Day 5 of Sheltering In

Spent the entire day with my daughter on the phone trying to find out what was going on with her job. We went back and forth all day. She called and left a message for her union rep. 

In between I was in touch with the Asst Director and Director relaying what happened and trying to find a way to help. It ended up they were going to have the Medical Director write and fax a letter explaining how the state controls the group home and ordered the lockdowns. Not sure if that fax went out. 

My daughter heard from her union rep who blew her top about the “probably be fired.” She said no way is that true. The person you spoke with does not handle any aspect of HR and should have directed you to one of these 3 managers. She was told to call 1 of the 3 and let them know what happened yesterday and the reason why she can’t work. He was super nice, apologized and reiterated what the union rep had said. He suggested she bring a doctor note when she is able to return and she should check in once a week with him to keep him informed.

I got the Golden Ticket (WiFi password), but it was too late for her conference call with her doctor about her toes. So she has the WiFi password and can use it for her upcoming pulmonologist conference call appointment.

I did get an acknowledgement that my wife was rough on me about visiting her dad. After thinking about it she realized I was right. We shouldn’t be going there until the lockdown ends and things have settled down. Whoop T Do! I still don’t like how the original conversation went.

My insomnia has gotten a lot worse this week, and I’ve had important calls wake me up early. Too early.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Day 4 of Sheltering in

I’m at day 4 today. I began Saturday because I had prescriptions to pick up and deliver and pick up items my daughter needed. A sort of care package. A few things she needed for dinner, items from the bakery department for her to share with housemates. And flavored sparkling water. She asked for soda. I went healthy. When she was coming on home visits I would have her try different flavors, trying to get her to make the changeover like I have. I drink soda when I have low blood sugar, it’s seldom, but that’s it.

My daughter found out yesterday the group home is no longer allowing clients to work because of the coronavirus. The assistant director made the calls to all of the employers and clients. My daughter’s boss wasn’t in so the MOD was given the details and my daughter must call her boss today. She called her union rep yesterday to get assurances about her job. She was scheduled T-F, but then had taken vacation late next week because of doctor appointments which have now become phone consultations. It’s also her birthday the 4th. A couple years ago she started celebrating her birthday for a week, actually, she’s been doing it for all of our birthdays. Not sure where that came from. But that was the reason she took the time off. Any time beyond that she will be on leave until the group home allows clients to return to work. She seems ok with it. Maybe a bit relieved.

UPDATE: So much for her job being safe. My daughter called and spoke with a different MOD than she was supposed to, the other one was not available. She was told she needed a doctor’s note and she might get fired. She has a call in to the assistant director and her union rep. It’s not like she doesn’t have enough to ruminate on.

I told her yesterday, and will be telling her everyday that we will celebrate her birthday when the restrictions caused by the coronavirus are lifted. I also told her the same thing about Easter. I ordered her gift before all this, so I already have it. I also bought a small amount of Easter candy. Not sure why I did it because I’ve been saving money by buying things the day after the holidays. Anyway, I’m all set except for last minute things like the birthday cake and ham for Easter.

I really hate being the enforcer, or common sense person in the house, but this coronavirus is some serious shirt. My spouse wanted to go visit her dad and do some laundry. While it would be nice to do laundry for free, it’s just not a good idea. Her dad is in his 70’s and has asthma, diabetes, and other health issues. Late last week news articles were reporting that people could have no symptoms, yet be a carrier. I caught all kinds of shirt for insisting we not go visit him due to these new reports. 

In light of those news reports would you meet your senior friends (asthma, diabetes, and more) for a picnic at the pond by another nearby friend’s house? The husband was recovering from a blood clot in a lung not that long ago. True, she said we would do social distancing, but I say you err on the side of caution. I certainly would never visit her dad, or these friends if there was a possibility that myself, my spouse, or my son were to later find out one of us were carriers and infected any of them. Yes, I agree I’m being melodramatic, but am I really? Look how fast the number of cases are increasing. I don’t know when the complaining is going to end. It’s a bit overwhelming. I don’t understand where the animosity is coming from. Because I made a smart decision, I have to suffer for it. Not right.

My daughter’s group home still won’t give up the WiFi password. Last week I spoke to the assistant director about this and was assured that due to the lockdown the password would be given to clients. It hasn’t been, so Sunday I FaceTimed my daughter. It made her so happy, really brightened her mood. Yesterday she wanted to do it again and I had to tell her no. If we go over on our data plan we will be bumped to the next plan which costs about double. I can’t do that. I need to check my data used so far and see if we can do it again on Sunday.

My daughter has 2 infected toes. This is her 4th episode of toe infections. Two separate episodes landed her in the hospital for several days each time. I can’t reach our doctor or his staff to try to get him to send over prescriptions for antibiotics, or do a phone consultation and then the prescriptions. She has to get on the antibiotics ASAP or she will need IV antibiotics and no way do we want her to need to be hospitalized.

UPDATE: My daughter has a video appointment later this morning. 

As if I didn’t have enough on my shoulders, right?

I’m getting stir crazy. Maybe when we get a warmer day I can have my morning coffee outside. At least I would get some fresh air. Neither my spouse, nor I can go for a walk. Her back is bad, and one of her knees. My back is terrible and I have no sense of balance. I think coffee on the porch is the safer bet. If I feel up to it maybe I’ll give my son instruction on some yard work. Sounds like a good plan.

Be safe 

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Sunday Stealing-Coronavirus Questions

Our host is Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Pandora has posted a bunch of Coronavirus questions on her blog and shared them with all of us.  Thanks, Pandora!!

1. Has the COVID-19 affected your work environment? I am on medical leave, not working.

2. How are you feeling about the Coronavirus? It’s very scary how fast it has spread and how many are dying. Very anxiety increasing.

3. Has anybody you know been tested / have you? Thankfully no one I know has had the symptoms and needed to be tested.

4. Do you have any friends stuck in any exotic locations? I wouldn’t call Florida exotic, but my idiot sister went on her Florida trip that started 03/17/20. No amount of talking to her could convince her to cancel. I asked her “What if the airports shutdown?” She said she would extend her car rental and drive back to Wisconsin. At the time I didn’t think about the possibility of state borders closing. Those rumors started a few days ago. She also will likely have to stay home on lockdown for 2 weeks. There is a possibility of working from home, but someone from work would have to drop off a laptop. I haven’t had a real, leave the state, go to another state, stay in a hotel for a week, type vacation since the mid 1980’s. I would definitely cancel! She goes on vacation, flying to Arizona or Florida several times a year.

5. Have you changed any of your personal habits due to the pandemic? Yes. I stopped going out for groceries. I was going about every other day because we lost a freezer. (I lost an entire freezer full of meat and veggies due to flooding caused by our sump pump going out. I also lost my washer, dryer and furnace. How do I go to the laundromat, usually the dirtiest place on the planet?) I was gifted a freezer and this week I have been stocking it. I am done now.

6. What is the craziest thing you've seen or heard about the outbreak? Well, 2 Costco stories. The first from Georgia, I believe. Two men were fighting over supplies. Can’t remember if it was water or paper products. They each grabbed a bottle of wine, smashed it and used it as a weapon. Both were cut up pretty bad by the time the fight was broken up. I also heard our nearby Costco had 2 women fighting over paper products. One pulled out a knife and was stabbing the other. In other news, my wife may need bail money. A woman in a BMW cut her off, barely missing her. Apparently the woman had to get to Target faster than my wife. The woman saw my wife coming in to Target and started to RUN AWAY from her. Literally RUN! So my wife chased her. My wife chased her for awhile and then took care of her business. Gives new meaning to the phrase “Target run”. 😂 My spouse said the BMW was still parked when she went to our car. So she hung out awhile and called me. I told her that lady is probably having a latte in Starbucks and watching through the window to see when you leave. Lol!

7. Do you think our politicians are doing enough to curb the crisis? Hell to the no!  The testing kits should have been accepted from WHO. The shelter in place/lockdowns should have been immediate once things went quickly south for China, or the first case was discovered in the US. At that point anyone with half a brain could see how fast it was spreading in other countries. To hell with panic, it should have been done then.

8. Have you stockpiled anything because of the crisis? I may have gotten extra food for my cats. I filled a new freezer, but that wasn’t stockpiling. I lost an entire freezer of food and was replacing it when we got a new freezer.

9. What do you think you will miss the most if you are subject to a lock in? Seeing my daughter. 😭 Her group home is on lockdown and no visitors allowed. She had been coming to my house for home visits every weekend and my daughter would treat at an area restaurant. That was our normal. She can still go to work, but that’s it. Her day program shutdown too, so there are 12 residents with various mental illnesses who are on lockdown 24/7. I’m surprised, but thankful there haven’t been any incidents since the day program lockdown on Tuesday.

10. What is the weirdest rumour you've heard about the virus? That men in Hazmat suits, goggles, masks, and gloves are ringing doorbells saying they are from the government and then they walk in and steal whatever they want. It’s true, minus the protective gear, they wear regular street clothes.

11. Do you have a favourite meme about the virus? I can’t get a link for the video with Kermit dancing to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”. “When you’re on day 2 of your self quarantine but your 8th bottle of wine.”

And:

12. Has the virus made you grateful for anything? Very grateful that my family has remained healthy. Knock on wood.

13. Have any of your plans been upset by the outbreak? My daughter can’t come on a home visit and we can’t all go out to dinner.😭 More upset about the can’t come on a home visit. We are going to surprise her Sunday with FaceTime. She has no internet, so not sure if it will work. Her group home has promised to give out the internet password if the house is clean, however, since they are all so depressed they couldn’t care less about cleaning.

14. Are you planning do to anything different because of the COVID-19 outbreak? Yes. Staying home. Only going out to pick up prescriptions and whatever my son failed to tell me we were out of when I went to 2 damn stores yesterday. Today we are out of milk and salt. How many times in my life have I run completely out of salt? Until now? NEVER! My spouse is doing the prescription pickup today, so if Target has them she will get them. Otherwise, dry cereal til the next time we pickup prescriptions. How many times do I have to ask ‘is there anything else we need? And I don’t mean snacks and treats.’ Always have to be specific. Lol!  And I just asked it again when my spouse said she was making a call and then going. 

15. What do you hope to see in six months time? I hope to see everyone recovered and no more infections from Covid-19. And the economy recovering and people who have been unable to work return to work.

 16. Has the Coronavirus upset your mental health in any way? Yes. My anxiety is through the roof. Normally it’s kind of high because of finances. But now I’m concerned about my daughter working twice her usual hours in a grocery store. I keep telling myself that in a way this is a good thing because she doesn’t hear ALL that’s going on with Covid-19. She is a professional ruminator. She would be out of control with anxiety and depression from staying on complete lockdown. And she would be constantly texting and calling me complaining about the bully on her floor and begging me to come get her. With her working, she sees her work friends and enjoys talking with her regular customers. She really enjoys that part of her job, talking to customers.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

The day before lockdown

Thursday was my test day. I did not leave home at all. Ehh, not a great day. A lot of anxiety. I normally have a lot of anxiety, but this was more than a smidge extra. Enough to have to use lavender oil to supplement my prescription.

I planned on going out today to get the last few things we need. I had bought a 3 pack of masks the last time my daughter had bronchitis, so I made use of the 2 remaining. One for me, one for my son, who is my shopping assistant. I also donned a pair of magic gloves because with my allergies I am always wiping my eyes or touching my face. Those gloves are rough, so 1 touch before I left the house and I had no problem remembering not to touch. I don’t give a rip what anyone thought about the 2 of us masked crusaders, on the lookout for my spouse’s cat’s canned food. Certain brand, flavor, and must be pate’. Queenie! We saw a lot more people with masks today, but they donned latex gloves. Eww! My palms are sweating just thinking about them. 

Before we left in the morning for the store I invoked the ‘speak now or forgetaboutit’, and no calling when I am IN the checkout lane to say ‘I just remembered, I need...’ I kid you not I get this call 9 times out of 10. If I’m not in the checkout lane, I just left it, or just got in the car. Today nothing was said until my son had put the groceries away. ‘We’re out of kitchen trash bags, did you get some?’ Was it on the list? Nope. Did u get it? Nope. Then, ‘We’re low on dishwashing soap...’ Same answers, so we had to don our masks and head to Jewel for one of the more ugly shopping trips...for just 2 items! Those items I never buy at Jewel so by the time we navigated through the crowds and found those 2 items almost an hour had passed. For the love of all that is holy, are you kidding me? Checkout lines were down the food aisles, the ones on the ends wrapped around to the store entrances. Somehow we got waved to a newly open lane. It took forever to buy 1 package of trash bags (the last one) and 1 bottle of dishwashing soap (also the last one). Everyone must have ran to Jewel after they heard that the governor was going to hold a news conference today.

So my daughter is an employee of a Critical Infrastructure Industry. She’s a bagger at a grocery store. ALL employees were handed letters that they were told to carry on their person on the way to and from work. It’s on company letterhead and signed by a Sr VP. The manager that handed it to my daughter called it her “ticket to work”.  As if my daughter wasn’t over the moon about having her hours doubled for the week starting Sunday, now she has a “ticket to work”. You would have thought she has the Golden Ticket in Willie Wonka. I could tell on the phone talking to her that she was beaming with pride. She really loves her job and the people she works with.

While I’m not thrilled that my daughter has to be out during this pandemic, her employer has hand sanitizer all over the work areas and managers do a walk through every hour to remind employees to use it at least once an hour. Working also keeps my daughter from thinking about what’s going on. She is a master ruminator. She is also not trapped in her group home with her housemates who are in various stages of decompensation. The bully is running hot/cold. Sometimes she’s bullying, others she’s very pleasant. At least 4 housemates are on shower refusal. And 2, this is really gross, are NOT wearing undergarments or outfits with pants. 

I try to avoid much of the news, but I caught a notification from CNN about a woman who lost her mother and 2 siblings to covid-19 and has additional family hospitalized, with only 1 in stable condition. Her family had a family dinner last month and apparently that was where they were all exposed. So very sad. 

Praying that somehow in some way the spread of the virus stops, and those who are ill are able to recover. 

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Rumors

Not this kind:

 

If I had a $1 for each of the convoluted rumors I’ve heard...

I’m not hearing about them from Facebook. 

It’s word of mouth.

I’m not going to perpetuate them.

I get people are home and bored, but this rumor mongering will not end well.

(One of my favorite albums.)

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Sheltering in place/Lockdowns

Hope everyone is staying healthy. This is some scary stuff.

I really don’t envy parents with school age children. Whether trying to work from home and basically home school, or still at your job and having to figure it out, it has to be hard.

So much we take for granted is on pause.

• School

• Work

• Dining out 

• Grocery shopping

• Picking up prescriptions

• Dr appointments and tests

• Group home coming and going and home visits

• Day Program 

A friend of my spouse’s has a daughter in preschool 2 days a week (so far still open) and a son in 1st grade. She works at a veterinarian clinic where they have had to lock the doors and let in 1 pet and their owner(s) at a time. The waiting area is now client’s vehicles. Both her kids are very high energy. Even though the school has given guidance for online learning, it’s still difficult to set a routine. She was flabbergasted that the outline of classes includes gym. GYM! So in the morning she sends her son out to ride his bike back and forth to the corner for awhile. When he’s done, she tells him “Good job! You got an A in gym this morning!” In the afternoon, after some online learning, it’s jumping jacks and squat thrusts. When he’s done, she tells him “Good job! You got an A in gym this afternoon!”

My daughter’s part time job is at a grocery store, so she will be working for the time being. This will be good for her because she loves talking to customers and she really enjoys interacting with her coworkers. Not thrilled she is out in the community, risking exposure, but the store is very strict on sanitizing and has hand sanitizer in work and break areas.

Dining out is delivery or takeout. Want to dine out? Hope you don’t mind crumbs in your car. We have cut out all outside food. Not out of paranoia, but out of trying to save money and make it to the end of the month. My daughter was the generous one, paying for dining out for the family or fast food. (We’re talking low priced fare and coupons.) My daughter is really missing dining out. Friday we thought she was going on a home visit, but if she would have gone home she would have to stay with us for 2 weeks and we would have to provide transportation for work. Since we had picked her up, I offered to take her to pick up dinner at a nearby restaurant. My daughter the planner, she ordered 3 meals to go so she would have food for several days. Lol!

Grocery shopping is a real chore. Stores are crowded, everything in short supply, and tempers run hot. Local Facebook groups and NextDoor have been having members report daily which stores have what, and what had already run out. People are stepping up, it’s really heartwarming seeing people offer items free to those who can’t get to the store because they are a caregiver for an immune compromised child or adult. People offering to shop for seniors too scared to leave home. Who would have thought that in 2020 people are helping others?

My spouse was at Target Tuesday, she saw an employee bring carts in and heavily spray sanitizer all over the carts. All over the carts! Not just the cart handles. I was both surprised and happy to hear it.

Prescription pickups aren’t bad, but it’s obnoxious how many times a week we have to pick up for a family of 4. Insurance won’t allow prescriptions to be filled early. Insurance also is no longer using the fill date to determine the next month’s fill date. They are using the pickup date, so we can’t pick up anything late because it delays next month’s refill. 

We cancelled this week’s Dr appointments and test on Monday. Drove by the podiatrist today and the lot was empty. My daughter had to cancel her ultrasound. I’m somewhat concerned because it is to check on her cyst, but since I have been getting her medication, I have insured there were no gaps in taking it, so it’s more likely the cyst hasn’t grown. No idea when we can reschedule anything. I don’t have follow-up tests on my tumor until December, so God willing this virus is contained and eliminated long before then. I do have appointments in May and June for my knees and shoulders. It’s crazy they were booked out 5 and 6 months ahead. 

As far as the group home goes, no home visits and no visits from family in the group home. We’ve bent the rules twice. Sunday they were out of bottled water and staff refused to brave the crowds. I wasn’t going to let the ladies to drink the swill that is their city’s water, so I picked up 4 gallons of water. I dropped off 2 and will keep 2 in case this happens again. Today I picked up asthma inhalers for my daughter so I called for permission to drop them off. Since I got the ok, I stopped at Jewel and got my daughter some items she needed and some treats to share with the ladies and staff. (Gotta keep the staff happy so I can drop off her other inhalers when the prescriptions are filled.)

Day program cancelled. Counselors and staff are supposed to be going to the group homes and doing the things they usually do at program like groups, creative time, social time, etc. They have shown up, but it’s basically been a free for all. Not happy about that, but since I’ve had to call the Director 3 times in 5 days, I’m going to see if things improve. The housemate who bullies and threatens my daughter came back from a rehab stay because she broke her leg. The second she returned she started up again. Staff and the team lead totally ignore it. Since I had to call for clarification on client jobs and transportation, I took the opportunity to address the bullying with the highest staff member. I threw ALL the staff and the team lead under the bus because they deserve to be there. The Director promised action, and so far things have improved. 🤞

Hopefully this won’t be long and drawn out. I’m praying for all of us.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Sunday Stealing-Sleepy Rambles

Stolen from Sleepy Rambles

Sunday Stealing

1. What is the wallpaper on your computer screen? Why did you choose it? A photo of the bridge from Florida to the Keys. Love the keys. 

2. Who is the person you text the most in your life? What relation are you? My wife.

3.Is there carpet or hardwood floor in your bedroom? Carpet.

4. Do you believe in superstitious things such as breaking a mirror? Why take a chance?

5. Do you like those ‘end of the world,’ ‘Armageddon’ movies? Not a fan.

6. Chocolate or strawberry birthday cake? Choose one. If I can’t have chocolate cake with strawberry in between the layers, then chocolate.

7. Do you eat more vegetables or fruits? What’s your favorite fruit/veggie? Veggies, because of the carbs and sugar in fruit. I overdid cauliflower for thanksgiving, so I only eat it raw for now. Favorite? Roasted Brussels sprouts.

8. Does the dentist calm you or does it tend to stress you out? Stresses me out. 

9. If you had to choose, which is the worst movie you’ve ever seen? There are many bad movies that I’ve seen, but I can’t think of even one.

10. Have you ever found yourself talking to an inanimate object? If I stub my toe on the bed frame, you betcha I’m gonna have a few choice words directed at that bed frame.

11. Do you like movies that are originally based on children’s books? Usually no. But I did enjoy the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movies.

12. Is your hair more thick or thin? Is it more curly or straight? Very thin, very straight, but since I haven’t had a chance to get a haircut in awhile my wife has been calling it the Farrah Fawcett look because it’s layered and whispy on the sides.

13. Something on the human body that grosses you out the most: Pass.

14. What is your favorite color of apple? Red, green or yellow? Red.

15. Do you hardly ever remember where you put things at? My short term memory isn’t what it used to be.

16. Do you ever lay in the grass and look up at the sky, just because? I have.

17. Are you a controversial person? Do your views oppose others? I can be. It happens, and if it’s politics and I’ve misread who I’m talking to, I change the subject. Some people, at least a few I know, are so obstinate that it’s not possible to have a polite conversation, let alone a little debate. I agree to disagree and move on. 

18. Have you ever thrown a surprise party for someone? Who for? My daughter, my fiancé (now my wife), some friends back in my WI life. I also threw a surprise party for my parent’s 30th wedding anniversary.

19. What would you say your average word per minute time is on the keyboard? 90wpm.

20. Do you like fiction or non-fiction books more? What’s your favorite? Memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies are my favorite. 

21. Do you know how to play pool? Are you any good at it? Yes. Yes, I was good at it in my twenties. I seldom have the opportunity to play. 

22. The most painful medical procedure you’ve ever had? Back surgery. The back part is bad, but it’s the cutting through the muscles and tendons in the upper thigh that is the worst.

23. Are you someone who tends to take a whole lot of naps? Yup. Insomnia and chronic pain is a bi***. I usually don’t intend to nap. It just happens when I’m exhausted.

24. Have you ever been pulled over by the cops for speeding? I have. 

25. Is anyone in your family a firefighter? Who is it anyway? I don’t think so.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020