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Some good news, there's less new cases in NY, so we have begun to flatten the curve.
And yes, I'm still here and still well in epidemic central. Having issues with sleep though - I tense up at night and everything aches, also allergies go nuts with the radiator on - which results in dry coughing, and of course I start to panic and think do I have it? Do I have it? And makes me tense up even more. It's a vicious cycle.
No, I don't have it. I took an aleve and allergy meds, along with firing up the humdifier and opening my bedroom door, and the aches and cough went away.
So, having a lot of restless nights. I really envy people who don't have issues with sleep. I've always struggled with sleep. What does help is low sodium, low sugar, low caffeine diet - which alas is hard to do, but I'm working on it. It is kind of aided by the lack of availability of certain items.
Anyhow, I did accomplish a few things today. So there's that.
1. Grocery Shopping - and how it keeps changing over time...
It was a beautiful day today. Sunny, cool enough for a jacket, and with a fresh crisp breeze. If it weren't for the Corona Virus - I'd have walked around the park, or gone down to the Flatbush Coop and bought groceries. But alas, no. Instead I took a brief walk up and down my street, and picked up a package inside the foyer of my building and went home.
But the beautiful day sat and mocked me from my window. Also I kept thinking about the grocery store - and how I really wanted "granny smith" apples, also that I needed to pick up lamb chops for Easter, maybe some tenderloin, salmon and tuna for next week? Also green beans, summer squash (which are apparently really hard to get from the grocery delivery services - assuming of course you can get a time slot and sold out on Imperfect Foods). Plus strawberries and blackberries. Imperfect foods wants to give me oranges and grapefruit - I don't want oranges and grapefruit - I don't eat them. And pears, they want to give me pears. I don't like them that much - too bloody sweet and they get mushy fast - so don't last long. (I know I'm picky and spoiled. Hence the reason I think I'm giving more money to various food banks in the area.)
Shipperx posted on Twitter the following question: "Anyone else feel like they are playing Grocery Roulette with the grocery delivery services? You want chicken, vanilla wafers and toilet paper, and you get cabbage, vanilla wafers and lime."
This is true. My poor mother wanted a package of hershey almond chocolate bars and york peppermint patties. She got one hershey almond chocolate bar and a small tin of Russel Stovers suger free peppermint patties with four patties.
This is all building up to how I managed to convince myself to brave the dreaded grocery store. ( Read more... )
2. I did manage to do some other things today:
* Vacuumed the apartment, or rather I turned loose the robot vacuum and watched it do it. Also talked to it, and occasionally picked it up to place it in the bathroom or kitchen which were slightly raised up and it couldn't get into easily, out of yes, into, no.
* Cleaned the shower.
* Made my bed up clean - the last time I did laundry was three weeks ago. Possibly three and a half. It was 25 days, however long that is. It may end up being thirty days soon. I'm tempted to do very small loads. Just linens, towels, jeans, a few t-shirts and underwear. Okay maybe that's no so small. My next apartment is going to have a washer and dryer - which may mean leaving NYC. I could buy a dorm size one - but I'm afraid of either blowing a fuse or flooding my apartment. I'm not really good at setting up gadgets and appliances and NYC apartments, particularly old 1920s Pre-War Buildings, aren't set up for that kind of thing.
I wonder if I can get my bank to send me cash? Probably not. The whole getting cash thing is an unexpected side-effect of this crisis. It wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for the fact that my laundry requires it. It could be worse and the laundry could require coins. Of course, ironically I do have coins as well. I could see if they are still doing pick up and delivery laundry service - but that could be problematic. I mean - how do I know my clothes are free of the virus if I send them out for someone else to do it?
See, doing laundry in a city during a pandemic is ...well an unexpected problem that has been known to keep me up at night. I'm right now grateful that I do not have a job that requires that my clothes be cleaned the moment I get home from work each day.
3. Speaking of gratitude.
Here are the things I'm grateful for right now:
* I'm grateful to my dear online friend, who was gracious enough to share her subscription of Disney Plus and Hulu with me. You have no idea what a blessing this was - I was able to watch comforting television as a result.
Often the friends I've found online have helped me the most through various crises.
* I'm also grateful to the people who risk their lives each day to help the rest of us. The healthcare workers on the front lines, the delivery services, the grocery store clerks, the pharmacists, the police, the firemen and first responders, the EMT, the ambulance drivers, the homeless outreach workers, the food bank staff and servers, the transit/bus/train operators, the truck drivers, the people who clean out ATMs - all of these people, I'm exceedingly grateful to.
Mr. Rogers said once that whenever he got scared as a small boy, his mother would tell him to look to the helpers, they would get us through. There's always people out there who want to help and will do so. All is not lost as long as we have helpers. My heroes are the helpers. They are the ones who have saved my life more times than I can count. I'm trying to be more of one myself - I love helping people. It makes me happy. I'm grateful for a job that helps me to do it on some level without placing me in a painful situation, but I'm exceedingly grateful to those who do place themselves in those situations on a daily basis. I have a stressful job but it could be worse.
*I'm grateful to the people at my church who are setting up Zoom lines to connect with each other, meditate, check in, and gather to share love and blessings. I'm grateful that we have technology and the internet.
*I'm grateful for the weather - which is not too cold and not too hot, and beautiful without massive storms.
*I'm grateful that my family and friends are still well and still safe, and not hurting.
4. Entertainment
Today I watched comforting favorites from my early childhood, courtesy of a dear friend who gave me access to Disney + and Hulu.
* Darby O'Gill and the Little People - which is a cute little movie that is directed at young children. It's sweet and features a singing Scean Connery in his first role, prior to James Bond. It was first released in 1959 - so it is VERY dated, and I'm sure offensive to some. I found it charming. The story is about an old man who tells folk stories in a local pub, except to him they are real. The people in the pub believe him, but no one else does. He becomes friends with the King of the leprechauns, who aids him in helping his daughter find love and happiness with a new caretaker portrayed by a young Scean Connery.
* Robin Hood - the 1973 Disney Cartoon with the Fox voiced by Brian Bedford (who years later, I saw in Central Park performing in As You Like It), Peter Ustinov voiced the Lions, Roger Miller the singing Rooster, and Phil Harris - the Bear.
Harris was a Disney regular - he did Jungle Book, The Aristocrats, and Robin Hood.
I loved this movie as a child. Robin Hood was my first movie star crush. I fell in love with the Fox. And slept with the picture book that I got for Christmas that year featuring it. Even drew pictures from it.
Also watched a few episodes of Runaways - S3, the last season of the series.
5. Well, this is interesting, the fandom conventions have gone online or purely virtual now. Via Twitch, Youtube and Facebook. Wizard Con is completely virtual, with free Q&A and chats with various stars.
Virtual Experiences with the Stars
Buffy and Angel Cast - Virtual Q&A
And yes, I'm still here and still well in epidemic central. Having issues with sleep though - I tense up at night and everything aches, also allergies go nuts with the radiator on - which results in dry coughing, and of course I start to panic and think do I have it? Do I have it? And makes me tense up even more. It's a vicious cycle.
No, I don't have it. I took an aleve and allergy meds, along with firing up the humdifier and opening my bedroom door, and the aches and cough went away.
So, having a lot of restless nights. I really envy people who don't have issues with sleep. I've always struggled with sleep. What does help is low sodium, low sugar, low caffeine diet - which alas is hard to do, but I'm working on it. It is kind of aided by the lack of availability of certain items.
Anyhow, I did accomplish a few things today. So there's that.
1. Grocery Shopping - and how it keeps changing over time...
It was a beautiful day today. Sunny, cool enough for a jacket, and with a fresh crisp breeze. If it weren't for the Corona Virus - I'd have walked around the park, or gone down to the Flatbush Coop and bought groceries. But alas, no. Instead I took a brief walk up and down my street, and picked up a package inside the foyer of my building and went home.
But the beautiful day sat and mocked me from my window. Also I kept thinking about the grocery store - and how I really wanted "granny smith" apples, also that I needed to pick up lamb chops for Easter, maybe some tenderloin, salmon and tuna for next week? Also green beans, summer squash (which are apparently really hard to get from the grocery delivery services - assuming of course you can get a time slot and sold out on Imperfect Foods). Plus strawberries and blackberries. Imperfect foods wants to give me oranges and grapefruit - I don't want oranges and grapefruit - I don't eat them. And pears, they want to give me pears. I don't like them that much - too bloody sweet and they get mushy fast - so don't last long. (I know I'm picky and spoiled. Hence the reason I think I'm giving more money to various food banks in the area.)
Shipperx posted on Twitter the following question: "Anyone else feel like they are playing Grocery Roulette with the grocery delivery services? You want chicken, vanilla wafers and toilet paper, and you get cabbage, vanilla wafers and lime."
This is true. My poor mother wanted a package of hershey almond chocolate bars and york peppermint patties. She got one hershey almond chocolate bar and a small tin of Russel Stovers suger free peppermint patties with four patties.
This is all building up to how I managed to convince myself to brave the dreaded grocery store. ( Read more... )
2. I did manage to do some other things today:
* Vacuumed the apartment, or rather I turned loose the robot vacuum and watched it do it. Also talked to it, and occasionally picked it up to place it in the bathroom or kitchen which were slightly raised up and it couldn't get into easily, out of yes, into, no.
* Cleaned the shower.
* Made my bed up clean - the last time I did laundry was three weeks ago. Possibly three and a half. It was 25 days, however long that is. It may end up being thirty days soon. I'm tempted to do very small loads. Just linens, towels, jeans, a few t-shirts and underwear. Okay maybe that's no so small. My next apartment is going to have a washer and dryer - which may mean leaving NYC. I could buy a dorm size one - but I'm afraid of either blowing a fuse or flooding my apartment. I'm not really good at setting up gadgets and appliances and NYC apartments, particularly old 1920s Pre-War Buildings, aren't set up for that kind of thing.
I wonder if I can get my bank to send me cash? Probably not. The whole getting cash thing is an unexpected side-effect of this crisis. It wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for the fact that my laundry requires it. It could be worse and the laundry could require coins. Of course, ironically I do have coins as well. I could see if they are still doing pick up and delivery laundry service - but that could be problematic. I mean - how do I know my clothes are free of the virus if I send them out for someone else to do it?
See, doing laundry in a city during a pandemic is ...well an unexpected problem that has been known to keep me up at night. I'm right now grateful that I do not have a job that requires that my clothes be cleaned the moment I get home from work each day.
3. Speaking of gratitude.
Here are the things I'm grateful for right now:
* I'm grateful to my dear online friend, who was gracious enough to share her subscription of Disney Plus and Hulu with me. You have no idea what a blessing this was - I was able to watch comforting television as a result.
Often the friends I've found online have helped me the most through various crises.
* I'm also grateful to the people who risk their lives each day to help the rest of us. The healthcare workers on the front lines, the delivery services, the grocery store clerks, the pharmacists, the police, the firemen and first responders, the EMT, the ambulance drivers, the homeless outreach workers, the food bank staff and servers, the transit/bus/train operators, the truck drivers, the people who clean out ATMs - all of these people, I'm exceedingly grateful to.
Mr. Rogers said once that whenever he got scared as a small boy, his mother would tell him to look to the helpers, they would get us through. There's always people out there who want to help and will do so. All is not lost as long as we have helpers. My heroes are the helpers. They are the ones who have saved my life more times than I can count. I'm trying to be more of one myself - I love helping people. It makes me happy. I'm grateful for a job that helps me to do it on some level without placing me in a painful situation, but I'm exceedingly grateful to those who do place themselves in those situations on a daily basis. I have a stressful job but it could be worse.
*I'm grateful to the people at my church who are setting up Zoom lines to connect with each other, meditate, check in, and gather to share love and blessings. I'm grateful that we have technology and the internet.
*I'm grateful for the weather - which is not too cold and not too hot, and beautiful without massive storms.
*I'm grateful that my family and friends are still well and still safe, and not hurting.
4. Entertainment
Today I watched comforting favorites from my early childhood, courtesy of a dear friend who gave me access to Disney + and Hulu.
* Darby O'Gill and the Little People - which is a cute little movie that is directed at young children. It's sweet and features a singing Scean Connery in his first role, prior to James Bond. It was first released in 1959 - so it is VERY dated, and I'm sure offensive to some. I found it charming. The story is about an old man who tells folk stories in a local pub, except to him they are real. The people in the pub believe him, but no one else does. He becomes friends with the King of the leprechauns, who aids him in helping his daughter find love and happiness with a new caretaker portrayed by a young Scean Connery.
* Robin Hood - the 1973 Disney Cartoon with the Fox voiced by Brian Bedford (who years later, I saw in Central Park performing in As You Like It), Peter Ustinov voiced the Lions, Roger Miller the singing Rooster, and Phil Harris - the Bear.
Harris was a Disney regular - he did Jungle Book, The Aristocrats, and Robin Hood.
I loved this movie as a child. Robin Hood was my first movie star crush. I fell in love with the Fox. And slept with the picture book that I got for Christmas that year featuring it. Even drew pictures from it.
Also watched a few episodes of Runaways - S3, the last season of the series.
5. Well, this is interesting, the fandom conventions have gone online or purely virtual now. Via Twitch, Youtube and Facebook. Wizard Con is completely virtual, with free Q&A and chats with various stars.
Virtual Experiences with the Stars
Buffy and Angel Cast - Virtual Q&A