Buddy is a one-year-old male, tri-color smooth coat guinea pig looking for loving guardian.

Buddy lived with a family that had a dozen guinea pigs and the males started fighting amongst each other. So, even though guinea pigs usually have a partner, Buddy is on his own.

Buddy is a sweet guinea pig who is easy to pick up and hold.

Guinea pigs eat a diet of unlimited Timothy hay (or Orchard hay if you have allergies), limited pellets, and fresh greens including romaine, red leaf and green leaf lettuces, cilantro, etc. And, since guinea pigs like humans can’t manufacture their own vitamin C, so he needs daily red pepper or some other form of Vitamin C.

Please read up on guinea pig care and diet before adopting by visiting this excellent web site http://www.guinealynx.info/.

He would love a home with a family who will handle him daily, keep him well fed, and keep his habitat nice and clean.

If you’re interested in meeting and possibly adopting Buddy, please contact [email protected].

He is being fostered in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.

His adoption fee of $30 benefits the Friends of Petraits Rescue. For an additional $50, we’ll include a starter kit of everything you need to care for him including cage, hay, litter, food, hidey hut and water bottle.

I had Covid 19 that turned into pneumonia. I’ve been sick for 27 days and counting. For the first 12 days I self isolated from my family. My heroic husband brought me all my meals on a tray outside our bedroom and talked me off the ledge since being so sick caused panic and fear. I spoke to my daughters through FaceTime and texted with my sister and a small loyal group of friends. Otherwise it was me, my bedroom walls and an all consuming virus.

Here’s a light sampling of the revelatory texts and observations I sent my sister when my fever was 101.8:

1. “I can hear my eyeballs.”
2. “I can hear my nose. It sounds like bubble wrap.”
3. “All men are gay.”
4. “Musicals are absurd.”
5. “I am never gonna break the law cause I’d never survive prison.”
6. “Perhaps I should do all my parenting from isolation.”

All of these texts made perfect sense to me. Plus humor was the only thing keeping me from constant despair.

My chills were full body convulsions. When I had to get up to go to the restroom or find more layers for warmth the air felt like hundreds of tiny knives jabbing at my skin. In addition to tiny knives there was a miniature jackhammer pounding between my eyes. I experienced constant waves of nausea and sharp pain in my legs. The inside of my chest felt like it was covered in fur. My throat was perpetually in the beginning stages of strep when it is uncomfortable to swallow. For six days straight I had a fever that ranged between 100.4 and 102.9. Tylenol did nothing.

I received contradictory information on whether or not I needed to get a test. One day a Doctor said it was unnecessary and there was nothing they could do if I had it anyway. “Act as if…,” they said, “Isolate, hydrate, repeat.”

The next Doctor I spoke to said I should get tested because I’d get care from a team of Covid 19 “experts” and it was important to know how many positive cases existed in order to try and contain the virus. She made it sound like it was my civic duty to get tested when the day before I was told it didn’t matter.  

“Do it for Johnny!” or in case you don’t recognize the Outsiders reference,”Do it for your Country!” ( That  reference is from Grease 2.) I digress. 

My test came back negative which was baffling. At that point the Doctor told me there were false negatives. “You got the test too late. You  would have tested positive if you’d taken the test earlier. Ignore the results.” Also too since the result was negative I wouldn’t get that “extra care from a team of Covid 19 experts.” 

I was shit out of luck.

The next day I felt worse than all the symptoms I’d felt before. I could not lift my head off the pillow. My fever was back to 100.4. The Doctor recommended I go to Urgent Care to get my oxygen levels tested and a chest X-ray. This was the twelveteenth Doctor I spoke to and the first time I was told to seek help at a facility. I’d been sick for 15 days. 

Wonder of wonders I had pneumonia. My chest X-ray looked like a sky full of clouds. I was prescribed an arsenal of medication and am currently in the process of recovering. Slow but steady wins the race. 

This experience has been brutal and confounding. Within in the same sentence information about Covid 19 contradicts itself. For example, “You should get tested but it doesn’t really matter if it’s negative because there are false negatives so you would need to act as if you have Covid and continue to isolate so don’t get a test but also get a test.” 

 Here’s what I know for sure.

1. I had Covid 19 even though my test results was negative.
2. My husband is the best man I know and I am humbled by how he took care of me and our family. My friends are awesome. My kids are swell. 
3.  I haven’t worn a bra in 27 days. You’re welcome. 
4. There is such a thing as too much information. I have streamlined my information on Covid down to 1 or 2 sources tops. All of the outlets dispensing information that directly contradicts, dismisses or reinvents depending on the channel you watch or the article you read creates false panic or calm within one sitting. I believe in the case of this pandemic less is more.
5. There is no question that Healthcare Workers have been extraordinary during this crisis but it’s important to note that Black people will encounter the same dismissive treatment they often receive when seeking medial attention. I experienced micro-aggressive treatment when I went to Urgent Care. I felt as if I had to prove my right to be there. The nurse was reluctant to admit I had pneumonia. When I put my sister on speaker phone before the nurse gave me instructions for care she defensively asked, “Is she a Doctor?” “No she is support,” I answered. The nurse rolled her eyes.  The idea that Black people are disproportionately affected by Corona because of underlying conditions puts the blame squarely on our shoulders and negates the very real consequences of bias and discrimination. Systemic issues don’t disappear when there is a pandemic. 

Stay at home. Wear a mask outside. Be kind to one another. Forgive yourself and others.

Bras are overrated.

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Dateline: Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. March 3. 7:00 am

It was seven weeks ago today. I was at the airport waiting to get on an airplane to Las Vegas. I walked into the men’s bathroom near my gate. Every sink was being used by someone washing their hands. That’s not unusual, but the amount of time they were spending at the sink was. Thirty seconds to wash hands? A few took a minute!

A few hours later, I’m in the Vegas airport. I enter a bathroom and it’s the same scene as I saw in Chicago.

It was the start of a new way of life!

I was in Las Vegas and Utah for four days that week. Although we weren’t in lock down mode at that time, the coronavirus was all that people were talking about. Personal conversations, newspapers, television news…it was everywhere. One of the things we heard the most was to wash your hands. Keeping your hands clean would be one of the best ways of avoiding the virus. People took that to heart. It was a week of obsessive hand washing. I joined in with the obsessiveness. I didn’t keep track of the number, but by the time I returned home, my hands were raw from the excessive soap and water.

It took less than a week after my return for the country to shutdown. Schools, businesses, sports…basically everything shutdown. Stay at home, keep a six foot distance, wear at mask when in public and KEEP WASHING YOUR HANDS!

Last week I wondered how many times a day am I soaping up my hands? I tried to remember what I would do that would make me hit the bathroom sink. Wake up-wash. After checking my phone-wash. Bring in the mail-wash. Type up a blog-wash. Yada, yada, yada…wash, wash, wash!

I decided there was only one day to get an accurate number. Last Thursday, I counted the number of times I washed my hands. The magic number was twelve. Yesterday, I did it again. It was a little higher this time at fourteen. Basically, I’m washing my hands every hour that I’m awake. My guess is this is the norm in America today. No wonder my hands constantly ache.  Man…the hand lotion industry must be doing somersaults at this news.

Do you think we’ll be keeping us all the hand cleanliness after the virus scare is over and we all go back to normal life? Hmmm…I have friends and relatives living in Georgia. Maybe I’ll give them a call next week.

Related Post: How many imaginary coronavirus symptoms do you have?

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The first of the big city festival and event cancellations were announced this morning. Although many of the BIG festivals and events, including Blues and Gospel Fest, have been cancelled there is still some hope that smaller fests may be held.

In today’s press release, the City said, “It is with regret, the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) today announced the cancellation of four beloved annual events and what would have been a new citywide celebration of music, due to the COVID-19 crisis.”

The following city events have been cancelled:

The Chicago Memorial Day Parade (May 23)
The Wreath Laying Ceremony (May 23)
The 5th Annual Chicago House Music Conference & Festival (May 21–24)
The 35th Chicago Gospel Music Festival (May 27–30),
The 37th Annual Chicago Blues Festival (June 5–7).
The Chicago In Tune (May 21–June 7) 

Neighborhood Festivals

Neighborhood Festivals that are run separate from the city have not as yet announced any cancellations as they await updates to Gov. Pritzker’s Shelter in Place orders that currently go through April 30.

Farmers Markets

City-run farmers markets will not open until sometime after May 15.

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At 7 p.m.

Thank you Jacksonville. I appreciate your social distancing and responsible behavior as we opened our beaches for walking, swimming, running etc. No groups congregating. 5 pm to 8pm opening tonight. This is the 7pm shot from Councilman Diamond from the beach. Well done Jax https://twitter.com/rorydiamond/status/1251286983919493120 …

Perhaps Lightfoot and other critics have in mind the partying on south Florida beaches earlier in the pandemic by vacationing (most from northern climes like Chicago) youngsters. Nothing like that is occurring here.

The beaches are open from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. each morning and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. each evening; they’re closed all other times. Only walking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming, walking pets and surfing are permitted. Chairs, picnics, large gatherings are banned, and social distancing required.

Curry defined essential activities the same way DeSantis defined them in a previous executive order: walking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming, taking care of pets and surfing. Gatherings of 50 or more people are prohibited and people must still practice social distancing.

Besides, being outdoors, taking a break from enforced isolation is beneficial. Any virus in the air is more quickly dispersed than in, say, grocery stores that are open. What science there is comparing the risks of being indoor to outdoor risks come down on the side of outside.

Reports Wired:

But so far there are no published studies of the spread of the novel coronavirus from one person to another in outdoor settings. One recent study of 318 outbreaks of three or more Covid-19 patients found all but one transmission occurred indoors—but as with many studies being conducted right now, that report was published as a pre-print in MedRxiv by a team of researchers at Hong Kong University and Southeast University in Nanjing, China, which means it has not yet been peer-reviewed.

If you lose things often, you may get upset when get asked where you saw or had the lost item last. Of course, if you knew exactly, your search would be over. But try to think of the question as a hint to your hunt.

I couldn’t find my reading glasses this morning. Luckily, I have a separate pair for distance, so I could put those on for a change. They haven’t had much use lately anyway, so I knew they were in their case in my purse. But at home, I have been living in my reading glasses, so literally changing focus was a shock.

I started looking all over the apartment for them, in the usual places and the not-so-usual, remembering Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘s best problem-solving rule, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

But the “however improbable” spots weren’t working. I did find some interesting things under the couch, at great cost to my knees, but my glasses were still gone.

But then that expression about “where I had them last” came back to mind, and I tidied up the pile of books beside my alarm clock. (It’s not beside my bed, purposely, but beside my armchair.) I thought of the many times I’ve taken off my glasses after reading and gone to bed. Yes, the book pile had to be where I had them last. That was worth another look.

I evidently gave my alarm clock the usual stumbling treatment this morning, because the pile was a mess despite being only four books high.

I looked down, under the table that holds the pile and the one next to it that holds my record player. The cords for it, the TV and lamp are all in a strip of outlets. There, amid the tangle of black and gray cords, I spotted some different gray lines — the frames of my reading glasses. They must have fallen off the table when I was reaching for the clock early this morning.

So “Where did you have them last?” can be just as valuable as “When you have eliminated the impossible,” etc. — a big admission for me, of course.

Now, on with the day’s reading and writing.

Margaret Serious has a page on Facebook. It’s easy to find, unlike some things.

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As far as I know, there are none. And as far as the economy goes, we don’t need one.

Unlike the iffy epidemiological models that try to predict the future, no model is required to see the catastrophic effects of the shutdown that are already here.

The devastating consequences of the economic shutdown is spreading around America and the world like a coronavirus contagion.  Perhaps even faster.

The economy is collapsing all around us. Livelihoods are getting crushed. Big corporations are in or heading for bankruptcy. Small and family owned businesses are shutting down, having been for generations the source of funds for education and other avenues into the middle class.

And while we’re in completely unchartered public healthterritory, the horrible economic impacts are ever so obvious. For the first time possibly since the Great Depression, the scourge of deflation is closing in.

Here are some explanations:

• Why Deflation Is Poison for Virus-Plagued Economies.

• Deflationary Outlook Expected.

• Dangerous Disinflationary Shock Slams Reeling World Economy

The last article describes what the impact of applying the “look out below” impact of falling prices. While falling prices seemingly are good news for consumers, they portend Great Depression-like times ahead.

With many national economies all but shutting down in an effort to contain the coronavirus, prices on everything from oil and copper to hotel rooms and restaurant take-out are tumbling….

That’s worrying because it could lengthen what may be the deepest recession since the Great Depression. Ebbing pricing power makes it harder for companies that piled on debt in the good times to meet their obligations. This could prompt them to make additional cuts in payrolls and investment or even default on their debts and go bankrupt.

Here’s something that has never happened before: The price of crude oil has dropped so far that some producers couldn’t give it away. On Monday, West Texas Intermediate, a key U.S. oil benchmark, fell to a negative $37.63 a barrel–meaning you had to pay that amount to someone to take it off your hands. 

While left wing politicians and commentators might welcome the big, bad oil industries’ disastrous problems, they ignore the millions of people who work for oil producers, petroleum refiners, downstream producers of finished products, transportation workers and truck drivers, accountants and clerk, janitors and landscapers, and the many, many more who depend on the industry to put food on the table.

The ease with which the left wing waves away the troubled lives of these people is a revelation: They care more about “their side” than the lives of desperate people.

Each day, the enforced shutdown of the economy sinks us deeper and deeper into a real economic depression (not to mention the uncounted cost of emotional depression).

You’d think that the left might be worried that the deeply depressed need for energy would hurt the clean energy industry and the fight against global warming. Oh, no. They’re worried that after we get over this, we might go back to our profligate ways.

Bankruptcies–real and expected–abound, from the high end Neiman and Marcus stores to gym chain 24 Hour Fitness. It could be the last straw for many brick and mortar retailers, already in shock from consumers switching to on-line shopping. Supply chains for service and other industries are shutting down because no one needs their products anymore. Not long ago, trucking companies were searching for drivers because of the increased demand prompted by the hot economy; now they’re being let go. Airlines, cruise companies and vacation destinations are losing billions, desperately digging ever deeper into reserves that soon will run out.

Gross domestic product–a measure of the economy’s health–is expected to plunge. As is the stock market–the vehicle for so many individuals who don’t have a defined benefit retirement plan.

Government workers might think that their jobs are protected (because their layoffs are fewer than private industry’s), but revenues sources–from income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes and more–are taking their own hit. Sooner or later, the impact will be inevitable.

A depression would hit the poorest hardest, depriving them of jobs and cutting holes in their safety nets. Poverty can be fatal.

Here I am again, revisiting the question of whether the economic destruction will be worse than the coronavirus threat to our health. The way it’s shaping up? Opening up the economy is becoming ever more imperative. And soon

[email protected]

www.dennisbyrne.net 

My historical novel: Madness: The War of 1812

I keep hearing questions about summer school and addressing the “lost learning” Chicago Public Schools students will experience during this pandemic because they’re going to “fall behind”—especially if they’re low-income black and brown kids.

We know the effects of this pandemic will linger for a long time.

Economically, Latino communities are predicted to receive the biggest threat to health and finances during the pandemic, according the Pew Research Center.

In Chicago, the African American community suffers from the highest rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths. 

One reporter also highlighted the data-collection challenges with identifying COVID-19 cases in the Latino community.

We’re living, teaching, and learning in a situation many of us never seriously imagined.

One of my best buddies reminded me in a conversation last week how these circumstances—lost wages, housing insecurity, unexpected illness—have been faced by so many of our Latino families for generations.  Still, we find success in traditional and non-traditional ways. 

However, those who remain obsessed with replacing our students’ “lost learning” have probably only found success in traditional systems that perpetuate inequality. 

I spoke with one immigrant parent whose family faced incredible economic challenges this month.  The parent told me in Spanish while holding back tears, that as long as their family has their health, they’ll make it through.

What about those lessons?  What about the values families instill in young people during this time: ideas of unity, perseverance, generosity, inner peace?  Those learning experiences carry more weight than any traditional lesson a school can provide.

This idea of “lost learning” comes from a deficit-based approach grounded in paranoia and American elitism where some kids are not enough, where some will never be enough. I don’t want to be the teacher during this pandemic who tells students, “You’re falling behind!”  Or “You’re not doing enough!” 

As long as students remain productive in meaningful ways, they are learning during this pandemic.  And “meaningful ways” does not necessarily mean “traditional ways.”

Are our low-income black and brown students behind? Yes. Our government, our healthcare system, our schools, the courts—all of these systems have left them behind.

Our responsibility as parents and socially conscious community members is to build up our young people during these difficult times as best we can.

If our young people maintain some sort of order in this chaos and address their mental heath—they are not falling behind.  They are far ahead of any education any formal system can ever provide them.

It is those who have lived comfortably for most of their lives and now must catch up on their learning by confronting society’s harsh inequalities who need an education in civility, open mindedness, and in suspending condescending opinions.

These economically comfortable individuals need to stop imposing their fears and their politics on Chicago’s low-income black and brown students.

In this month’s Atlantic, “The Anxious Child” by Kate Julian discusses how anxiety in children is usually connected to a parent’s anxiety.  “And so we have a vicious cycle in which adult stress leads to child stress, which leads to more adult stress, which leads to an epidemic of anxiety at all ages,” the author writes.

In her research, the author found how many clinicians “talked about the importance of learning to endure emotional upset as well as physical distress and even pain.” One suggestion presented in the article includes getting young people to do chores and take public transportation or drive without the parent (in non-pandemic times).  Most importantly, I found, the author emphasizes this, according to research: If we want to prepare our kids for difficult times, we should let them fail at things . . . and allow them to encounter obstacles and to talk candidly about worrisome topics.”  Because, the author wrote, “Our current approach to childhood doesn’t reduce basic vulnerabilities.  It exacerbates them.”

So instead of imposing our fears, insecurities, and belief systems on the students most affected by this pandemic, we need to help them figure what makes sense for them to focus on, to address, to strive for.  And then let them act.

As teachers, we must fulfill our responsibility of providing meaningful learning experiences for students, so they engage with them—if life circumstances allow.  We must remain supportive, flexible, and non-judgmental when they cannot.

As a school system, we need to find solutions to ensure all students can have dependable access to those learning experiences.

Adults who do not teach and do not work for the school system—especially education journalists—need to highlight how low-income black and brown students are forging forward in their own ways during this unpredictable time.

Those are lessons we can all learn from.

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