One thing COVID19 has assured me of is that government remains terrible
We’ve all heard the stories. Governor’s overreaching. Cops arresting people who are paddle boarding alone, driving alone, and generally doing things that threaten no one. However, the cops do turn that into a threatening situation. Here are two ways the .gov has personally impacted me:
When my wife passed, we were out of town. The governor ordered a shutdown of the state and I couldn’t leave because she was in the hospital. Everything is shutdown. All of it. Except for fucking toll booths. I’m no epidemiologist but it seems to me that thousands of people coming into contact with a small group of people over a long time period would do more to spread the disease than people going to the beach. But the state’s gotta get that revenue.
Then
, once I returned home, I received the most bizarre telephone call. First, some background: When my wife was still alive at the hospital, I asked specifically if they were going to test her for the coronavirus. They told me no because she displayed no symptoms. I couldn’t stay with her at the hospital because of the virus protocol. I could only visit if they called and allowed me. The hospital called and informed me that a CT scan confirmed that she had suffered a collapsed lung due to chest compressions and this put her at risk. As such, they tested her and it came back negative.
Then the call happened. Caller ID identified the number as the Tennessee Department of Health. On the other end of the line was a woman named *redacted* who stated she was a Registered Nurse with the department. She had no sense of social interaction and her speech pattern was so bizarre that I thought it was a robot call. And I hung up on her and blocked the number. She was seriously fucking weird.
Two days later, I receive a letter from *redacted* at the Health Department stating it was urgent that I call them. I called and, sure enough, *redacted* answered the phone. Still incapable of picking up on common human social skills, she inquired about my wife. I informed her she had passed. She oddly offered condolences and informed me that she was part of the team tracking virus related deaths in the state. I told her my wife tested negative for the virus. And she told me that when my wife was tested out of state, that hospital informed the department she had been tested. But didn’t tell them she was negative. I found it very strange.
I’d bet $100 right now that she is counted among the official death toll in Tennessee due to COVID19,
April 14th, 2020 at 9:17 am
Sorry to hear about that nightmare you had to suffer through.
At our local hospital we had an old guy who fell off a ladder and eventually died from the head injury. But he also tested positive for the Commie Cough – so Covid 19 was listed as his cause of death.
April 14th, 2020 at 11:36 am
We need some Irish democracy.
April 14th, 2020 at 1:06 pm
I continue to offer my prayers for your family. I haven’t lost a spouse, but I did lose a child some 35 years ago. I still think of him daily. There will be a time when the good memories will far outweigh the loss.
April 14th, 2020 at 1:51 pm
The state gets fed money for each Covid death.
April 14th, 2020 at 2:44 pm
Half of all Americans have below average intelligence. These people gravitate to careers in government, academia, and media.
April 14th, 2020 at 2:49 pm
Sounds like a nightmare alright. FWIW, down here in Florida, the toll-booths are still in operation, but there are no people working there, so you can’t pay cash to cross the bridge and when they bill your plate from the cameras, there is a nasty charge over and above the toll. I’m sure as far as the state is concerned, win-win!
I’m with Ron – it’s a natural fit for the below-average.
April 14th, 2020 at 6:12 pm
@Ron and Hartley, I think it’s not “below average intelligence”, but devious and evenplans and actions to use a crisis, perhaps a convicted one, to gain more authoritarian control. It’s the Hegelian “problem-reaction-solution”, create or use a problem to generate fear and an emotional reaction by which a pre-planned solution is imposed. Of course, that’s branded a “conspiracy theory”, a term which has been used since the JFK assassination to discredit anyone who doesn’t parrot the official and media narrative.
April 14th, 2020 at 10:24 pm
Welcome back, Uncle.
April 15th, 2020 at 5:47 pm
As someone who has worked for the state of Tennessee for over 30 years, I can offer a simple explanation. The way that the laws are written by the legislature requires agencies to follow certain procedures that don’t seem to make sense in many cases. Also, there are often regulations that are tied to federal funds that require agencies to sometimes cross t’s and dot i’s no matter how stupid they are and how much they defy common sense.
April 15th, 2020 at 6:43 pm
Legislators don’t police. Police don’t legislate. Neither one of them really knows what the other does. Unfortunately, they are both government, and we are stuck with them and the logjams they create.
April 16th, 2020 at 10:50 am
Uncle,
So sorry to hear about your wife passing, I know with the restrictions on visitation this whole thing has to have been a nightmare. I keep you and yours in my prayers.
April 16th, 2020 at 7:59 pm
Books are being cooked as we speak. Mostly to ensure “free” money from the feds.
we are being screwed. You saw some of it the bizarre call from the DHS nurse.
My wife is coming out of chemo for cancer and that has been rough enough. I am not sure how I would handle her passing.
I pray for your kids as well and hope they are able to cope with her death.
April 18th, 2020 at 4:26 pm
Your loss still has my head spinning and asking God for his Grace on you, your wife and your babies…you’re about my oldest daughter’s age, far too young to be dealing with such a thing.
Couple days ago the NY gov jack up up their ChiCom body count by 3700…not people who had tested for it but who they suddenly “presumed” died of it. Raised the *national* death toll by 17% just like that. There is certainly some kind of pressure to maximize the vivid corpses to maximize the federal dollars thrown at it. The old and inevitably accurate saw is to “always follow the money”. Why should a national tragedy be any different?
You’re a tough little dude, don’t overdo the stoicism, your babies need you.