Monday, March 16, 2020

Well Then...

What a time to be alive, am I right?  Thing are happening so quickly, it's hard to keep up.  Basically as much as I can see, the world is canceling everything.  If that's what it takes to control the spread of Coronavirus, I'm all for it, even though we have (had?) a family vacation planned at Universal Studios in Orlando, in May.  Which is currently shut down.  The theme park, not the month...although who knows at this point?  We also had a really cool 5K that was supposed to happen this coming Saturday - it was a race on the runway of our local little airport.  Jimmymeow and I were going to walk it while the rest of our group ran it.  Of course it was canceled, and rightly so, but dang, that would have been fun.  I hope a miracle happens and this crisis passes quickly, but I have a feeling we may be in this for a couple of months at the very least.

While Jeff and I think of ourselves as healthy, getting a phone call from our daughter reminding us that Jeff is in the risky age range and with my stupid health issues I'm probably not as safe as I would like to think, and that we both should be practicing social distancing gave us pause.  First of all, it's hard to realize that we are causing our kadults to worry about us when we are worrying about OUR parents.  When did we become worry-able?  Strange times, people - strange times.

We finally stocked up on food, both fresh and non-perishable, just in case we really need to be staying home.  Of course we did it on the evening where everything in our town was announced as canceled, so the store was crowded and getting picked clean...there was no ground beef, isn't that wild?  During that shopping trip I wondered if we were being stupid, mingling with so many people, but at that point we were committed, so we went ahead and shopped.  We weren't able to get everything on our list:
No red meat at all.  There was some ground turkey but that was it.
No chicken, except for a few whole fryers.  
Cheese?  Slim pickin's.
Bread?  Nope.  Also gotta love the Dr. Pepper-loving Texans - the only thing left was diet Dr. Pepper, LOL.

However, there was one item you could still get:
Turducken.  People weren't panicked enough to buy a turkey stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a duck.  I don't blame anyone for leaving this behind.

We were reminded of a local meat market so we went there and got a couple pounds of hamburger meat plus a country apple pie because it was freshly baked and looked amazing and with that we are set for a while...plus we had pie on Pi day, 3.14, which made us happy.

I'm not making light of the grocery store panic shopping; I wished that we'd had more food on hand but when we renovated our kitchen two years ago we took away some pantry space for more counter space and we don't keep a lot of shelf stable foods around.  That meant we really needed to lay in some groceries, especially so we wouldn't have to go out again for a while.  I've been shopping when a hurricane and/or snow has been in the forecast and I thought that was bad, but this was a entirely different level of grocery panic.

Along with all of that, it's springtime here and the trees are leafing out which means tree pollen has been very high, and my allergies were really bad Friday night - I coughed all night long.  Logically I knew it was allergies because my eyes were burning and I had post-nasal drip, which caused the cough, but you better bet I took my temperature a couple of times, concerned that I was getting sick.  I'm still not feeling 100% but I'm pretty sure it is just allergies.  Allie also was getting a cough and feeling pretty crummy, although no fever for her either; in the midst of trying to stay sane and calm there was some underlying worry, which is natural at this point.

I hope that you all are well and doing everything possible to keep yourselves and the people around you safe; never in my life did I think we'd be dealing with a pandemic; while I don't know exactly what to do, I am trying my best to keep my hands clean, my face untouched, my elbows sneezed and coughed into (and that's another reason to stay home - even though it's allergies, I'd hate to do that in a crowd - can you imagine the looks I'd get?) and generally just following the recommended guidelines.  Plus I'm keeping calm and knitting.  It's OK - we're going to get through this.  Hang in there, my friends. 

21 comments:

  1. The same things you describe are happening here in Orlando as well. I could of taken those same pictures here on Saturday. Mike and I went out to get just our regular weekly groceries, and it was nuts! It took 7 stops, and 3 hours to get it done. I thought shopping before a hurricane was bad this was a whole nother level. I am hoping the stores are able to restock and people calm down, and quit hoarding supplies!
    Like you I am hunkered down at home. We are OK because Mike still has a job luckily he doesn't work for anything tourism related that industry has been hit really hard with all the theme parks closed.
    I hope they find a treatment or cure really quick and life and get back to normal for all of us soon.

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    1. Exactly! I'm glad to hear your husband doesn't work for tourism because yes, that is being hit HARD. I don't think we'll get to contribute to Orlando's tourism as soon as we'd like to, unfortunately.

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  2. The grocery situation is absurd! I ended up making several trips to different stores on Friday and Saturday, and in the end the only things I couldn't find were toilet paper and egg whites. The TP I get (and am highly annoyed by - still haven't found any!) but egg whites? That seems random. My mom is the kind of person who always has enough paper products on hand to make it through an apocalypse, so apparently I need to take a lesson from her after this is all over!

    It's good of the kadults to check in on you. My dad is almost 73, has bad lungs and flew out to visit my brother in California last week (like a day before sh*t really started hitting the fan with this), so I'm definitely worried about him coming into contact with the virus when he comes home, since he'll go through three huge airports (SFO, Chicago, Detroit).

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    1. EGG WHITES?? Yeah, that seems random. Ugh at the thought of your dad having to fly! Hope everything goes OK with that.

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    2. Thank you! I'm wondering if he'll decide to just stay put out there for now. He's retired, so not missing anything at home.

      Also someone bought me TP and egg whites yesterday, so I'm covered :) Finally, complaining on social media pays off!

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  3. It's just as crazy up here in north TX. I keep a well stocked pantry and freezer (thanks, Mom for teaching me that!) and all we needed in terms of groceries was Tylenol and fresh veggies. I'm happy to announce that our local HEB had plenty of eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and peppers....and Tylenol. :)

    My biggest fear at the moment is accidentally carrying it home. My MIL lives with us...she is 96 and extremely frail. Mr. Pea and I are both homebodies, but the kadult sons who still live here are not. They are currently forbidden to go into Grandma's part of the house, and I am spending lots of time wiping down common surfaces with disinfectant.

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    1. Lucky you - and hey, thanks Mom as well, right? I'd be super worried about your MIL what with the kadults coming and going. That's the thing...they feel invincible but don't realize what they're bringing in.

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  4. Wow, those grocery store shelves are crazy! I actually went for my normal grocery run on Monday and Tuesday (before all the panic set it) and my stores were fully stocked, but I haven't been there since. I suppose I should go and get a few things more so I'm anxious to see what the shelves will look like. ( Actually I have been to CVS a few times in the last few days and they are fully stocked except...you guessed it, the TP shelves are bare!
    It also does us no good that this IS allergy season as you mentioned. Now anytime we, or someone else sneezes, coughs or sniffles, it's another level of panic! Take Care over there!

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    1. Our stores have shortened hours so the shelves can be restocked - when we are at the point of needing more things (like milk, etc), I don't think it will be as much as an issue. I hope, anyway...

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  5. I need to go to the store today and I'm not looking forward to it. I can't believe how people are hoarding things. My husband went to the store yesterday and said there was no bread.

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    1. If you can do curbside delivery, do it - I felt like I was at ground zero when we were inside the grocery store.

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  6. Our grocery stores don't look quite as bad as yours - just certain sections are wiped out - but still, if everyone would calm down, stores could restock and we could all just go buy what we need a little at a time. We're pretty set for food but would run out of fresh things if we actually got locked down. And I only have 1 roll of paper towels and had to order them via the warehouse club instead of going to get them because they have NONE at the store. Sigh.

    I read something today that we all should act like we have the virus and are trying not to spread it to others. Which, in my mind, means stay home. Around here though, people seem to be out and about like it's nothing.

    It really is so very odd.

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    1. Yes, that's it - act like you have the virus and you don't want anyone else to get it. It irritates me to see so many people still out, going to "uncrowded" restaurants and bars...like duh, they're uncrowded for a reason! Cook at home and buy a gift certificate to the restaurant if you want to keep them in business!

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  7. We have this weird mix here of stores running out of things and yet everyone still going out to eat and stuff. Although, schools are now closed and gatherings are limited. I think the restaurant and bar closures are next because people do not listen. My parents are in their 70s and my dad has severe COPD, so I am most concerned for them and keeping them safe. I just expect I will have it at some point and want to make sure that I do as little as possible to spread it. I don't understand the TP hoarding. Stores will restock people, just shop like you normally would because grocery stores aren't going to close - even if we do total lock down.

    It's a scary time for sure and while I do post sometimes humorous covid things on FB, I have grave concerns that we are doing enough. The problem is people want to see results now and can't grasp exponential growth. We think too linearly.

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    1. I agree with you on the non-grasping of how bad this could be. People just can't wrap their brains around it.

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  8. I hope you and your entire family stay healthy!

    I have not been to the stores to see this yet, but everyone says it's like that here, too. Although, I haven't been having a problem getting my vegan food, when I did grocery delivery on Saturday. That is probably equivalent to the turducken. No one wants it.

    I am worried it will last months, too. I hope people start to calm down soon. I've heard stories of fights at stores and security guards and the cops being there. Sigh. :(

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    1. I did see somewhere else that there was plenty of vegan food, so you are ahead of everyone with that!

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  9. Its snowing here today. So I kept calling to try to cancel my "crown" appointment. Finally got through to the Jackson office and they told me that the Pine Grove Office was closed. And that they were advised to not make appointments for two weeks. I hope my fake crown still stays on. Also, my trip to the UK might be cancelled! I'm okay with that too. Last time I went to the grocery store there was plenty of toilet paper :) Brett told me there was none in his store!

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    1. My mother said to tell you that false teeth adhesive works if your crown comes off - this discovery courtesy of my Grandmother, LOL. When is your UK trip? Interesting that you had TP in your stores; maybe it's mostly Texans who panic buy toilet paper?

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  10. We have had the same panic here...of course! We didn’t buy into the panic of shopping...but then we keep a pretty well stocked kitchen. Now this upcoming week is our normal grocery trip weekend. I’m hoping that the stores are restocked from the mad rush by then!

    We are both still at work...but there has been a lot of talk...and some scary rumors about another floor/tenant in the building I work.

    I am calling my mother...but I have instructed her that I’m not visiting her for face to face visits for a while. Not while Jason and I are both still out in the world working and conceivably and unknowingly in contact with an infected person. It’s just not worth the risk for my mother...who is elderly (that is so weird to say about your own mother) and she had some health issues!

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    1. It's sad that you can't see your mother in person but good that you realized the risk and are doing right by her.

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