Open Bar: Curbside Pickup Only

[LMNO]

Well I'm hopping a train south to New Orleans because I have nowhere to stay in Wisconsin and winter is coming on fast. I never intend to reside here again. I have friends and business interests so I may visit from time to time, but I was already looking to make a leap before my car broke down in LaX in June. I have a friend I'm meeting up with in the French Quarter and intend to set down new roots there fairly quickly. I have a couple hundred each in cash and food stamps and a few hundred on my debit card. Managed to pare down my posessions to a stuffed backpack, a rather nice all way roller luggage I got at a thrift shop, and my walking staff, which always goes where I go. In for some challenges to be sure, but my spirit is optimistic and I am as well prepped as an old hand gamer can be for a potentially difficult adventure.

You're one of the most cautious/paranoid people about Covid that I've ever seen, and you've decided to live in NEW ORLEANS?

[Doktor Howl]

And then TWJ was swallowed by the whirlpool of virus. 

[Suu]

Well I'm hopping a train south to New Orleans because I have nowhere to stay in Wisconsin and winter is coming on fast. I never intend to reside here again. I have friends and business interests so I may visit from time to time, but I was already looking to make a leap before my car broke down in LaX in June. I have a friend I'm meeting up with in the French Quarter and intend to set down new roots there fairly quickly. I have a couple hundred each in cash and food stamps and a few hundred on my debit card. Managed to pare down my posessions to a stuffed backpack, a rather nice all way roller luggage I got at a thrift shop, and my walking staff, which always goes where I go. In for some challenges to be sure, but my spirit is optimistic and I am as well prepped as an old hand gamer can be for a potentially difficult adventure.

You're one of the most cautious/paranoid people about Covid that I've ever seen, and you've decided to live in NEW ORLEANS?

Sounds more like he may not have a choice.

[The Wizard Joseph]

It is entirely an act of desperation, and in part a choice of where to go if I had to pick a city to die in, partly circumstantial opportunity. Me and the dojo sensei got into a little disagreement over his imaginary friends. I was not polite about what a crazy fucker he was being. A couple days later I went in for a covid test due to circumstantial exposure risk from the derelicts that live in the rooms above. The hospital staff suggested I admit myself when I tested clean for drugs due to obvious hypomanic symptoms. While in the ward I kept him updated by phone on occasion. The punk CALLED MY PSYCHOLOGIST and tried to make it out like I was dangerously insane. Fortunately this psychologist knew me from my last visit. The sensei kept him on the phone for over 50 min apparently talking about me hypothetically because I had given no permission for him to contact me or my doctors. We eventually had a three way call. He reneged on our agreement of honor and all plans to partner up in the future. I had initially 1 week after I got out to leave the dojo. Managed to push that back by a week and a half as I tried to improvise a move. He still plays friendly because I was courteous, but he's a lunatic with paper thin pretenses in place of Honor. Much of my stuff remains in his basement. He asked me to leave my key, given by a now dead teacher and mutual friend.

I am making that lemonade that they speak of. I intend to drink it spiked among the graves and with music in the air. Plus the friend I am meeting is an amazing person and I look forward to talking IRL.

[Bruno]

TWJ, and really anybody for that matter, I just wanted to point out that N95 masks are actually available now, sporadically. I found a box of 15 on grainger.com.  Some of them have exhalation valves which would need to be covered.

These are the ones that were available to ship when I checked just now:





 
3M

Disposable Respirator, Universal, NIOSH Rating N100, ASTM Splash Rating Not Rated
Item # 4JG03

Price$14.82 / each
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.   

This item is restricted in certain countries.



 
GRAINGER APPROVED

Disposable Respirators, Universal, NIOSH Rating N95, ASTM Splash Rating Not Rated, PK 40
Item # 56JZ89

Price$109.22 / pkg. of 40
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.
AlertPandemic product not subject to addtl. discounts



 
HONEYWELL NORTH

Disposable Respirator, M/L, NIOSH Rating N95, ASTM Splash Rating Not Rated
Item # 4VT73

Price$29.40 / pkg. of 20
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.   

This item is restricted in certain countries.



 
GRAINGER APPROVED

Disposable N95 respirator, Universal, NIOSH Rating N95, PK 20
Item # 56JM02

Price$54.48 / pkg. of 20
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.
AlertPandemic product not subject to addtl. discounts




 
MOLDEX

Disposable Respirator, M/L, NIOSH Rating N95, ASTM Splash Rating Not Rated
Item # 1DLL5

Price$31.50 / pkg. of 20
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.   

This item is restricted in certain countries.



 
MOLDEX

Disposable Respirator, M/L, NIOSH Rating N95, Nuisance Organic Vapor, Nuisance Ozone
Item # 1DLN2

Price$67.72 / pkg. of 10
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.   

This item is restricted in certain countries.



 
MOLDEX

Disposable Respirator, M/L, NIOSH Rating N95, Nuisance Organic Vapor, Nuisance Ozone
Item # 52ZV49

Price$19.06 / pkg. of 2
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.   

This item is restricted in certain countries.



 
MOLDEX

Disposable Respirator, M/L, NIOSH Rating N95, Nuisance Organic Vapor, Nuisance Ozone
Item # 3NML2

Price$69.82 / pkg. of 10
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.   

This item is restricted in certain countries.



 
MOLDEX

Disposable Respirator, M/L, NIOSH Rating P100, ASTM Splash Rating Not Rated
Item # 3CDE3

Price$71.92 / pkg. of 5
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.   




 
MOLDEX

Disposable Respirator, M/L, NIOSH Rating Nuisance Organic Vapor, Nuisance Ozone, R95
Item # 3NMJ6

Price$78.22 / pkg. of 10
Availability

Expected to arrive Thu. Nov 19.   

[Bruno]

Also, some dumbass I've hated since 6th grade just posted this shit on fb.

This same fucker feels that the fact that some members of our church, including some deacons and elders voted against Trump is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

I have a feeling that a life of violent crime may be in my not-to-distant future.

[The Wizard Joseph]

So get this. I am wandering an unknown neighborhood with my pack and my staff and this young fella comes up trying to hustle a bit. We get to talking. He invites me to chill. Turns out the house is looking for a new roomie. The kid is alright, but the landlord is a Puerto Rican New Yorker and old school Discordian working on some very cool scripts and amazing cosmological storytelling. He just prefers New Orleans for all kinda reasons. Funny how these encounters just happen. We gonna get along mighty fine I think.

Hail Eris
Howyadoin
Causus Belli
Chaos Troopin'
Tales told
And terrible they
Hard wrought
On a treachreous Way
But downlow
Like Charlie in the bush
To spring a trap
It just takes luck
And a little push

[The Wizard Joseph]

Addendum.

That nice young man seems to have managed to fuck up a very good arrangement. While I was out and visiting with the new friend that was holding down my luggage for a few hours the landlord had to break into the bathroom where the kid had just dosed himself with what appears to be some nasty hoss cooked on a dirty spoon. That was apparently strike three in record time and man did he strike out hard. Shame. Seemed like a decent guy. His mother came and scooped him and his evil but cute little bastardo of a cat. Some of his stuff remains including a rather nice bed. Guess until he reclaims it the landlord is quite alright with me crashing my weary ass on it. Kid incidentally caused some property damage including a busted front door. It is as secure as it can be for now. Plus I will be sleeping just on the other side of it. The landlord seems to very much be ok with a huge, angry ninja-wizard handling security in a fairly rough neighborhood. If I am successful enough at getting my job/hustle on over time I can probably just pay him enough that further roomies of questionable integrity become unnecessary. A good crash space is invaluable. I absolutely am not going to let this one go to shit over some stupid shit if I can help it.

[Suu]

Addendum.

That nice young man seems to have managed to fuck up a very good arrangement. While I was out and visiting with the new friend that was holding down my luggage for a few hours the landlord had to break into the bathroom where the kid had just dosed himself with what appears to be some nasty hoss cooked on a dirty spoon. That was apparently strike three in record time and man did he strike out hard. Shame. Seemed like a decent guy. His mother came and scooped him and his evil but cute little bastardo of a cat. Some of his stuff remains including a rather nice bed. Guess until he reclaims it the landlord is quite alright with me crashing my weary ass on it. Kid incidentally caused some property damage including a busted front door. It is as secure as it can be for now. Plus I will be sleeping just on the other side of it. The landlord seems to very much be ok with a huge, angry ninja-wizard handling security in a fairly rough neighborhood. If I am successful enough at getting my job/hustle on over time I can probably just pay him enough that further roomies of questionable integrity become unnecessary. A good crash space is invaluable. I absolutely am not going to let this one go to shit over some stupid shit if I can help it.

Sounds pretty fucking standard for NOLA, really.

[The Wizard Joseph]

Addendum.

That nice young man seems to have managed to fuck up a very good arrangement. While I was out and visiting with the new friend that was holding down my luggage for a few hours the landlord had to break into the bathroom where the kid had just dosed himself with what appears to be some nasty hoss cooked on a dirty spoon. That was apparently strike three in record time and man did he strike out hard. Shame. Seemed like a decent guy. His mother came and scooped him and his evil but cute little bastardo of a cat. Some of his stuff remains including a rather nice bed. Guess until he reclaims it the landlord is quite alright with me crashing my weary ass on it. Kid incidentally caused some property damage including a busted front door. It is as secure as it can be for now. Plus I will be sleeping just on the other side of it. The landlord seems to very much be ok with a huge, angry ninja-wizard handling security in a fairly rough neighborhood. If I am successful enough at getting my job/hustle on over time I can probably just pay him enough that further roomies of questionable integrity become unnecessary. A good crash space is invaluable. I absolutely am not going to let this one go to shit over some stupid shit if I can help it.

Sounds pretty fucking standard for NOLA, really.

I'm starting to see that pretty clearly. I'm in the 7th ward and I have been warned of violence popping off regularly and sometimes with no reason other than a hot temper or cowboy bullshit posturing. Heard clusters of gun shots twice yesterday but not a single siren.

Don't take this as morbid, but I kinda feel at home. Except that the local cemetery is WAY cooler. The church that I assume manages it is nearby. Might stop in for services on Sunday if there's no lockdown. Break in is common I am told. Perhaps they could use an inexpensive caretaker.

I have realized that no amount of precaution can save me from exposure to 'Rona under the sanitary and social conditions happening here and everywhere else in NOLA. I still take precautions, but not for my health's sake so much as my conscience and to hopefully set a good example without coming off as frightened or standoffish. Seems to be working. I often tip my mask down to smile briefly. People seem to like me so far.

[LMNO]

I have to be honest, I'm a bit jealous.  NOLA is one of my favorite cities.  In the Before Times, we would go at least once a year.

[Fujikoma]

TWJ, I have found some of the friendliest people live in some of the worst places. Well, they're friendly provided you don't offend them (but they tend to be reasonable if you aren't a total fuck-stick). I spent six months in the Bluff, sixth worst neighborhood in the united states, it was part of Atlanta that got cut off from downtown by the construction of the Georgia Dome, now it's basically a warzone territory, boarded up houses, roving gun-battles on the daily, but damn the people there are really cool. Good luck with your new home!

[The Wizard Joseph]

I have to be honest, I'm a bit jealous.  NOLA is one of my favorite cities.  In the Before Times, we would go at least once a year.

I just got back from exploring St. Roch's cemetery. Patron saint of miraculous cures. Apparently there is a holy fountain now shut off that was known for being curative, a HUGE shrine to St. Michael, court of the archangels in general, and in the other half across the street SOMETHING that was palpable like a bad taste in my mouth in a very large, heavily gated and locked, chapel/crypt. They definitely need a maintenance guy with a strong spine in more than one sense. One tomb in particular was unsealed and covered in red brick dust, brick sitting in front of the slab. As I stood observing and projecting a tiny bit the dead flower stem in the vase moved several times back and forth in sudden jerks. The cemetary walls are more than 10 feet tall and nearly as thick because they hold corpses. There was zero wind and no other flowers moved. I introduced myself and appologized for being intrusive. The movement stopped quite suddenly. I bid good day and kept wandering and snapping the occasional pic. Anomalous movement is nothing new to me, but I have never seen it happen so brazenly in broad daylight before. The spirits here are Wutang Clan levels of nothing to fuck with.

Then again, niether am I. I think I am going to like this neighborhood.

LMNO if things finally chill on the covid situation it would be amazing to meet you here sometime. This place is so contradictory in being lively, even during a plague, yet soaked in old, often horrible, death and suffering. Seems the only really consistent thing is extremes. This place is a lot of things, but "kinda middling" is not one of them.

[The Wizard Joseph]

Interesting side note after a bit of research

St. Roch is more specifically a patron of plagues and infectious diseases. The cemetary was built in fulfillment of a vow a priest took before St. Roch to spare his parish during a yellow fever outbreak in the late 1800s. Not one person in the whole parish took ill.

Part of my plan coming here was to produce a smooth sublingual tincture of CBD and CBG, possibly some THC bearing ones for nausea as well on the down low. I came here to do good and to be a healer so well as I can be, for as long as I draw breath.

I know I risk the plague and I feel a certain affinity with the story of St. Roch. He was on pilgrimage to Rome and stopped to minister to plague victims. He himself caught the plague. He was tended by a dog that was stealing biscuits from the market and bringing them to him, and so is also saint of dog lovers. The merchant being stolen from eventually noticed and followed the dog. He nursed Roch back to health. Roch went right on ministering to the sick like a champ.

There is spiritual power. It is very much the power of storytelling made manifest. As things get ever darker over the coming years perhaps I can use this power to keep a brighter light lit for people locally. I intend to brand my tinctures as "St. Raphael's" after both the archangel of healing and life and my recently slain Igbo brother Justice Ihechi Raphael. St. Raphael has his own court in the cemetery, though not a whole gigantic shrine like St. Michael. The symbolism there is very distinctively about spiritual warfare, almost moreso than healing. Going to be interesting visiting the church on Sunday.

[Fujikoma]

Why not St. Norton blend? Excellent post though.