Thanks Heidi! Maybe when things calm down we can get together for some yarn and wine. Or just wine.
Definitely a plan! 
Looks like the boat is in Jersey City…all okay?
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I’m suffering from Coronavirus “fatigue”. Anyone else here with me on this?
My email account has taken on a life of its own, with updates from literally hundreds of commercial businesses that want me to know the measures they’ve taken to protect their employees–and me from exposure to the virus. Seriously, a T Shirt manufacturer in the British Isles needs me to know the aggressive cleaning discipline they’ve put into place in their offices and silk screen plants? An American airline sends me a flight offer “too good to pass up” (after the government releases them to fly again…); and tags on statements about how exhaustively they’re cleaning each plane’s toilets? Do I need SHUT IN: 60 easy Dinner Recipes You Can Make From What’s In Your Pantry, courtesy of a foods website?
I log into local news websites thinking I’m going to read about car jackings, assaults, gas station robberies, murders and other mayhems, and I get 16 to 25 takes on the status of COVID-19, locally and farther afield.
Jeebus! Give me a break.
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USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) is up at Pier 88 at the Hudson River end of 48th St. We can’t see her from here in Jersey City, opposite Wall Street. I would have liked to see her. I haven’t seen her since the late 80s when I was aboard the SL-7 oil tanker she used to be. I was on the naval architecture team that cut the ship in half and built a hull extension that includes all the operating theaters and the intensive care spaces. My role was intact and damaged stability. After years on warships working on hospital ships was a nice change.
Coming across the lower New York harbor bay yesterday morning our autopilot stopped piloting and definitely stopped being auto. sigh The autopilot quite literally steers the boat for us which is a huge boon under any conditions, but particularly so when the weather is so cold. It is a major safety aid as the attention necessary to steer can be applied to keeping a good lookout and navigating. Hand steering to Mystic (in excess of 24 hours at the time of failure) was not tenable. We stopped at Liberty Landing Marina in the shadow of the statue of liberty and started emptying storage lockers. On most boats important things that don’t need to access often are often accessed through large storage lockers that are ALWAYS full of stuff. We found the source of the autopilot failure and were fortunate that it was something we could address with resources on the boat. Tomorrow (Wednesday morning) we’ll head back into the Hudson River for final on-the-water calibration and then proceed up the East River, through Hell Gate, onto Long Island Sound, and on to Mystic arriving on Thursday, probably in the morning.
The owner is pretty happy with us. This could have been very expensive for him.
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Fatigue doesn’t even BEGIN to capture it. Maybe Coronavirus “exhaustion"? “Coma”? I know it’s no joke, but I don’t know what else to say.
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I have had to start limiting my exposure. I only watch the news in the morning and evening (as always) and keep the radio on (a mostly music station) during the day.
I make the conscious decision to limit it because I’m not sleeping…its better for my health
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Not sleeping here either, even with limiting. I’m going to add more distractions into our lives, connecting with friends virtually for social times. (Family too) Should break up the monotony that is only interrupted by sheer terror 
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Last night I didn’t feel like watching another movie so I searched online for ridiculously expensive foods. I don’t know why as I am not in a financial position to afford such things, but we’re all bored …
I found the usual things I was dimly aware of and something new. Look up Blonde Aquitaine Steak for yourself as I cannot do it justice by just posting how much it costs. If the thought of research fills you with dread, just watch this:
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Thanks Seal, now I’m going to have to spend $ 3,500 on a Blonde Aquitain Steak! The most off putting part of that video though was the chef using his bare finger to place the caviar onto the potatoes. Perhaps it’s the heightened awareness of current times, but please don’t finger f#ck my caviar with your bare hand before placing it on the plate. Is it too much to ask if I’m paying $ 200 + for an appetizer to have the chef wear a glove before handling my consumable food? Last I was at Mc’ Donalds (which was actually rather recently for a sandwich for lunch) every employee in the place were wearing gloves!
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The funny part is that when I saw this I thought, “Not even @NotJrvedivici would pay that much for a steak!”
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WOW! McGyvers! I knew you hadn’t planned on being parked there… glad to hear you were able to fix it. Safe travels!
ETA I just checked, and for those who are interested, they’re just entering the East River.
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I knew the Comfort was in NY and you were in Nj but was sure if you saw her enroute.
I see on the map it looks like you’ve been testing out the boat. Lots of little movements. I’m glad you got everything in working order. I think all boat people have to be a little like McGyver.
^ Same.
If a business I normally buy from offers an update or a resource that would help me during this time—fine. Otherwise it’s best for businesses to turn up their empathy to figure out what’s useful to their customers in this moment.
If a business isn’t adequately tuned in, they risk alienating customers at a time when pretty much everyone’s nerves are frayed.
FWIW, I wager that to a great degree this communication comes from people being scared for their livelihoods and their health. Marketers (I’m on a voluntary break now, but I am one by trade) have had to change instantly. Folks that have a job are trying to keep it. There’s no roadmap for what’s happening now.
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We looked hard coming out of Liberty Landing and did see USNS Comfort in the distance. Can’t mistake that big red cross.
Almost at Throggs Neck Bridge so will be in Long Island Sound. Sometime tomorrow morning in Mystic.
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It’s finally sunny here after too many gloomy days. I hope you get a chance to enjoy it on your trip
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I’ve added a long walk in the mornings, yoga online 3x a week (my bff is an instructor) which should at least help my apparent need to distance from my fridge!
I’ve also charged up my kindle, dusted off the bookshelf, and am sewing masks for the local community…that and a huge bottle of valerian root should help.
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Cheers . Said it so well as always .
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Corked on Netflix. I liked parts of it .
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We are beyond exhausted but feel we have to watch the mayor’s and governor’s daily updates, since it directly impacts how we can/cannot live our lives. The bright spot in that for me is the very cute ASL signer for the mayor’s speeches. I read an interview with him a couple of days ago and he said one of the challenges was having to figure out how to figure out how to sign for new words like Corona Virus and Covid 19, and even ventilator, when the deaf community as a whole had not really developed signs for them.
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