Re: Kinds

1

I've been self-isolating for 10 days now, but I think I've been outside every day but one or two. Have to go shopping- it would be very hard to shop for multiple weeks' worth of food, not to mention finding storage space. Plus getting the kid to parks. She'd be happy using me as a jungle gym all the time but I wouldn't. There have also been social gatherings, outdoors and at least paying lip service to 6-foot radii. Working from home still reduces my human interaction by probably about a dozen or so people per day, to say nothing of the kid's school.


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 3:22 PM
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Where you are sheltered probably matters also. We have more than one room for every person in house and lots of sunlight during the day. That's got to be so much easier than in more crowded contexts.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 3:40 PM
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3

Same. Plus kitties.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 4:11 PM
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4

A friend once described our little starter house a couple of decades ago: "It's nice. You have just enough room to get away from each other." We still have that much room now for the four of us - plus storage space for toilet paper and whatnot. (We're not hoarders! We just shop at Costco!)

I like the people I live with, and don't get to spend enough time with them. The kids are old enough to take care of themselves. It's a perfect setup. I know how lucky I am, and I'm grateful.

None of us has had any kind of meaningful direct contact with the outside world since The Missus and I went shopping a week ago Wednesday. We've done two doctor appointments by video.

I skip two hours of commuting daily, losing part of that to the fact that work is less efficient from home. I'm sleeping better, but drinking and eating a bit more, and not exercising as much. (Got a nearby gym at the office, and enough flexibility to use it.)

I'm depressed about the state of civilization, and somewhat worried about my continued employment. I'm rethinking how soon I can retire. But otherwise, I'm good (knock wood). We aren't driving each other crazy yet.


Posted by: politicalfootball | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 4:12 PM
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In half an hour, it'll be two weeks from when we took my kid's slightly elevated temperature. So I am saying that we are off home quarantine! Shelter in Place seems so much less restrictive (can grocery shop! can go to the river!). My kid has liked the daylong screens, but I am hoping to get him with a nanny (prob from his closed daycare) so he does something else for a few hours.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 4:22 PM
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6

Tim is going to work every day but a one bedroom apartment would not be easy if he were home all day. I can't imagine it in a studio.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 4:35 PM
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4: I think it may have been you who encouraged us not to build the addition, ten years ago. It was sound advice, although we did anyway and I like our house.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 5:01 PM
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8

Some people just like knocking bread from the mouths of architects.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 5:08 PM
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7: That sounds like me! A poor assessor of risk/benefit who nonetheless has strong opinions about it.


Posted by: politicalfootball | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 5:21 PM
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I appreciated the perspective! Everyone was acting like 1400 square feet was terribly tiny, and it was nice to have someone counter that. (Although at that point Pokey was a little baby, we were still intending to have two more, but a lot of people didn't necessarily believe us. WE SHOWED THEM.)


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 5:30 PM
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11

rooms/person seems like a pretty significant part of this.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 6:02 PM
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Everyone was acting like 1400 square feet was terribly tiny, and it was nice to have someone counter that.

My sister and brother-in-law are in a house of about that size (though with 2 children, not 4), and one of our aunts insists on calling it their "starter home," which annoys my sister more than a little. It's a beautiful house (built in the 1920s, with a Craftsman vibe) in a funky, walkable neighbourhood, and they have no intention of "trading up." They have a basement playroom that walks out into a small garden, and that access to a private (social-distancing) outdoor space is keeping them sane.

I really feel for people who are doing lockdown/SIP with young children in apartments, with no easy access to the outdoors. Because the kids need to get out for some sunshine and fresh air, and in order to let off some steam...but how many doorknobs do you have to touch in order to get them there?


Posted by: Just Plain Jane | Link to this comment | 03-26-20 6:26 PM
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13

"Whose doorknob do I have to touch to get served round here?"


Posted by: NW | Link to this comment | 03-27-20 1:00 AM
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There's a commonly used measure of "overcrowding" which is >1 adult per room in house (including kitchen, living room, etc.; not sure about bathroom).


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 03-27-20 8:19 AM
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15

Person, not adult.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 03-27-20 8:19 AM
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16

Still doing okay here in Fresno, CA. Our city council is adding some ridiculous categories to the essential exceptions for Shelter in Place -- dry cleaners and sporting goods stores now make the cut for "essential". Had a big creative flare Wed/Thurs, so I'm excitedly stealing time to work on it when I can. It's been quite a while since I last got into a good creative groove, so I'm excited.

Yesterday was our anniversary, but my wife was down with a cold, so I had solo time in the evening to create. Today was a scheduled colonoscopy, called off to reduce Covid exposure risk... so I guess I can't say Covid never did me good?


Posted by: Mooseking | Link to this comment | 03-27-20 11:53 AM
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Er, 16 was supposed to be to the check in thread. For Kinds... I'm experiencing the best case for Shelter in Place; two adults, no kids, in a house with a yard. I've been getting in some weeding and yard work for light and a change of scenery and spending much more time on screens, since that's how you stay connected when you can't actually get together.

Still working away in my typical work from home, and it's steady enough that I'm not yet getting to the "when things slow down, I can catch up on these obligations" from the turn of the year. There were a few days last week where things thinned a bit, but that seems to have been a hiccup.


Posted by: Mooseking | Link to this comment | 03-27-20 11:59 AM
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Doing well here for now. Feeling generally very fortunate.

Spending a lot of time today trying to help nonprofits understand that they too are eligible for the emergency "small business" loans Congress just passed, if they need help covering payroll, rent, and other costs to prevent layoffs. Hopefully the SBA approval process will work relatively smoothly. This could help a lot of orgs that have fewer than 500 employees.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 03-27-20 12:07 PM
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19

Oops, that was for the check-in thread.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 03-27-20 12:07 PM
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20

Have you checked into what happens if the nonprofits sold guns as a sideline? They would become essential (in Pennsylvania at least) by virtue of selling guns and the thought of a well-armed Philadelphia would probably do more to encourage reasonable gun control than all Bloomberg's money has so far.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-27-20 12:26 PM
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Topically, I was once privy to a slightly drunken argument that my neighborhood needs its own militia. I'm willing to subscribe to the newsletter.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-27-20 1:17 PM
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They just changed SLC from recommending against groups of over 10 to shelter in place. I don't think it will change our lives much except that I had to cancel our plans to have a picnic in the park. Instead we just played along the river for an hour. But my bf is also an absolute saint that has been doing 60% of my daughter's homeschooling. It's been such a great setup that I barely even flinched when they extended homeschooling to May 1st.


Posted by: LizSpigot | Link to this comment | 03-28-20 6:15 PM
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23

Liz!

Glad you're well.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-29-20 8:57 AM
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24

Nguyen Nhat Anh, who left Vietnam in February to study in Australia, is another person who returned home on Saturday. "It's like a vacation, at quarantine camp," Anh told Reuters. "Free Wi-Fi, free meals, free face masks. Just a little heart attack if any of the roommates cough."


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 03-29-20 9:03 AM
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25

That's my son's position now, without face masks.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03-29-20 9:29 AM
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26

23: Aw, thanks!


Posted by: LizSpigot | Link to this comment | 03-30-20 8:43 PM
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27

Liz's current boyfriend has never drunkenly accosted me on the scene of a bloody hobo fight and this is bullshit.


Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 03-30-20 9:23 PM
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28

Reference for anyone newer that 2013 or so.

http://www.unfogged.com/archives/comments_12804.html#1559816


Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 03-30-20 9:33 PM
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28: Well, that was an interesting read (re-read, technically).


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 03-30-20 10:47 PM
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30

Also, Liz!


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 03-30-20 10:48 PM
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31

20 is genius and needn't even involve them selling many guns if they're opposed to that. They could sell, say, black powder cannons. Not their fault if no one in downtown Philadelphia wants to buy a 12 pdr mountain howitzer.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 03-31-20 12:13 AM
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32

||

Analysis of the faunal remains revealed an enigmatically large proportion of mullet bones during the fish pond period and interpretation remains pending investigation.
|>


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 03-31-20 12:37 AM
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I presume "people were eating a lot of mullet" has been ruled out because otherwise that frankly isn't much of an enigma.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 03-31-20 2:18 AM
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