Anne N. Mouse: Blog

It was cold! 10 degrees F or -12 C on Monday and Tuesday mornings, and never got above freezing. I'm going to do a little more shopping but believe it or not I'm having a hard time finding a balacalava.... Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places...? I know we were issued them as part of our artic gear when I was in Alaska, and I purchased a couple extras, but can I find one now? No! Would I like one? Oh yeah! Will I buy one on line? Probably not!!

If you're Homer home maker and have been doing home improvement projects during this COVID contagion and you live in the USA, you have been helping keep me gainfully employed.

I remain highly skeptical of the mask... Though there is reason to believe it may work. So I continue apace in looking for something to answer the issue of trapped moisture that becomes a hazard in itself. However that may not answer my other complaint about masks and freezing or near freezing temperatures. That complaint has to do with fogged safety glasses... This I'm certain of: injury to eyes in saw mill settings without safety glasses is 100%. Fogged safety glasses is like being blindfolded... Not good for safety in an industrial environment.

I saw a comparison about the mask as if people were running around pissing on each other.... Now I think that doesn't quite fit the issue, as it is more like people are running around tooting... Now you can smell a toot even if the tooter has on jeans, but you run a much smaller risk of e. coli infection if he wears them rather than doesn't. Thus the point of the mask as well, stopping the aerosolized virus. Paper mask became mush due to moisture, but maybe I can find something at the ski store....
If I can keep from being blinded by fogging... Oh and I need a reading lens but have to have a 'bifocal' as my reading lens causes everything over 24 inches away to be a blur too.

Oh one final word on masks... In not wearing one I would be following the example of Gavin Newsom and Nancy Pelosi....
Which informs my calling them fascistic.
I must wear a mask but they may forego it if it pleases them...

I'm still unconvinced of the efficacy of a cloth mask versus a virus. This is especially true in areas that are essentially out doors... Well I don't work out doors in the classic sense where I'm entirely exposed to the weather, but I do work in a 'building' that is probably about 1/2 the size (or maybe less) than a super-Walmart... Say 50,000 square feet give or take 5,000 as a guess (hey I'm just guestimating and it may well be a WAG [wild Assed Guess]) But in the 'walls' there are three doors that are at least 18 feet tall and wide enough to pass a 20 foot load of lumber through with ease two of which remain open at all times while we are in operation, and one which is only open if the gang rip is running (most of the time we are operating this door is open...) in addition there are 4 sliding doors that would easily admit my small truck that are mostly open. Thus I say the building barely meets the definition of having walls. Anyway the temperature is usually within a couple of degrees of whatever the out door temperature is, which at this time of the year means within a couple of degrees of freezing water...
Needless to say that means that a mask is like being waterboarded with a freezing cloth at this time of the year... Dogs is supposed to have a wet nose, I is not! But wet is less of a worry than frostbite at this time of year, and chapping is a given if wearing a mask for any length of time in the described environment.

Well with that rant in the bag, I'll move on to the boot report. As reported when I started this job I bought a pair of 'logger' style boots by Georgia Boot. Then this spring, having liked most everything about the boots I bought except that I wanted some with a lower heel and a shorter upper, I bought a pair of rumbler style boots this spring, maybe April? (again by Georgia Boot) I've been mostly pleased with those boots, except that now I've discovered that the nylon upper is giving up due to the extreme nature of the wear they get on my job... I don't kick as much lumber as I used to, but I do push heavy loads of lumber around...

So, comfort 7 of 10 wear worthiness? 5 of 10 with the proviso that my job is very rough on boots

Well that wraps up my report from behind the frozen mask in the land of Maosom...

The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it. - Joseph Mengele.

It's just a mask.
It's just two weeks.
It's just to keep from overwhelming the health care system.
It's just 'non-essential' businesses.
Its just until we 'flatten the curve'.
It's just until more cases go down.
Its just to keep others from being scared.
It's just a couple more weeks.
It's just communion or singing.
You can still meet.
It's just until we get a vaccine.
It's just a few side effects.
It's just a bracelet.
It's just to let others know you're safe to be around.
It's just an app.
It's just to let us know who you've been in contact with.
It's just a few more months.
It's just a YouTube video.
It's just an email account.
It's just to protect others from hate speech.
It's just a few people.
It's just a credit card company.
It's just Google ads.
You can use cash.
It's just a few places that don't accept cash.
It's just a little chip.
It's just for medical information and paying for things.
It's just so you can collect your benefits.
It's just so you can go to work.
It's just so your kids can go to school.
It's just so you can travel.
It's just so you can get a driver's license.
It's just so you can vote.
It's just a statue.
It's just a building.
It's just a street name.
It's just a song.
It's just a piece of paper.
It's just a flag.
It's just a piece of cloth.
It's not just a piece of cloth.
It's not just a mask.

Those who stand for nothing, fall for everything.