Q. Notes, Day 147

Today's the last day of our 21st week of (mostly) quarantine. Over 5,000,000 cases of COVID-19 reported in the United States since 02/29/2020, but none in my household. For the moment, people are wearing masks and practicing distancing at every place I've been in for the last few weeks (stores, pharmacy, clinic, vehicle inspection station). I've read that if everybody is wearing masks and staying more than six feet apart, it's unlikely that COVID-19 will be spread in a given location.

There's also the so-called "roller-coaster effect" that we've experienced:

• The number of infections increases sharply;
• strict protective measures are implemented in the community;
• the rate of infection is gradually reduced;
• communities relax their protection requirements;
• the number of infections increases sharply;
• repeat steps 2 through 5.

Assuming we're still a year or more away from an effective vaccine, it seems like the next-best thing is to require masks in all public places, and enforce the hell out of the requirement. From what I'm seeing around here, when state and local government officials are prepared to make a thing out of it, at least 99 percent of the people will comply with the precautionary measures, and the one percent who won't can usually be avoided, if not kicked in the crotch.

Elsewhere today, a report circulating on the Internet says that Cheezy's making serious inquiries about having himself added to Mount Rushmore. Here's my suggestion: Send two guys to South Dakota with ball peen hammers and stone chisels, and tell Cheezy we're workin' on it.

Yesterday, Cheezy captured a lot of media attention at a televised campaign event when he announced four sweeping executive orders. Now we're told he actually signed one executive order and three memos, and the executive order doesn't actually say what he claims it says. Until further notice, we can just file this in the Reality Show Stunt drawer with the rest of the crap. Unfortunately, people who ought to know better keep falling into the trap.