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shadowkat1. Day #19 and I wish I could say this is getting easier - but it's actually quite the opposite. More and more people are wearing masks now, many with the bandana masks that you can make with two rubber bands. Although I did see a few with the disposable blue cloth masks. One woman was going down the elevator - she'd brought her laundry down from the second or third floor and took the elevator from the first floor. She had the mask on and gloves. And for the first time, I saw bicyclists wearing masks - they were all wearing the bandanas and runners, who were also wearing masks.
There were a few people without them - but they were younger.
I took a walk - that's how I know. I walked along Ocean Parkway, a huge thorough-fare in Brooklyn, known as the Champs Elysee of Brooklyn. It's a four lane street with two sidewalks and two bike lanes on either side, framed with benches, and large cedar trees with the pale white bark slowly budding out with leaves. There is traffic, but not much. About twenty-thirty cars as opposed to the hundreds that usually go by on a Sunday. Enough to not jay-walk across it, but not quite enough to be noisy or difficult to cross with a light. It feels like the residential streets now - which had about twenty-thirty cars and now have dropped to far less.
Also, people have discarded the disposable masks and gloves here and there. A habit that annoys me and I don't quite understand. Honestly, put them in the garbage or hand wash them, folks. Be mindful of others and the environment around you.
And a couple of lone ambulances fly by - they appear to be associated with a Hebrew Ambulance Service, since the wording along them is in Yiddish. Hatzolah is the name across the side. I looked it up, Hatzolah Ambulance Service - is the largest volunteer ambulance service in the United States.
Chevra Hatzoloh, commonly referred to simply as “Hatzoloh”, (translated as ‘emergency rescue’) is the largest volunteer ambulance service in the United States. It was founded in 1969 by Rabbi Hershel Weber during a time when ambulances regularly took 20 minutes or more to reach their patients. It started with a few volunteers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn who carried oxygen tanks and first aid kits. They had minimal training but maximum motivation.
Flatbush Volunteers of Hatzoloh, Inc, the largest affiliate of “Hatzoloh”, with over 200 volunteers operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the communities of Flatbush, Midwood, Kensington, Marine Park, Madison, Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach. We respond to over 15,000 calls annually.
With its’ “army” of professional, highly trained, and state certified volunteer emergency care providers, Hatzoloh is more than just a 24-hour emergency medical service. It is an absolute, total commitment to the sanctity of life — the embodiment of the 2,000- year-old dictum that “Whoever saves even one life, it is as if he saved an entire world.”
On the way back in - I felt for the immune compromised couple trying to get their groceries inside but waiting for an opportunity to do so. They were stationed out on the side of the curb. They live in a section 8 apartment on the first floor. They are kind, but struggling, with lots of pride.
Inside the foyer was a young woman with a mask, checking her cell phone and not moving. I found her annoying. I went around her and opened the door and she followed me in, we were about three feet away. She immediately went to the elevator and I wasn't sure what she was doing - and realized that she was putting on plastic gloves - a necessity with the elevator which requires pulling a lever to open and to close it behind you.
Once I got back indoors, I struggled with the anxiety. I'd had it before the walk of course - it's the reason I took it. I desperately needed to get out of my apartment.
The day is in the 60s, it's cloudy but not raining. A nice day for a walk. And normally I'd take a long one, but I'm nervous about doing so. Meanwhile I know various folks in my area who are taking them, without any problems. They do live further North nearer to Prospect Park or in Park Slope, but still, you'd think they would struggle with the social distancing. My anxiety seems silly to me and I find myself laughing at it - since a mere 19 days ago, I was sitting on subways with people for 20-30 minutes. We were NOT six feet apart, more like one foot if that.
And most people weren't wearing masks. I was also going in and out of major transportation hubs, such as Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica Air Train Building.
Now, I am terrified to take a walk to the park or go to the grocery store or do laundry? Really?
2. Spoke to mother before and after all of this.
Mother: I'm struggling with your father, he keeps telling me we need to make sure we keep six feet apart.
Me: Well, he's not wrong about that - he's vulnerable.
Mother: He wants to keep six feet apart from me.
Reader? I burst out laughing.
Mother: I told him that I was sorry, but if we go down, we go down together.
Me: Also it's kind of late for that - considering that you've been sleeping in the same bed for the last several weeks now.
I apologized to my mother for laughing, but it was funny. After a moment she joined in and told me that at least I was laughing. Laughter is good.
She told me that a new edict or change in policy is coming from the management of their retirement community. Her guess is that they are going to discontinue housekeeping services soon. I told her that I'd been waiting for that, and was somewhat surprised they hadn't done it by now.
In other news, some, not all, NYC Laundromats are closing as a result of the crisis. I think the bigger ones may still be open, it's the small, tiny ones that have been forced to close. My laundry is in the basement of my building and I'm holding off on doing it as long as possible. Right now, I'm fine, plenty of the essentials. Kind of a necessity if you live in NYC - you need to have enough clothes to put off the trip to the laundromat or basement shared space.
It's ironic in a way that I'm avoiding - considering that now I work remotely from home - I have more time in which I can actually do laundry.
3. Got into two fights on Facebook, which motivated me to write a long post trying to advise folks that we are in different living situations and to try to be mindful of that. And I gave them mine.
The fight was over masks. The problem with social media and the internet, and ahem, my parents siblings, cousins and relatives, is that we have one too many pseudo-experts who feel the need to tell us how it worked for them, or that I'm doing everything wrong. Hardly helpful.
My Uncle felt the need to inform me that the bandana face mask that I made wouldn't protect me from getting the virus. (Yes, I know that. I'm not using it to go into hospitals or instead of social distancing. I'm using it to try and not spread the virus further. And as an extra safeguard. I don't need or want your expertise, nor does anyone else. All you are doing is making me panic. Because I don't have any other option.)
Meanwhile, another friend (not a relative - a social media friend) felt the need to tell me that she suffered lots of mail theft when she was living in a big city. And I was an idiot for buying masks from Amazon and they'd be stolen. This resulted in a panic attack on my end. I finally got pissed off - as a result of said panic attack - and asked what possible purpose did it serve her to tell me this? I'm anxious enough as it is, I do not need help.
I really don't. My anxiety seems to come and go, without warning. It makes me furious and irritable. I do different things to counter-act it. And it's easily triggered now. To be fair, I've been struggling with anxiety since 9/11, although I did have issues with it long before then. The only things that work right now are "meditation", "dancing around my apartment", and "CBD gummies - although I'm not sure the new ones will work as effectively as the ones that I got before and I can't get now, because they don't deliver." Gummies are also expensive. So there's that.
And I'm not sure how much of my anxiety is due to bio-chemistry - aka perimenopause/menopause - which I appear to be heading into. This makes life interesting - since I get hot flashes and have to remind myself that no, it's not a fever, any more than the dry cough, sniffling nose or watery eyes that come and go are COVID-19 - it is allergies.
I need to stay off FB or away from discussions on COVID-19 on FB.
4. Debating about ordering a pizza. There is a place near me that delivers gluten free pizza and cesar salad. They are on Courtelyou Road, San Renno. This is good to know. They do not however deliver alcohol. Dang it. Which is probably just as well.
Also debating about the home alone check in at 7PM via the church. I did do the church worship service this morning.
5. Need to find a funny movie or something to watch. I might just re-watch Greatest Showman. I tried to rewatch Gross Point Blank - but I've seen it too many times. Also tried to rewatch Dark Phoenix, but it's not that good a movie and I despise some of the casting choices. Nick Hoult would have made a better Cyclops than Beast, and Sophie Turner would have been a better Emma Frost - she's very icy in her performance not fiery. Tye Sheridan does not work as Scott. I kind of hand-waved this the first go around, I can't on rewatch.
There were a few people without them - but they were younger.
I took a walk - that's how I know. I walked along Ocean Parkway, a huge thorough-fare in Brooklyn, known as the Champs Elysee of Brooklyn. It's a four lane street with two sidewalks and two bike lanes on either side, framed with benches, and large cedar trees with the pale white bark slowly budding out with leaves. There is traffic, but not much. About twenty-thirty cars as opposed to the hundreds that usually go by on a Sunday. Enough to not jay-walk across it, but not quite enough to be noisy or difficult to cross with a light. It feels like the residential streets now - which had about twenty-thirty cars and now have dropped to far less.
Also, people have discarded the disposable masks and gloves here and there. A habit that annoys me and I don't quite understand. Honestly, put them in the garbage or hand wash them, folks. Be mindful of others and the environment around you.
And a couple of lone ambulances fly by - they appear to be associated with a Hebrew Ambulance Service, since the wording along them is in Yiddish. Hatzolah is the name across the side. I looked it up, Hatzolah Ambulance Service - is the largest volunteer ambulance service in the United States.
Chevra Hatzoloh, commonly referred to simply as “Hatzoloh”, (translated as ‘emergency rescue’) is the largest volunteer ambulance service in the United States. It was founded in 1969 by Rabbi Hershel Weber during a time when ambulances regularly took 20 minutes or more to reach their patients. It started with a few volunteers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn who carried oxygen tanks and first aid kits. They had minimal training but maximum motivation.
Flatbush Volunteers of Hatzoloh, Inc, the largest affiliate of “Hatzoloh”, with over 200 volunteers operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the communities of Flatbush, Midwood, Kensington, Marine Park, Madison, Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach. We respond to over 15,000 calls annually.
With its’ “army” of professional, highly trained, and state certified volunteer emergency care providers, Hatzoloh is more than just a 24-hour emergency medical service. It is an absolute, total commitment to the sanctity of life — the embodiment of the 2,000- year-old dictum that “Whoever saves even one life, it is as if he saved an entire world.”
On the way back in - I felt for the immune compromised couple trying to get their groceries inside but waiting for an opportunity to do so. They were stationed out on the side of the curb. They live in a section 8 apartment on the first floor. They are kind, but struggling, with lots of pride.
Inside the foyer was a young woman with a mask, checking her cell phone and not moving. I found her annoying. I went around her and opened the door and she followed me in, we were about three feet away. She immediately went to the elevator and I wasn't sure what she was doing - and realized that she was putting on plastic gloves - a necessity with the elevator which requires pulling a lever to open and to close it behind you.
Once I got back indoors, I struggled with the anxiety. I'd had it before the walk of course - it's the reason I took it. I desperately needed to get out of my apartment.
The day is in the 60s, it's cloudy but not raining. A nice day for a walk. And normally I'd take a long one, but I'm nervous about doing so. Meanwhile I know various folks in my area who are taking them, without any problems. They do live further North nearer to Prospect Park or in Park Slope, but still, you'd think they would struggle with the social distancing. My anxiety seems silly to me and I find myself laughing at it - since a mere 19 days ago, I was sitting on subways with people for 20-30 minutes. We were NOT six feet apart, more like one foot if that.
And most people weren't wearing masks. I was also going in and out of major transportation hubs, such as Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica Air Train Building.
Now, I am terrified to take a walk to the park or go to the grocery store or do laundry? Really?
2. Spoke to mother before and after all of this.
Mother: I'm struggling with your father, he keeps telling me we need to make sure we keep six feet apart.
Me: Well, he's not wrong about that - he's vulnerable.
Mother: He wants to keep six feet apart from me.
Reader? I burst out laughing.
Mother: I told him that I was sorry, but if we go down, we go down together.
Me: Also it's kind of late for that - considering that you've been sleeping in the same bed for the last several weeks now.
I apologized to my mother for laughing, but it was funny. After a moment she joined in and told me that at least I was laughing. Laughter is good.
She told me that a new edict or change in policy is coming from the management of their retirement community. Her guess is that they are going to discontinue housekeeping services soon. I told her that I'd been waiting for that, and was somewhat surprised they hadn't done it by now.
In other news, some, not all, NYC Laundromats are closing as a result of the crisis. I think the bigger ones may still be open, it's the small, tiny ones that have been forced to close. My laundry is in the basement of my building and I'm holding off on doing it as long as possible. Right now, I'm fine, plenty of the essentials. Kind of a necessity if you live in NYC - you need to have enough clothes to put off the trip to the laundromat or basement shared space.
It's ironic in a way that I'm avoiding - considering that now I work remotely from home - I have more time in which I can actually do laundry.
3. Got into two fights on Facebook, which motivated me to write a long post trying to advise folks that we are in different living situations and to try to be mindful of that. And I gave them mine.
The fight was over masks. The problem with social media and the internet, and ahem, my parents siblings, cousins and relatives, is that we have one too many pseudo-experts who feel the need to tell us how it worked for them, or that I'm doing everything wrong. Hardly helpful.
My Uncle felt the need to inform me that the bandana face mask that I made wouldn't protect me from getting the virus. (Yes, I know that. I'm not using it to go into hospitals or instead of social distancing. I'm using it to try and not spread the virus further. And as an extra safeguard. I don't need or want your expertise, nor does anyone else. All you are doing is making me panic. Because I don't have any other option.)
Meanwhile, another friend (not a relative - a social media friend) felt the need to tell me that she suffered lots of mail theft when she was living in a big city. And I was an idiot for buying masks from Amazon and they'd be stolen. This resulted in a panic attack on my end. I finally got pissed off - as a result of said panic attack - and asked what possible purpose did it serve her to tell me this? I'm anxious enough as it is, I do not need help.
I really don't. My anxiety seems to come and go, without warning. It makes me furious and irritable. I do different things to counter-act it. And it's easily triggered now. To be fair, I've been struggling with anxiety since 9/11, although I did have issues with it long before then. The only things that work right now are "meditation", "dancing around my apartment", and "CBD gummies - although I'm not sure the new ones will work as effectively as the ones that I got before and I can't get now, because they don't deliver." Gummies are also expensive. So there's that.
And I'm not sure how much of my anxiety is due to bio-chemistry - aka perimenopause/menopause - which I appear to be heading into. This makes life interesting - since I get hot flashes and have to remind myself that no, it's not a fever, any more than the dry cough, sniffling nose or watery eyes that come and go are COVID-19 - it is allergies.
I need to stay off FB or away from discussions on COVID-19 on FB.
4. Debating about ordering a pizza. There is a place near me that delivers gluten free pizza and cesar salad. They are on Courtelyou Road, San Renno. This is good to know. They do not however deliver alcohol. Dang it. Which is probably just as well.
Also debating about the home alone check in at 7PM via the church. I did do the church worship service this morning.
5. Need to find a funny movie or something to watch. I might just re-watch Greatest Showman. I tried to rewatch Gross Point Blank - but I've seen it too many times. Also tried to rewatch Dark Phoenix, but it's not that good a movie and I despise some of the casting choices. Nick Hoult would have made a better Cyclops than Beast, and Sophie Turner would have been a better Emma Frost - she's very icy in her performance not fiery. Tye Sheridan does not work as Scott. I kind of hand-waved this the first go around, I can't on rewatch.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-05 11:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 01:50 am (UTC)* Grocery Stores
* Subway/Trains/Bus and airports - all on limited service
* Pharmacies
* Hospitals
* NY Stock Exchange
* Some bank branches
* Some laundromats
* Hotels
* Some restaurants and bars - which are only doing take out or delivery
That's about it. This is killing the economy. We have over 5 million out of work.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 12:24 pm (UTC)It's like how the MTA cut service, but so many people have no choice but to continue taking the subways and buses - I live in a poorer area and every bus that goes by is packed.
The government should pay all laundromats to stay open 24/7 to reduce crowding.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 12:51 pm (UTC)NY State is currently in a 15 Billion Dollar hole. And they are putting pretty much all their money towards Corona Virus : keeping the public transportation system going, funding hospitals, getting ventilators etc.
And the stimulus package is supposed to help the small businesses and anyone making less than a certain amount a year. If you are making less than $99,000 as a single person, you should be getting money soon - I think the first checks arrive in May.
I don't think they can afford to pay all laundromats to stay open 24/7 nor do I think the people who work there would be willing to do it. What they could do is switch to drop off/delivery only like restaurants. It would be safer.
Keep in mind, NY is $15 Billion in debt and the Federal Government only gave NY $5 billion.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 09:25 pm (UTC)The laundromat thing just gets me because...what would it be like to be stuck in a crowded apartment, maybe with someone sick, maybe with someone who has diarrhea (as apparently some with the virus do) - maybe with no extra sheets - and unable to do laundry? (Well-meaning people say, "Do laundry in the bathtub and hang dry" - many small apartments don't have bathtubs, only stall showers, and no space to hang dry, and poor ventilation.)
Drop off/delivery is more expensive, and even if you can afford it, you have to have internet access and a way of paying over the internet - many people lack bank accounts and credit cards. A lot of people walk or take the bus to their nearest laundromat and pay cash because that is their only option.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 10:35 pm (UTC)Also agree on the laundry problem. There's a lot of health care workers who have to do laundry every day. And they don't own washing machines or dryers. And delivery is expensive - I know I've had to do it. It can cost between $30-$100 depending on the load. Some places have a minimum of $30 regardless of the size. And the demand will be high right now.
You can get delivery without internet access - or I was able to a few years back. Not sure if that's still the case. I just called up the laundromat and paid them when they delivered it in cash. But that was in 2009, so it may have changed since then.
If you have a smartphone you can most likely do it - just get the app.
They were discussing this on FB. And one woman suggested buying a small washer/dryer that goes in small apartments and dorms. I looked it up and there are problems. 1) What if your apartment can't handle the wattage let alone the water capacity? Mine can't. I looked at it and thought, tempting, but I'd either blow a fuse or flood the apartment. Making everything worse. I'd rather brave the basement. 2) They are all sold out on Amazon - there's been a rush on them.
And doing laundry as you pointed out, in your tub or sink, is difficult too - because most people including myself can't line dry. The best we can do is line dry a few items on a hang dryer. Or people don't have big sinks or tubs, just shower stalls.
If I were still living in the brownstone apartment that I'd been in for about sixteen years - I wouldn't be able to do laundry until this was over.
Here, in this apartment at least, I can - it just means finding a time to go down and do it, when no one else is -- which is difficult too, but not impossible. (I hope.)
no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 05:33 am (UTC)I watched it on DVD earlier last week, and loved, loved, loved this flick-- 9 out of 10 for me. (Didn't get to see it in the theater, wish I had).
If you haven't seen it, I (obviously) strongly recc it!
no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 09:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-06 04:00 pm (UTC)