A quick update
This was going to be a book post, but my 'quick update' -- which is probably mostly for posterity anyway -- wound up six paragraphs long, so I guess it gets its own post now. I'll write the book posts after this... and I'd love to know how everybody else is doing, too!
Like everybody else, we are staying at home a lot. I work from home now, and I don't like it one bit, but I'm fortunate to be able to earn a paycheck. Husband is also working from home, and 16yo is doing school here at home. I think she's starting to rethink her nostalgic yearning for homeschooling -- but then, when we homeschooled, we went a lot of places. Luckily we each have a computer, so we can work at the same time, but meetings are a little trickier. This morning we each had a Zoom conference at just about the same time, and my plan to use my tablet in my bedroom didn't work (too far from the wi-fi), so I wound up sitting on the floor in the corner of 16yo's bedroom.
My oldest is still working and college-online-schooling away from us, which I am less than thrilled with, but Oldest feels lucky to still have a job, even if it is with the public at a grocery store. We have a plan for coming home in case of illness. This over-protective mom wants everybody HOME, and is a mite jealous of everybody else who has their college kids at home where they can see them, but such is not the case right now. So I sewed some fabric masks for Oldest to wear at work...
16yo will be 17 this week, and our birthday plans have narrowed down to watching a movie on Discord with a cousin, and having pie, instead of the piñata party with friends we'd been planning. Instead we'll have a post-quarantine piñata party?
I've also gotten WAY behind on my blog posting and reading; I have something like 300 posts in my reader. I spend so much time staring at the screen while working that I don't seem to have time for other screen-stuff. Somehow we are watching LESS TV, I don't even know how that works. I think 16yo is so sick of parental faces by the end of the day that all she wants to do is go draw in her room.
For a data point, while the stores here have had all the TP bought, and the flour is gone and so is the deli meat, I would say that for the most part it hasn't been too bad here. The stores have not been entirely denuded as in some of the photos I've seen, and have mostly been able to restock fairly well. I think this is probably because we're a smaller city and also we had the fire just 18 months ago, so maybe we're jaded. The shelves of bottled water are half-empty, but they're not totally empty. (When I commented to Oldest that this isn't cholera and we all have perfectly good tap water, I was told: "When scary things happen, people buy water. It's a fundamental law of grocery.")
I take a lot of walks, sometimes 3 per day. Luckily I like walking! So we are doing okay. We struggle with the quarantine blahs, but we are very fortunate to be here in our town, and employed, and healthy so far. I hope you are too.
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| We wandered around here about 10 days ago, lots of space! |
My oldest is still working and college-online-schooling away from us, which I am less than thrilled with, but Oldest feels lucky to still have a job, even if it is with the public at a grocery store. We have a plan for coming home in case of illness. This over-protective mom wants everybody HOME, and is a mite jealous of everybody else who has their college kids at home where they can see them, but such is not the case right now. So I sewed some fabric masks for Oldest to wear at work...
16yo will be 17 this week, and our birthday plans have narrowed down to watching a movie on Discord with a cousin, and having pie, instead of the piñata party with friends we'd been planning. Instead we'll have a post-quarantine piñata party?
I've also gotten WAY behind on my blog posting and reading; I have something like 300 posts in my reader. I spend so much time staring at the screen while working that I don't seem to have time for other screen-stuff. Somehow we are watching LESS TV, I don't even know how that works. I think 16yo is so sick of parental faces by the end of the day that all she wants to do is go draw in her room.
For a data point, while the stores here have had all the TP bought, and the flour is gone and so is the deli meat, I would say that for the most part it hasn't been too bad here. The stores have not been entirely denuded as in some of the photos I've seen, and have mostly been able to restock fairly well. I think this is probably because we're a smaller city and also we had the fire just 18 months ago, so maybe we're jaded. The shelves of bottled water are half-empty, but they're not totally empty. (When I commented to Oldest that this isn't cholera and we all have perfectly good tap water, I was told: "When scary things happen, people buy water. It's a fundamental law of grocery.")
I take a lot of walks, sometimes 3 per day. Luckily I like walking! So we are doing okay. We struggle with the quarantine blahs, but we are very fortunate to be here in our town, and employed, and healthy so far. I hope you are too.
Glad to hear that you're all doing as well as you can right now Jean. We've only just started proper lockdown routines this week - day 2 & I'm a bit stir crazy - a very long walk this morning, repotted half the plants and planning another walk with Mr Books at the end of our 'work day'.
ReplyDeleteWe're certainly glad that B19 is home again and not dealing with this on his own. Given that he now has an essential job at a chemist means he is guaranteed to be busy for as long as this goes on.
Stay safe xo
We been in "self-isolation" for a couple of weeks now with most things closed except essential services although a few stores are open using COVID protocol such as only letting 10 people in at a time, etc. For the first week I thought I was going to go crazy but now I'm kind of liking it. I'm getting caught up on things that I've let slide way too long, am getting regular exercise and have developed a relaxed pace that I'm enjoying. And in spite of having some outbreaks at nursing homes (one in particular that accounts for half the deaths at least), B.C. has been doing a good job at controlling it. Or perhaps it's a fluke, I'm not sure. My daughter was quarantined with one roommate who tested positive, the two weeks just ended and now another roommate has tested positive so she's looking at another two weeks. She's been fine though. Glad to hear you're doing well, if adjusting. It's a whole new world, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWe are doing okay, just managing with the restrictions. It's really hard to keep an active, social 13 year old cooped up. His school sends tasks for him to do but he needs lots of help, so that's my second job right now.
ReplyDeleteThe stores are stocked here and the hospitals are ready and equipped for a surge which so far has not come. There are rules and signage everywhere about how to behave in the stores that are still open. You can basically count on Switzerland to do everything in a sensible, thought-out manner (if somewhat slowly).
What I wonder about is the future. Clearly we were unprepared for this crisis. What about the next one? We're all in hysterics about this disruption that comes from a realm largely beyond our control, but what about the suffering that IS in our control? What about the war, abuse, deprivation, and other traumas that are caused by one human being to another and not by outer factors? When will we change that? Love has to overcome fear, or we are all doomed.
Just some little questions to ponder...interesting times, for sure.
I have noticed that all the new Zoom and Google Classroom activities are beginning to pile up and may begin to conflict with one another. With an exception of bulk items at Winco, everything was replenished at the grocery stores, although some items have limits and restrictions. Unfortunately, I also noticed a police presence at two stores. A new normal. And of course, lots of crowd controls, employees directing how people shop, where to stand, and when to enter a store. I think at some point, Newsom is probably going to make it mandatory to wear a mask in public.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you all are still working. It is a blessing every day! And that you are going for walks and enjoying the outdoors. It keeps you well grounded.
I'm glad that y'all are doing okay, though sorry that your kid has a public-facing job and can't work from home. I will keep a good thought for y'all -- it's a very stressful time!
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