Hi Robert

Japan is hit very hard.

My wife closed the business

So now no income coming in

Times now very different

There is no panic in town

We bought rice for to have

Stores are fully stocked

No panic today

My wife and I are in that demographic that is most at risk.   So for the next few weeks we are self-quarantining. 

If someone finds one of us dead, it won't be from the virus 🤣 😉 

The Virus arrived in Baltimore at 12:00 noon on Friday, at 12:01 pm the Virus was shot. 😎 

Well, its all quiet as restaurants, gyms, gatherings (including courts) are closed.  It is going to be VERY TOUGH on the little guy, and I am interested to see the short and long term results in society. 

I like to stay flexible and see how much I can go with the flow so I am looking to the bright side of this ordeal as a test of my very privileged life and my perspective.  As John Lennon said, Nothings going to change my world.

In Spain situation is not yet on top, but more than 11.000 infected and more than 500 people passed away... At home, waiting for better moments that for sure will come....

My family is all healthy, thankfully. However, my retirement accounts are another matter! They are getting killed.

As far as work, I have been told to work from home and I am trying. I still need to go in at times so I'm splitting my time.

We are not hoarding anything and have been able to get everything we need. So we are trying to make the best of it and praying that somehow things will soon stabilize and start going back to normal... oh yeah and the retirement account will go back up!

I had thought I might be able to get a lot of guitar time but so far that hasn't happened.

I am thankful that for us in the US we are not dealing with this in full winter. I pray for any area that is having severe weather in addition to the virus problems.

Out of 1,055 infected persons in Japan and travelers / returnees from China, etc.
, 159 Hokkaido:
▽ Aichi: 141,
▽ Tokyo: 136,
▽ Osaka: 125,
▽ Hyogo 107 people,
 72 people in Kanagawa Prefecture
, 45 people in Saitama Prefecture
, 42 people in Chiba Prefecture
, 27 people in Niigata Prefecture
, 23 people in Kyoto Prefecture
, 17 people in Wakayama Prefecture, 17 people in
Oita Prefecture 13 people
 12 people in Kochi prefecture
, 11 people in Gunma prefecture
, 9 people in Mie prefecture
, 8 people in Nara prefecture, 8 people in
 Ishikawa prefecture
, 7 people in ▽ Kumamoto prefecture,
5 people in ▽ Fukuoka prefecture people,
▽ Nagano Prefecture 4 people,
▽ Shiga Prefecture 4 people,
▽ Tochigi Prefecture 4 people,
▽ Ibaraki Prefecture, 3 people,
▽ Gifu Prefecture, 3 people,
▽ Shizuoka Prefecture, 3 people,
▽ Hiroshima Prefecture, 3 people ,
▽ Yamaguchi Prefecture, 3 people,
▽ Ehime Prefecture 3 people,
▽ Miyazaki Prefecture, 3 people,
▽ Okinawa Prefecture, 3 people,
▽ Akita Prefecture 2 people,
▽ Fukushima Prefecture, two people,
▽ Yamanashi Prefecture, two people,
▽ 1 Miyagi prefecture, 1
Fukui prefecture, 1
Tokushima prefecture, 1
Kagawa prefecture, 1
Saga prefecture, 1
Nagasaki prefecture, 1 person
returned from China by charter aircraft There are 14 people,
and 26 people, including the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare staff and quarantine officers, and those who have been confirmed to be infected by airport quarantine.

We now have a state of local emergency. Gatherings of 50 people or more are prohibited. Many are ignoring these rules throughout the country. Our Prime Minister was just on TV, saying "enough is enough - stay inside".

Good time to turn off the TV and play guitar. Stay inside, keep in touch with family and friends through technology.

I'll do more live streams with you during this time. Let me know times that work well and what topics you want me to cover.

Music and guitar playing can help calm us, I think. Relaxing for the mind and soul.

Try having ones business have to shut down and have to rely on Social Security that can be spent in one day just to pay one major bill. 

We are not even in an area hard hit like, Tokyo, Osaka and Hokkaido.  Well, anyway, having our positive thoughts are a strong medicine. Hmm... doc appointment this morning. Maybe I'll ask him about the true situation here in town.

for a side note:  I don't believe the figures the Japanese govt. is giving us is very accurate. 😥 

Posted by: @jestme

I had thought I might be able to get a lot of guitar time but so far that hasn't happened.

You know what, Chris?  Me either.  And I'm really mad at myself.  What perfect time to get major practice time in and hopefully see a lot of progress!  And it hasn't happened.  And I don't know why.

Every day I hear my wife shout, "Dinner!" and I wonder where in the @#$% has the day gone.

Maybe today?

Proud to say that our Governor in Maryland has been on the leading edge of steps to reduce virus spread.  Not to happy to hear how many States are not following, and worse yet how many individuals are just ignoring the risk of spread as well as prolonging economic impact.  Let's just get through this folks, c'mon.

As for guitar, I hear you Ron and Chris.  But then, yesterday, I sat down to my Trio Looper pedal and burned two hours of exploration and repetition on the guitar.  That being said, I have to step up to hitting lesson time hard, digging in, AND, recording some projects and collaborations.

This is an ominous reminder that there never is enough time...

And @clayton, as proud as you are of your governor that is about my level of frustration and embarassment with our governor.  All we have done is limit the size of public gatherings in a couple counties. (Those counties, of course, the ones with Omaha and Lincoln)

But I knew our governor long before he was in politics.  And I knew his tenure would be a disaster.  And if I don't stop now this will turn into an 11 page rant.  (And violate Robert's rule about no politics).

I'm going to comment on the "no practicing" subject we started but was just informed about a painting project that this quarantine period would be perfect for 🙄 

@matonanjin, You have one those lists, too, huh?  That's the sound of the men, working on the chain...gaa-ang.

It's crazy. I am working from home and it is a much slower than usual process. The 5 inches of snow from last night didn't help... Thankfully [presumably] we are all healthy and that's a key thing. It's much like the old [pre-virus] days... I'll play over the weekend [Mon-Fri]... where did the weekend go...? I'll play a lot NEXT weekend [Sunday night] 😉

Besides our health more good news [at least US side] is the stock market had a good day... some of my lost retirement funds have returned... There is hope!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Posted by: @hillbilly_joe

Try having ones business have to shut down and have to rely on Social Security that can be spent in one day just to pay one major bill. 

We are not even in an area hard hit like, Tokyo, Osaka and Hokkaido.  Well, anyway, having our positive thoughts are a strong medicine. Hmm... doc appointment this morning. Maybe I'll ask him about the true situation here in town.

for a side note:  I don't believe the figures the Japanese govt. is giving us is very accurate. 😥 

Well the good news of my doc appt. No fever and the high blood pressure is under control (stress related) and the pain in the head turn out so far nothing but drinking 4 bottles of Canadian Club.

Thanks Canadians, you're there when I need ya.