Shelter

Many of you have likely heard that most (maybe all by now) of the SF Bay Area is under a shelter-in-place order. Basically this means "don't leave your house, except for certain essential reasons." The list of what's considered "essential" is longer than you might think. You can read the full text of the San Francisco County order here, and I actually recommend it even if you don't live in SF -- the orders for the other Bay Area counties are nearly identical (I suspect it may be boilerplate from the state Department of Health) and it seems likely that similar rules will come down in other places. I actually found it rather calming. Maybe just because it's nice to have some official rules to follow for awhile, rather than the constantly shifting and sometimes conflicting information from various sources. And there are, as I've mentioned, a number of legitimate reasons for going out, including getting food and exercise (as long as you maintain social distancing). The order is for three weeks, through April 7th, but I wouldn't be surprised if it went longer. I'm going to miss socializing with people, but some plans are already on the books for virtual get-togethers (my Sunday TV nights, for one) and I'm sure more will come along.

If you need me, don't hesitate to ping me. Here, or via email, or on Twitter (iamkj ) are all good places to find me. And I'm going to do my best to post and comment more, because maintaining community during these hard times is one of the most important things we can do.