Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

same

thx jack

as I am going to the chemo clinic tomorrow, ill see if they have them and can fit me there.

Supermarket report: wasn't terrible (assuming I have not now infected myself). They had most things I needed except sugar, yeast and ... canned tuna? Some sections more picked over than others, but plenty of proteins, fruits, vegetables. Saw a couple of people with masks, heard only one person on the store cough. Most people seemed to be calm, kind and respectful. They had a spray out to wipe off carts, which people appeared to be doing,

Hot tip: here at least he Mexican aisle was better for things like beans. For example, chickpeas were missing from the rest of the canned stuff, but in the Mexican aisle there were plenty of Mexican brand garbanzo beans. And kidney beans, etc.

Oh and Morbs, you should absolutely do everything and anything in your power to stay healthy. You are exactly who admonishments about people wastefully hoarding/wearing masks are aimed at helping! Please let us know how the clinic goes, and stay safe!

just watched a police check on people walking by. I saw a group of four guys walking together & thought "huh that's not good" and the cops rolled by a few seconds later. they all had their forms ready & no one got fined from what I could see. the cops also gathered people who ducked into a cell phone store when they saw the cops coming, but they all had papers too it seemed. cops also stopped three people cycling by, and after checking their papers, sent the cyclists the other direction. my guess is that they were too far from their home: we're not supposed to go more than 1 or 2 km from our homes (unless for work).

been thinking about you a lot these past few days morbs <3

Mexican aisle completely sold out of chipotle in adobo. There's some good quarantine food being made near me apparently.

that was a pretty good joke trump just made at the expense of the press pool. feels good to laugh.

jk obviously

sry i thought this was another thread

I was able to snag chipotle, beans, and ancho peppers yesterday for the big pot of chilli I'm making.

Because I'm anything if not scrupulous, I've kept to a routine: awakening at my usual hour (just before six), answering emails and reading the papers, exercise, shower, breakfast, working (on my terrace) from 9:30 a.m. till noon, break for lunch, then another couple hours (I've got a Zoom meeting today).

But little breaks help acknowledge it's not normal times. I mixed myself a gin and tonic with my lunch about half an hour ago. I deserved it, dammit.

So after my phone appointment with the hospital I no longer think I’m done for and think I can move into the regular self-distancing category with most other people (although I am technically still in the at-risk category due to asthma, it is very mild and the advice is unclear). I’m thinking of having two friends round on Saturday for film and food - we will not be 2 meters apart, my flat isn’t big enough, but I have otherwise reduced the number of people I come into contact with by like 90% instead of the recommended 75%, so a small risk to rescue my sanity (the risk would be entirely mine: I haven’t been anywhere and he’s the guy I mentioned upthread who works in care and has been pubbing like there’s no tomorrow)

We just had a burrito buffet in the breakroom.

My family keeps compulsively making and baking things, like we're about to go on vacation and need to use things up. It's kinda driving me nuts. Like, we're low on sugar and baking powder, and every place is out of sugar or baking powder, then maybe stop making so much stuff that needs sugar and baking powder.

let them bake. You'll be able to restock sooner or later.

I'm not worried about y'all because I trust that you're savvy, but you might remind your less savvy loved ones to be extra wary of phishing scams and the like at this particular heightened moment. Just got a text that my Chase account had been frozen and it was clearly fake as hell but I did have a moment of mild panic for a quarter second. Unfortunately, even a global crisis isn't going to be enough to dissuade human garbage from taking advantage of people's anxieties.

Been putting off going to the supermarket all week due to the lines outside to get in (not super long but long enough). Went today and....there were no lines to get in and only one person in front of my till. No one was buying loads of shit and the shelves weren't empty. I was in and out in maybe 10 minutes. Unexpected!

I HAVE NO IDEA how *not* to go through a roll of paper towels every day, as one of the first things I read is after soapwashing your hands, the already filthy towel on the bathroom rack is not an option.

this disaster is not good news for those of us who blithely flouted home economics our entire lives

Napkins?

Air dry babes #slowliving

tip from a person with young kids: order that scratchy blue roll in bulk from Amazon or diy stores. I've got like 10 big rolls left. I also have proper stuff for when it's needed but it's generally expensive.

it's not actually scratchy, just lower quality than Plenty etc

If you have limited access to laundry, cooking and storage facilities I can see how following a lot of the 'best practices' advice would be like trying to touch your elbow to your nose.

As of yesterday afternoon my Publix stocked party napkins: packs of 500 fancy small blue napkins. They'll do.

where my fellow compulsive and incorrigible nail-biters at?

maybe it's good that a couple of years ago I seemed to mostly swap a bad finger-chewing habit for a bad sucking-the-inside-of-my-mouth habit, which is otherwise of course gross and horrible and potentially fucking up my teeth, but...

1. I'm wfh but the o/h still had to go in today; he came back early and stopped at the supermarket, which has just instituted a no-multiple-items rule, and there were actually decent food stocks plus kitchen roll was available again (still no toilet roll or hand wipes)

2. I have to - well, feel it's best to - cancel a paid class and I feel bad because I know the teacher's income has probably just disappeared to 0, but what can I do? I'm going to ask if she'd do a paid Skype class but tbh I don't really want a Skype class, I just don't want to be one of the 50+ jerks that probably aren't giving her money to live off any more

i've been remotely accessing my work computer for the past week, and it chose today, the day after our building closed indefinitely, to freeze. it will need to be manually restarted, but no one will be able to get to it, because no one was in the building. so i can't work, and all of my work will be loaded onto my coworkers. overall this fuckin sucks

I never buy napkins, i'll have to look for them

(or rather have whoever will do my shopping get them)

Best reason to become a shut-in is to get a break from all this fuckin hand washing, I’ve been treating my poor skin with moisturiser all week

very belated reply to NickB, who replied to me itt just after I went to bed last night

hope you're coping with the situation so far - sorry you had to cancel your birthday trip. yes, my parents mentioned Skype or similar as an option, so I'll be unpeeling the paranoid sticker off my laptop camera and doing some of that

I mainly feel bad that I haven't seen my granny for ages and now tbh it seems likely that I might never do so again, but I mean that was always a risk of being a lazy bum and not visiting a 90+ relative. there were... complicating logistical factors, but that's no excuse

when this is over, visit yr relatives, folks

my left hand is red and scaly from all the washing. I've started putting hand cream on but then I get paranoid that I'm wiping it on the cat when I stroke her and it may not be OK for cats. so many new things to worry about! it's remarkable

My wife's employer is offering three-month sabbaticals at half pay.

It's tempting but I have decidedly mixed feelings. We'd survive, financially speaking. But it would almost certainly be a backward step career-wise, at a time when she's just starting to get more responsibility and more notice. And she might just eat up the time with stressing about the children and trying to replicate school.

Everybody please do your best to remain healthy ( that means YOU, Morbs) and, like Alfred, treat yourself when/if possible. Love to you all from Amsterdam Noord where it seems many folks are being way chill about this.

So CNN put this misleading headline on their site:

The Smiths are discussing coronavirus on ‘Red Table Talk’

Of course I clicked on it immediately but it’s about Will and Jada Smith

“Heaven Knows I’m Socially Distanced Now”

"Panic."

haha

what difference does it make

Rumors afloat of an impending shelter in place order for Chicago effective tomorrow.

stockpilers of the world unite and take over
xp

'Please Please Please Let Me Get Wipe for Butt'

xpost We formally got a shelter in place heads up for Oak Park starting tomorrow. But that's what we've essentially been doing anyway.

I was looking for a mask and then I found a mask

My son has eczema and the constant soapy handwashing is just scalding his poor hands :(

so many new things to worry about! it's remarkable

New board description.

it's not a shock given where things are going nationally, but the Orlando Fringe Festival is cancelled.

I'm hardly alone in this, most people had their entire livelihoods cancelled, but what was going to be a joyous spring has now become:

*No soccer
*No Decibel Metal and Beerfest (well, postponed)
*No Breast Cancer Fundraiser music performance (well, postponed)
*No Fringe Festival
*Cancelling my trip to visit my best friend in VA
*Probably no Welcome to Rockville Festival
*No Decibel Tour
*probably no Maryland Deathfest as consolation prize (would I even wanna go if it was still on?)

I'm not devastated at the news because I had mentally prepared myself, and other than my meltdown the other day, have surprisingly adjusted to this. but losing all of the outlets that usually stabilize me, well..I've got my work cut out for me.

but on the positive side, I'm working, so at least I have things to keep me occupied.and I'm healthy.

(I was performing in Fringe this year..learned the ukulele for it and everything. oh well. now I know how to play it)

On some level being quarantined at home has been great for my mood. Normally I have a lot of OCD/control type issues that end up causing friction with my wife. We are both working from home now and it has been very nice so far. Either having something truly important to worry about instead or having no other options has meant I've chilled way out.

that makes sense. in a sense that's why my mood (other than Monday) has leveled out so much. could give a shit about my high cholesterol amidst the rest.

Also, just spoke to our CEO's assistant/office manager, who is still going into the office for some reason, and she said that someone at the company who shares space with us just went for testing with flu-like symptoms. I'm like, hey dipshits, that's why I said last week the entire company should be working from home.