Bert

Would you turn down $30,000? My wife is demanding that I take it. That's what my inlaws are offering. Their view in China is that everyone is dying of Covid-19 in the US and it is not safe there. The first pitch was that it was for the airplane ticket for my wife and son to return to China plus living expenses. I refused. Then, it included me. I refused. Now, it is just money in case of an emergency. We can return it if we don't use it. My wife doesn't understand why I still refuse it. I understand their attachment o their grandson. They pretty much raised my son until he was 4. She told me once before that she regretted letting him go to the US, as though it was her choice to make. They wanted to see him last year. My wife's mother was ill. We went. A few months later, they wanted to see him again. They paid for the trip. My wife ended up leaving early after arguing with her father. They say there are no strings attached. As I told my wife, we don't need the money. If there is an emergency, I'll come up with the money to do whatever is necessary. We are not poor. They can send the money anytime should there is a need. I understand with all the propaganda in China, they feel he will be safer there. I think he is safer here than in one of the most populous cities in the world (Shanghai). There are strings attached. I think she is trying to buy her grandson. Her words haunt me, that she regretted letting him go to the US. And, my wife does have an uncle pretty high up in the food chain there. He could make trouble for me if he wanted, although I doubt he would get involved. He's a friendly guy to your face, but I always get the feeling there's someone sharpening the knife in the backroom.

Did anybody see this Epoch Times video about the search for the origin of the virus? https://youtu.be/Gdd7dtDaYmM It pretty much excludes the possibility that the virus starting at the wet market. The most interesting aspect to me is the connection to Jiang Zemin. Could he have had the virus leaked to weaken Xi Jinping? Or was he trying to corner the market on a vaccine?

That's pretty much where my wife is at. I bought a bag nearly 4 years ago. We used half, mainly to grind up and use to make pancakes for our son. But, we still buy the yellow rice with saffron from Sam's, but, even that, we don't eat much anymore. My son's stable is circle noodles and corn. The circle noodles and corn is actually an english peas, carrots, corn, and green beans mixture, in case you are wondering.

My wife says there is a second wave happening in China. I haven't seen anything in the news to suggest that, although I think that it never stopped. I have heard that China will start reporting non-symptomatic cases.

I went to Costco this past Wednesday. My wife had pretty much banned me from shopping, but, despite her rules, she managed to acquire an infection over the weekend. She then past it along to our son. We use the Costco pharmacy. I was supposed to go Monday to pick up an antibiotic but with senior's day on Tuesday, she decided I could use the opportunity to pick up food with less risk. She threatened to go with me to ensure I complied with her rules. That meant our son would have to go. I finally convinced her that it would increase our risk and waste masks. Tuesday came and she refused to let me go. She later agreed to let me go Wednesday. Wednesday came. I drew the line at wearing goggles or a full face mask or face shield. We finally compromised on safety glasses, gloves, and an N95 mask. I intended to be there about 15 minutes early. I was going out of the driveway and she calls and demands that I wear a hat. I had to come back inside and look for a hat. There was little traffic, but the lights were timed poorly. It took about ten minutes longer than it normally takes with traffic. I get there at about 08:10. The first thing I see is a 35ish-year-old woman carrying only a pack of toilet paper grinning ear to ear. I suppose that she was disabled. I put on my PPE and exited the car. The line was wrapped around the store nearly to the end. I heard one senior say that she was there at 07:00. Everyone was spaced 6 feet apart. They let in 10 or 12 people at a time. It didn't take but twenty minutes or so. The first thing I noticed was the wall of toilet paper as I entered the store. There was a guy who asked every senior if they needed a pack and loaded it for them. I'd say about a third of the people had a mask and/or gloves. As best I could tell, I was the only one wearing an N95 mask. There were two old ladies shopping together. One was hunched over the shopping cart with no protection. Her mate was wearing a pair of red knit gloves. No doubt it gave her a false sense of protection. I mention her because she was pinging all over the place getting in my face the whole time I was shopping. She wouldn't maintain her distance. The store was well-stock. It even had paper towels and Lysol. The refrigerated section smelled like rotten vegetables. I picked up a salad mix. It was partially brown with an expiration in two days. Another pack looked better, but the expiration was the same. I declined. I picked up $401 dollars worth of stuff we likely will never use, including a bag of rice and spam. We're still working on the bag of rice I bought nearly 4 years ago. The store had most things but not everything. They even had seaweed back in stock. My wife has become a compulsive eater, dieting then snacking like the world will end tomorrow. She's gained about 15 pounds recently. Most of the checkouts were open. I had to wait for one person plus another finishing up and paying--about typical. I exited the store a little after 09:00. There was no line, but I supposed that is because the store was closed to the general public and the senior hour was over. The parking lot had nearly emptied. I hate to see what the place is like when it opens to the general public. There's a Bi-Lo grocery store about a half-mile down the road. She allows me to go there now by myself during the senior hour. She says I can't go out, then says she must have fresh food. Nobody shopped in Bi-Lo at the best of times. All the self-checkouts were closed. Probably a good thing. Before the senior hours, my wife went there and used the self-checkout. I was amazed that she could clean out the dried beans and bring home a cartload for only $17. She told me that she might have missed a few things. After looking at the receipt, I think she missed most things. It's happened before at Walmart. I took the barcodes back with me the next time I went shopping at Walmart. It was hard for me to make heads or tails out of the Bi-Lo receipt. I just said the heck with it. My wife is really paranoid about this pandemic. She stays up most the night reading the news. She used to talk most of the night with her mother but she unfriended her again recently. Now her mother lectures me with her idiotic rules on how to prevent infection. I did a little yard work yesterday. I had to move the car out of the garage. I came inside briefly to get the keys. We replaced the deck a couple of weeks ago. My wife was afraid that there might be viruses in the grass. She sprayed two large cans of Lysol in the house and left the cans laying on their sides at the entrance (probably hoping I would step on them and fall). She did it more to punish me, I'm convinced.

My wife intends to apply for her citizenship at the end of May. With all the backlog, it may be years before it is granted. Or, they might be practical considering we have been married over ten years with a kid and grant it immediately. When we when for her green card interview, they told us it might take a year. Depressed my wife. We got notice of approval the next day.

I did the same thing. I found one that I was going to buy. I had been following it for days and none had sold. Then I go to buy it and it's no longer available. It's the one with ten trays on Amazon. There are several versions of it and Amazon has some in stock. I don't have confidence in the UVC LED sterilizers. UVC lights do work, but it takes several minutes. They are dangerous and that is why I haven't bought an unshielded one. I'm afraid my six-year-old would get hold of it. In the meantime, I found information on Far UV from steriray.com. It sterilizes in seconds and is supposed to be a 1000 times more effective and is not hazardous to the skin or eyes. The catch? It's not available. There are supposed to be available in a couple of months. They will be taking pre-orders in a week or so. Right now, they are handmade. The inventor just says they will be very expensive because they are handmade. It seems legit. I'm on the list for a wand. If I can afford it, I will buy one. They do or will make one for HVAC systems and rooms. I imagine that your light will work for your CPAP machine provided that LEDs do work and all angles are covered. I thought about buying the light you bought and putting a box lined with aluminum foil over the top of it. I have to wear a mask per my wife. Eventually, we will run out and I will need a way to sterilize the masks. I have seen a study that shows that it works. It allows 1.25% more penetration and it weakens the elastic bands. Sounds plausible to use UVC.

We're forced to home school now. The first day didn't go so well. After criticizing his writing style, my six-year-old punched me in the stomach and called me a big fat idiot. I learned to give him more break time. My wife had to substitute for me a couple of days. She told me that if she ever had to do it again, she would commit suicide. It's was going better until the last couple of days. He's getting annoyed. Tells me I am the meanest daddy he ever had. Both of us will be happy when he returns to school. I don't see it happening this school year. Rumor has it that it will go online and there will be a list of activities for the children to do. No structure, just do something.

Good luck with going to China. I hear that they have banned all foreigners from entering the country any time soon. We used Oasis. They are located in the same building as the China Embassy, which can come in handy. I've never seen it, but my wife claims there is a traveling Chinese visa service that makes the rounds to the smaller cities.

The neighborhood had an impromptu block party yesterday. The music was blaring. The people were imbibing alcohol. Kids were playing about. Many people dropped by, one pushing a baby in a stroller. My wife was having conniptions just watching them. Meanwhile, I was standing in our yard with an N95 mask on waiting for my niece and her husband to show up to put the grill back on the deck. Seems I was the subject of debate by the partiers. After my niece and her husband left, I had to sanitize the deck and outdoor furniture, then strip naked and take a shower. I wasn't allowed to invite them in. The only part I don't like is that she keeps shooting me in the face with Lysol. I think that I will die of lysolitis before I die of the virus. If I go out shopping, I have to wear an N95 mask and safety glasses. It freaks people out. It won't be long before she makes me suit up in a full-faced P100 mask and gloves. I have yet to see another person wearing an N95 mask. The last time I was in Costco, I did see one Asian man and an elderly white man wearing surgical masks. The woman at the entrance freaked when she saw me. I don't complain. It's the right thing to do, and, it gives me practice for when the crap hits the fan in a couple to weeks. My wife decided it was best for her to do the shopping, since she doesn't trust me to follow the rules. But, now, they have special hours for seniors, so I do the shopping.

I live to die another day. The governor will announce in a few minutes that the schools will shut down for two weeks. Two weeks will put us at the case, case, case, cluster, cluster stage, and a couple of weeks before Spring Break. No way it ends in two weeks. It will only get exponentially worse. The boom should happen after Spring Break.

We have arguments about hygiene all the time. She thinks I am unhygienic. Previously, we had to take off our shoes and clothes and wash our hands as soon as we entered the house. We were golden after that. Same thing; she handles meat with her bare hands, goes to the bathroom, whatever. No need to wash hands ever again until we leave the house. Dishcloths only get washed when they are visually filthy. She might even use them to wipe the floor and then dry the dishes. In her mind, after she sweeps the floor, you can eat off of them no matter how long ago it was. Same with the toilets. Once clean, they are golden. I usually have to clean them. I can only tolerate so much. She uses the countertops to make bread. She sees no need to clean them before rolling the dough. I bought a faucet with sensors that are used to turn the water on and off. You have to left the faucet in the on position for it to work. I hoped that you would use it after handling meats to wash her hands. She uses it as a regular faucet, so it takes one extra step to turn the faucet to the on position then wave your hand, totally defeating the purpose. It was I who bought the hand sanitizer and Lysol and wipes. She had to wait until someone Chinese suggested it before she asked me to buy it. I had to show her again that we already had it. Now, she's a hygiene NAZI. But, she hasn't figured out the wipes yet.

My wife says one of us will be dead come Monday morning. She says our son is not going to school. I told her he will. Since I am nonviolent, I guess it will be me.

If I had known that she didn't need an actual green card to apply for citizenship, I wouldn't have replaced it. But, there is probably a gotcha in there. They likely would have made her apply for another green card for her rather than just submitting a copy. Now that she has applied for a replacement, a copy is sufficient for the citizenship process, so they say.

I was surprised. It was only $3,000. The one they held up was about $1,000.