Warning: DC under seige

Thank you, GardenArtist. I just turned on the news. Horrible start to 2021.

GA,
Of course this has to do with caregiving, those elderly with their T.V.'s on will need to be distracted, calmed, supervised.

Protests will spill over to other areas of the country in the USA.

Dh out on a bike ride this morning was issued a warning to avoid crowds, to not head into a crowd, to not go around a crowd gathering, and to leave the area, maybe come home. If his route was in the path of a protest, he would try to just plow through, known from his behavioral patterns and OCD.

My scanner is reporting calls of a group of people walking into traffic, attempting to collect donations, so sheriffs are responding. In California.
So yes, with dH out, I am monitoring for his safety.

Thanks for the warnings for Caregivers everywhere.

Staying at home.

Remain calm, leave politics out of this thread.

I was nervous about today and chose not to leave my house, too many crazies. My grandma has been calling all day freaking out a little over it.

I hope it stops soon and no more people get hurt.

I am pretty honest, so have no problem saying what part of the political continuum I fall on. But today I hope we can leave the politics out of our threads.
We are all good and decent people here, trying to make a difference. There is so much division right now, and we will all have very strong feelings today on one side or another. It's been SUCH a year. We have all been through so much, Covid, politics, and some of us great personal grief. I am afraid giving voice to our feelings today won't much help us, and I fear it will lead us to dislike one another--an awful thought given the amount of good we ALL collectively can do on this Forum.
Garden Artist, you already know I love and admire you. I just need to say that this subject is one I won't be taking up on AgingCare today; and in fact am going to avoid reading the thread. Only want to tell you, take heart. Our nation is strong; we have survived a whole lot. We will trudge on through.
All take good care.

Funny to see liberals suddenly so against protesting. Weird.

Sustained emotional pressure on caregivers can lead to burnout.

Move away from the internet and T.V.

Spend no longer than 55 min. viewing, then shut down all electronics.

There is such a thing as mass hysteria, and a wise person can choose not to participate.

Remain calm. Stay at home. Clean your house. Bring elders a cup of tea.
Spend time with them.

Leave politics out of this thread.

This is the only time I'm grateful my mother has dementia and my father is dead. Neither of them will ever know about Covid nor of the tragedy our nation faces today.

Personally I don't give a damn!! I'm more concerned with trying to help people throughout the world trying to get thru a 36 hour day of relentless stress, anxiety and hopelessness than I am about who's in the white house. God I miss doing support groups!

Well Sjplegacy, some of us got thru this day, at least the first 24 hours of it.
Your help is appreciated. Thanks for weighing in.

Relentless stress without expression or someone to tell it to can take a huge toll on caregivers.

I was supposed to go to a meeting near the state capitol today. I was turned away due to a bomb threat. They would like to rescedule but I think they just need to Zoom. I am just staying home.

I live in the D.C. burbs and I was so scared for our lawmakers in Congress having to shelter in place, not knowing what is going to happen next, calling families thinking they may never see them again. Thank goodness they were eventually taken to an underground bunker. We do have many lawmakers who are senior citizens, and some needed help down the stairs [had to avoid the elevators].

Within Washington DC are many senior living facilities that are only blocks away from the Capitol building. Too close for comfort.

Hope things have calmed down and you are safe GA.

fregflyer,
Yes, that would be too close for comfort. You know I meant you when I mistakenly said GA, huh? Because you live in D.C.

I meant for everyone to keep an eye out, and be safe.

As a normal part of aging, or as a dementia develops, I am finding that posters will frequently call someone by another person's name. Perhaps stress can be a major factor also. Now I am doing it. Joining that senior moment group.

Is everyone doing okay tonight?

Photos of fencing around the Capitol Building are unbelievable. I just can't get use to it.

It took me awhile to get use to the White House having fencing to a point where the average tourist cannot even take photos of the back of the beautiful building unless they stand on the shoulder's of someone really tall :P

Glad my sig-other family got to visit and see said buildings before all of this fencing.

FreqFlyer, I was thinking of something similar, that I had a chance to visit DC and surrounding areas (including Williamsburg) several years ago, and even before then (during the Women's Movement).   I wouldn't feel comfortable going to that area now, even if the insurrectionists were eventually deal with and removed from society.

AirBNB apparently closed down all of their rentals for that week. I can't imagine that those coming to create foment would be using them anyway, but it is a good move, I think.

The National Guard is staying at various hotels in the D.C. area. At least some of the hotels won't need to shut down with all the tourist cancellations. It's been tough business with the pandemic and now this added to the equation.

D.C. will be shutting down bridges that go from northern Virginia into the District. And the Metro Subway will be shutting down "stops" within the District. Strange seeing military vehicles blocking roads, along with dump trucks and all those concrete Jersey Walls set into place.

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly. I live across the Potomac River in northern Virginia, a few miles are the crow flies from Trumps National Golf Course. Everything should be ok here, but I am still nervous about it.

It's probably like what happens in a lot of countries--there is a demonstration or other activity (or even a coup, and unless one followed the news, one probably wouldn't even know it's taking place, even if just a few blocks away. A lot of the elderly people have lived through a lot worse events throughout their years. I believe the demonstrations and protests during the summer were at least as dangerous, if not much more so. As the saying goes "this too shall pass". The Capitol will have its minimal damage repaired, and life will go on. During this time, life went on pretty much as usual in the other 99.99% of the country.

My cousin is still struggling with Covid in D.C. He has been in and out of the hospital.

The hospitals are filled with patients. Having non masked protesters in the streets make it harder for everyone.

There isn’t any room left in the hospitals for patients. This concerns him greatly because he is also a heart patient. The new mutations of Covid allows it to spread faster.

Everyone should be wearing a mask and social distancing.

Stay safe everyone!

The estimated cost to repair the damage to the Capitol Building is between $500M and $1B, and it will be paid by the taxpayer. This is a historic building, which is also a museum, built in the 1800's and to find master tradesman isn't as easy as it was in the early 1900's as such crafts are no longer passed down from father to son.

That was a totally unnecessary expensive. Said monies could be used to help fight the covid-19 or used as a stimulus to help people who have lost their jobs and are unable to pay their rent/mortgages.

I was surprised to learn that Federal agencies rarely carry insurance on its buildings and historical furnishings/paintings/sculpting/flooring/doors/etc. as the Federal government has long considered insurance not worth the high expense.

Other modern day protests here in D.C. were mild in comparison.

And let's not forget the emotional expense caused by January 6th to many Baby Boomers who only have 09/11 as their reference because they were born after Pearl Harbor/World War II, who are now seniors today.

FF,

So VERY WELL said! My grandfather was a master carpenter. I was absolutely amazed at his skill.

They poured their heart and soul into their craftsmanship. That simply isn’t replicated today.

Their is definitely a difference between restoration and renovation.

The building materials alone are a challenge. It’s not like you can go to the nearest big box stores for supplies.

I have a good friend who does restoration on historical buildings and it is truly a labor of love.

It can take quite a while to restore historical sites.

You either custom build or sometimes you may be fortunate enough to find materials at an architectural salvage place.

Those who've been identified as protesters, then tried and convicted, should be assigned a portion of the repair costs, then wages, property, vehicles and guns attached and confiscated to pay for the damage to which they've contributed.   Any IRS refunds should be attached as well.\

Between $.5B and $1B worth of damage is beyond disgraceful.   

GA,

I totally agree with you!

Extraordinary security measures were taken for today’s inauguration to be held.

It was shocking to see how disrespectful the protesters were to people and property. Violence and destruction should never be tolerated.

You are correct in saying that it was truly disgraceful and I hope we never see anything so disturbing ever again.