Have an engagement party next week for nephew. Planned to take 87 year old father (grandpa). But now not so sure. And how much should my daughter visit with my dad while home for break?
My youngest is starting to get really anxious. She works for a one person law firm and the phones are silent and they have no new business. Her boss wasn’t nervous initially but my D feels like she is now concerned about no money coming in. My D is worried about losing her job. I said you likely will have your hours cut before you lose the job. I reminded her that is why having savings is so important.
My niece is supposed to fly in from Seattle on Saturday and had a family gathering planned for Sunday. No word on canceling but I’m pretty sure it will be. My Inlaws are healthy but they are both over 80. Not worth the risk.
My husband is talking about whether we should cancel our mid May trip to French Polynesia. I’m of the wait and see camp but I’m beginning to acknowledge that the trip will very likely not happen.
I sprayed my yoga mat with Lysol spray this morning. I think I’ll also bring a towel to the gym. I’m also bringing Clorox wipes with me. For now I’m still going to the gym but I’m realizing that I might have to rethink my routine. No cases in my county which surprises me since it’s a tourist town and has a well traveled population.
My elderly mother’s assisted living is not allowing visitors and I am waiting to hear whether I can still do her colostomy care: it needs to be changed today! I asked if I could at least do it today, the first day of no visitors, so they could have 3 days to figure things out. I would sanitize on the way in, wear gloves and mask, sanitize door handles and avoid the elevator etc.
My late 20’s daughter moved into my small apartment last month. I was happy to have her. But no matter how much I isolate myself, she will bring the world in since she works, attends class (not cancelled yet) and socializes. Not sure what to do about this. If I were alone I would feel safer but I am not going to ask her to leave!!
I was not horribly concerned until yesterday. Our state has many cases but our county still has none. I was late to the game and all the stores are out. I found one canister of Lysol, one store had 4 boxes of alcohol swabs, so I bought liquid soap and hydrogen peroxide. I also found one box of nitrile gloves thinking of my mother.
I am almost 70 and have a lot of health conditions. Considering driving to Maine!!
ps vodka may work- checking that out 
One of my coworkers is pregnant and tweeted that she is upset because Costco is out of anti-COVID-19 supplies (wipes, hand sanitizer, etc.). I have little at home because I decided that I’m safe at home alone with soap and water. But I went to the hardware store and managed to score two containers of wipes, which I’ll give to my coworker tomorrow.
My older daughter works at a bar in Manhattan. She has no paid sick leave. If business keeps up, good, except that she’ll be exposed to more people. If business dies down, she won’t be exposed to as many people, but she’ll lose income. The situation stinks all around.
This was asked on the other thread but since this is a personal observation I’m putting it here.
It was about mail delivery. I live on a rural route where my mail comes by truck.
My mail person is delivering with gloves on but I wasn’t sure if that is from terrorist concerns and has delivered this way for awhile and I just never noticed.
She used to pull in the driveway and honk, if I was home I would come out grab my packages and chat for a minute. She is not honking anymore and is leaving my packages at my garage. Again, this is recent but could be because people complained.
I called my mom we were to visit her in April. I told her that we may have to rethink things if this doesn’t get a lot better.
I’m pretty anxious about this and my D called last night and I can tell her anxiety is high. It was stressful. D was upset when I asked if her company had any provisions for working remotely.
My question is if anyone would be interested in a separate thread discussing mental health and anxiety? Either ours or or our kids.
My mother died Sunday. We had visitation planned for today and tomorrow, also a reception after the funeral. Neither my sister nor I slept well last night, kept thinking about Mother’s elderly friends potentially being exposed to Coronavirus. This morning we cancelled everything but the funeral.
DD’s car is at CLT. She has a flight back Sunday, has to drive to Wake Forest, get her schoolwork and drive home. I don’t feel too good about her flying, but we are going to let her go.
Coronavirus has definitely impacted our lives.
My kids are both back under our roof due to the funeral for my dad on Saturday. S has flown HNL to LAX and more recently HNL to IAD and back. I know he encounters a lot of germs and whatever each time he flies. He’s young (32) and healthy but I worry because H and I are high risk and he always stays with us (which of course we live but are somewhat concerned about).
Bless her heart, D has taken charge and insisted everyone shower when they get home and max of 1 outing/day. She insisted I stay home and rest while she and H went out to pick S up and check to see how he was doing before he came into contact with me.
On the plus side, we do have some hand sanitizer, lots of Clorox & wipes and soap and laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid.
Well…I just got back from BJs. I was not stocking up on anything in particular…I was just buying food.
There were NO wipes at all…no brands, and the shelves where they usually were kept were filled with other things.
Things like toilet paper and paper towels were at the front of the store. I only saw one person with multiple packs.
But what a circus! I often go in the middle of the day because it’s so much less crowded. But today was like shopping during the Christmas holiday season on a weekend. Very crowded.
I don’t know yet but need to come up with something. All my usual activities have been cancelled and the one or two that haven’t - yet - well, I need to think twice about going.
I do walk a couple miles each morning with a friend and that will continue.
We’ve checked various grocery stores and Staples for wipes and hand sanitizer - no luck. DH was at the grocery store this morning and said it was crowded for a Thurs morning. He said food staples (bread, pasta, etc.) were also scarce. Fortunately, he wasn’t shopping for those things since we have enough food to self-quarantine should that become necessary.
Still need to decide how much to curtail outside activities. I still take walks outdoors and have been to the grocery store, but do we eat out? Tables are closer than 6’ apart, and how do we know how carefully they wipe down tables between customers. I’d hate to stop doing everything, but that may be necessary.
When I flew a couple of weeks ago, the plane was very empty. I had the row to myself and there was nobody in front or behind of me. I wiped down the seat and seat belts and felt pretty safe. I feel that domestic flights are still safe. I do my share of wipe down, sanitizing both to kill my own germs and other people’s.
Would the number of outings versus the nature of the outings be important? If you go out several times but with no close contact to other people or things that they are likely to have coughed on, would that be more dangerous than going out once to a crowded place?
“Would the number of outings versus the nature of the outings be important? If you go out several times but with no close contact to other people or things that they are likely to have coughed on, would that be more dangerous than going out once to a crowded place?” These might be rhetorical questions, but I’ll answer them anyway: yes, and no.
I spend a lot of time alone anyway, so I initially thought that I’d be able to survive fine with self-quarantining (if necessary) and social distancing (which I’m now doing to some extent). Turns out I was wrong; choosing to be alone feels different than being told, “Stay home and don’t get within six feet of anyone!!!” I will try to walk more (I live in a walking friendly area, with few other pedestrians around most of the time), and I will be consuming even more media (books, DVDs, Netflix, TV) than usual.
I was thinking about starting a thread similar to this. I can’t take more of COVID-19 news or discussion. I had a major anxiety attack last night. It felt like contradictory information was being thrown at me from all directions. Today I’m avoiding news and internet comments and trying to focus on activities I can do myself and also for my 3 sons who will be home from closed colleges/cancelled study abroad. They are going to be stressed and disappointed and trying to complete online classes. My husband and I may be working from home also. Our house is not large for 5 adults. So my question is – what does staying home mean assuming one is healthy?
Thankfully we are in a warmer climate and an area with lots of natural settings. I have a screened porch. I’m thinking we can rotate sleeping out on our screened porch or at least hanging out there during the day binging on Netflix. Can we take the dog for walks on our not very busy street? Hike in the woods? I may try to jump rope on my deck instead of going to the gym. Pack a lunch and go to a rural park and eat at a picnic table? Take a folding chair and sit by the lake? Pick up takeout Chinese food from our favorite family owned restaurant? Surely staying home does not have to mean literally staying home? Any other ideas?
I’m generally an introvert and spend a lot of time alone, so if we were to be quarantined I suspect I’d be OK. The things I am not looking forward to missing, however, include:
Going to the gym
Fresh fruit and veggies
Lunch with friends
Picking out hardcover books from the library
I stopped for gas today at a Cumberland Farms and happened to see they had 2 canisters of Clorox wipes. I bought both, you just never know where you will find them these days.
@one+two, if a person is actually self-quarantined (told that they either have the virus or have been exposed and must stay at home), that person shouldn’t leave their home. If self-isolating or social distancing, people can go on walks and such. Use good and common sense.
I popped into BJ’s and Walmart today. Both were unusually busy for a weekday.
Neither store had hand sanitizer, hand or surface sanitizing wipes or sprays, isopropyl alcohol or bleach, and I overheard an BJ’s employee say that white vinegar is also out of stock.
I didn’t check paper goods as we have enough.
MY mother’s assisted living just called and told me I am now an “essential caregiver” and exception to the ban on visits, due to mother’s colostomy. They will meet me at 3pm, screen me and escort me in and out. I have a half hour to do the colostomy wafer change. I ordered more pouches in case I have to train someone from a distance if I get sick.