’ll look great in that Winnie-the-Pooh mask!
Jackie spent over $200 on groceries yesterday. They had most everything, but she wasn’t looking for toilet paper. Milk, fruit, bread, yogurt and ice cream, soup, chicken, spaghetti and sauce, cold cuts and tuna salad, carrots, we have plenty of food for a while. The freezer is full, the refrigerator almost so.
Jeff, same here. Diane has us well-stocked. I just saw Dr. Fauci on FACE THE NATION and he’s predicting that this week will be horrific, perhaps the worst week of the pandemic. We don’t plan to leave the house this week until this blows over.
Very stylish!
No one is surprised (being in the reddest area of a very red state—albeit one with a Dem governor) that absolutely no one around here is wearing masks. We’re still dealing with people who think the whole thing is a hoax or fear mongering. In fact, one of John’s Facebook friends posted something about “Why aren’t we focusing on the fact that this virus has a 98.4% survival rate?” and John had to very diplomatically explain that, even if only a quarter of our population gets infected, that’s still an incredibly high mortality rate plus the ones who survive will still require medical intervention during the course of their illness which is already overwhelming our medical infrastructure. And naturally when Trump says he won’t be wearing a mask, the members of his slavishly devoted cult also stand proudly in the “no masks for me…gub-mint ain’t gonna tell me what to do” camp. Sigh!
Best thing I’ve read recently was a post from a virologist who is also a parishioner at a church we sometimes attend. He says in 50 years, he’s never seen anything like coronavirus. He said, “It attacks your lungs like a weed-whacker on steroids.” Now there’s an image.
Deb, “weed-whacker on steroids” sounds about right. The WALL STREET JOURNAL had a series of stories about people who have survived the coronavirus. Most of them have lost at least 10% of their lung capacity…FOREVER!!! Even if you survive the coronavirus, it can damage you for Life.
Barbara made a couple, but they are tie-on, as there is no elastic available anywhere. The CDC has shown how to make a quick one using rubber bands, which will probably sell out.
Where are all the supplies going? Are there people with thousands of rolls of TP? There still is none on the shelves here. Proctor & Gamble, who make Chamin, say they have upped production 20% and are shipping as fast as it’s made, but where is it? Barbara made sanitizer with alcohol and aloe, but the real thing is unavailable. Same with so many other things. WHY?
Rick, Supply vs. Demand. It takes time to ramp up production. I’m sure companies are working around the clock to produce toilet paper and hand sanitizer. But the demand spiked and those companies can’t keep up. Also, people are hoarding supplies. There was a story in our local newspaper about a woman who stockpiled 10,000 rolls of toilet paper! Yikes!
She should be arrested for that.
Rick, that’s democracy in action. But who the hell needs 10,000 rolls of toilet paper???
As for groceries, etc., we have started planning our meals and what we’re going to need for the week. This was something I used to do all the time when the kids were young, not so much recently. I made a big lasagne yesterday—we had it last night and will have it again tonight. We have lots of staples—rice, beans, etc., and lots of canned goods. We’ve also been “eating out of the freezer” and using our stockpile of frozen meat (we have a large freezer, buy meat on sale, and vacuum seal it). I made a delicious braised lamb & goat stew with lamb & goat shanks last week. John and I have always cooked, never been ones for fast food or a eating at restaurants regularly, so while we can get the required ingredients, we’re ok.
Walmart is limiting both the number of customers that can be in the store at any one time and the number of items of each type customers can buy. John and Victoria went shopping on Friday and were able to get two boxes of Kleenex because there was two of them shopping. They got a six-pack of paper towels. No tp on the shelves. I suspect we’re going to see significant shortages very soon, especially of staple good. I’d recommend stocking up on rice, flour, and dried beans while you can.
Too late for us in Portland, Deb. Those things are all gone.
That lamb & goat stew sounds yummy. Jackie used to cook almost every day. But after we moved here (over 30 years ago!) she had a longer commute and started working longer hours, partly as union rep, then as de facto head of a mini-school within the school, later running half of a middle school, she worked longer and longer hours and got home later. (Generally, I dropped her off in the morning and picked her up in the afternoon.) We started bring more food in and then eating out more locally. Since retirement, she said she got lazy and only cooked occasionally. Face it, we have dozens of good and reasonably priced restaurants within a couple of miles of us. She started cooking more last year when I was home with a broken shoulder, and now is cooking regularly.
Jeff, Diane loves to cook (so does Katie and Patrick). But we were in the habit of eating out at a restaurant once a week. That has ceased during the coronavirus pandemic. And, sadly, many restaurants will never reopen.
Deb, Diane and I are planning to visit our local Farmers’ Market when it opens after Easter. So far we’ve been able to buy everything we need except yeast. TARGET is only allowing a dozen or so customers in the store at a time. And, we’re seeing more and more people wearing masks.
Less than two blocks from where we were staying in Florida they had a really nice Sunday Greenmarket. We’d walk over every week after breakfast (once, I got an omelet from a New Orleans Cajun guy), walk up and down, maybe buy a few things, and have a cup of coffee with free samples of warm sugar donuts. Jackie loved the orange and lime marmalades sold by this woman and went back several times, getting several jars to bring home. There was one stand that was your old-fashioned Jewish bakery. They make great, real, bialys, and we bought half a dozen, and Jackie always bought a muffin or rugelach or something to have as a snack.
Then, suddenly, one week we went back and it was gone, packed up. That was the first sign that maybe it was time to think about leaving. (Closing Starbucks was the last straw.)
Jeff, almost all of our favorite restaurants are closed. Many did Take-Out for a few weeks. But, now their web sites say that to protect their workers from the coronavirus they’re shutting down for the next two weeks. But, that might be extended…
I was at the 99c store a while ago and a guy had about 30 packages of elastic he bought them all. When my cousin died last year, her son was going to throw out 2 bags of rubber bands I rescued them as my paper is delivered in a plastic bag, even during the summer. If you want some, let me know and give me your address
We do get tp I saw it when I went for geezer hours (about 1/2 the time) the 99c store had some also
the thing I’ve had the most trouble finding is brita filter replacements. I did get one generic pack of 3 at cvs, but it doesn’t work as fast as the brita. Also thermometer, but the meyersons were kind enough to order one for me on amazon.
Maggie, Diane sent her packages of elastic to Katie in Boston where she’s making masks for friends. If we find any more packages of elastic, we’ll mail them to you.
thanks, but I don’t sew. just mentioned it for rick
Also…we’re supposed to be staying home, where no mask is needed. So George, where do you need that mask?
Rick, I have an appointment on Thursday with a neurologist. It was set up months ago. I’ve been experiencing occasional pain in the back of my legs. My orthopedic surgeon suspects it might be stenosis. I’m hoping the neurologist can suggest some therapy so it doesn’t get worse.
I have a box left here by hospice but they are single-use masks. Only need to wear one in a store I guess. And I have issues with breathing through one. It makes me short of breath-not a good sign but perhaps just claustrophobia.
Our problem with the masks is, they fog up our glasses.
Yes, Rick, we only wear them when we go to the store, or otherwise interact with people (as when I go to the doctor’s office on Tuesday).
I haven’t left the house in 3 weeks.
Rick, if you shelter-in-place your odds of contracting the coronavirus are essentially zilch.
Patti, the colorful cloth masks that Diane and I have become warm the longer you wear them. I hope we’re not going to have to wear masks in the Summer heat!
George – I wore a dust mask when I went out today (I’m the designated shopper for my little clan). Next time I’ll use a large bandana and look like I’m ready hold up the stagecoach.
Deb – That image needs to be sent to all those who think this is no worse than the flu. Masks are a rare site in my area, too, and people still stroll through the store as if they haven’t a care in the world.
Elgin, I was tempted by a large Bandana of the Stagecoach Robber variety, but opted for the Super Hero mask instead.
Same here in Hungary and my family tells me in Germany too – many people, especially the old ones that I meet when I go to the supermarket on “seniors time”, have neither masks nor gloves.
Seems they don’t know or just don’t care that we belong to a higher risk group. Btw I’m 77 and my wife is also a child of WW2 …
Wolf, Diane wears latex gloves and a mask when we go out. I just wear a mask…and I don’t touch anything!
Of course I was deadly serious about taking deep breaths in a crowd! Pearls before swine, I tell ya’!
I just saw an ad on TV for hand sanitizer! Only $19.95 for the BIG one pound bottle (plus S&H)! The little one we have is 8 ounces and cost under $3.00! Another price-gouging pirate steps forward!
Bob, I’m shocked by the fake Coronavirus Testing Centers that are popping up. These scammers are offering Covid-19 “tests” for $200 a pop. Of course, the tests are bogus and victims get ripped off.
Here in Hungary we have a big scandal right now:
The relatives of a politician in government are selling hand sanitizer, masks etc on the net at exorbitant prices. You can get 10 liters of sanitizer (that’s the minimum order) for around 200 €!
No one knows where they got the things from …
Can you imagine this?
So it’s up to people like American billionaire George Soros to help – he gave one million $ to Budapest, the city where he was born.
for anyone on facebook needing a mask, there is a video on how to make them out of socks no elastic needed. I can’t figure out how to copy and paste it here