Thanks, sleeve. I have an 11 yr old opened BOS of the no vent N95 respirators. Date says (c) 2002 or close. Time flies. I think these were for SARS outbreak. surprisingly the yellow rubber like bare elastic is still good. The exhaust vent types were purchased in early January 2020. No one of my siblings wants any, saying that their too uncomfortable. I mostly stay HOME. We don't socialize, and make very few trips out. But, yesterday was a gorgeous day and I went with a masked neighbor who seems very careful to buy some tomato plants, lettuces, organic milk and deli salads (darn pricy) at at super aware country store. Only a couple people in at a time with masks, distancing and no bags from elsewhere. Half gal milk = $7.75 in glass bottle ($1.50 if return bottle). A cup of bean salad, $4. I will figure out their recipe. I put it through the mass spectrometer in my mouth. I wore an old, non vented N95 and safety goggles. Mask was u o for table and hot. I DID keep messing with it, so was glad I was pretty much in the clean rural woodsy boondocks. (But you never know). When we passed through a working class small city, I went into a store for wine. I had on my gear, the cashier had on a cowboy bandana. A 30-ish woman came into the store, o mask, and barbed into my shelf area. I left For the cashier. She was right behind me, no mask, no distance, no sense. I asked her to please back up (like 5 feet!). She had a bunch of pink and lavender colored toy wine. She looked at me as though I’d told her that there was a deadly global pandemic. Meh. No worries. No cares. My friend encountered a couple of women in a grocery store. No mask, crowding her. She asked them why they were not wearing a mask. They fired back that it was their freedom of choice, blah blah. The State is on MASK rules if outside your home. Oh, and distance. What is with these clueless people. Flyovers are okay, but how about some public service announcement, mini tutorials on infection control? Think I might tell the next maskless fool who won’t keep back that, oops! You e got something stuck on your face! Then disappear as they rubs cooties into their fave with dirty hands. I won’t do it. But what is with the clueless, right to infect others, mask-less zombies? At least they didn’t shoot us in the back of the head (Recent MI news). I spotted a 25Lb bag or organic, unbleached, AP flour for $25. Maybe I should go back to the clean store for it. But that’s a lotta flour.

Yesterday I top stitched the masks I had made, but first I sewed the pipe cleaners into the seam allowance at the top of the mask using a zigzag stitch, and that worked very well. Now the masks fit very snugly at the top, so that air does not blow up into one's eyes or fog one's glasses. I don't know about pipe cleaners rusting, but I have been using them for cleaning parts of hummingbird feeders and have not noticed any rust. I generally use them twice, and so they sit around for a bit while still wet. I use shop rags for the inner filter, which is probably not necessary, but it doesn't hurt.

Arapaho, I stopped bringing a purse to the grocery store for 2 reasons. One, it took up precious room in my cart, which I now fill. Two, I did not want to contaminate any more items than needed. I only bring in my phone, for Apple pay, a printed list, small wipes and sanitizer. First I carried them in a tote bag, but the clerks mistook my "purse" for a grocery bag and each time would start explaining that we have to use plastic. So then I looked around, and I always keep nice shopping bags for things i might have to carry, and I found this, below. This is my new "purse." I had to laugh to myself that I still carry a "designer purse." PS, FWIW, the FDA seems to think we should not worry about virus on surfaces.

Oregon does not require masks, but the few times I've ventured out I've seen most people are wearing them. My husband has started wearing them as well-he's got a lot of dust masks since his work involves working with fiberglass and concrete. I ordered four masks from a local seamstress, they're pleated and have a pocket and ties rather than elastic, which I prefer since I can't stand having anything around my ears. I've heard there is an elastic shortage in my area. And I recently gave away all the hair ties I had sine I cut my hair short (now almost regretting that since the grow out is fierce!) I've read that the blue shop towels mechanics use are equivalent to N95 masks. We also have an abundance of those, so I slip a folded one in to my mask when I use it. I've found also that the material of the mask is important, one of mine is just a cotton material and it's too scratchy for my face, but the flannel lined one is wonderful, if a little warm after wearing for a few hours. It's fine for quick grocery/Costco runs. Next Door, Facebook Marketplace and Etsy are great resources to find seamstresses who make cloth masks.