My office is reopening on Monday. I guess about half the staff will be scheduled to come in to the office each day. Only 2 people on the elevator at a time, and only one person in the bathroom. No eating in the lunchroom. No sex is permitted, and no exceptions for nearly fully clothed doggy- style.
What about tall people who can keep their faces six feet apart?
2:. I know it doesn't make any sense, but there are no exceptions.
Not in Ohio, the Pruning Shears State.
I took a very long walk with a good friend (and potential romantic interest) early this morning. It was great. We started at 5 am and I got home at 6:30 am. It was wonderful but staying in has really gotten me out of shape, I was exhausted by the time I got home. May do the same with her tomorrow morning, if not then certainly next week.
6: Awww, that's sweet. Did you see the sun rise?
It's rising just before 5 am here now so now, also very built up (we live in adjacent neighborhoods). We're planning some desert walks and would have gone today but there was a freakish storm yesterday afternoon (it even blew away a tent hospital in the north set up to treat COVID patients) and it would be muddy.
It's really important to use the right stakes for the soil type when putting up a tent.
Tents for religious groups is the other thread.
Checking in from Philadelphia. All's well at this end.
Speaking of tents, I thought it was overkill when my partner made me practice putting up the tent we gave my nieces and nephew for Christmas. He said it was to make sure the directions were beginner-friendly (i.e., idiot-proof).
Well, the other night he was down for the count with a migraine after an emergency dental appointment, and who should video-call me but my 11-year-old and 6-year-old niece. They were setting up the (very large) tent in their playroom and couldn't find the instructions. I spent 40 minutes walking them through the process. They did great.
I told my partner he was right. Although I'm pretty sure he wasn't imagining a pandemic, a months-long quarrantine, an indoor camping expedition, and two children determined to set up the tent without their parents' help.
I hope they didn't put stakes in the carpet.
Things are pretty dire here. I'm out of weed.
I've had a slight fever again intermittently since Saturday, with a bit of cough and sore throat, and have been staying in. But I feel fine, basically, and don't have a fever right now, so maybe I won't develop one today. This turned into a good reason for the Argentinian to leave, which I was happy about since I never trusted him after the drama. I'm much more cheery about things than I was the first time around, maybe because assuming I get better there's now a highly probably end date to my situation, which is QRP coming in two weeks. We had a kind of hilarious interaction last weekend, when, during negotiations about the possibility that I was going to come stay with him, I was trying to express some frustration, as gently as possible because over SMS, the only medium he'll use, with the quality of his communication, and he said "I don't think I've been inconsistent or unreliable" after saying in the same text "my interim plan was to come live with you in three weeks", a plan and date which I had literally never heard, causing me to scream internally about how he can say his communication is fine when he has plans to live with me of which I have not been informed, and that would have totally changed a lot of other decision making if I had been. But I asked for 90% certainty he was coming and a specific date and I got both (though the latter took three texts) and I dunno, maybe it will be nice. So far some problems in our interactions have been addressed by taking away underlying causes -- like, early on I had a theory that his constant marijuana vaping was causing a lot of our issues and when he stopped that the teasing thing got a lot better, like, no longer a problem at all. I think talking about logistics will be better if he's here and I get higher throughput. Or maybe we'll be at each other's throats, who knows.
I'm looking forward to getting an antibody test, which are now available for everyone around here, when I can leave the house again. Everyone in my circles is well or recovering.
The stores around here seem to be out of Brita filters and it's surprising how much worse coffee tastes when it's made with plain tap water.
#firstworldpandemicproblems
Alternatively, you're infected and losing your sense of taste.
eh but my temperature is climbing. Is that a common pattern when you're sick? To have a low temperature early in the day and then have it creep up to low-grade fever by afternoon?
I thought the pattern was to have a high temperature in the morning, falling as the day goes on. Take care of yourself.
17: In that case I think it would actually taste better than it currently does.
Hello all--I am objectively mostly doing OK, even with the isolation. If I didn't have my kids half the time I might be going completely nuts.
That said, throwing constant work stress on top of the isolation is, I think, fucking with my ability to correctly moderate my emotional reaction to even low-key conflict. Not that I'm blowing up or throwing tantrums--but I feel like 1) I can't identify when a small thing is a big thing and vice versa, 2) I internally get the cascading stress response of anger and resentment for everything now because I can't differentiate big/small and that just takes a physical and mental toll, and 3) that makes everything pile up--with no end in sight.
I've managed to let go of my usual ongoing stress about the state of the world/politics, (it may be piling up subconsciously, can't tell), but with work feeling like 80% of my emotional life right now and the constant feeling that the assholes are winning at my company, it just feels like there's no outlet for the stress.
In a lot of ways I am as mentally healthy as I have ever been, but my past history with depression/anxiety makes me worry that I am going to inappropriately manage the stress and somehow fuck up my career/life in general. I have meta-anxiety.
(Sorry to drop in out of the blue just to vent, but this felt like the most appropriate venue--a semi-anonymous forum where a good chunk of the people know me. I hope everyone is doing as well as possible under the circumstances. Barry, nice to see your friendship/possible romance report. And nice to see the rest of you reprobates.)
Physically OK. Emotionally dubious. Getting very irritated at the rules-lawyering 7-year-old ("You told me to set a timer! You didn't tell me it had to make a noise, so I didn't notice when it finished, but I still did what you told me, right?"). Finding it very hard to concentrate on work, for which I feel ridiculous and self-loathing, even though it makes perfect sense.
And as per usual when I write a long comment, others came in while I wrote. Feel better Tia! Any pointers to where I can catch up on the Argentinian?
21: It's rough for anxiety. Taking a walk or a run is what helps me. Fresh air.
Yeah, same here. I've been running because I can't go to the gym, and to get outside. I don't feel that anxious, but I've never wanted to go running this badly before in my life.
18-19: I'm pretty sure the pattern is usually to be afebrile in the morning, and febrile in the evening, for many illnesses.
It's probably better to google stuff than rely on my memory.
Chopper!
Take care of yourself, Tia.
Fucking beautiful bird's foot. Luscious meander scarring a little upstream.
Also, Chopper!
I need to take a week off from commenting after this week. 22 definitely sounds familiar. Hey Chopper! Work stress is bullshit! Is there any part of your life (hobbies/ambitions/etc.) that helps you keep work in its proper perspective?
Barry, your early walk sounds idyllic. I feel about as physically attractive as a sack of rice right now. I have this uncharacteristic longing to buy a bunch of new clothes, but I think I won't unless anyone knows of a vendor who would benefit.
15: I'm looking forward to getting an antibody test, which are now available for everyone around here
It appears that UPMC will be doing the test on anyone coming in for treatment at hospitals (I think in large part to get elective procedures going again). I have a colonoscopy scheduled in a month or two and I am now sort of looking forward to it (assuming that gets me a test).
My wife continues to self-quarantine from me with continuing mild probably-not-it symptoms. She had a video appointment with here doctor this AM (apparently UPMC has gone from ~250/day to 9,500 per day, I assume this type of thing will stick to some extent even after this is all over). Doctor also thought not, and she continues to think mostly her general ongoing anxiety... but still anxiety. He said he would prescribe a test if she really felt she needed it but she declined. So it does sound like they are now more routinely available here. We call each other a lot during the day, and finally started using FaceTime. Our normal setup is with our computers next to each other on a long table (which some people find hard to believe) so we are used to sharing small tidbits of our online lives throughout the day.
And here is what I am doing in quarantine this morning (and so should anyone who has a mind to), reading an excellent interview with Henry Farrell on five books on politics and "information systems." Easier to see what it is about via the books he chose:
Red Plenty - Spufford. (And he calls out Cosma's great Crooked Timber post on it as well as an essay by Kieran Healy.
The Market System: What It Is, How It Works, and What To Make of It - Charles Lindblom.
The Sciences of the Artificial - herb Simon. A huge favorite of mine.
Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society E. Glen Weyl & Eric A. Posner.
Uncanny Valley: A Memoir Anna Wiener. (Was not familiar with this one it is apparently a memoir of a lit grad who went to work in Silicon Valley.)
It is quite long and I am only part of the way in, but am enjoying it immensely. Maybe should have finished it and sent it in as a guest post. Lots of good diverting grist for the mill.
Or maybe we read the essay plus all 5 for the book group and discuss...
Still okay here in Fresno. It looks like we're extending shelter in place through the end of May; the city is apparently preparing a list of lower risk business types that may be able to open during the month.
My wife's had a couple of hard days and is fighting a general feeling of uselessness. Evidently the last few times she's gone into the closed store she hasn't accomplished any of her tasks. She came home very depressed last time, but after a couple hours of quiet and crying, she was willing to talk, and it seemed to help, though only a bit. The world certainly isn't going out of its way to reinforce bright spots, but at least we're healthy and just about everyone we know still is too.
Do peep and cow orkers usually have sex at work? If so, I hope they clock out first.
Tia, look after yourself. I think the temperature thing is- I was going to say normal, but obviously it's above normal- "how it works". Diagnostic hints from my brother in law who had a mild dose of the thing include constantly running nose, complete exhaustion (he more or less slept for 72 hours) and a wierd headache at the front of your head.
I am (hopefully) recovering from a strange illness. Yesterday I was feeling better, today, I'm feeling worse, and might not be up to composing much text. I'd been subsisting on about a hundred calories a day for almost two weeks, but I was able to tolerate some soup yesterday. Today, less so. No fever or anything. Supplies of television are running dangerously low.
23: thanks!
I actually don't know what thread it was in and google doesn't seem to know about it yet. The short version is I had this houseguest I didn't know well come stay for company, on his first night here he went out for a walk and never came back, I started worrying about him, particularly because things outside are in more disarray here than usual, and the next morning, after consulting with a mutual friend who said it was out of character and was very worried, I called the police, but then he replied to my texts about ten minutes later. He had gone to dinner at a friend's house, maybe multiple friends, and slept there.
36: Yes, and no we don't clock out. Sex time is billable!
37: Yikes. Take care. That sounds not good.
Hoping for a speedy recovery for you both, Tia and fm.
Best wishes fm and Tia and Moosequeen and Walt wherever he is.
Looks interesting.Baldwin finds that strategies such as military cordons and quarantines were not always the product of a "conservative" government, but that of poorer nations who could not afford the long-term costs associated with environmentalist methods [...] presents a fascinating argument about the complex nature of disease, and governmental responses to epidemic threats. The scope of 1830-1930 provides a nice cross-section to examine the key epidemics of the time--cholera, smallpox and syphilis. The geographic comparison of Germany, Britain, Sweden and France is admirable.
Just got back from my once every ~10 days shopping trip. 4 cans of coconut milk and the last Brita filter in the store. Score!
Why yes, I'm adjusting to diminished expectations just fine, thank you.
Still doing fine here. Stuff is starting to open back up this week, but it's not clear how many businesses are actually opening and how many people are actually willing to go to them. We apparently had no new cases reported yesterday, but that may be because the state didn't report any new tests. Case counts have definitely remained low for the past few days, though. The latest from my work is that we'll be telecommuting at least through May 15, but I expect that'll be extended.
The weather has been sunny and relatively warm in the past week, so we decided to stain our deck. Some previous owner painted it with regular paint rather than stain, so the paint has flaked off considerably on the parts that are exposed to the elements and it looks really bad. I've been taking a couple hours after work each day to pressure wash the remnants of the old paint off, which is intensive work but pretty satisfying. Assuming no complications I should be done with that today, then we'll wait a few days for it to dry before staining.
You should be careful in case it's leaded paint. You can tell by tasting some and if it's sweet it's dangerous.
I was considering the hell thread for this, as it was an unpleasant but appreciated distraction, but here is probably more appropriate for this sort of navel gazing.
We had our cat put to sleep last night. This is the cat that we brought with us across the ocean, and I've mentioned a few times mostly over the stress of doing so, or the cost of medicine in America. We'd had her for nine years and she'd had assorted maladies for the past five. Mostly chronic stuff that could be managed with a lot of effort, with occasional scary flareups. I've spent a considerable amount of the time, especially the last four months, dealing with her; the spreadsheet we use to track her medicines and disease states had grown to two dozen columns. I've learned a lot about basic veterinary nursing. In the end, it was the pancreatitis that got to be too much. It came on fast and unexpected, but wasn't surprising. The vet and I wore masks while she was put to sleep.
Anyway, my wife and I have both been total wrecks for the last day. We've lost a third of our family. The fact that we're totally isolated feels so much more salient now. She was very sweet and had made the quarantine more bearable. It's just too quiet now.
The bizarre part, making this even more part of this moment, was coming home afterwards. We were already fucked up, my glasses were fogged and my mask was soaked through with snot. It rained on and off last night and sunset was that weird yellow color you get when the rain's over but there are still clouds in the right locations, pretty but with a kind of liminal foreboding. After we turned onto our residential road, everyone came out into their front gardens and started clapping and banging pans. We had forgotten that it was the 8 o'clock Thursday #ClapForOurCarers. I don't think I can get across how completely surreal and intense that was, and how close it pushed us to breaking down right there.
I'm sorry your about losing your cat. There's never a good time, but this is a bad one especially.
That's so sad, dalriata. Please accept my sympathy.
I'm sorry, dalriata. How painful and disorienting that all sounds!
We are holding up. The little girls are with Lee this weekend, so I can maybe get some meaningful editing work done and Odile can finish her last essay, but not tonight. Today was my first zoom meeting as the communications director for the local Celtic music school, which won't take too much time but will pay a fair bit and should be fun enough. I haven't decided yet whether to quit the yarn shop when I am able to go back, but I definitely SHOULD. It would just be easier if I found one more gig in the interim, but then at some point I'll stop being eligible for unemployment. Even if they ever actually pay me the unemployment I'm allegedly owed. Etc. So life is like that.
I'm feeling healthier and we're doing well. Mara has started playing my old violin and Selah got a 3/4 guitar and is loving it, though she hasn't learned a chord yet. The jam sessions are adorable. I've developed a fascination with one-pan dishes and bought a Rukmini Iyer cookbook that's very inspirational and may cut down on the time I spend loading and unloading the dishwasher every day. (The flip side is that all of us are lazy about changing clothes and so laundry no longer feels like a constant yoke.) Our governor hasn't moved the too-optimistic reopen date to match Ohio's yet but I'm still blithely assuming that will happen.
i am so sorry, dalriata, you poor guys that is so sad.
Sorry for your loss dalri. You never forget a good pet.
Oh dal, I am so sorry. Coming home to a pet-less house is so upsetting and sad.
And all! I'm glad to see you, choppy! And I hope Tia and FM feel better. Thorn, I am always glad to read your updates.
48: I'm so terribly sorry. It took us about a week to get through normal days without having some sort of crying breakdown after losing one of our two last fall. It must be extra lonely at home all day.
My sympathies, dalriata. That's tough.
I'm so sorry to hear about the kitty. Losing a pet can be so incredibly hard.
Somebody put a 80s-era refrigerator on the side of the street with a sign reading "Works."
I'm sorry, dalriata. It's always sad to lose a beloved cat or dog; but at this time, in particular, it must be especially rough: they are members of your family, and also part of your household's sense of everyday normal.
59: Next they should put out a microwave saying "Faith".
(Also I'm sorry to hear it, dalriata.)
Wash going to post this yesterday but the blog done died on us:
Just got back from another even longer early morning walk with my friend. My corner bodega had a sign up that said "no masks, no entry"
--
Woke up in time for an early morning walk today and should have gone instead of tossing and turning in bed. Now just up at noon and I'm more tired than before.
I'm sorry to hear about your cat dalriata. The blog ate an earlier expression of sympathy.
Still fine here - had kind of a shit week but it was the sort of shit week that would have happened no matter what (too much work + hormones = cranky), so, eh. Much better now!
Dalriata, so so sorry to hear your news. Sending lots of love to you and yours.
They launched one of those COVID tracking apps here like they have in China (and elsewhere? Singapore?).
+679 new cases here now so it definitely seems like the curve is flattening and even beginning to bend.
I am out of the hospital, though not fully recovered. I'm trying to cut back on painkillers -- I was lots in the hospital -- so I'm grouchy.
Glad to hear it. If you need to cut back on Vicodin, I'm always ready to help.
Happy to hear it, Walt. Take care of yourself.
I am out of the hospital
Well done, Walt. Please take good care, and fully recover as soon as possible.
Thank you all so much for your sympathies. She was a great one. We've been through this before with another cat (it was the same day as when LB was in Pittsburgh for college visits, so I missed that meetup), but we had this one for a lot longer and she had been so much a meaningful part of our life. Tomorrow we'll probably be in good enough shape to start figuring out what of her medical supplies and whatnot are salvageable.
They launched one of those COVID tracking apps here like they have in China (and elsewhere? Singapore?).
They're going to trial one here, on the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear.
Walt, I'm glad you're improving! Good luck.
My 18-year-old son is currently (via text) teensplaining to me that the anti-lockdown protestors are "pushing memes" that are "rooted in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories." Sniff. Sob. That's my boy!
Just got back from another even earlier (4:30 am!) and longer morning walk with my friend. She picked up a hair buzzer for me the other day so I no longer have to look like Jerry Garcia.
I could do the Bickle Mohawk. Need a field jacket.
Yay walt! Missed thaat earlier because too much vicosin.