Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[lookeyloo]

On 3/25/2020 at 12:50 PM, doodlebug said:

No, the CDC really did recommend bandanas for health care providers who can't get N95 masks.  Cloth masks are better than no mask at all, so it does make sense for healthcare workers to use them if nothing else is available.  However, it does seem somewhat mind boggling that the wealthiest country on earth cannot provide appropriate equipment to its front line in this crisis.

 

That is the mind boggling issue 

[Jeeves]

8 hours ago, ChiCricket said:

I do know that when I visited my daughter when she lived in the mountains in New Mexico, I tried to bake cupcakes for my grands..and they didn't turn out right...at all. 

She didn't have internet up there, so I couldn't look up how to adjust it for a higher altitude.  If I remember right..I overcooked the outsides and the middles weren't done?

 

8 hours ago, CalicoKitty said:

That's what I'm afraid of.  It will be a whole new learning curve.  I guess I'll find out!

I've lived in Denver (5,280' elevation) for 40+ years, but I suck at cooking so there's that. As I recall, when I got my InstantPot last year I read that for the few things I've cooked in it so far, you add a minute or so to the prescribed time. I think that's either in the manual or easy to find online.

Both Betty Crocker and the USDA have high altitude cooking guides online. If you have internet where you're going you should be fine. 

For several years I had a Bunn coffeemaker that was engineered for use at elevations of 4000+ feet. IIRC the warmer plate was a lower temp. The typical coffeemaker with a warming plate, will all too easily boil and burn the coffee when the amount of liquid in the carafe gets too low, at higher altitudes. I'm sure that happens elsewhere but the smell of burned coffee is all too familiar in offices up here in the Mile High City. Well, it used to be until offices went to Keurigs.

I had a Keurig years ago at home when they were new. Here's a high altitude tip. The pods are AFAIK manufactured at lower elevations and build up some internal air pressure when they get up here. I learned to pierce the top of the pod with a pin before putting it in the machine. Otherwise, if you put the pressurized pod into the machine intact, when the machine punctures it the air pressure can drive grains of coffee up into the works where they don't belong. That actually was what went wrong with my first Keurig machine; it was explained to me I think by a CSR or I found the solution online. After I replaced it (thank you Costco for your generous return policies!), I was careful to pierce the pods before using them, and had no more such trouble. 

Also, when you travel from low to high elevation, open your bottles of toiletries carefully. Just saying. 

Good luck with your move!

[On the Bias]

@ChiCricket, a friend’s son-in-law has died from it.  He was about 35 and lived in Valencia (south-east Spain).  It’s a nasty death.  @doodlebug, add me to the list of those who appreciate your informative posts and are grateful to you and the other health care workers who, at the risk of infection themselves, are being the helpers Mr. Rogers told us as children to look for.

 

We have been on lockdown here for fifteen days now, and the death toll is staggering.  There are towns in the region with a death rate of 68 per 100,000 residents.  

 

Like everyone else, I’ve been bundling my essential errands so I don’t have to leave the house more than absolutely necessary.  Yesterday I gave blood, something I do regularly; the hospital sends you an e-mail afterwards thanking you and then another one telling you that your blood was given to a patient on such-and-such day, but it never prompts you otherwise to give again.  So it was unsettling to get a phone call from the blood bank on Monday asking if I could come in; it gave me a small idea of the medical emergency that our system is facing.  (I had already made an appointment to give — so that proper distances are maintained, you can’t just drop in any more.)  I gave while in a homemade mask in a blood bank staffed by masked and gowned nurses and phlebotomists; when I walked through the door I was told to stand just inside the doorway instead of walking up to the counter, which is — still — what I’d instinctively have done.  

 

Afterwards I walked on nearly empty streets to a fruit stand to buy fruit and vegetables for the week for us and for an elderly neighbor; I found that I didn’t want to go inside a supermarket and be inside a building where everyone was *breathing.*   When I got home I left my shoes by the door, stripped naked and threw my clothing into the washer, showered and washed my hair, and cleaned everything I’d had in my pockets or on my person:  phone, glasses, credit and ID cards, coins, keys . . . .

 

Stay safe, everyone, and take every possible precaution.

 

 

[louannems]

I'm in a shelter in place state and I need advice from others in the same boat.

Today is my daughter's 31st birthday and she has lived on her own for 9 years.  Every Saturday, she has always come home and I cook a huge meal, including a homemade dessert

Should she still be coming?  I've made her favorite dessert and plan to get take out Thai food.

[Jeeves]

14 minutes ago, louannems said:

I'm in a shelter in place state and I need advice from others in the same boat.

Today is my daughter's 31st birthday and she has lived on her own for 9 years.  Every Saturday, she has always come home and I cook a huge meal, including a homemade dessert

Should she still be coming?  I've made her favorite dessert and plan to get take out Thai food.

IMO, no. Shelter in place means if you don’t live there you don’t go there. You only go to essential places, such as to get food, medicine, medical treatment. You don’t socialize. Our large extended family in this metro area includes two first responders, a cop and a firefighter. We aren’t visiting each other - in our homes or elsewhere - until this is over. I take my lead from what they say and it’s to stay at home. 

ETA: We're in a shelter in place state.

Edited March 28, 2020 by Jeeves

[doodlebug]

14 minutes ago, louannems said:

I'm in a shelter in place state and I need advice from others in the same boat.

Today is my daughter's 31st birthday and she has lived on her own for 9 years.  Every Saturday, she has always come home and I cook a huge meal, including a homemade dessert

Should she still be coming?  I've made her favorite dessert and plan to get take out Thai food.

I understand why you want to celebrate together, but it would be best if you didn't.  I live alone and have a brother and two sisters in town as well as several adult nieces and nephews.  Other than my sister who lives nearby and stopped over a week ago; I don't expect to see any of them for a while.  

Maybe you could each order Thai food and Skype so you can share the meal at a distance?

[galaxychaser]

24 minutes ago, louannems said:

I'm in a shelter in place state and I need advice from others in the same boat.

Today is my daughter's 31st birthday and she has lived on her own for 9 years.  Every Saturday, she has always come home and I cook a huge meal, including a homemade dessert

Should she still be coming?  I've made her favorite dessert and plan to get take out Thai food.

No. Celebrate separately. I’d leave the dessert outside so she can get it and eat it at home. 

Happy birthday ! 

[Panopticon]

I was very frustrated when I couldn’t even send a birthday present to my mother earlier this month; order was scheduled but canceled by the restaurant at the last minute because they didn’t feel their people could make and deliver it safely, and of course I can’t argue with that. 

I sent an apologetic text to Mom, who announced that she is moving her birthday to Bastille Day when she hopes there will be less social distancing.

 

[Barb23]

23 hours ago, Turquoise said:

I get to bring my husband home from the hospital at some point today. We haven't seen each other since he went in last Friday, although we've been in phone contact and the doctors have included me via speakerphone in rounds. They're putting in a PICC line so they can continue with his antibiotics. I'm waiting to hear how they're going to show me the basic care. We'll have a home health nurse, but I need to know what to do in between visits.

That's great your husband is coming home.  I'm sure he will be able to recuperate quicker at home.

I hope his home health nurse(s) will be as great as mine are. I've never met a more caring and skilled group of individuals.  Most have been ER or ICU nurses and are  skilled in geriatric and wound care and they  love being home nurses. I'm sure the nurse will go over everything in detail about your husband's PICC line & if they are like mine, they wouldn't mind a call or two or even a return visit to answer questions or deal with a problem.  My one nurse even made a Christmas Day visit to check on a problem one of her patients was having instead of having the on call nurse go because she was familiar with him & didnt want to upset him more by having to see a new nurse. I told her that was so nice & she just shrugged her shoulders & said that's her job.

I love reading and hearing about all the goodwill gestures people are doing (incl children) to get us through this & put a smile on our faces even it's just a small one.  @jcbrown I love how you worded your post, that you are "booked" for your chalk drawing on Monday.  It makes it sound like a major deal  & a very important appointment which during these times, it is.   What a great idea.

Well it's Saturday morning which means I'm off to do my nails in my family room. I look forward to Saturdays & I do put thought into the color I choose -- sparkly red for Christmas, an orangey color for Halloween & for President's Day week I chose the Dark Cherry color in honor of George Washington & the cherry tree.  I've ordered two new pinks for Spring. I know it's crazy thing to do but it brings enjoyment for me& I make a big deal about it to both Mr. and Son of Barb.  As a mostly shut in already (& the rest of the world is learning to do by quarantining) you have to make hour own fun.

Stay safe everyone. 

[zoomama]

1 hour ago, Barb23 said:

Well it's Saturday morning which means I'm off to do my nails in my family room. I look forward to Saturdays & I do put thought into the color I choose -- sparkly red for Christmas, an orangey color for Halloween & for President's Day week I chose the Dark Cherry color in honor of George Washington & the cherry tree.  I've ordered two new pinks for Spring. I know it's crazy thing to do but it brings enjoyment for me& I make a big deal about it to both Mr. and Son of Barb.  As a mostly shut in already (& the rest of the world is learning to do by quarantining) you have to make hour own fun.

Stay safe everyone. 

so with ya on the nails at home. its miserable for me. my nails have about a 30 year history of acrylics and i am going natural cold turkey because i have no other options. they are peeling and not holding the nail polish at all. currently i have a base of bonder, then hardener polish followed by gel top coat. its not working!! i am doomed to have bloody, peeled to the quick nails, i fear.

Edited March 28, 2020 by zoomama
spelling is important

[emma675]

I usually have my nails painted a different color every week (I've always done them myself) but I'm giving my nails a break for the first time in years. My hands feel naked, lol! I'm also not wearing makeup more to give my skin a break. And I'm doing a lot of hair masks. With all of that and working out like a crazy person, I'll be in the best shape of my life by the time quarantine ends. Mentally, I'll probably be nuts, but physically awesome. 🤣

Edited March 28, 2020 by emma675d

[Jynnan tonnix]

2 hours ago, louannems said:

I'm in a shelter in place state and I need advice from others in the same boat.

Today is my daughter's 31st birthday and she has lived on her own for 9 years.  Every Saturday, she has always come home and I cook a huge meal, including a homemade dessert

Should she still be coming?  I've made her favorite dessert and plan to get take out Thai food.

We have a similar issue. Today (well, tomorrow, actually) is my granddaughter's 2nd birthday. In our case we are going to celebrate together, since my mom has finally come over to stay with us after having hunkered down in her place for the past two weeks, which is very difficult for her, as there is a lot she can't do by herself any more. At 86, she really doesn't care whether she gets Corona virus, as she has frankly been more or less disappointed to wake up alive every morning for the past couple of years. She just wanted to stay home until now just in case she had picked up the virus from her health aide and cleaning girl, who she has not been using in those two weeks. I have gone over a few times to help her out, though. Plus, I have been babysitting my granddaughter anyway while my daughter works from home so she can get some stuff done. My son-in-law still has to go to work, but they have bare-bones workers still coming in, and the place gets disinfected to the teeth, so he feels pretty confident that he's safe there. None of us has gone anywhere except for a couple of necessary trips to the grocery store in the past two weeks. So none of us feels that we are any more at risk getting together for dinner and birthday cake than we are are otherwise.

As for your situation, I think you'll just have to do what you feel is best. Of course it is safest to just postpone the birthday, but if you have been sheltering in place for a while (did she come over last Saturday?) the chances  are pretty good that neither of you is infected, so as long as you continue to shelter, again, the chances are that you will be OK. I guess it depends on a lot of things, really.

I've also been really busy making a birthday present for my granddaughter, and look forward to her seeing it. My husband has a little box in his library which I painted for him back when he was in the Navy - it has underwater scenes all around the edges, and a submarine on the top. My granddaughter loves looking at it, so I made her one as well, except with beluga whales on the top, since she loves seeing them at the aquarium.

I also made her another box with the theme of "Frozen", since she is obsessed with that, and seems to have developed a crush on Kristoff! They start young, don't they?? Anyway, I painted Anna and Kristoff on top of the box, a scene of Arendelle (their kingdom), on the back, and Olaf the snowman sliding down a snowbank on the front, with a bit more snowy scenes on the sides. I'm actually really pleased with the way they turned out, but they were way more work than I anticipated, and I've spent most of the week working on them.

Here are the tops of two of them. I can post the sides if anyone is interested.

[galaxychaser]

That’s so pretty! @Jynnan tonnix 

I want to see the sides too.

[Ijustwantsomechips]

That’s amazing @Jynnan tonnix! I’d love to see the sides too.

[Jynnan tonnix]

7 minutes ago, Ijustwantsomechips said:

That’s amazing @Jynnan tonnix! I’d love to see the sides too.

Sides of the "Frozen" box. 

[Temperance]

@Jynnan tonnix The governor of your state banned all gatherings of more than 5 people. I hope you are complying. 

[marypat57]

Wow!  What lovely artwork!  
I dabble in watercolors, so I know what goes into painting a picture.  Did you trace the scenes or do them freehand?

Jynnan, I hope you lovely granddaughter enjoys her gifts!
 

 

[Jynnan tonnix]

 

29 minutes ago, Temperance said:

@Jynnan tonnix The governor of your state banned all gatherings of more than 5 people. I hope you are complying. 

We have five people plus my granddaughter, and we have all been around each other out of necessity in groups of two or three over the past couple of weeks. That's the best we can do. We are family who may live in separate houses, but need to help one another. We've been diligent about complying otherwise. 

16 minutes ago, marypat57 said:

Wow!  What lovely artwork!  
I dabble in watercolors, so I know what goes into painting a picture.  Did you trace the scenes or do them freehand?

Jynnan, I hope you lovely granddaughter enjoys her gifts!
 

 

Thanks! I did them freehand. The hardest part was trying to get the facial features and expression right on Kristoff and Anna...their faces are each probably a little smaller than a quarter, so it took a very tiny brush and a steady hand!

Edited March 28, 2020 by Jynnan tonnix

[louannems]

2 hours ago, Jynnan tonnix said:

We have a similar issue. Today (well, tomorrow, actually) is my granddaughter's 2nd birthday. In our case we are going to celebrate together, since my mom has finally come over to stay with us after having hunkered down in her place for the past two weeks, which is very difficult for her, as there is a lot she can't do by herself any more. At 86, she really doesn't care whether she gets Corona virus, as she has frankly been more or less disappointed to wake up alive every morning for the past couple of years. She just wanted to stay home until now just in case she had picked up the virus from her health aide and cleaning girl, who she has not been using in those two weeks. I have gone over a few times to help her out, though. Plus, I have been babysitting my granddaughter anyway while my daughter works from home so she can get some stuff done. My son-in-law still has to go to work, but they have bare-bones workers still coming in, and the place gets disinfected to the teeth, so he feels pretty confident that he's safe there. None of us has gone anywhere except for a couple of necessary trips to the grocery store in the past two weeks. So none of us feels that we are any more at risk getting together for dinner and birthday cake than we are are otherwise.

As for your situation, I think you'll just have to do what you feel is best. Of course it is safest to just postpone the birthday, but if you have been sheltering in place for a while (did she come over last Saturday?) the chances  are pretty good that neither of you is infected, so as long as you continue to shelter, again, the chances are that you will be OK. I guess it depends on a lot of things, really.

I've also been really busy making a birthday present for my granddaughter, and look forward to her seeing it. My husband has a little box in his library which I painted for him back when he was in the Navy - it has underwater scenes all around the edges, and a submarine on the top. My granddaughter loves looking at it, so I made her one as well, except with beluga whales on the top, since she loves seeing them at the aquarium.

I also made her another box with the theme of "Frozen", since she is obsessed with that, and seems to have developed a crush on Kristoff! They start young, don't they?? Anyway, I painted Anna and Kristoff on top of the box, a scene of Arendelle (their kingdom), on the back, and Olaf the snowman sliding down a snowbank on the front, with a bit more snowy scenes on the sides. I'm actually really pleased with the way they turned out, but they were way more work than I anticipated, and I've spent most of the week working on them.

Here are the tops of two of them. I can post the sides if anyone is interested.

Everything in my state (Washington) shut down pretty quickly the first week of March, but we didn't have the official shelter in place order go into effect til the past Wednesday.  Yes, she did come over last Saturday.

She continues to work in an essential job (vet tech in a vetenirary practice) and I do worry about her bringing home the virus. Although owners stay in cars and staff come out to bring the pet inside.  I don't worry about me since I'm healthy and 62, so just barely over the high risk age.  But my husband is 69 and has diabetes and high blood pressure.

She agreed she needs to not come over til this is over.  I sent her and her boyfriend an enormous order of Thai food, all her favorites, and she is happy!

[crazy8s]

from snopes

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hobby-lobby-coronavirus/

 

[SunnyBeBe]

I’ve asked that all family members, including my young niece, to not visit. I’m caring for senior parents who have fragile health. My brother is saying with us too. My house is reserved for either the sick or no sick to go, if one of us gets the virus. Our shelter in place seems to say no visiting, unless, you are helping a person in need, taking them food, medication, etc.  I hope I’m overreacting.  

[wilsie]

@Jynnan tonnixWhat beautiful gifts and so much talent!  Happy Birthday to your granddaughter!  Your gift is a real treasure.

[ChiCricket]

This was just tweeted.

I included the link to the website if you're interested)

No wonder New York (and Illinois!) are so "hot" 😕

https://www.flightradar24.com/

Edited March 28, 2020 by ChiCricket

[ChiCricket]

7 hours ago, louannems said:

Should she still be coming?  I've made her favorite dessert and plan to get take out Thai food.

Here's some excerpts of an article written by an epidemiologist.

 My cousin, who is an RN, shared it with our family.

(She just shared it, she didn't write it)

"Seemingly small social chains get large and complex with alarming speed.

If your son visits his girlfriend, and you later sneak over for coffee with a neighbor, your neighbor is now connected to the infected office worker that your son's girlfriend's mother shook hands with.

This sounds silly, it's not.

This is not a joke or a hypothetical.

We as epidemiologists see it borne out in the data time and time again and no one listens.

Conversely, any break in that chain breaks disease transmission along that chain.

In contrast to hand-washing and other personal measures, social distancing measures are not about individuals, they are about societies working in unison.

These measures also take a long time to see the results.

It is hard (even for me) to conceptualize how 'one quick little get together' can undermine the entire framework of a public health intervention, but it does.

I promise you it does.

I promise. I promise. I promise.

You can't cheat it. People are already itching to cheat on the social distancing precautions just a "little"- a playdate, a haircut, or picking up a needless item at the store, etc.

This virus is unforgiving to unwise choices.

My goal in writing this is to prevent communities from getting ‘sucker-punched' by what the epidemiological community knows will happen in the coming weeks.

It will be easy to be drawn to the idea that what we are doing isn't working and become paralyzed by fear, or to 'cheat' a little bit in the coming weeks.

By knowing what to expect, and knowing the importance of maintaining these measures, my hope is to encourage continued community spirit, strategizing, and action to persevere in this time of uncertainty."

Edited to add: just read whole thread and I'm glad you decided against getting together. 😊

Edited March 28, 2020 by ChiCricket

[lookeyloo]

 

@Turquoise - mr lookeyloo had a PICC line and the infusion center gave him extenders which meant he was able to handle it all himself. It turned out to be not a big deal. Good luck with it. 

[Lisa418722]

My mom and I live 10 minutes from each other. I saw her last Saturday after I picked up a few groceries for her. I texted her that I was heading to her place. She met me at the front door and took the bag from me. We didn't touch each other - just the bag.  I want to keep her safe and healthy and I'm not willing to take the chance right now.   She did tell me today if I get sick  she is coming to my place to take care of me.  She might want to, but I won't let her. 
Her oldest brother lives in another state and one of his daughters doesn't work and the other works for the school system and in her position she's not working right now. They are both seeing their dad regularly and taking him out to places, acting like they are on vacation.  I just want to scream every time I see my cousin post pictures on Facebook. 
It sounded like my mom and uncle's youngest sister (who lives in the area as my uncle) might have had coronavirus, but her niece called the fire department to check on her and the guy told my aunt she doesn't have coronavirus but she has the flu. I asked my mom did they do any testing for either one and of course they didn't.  But my aunt is still planning on having their weekly dinner with her brother and his family because she feels OK.  
Right now I think people need to use some common sense. Yes, you might want to spend time with your family but it's better to wait until things are clear and then spend time together. 
 

[lookeyloo]

Mr lookeyloo and I are staying with sick son and husband. We only venture out for doctors appointments and to pick up drugs through the drive through. With gloves and sanitizer. 
 

we get food delivered but it sits in the garage for several days unless it needs to be refrigerated and then is wiped off outside while wearing gloves, let dry and bring inside.  We wipe off all containers and let dry.  Also are washing our hands a lot, disinfecting door knobs and light switches and wiping down counters and handles.  I clean when I am anxious - now it is a good thing  

does the 5 person rule in Ohio refer to family members?  What about families with more than five - immediate family members.  
 

this is going to change life once it is over. 

[GeeGolly]

33 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

Mr lookeyloo and I are staying with sick son and husband. We only venture out for doctors appointments and to pick up drugs through the drive through. With gloves and sanitizer. 
 

we get food delivered but it sits in the garage for several days unless it needs to be refrigerated and then is wiped off outside while wearing gloves, let dry and bring inside.  We wipe off all containers and let dry.  Also are washing our hands a lot, disinfecting door knobs and light switches and wiping down counters and handles.  I clean when I am anxious - now it is a good thing  

does the 5 person rule in Ohio refer to family members?  What about families with more than five - immediate family members.  
 

this is going to change life once it is over. 

We are doing the same as you Lookey. We have three adults in the home right now who fall into the at-risk category, though none as fragile as your son. It can get frustrating, lonely and boring, as well as anxiety producing. Easter is coming soon and sadly, for the first time ever, we won't all be together.

We're in it for the long haul, for ourselves and the community at large. I too, wonder what life is going to be like when we all can return to some sense of normalcy. 

[Jeeves]

Thanks for sharing the article, @ChiCricket. Sending good thoughts for all of you, @lookeyloo and @GeeGolly and @Barb23 - and, well, everyone who posts here!

As the Governor of our state said this week when he imposed a statewide stay-at-home order, "This is not a vacation." Of course, there are always plenty of fuckwits who don't get the message, and continue to clog up the high country so they can go backcountry boarding and skiing. The ski areas have all closed.

 Last weekend there were cars illegally parked along the sides of the highway over mountain passes. Today they are jamming a parking area at Loveland Pass. I hope the State Patrol starts ticketing and towing. Oh, and let's not forget the avalanche danger. The other day a backcountry snowboarder triggered a sizable avalanche at the Eisenhower Tunnel that came damn close to hitting Interstate 70 but stopped at just burying the service roads above it. 

Fucking idiots.

[emma675]

Yeah, we have the same problem in my city. We have a shelter in place order and apparently that means pack the trails and hiking/biking paths at the giant park near me to some idiots. My city is now mulling a complete shut down of public parks.

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, lookeyloo said:

 

does the 5 person rule in Ohio refer to family members?  What about families with more than five - immediate family members.  
 

The 5 person rule doesn't apply to people all living together in the same home, so large families would be ok to be together at home.  The 5 person gathering is for people coming together for any particular reason who do not live in the same household.  As  noted above, that broadens your circle of contacts far beyond the people you're actually socializing with.

Those of us going to work in essential businesses are not supposed to be working with more than 10 people in the place at a time.  My employer has ignored that particular rule although everyone gets asked the Covid questions, gets a spritz of hand sanitizer and has their temperature taken before starting the day.  Our physician assistant got sent home with a fever on Friday although, from what I heard, she felt fine and when she was seen in Employee Health, her temperature was normal so it was probably a fluke.

The governor, during his press conferences, has also clarified that it is perfectly fine to check on a neighbor or an elderly relative although the recommendation is still to maintain the 6 foot separation and not touch of course.  He actually has repeatedly reminded people to contact any friends or relatives who might be alone or sick or elderly to make sure they're ok and have what they need.

Edited March 29, 2020 by doodlebug

[ChiCricket]

A Chicago baby died from (or with?)  coronavirus today 😟

Edited March 29, 2020 by ChiCricket

[galaxychaser]

I throw all the cereal boxes etc once I get home. Wipe down the bags of food inside the boxes. Wipe down the remote daily. It’s raining today went to the store. Barely anyone inside. Cashiers have a plastic barrier in front of the register. All the workers are wearing masks. 
 

We will be lucky if this ends by the end of the summer. 
 

2020 what a year.
 

 

[Jynnan tonnix]

16 minutes ago, galaxychaser said:

I throw all the cereal boxes etc once I get home. Wipe down the bags of food inside the boxes. Wipe down the remote daily. It’s raining today went to the store. Barely anyone inside. Cashiers have a plastic barrier in front of the register. All the workers are wearing masks. 
 

We will be lucky if this ends by the end of the summer. 
 

2020 what a year.
 

 

I'm sure we are in for another good few months of mandatory social distancing, and hopefully people will still maintain most of the precautionary measures for well afterward. That's really going to make or break the next few months afterward, I think. 

[Nysha]

1 hour ago, emma675 said:

My city is now mulling a complete shut down of public parks.

The city my daughter lives in did this, along with closing the school playgrounds and chaining the playground equipment because people were acting like this was a great time to send all the kids out to play together. 

[Jynnan tonnix]

5 hours ago, wilsie said:

@Jynnan tonnixWhat beautiful gifts and so much talent!  Happy Birthday to your granddaughter!  Your gift is a real treasure.

Thanks! I just have to add one more birthday post. My daughter made the birthday cake for our small "gathering", and, as it happened, had bought some small plastic figurines to go on the cake, but which could be used for toys afterward. And. coincidentally, they just happened to fit perfectly into the boxes! (well, except for Sven, the reindeer, whose long legs and antlers made him just a bit oversized, but he got to "stand guard"). Remy must have spent half an hour after dinner putting them in and taking them out of the boxes with a steady stream of "night-night", "lie down", "wake up" , and a pretty impressive number of variations on the same theme. She really does have a pretty good vocabulary for her age, I think - though she doesn't have a particular grasp of actual sentence structure yet, and we don't always know exactly what she is trying to say, she is frequently coming up with pretty complex sentences of a good four or five words now.

[Nysha]

My plan to amuse myself during the quarantine was to download the Social Security name files. You can get all the names that were used at least 5 times for the last 100 years (give or take). I've been reordering the names from 2018 together by the name and its different spellings, as determined by me. This means that Kensley and Kinsley are two different names, but Kensley and Kenzley are the same name because most people I know slur the "sl" sound into a "zl".

I have come to realize a couple of things about about names. The first is, if you think you've hit upon a unique spelling that nobody else has used, especially for a popular name, trust me, it's been used by at least 4 other parents to name their baby. 

The second is, there are very few names used in the United States that someone hasn't added one of these to the end of it: a/ah, ana/anna, ani/anie/any, bella, belle, beth, ella, elle, ellie, ia/iah, jah, lea/lee/lei/ley/lie, mae/may, o/oh, or rae/rai/ray.

I've got a reconstructed list of about 3000 names and so far less than 30 names do not have any alternative spellings. Adalyn has the most at almost 40.

What confuses me the most is how did Oakley get so popular, let alone for girls? In 2018, almost 1800 girls were named some variation of Oakley. In contrast, there is only one spelling for Jessa and it was only used 235 times.

[ChiCricket]

3 hours ago, galaxychaser said:

We will be lucky if this ends by the end of the summer. 

2020 what a year.

This is my oldest granddaughter's Senior year. I am so sad for her.

Probably no prom, no graduation walk,  everything she's been looking forward to.

She was all set to go to our regional cheerleading competition just before this all exploded, and of course they had to cancel it.

I  know it's "just" cheerleading to some people, but she worked so hard for years to get to that level.

  She's keeping her sense of humor though..she sent me these, and asked which one I thought she should order. 😊

Edited March 29, 2020 by ChiCricket

[Zella]

12 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

This is my oldest granddaughter's Senior year. I am so sad for her.

Probably no prom, no graduation walk,  everything she's been looking forward to.

She was all set to go to our regional cheerleading competition just before this all exploded, and of course they had to cancel it.

I  know it's "just" cheerleading to some people, but she worked so hard for years to get to that level.

  She's keeping her sense of humor though..she sent me these, and asked which one I thought she should order. 😊

Haha I love those shirts--and your granddaughter's sense of humor.

Before our library closed, someone walked in sporting that type of gas mask. I felt like I was at Ypres or the Somme. 😐

[jcbrown]

59 minutes ago, Nysha said:

My plan to amuse myself during the quarantine was to download the Social Security name files. You can get all the names that were used at least 5 times for the last 100 years (give or take). I've been reordering the names from 2018 together by the name and its different spellings, as determined by me. This means that Kensley and Kinsley are two different names, but Kensley and Kenzley are the same name because most people I know slur the "sl" sound into a "zl".

I have come to realize a couple of things about about names. The first is, if you think you've hit upon a unique spelling that nobody else has used, especially for a popular name, trust me, it's been used by at least 4 other parents to name their baby. 

The second is, there are very few names used in the United States that someone hasn't added one of these to the end of it: a/ah, ana/anna, ani/anie/any, bella, belle, beth, ella, elle, ellie, ia/iah, jah, lea/lee/lei/ley/lie, mae/may, o/oh, or rae/rai/ray.

I've got a reconstructed list of about 3000 names and so far less than 30 names do not have any alternative spellings. Adalyn has the most at almost 40.

What confuses me the most is how did Oakley get so popular, let alone for girls? In 2018, almost 1800 girls were named some variation of Oakley. In contrast, there is only one spelling for Jessa and it was only used 235 times.

Wow--I love your project.

32 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

She's keeping her sense of humor though..she sent me these, and asked which one I thought she should order. 😊

I like the first one. I am sad for her, too. We talked to old friends (like 30+ years friends) that we have not seen for 15+ years tonight and they also have a high school senior. This must be so tough for those kids.

[ChiCricket]

1 hour ago, Nysha said:

My plan to amuse myself during the quarantine was to download the Social Security name files. You can get all the names that were used at least 5 times for the last 100 years (give or take). I've been reordering the names from 2018 together by the name and its different spellings, as determined by me. This means that Kensley and Kinsley are two different names, but Kensley and Kenzley are the same name because most people I know slur the "sl" sound into a "zl".

I have come to realize a couple of things about about names. The first is, if you think you've hit upon a unique spelling that nobody else has used, especially for a popular name, trust me, it's been used by at least 4 other parents to name their baby. 

The second is, there are very few names used in the United States that someone hasn't added one of these to the end of it: a/ah, ana/anna, ani/anie/any, bella, belle, beth, ella, elle, ellie, ia/iah, jah, lea/lee/lei/ley/lie, mae/may, o/oh, or rae/rai/ray.

I've got a reconstructed list of about 3000 names and so far less than 30 names do not have any alternative spellings. Adalyn has the most at almost 40.

What confuses me the most is how did Oakley get so popular, let alone for girls? In 2018, almost 1800 girls were named some variation of Oakley. In contrast, there is only one spelling for Jessa and it was only used 235 times.

I love the history of names and name  trivia!

Have you tried the NameVoyager?

 https://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager

[Nysha]

@ChiCricket, I'm sorry your granddaughter is missing out on the normal ending of her senior year. It's not just cheerleading, the prom, and graduation, it's a rite of passage that marks the ending of childhood and the beginning of adulthood. 

Name Voyager is really cool. A coworker of mine wanted a name that wasn't unusual, but wasn't in the top 100 names. She named her baby Camilla, which is #302 for 2018. Unfortunately, she didn't check other spellings because Camila is #18. 

Edited March 29, 2020 by Nysha

[frenchtoast]

My son is a graduating senior but he's never really liked any of those group activities so he's not too fussed about missing it. He's more irritated that they're trying to get some schooling in for the last (normally shortened) semester. He just wants to be mailed his diploma and be done with it. 

For his sister, it's more difficult. She's in 8th grade and we're moving from MA to TX in the summer (if moving companies are up and running by then). And she's realizing that all this time to hang out with her friends before we move is rushing by and there is nothing we can do. Mr. Toast was given approval to stay until the end of the school year so that son could graduate with his class and who knows if that will happen. And daughter could "move up" with her class. However, for her the last day of school is Jun 23 so who knows? But yeah...it's been really hard to tell her she can't see her friends and she has to get her room ready to sell the house. (She did comment while cleaning out her current closet that it will be nice to have a walk in closet. Silver linings, not everything is horrible.)

It's been a time and it's just started. And yeah, all of this is small compared to those who can't be with their loved ones when they're sick. But I was reading something about we can't deny our emotions just because other people may have it worse. You're allowed to feel things. Your feelings are valid. 

[Jenniferbug]

I ordered Easter stuff for my girls yesterday. Thank goodness Target is shipping candy and is shipping quickly. I'm kicking myself for not getting stuff about 6 weeks ago when I was at the store. I had items in my cart, and then put it all back because I figured I'd have time to shop in the next 6 weeks and might see things I like better. Of course the last time I was shopping, Easter was far from my mind and I was spending money on things needed to stay home during this pandemic. 

We've been doing online grocery orders for the past 2 weeks. Last week half of our order was out of stock and didn't arrive, which was frustrating. I'm really hoping our whole order comes tomorrow, since the things out of stock were basics like milk and bread. Logically I know there's no food shortage, but it's frustrating to know we may have to go to a store just to get basics because they won't fulfill them in online orders. I don't mind ordering groceries a week in advance and waiting if I could be guaranteed to get what we need! I know, first world problems, right?

Is eating take out/delivery still safe? We have gotten it a couple of times, but that chain of disease mentioned up thread has me wondering. We've been careful to put food on plates and dispose of containers before washing our hands thoroughly and then eating, but is that enough?

[GeeGolly]

Everyone seems to have different thresholds. The way I see it is that any item, container or surface is only as clean as the last few people who have touched it.

[lookeyloo]

42 minutes ago, Jenniferbug said:

I ordered Easter stuff for my girls yesterday. Thank goodness Target is shipping candy and is shipping quickly. I'm kicking myself for not getting stuff about 6 weeks ago when I was at the store. I had items in my cart, and then put it all back because I figured I'd have time to shop in the next 6 weeks and might see things I like better. Of course the last time I was shopping, Easter was far from my mind and I was spending money on things needed to stay home during this pandemic. 

We've been doing online grocery orders for the past 2 weeks. Last week half of our order was out of stock and didn't arrive, which was frustrating. I'm really hoping our whole order comes tomorrow, since the things out of stock were basics like milk and bread. Logically I know there's no food shortage, but it's frustrating to know we may have to go to a store just to get basics because they won't fulfill them in online orders. I don't mind ordering groceries a week in advance and waiting if I could be guaranteed to get what we need! I know, first world problems, right?

Is eating take out/delivery still safe? We have gotten it a couple of times, but that chain of disease mentioned up thread has me wondering. We've been careful to put food on plates and dispose of containers before washing our hands thoroughly and then eating, but is that enough?

There are plenty of you tube videos on line about take out containers. And other containers that might have been touched. We leave everything in the garage a few days unless needs refrigeration then it is taken to a table and wiped down and then the table is wiped down .  3 of the 4 of us are high risk so we are being very careful. 

[Jeeves]

1 hour ago, Jenniferbug said:

Is eating take out/delivery still safe? We have gotten it a couple of times, but that chain of disease mentioned up thread has me wondering. We've been careful to put food on plates and dispose of containers before washing our hands thoroughly and then eating, but is that enough?

I've seen two different takes on this issue. One is a widely circulated YouTube tutorial by a doctor, maybe it was linked somewhere upthread, which seems aimed at a high level of sanitizing/sterilizing your food/kitchen. I'm not dissing it, I'm just saying I found it scary and onerous. I've seen comments from FB friends that it reflects what they've done when they had someone ill in the household and had to have very high sanitation standards. But, TBH, I doubt they washed every single piece of fruit in soap and water, scrubbing for 20 seconds. Just saying. 

Another article, by a professor of exposure and assessment science, is less scary and discusses the difference between a virus being "detectable" on a surface and what it takes for that virus to actually infect a person. It's here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/26/dont-panic-about-shopping-getting-delivery-or-accepting-packages/ . It certainly doesn't tell you to ignore the risks but explains how to "break the chain" between the virus being on a surface and getting infected by it. Including leaving cardboard packages untouched for a few hours, discarding packaging - and yes, washing your hands, and washing all fruits and vegetables as you ordinarily would.

My takeaway from all that I've read and watched, is that you can have the cleanest kitchen in the universe but if you aren't vigilant about washing your hands before eating or touching your face, you're at risk of infection. And, it blows me away how much I touch my face without realizing it. Aargh!

I think if you're discarding the containers and then washing your hands immediately afterwards, you're on the right track. And of course, I'm NOT a doctor! So my opinion is worth just what you paid for it, lol! Stay well.

ETA: One takeaway from the video I mentioned, is that I need to be better at sanitizing the countertops in my kitchen. I have taken that one to heart, and I've designated one countertop area as the place where I set down the bags when I bring them in, knowing it's not where I prepare food and will need to be cleaned after I've unpacked the bags. 

Edited March 29, 2020 by Jeeves

[zoomama]

2 hours ago, frenchtoast said:

My son is a graduating senior but he's never really liked any of those group activities so he's not too fussed about missing it. He's more irritated that they're trying to get some schooling in for the last (normally shortened) semester. He just wants to be mailed his diploma and be done with it. 

For his sister, it's more difficult. She's in 8th grade and we're moving from MA to TX in the summer (if moving companies are up and running by then). And she's realizing that all this time to hang out with her friends before we move is rushing by and there is nothing we can do. Mr. Toast was given approval to stay until the end of the school year so that son could graduate with his class and who knows if that will happen. And daughter could "move up" with her class. However, for her the last day of school is Jun 23 so who knows? But yeah...it's been really hard to tell her she can't see her friends and she has to get her room ready to sell the house. (She did comment while cleaning out her current closet that it will be nice to have a walk in closet. Silver linings, not everything is horrible.)

It's been a time and it's just started. And yeah, all of this is small compared to those who can't be with their loved ones when they're sick. But I was reading something about we can't deny our emotions just because other people may have it worse. You're allowed to feel things. Your feelings are valid. 

where in texas are ya heading?  i want to be there too but its not my time yet. 

[galaxychaser]

If I die of anything it’s boredom. Aaahhh. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I have some seriously dry hands from frequent washing. I was out grocery store at 8:00 this morning. I’m taking extreme measures with disinfecting what I bring home. Doing the same with mail. Getting most things sent online to avoid actual mail.  I don’t get why my mom doesn’t get my explanation of why you can’t store a broom in a closet that also stores your paper towels. Even without covid-19, that’s not sanitary, imo, if you use the paper towels around food.

I have talked with quite a few people who say that they can’t stop eating since shelter at home started. They seem to be on eating binges.  Not sure why that seems so prevalent. It hasn’t hit me yet, thank goodness.

My cousin, who has end stage dementia, is in a memory care facility. She’s on hospice, but I’m told she’s stable. I’m calling for updates. No virus in the facility so far. In fact no confirmed cases in that whole county!!! The staff is stressed though. I can’t image how exhausted they are. 

Edited March 29, 2020 by SunnyBeBe