Coping Strategies for Dealing with COVID-19

[NotQuiteMotY]

1 hour ago, Dandruff said:

How safe do you think the work environment is?

Eh? (Imagine a hand waggle here.)

We have protocols in place to protect ourselves and the people we're serving... but everyone's human. Everyone wears masks, but they can slip, and not everyone is vigilant about it. It's also a pain in the neck to take the calls that come in with a mask on, and while I try not to use the same phone as someone else and wipe them down constantly, sometimes you have three calls at once and you're just scrambling for the nearest ringing phone. And of course people drift closer as they talk. And that's just the staff! So we try, and I scrub my hands and try not to touch my face and mask, and back away from other people if they're too close... 

I'm really hoping the result is a negative. Especially because my parents had the kids twice this week, and well, little germ vectors. 

[Ozlsn]

9 hours ago, NotQuiteMotY said:

We have protocols in place to protect ourselves and the people we're serving... but everyone's human.

This is part of why we have outbreaks again where I am.  People subconsciously move to a "comfortable" talking distance (which is not 1.5m), touch things and their face without realising, wear their masks and contaminate them... all the stuff we do without intending to or realising. We're good at it when we're thinking, but not great when distracted and everything feels normal.

I don't think we're re-opening further any time soon, sigh. Now I'm back to hoping we don't go back into a full lockdown.

[Coconut Flan]

Cabin fever had gotten to me yesterday so I did a couple necessary errands after peak times.  At the bank kiosks, only one other person was wearing a mask.  The last time I went everyone had on a mask.  I waited until I would be alone.  No one else used hand sanitizer after doing their banking.  Definitely the standards have slipped.

The gas station was the same thing although there people are definitely more than 6 feet apart, but mine was the lone bottle of hand sanitizer in sight.  

I took a little drive after the errands and came home feeling much better.

[The Mother Dust]

I haven't been on fj in a while. My personal and professional life decided to blow up as the pandemic was ramping up, so i've been having a grand ol' time.  Although just recently (I know i'm lucky to be able to say) my professional life has gotten back on track. So having some breathing room to visit you all again and I see this wonderful idea of a thread.    I'm deciding to reveal a guilty pleasure in case anyone else is interested.  And it's free.  I love good fanfic, and not long ago I discovered that some people were making audiobooks of them.  This particular artist is SO talented....her voice is like slipping into a warm bath.   I love downloading her work onto my ipod and listen as I go for walks as a way to unwind.   Her favorite genre is the Marvel universe, so I know not everyone is going to be into it.  She takes suggestions though, and she might record something you like if you ask.  And i'm putting the obligatory "dont judge me" tag on this, hehe.  

https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/quietnight/pseuds/quietnight

Edited June 28, 2020 by The Mother Dust

[FiddleDD]

On 6/28/2020 at 1:19 PM, The Mother Dust said:

I haven't been on fj in a while. My personal and professional life decided to blow up as the pandemic was ramping up, so i've been having a grand ol' time.  Although just recently (I know i'm lucky to be able to say) my professional life has gotten back on track. So having some breathing room to visit you all again and I see this wonderful idea of a thread.    I'm deciding to reveal a guilty pleasure in case anyone else is interested.  And it's free.  I love good fanfic, and not long ago I discovered that some people were making audiobooks of them.  This particular artist is SO talented....her voice is like slipping into a warm bath.   I love downloading her work onto my ipod and listen as I go for walks as a way to unwind.   Her favorite genre is the Marvel universe, so I know not everyone is going to be into it.  She takes suggestions though, and she might record something you like if you ask.  And i'm putting the obligatory "dont judge me" tag on this, hehe.  

https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/quietnight/pseuds/quietnight

blackglass and litrapod are two of my personal fave podficcers in the MCU, if you're a Darcy fan. 

[NotQuiteMotY]

On 6/27/2020 at 3:10 PM, NotQuiteMotY said:

Aaand I've been back at work for two weeks and Mr. NQ and I have symptoms that may be colds, allergies, or COVID. Joy. We managed to get tested, which was not comfy, and will know this week.

Quoting myself here. Results came back negative! And since both our results were negative, the chance of one of them being a false one is a lot lower! 

Still don't feel great, and the papers from the test place indicated to practice isolation if I have symptoms even with a negative, so probably not going out unless it's to check with the doctor on symptoms if they don't ease in a few days. I'm just glad for dual negatives. The guilt over having brought home anything is bad enough before you add in the pandemic.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

9 minutes ago, NotQuiteMotY said:

Quoting myself here. Results came back negative! And since both our results were negative, the chance of one of them being a false one is a lot lower! 

Still don't feel great, and the papers from the test place indicated to practice isolation if I have symptoms even with a negative, so probably not going out unless it's to check with the doctor on symptoms if they don't ease in a few days. I'm just glad for dual negatives. The guilt over having brought home anything is bad enough before you add in the pandemic.

Sorry you're still feeling crappy, but I'm so glad it's negative!

[The Mother Dust]

2 hours ago, FiddleDD said:

blackglass and litrapod are two of my personal fave podficcers in the MCU, if you're a Darcy fan. 

Somehow i'm not surprised that there is some cross-over interest in these two niche areas.  (FJ and podfics) ?We are inquisitive folks who like searching things out ?

[The Mother Dust]

I remembered something else.  Double Toasted is hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsQwjtBgyaM&t=543s

[Ozlsn]

I watched the Will Ferrell Eurovision movie. Enjoyed it, although less Ferrell would have been better. I agree with this review - the Eurovision parts were fantastic, north of it was really fun... but Lars was a bit of a dick.

[CTRLZero]

On our daily walk today, we decided to cut through a college campus and, lo and behold, we stumbled across a baseball game!  We were interested in how baseball could be conducted safely, and it turns out it really can't, but it was nice to watch a little bit, anyway.  Following are some details on a college baseball game conducted in time of pandemic:

The umpires were appropriately masked and distanced.  Balls and strikes were called by an umpire located between the pitching mound and second base.  No umpire behind home plate, he was located about 10 feet off to the side.  There were extra bleachers for spectators, allowing more distancing.  My husband and I had a section of bleachers all to ourselves.  A lot of the parents scattered along the fence lines.  Most spectators wore masks and/or distanced.

The problem was the players themselves were not masked, and they were mingling on the field and in the dugout.  It's a little unsettling to think that the visiting team is traveling all over.  Ironically, the college baseball schedule was canceled, but this was a sort of "exhibition" game, so I guess that means Covid-free.  Hmmm.

Anyway, it was nice to watch the game, but only if you didn't overthink the virus situation.  ?

[usmcmom]

38 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

On our daily walk today, we decided to cut through a college campus and, lo and behold, we stumbled across a baseball game!  We were interested in how baseball could be conducted safely, and it turns out it really can't, but it was nice to watch a little bit, anyway.  Following are some details on a college baseball game conducted in time of pandemic:

 

That does sound really pleasant. 
 

We have not even lived in our current home (new town, new state) for years, so even before the pandemic we were just getting familiar with our area. We traveled so much out first year here it was hard to get settled.  Anyway, I really miss the familiarity of our former small town. 
 

We lived very close to the local ball diamonds and would usually walk past them on our evening walks. We almost always ran into neighbors or friends who were watching their kids; so we would spend time visiting, moving from diamond to diamond to say hi to people and catch up.   Such good times. Thanks for sparking that memory. 

[NotQuiteMotY]

So we had someone try to barge into my normally-public work today (no mask, naturally) when we had a vendor leaving the building. This was while we were discussing possible reopening procedures, too. One of the staff is out sick and we don't know if she got a COVID test. We won't know until/if she has a positive result. Already rattled from those when I got home and Mr. NQ told me that some of his department was furloughed today because of lack of new business due to the pandemic; they'd already lost a contract earlier this year for unrelated reasons and need new business to make it up but are, obviously, having trouble getting it under the circumstances. This is on top of a sporadic headache I've had all week because of a heat wave and sleeping poorly anyway the last few nights and just seeing all the numbers keep ticking up.

I cried. I'm just so tired of all this and of constantly worrying. I don't even know if my son's preschool is reopening in the fall. I can't convince my parents to stay home unless they have to and my brother, who lives with them, has been traveling to North Carolina the last month, and while he tries to avoid contact there or on the way, well. I can't keep dealing with this, but I have to, because I have no choice, and my husband has all this on his shoulders as well so I can't just put it all on him. It's too much.

I hate this. I hate all of it. And there's nothing I can do about it because 99% of it is out of my control.

[47of74]

#WordsToPutOnMasks is trending on twitter. I think you can all guess what two words I think should go on a mask. 

Even though in order to fit Fornicate on the mask both words would have to have a small text size. 

The city and county are having an initiative to get people to mask up.  It involves various prominent community members being photographed wearing masks and socially distancing.  I don’t think it’d be a good idea to have me photographed because I would have both a Fornicate Trump and Fuck Trump masks all ready to go for such an occasion.  

 

Edited July 25, 2020 by 47of74

[CTRLZero]

It helps to have good neighbors during a pandemic.  Here is what my neighbor thoughtfully bought for me when she spotted the rare item on a store shelf.  I haven't seen this available since the Before Time:

 

Spoiler

 

[WiseGirl]

Apparently my new coping strategy is to rearrange my living room...bed room...office... One last piece of furniture to sell or donate.

Now if you could all come over for a painting party I'd be all set. Anyone want to take the ceilings? Oh and how are you all at stripping paint from furniture? 

 

[47of74]

I just blew up today over the pandemic.  I could lose just about everything I have and it's all a fucking joke to some people.  I do feel a bit better now. 

[47of74]

I feel better now that the pandemic has made me realize some others groups and individuals were toxic and to finally put a permanent end to any interactions with them.  And FJ helped out a lot with that, thank you.  I've had decent nights of sleep ever since then since I cut off these toxic people.

In other news I finally blocked a doctor on FB who was a classmate of mine in law school because he was spewing every bit of conspiracy horseshit he could about the pandemic. 

[usmcmom]

On 7/27/2020 at 10:01 AM, CTRLZero said:

It helps to have good neighbors during a pandemic.  Here is what my neighbor thoughtfully bought for me when she spotted the rare item on a store shelf.  I haven't seen this available since the Before Time:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

We are fairly new to our neighborhood (coming up on two years) and I was worried that we were not going to settle in very well. The first year was rough and we just could not get connected with anybody. 

The stay at home orders have really allowed us to get to know our neighbors and their children. Along with this has come many little visitors on our porch, delivering baked goods: scones, cheesecake, chocolate cake (for our anniversary) homemade granola bars, cookies, brownies and homemade popsicles. 
 

I keep saying I am going to come out of this with bad hair and twenty extra pounds, but it will finally feel like home. 

[CTRLZero]

On 8/5/2020 at 9:09 PM, usmcmom said:

Along with this has come many little visitors on our porch

It's getting to be harvest time for our little suburban pandemic gardens, so yesterday we witnessed some of this.  One neighbor gave us two garlic bulbs to use for planting next season.  Our other neighbors swapped huge ripe tomatoes.  We all have summer squash in abundance, so the zucchini jokes have begun.  I'm incorporating zucchini into lots of my recipes.  They are also delicious grilled.  In one funny moment, my  neighbor brought over banana bread just as I was baking banana bread for her!

In the midst of a string of hot days, we had a chilly day yesterday.  It makes me wonder how we are going to do during winter.  I'm thinking of turning part of my garage into an exercise room and blasting dance music to ward off the blues. 

And my hair!  Some of my neighbors have braved going to the hair dresser, but I am letting mine grow.  I can just barely get it into a pony tail now, and I look so different from when I had my usual pixie 'do.  The other day I gave my husband's hair a trim, and that was quite the experience!  Good thing we both wear baseball caps, lol! 

[Audrey2]

1 hour ago, CTRLZero said:

Our other neighbors swapped huge ripe tomatoes. 

Your neighbor can keep the huge ripe tomatoes, but I'd be happy to have some green. We do a green tomato pie in my family, and I haven't had one for awhile.

[CTRLZero]

2 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

Your neighbor can keep the huge ripe tomatoes, but I'd be happy to have some green. We do a green tomato pie in my family, and I haven't had one for awhile.

Recipe, please?  ?

[Audrey2]

21 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

Recipe, please?  ?

I'll put it under a spoiler. I had my Mom mail me this several years ago.

Spoiler

GREEN TOMATO PIE

 

6 green tomatoes (3 to 4 cups--I like a little more)

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoon tapioca

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2-3 tablespoon vinegar

 

Heat oven to 425 F.  Roll out half of the pastry dough. 

 

Core and thinly slice tomatoes.  (I throw out the top and bottom piece of the tomato.)

 

Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, tapioca, and nutmeg.  Add to the tomatoes and toss.

 

Put in pie shell and sprinkle on the vinegar.

 

Add the top shell.

 

Bake 40-45 minutes.  (I stick tomatoes with a fork when 40 minutes have passed to see if they are soft.)

 

[Audrey2]

I got brave today and went to the local farmer's market. Of course, I wore my mask. They had arrows on the sidewalk telling you which side you should walk on. Besides corn on the cob and peaches, I bought one green tomato the only one I saw. I had a fried green tomato for lunch.

[SassyPants]

A church member wanted to know who I was on a Zoom meeting the other day. She didn’t recognize me by  the color of my hair. Our salons are closed again d/t a rise in cases.☹️