- Quarantine Day 67
- Another 2.4 million first-time unemployment claims last week
- Livermore cases: 45 (unchanged since last week!)
- Alameda County cases: 2,630; deaths: 89
- U.S. cases: 1,571,000+; deaths: 94,100+
Alameda County updated their shelter-at-home restrictions on Monday. Outdoor recreational facilities without shared equipment (e.g., tennis courts) may re-open so long as social distancing within the venue is practiced. There were probably additional changes I didn't catch. It also issued extensive documentation on allowed "highly regulated vehicle-based gatherings" designed to allow schools to hold some type of graduation ceremony. For such events, people have to stay in their cars, cars have to be separated, no food may be distributed, etc.
Trump continues to purge "disloyals" from the executive branch. This time it was the Inspector General for the State Department. He was supposedly working on an investigation of the Secretary of State for unprofessional conduct. The Secretary of State (according to the White House) asked that Trump fire the inspector and Trump did without explanation. Always nice to be able to fire the people whose job it is to provide oversight of your actions.
Trump got "caught" wearing a mask this week. He explicitly tried to hide it from the press, but someone got a picture of him wearing it anyway. Looking competent is apparently something to be avoided.
Last weekend, some morons in Livermore held a protest downtown about reopening business. Many downtown businesses condemned the group. What really gets me is these are not groups saying, "We can reopen responsibly. We can act appropriate and safely to get back to work with minimal risk." No, instead they're out in groups with no face masks and no social distancing. So the message they're really sending is, "We're too stupid to do what's right on our own, so you better keep enforcing shelter-at-home orders."
Heather (Ivy) and Jess (Beryl) completed the Spirit Valley quest in their Dragon Strike campaign. And my friends got halfway through The Battle for Bree last night. Tomorrow Ivy and Beryl will have to traverse Gambler's Pass on their way to Emrin to deliver Eliza's package to her brother. The name for the pass comes from the risks one must take when making the journey. Bandits, rock falls, avalanches, monsters, and the dreaded dragon, Darkfyre, are all possible dangers of the narrow path through the mountain and the rope bridge over the Red River.
Today is Heather's last day of school work. She has a five-minute one-on-one meeting with her teacher next week. And the following week they'll have a class "party" via video conference.