So here in Illinois, the shelter-in-place order kicked in yesterday, and I’m sheltering the fuck in place. How are you all doing in The Time of Social Distancing? Are you officially or unofficially on lockdown? What are you doing to keep anxieties at bay?
Here at the Tiny Mammoth Institute we’re … getting by, with the help of video games, breathing exercises, and my oblivious cats. Hope you’re all holding up ok.
Anyway, here’s an open thread to discuss all this or whatever else you want to talk about.
And here’s another cat, a famous one, in a box.
–DF
Here in Kentucky it’s an unofficial lock down. I still go to my sister and her wife’s house for company. If we go to total lockdown I may take my cats and stay with her. I live alone and my job closed down for either a week or who knows how long.
I’m binge watching shows and cuddling my cats. I’m calling and texting folks alot. I just talked to my boss – we’ll probably meet for a walk or to eat outside next week. Yes, we will keep a distance but it’s easier to converse in person. She’s scared she’ll have to keep the business closed for a long time.
I was very anxious earlier this week, but now I think I can do this.
Stay safe, David! Glad you have the kitties with you.
In Washington individual cities have started to lock down, and we’ll probably have a full state lockdown sometime this week.
My employer closed up on the 16th. I have to go in for a few days this coming week to get payroll done, and after that we’ll see. I’ll probably end up going in once or twice a week while we’re closed. We were supposed to reopen April 1st but there’s really no way that’ll happen now.
I live with my father and we’ve been binge-watching: we just finished I, Clavdivs, and we’re going to do Rome next. I play word games to distract myself, and hang out at Archive of Our Own.
This is one of those times when being an elderly person on a fixed income is an advantage. My nephew has lived with me for years and has a job that will probably keep going, possibly with reduced hours. Even so, we try to stay away from each other, since he is doing my shopping and other outside stuff.
I am a little worried, of course. My mother lives in an assisted living place 15 minutes from me and they locked down 10 days ago, so with a little luck she’ll live to see the vaccine.
This is one of those times when you get to see the best and the worst of people.
We will get through this, but it’s going to get a lot nastier before it’s over.
Meanwhile, we still have a tariff on personal medical protection items made in China.
I’m in Ohio where “please stay at home unless your job or the errand is essential” is officially turning into “you HAVE to stay at home unless your job or the errand is essential” tomorrow.
I’ve already been as isolated as I can, because I’m a dialysis patient on immunosuppressants. Thankfully, I had the surgery to switch from hemodialysis (done at a clinic) to peritoneal dialysis (done by myself at home) back in February, and the only thing stalling my home treatments is issues with the delivery of the supplies (dozens of 24-pound boxes of fluid bags). My hemo treatment tomorrow should be my last.
My part-time job has thankfully been able to make my position work-at-home, even though as a contractor I am not normally eligible for that. (Much thanks to my supervisor who stressed that an exception should be made because of my vulnerability). My equipment should be arriving tomorrow, though getting my computer area set up to accommodate two desktops and switching monitor setups will be challenging.
So for the time being, I will only need to leave the house for essential supplies, which are currently in good shape.
I’m still gong out daily for a food shop and today collected my meds from the chemist. I don’t have a working fridge nor do I have much cupboard space so I have to go out to get food. I am vegan, so it’s annoying how my staples have been grabbed by hoarders, no beans!! So I’m just assembling my daily meals with whatever random stuff I can find in the shop. They’ve also instituted rationing too, which hopefully will mean stuff back in stock next week.
And we’re trying to blame China now, which seems absolutely cutting off our nose to spite our face. Who cares where it came from? It’s here. Can we just #$*&#* deal with it?
The unofficial county lockdown started Tuesday, and they added the teeth (possible misdemeanor) on Thursday, which is the same day the state came down with it. The joke I read on twitter that I loved about the whole thing is that the entire state of California is playing under Hotel California rules now.
As for me? I’ve got schoolwork, and I’m sleeping a lot. I’m trying my best to keep it out of the house — my mom just got told her cancer is back on top of everything else, so the world doesn’t just stop… *sigh* There’s a lot of anxiety in my thoughts, and I’m relying on my lorazepam a lot more than usual.
I know I’m more of a lurker than a regular commenter, but I figured saying something might be helpful.
@katster
And of course China is handling this much better than us and has already peaked, while we’re a mess.
I have a respiratory illness so I’m on strict quarantine in case it is Covid-19. It’s definitely not the flu because I got the jab at the start of the season, so I’m hoping for just a cold but acting like my parents’ lives depend on it.
I am dealing with it mostly by being so fatigued I sleep all the time, and otherwise attempting to do research and reading my top 5 websites, which is not that different to what I was doing before except that now I do it from one room only.
I’m an essential worker, so need to keep going in to work. This makes sense, as the work I do really is important and not able to be done from home or just let slide for even an hour.
However, my best friend works as a doorman in an apartment building for rich people. And our state has determined that doormen are essential workers as well. I don’t want to denigrate doormen, but the idea that he has to risk his life and his husband’s life, just so rich people don’t have to open a door for themselves is absolutely ridiculous.
Because I mostly work from home anyway, I’ve been doing the whole “shelter in place” thing as much as possible since the beginning of this month. I’m not sure if that phrase was even a thing back then. I’m kind of going through social withdrawl, though. Online is no substitute for in-person, at least for me. I figured that quarantine-type situations would pop up faster than they did even despite Trump being a moron and was getting an early start on it… looks like I was a little optimistic. Whatever! Join me in my lack of joining with people! ?
Our governor just shut us down (I’m in Louisiana, and all I can say is THANK CHRIST Eddie Rispone did not win that runoff), but I’m not sure what that means for me personally. I know the owner of the company I work for has been telling our customers that we are “essential business”, since we make components that go into packaged and shelf stable foods. But I don’t know if he needs or has sought any kind of official exemption to stay open. I could probably do my particular job from home if they gave me a laptop, and I wish they would because I live with my elderly parents and they are both squarely in the most endangered demographic: both over 70, one of them diabetic, the other recovering from cancer. I guess I’ll have to go into work tomorrow morning at least to find out what the plan is; it’s totally typical of the owner that we all suspected this was coming yet he did jack shit to address it.
Anyway, I’m ready if I have to stay in: I bought supplies for 2 big cross stich projects, fairy lights to decorate my room with (8 colors and 16 settings), and I just got a Shudder subscription–use the promo code SHUTIN for 30 free days!
I’m in North Carolina, where we don’t seem to have any statewide stay-in-place plans on the horizon, but my university has already suspended all in-person classes for the semester. A lot of people around me are completely fucked, especially the seniors with necessary internships. Still, those of us living mainly on student loans are relatively lucky that our complete financial ravaging gets put off for a couple years☺.
RE China: Saw this today and laughed morbidly . Can’t expect the neolibs and American nationalists to ever comprehend any real world data in a way that lead them to “China bad” though, the conclusion they began with.
I just want to add my sister is over 60, has asthma, and is a nurse who works with the elderly. They will have to reuse face masks soon. If anyone knows people who work in nonessential businesses that use masks (think tattoo artists, waxers, etc) please suggest they donate or sell masks to medical facilities.
@Big Titty Deamon It could be flu that’s mutated somewhat from the one in your jab, in whihc case you’d get sick but noticeably less sick. Whatever it is, good luck.
I’m in the Canary Islands (part of Spain) and we’ve been in lockdown for a week. The rumous going around WhatsApp from people connected with the hospital is that next week should see the peak and we need to get serious. No more going to the shop for a bread roll just to get out. Stay the fuck at home 24/7 if humanly possible.
We’ve just agreed to do that. We should have enough food although meals might get a little strange – like baked beans and spaghetti or hummus and rice.In doesn’t matter in the great scheme of things.
My parents had 6 years of WW II. My parents in law had 3 years of the Spanish Civil war. We’ve been counting our blessings.
There are no bombs falling,
Nobody’s being shot at,
The lights, water and internet are staying on
We have food.
We have enough room to get away from each other for a bit
We have balconies with a view, which makes it less claustraphobic
The government seems fairly competent. Better than the UK. Waaaay better than the USA. (My sympathies)
And hopefully we get back to the less strict lockdown in another 2 weeks.
Hotels are shutting, and the plan is to use some of them as isolation units for people who don’t actually need hospital, just meals delivered and someone to keep and eye on them and get them to hospital if that becomes necessary. Great if you live alone or with someone vulnerable and not yet infected. They’re also re-purposing drive-through restaurants for drive-though testing.
Stay safe people. Wash your hands like you’ve just chopped chillies.
OT: Archaeologists found a temple to the Flayed Lord. A god of agriculture and disease.
Given the timing, tell me this doesn’t feel like the start of a supernatural horror movie. The expression on the statue looks like it’s trying to say “Are you sure you want to do this? I’m called the Flayed Lord for a reason.”
Mr. Parasol and I have been staying at home the past couple weeks, other than running out to get groceries (human and cat). I’m glad we both telecommute. If Mr. Parasol was still going into an office, I don’t know how I could handle it.
All of our parents seem to be doing okay, though I’d feel better if I’d been able to talk to my stepmum today. She’s 80.
@ naglfar
“His arrival was foretold in the ancient murals”
I’m sewing up a storm and turning a 90s entertainment center shelf, complete with a pull out VHS storage area, into a Japanese style wardrobe and art Center. And my cat isn’t sure if he’s in heaven with all the attention, or if he’s over his people being in his house. Lol.
Keep calm and weather on. The human race has been fighting prokaryotic cells since our inception. Indeed, we eukaryotic cells have been fighting since before we were human. Look to the Burgess Shale and our history, we’re going to come out of this! Hugs (the virtual kind since hugging is so out of fashion at the moment) and keep humanity at the forefront! We’ve got this!!
I’m off work starting tomorrow and I have no idea for how long. I can get UI but I Don’t know how much I can get or for how long. I also don’t know if I’ll still have a job to go back to once all this ends. I also worried about the stores running out of food as people start to horde anything that can get their hands on regardless whether they need it or not.
My local comic and game store is still open for now so I’m planning on picking up a few supplies and trying to get though being home for who knows how long by getting some miniatures finished and working on some other tabletop gaming projects as well.
I also have plenty of video games I can play as well .
@ savanah gray
Every time I narrowly avoid shuffling off this mortal coil in some typically stupid way, like about to step off a cliff or putting the toilet cleaner next to the oat milk, I always think to myself: “Great, three and a half billon years of successful ancestors and you have to be the one to fuck it up.”
With all kids activities cancelled I think we got more work done on then back garden this weekend then we did all of last year.
@Perry
I almost lost it when I saw that chart and the description. Not only because the US and the UK are having the single worst responses to this pandemic, but because China efficiently contained it (despite reaching 80k) infected, and because South America has been the quickest to adopt quarantine. Peru mandated it the moment we reached 71 infected and we’ve managed to slow the progression of the curve, and the same goes for every other country over here safe for Brazil. Still hunkering down as we enter our 7th day of quarantine and mandatory isolation.
Other than that I hope you all are doing fine, especially if you live in the US and Europe. Hopefully the government stops playing around and declares nationwide quarantine before it’s too late.
Someone’s starting up a SFW Instagram shelter-in-place-themed exhibitionist porn account called “Bunker Sluts” https://www.instagram.com/bunker.sluts/ because that’s just how things are right now.
@Diego Duarte
Sadly, I doubt that’s going to happen. Trump has now retconned his story again to say that he knew it was going to be a pandemic before anyone else, yet he still does nothing to stop it (though he does want to suspend habeas corpus, which probably wouldn’t really help and would be problematic for obvious reasons). It’s entirely up to the states at this point, meaning most red states are in trouble. Where I am in Massachusetts, Governor Baker (Republican) has been better than I expected but has yet to issue a stay-at-home order.
Introvert Confession time: Looking at all the extroverts freaking out due to being denied their preferred social environment, I cannot help but feel schadenfreude.
Who is “unable to function outside of their comfort zone” now?