The Valley season II

I note with dismay that I stopped posting. There are things to get caught with, but for now, season II in the valley, more oppressive circumstances.

A coronavirus identified as Covid-19 has prompted a worldwide quarantine, and in the U.S. there has been a shutdown of all industries deemed non-essential, including all schools. Given that all my employment is student driven (tutoring, the afterschool chess programs, music lessons) I've had no new income since March 18th.

My two roommates who are freelance musicians and they've seen their gigs cancelled/postponed, some up through 2021. Rather than accrue months of deferred rent, they elected to give notice at the beginning of the month and move in with friends and family. I've had no choice but to give notice as well. With four days to go, I've not been able to secure a place with the quarantine in place but I think I'll be able to store most of my stuff. I never unloaded most of the bozes I moved in with, so packing hasn't been so much a problem as realizing that I never opened these boxes for a reason. I've already downsized from a 3 bedroom home to a 2 bedroom apartment to a single rented room. But it looks I'm going to trim down even further to what will fit into 2 4x4x4' lockers along with some rafter space for my loft.

As bad as things are for people who have residences and sleep indoors, things are even more difficult for the homeless/people who sleep outdoors. The homeless who sleep indoors are at the greatest risk for catching the virus as they sleep in cramped quarters at night. But there is no place to go during the day. The libraries have been deemed non-essential - no respite from bad weather during the day, but more significantly - no places to recharge their phones. Moreover, many programs have shut down their food programs, so access to food is limited. The fast food places that accept EBT are open, but drive thru only, and cooked food is theoretically banned from purchase; you can't use EBT to get coffee, but you can purchase COLD drinks. I'm hoping the starbucks is still in the von's in east pasadena - a drink, a place to get wifi WITH electric outlets and a bathroom....