Italy Moves to Defcon 37

Wednesday, 11 March, 2020

I had made the conscious decision that starting this morning I was going to limit my trips out of the Bunker for the foreseeable future.

Only "essential" trips as allowed as per Monday night's government edict.

I classified a stop at the Pasticceria Marabelli for a cappuccino and a pistacchio brioche as being "exceedingly essential!"

What the . . .

This sign was prominently displayed on Marabelli's front door. Normally their weekday hours are from 7:00 to 19:30.

I had to ask Cristina if these new hours were for just today or were they a permanent change for the duration of the quarantine.

She said that they were for today only but that they expected the government to shut down at least all bars if not more soon, maybe even by this afternoon.

You can take away most of my freedoms under these desperate circumstances but the loss of my morning brioche would be going a step too far! 

While at Marabelli, I needed to see what the newspapers had to say for hidden clues as to the severity of our shared situation.

A possible playoff for later

this year to determine the

2019-20 Serie A champion

Again, what the . . .

A playoff in Serie A is

virtually unheard of!

The norm in Serie A calcio/soccer is that the 20 teams play each of their 19 opponents twice on a home-and-home over the long ten month season.

To review, a win garners a three team points, a tie is worth one point for each team and a loss earns you a green participation ribbon.

At the end of the 38 game regular season schedule, the team with the most team points is the Champion of Serie A. No playoffs are needed.

Now with stoppage of play for an undetermined amount of time after 26 games, the people in charge of Serie A are discussing the possibility of taking the top four teams in the standings and have them participate in a mini-playoff scenario to determine the 2019-20 champions.

If they opt for this plan the four top teams. in order with their current team points, are: Juventus (63), Lazio (62), Inter (54) and Atalanta (48).

After enjoying what may be my last brioche for awhile, I headed to the Esselunga Supermarket for much needed survival supplies for the Bunker.

When I entered from the parking garage there was a uniformed guard there to greet me.

That was a first.

I asked him what was going on and he said that in case it started to get crowded, they had orders to slow down the ingress to the market so as to more easily comply with the One Meter Rule. I'm ok with that.

He then told me that if they got to that point, not to worry. His instructions were to allow old people like me to go to the front of the line if it got overcrowded.

It's GOOD to be old!

Sometimes.

The market was fully stocked,

not too crowded and the

check-out lines were short

These were all good signs.

On the way home, I drove by a small but popular produce store and noticed people milling about in the parking lot.

This produce store IS small so the

One Meter Rule is rapidly assailed

In these types of lines, it becomes a Two Meter Rule.

The rest of my day was spent in the Bunker doing the usual laundry, reading , watching TV and computer work.

Santa Barbara came by in the evening with a gift.

My first ever non-football

related face mask!

GRAZIE, Santa Barbara!

She also had news from Giorgio who is doing fine on the Swiss side of our nearby border with no idea when he'll be allowed back into Italy.

At about 9:00 p.m., while watching TV, "We interrupt this program for some EXTRAORDINARY news . . ."

Uh-oh.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte

was on TV again

His announcement was expected, tough and, in my opinion, prudent given the conditions at hand.

ALL of Italy is now on

TOTAL LOCKDOWN

DEFCON 37

This means that ALL businesses except pharmacies and food markets are to be closed.

People are to STAY AT HOME as much as possible to further stop the spread of the Coronavirus.

Blog fan David Lassen recommended that I change the name of this blog to Sitting Around Doing Nothing for Pizza.

While I'm OK with the new, tough rules, this blog will not change its name.

No brioche for me for some time it would seem.

Cruel and unusual punishment?

Back in the USA, Mr. Trump is scheduled to address the nation during Italy's Thursday early morning hours while I

 sleep.

That talk will be of interest I'm sure, especially if he can put two consecutive sentences together.

Stay tuned . . .