The CDC and other public health institutions are providing advice as to what we should do to protect ourselves from coronavirus.

One admonition is to wash hands. Often!

How long? We are told 20 seconds. How do we clock ourselves? Sing Happy Birthday in your mind 2 times.

So simple!

Fortunately, there remains some humor. Best we not forget our sense of humor while wading through this crisis.

Read an interesting comment yesterday: This morning at the post office, while I was in line, 2 people with masks entered. TOTAL PANIC! Then they said, “This is a robbery”……and we all calmed down.

Clocks move ahead 1 hour today.

I was not aware. Woke, looked at the clock, and thought I had overslept by an hour. It was not till I sat down at the computer that I realized what had occurred.

My entire life this change of time thing has confused me. Even now at 84.

Watched Syracuse get beat by Miami in overtime by 2 points.

Unless Syracuse wins the ACC Tournament, it will not be in the NCAA tourney. The NIT! The shame of it all!

Decided on a change of pace for dinner. Drove up U.S. 1 to Mangrove Mama’s. Fist time since last summer.

It was a bit cool. However the music was good, the people having fun, and the food terrific. I enjoyed a lobster Reuben.

Trump changed plans and did go to the CDC in the morning. He was casually dressed. I assume on his way to Mar-a-Lago to play golf.

Trump’s comments at the CDC meeting clearly reflect his misguided and misleading thoughts. The man is terrifying. The comments reflect Trump’s adverse virtues.

“But I think, importantly, anybody, right now and yesterday, that needs a test gets a test. They’re there, they have the tests, and the tests are beautiful! Anybody that needs a test gets a test.”

“If there’s a doctor that wants a test, if there’s somebody coming off a ship like the big monster ship that’s out there right now, which you know, again, that’s a big decision. Do I want to bring all those people off? People would like me to do that. I don’t like the idea of doing that.”

“I like the numbers being where they are. I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault.”

“They would like to quarantine people.Now when they do that our numbers are going to go up.”

“The tests are all perfect, like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. This is not as perfect as that, but pretty good.”

The best follows.

“I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it…..Everyone of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this? Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for President.'”

My coronavirus observations for today.

China has conducted 1.6 million tests per week with 5 different type test kits. South Korea has tested 65,000 people.

The CDC announced yesterday that the U.S. has tested less than 6,000 people.

Northern Italy has been hit hard. The government has placed 16 million in lock-down. Another way of saying quarantined.

My friend Anna lives in northern Italy. In Novara. Thirty miles outside of Milan. I have been trying to reach her. No response. She might be in Morocco. Her daughter-in-law is originally from there and the family visits often.

Anna is my age. She tends to panic easily. If she is quarantined in Novara, I am sure she is going nuts! I recall on my first visit with Anna, when big time multiple earthquakes occurred, she began running all over the apartment screaming…..We are going to die!

Couldn’t really blame her. The earthquakes were awful. Buildings collapsing and the like.

Back to other things.

On this day in 1917, the Russian February Revolution began. Called “February” because Russia was operating under the Julian calendar at the time.

Riots and strikes over the scarcity of food began in Petrograd.

One week later czarist rule ended with the abdication of Nicholas II.

One of America’s all time great baseball players Joe Di Maggio died this day in 1999.

I had the pleasure of meeting him 4 times.

The first was at Ventura’s Restaurant in Utica. Ventura’s ran an annual golf tournament. The restaurant owner and Di Maggio were friends. He generally appeared as a guest at the tournament.

It was at an after tournament party at the restaurant that I got to meet Di Maggio. A short introduction and 2-3 minutes of words.

Later in life, I would occasionally play golf at La Gorce in Miami. I was the guest of Jim Brock. Brock was a very successful insurance agent and sometime client.

Met Di Maggio in the Club Room following a round of golf. I was invited to sit at his table. Our friendship blossomed as they do under such circumstances.

The next time I ran into Di Maggio was a year later. Again at La Gorce. He was waiting for his car. I had just driven up. “Hello, Louis,” he greeted me. We chatted a few minutes and then went our separate ways.

Some time later, we ran into each other at La Gorce’s Sunday evening buffet. We enjoyed a drink or 2 together.

Enjoy your Sunday!