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shadowkat1. Some good advice via my Aunt D on FB and Peanuts:
"The less you respond to critical, rude, and argumentative people, the more peaceful your life will become."
Note to self ignore people who piss you off, right now. They are like negative thought bubbles...let them roll on by. If I react to them or address them, they will take root. I can't control anything except my reactions to things - and even that feels limited.
OTOH, we are all critical, rude and argumentative at times. I keep thinking about the story we discussed this week on Zoom, at the bible study group. And that saying "he who is without sin throw the first stone" followed by no longer certain of their convictions, they left one by one, the elders first, condemning no one. It's so easy to judge others...but where does it lead really? I feel miserable whenever I do it.
Like there's a heavy stone weight in the middle of my chest weighing me done. But when I try to see their point of view, and open myself up with compassion, I feel light as a feather...
It's okay I think to be critical. But its in the how ....not the fact of it.
2. Co-worker/our admin support - informed me that she's within walking distance to Elmhurst Hospital, and hears sirens all day long.
I heard them this morning. But because my apartment is at the very back of the complex with all the windows looking out on either an enclosed backyard with houses and apartment buildings bordering it on all sides, or an enclosed courtyard ( a very ugly courtyard), I don't tend to get any noise from the street. No cars. Nothing.
I picked this apartment partly for that reason. I was very selective and had spent close to three months looking after the previous landlord priced me out.
I am grateful. While the apartment certainly has its issues (no place is perfect), it does have its benefits. One is that it is for the most part very quiet. I can hear crickets and birds and the occasional yowling cat outside my window. Also I can see trees. I think if I were stuck like this in any of my other apartments - it would be harder.
Anyhow, co-worker said it was like being in a War Zone. It does feel that way in NYC at the moment - as if we are under siege. The Governor had to calm people down last week - because they felt under attack by other states, countries and our federal government. This week there has been a bit of a turn around - thousands of nurses and doctors have volunteered across the country to come to NYC to lend aid. And thousands of medical supplies have been donated. Also they've changed their policy on the US Comfort - previously it was just supposed to take non-corona virus patients with a strict protocol. But now, with overrun hospitals crying foul - it is changing its policy and will start taking the corona virus patients next week.
See, over the past few years NY had been shutting down various hospitals due to lack of funding and too many empty hospital beds. These are "the public" hospitals that I'm talking about or publically funded ones. Yes, the US has public hospitals too.
Particularly large urban areas like NYC. But they are often short-staffed, and they take in just about everyone. On a good day, the ER can look like a War zone in a public hospital. I know I ran out of one once ages ago in a blind panic. A friend had kindly driven me to the hospital and stayed with me, and when I ran out, he drove me to the one closest to him - which was a little less crazy. But still hellish in its own right.
Now, they are truly on the front lines of a WAR. And so many of the patients are the poor. To deal with this problem, NY has begun putting up the homeless in hotels. The agency I work for has a homeless outreach contract - I was talking to J about it a few days back. It's not a contract that I manage. It's a joint contract between multiple areas of the agency. And what they do is help the homeless sleeping in the subways and train stations find food and shelter.
Knowing all this - makes me realize how many homeless we currently have - since they can only help so many. To prevent this situation from getting worse, the Governor of NY has put a stay of execution on evictions - meaning you can't evict someone for not paying rent for 90 days. No one can be evicted, without huge fines.
There are also lots of hotlines. I have about six saved on my phone at the moment.
If someone years later were to ask me what it felt like - I'd say a psychological horror film - where the threat is unseen, can't be heard, and is seemingly everywhere but nowhere at all. You're told people are dying around you, you hear sirens, but you see none of it. Everyone is wearing masks. Doctors are speaking to you all the time from the tv set and the internet. And all socialization is via the internet.
3. This morning, prior to treating myself to a breakfast of almond flour pancakes, maple syrup, and bacon (I had all of the above left over from a few weeks back, before it was impossible to get to the local Food Coop), I watched a video of an Italian and a Chinese woman chatting via Zoom. On my Headspace App - they have a meditiative morning program called "The Wake Up". You meditate then watch some life-affirming or peaceful video. One day it was about a dog groomer. Another an orgamia artist. Today it was a conversation between an artist confined to her apartment in Bergemo, Italy and an IT tech confined to hers in Shanghai, China. The Chinese woman 's home is in the Hubei province where the virus originated. She offered hope to the Italian woman, while the Italian woman shared how her community dealt with the social distancing by texting each of the neighbors, and one would use their projector to project movies on the wall facing their apartments. The Chinese woman responded that in China they don't know their neighbors as well, so instead do live-streaming. (Similar to what most people in NYC are doing.) And how technology had really brought everyone together.
I've become aware reading everyone's posts and the posts on FB (I can't quite do Twitter - it gives me a headache, as did Tumblr, some platforms just don't work for my wee little brain) - how different yet oddly similar all of our situations are.
We're all terrified. We're all in pain. And we're all full of love and compassion for others. And desperately wish we could help or do more.
One of my social media friends, Fresne, is busy making masks in California and delivering them to shelters, hospitals, anywhere that needs them. My Aunt M is doing the same. One woman on the COVID-19 Support Group Site is busy getting food to homeless folks along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
People are also dealing with it differently. Some raging at the world. Some laughing at it. Some ignoring it completely and just talking about various television shows etc as if nothing were happening. And others like myself compulsively writing about what is happening around them, as a means of expunging it from their own minds. I admit, I'm a venter. I need to talk about the elephant in the room, I'm horrible at ignoring it.
I unfortunately don't have any skills to help my neighbors, nor do I even know them.
My building is well a hodge-podge of people from around the world, half don't to my knowledge even speak English. Most keep to themselves. And there's a lot of turn-around with the younger set. The apartment across from me has had four different tenants since I've been here, the last a singer-songwriter-pianist moved recently with her boyfriend.
4. My mother called during the writing of this post. Some good news, she'd listened to the latest Cuomo briefing. She watches them, I tend to miss them. Apparently the State of Organ has sent NY State, 140 ventilators, and China has sent 1000. Also the New England Patriots owner flew to China and brought back 1000s of masks, and medical supplies for Boston and New York. In addition, they've changed the Jacob Javits Center into a Federally Run Hospital for Corona Virus patients fully staffed with Federal Doctors, Nurses and medical supplies - taking some of the pressure off of NY. And..while the number of cases in Manhattan has gone down today, the number in Long Island has gone up. My mother wanted to know if Brooklyn was considered part of Long Island. No, it's considered part of the City. Although that is constantly debated. (I kind of already knew that Long Island's cases were increasing exponentially - since my crazy work place basically serves Long Island. And it had a panic attack this week. We have over 238 employees in quarantine, 98 positive, and 7 hospitalized - not too bad, there are over 5600 that work for the agency. And none of my co-workers to my knowledge have it - although over 98% of them live on Long Island.)
She said one of the issues the Southern Governors are facing is they are slanting towards Libertarianism - ie. no government involvement. Which, lets face it, doesn't work very well during a pandemic. Hate to say this - but a strong government and a socialist government works far better than a capitalistic or pure free market government does in a pandemic. Look at China, Russia and Germany? Now look at Italy, Spain, the US and the UK. Alrighty then.
Regarding the Cruise ship that I posted about last night? In case you were worried about it or thinking hateful thoughts about the US (please don't, lots of people are dying here - send prayers and blessings instead), it turns out that it did dock in Miami, both of the cruise ships did. They sent the foreign passengers directly to the airport where they boarded charted planes. And the sick directly to the hospital.
It was good news for the most part. Cheered my heart. My mother keeps threatening on living her locked down status to go to the grocery store. I keep telling her to stay home. She did find out from the staff of her retirement community - that if she left, she has to self-quarantine for 14 days and wear a mask at all times outside.
She's worried about one medication - which should last a while, but the one place she gets it from doesn't deliver - however maybe one of the staff from her retirement community can get it for her. Meanwhile my father is cranky and frustrated. He keeps wanting to jump off a cliff. My mother keeps telling him to stick around for her, since if he died, they couldn't have a funeral for him right now and she wouldn't want to deal with it.
5. I think I'm in love with Trevor Noah. I may start watching the Daily Show. I've seen two of his stand-up comedy specials - "Son of Patricia" and "Afraid of the Dark" and laughed my head off. Also, was thoroughly charmed by him. I'm not a huge fan of stand-up. A lot of it turns me off. But there are a few that have charmed me over the years.
"The less you respond to critical, rude, and argumentative people, the more peaceful your life will become."
Note to self ignore people who piss you off, right now. They are like negative thought bubbles...let them roll on by. If I react to them or address them, they will take root. I can't control anything except my reactions to things - and even that feels limited.
OTOH, we are all critical, rude and argumentative at times. I keep thinking about the story we discussed this week on Zoom, at the bible study group. And that saying "he who is without sin throw the first stone" followed by no longer certain of their convictions, they left one by one, the elders first, condemning no one. It's so easy to judge others...but where does it lead really? I feel miserable whenever I do it.
Like there's a heavy stone weight in the middle of my chest weighing me done. But when I try to see their point of view, and open myself up with compassion, I feel light as a feather...
It's okay I think to be critical. But its in the how ....not the fact of it.
2. Co-worker/our admin support - informed me that she's within walking distance to Elmhurst Hospital, and hears sirens all day long.
I heard them this morning. But because my apartment is at the very back of the complex with all the windows looking out on either an enclosed backyard with houses and apartment buildings bordering it on all sides, or an enclosed courtyard ( a very ugly courtyard), I don't tend to get any noise from the street. No cars. Nothing.
I picked this apartment partly for that reason. I was very selective and had spent close to three months looking after the previous landlord priced me out.
I am grateful. While the apartment certainly has its issues (no place is perfect), it does have its benefits. One is that it is for the most part very quiet. I can hear crickets and birds and the occasional yowling cat outside my window. Also I can see trees. I think if I were stuck like this in any of my other apartments - it would be harder.
Anyhow, co-worker said it was like being in a War Zone. It does feel that way in NYC at the moment - as if we are under siege. The Governor had to calm people down last week - because they felt under attack by other states, countries and our federal government. This week there has been a bit of a turn around - thousands of nurses and doctors have volunteered across the country to come to NYC to lend aid. And thousands of medical supplies have been donated. Also they've changed their policy on the US Comfort - previously it was just supposed to take non-corona virus patients with a strict protocol. But now, with overrun hospitals crying foul - it is changing its policy and will start taking the corona virus patients next week.
See, over the past few years NY had been shutting down various hospitals due to lack of funding and too many empty hospital beds. These are "the public" hospitals that I'm talking about or publically funded ones. Yes, the US has public hospitals too.
Particularly large urban areas like NYC. But they are often short-staffed, and they take in just about everyone. On a good day, the ER can look like a War zone in a public hospital. I know I ran out of one once ages ago in a blind panic. A friend had kindly driven me to the hospital and stayed with me, and when I ran out, he drove me to the one closest to him - which was a little less crazy. But still hellish in its own right.
Now, they are truly on the front lines of a WAR. And so many of the patients are the poor. To deal with this problem, NY has begun putting up the homeless in hotels. The agency I work for has a homeless outreach contract - I was talking to J about it a few days back. It's not a contract that I manage. It's a joint contract between multiple areas of the agency. And what they do is help the homeless sleeping in the subways and train stations find food and shelter.
Knowing all this - makes me realize how many homeless we currently have - since they can only help so many. To prevent this situation from getting worse, the Governor of NY has put a stay of execution on evictions - meaning you can't evict someone for not paying rent for 90 days. No one can be evicted, without huge fines.
There are also lots of hotlines. I have about six saved on my phone at the moment.
If someone years later were to ask me what it felt like - I'd say a psychological horror film - where the threat is unseen, can't be heard, and is seemingly everywhere but nowhere at all. You're told people are dying around you, you hear sirens, but you see none of it. Everyone is wearing masks. Doctors are speaking to you all the time from the tv set and the internet. And all socialization is via the internet.
3. This morning, prior to treating myself to a breakfast of almond flour pancakes, maple syrup, and bacon (I had all of the above left over from a few weeks back, before it was impossible to get to the local Food Coop), I watched a video of an Italian and a Chinese woman chatting via Zoom. On my Headspace App - they have a meditiative morning program called "The Wake Up". You meditate then watch some life-affirming or peaceful video. One day it was about a dog groomer. Another an orgamia artist. Today it was a conversation between an artist confined to her apartment in Bergemo, Italy and an IT tech confined to hers in Shanghai, China. The Chinese woman 's home is in the Hubei province where the virus originated. She offered hope to the Italian woman, while the Italian woman shared how her community dealt with the social distancing by texting each of the neighbors, and one would use their projector to project movies on the wall facing their apartments. The Chinese woman responded that in China they don't know their neighbors as well, so instead do live-streaming. (Similar to what most people in NYC are doing.) And how technology had really brought everyone together.
I've become aware reading everyone's posts and the posts on FB (I can't quite do Twitter - it gives me a headache, as did Tumblr, some platforms just don't work for my wee little brain) - how different yet oddly similar all of our situations are.
We're all terrified. We're all in pain. And we're all full of love and compassion for others. And desperately wish we could help or do more.
One of my social media friends, Fresne, is busy making masks in California and delivering them to shelters, hospitals, anywhere that needs them. My Aunt M is doing the same. One woman on the COVID-19 Support Group Site is busy getting food to homeless folks along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
People are also dealing with it differently. Some raging at the world. Some laughing at it. Some ignoring it completely and just talking about various television shows etc as if nothing were happening. And others like myself compulsively writing about what is happening around them, as a means of expunging it from their own minds. I admit, I'm a venter. I need to talk about the elephant in the room, I'm horrible at ignoring it.
I unfortunately don't have any skills to help my neighbors, nor do I even know them.
My building is well a hodge-podge of people from around the world, half don't to my knowledge even speak English. Most keep to themselves. And there's a lot of turn-around with the younger set. The apartment across from me has had four different tenants since I've been here, the last a singer-songwriter-pianist moved recently with her boyfriend.
4. My mother called during the writing of this post. Some good news, she'd listened to the latest Cuomo briefing. She watches them, I tend to miss them. Apparently the State of Organ has sent NY State, 140 ventilators, and China has sent 1000. Also the New England Patriots owner flew to China and brought back 1000s of masks, and medical supplies for Boston and New York. In addition, they've changed the Jacob Javits Center into a Federally Run Hospital for Corona Virus patients fully staffed with Federal Doctors, Nurses and medical supplies - taking some of the pressure off of NY. And..while the number of cases in Manhattan has gone down today, the number in Long Island has gone up. My mother wanted to know if Brooklyn was considered part of Long Island. No, it's considered part of the City. Although that is constantly debated. (I kind of already knew that Long Island's cases were increasing exponentially - since my crazy work place basically serves Long Island. And it had a panic attack this week. We have over 238 employees in quarantine, 98 positive, and 7 hospitalized - not too bad, there are over 5600 that work for the agency. And none of my co-workers to my knowledge have it - although over 98% of them live on Long Island.)
She said one of the issues the Southern Governors are facing is they are slanting towards Libertarianism - ie. no government involvement. Which, lets face it, doesn't work very well during a pandemic. Hate to say this - but a strong government and a socialist government works far better than a capitalistic or pure free market government does in a pandemic. Look at China, Russia and Germany? Now look at Italy, Spain, the US and the UK. Alrighty then.
Regarding the Cruise ship that I posted about last night? In case you were worried about it or thinking hateful thoughts about the US (please don't, lots of people are dying here - send prayers and blessings instead), it turns out that it did dock in Miami, both of the cruise ships did. They sent the foreign passengers directly to the airport where they boarded charted planes. And the sick directly to the hospital.
It was good news for the most part. Cheered my heart. My mother keeps threatening on living her locked down status to go to the grocery store. I keep telling her to stay home. She did find out from the staff of her retirement community - that if she left, she has to self-quarantine for 14 days and wear a mask at all times outside.
She's worried about one medication - which should last a while, but the one place she gets it from doesn't deliver - however maybe one of the staff from her retirement community can get it for her. Meanwhile my father is cranky and frustrated. He keeps wanting to jump off a cliff. My mother keeps telling him to stick around for her, since if he died, they couldn't have a funeral for him right now and she wouldn't want to deal with it.
5. I think I'm in love with Trevor Noah. I may start watching the Daily Show. I've seen two of his stand-up comedy specials - "Son of Patricia" and "Afraid of the Dark" and laughed my head off. Also, was thoroughly charmed by him. I'm not a huge fan of stand-up. A lot of it turns me off. But there are a few that have charmed me over the years.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-04 06:02 pm (UTC)That is definitely a big advantage, particularly at a time like this. I've always valued the fact that our apartment complex is generally very quiet. A friend who until recently had been living in Brooklyn had moved from her previous apartment because it was over a restaurant. The block was so noisy she said she could hardly sleep. She only ended up moving a few streets but apparently it made quite a difference.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-04 08:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-04 07:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-04 08:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-04 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-05 03:37 am (UTC)re: Trevor Noah
Date: 2020-04-06 08:33 am (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z-lkVYwu00
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