JCC Coronavirus Escape Pod (Vent/Emotional Support/Share/Homeschool Help!))

I've got a small back garden and it gets decent sun (when that is out) for the drying frame. Problem is the UK weather - this week is supposed to be more cloudy than sunny and it's chilly - 50s F.

 

This week has been cold!

 

Yeah - the wind is from the NE - a cold direction at this time of year.

 

It has been in the 60s F all week here but windy.

 

can relate. I grew up in very modest circumstances and we had no washer/dryer and no car to get to a laundromat (which was several miles away into town), so for years we washed all our clothes in the bathtub of our one-bedroom apartment and hug them out to dry on the backyard clothesline.

 

Launderette is walking distance for me but it not being open is the problem. (I've been a regular for years). I had a washer/dryer but it did neither job well and finally died rather spectacularly. (Sparks were involved).

 

Do you have a spinner?

 

There's a cold breeze (or more like wind) here today. Fought it the last mile of my run, but I still had a really nice run. Except for the part where I ran by the baseball fields. That made me sad cause at minimum we are missing a whole baseball season, but we'll probably miss fall too (and maybe next spring). Both my kids play and I should be going to their games this weekend.

Today my son's teacher let us know that one of her teacher's aids is going to be able to video chat with him and read him stories at very least, hopefully teach some lessons. We are going to Skype. We might practice this week, but real learning starts April 14. We get the aid because my son is fairly high functioning and the teacher is assigned to some of the more struggling kids (not sure how to say it, but hopefully you know what I mean). What's ridiculous is that they insist we take family time next week for Spring Break and the teacher's aren't allowed to contact families. Who's in need of family time right now???? Anyone? Bueller?

I'm pleasantly surprised by how well my family gets along. My kids mostly play Plants vs Zombies on the x-box, but you know they are brother's playing together and getting along and that's way more than I expected. Still feeling stressed, but all in all things are going pretty well.

 

Thanks Pensivia! Yep, still symptom-free now. (Some tightness in the chest earlier today, but that's most likely stress.)

I haven't been to any social gatherings since. The only times I go out are to walk my dog (along the largely empty streets of my neighborhood) and the occasional run to the store for supplies. I still do takeout sometimes, though not as often as I normally do. And experts have said there hasn't been any evidence of spread via food (or even food containers like to-go bags).

So while I don't want to say I'm 100% in the clear now, I do like my chances if I keep on keeping on!

Anyway, while we're cross-posting from the main coronavirus thread, I thought I'd repost this video (originally shared in that thread by Fifi Kenobi):


This video has done wonders to reassure me about this pandemic and what I can do to protect myself (and others). I know some in this thread have expressed some fear of faltering in their vigilance and getting infected by some stray mistake. According to this doctor--and given that he's an ICU physician in a hospital in NYC that's been converted to a COVID-19 hospital and those are his only patients now, I'd say that makes him the expert on this--if you follow a few simple rules of limiting social contact, washing your hands thoroughly, and don't touch your face, you won't get this disease. And that knowledge has done wonders for me personally during this crisis.

Anyway, someone in the comments included this helpful video breakdown:
- If you only watch one part, Start at 9:20
- Some bookmarks if you don't watch the whole vid: Doctor's bona fides @ 3:00
- Key Message (regarding personal care) @ 9:20 - 15:30
- Social ramifications @16:00 - 23:00
- Feeling symptomatic? @ 23:30
- Vulnerable people in house? @ 24:40
- Q&A @ 29:40

 

great, glad to hear that!

I've had some recurring chest tightness on and off since going into lockdown over two weeks ago, but I think it must be stress as well because it's not constant and because it responds to my anti-anxiety med when I do take the med.

I liked that vid as well. Great idea to put the bookmarks/time markers in there--I have no doubt that will help others (even who just may be lurking this thread).

Speaking of food, I am heartened by the things I've also read that suggest transmission by food really isn't happening, but I find myself still taking "extra" precautions in that regard--case in point: today I rinsed some chocolate-covered almonds before eating them

 

Somehow a lot of companies have saved my life and are responsible for saving everyone's life.

 

I just finished The Diary of Anne Frank. It definitely helps keep the present situation in perspective, and it's also a beautiful book.

 

Glad you finally got to read it. It's definitely a book that keeps a lot of things in perspective. Like yes, we are sitting at home to avoid spreading COVID-19. But we aren't in danger of being found and executed by the Nazis. We're just in danger of being bored.

 

Saw Ina Garten trending and feared the worst.

But no, she's just making an End of the World cocktail.

 

I haven't resorted to morning alcohol (yet). Before bedtime is a different story.

 

A lot of that @Runjedirun has to do with union rules/contracts. We were not allowed to contact our students for two weeks because we had emergency days + spring break. We were not even allowed to post our e-learning classroom assignments until Monday. And now of course since everyone is trying to use the same system all at once, they are having all kinds of networking problems especially since we are only really supposed post/have school from a certain time period. So right now it's a lot of waiting around for technology. Our friend @Sarge was 100% right. This truly is a very tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny glimpse of what military personnel goes thru. Hopefully Skype works for you though we been having issues with it plus the kids don't like it so we been using Zoom and Discord.

Anne Frank btw is a book we been referencing to students as a way to think about no matter how bad this is, it can always somehow worse. My dad posted that on Facebook to all the grandkids that no matter how bad this is, someone always has it to worse. Much worse.

And on a much much much lighter note to hopefully brighten a few moods, the first assignment many of us asked for was a reflection of what life has been like under well quarantine. Gotten a whole variety of responses including some humorous ones. Here are a few in mind. Please keep in mind these are high school students (no particular order):

1. "Since are under isolation I decided to dye my hair green. I am really lucky we are all in our houses. It did NOT go well!"
2. "I never thought my parents would ever tell me to please just stay in my room and play Forenite all the time".
3. "When I say I binge watched Netflix I should let you know I am not playing around. I am disgusted by my screen time and the permanent crater I left on my couch".
4. "My girlfriend is literally the girl next door. We have to stand far away from the fence and shout at each other. It feels like we are Romeo and Juliet or something".
5. "I been talking with a girl I really like for a really long time. I decided to just go ahead and ask her if she would go out with me. She gave me a HARD YES! With my luck, this means will be in a quarantine until I am forty!".

Hope this brightens someone's day.

 

Thank you for the bookmarks!

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/04/01/doctor-atul-gawande-coronavirus

Dr. Gawande is one of my heroes. Another voice of reason and calm.

 

If they just let the doctors/scientists @Fifi Kenobi run the whole show, we be so better off not just in this horrific crisis but also in general. I do have a hope that PERHAPS that some good can come out all of this. One of them? Perhaps more kids now will dream of not becoming the next Kardashian but rather the next Dr. Fauci and Dr. Gawande. As one article I read said, we must change as a species after this and for the better. One can hope.

 

Our school system did the 2 week emergency week thing, this week is the teacher's learning to do "distance learning" next week is Spring Break and then finally 4 weeks after school was closed (actually 4 weeks and 2 days) that's when we get to crash the system and try to learn to use it. So our students are losing a month. Some stuff is supposed to be available now, but most of it's not working yet. We tried to find my son's sight words, those definitely aren't working and that was frustrating because my son wanted to do those with the letter cards I bought. But I can't access them until the 14th, it's the 1st, I am frustrated.

Today was a rough day at work combined with the frustrations of being quarantined. Thank goodness Survivor is on to get my mind off my problems tonight. After Survivor I don't know what I'll have. My great escape is sports. I only have an NBA league pass, no other streaming services. I follow some people on YouTube, but they are having trouble making content in their homes that will stay interesting for months on end. I give them props for what some of those creators are doing.

 

I come back from my morning walk to hear this voicemail from my elderly mother (with type II diabetes) in another part of the state (FL):

"Just wanted to let you know I called the beauty shop today and my hairdresser actually answered! I had an appointment for this morning and she asked me if I was coming in. I said I'd be happy to! I don't know know how she managed that, or if it's illegal because Gov. De Santis closed everything down yesterday, but I'm going. I'll let you know how it went."



*bangs head on countertop*

I'm just trying to prepare myself mentally for my mother getting this, calling me panicked and sick before an ambulance has to come for her, and then dying alone.

I'm sorry to be so negative, but trying to prevent her from doing things like this seems impossible, and I can't take the mental stress of trying to "fight every battle" on such points for the next 18 months.

 

I totally understand the fear. We luckily managed to get my grandma to stop going to her weekly hair appointments before the official shutdown happened. So the only person she's been seeing is her visiting physical therapist, and that's almost done. Pretty soon she won't be exposed to anyone who's been outside, which is good.

Personally I am more worried about my dog's haircut than mine. Because it's starting to get warm and she's starting to get shaggy... if she can't get a haircut for 4-8 more weeks, she might not be able to see and might be kinda hot. We may have to personally snip the hair around her eyes at least, which is daunting.

 

If you Google 'Home haircut for a dog' there are some tutorials around. However most assume you have the right equipment to start with.

 

Yeaaah which I definitely don't. And these are labradoodles, so their overall haircuts are complex and I don't want to attempt it.

I do know someone (coworker's wife) who used to be a professional groomer. I've considered seeing if she'd let me pay her to groom them. Just drop my dog off in a crate outside her house, zero contact...

 

As with the stylist, offer a toilet paper bribe on top of the price.