Day 12: California Under Martial Law Lite (Bedtime For Democracy)

When I started chronicling the California shelter in place order, I called it "martial law lite" because that was what I was seeing it head toward. Yesterday Humboldt County and Hungary caused my fears to become more solidified. Let's start at the beginning of the day, though . . .

Arcata has this area near a community center that is a playground and a large field where people usually play soccer. The space between the playground and the community center is now dotted with tents of the homeless, and when I went by there, the police were out in full force, though they weren't making them move. I'm not actually sure what they were doing to be honest. It was just an odd sight.

Later in the morning I heard that Hungary's Viktor Orban had successfully suspended democracy, being granted many powers with no elections or votes until this crisis is over. Then, with Humboldt's number of positive cases for Covid-19 reaching 21, our Public Health director tightened her emergency order, banning tourism, group sports, and reclassifying an essential business. Our sheriff stepped in after her and declared an emergency, mainly to get funds and to "prepare" the citizens for what is coming. California martial law lite no longer seems as clever. It seems to be a reality that is fast approaching.

Viktor Orban: As dangerous as Trump, but with a cooler name and accent.

With global strikes threatening capitalism throughout the world, you can bet governments and businesses are fearful, and they have every right to be. Citizens need to be aware of what is happening, too. In Hungary, you can now go to jail for spreading "fake news," though I could find no definition of what defines "fake." And if you think I'm being alarmist, maybe. The alarm should be sounded, however. Giving up freedom for safety has dire consequences. Just look at 9/11 for an example. Life seemed to go back to normal, but all those freedom restrictions stayed in place. You just didn't notice because you were still free to choose Pepsi over Coke.

We've already proven we'll obey without serious questioning. In fact, I think washing your hands and staying home when necessary is essential to stopping this virus, but I don't think we should handing over our rights so easily. What must we prepare for here in Humboldt that we haven't already been doing? That's an honest question, but I fear the answer.

I want to be clear in stating that I don't think we are suspending democracy here in America . . . yet. I feel that the actions taken so far are in line with helping to stop the spread of Covid-19, but the wording is being put in place to allow transgressions against your freedoms to happen, and we must be vigilant against this sort of thing. When the actions no longer fall in line with keeping the virus under control, that's when they should be fought against. As goes California . . .

On an unrelated note, I'm an essential worker and am returning to work tomorrow. I don't know if I'll be able to keep updating this daily. I will update as things become important, and probably over the weekend. I'd love for those in other communities to post in the comments section what is happening in your neck of the woods. We need to remain vigilant during these trying times, and communication is the key.

Day 11: California Under Martial Law Lite (Pigs In Zen)

We had to do our weekly shopping yesterday, which is not even enjoyable when there isn't a shelter in place order. When custom dictates that stores only let so many people in at the same time, and that shoppers should stay six feet apart it gets downright unpleasant. Why? Despite taped lines on the floor showing six feet, people can't seem to stay the fuck back. While shopping, there are no lines to denote the six foot space, so WinCo has put up signs stating that the six feet distance means staying away from people the distance equal to at least two shopping carts. That seems pretty easy to follow. I don't know why a large portion of Humboldt has such a hard fucking time with that.

Maybe they're just ignorant.

You're too close!

Some shoppers get it. They are the ones who when they pass you give you an uneasy smile, the same smile you'd get if you were talking to someone at a party and the conversation is going well and then the light hits you just right and reveals that you have a herpes sore on your lip. Yeah, that's the kind of look you get in the store when people have to pass you and they understand the six feet rule. Others don't even bother, They just cozy up right next to you to get the best cilantro they can find. 

Things have calmed a bit here in Humboldt, however, when it comes to the stores. Where shelves looked barren last week, this week you can actually find things like paper towels and toilet paper. It's partially because hoarders have stopped most of the hoarding, and also because this is becoming normal. Sheltering in place becoming normalized is a bad thing, though. It sets us up for regular social isolation and lets us be divided and conquered far more easily. It is something that can very easily be used by a government that wants to control its population. I'm not saying the coronavirus is a hoax, but I am saying that I believe governments at the very least are watching how we react to it and filing that information away for future use.

On a sadder note, as an essential employee I have to go back to work on Wednesday. This means these daily updates may just happen every few days. I'm not sure how many people are reading them, either. I think everyone is tiring of virus coverage . . . and that also denotes a new normal. If you have been reading them and want me to continue daily, let me know in the comments section, and I'll do my best to continue. For the rest of you, stay six feet away from me in WinCo. I don't need whatever germs you're carrying.

Day 10: California Under Martial Law Lite (Don't Forget The Chaos)

Last night Humboldt's count went to 18 positive, one still in the hospital. Our local McDonald's is giving away breakfast to ER workers every Sunday until this over. I now know where to stay away from, as if I needed a reason. I just don't want coronavirus attaching itself to the wrapper of my cheeseburger after its passed from a doctor's hand to an employee's hand.

Yesterday, as I had to make an excursion to the credit union that I could not complete Friday, I saw that a police officer seemed to be patrolling . . . the aisles of Walmart. It was odd, to say the least. I also learned at that time that the credit union in the mall is closed . . . as is the entire mall. There were only like five stores left in it anyway, so that isn't a big deal, though one place in there had the best incense for your money. Now I have to try again tomorrow. I can only hope I'll have better luck.

The judgment is ramping up on social media, too. It was always bad to begin with, but now total strangers are judging you as a problem if you mention you are going out for a shake because "a shake isn't essential." They then admonish you to "stay in your home," stating that you don't understand what those words mean. What they obviously did not read was the shelter in place order, which allows for going to restaurants for curbside pick-up. But, judge away. Not knowing the facts never stopped anyone before, however.

It all feels like Humboldt is slowly starting to buckle under the weight of all of this. The naysayers, the ones who think the media is just sowing fear, are getting more vocal. They don't believe the people in the medical field. They believe the president. They don't believe the doctors dealing with the overcrowded emergency rooms in New York City. They think since they don't have it, nobody does. These people hold down jobs (well, maybe not anymore), have kids, and vote. At the very least their ignorance should relegate them to section reserved for those we ridicule until they go away. Instead, they are a growing voice of insanity in a shit storm of crazy.

He can take that finger and shove it up his ass . . . as soon as Pence gets his tongue out of there.

Then there are the cheerleaders shouting that we "can do this!" They are going to spend their stimulus check on pom poms. They don't seem to realize that just by saying we can do it doesn't mean we can. I understand it makes them feel better, but maybe a better rallying cry should be, "Never again!"

Trump stated he wants the country running back to normal by Easter, as if his desire will just make it so. It may or may not happen, but to force it would be a huge mistake. We've seen what Covid-19 does when in a crowd. Do we really want to do this all over again? Of course not, but if the president says it . . .

This day marks us going into the double digits of martial law lite. Nearing two weeks, though it's hard to tell because I'm losing sense of time. I had to be out of work because of an incident I'm not ready to go into yet, but it was long and stressful and ate up some benefit time. I had a lot, but I did not want to squander it. This had to be done, though, despite it being nobody's fault really.

Day 10 in Humboldt. The sky is gray. The outside world quiet. The air smells different, too. I believe I can smell the bay because there aren't that many cars out polluting. It's nice, really. I could get used to that. The sad thing is, the only way that will happen is if the shelter in place order stays around or enough people who drive die off and aren't replaced for a few years.

How horrible is that?

Day 9: California Under Martial Law Lite (Meat Is Murder)

I ventured out yesterday. I needed cash. I waited until after the lunch rush was over and then headed to my local credit union. I figured I would be in and out fairly quickly. After all, with everyone filing for unemployment, how many people would be at the institution looking to do as I?

A lot.

So many, in fact, that the line was out the door to the back of the building where the drive-thru windows were located. People stood in line roughly six feet apart, several donning surgical masks. Every single one of them looking as miserable as I felt upon seeing the line. I did not have the heart to stand and wait. Not with that many people. Not for that long. Should I call the tip line Humboldt set up for those not following social distancing and cry foul? I knew some of them weren't six feet apart. They should be arrested, or at the very least beaten within an inch of their failing, Covid-19 carrying lives.

I did no such thing, but I did wonder if someone took it upon themselves to do so.

Not Arcata, but close enough.

Later, upon returning home, I stupidly checked into Facebook. The Lost Coast Outpost, one of our irreverent local news sources, had posted a video of the Arcata Plaza, which was utterly empty. The comments that followed the video were about as expected. People claiming everyone was in Eureka. Those saying that venturing outside for "frozen pizza" was wrong, dammit! And so on. Some kind soul, after seeing the vast empty space, took a moment to write that "we could do it!" Such uplifting sentiment. We could do it. We could, too.

The number of people testing positive for the virus rose to 14 yesterday in Humboldt. We can do it. New York's numbers keep rising. We can do it. The stimulus package passed and people are going to get an average of $1200 to take care of rent, groceries, credit card bills, and the ever important cable bill. We can do it. The economy may take over a decade to recover and brick and mortar storefronts may never look the same. We can do it.

The harsh reality is this: We decided since it was pay day to do curbside pick-up at Surfside, a burger joint in Eureka. A little treat for a hard week survived. Nobody was, quite appropriately, seated inside. The woman who took our order over the phone brought it out to us (no gloves, mind you), took our cards and brought them back. I almost did not want to eat it. I imagined my burger and onion rings crawling with the virus. In fact, I did not even finish my onion rings because of that. I honestly did not want to eat out anymore . . . even if I was bringing it home. Everything seemed tainted. Our brains are being reset by this social isolation and doomsday at your door coverage every fifteen minutes. Will anyone ever feel okay eating in a restaurant again if someone coughs or sneezes? I'm not sure, but I know right now I'm not feeling good about anything outside the confines of my four walls. Isolation is working in more ways than one, and that is a very bad sign.

We can do it.

Day 8: California Under Martial Law Lite (Darkness Descends)

Yesterday my daughter informed me that this online learning her school is utilizing is not going so well for her. She doesn't think she's learning much, if anything at all; the assignments are often vague; and she feels like she just isn't performing up to her standards. For a kid who does well in school and has high expectations for herself, this was hard to hear coming from her. She wondered how all of this will affect her and her classmates' future. Explaining to her that this was uncharted territory for us all did little to quell her fears. She can't see her friends. She can't go to the high school sports games. She can't go to class. She wants life to return to normal. At one point she said, "I think this is the new normal."

I think she's partially right.

Social distancing. Hoarding. Idiots doing their best to deny there is a problem. Wall Street being a higher priority than Main Street. All of these things were not only predictable, they are also manipulated by the powers that be because they are a form of control. Humboldt is no exception. Our tip line  to turn people and businesses not following the shelter in place guidelines just lets us do most of the work for them.

WinCo is still out of toilet paper and paper towels. As soon as they get a meager supply in, the hordes raid it. Why anyone is doing this is unknown, yet because others did, now more people must, too. Pot dispensaries are allowed open because they are essential businesses, though California legalized recreational pot, which has far surpassed medicinal use. Why is this recreational business allowed to be open, yet movie theaters are not? Could be because people who smoke pot are more subdued than others. It's an effective form of crowd control, especially when everyone is to stay home. Again, we are doing the work for them. Consume above all else. Consume.

The streets of Humboldt still have cars, but not as many as ten days ago. There are still people walking their dogs in Henderson Center, but not as many as were seen nine days ago. In fact, Henderson Center looks like it does on Christmas minus the decorations and lights. Darkness has descended, but midnight is still hours away.

I read yesterday that our hospital, a St. Joseph's establishment that I am not too fond of, has limited ICU beds. By limited, I believe it is under 20. If that is the case it's a good thing Henderson Center looks like it is out of 28 Days Later. We've got one person hospitalized now because of Covid-19. If those numbers climb too quickly then those beds are going to be utilized just as quickly, and if that happens I doubt any of the hospitals in Redding or near there will allow our patients to be flown in. It is the situation the experts said would happen and the one the politicians ignored, that will happen. Humboldt's numbers are going to climb and those beds are going to be used. We will be no different than any other country, and we proved that when our country's numbers of infected climbed higher than Italy's. We weren't supposed to really match Italy until April 1. We were early. Hurray!

Our governments at state level and above have failed us, yet we still demand their help. We aren't really going to get it. $1200 is nothing, and they know it. It's not even a pacifier. We should stop appealing to these morons, the same ones incidentally who made this situation worse, and start taking it upon ourselves to save ourselves. Listen to the medical experts. If the fed opens the economy back up, don't participate in it. If the numbers are still climbing (and I suspect they will be, or will be high enough that intermingling should still be a concern), don't go back to the ball games. Continue to wash your hands. Your president and some of your governors will tell you that everything is back to normal, that everything is all right. Go about your lives as you did before. But look around and you'll quickly spot the lie. It will stick out like a sore thumb. If you compare this crisis to the crisis of 9/11 you'll be able to easily see your role in it. The role of Joe Q. Public in both. You were told how you could help. In the case of 9/11, you had to continue to be a consumer. Once the fed gives the all clear, it won't be, "Go out and see your family. Hug your neighbor." It will be, "Go out and buy stuff." Watch. Our roles are clearly defined.

Mussolini and friends hanging out with the citizens of Italy.

Humboldt has always been suspicious of politicians, though we do have our Trump parrots here, too. It will remain suspicious on the whole after this clears. I hope more people re-examine their roles, though, and decide that maybe they want to be more than a consumer. And maybe we should try to remember that the people who will claimed that they saved us, actually made this situation far worse. The Italians showed Mussolini how they remembered him. Maybe we'll show the same love to our "leaders" if they try to take credit for that which they fucked up. Or maybe we'll just continue down that consumer path, happy that we can easily buy toilet paper once again.

Day 7: California Under Martial Law Lite (We Are 138)

Humboldt County had a wake-up call yesterday. The number of people who tested positive for coronavirus doubled in one day. It went from five to ten. Not a huge number, but that's only because testing is so very limited at this point. Of course, social media had the usual idiots spewing forth opinions based on . . . well, I'm not sure what they base their opinions on. It sure as hell isn't common sense.

We've got the usual morons who believe this is all a hoax. We have a growing number who say, "Let them all die." (I'm sure when they get it they will demand a hospital bed instead of slowly dying like they want the others to do. These people aren't only hypocrites, they're cowards.) We've got the ones saying Trump is doing everything right. We have people who believe it is the end of the world. We've got ones pushing fake cures that they heard from a friend of a friend who has a friend who is a neighbor to a doctor. I'm sure your area is no different. Stupid isn't native to Humboldt.

Our county also set up a tip line. No, this tip line isn't in place to call in gang activity or anything like that. This is to turn in people and businesses who aren't following the shelter in place order. If this doesn't feel a little slimy, I don't know what does. It's like a terrorism tip line, and I'm sure that was the impetus for it, but it still seems wrong. The odds of it being abused are high, too. I wonder when they'll get their first call that says something like, "I saw a Chinese person at the store! Arrest them!" Someone on social media ironically said, "You people are soft af." I didn't have the heart tell him that using "af" instead of "as fuck" was pretty soft in and of itself. The hypocrisy would have been lost on him anyway. His type never really "get it." Probably because their heads are hard af.

Chinese people! In a group! Call the police!

So now Humboldt is turning into a police state, only the police can't police everyone so they are asking the citizens to do it for them. I get the idea behind it, and I honestly feel like it was implemented just to let the citizens feel like they have some sort of power. I'm sure the police don't want to deal with this when there are other more serious crimes going on. But have it we do, and the citizens will use it. Scratch that, they'll abuse it. Calling in on every foreigner they spot who appears Asian. Someone sneezes behind them in line to get into WinCo and that cell phone will whip out. Karens of the world will have a fucking field day.

This is what we are resorting to one week in. The shelter in place order is supposed to last until April 19, just in time for us to throw all those birthday parties for Hitler the next day. I can't imagine what people will be like by that time. If one week is any indication, it won't be pretty.

Day 6: California Under Martial Law Lite (Bedtime For Democracy)

The news was bleak yesterday. No, it wasn't that Humboldt was up to five reported cases that tested positive for the coronavirus. Anyone paying attention knows those numbers are woefully inadequate because so few tests are being conducted. It wasn't even that a "coronavirus party" in Kentucky ended with someone getting the coronavirus. That's called karma, and it can be a real bastard when it wants to be. It's Kentucky, though, so . . . No, the bleak part was the president saying he wanted the country reopened by Easter so the economy doesn't totally tank. Who cares about dead old people (though the numbers of young dying are growing). Who cares that economy has already tanked. He wants it up and running or . . . what? I don't know.

"I could kill 8 million grandmothers and still get re-elected."

I've seen conservative estimates putting the dead in America at 8 million if that were to happen, though those numbers are just plain forecasting because we really don't know. It could be more. It could be less.

I agree that the economy is important. But, as of today, we can fix the economy but can't yet bring back the dead. Even Haiti has a problem doing that properly.

Our local businesses here in Humboldt are dealing with things a bit differently. Don's Donuts in Arcata doesn't seem to care and lets people come in and crowd. Rite Aid in Eureka has tape on the floor to show how far six feet is for people standing in line. Too many businesses have signs that say they are closed for the foreseeable future. I wonder how many will reopen. I hope it will be the majority, but the longer this drags on the less likely that will occur, and that is what scares Trump, who cares about the economy over everything else. Businesses will come back, though, and Humboldt, perhaps more than other places, is good at supporting local businesses in tough times. The president has a bigger picture problem, but his solution is decidedly short-sighted and lacks long term vision. How bad will the economy be when the dead start topping the millions, and how will those Republicans who supported him look to the general public?

This dog-eat-dog world has brought us to this point. Toilet paper gone. People have coronavirus parties. Greed run rampant. And still we don't learn. Maybe the president is right. Maybe a bunch of us need to die. I just would wish it would be more targeted toward the monsters who think it is every man, woman, and child for themselves. They remain unimpressive by any civilized standard, and the sooner we are rid of them, the better. For it is them, and not the elderly, who cost us more economically and socially, and who are utterly useless in the grand scheme of things. Let them die . . . and leave them unburied.

Day 5: California Under Martial Law Lite (A Nation Down For The Count)

I barely ventured outside the house yesterday. Never once went off the property. That said, we had a man doing landscape work, and he broke the social distancing guidelines, which caused me a moment of worry. Funny how quickly I've become acclimated.

I also heard sirens yesterday for the first time since this began. It was jarring.

I tried to do things to take my mind off the turmoil. Finished reading Haunted Hideout. It sucked. Worked on my blog and next novel. Cleaned the cat litter. Played Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights. But mostly did a lot of waiting and thinking . . . followed by worrying. I haven't been to work in too many days, but not because I don't want to be there, but because given the situation we have found ourselves under, I can't. I'm one of the lucky ones who has enough sick leave to cover this, but the sick leave won't last forever. Neither should this isolation.

If there's a lesson to take from "28 Days Later," it is how friendly the military was in this situation.

It seems like as days drag on, California winds down more and more. The president continues to rattle nonsense, and our politicians are doing what politicians do in these situations, but California seems to have gone the route of New York in many ways and is leading the way on how to deal with this. Of course, there are quite a few people who figure they know what is best and show a lack of caring about anyone else. But that is to be expected from the idiots. Hopefully they will die off quickly.

When Covid-19 first started becoming newsworthy I joked that it wouldn't kill off enough of the dumb people. That's still a concern. Weed out the willfully ignorant and the self-obsessed and the next time this kind of thing happens it will be easier to contain.

I also read that die-hard racists are looking to weaponize the virus. These followers of James Mason, who admires Charles Manson, want to use the virus to attack minorities and people like the FBI. See? Everyone is adjusting to this new life. They are making the virus fit into their lifestyle in ways that  works for them. Just like the left is using it as an example of social inequality. Everyone wins, right?

I don't know how much longer I'll continue this blog, as the days bleed into one another with very little way to distinguish them from each other. Does anyone care? I'm not sure. We're all dealing with things. We're all fighting our demons. Some more than others.

I started reading Burn, Baby, Burn last night. I would normally really be into a novel of its type (i.e., a mother sets out to kill her child), but I am finding it depressing. I had to call it a night after a few chapters. I'm not even sure if now is the time to continue it.

We'll see what today brings. Tuesday. What new fake news will surface? Which friends will fall for it? Who will make stupid jokes? What new moronic behavior will come to light? Time will tell, but I wonder if when our numbers of dead are increasing at an Italian-style rate, will people start to figure out just what they've done? Or will they remain ignorant, licking toilet seats and wrestling at the beach?

Day 4: California Under Martial Law Lite (Moon Over Marin)

Yesterday, Sunday, was eye opening. Up until that point I thought this shelter in-place order would ensure I could edit my latest Sinful Cinema book, work on my next novel, watch a movie or five, and read copious amounts of books. Instead, I found myself spending my early afternoon at Target of all places. If I get coronavirus, I got it there.

I've been avoiding stores as much as humanly possible. But one has to eat. One also has to drain clogged sinks, which is why I was at Target. I had my own bag with me and hand sanitizer for those moments when I needed it. I would have been better off with a gun. The Target in Eureka, CA is under reconstruction in order to make the store more visually appealing, so it looks odd from the moment you step in. If they really wanted to make the store appealing, however, they would kick out most of the shoppers.

While WinCo is regulating how many people go into the store at once, Target is letting capitalism and consumerism go at its normal society-dooming pace.  Luckily, despite Target's ignorance, the store was far less crowded than it would be on a normal Sunday afternoon. But what I saw sent chills down my spine.

A side note: many of you know I write horror stories. I usually write about people doing bad things. I tend not to write apocalyptic horror. There are enough people doing that, and doing it quite well, thank you. But after witnessing the folks in Target, I am starting to rethink my stance on the genre. Maybe I should delve into it. It is easy enough to see how the end begins, after all.

When there's no room left in Hell . . . the diseased shop at Target.

People were not following the social distancing guidelines set forth by people much smarter than themselves. They would get right up next to you because they could not wait a few moments to grab a sponge. I witnessed a Target employee sneeze into his elbow and then go right back to stocking food. A young boy made an effort to cough into his elbow, but it was really a half-hearted attempt. His mother just rolled her eyes. Kids, right? Then there was . . . the lady.

She was shambling down the wide aisle toward me. She was wearing grey sweatpants and a grey sweatshirt with a football team logo on it. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed. Hair askew. Makeup smudged. As she neared me, she coughed. Into the air. No attempt to cover it.

"Cover up," I growled.

She whipped right around and said, "You can't tell me what to do."

A Target employee was watching this exchange. Had she not been watching, I would have dropped the lady on the spot. Doing her in before Covid-19 could do it for me.

The world ends with an uncovered cough. It spreads through creatures like this one, and the fools who flooded the beaches at Spring Break. It ravishes communities because one person couldn't be bothered to cough properly. On this, day four of the siege, I can't help but look out my window and see the empty streets under the grey clouds and think, "How many of these houses will end up vacant?" My guess is far more than should be.

Day 3: California Under Martial Law Lite (Run To The Hills)

Sunday mornings are normally quiet in Eureka, California. America, it seems, is at its laziest come Sunday morning. However, this morning is quieter than most. I do hear the occasional car go by outside, but other than that it's easy to imagine that the population of Eureka has just slipped away into nothingness.

I've been staying away from Covid-19 coverage on Facebook. There's too much false information ("It's a hoax!"), too many condescending posts ("Listen, kiddies, this is how it is. I'm hear to tell you the truth."), and too much stupidity ("I'm going to lick a public toilet seat."). If only this virus struck the willfully ignorant. I'd be out spreading it then. Good riddance to bad garbage.

Ava Louise. She seems pretty fucking smart. 

I must say that I think Humboldt residents are feeling overly safe right now. Only two positive cases as of yesterday. They don't see the storm coming. I would contend that the only safe place in California is probably Modoc County. They already practice social distancing there. They are isolated. Nobody wants to travel there. Yeah, Modoc may be the oasis for this event. Hell, the place has one movie theater that shows one show one day a week. How quaint!

I worry about my mother. Someone at her work tested positive. She does not think she has had any contact with the person. I call her every morning, asking how she is and listening for any kind of sign that she may be struggling to breathe. I hate being on the West Coast at this point. Almost a country away from her. I hope my brother can keep an eye on her, but he works in a hospital. I imagine he's pretty busy.

When all this is over and the dead are buried, will we remember the power grabs that government agencies tried to do? When the businesses, those that survived, start to reopen, will we remember that Trump bumbled all of this from the start? When we realize that our loved ones probably didn't have to die, will we commit to forcing our so-called leaders to come up with a better, more proactive plan to stop this from happening again on such a scale? When toilet paper is back on the shelf at normal prices, will we remember how capitalism in its current form not only failed us but proved to be deadly for the poorest among us?

Probably not. Most people are condemned to make the same mistakes over and over, operating off a belief system that lacks foresight and memory. If we make it out of this one, we guarantee it will happen again. We are predictable that way. Herd mentality. More brawn than brains. Easily bred, led, and dead.

Sunday mornings are always quiet in Eureka. I fear it will get quieter yet . . .

Day 2: California Under Martial Law Lite (This Town Is Becoming Like A Ghost Town)

I was driving the 101 this morning. North. I was listening to 1st Wave on Sirius XM. Someone requested The Specials. "Ghost Town." It doesn't get more on the head than that.

Eureka, CA is a ghost town. Sure, there are some people walking around. They are mainly older people. Often with a dog at their side. Most of the stores are closed or have signs in the window indicating they are closed as of Monday. The restaurants that are open are doing to go orders or delivery. The tables inside empty.

Oddly enough, between today and yesterday I have not seen a single police officer. Not a one. I haven't even heard sirens. There are no more emergencies when the very time you live in is an emergency.

The test came back positive . . . 

The house across the street has been flying an American flag for a few days now. Is it meant to be a symbol of hope or a warning sign of some sort? I imagine it provides inspiration for some. Probably the same people repeatedly posting fake coronavirus stories on Facebook thinking they are true. For people like me, however, it represents failure. A failure on all fronts. After every emergency we say we can do "better." We never really say what that better is. Now, as we are socially isolated we have nothing but time to ponder on what "better" looks like. It's about a 180 from this.

Humboldt tested its second positive case of Covid-19 yesterday. A month from the first one. Some people think that is a good sign. For the more rational thinking among us we know it just means they haven't been testing enough people. "There aren't enough tests." "Unless you came from a high risk country ..." It means everyone can still be a carrier, and it means you can't trust your neighbor, your son, your father. It's a level of paranoia not seen since Carpenter's The Thing.

Day two and it doesn't feel like much has changed. It's just ... quieter. Eureka is a ghost town. Soon, maybe sooner than later, many of its residents will be ghosts, too.

Keep flying your flags, though. We wouldn't want you to lose hope.

Day 1: California Under Martial Law Lite (Humboldt Style)

As of midnight last night Humboldt County, in all its pot haze glory, was under martial law lite. Actually they call it a shelter in place order but the effect is nearly the same. Humboldt's citizens have to -- wait! We interrupt this program to bring you Gavin Newsom.

Newsom is California's well-groomed, liberal without a cause, politician posing as governor. He, despite the many poorly rationalized petitions demanding his recall, ordered a statewide martial law lite order, stealing Humboldt's thunder much to the chagrin of many a local government policymaker.

So what can we do in Humboldt? Well, it's extremely important to keep spending money, so essential businesses will remain open. One can hardly argue that keeping grocery stores and banks open is bad, but pot shops? Computer repair shops? Burger King?

While spending money is okay (and necessary to keep the gears of capitalism grinding), social isolation is the norm. Stay six feet from strangers ... if you have to be near them in the first place. Only associate with your family. Don't walk around outside aimlessly. Jog, instead.

Newsom: He's looking out for you.

For some it seems almost like business as usual without all the inane small talk. Others look at it more like a divide and conquer tactic where some businesses get to keep their dough, while citizens get to feel isolated, desperate, and scared. I don't buy into Covid-19 (a very robot-sounding name) being a government conspiracy, but I do feel like governments are taking advantage of a situation to see how easily they can control masses of people before they are pushed to the breaking point. If everything seems normal, while it really isn't, is it conceivable to keep people docile and compliant? It sure looks that way.

Humboldt is a resourceful area. It was one of the poorest counties in California back in the day. It attracted hippies and homesteaders. Self-reliance became the norm. Few have any doubt we won't weather this storm, but there are those, myself included, who think life will never look quite the same after it blows by. If kids can be educated at home . . . If society doesn't fall apart because movie theaters are closed . . .  What's the harm in playing out a crisis for two months? Six months? Eighteen months? Four years? Manufacture one after another, or, better yet, take advantage of what is already there.

I started out fearing the virus more than elected officials. After watching how quickly things unfolded, how numbers kept changing (along with the stories that went with them), and how paranoid they tried to make us, it seemed very obvious that people like Trump (the worst person to be in charge at a time like this) and Newsom were going to use this to their advantage. Their moment to shine, as it were.

Trump ignored the virus. Race baited it. Got exposed to it. Newsom said he would invoke martial law if needed. What justification would he use? People not following the shelter in place order that still lets you shop, grab some take out (not Chinese), and lets your kids roam in the park (don't touch the slides)? Large gatherings are verboten . . . unless Newsom throws a press conference. But please continue to go to the bank. Please.

Our "leaders" are leading us into a cesspool, all while the fiddler plays. Everything is fine. Stay in your homes. Nothing is normal. Go grab some snacks at the grocery store. Over half of California's population could get the virus. Enjoy a hike.

Outside, though, there is a different tale to tell. The streets are emptier. People are wearing gloves. They aren't standing six feet away from each other, but they do seem hesitant. A cough gets you all kinds of looks while in line waiting to get into Winco. As there is no longer the constant din of traffic, a thought, once too quiet to be heard over the noise, enters the mind. Who do you fear more: A virus? Your neighbor? Those in control?

The following days will be telling.