Quarantine Day 8: INTERMISSION!

Today I'm probably going to have two posts, I told a friend that I would give some instructions for Sour-Dough-Starter, and unfortunately, Social Networking is a little restrictive. So while I drink my coffee and get my early morning day-dreaming out of the way I thought I might as well type them up.

A note on the apocalypse: Shortages are everywhere, hoarders and their ilk have depleted venders of staples, you cant find many canned goods, sanitation products, and food staples. Even though I have 80 lbs of flour (not hoarding, just a hobby baker) there is no Yeast to be found in the city, and I can't violate the Lockdown Order just to go chase my tail looking for it.

So I remember, my mom would make sourdough bread, and she used the starter for a variety of different things, from waffles to homemade doughnuts (Trying to get those recipes from my siblings as we speak).

There are many ways of making sourdough starter, in the last few years it has become popular to quick start the sourdough starter by adding a teaspoon of dry active yeast.

This is UNNECESSARY.

All you need is a clean container, flour, and water.

You want to dechlorinate the water so that it doesn't stunt bacterial growth. You can do this by filling a pitcher with tap water and leaving it on the counter overnight, chlorine evaporates VERY quickly. You can use bottled water if you don't trust your culinary water. But again open the bottle and leave it exposed to air for a while. Again YOU WANT THE BACTERIA.

I use a Quart sized canning jar, cleaned, and set aside, I keep the ring and set aside the cap seal, and I use a piece of muslin, you can use cheesecloth, but you want a few layers of it.

There is a huge benefit to using canning jars, first, they have measurement lines on the glass, and second, when you "discard" you can actually divide your starter and feed both halves, double value for your work, or right now? The Starter makes a great gift.

Your Starter base:
3 tablespoons whole rye or wheat flour. (all-purpose is fine, but the richer whole-grain flour adds flavor)

Enough water to make what looks like cake-batter

Stir to mix and let it sit out, loosely covered, for 24 hours (best temperature is about 70°F my house is a little cooler in temp.). I have cats, so for me, I place the cloth over the mouth of the jar and secure it with the O-ring lid, minus the cap.

After 24 hours - Stir your starter and take (1/4 cup) of the sourdough starter, discarding the rest (or split it to another jar), and mix it with (1/4 cup) of water and (3/8 cup) of flour (People that can't math 1/4 cup is 4 Tbsp, 1/8th is 2 Tbsp or 1 shot glass, so 3/8th is approximately 3 shot glasses or 6 Tbsp).

Repeat this process every 12 hours for 4 to 6 days (Because my house is usually closer to 65°F it can take a couple extra days). By the time it’s obviously alive (slightly bubbly and smelling distinctly acidic) you’ll have succeeded in creating a Levain (starter).

You can jump straight to baking (from room temperature) in the section below (Recipes pending my siblings) with this the new starter or store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake.

Note: I may edit this post to add pictures, as my Starter matures.

Quarantine Day 7: Thank you VIRGINIA.

I'm going a little stir crazy. I want a doughnut, I'll likely do some baking, thinking I might make pudding from scratch. Exchanging funny things with my siblings in our Facebook Messenger group chat.

I'm was really hoping for something different today, and a friend called, he was going stir crazy, and after a wellness-check to make certain that nobody over here was sick, he came by to eat Peanut butter cookies and watch TV in a different setting, it was a nice break. That is a note for people on lockdown, call ahead, and you can still have a little in-person time with friends and close family, its just a matter of keeping that little bit of separation.

We are trying really hard to obey the rules, and while we may be homebodies, we come from the generation that would get together and do lame things a couple times a week.

We figured out a game plan to be able to play with each other via Roll20 and Discord online services and hashed out the mechanics and logistics of budgeting that time together.

I feel that it's important to talk about this, as the Virus continues to force restrictions on the public it is facing all kinds of opposition, Gatherings of more than 10 people have been banned, which infringes on the First Amendment's "Freedom of Assembly" it also hems in religious activities, and there is a lot of outcry accusing the Press of being inflammatory. Some states are pushing legislation that places unnecessary restrictions on Fire Arms retailers and purchases, all across the country Trial by Jury has been suspended. One by one this illness is devouring our Constitutionally guaranteed rights.

Which brings us to the conspiracy theories, which for the uninitiated are like Hollywood Fan Theories except they are for the people who follow national and international affairs or politics. My Dad left the Air Force with a really bad taste in his mouth following Vietnam and can be classified as a bit of a nut, my mother developed a distrust for the establishment as she got older and had a bunch of theories regarding the ACA and Vaccination protocols. I'll explain why and how in a moment. 

We are being told that the Virus originated in Bats, a man ate a partially uncooked Bat and COVID-19 appeared. What we know is that Wuhan China houses a biological laboratory, not unlike our CDC. While we are not at war with China, recent trade Tariffs have had many of our businesses withdrawing from China, The Communist Regime sympathetic with North Korea, a nation that we have had continually heightened tensions since the change from Kim Jong-Il to Kim Jong-Un; and the development of their nuclear program. Biological Warfare is used to destabilize an area or organization, the economic effect of the Virus alone is curious, but the social impact is just plain interesting.

As a result of the theories described above many deny the validity of the Virus, and are refusing to Quarantine after exposure. Those of my generation, remember the maps and bubble charts from sex-Ed that illustrated the movement of AIDS and other STDs. Though I don't think the current generation had that same education.

Now the Novel Corona Virus effects much the same, only it takes a lot less to be passed on:

So why are we taking unnecessary risks? Even if the nuts are right, the virus is still real, why are people refusing the Quarantine? This isn't the first time, and I doubt it will be the only.

The Virus you ask? Funny you should say. It appears that Virginia has extended its stay at home order through June 10th. And I suspect that it will be a domino effect, no state wants to take it less seriously than any other, and given that my Governor, Whitmer, does not have a great relationship with President Trump? I think my Lockdown will be a little longer.

Texas and Florida have initiated a Travel Ban involving Lousiana. While Trump is advising the Governors of NY, NJ, and CT to implement a Travel Ban of their own.

Real Talk people. As funny as the extreme reactions to this Virus may be, and many of us cope with stress by finding a way to make light of it. As shown by the numbers I shared a few days ago. COVID-19 is a very serious issue, socially, economically, as well as a threat to the health and well being of 7.8 Billion people. 7,800,000,000. Aside from the illness, there are some individuals that are blaming anyone ethnically Chinese for spreading the illness which has resulted in assaults on individuals with Asian ancestry.

Beyond simple boycotts on Asian Markets or Chinese-American small businesses, there have been physical assaults.

Just another day in lockdown!

Quarantine Day 6: EXTENDED?!?!?!?

You may have noticed from the last 5 days, I like to stay busy. Today I taught one of my cats to Sit on command and did a load of laundry, washed the dishes and have generally been looking for motivation. I took several pictures of fun motivating things I have seen on Social Media, and then I saw the president speak.. We are extended through the 30th on the "Social Distancing" Executive Order, if Michigan pushes the lockdown, that's another 17 days.

While I don't mind too much yet, I wish people would just stop acting bulletproof and stay inside.

Now for the Virus:

Quarantine Day 5: #1 Again!

So late last night, while I was home in bed. I was trolling Facebook, and this is what I read! Its a timeline game that was shared by one of my friends from middle school (Hey Kitty!). When I played, I tagged another friend of mine from when I was playing on Gaiaonline in College (Hello my Gaians! <3, Hi Shawna!) I guess it says a lot about me that I keep friends as long as I do. This is the chat Shawna and I had on Kitty's post.

As you can see, Shawna and I have found a way to chill together. On that note, my Uncle is hosting AA meetings on Zoom, my friend Jeff is partying with his friends across Zoom.

Piper's Apocolypse Peanutbutter Cookies Recipe

1 stick butter

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp Almond extract

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Combine and make like you would any cookies, roll balls a little bigger than a quarter, position on cookie sheet ( a little more room in better) dust with sugar, flatten with a fork, bake at 375 degrees F for about 12 minutes.

Dinner was Chili, but shortages kept me from having diced tomatoes in my pantry, I used crushed tomatoes and it felt like I was doing battle against a moderately spicy marinara sauce with beans in it. In the end, to cut the down the marinara effect I added a package of dry onion soup mix and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. 3 gallons of chili with half a jar of cayenne pepper and two full jars of chili powder was too much for my roommates, not as spicy as I would have liked but too much for them, it didn't even have powdered habanero in it this time!

While I was making dinner I had the chance to chat with a friend from Highschool, Daniel Moir about a book he has in the work, and I am privileged to have been involved in his character design stage, talking him through ideas and character traits while he drew her. I haven't gotten permission to share the drawing, so out of respect, I cant.

According to Bloomberg:

Coronavirus latest:
- Tokyo saw its biggest daily virus infections on Saturday
- Iran will publish anyone that doesn't respect social distancing rules
- Singapore advises public to stay home
- U.S. is the first country to reach 100,000 coronavirus cases

And now...

Naval Hospital Ships the Mercy is in California and the Comfort has been deployed to NY to provide care to non-Covid 19 cases.

Talk has happened about placing the states of NY, CT, and NJ under quarantine.. the state governors are saying that taking that step exceeds presidential authority. Which technically it does. However, the president is listening to advise from the CDC, and protecting the country from all threats foreign and Domestic does happen to be the Job of the President. The Pandemic is definitely a threat to all of us, the question is "How long can we continue to play politics?"

Quarantine Day 4: The Virus China Gave the World

Welcome back to a day in the life of me!

Today I cleaned, well I did the dishes and took care of my catbox, but I mostly sorted about 3 years' worth of mail and paperwork, that I have been neglecting, did laundry, posted on Twitter (you can find me @PayTehPiper). And shared my Dinner with Facebook, while trying to figure out Instagram ( @PayTehPiper), and wondering if its rude to ask my published author friends to plug my Beta Reading services... Attempted to file for unemployment (Michigan has the most clumsy and antiquated system in the country, I have lived in enough places that I can say that as an authority).

Dinner, by the way, was Alfredo Chicken and Gnocchi with Broccoli.



Now for a word on our Virus.

Politics! Our 2.2 Trillion dollar Aid package finally passed the house with a Bipartisan vote, previously Democrats blocked an attempt to move the bill forward on a 49-46 partisan vote that had passed 96-0 in the senate. Today President Trump signed the CARE Act into effect within hours of it getting the Congressional Stamp. Aid is on its way.

First, the FDA has signed off on using the blood of survivors to treat those currently afflicted. In an effort to share antibodies before we finish a Vaccine.

Second COVID-19 is mutating and evolving, there are currently two active strains, Type L and Type S. You can read more here.

Quarantine Day 3: Novel Corona Virus (COVID 19)

Today I have gotten some reading done, started on my backlog of Beta Reading. Took a Nap, made french toast and sausage, I might do waffles for dinner. And then I checked for important updates.

First, the Federal-Aid for people in lockdown for the Beer Virus passed the Senate (finally) with an unheard of 96-0, the 4 who didn't vote are currently infected with the virus and in quarantine. Now Congress is dithering. The take away from all this, our political structure is amazing and I love it, but they are too slow to take action in the event of an emergency. Our leaders are too busy being Bureaucrats to act with any sense of urgency. Shame on them. This is not the time to push political agendas, get the aid out there, and then push for your tax breaks and food stamps. You can absolutely vote more than once.

Second, People are still being reactionary and devolving into a panic, but on an up note, Gun sales are booming, cling to that second amendment people! Realistically, people aren't arming in panic, they are arming because we are already seeing the signs of social breakdown, with the supply shortages the smart ones are readying their home defense. It won't be too much longer before people are raiding their neighbor's homes over medicine, hygiene items, and toilet paper.

I haven't shared my pictures of the grocery store on our last trip before the lockdown was initiated. I took over 30 pictures of empty shelves.

COVID-19: Update

Quarantine Day 2: COVID 19

A couple observations.

I have friends that are calling the Novel Corona Virus "The Apocolypse."

My best friend has aptly referred to it as our generation's "Spanish Flu."


My Day two... There are several people waiting for me to read and review their work as a Beta Reader, I have put off starting. Today instead started with watching The Kingdom (Korean Historical Drama, featuring violence and political intrigue with a dash of Zombies. I strongly recommend it.) And then helping my Besty file her taxes. I may have taken a nap, and completely avoided social media. We had Salisbury Steak with mashed potatoes and spinach for Dinner, it was amazing.



Now for an update on Covid 19. Michigan has as of today 2,294 confirmed cases, Michigan has an estimated population of 10.05 million. That means our infected are an estimated 1 in every 4,381 people (for those of you that need help with math).

Nationally we have 65,527 confirmed cases, the estimated US Population is 333,546,000. That means that nationally our infected are an estimated 1 in every 5,090 people.

Of those 65, 527 cases we have 1000 deaths.. which means that 1 in every 65 cases of COVID 19 has been Fatal.

The Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 lasted for 1 year and killed 50 million. At the start of the year, the world population was 1.8 Billion. 500,000,000 people were infected (3.6% of the world population), and 50 million people died from the Spanish flu that year (10% of those affected). Effectively killing 2.77% of the global population.

Now in 2020 our global population is 7.8 Billion. If COVID 19 is as effective as the Spanish flu, then we can expect it to kill 216,606,000 people before its done. As of today, 23,692 people have died, which is 1 in every 329,255 people around the world who have been killed.

Now the scary details. COVID 19 can survive outside the human body for AT LEAST 17 days, you can be affected by coming into contact with it and touching your face. 17.9 % of people with COVID 19 are A-symptomatic that is to say they experience no symptoms or are carriers. It is Airborne. You can contract it more than once, and those who survive it may experience between 20 and 30% decreased lung function.

Day 1 of COVID-19 Quarantine

I haven't used this blog in almost 2 years. But Historians say this is the time to keep a Journal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) was first alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhuan, a city in the Chinese province of Hubei, on December 31, 2019. According to the first WHO situation report on the coronavirus disease, the cases of pneumonia had no known cause and totaled 44 by January 3.4

China’s National Health Commission originally traced exposure to a seafood market in Wuhan, but later reports indicate that the market was unlikely to be the only source of the virus.5

 By January 7, the exact strain—a new type of coronavirus—was identified, and initially named 2019-nCoV.

Given the dense population and other environmental factors, I wasn't too surprised to hear that a new illness had been found. I was working under the assumption that it would be like SARS or H1N1. But COVID-19 appears to be much more virulent.

Spread to United States
On January 21, Washington State reported the first case of the new coronavirus in the United States in a man who had returned from Wuhan, China.8

Person-to-Person Spread
The first instance of a person transmitting COVID-19 to another person while in the United States was reported in Chicago, Illinois, on January 30.9 A woman in her 60s contracted the virus while caring for her father in China, passing it to her husband when she returned home.  

Community Spread
The early cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. were limited to people who had traveled from China and those they interacted closely with. But on February 26, the CDC confirmed a case in California with no reported travel connection to China or exposure to another person with COVID-19.10 This marked the first possible instance of community spread—the spread of an illness with an unknown source of infection.  

As of March 23, 2020, the CDC reported 33,404 cases of COVID-19—both confirmed and presumptive—across the U.S. The majority of diagnoses have been located in Washington state, California, and New York.11

As a writer, I have been documenting the sociological response and the psychological impact this new Virus has had on the general public, primarily via family in other states or regions, and then again through the social media response. In addition to the Measured Response of government leaders around the world.

It was very interesting to me and spoke to the severity of the illness when I observed that the normal vitriol and inflammatory behavior of Social Media had shifted, in place of sarcasm and nasty responses I was seeing "wellness checks" and where rage might have been before there are unifying posts and calls to action people are being supportive sharing calls to action to bring sanitation supplies to people, supporting our infrastructure.

Not to say that there hasn't been negative fallout. In the panic brought about by non-objective News coverage and various media outlets, before the Virus had a chance to really impact communities the panic was harming the masses. Store shelves were emptied, essentials like Toilet Paper and other paper products, Soap, Cleaners, and various sanitation products or medical supplies (specifically nitrile gloves and N95 rated medical masks) were purchased in large quantities and hoarded by those in a panic... and in some cases by those with the intent on price gouging the market later.

It is like somebody flipped a switch, and all the trolls online became decent human beings, whereas all the church-going "good" people of the real world became assholes.

Some of my most abrasive friends (my punk days in High School) have organized a do-good group on Facebook and are working to keep spirits light, sharing information on where and when supplies can be obtained and often supplying each other with necessities, from food to hygiene products and medical supplies.

In the wake of the N95 mask shortage, a great many of them are pulling together to make masks from 4 layers of cotton, based on a design released by an Oklahoma hospital.

In my own measured response, I was raised to be prepared for anything. And watched things carefully until the Novel Corona Virus was found in Michigan. You can find the details here, but between the first sign of concern from our Governor and a full state, Lockdown took less than 30 days.. Today is Day 1 of my Lockdown/Quarantine, my anticipated return to normal life is April 14th.