Lockdown diaries

[moriond]

@nukediver ,

Thank you for taking time from your essential work to let us know how you are doing. I’m glad that the prognosis is good for Mrs. Nuke, but I understand how scary it has to be with the extra concerns of possible immune complications at this time of social distancing and overloaded hospitals/medical personnel in a location that is hard hit by covid-19, and also how frustrating it must be that your emergency public duties don’t allow you to stay with her as much as you would like in this time of both personal and global crisis. One of my friends is in NYC and was on a similar timetable of being diagnosed with cancer and having to the same sorts of procedures with chemo and surgery, and with the surgery taking place when the city was already in the lockdown stage. I think the condition was not as dire as for Mrs. Nuke, but at this time, and in these places being deemed the epicenter of our epidemic, it’s all extra scary to be in higher risk groups. But according to latest news, my friend is doing well. Please take care of yourself and your partner, and thank you for your work.
@TheLibrarian , good luck with your interview. I was so happy to hear your earlier post about making it to Florida, where you had family and friend support before they locked down. Good job persevering to make it through the current labyrinth of unemployment web sites.

All of you, keep safe and healthy.

moriond

[twosandalz]

My local hospitals aren't inundated yet but the ones in the city are ramping up. I catch myself feeling relived that my area might be spared. But then I remember how little testing is being done.

Work was settling down. Some of my work has been spread around to other colleagues. And just in time. Our funders, who have been saying they like the adjustments we're making, suddenly want a formal amendment with new budget in two weeks.

It turns out that I love working from home. I'd like to do this several days a week when this is over. My evenings and weekends still feel normal. Maybe because I stay home this time of year anyway. And there's still traffic on my street all day long. It's lighter than it used to be but it isn't deserted like the arial video of cities that I've watched.

One of the perks of WFH is using my fountain pens. They're laid out in a row on my desk and all inked in different colors. Since I'm at home I don't worry that any will walk away, or that purple and green inks on a page of notes looks unprofessional.

I gotta cool it on the spending. I've been looking for things to buy to support independent and local businesses. I splurged on a pen and some sewing patterns. And I got it in my head that this is the year for cost-intensive experimenting in my veggie garden, like building a small hoop tunnel. Because I have free time for more sewing and extra garden time?

On the upside, the quality of my snacks has improved greatly. My commute is long and lined with convenient stores, all loaded with Cadbury eggs and hersey bars. I'm not terribly picky about chocolate.
@TheLibrarian good news about your interview! I'm sending good mojo for you.

I could not help notice that health professionals always add "on intact skin"

@backpack I'm glad you point that out since I haven't noticed them saying it. My hands are cracked and full of rashes from the extra washing. I've been wearing gloves when I go out but wondered if I wasn't being over cautious. Few people were wearing them until this week.

@PaulT100 I'm on a crusade to get everyone at work to actually use Teams. Some are annoyed when anyone chit chats in the OT thread because one doesn't visit using work tools, apparently. A bunch think it's neat but email because everyone one else still emails. The boss tells us to use it, but never uses it herself. Someone doesn't want to use it up. Our serial reply all email fiends don't get why we'd ever switch from the marvel of email. It's an uphill climb!
@nukediver , so glad to hear Mrs Nuke is doing well! Mr Sandalz spent a week in the hospital a few years ago. It was hard enough that I could only visit an hour or so a day. No visits is just terrible.

[nukediver]

Thank you everyone for all the kind words. The members of this forum never cease to amaze me when it comes to the support and concern shown for others

[NYCWriter]

Just dipped in here to see how everyone else is doing. I'm sorry to hear about so many of your struggles out there.

Thankfully, someone somewhere decided that I was "essential", so I've never stopped working (thank GOD). I'm still going in to work every day, as my job is impossible to do remotely.

My network has had several COVID-19 cases (and one death). They started ramping up social distancing and remote working during the week of March 22nd, but unfortunately -- as they say -- that horse had already bolted. Three of my co-workers (we found out later) had already been "self-isolating" at home -- with symptoms -- on March 12. That means the virus was in the building and being spread around about -- Super Tuesday -- a busy election night -- during which the building was packed with visitors and "all hands on deck" -- well before anyone reached for their first bottle of Purell.

We were also in the process of building a brand-new main studio set for Super Tuesday, so we'd been having dozens upon dozens of construction workers, engineers, designers, consultants, and inspectors in and out of the building (and through our primary workspace) pretty much 24/7 since about Halloween.

I'm fine (knock on wood). I never got sick (again, knock on wood). I've also been blessed with an amazingly robust immune system (and living pretty much like a nun during the '80s and '90s helped me avoid HIV). We have a core group of workers coming in every day who also are not getting sick (knock on wood a third time). So I really believe that given our apparent building-wide exposure in late February/early March, those of us who were going to get sick would have gotten sick by now.

In the meantime, in addition to my usual regimen of vitamins and supplements, I'm also following the advice of my hospital friends (which is frustratingly NOT being shared by the "TV" doctors):

-- 1,400 mg of Vitamin C first thing in the morning.
-- 1,400 mg of Vitamin C late in the afternoon.
-- 3-4 ounces of tonic water with quinine.
-- 50-100mg of zinc (but no more! It's easy to overdo it with zinc - as a preventative during this period of outbreak, I keep it closer to 50 mg).
-- 30 minutes minimum of moderate outdoor exercise in the sun (no sunblock!), with plenty of deep breathing of fresh air.
-- Minimum 8 hours of sleep.

As far as the rest of life:

Grocery shopping in Manhattan has turned into a total b*tch. Long lines (sometimes 2 hours) just to get in, and then once you're in you find that there's no toothpaste, no mouthwash, no shower gel, no soap, no "wipes" of any kind (not even baby wipes), no peanut butter ... the list goes on and on and on.

And paper towels?? It is now literally easier to get your hands on a GUN in Manhattan than a roll of paper towels.

Home delivery? FUGHGETTABOUTIT!!! Regardless of what time you log in, there are never any available delivery windows. Like, EVER.

Order from Amazon? Sure! If you don't mind waiting until May 12.

My internet has REALLY slowed down, which is no surprise; EVERYONE is at home, and I live in the most densely-populated neighborhood in the most densely-populated city in America (201,000 residents crammed into 1.7 square miles). And it's not a particularly affluent neighborhood, so over the past few years the providers (Verizon and Time Warner) haven't been quite as aggressive in beefing up the infrastructure up here as in the more affluent neighborhoods like TriBeCa.

Support your local restaurants! Order delivery! Sure -- but my local diners and restaurants (maybe 2-3 dozen?) were barely geared for servicing 5% of the population of my neighborhood, let alone 100%. The last two times I ordered, it took 2 hours, and the food was stone cold. But of course it's not their fault; no restaurant can make 10,000 meals in one evening -- EVERY evening.

Be safe.

And Happy Easter!

[G42]

So, not my personal diary, but to share something I found powerful....

I do not (yet) personally know anyone who has Covid-19

I've been trying to read news/updates at set intervals without being overwhelmed or obsessing, because that isn't healthy. I also don't own a TV, so that helps me avoid some of it. I'm not normally into podcasts (what do I do with my hands and eyes whilst listening!?), but I found one that I want to share.

The Atlantic started their 'Social Distance' podcast with James Hamblin (MD, staff writer) and Katherine Wells (podcast executive producer) in mid-March. Each episode is 18-35min or so and is basically a discussion about something topical/pertinent in that moment of time during the pandemic, usually with one of the other writers or someone else as a guest. If you haven't read or heard Jim Hamblin before, he's an MD who also studied improv and has a very dry sense of weird humor... previously they did about 4 years of a webcast called 'If Our Bodies Could Talk', but I digress...

Today they posted yesterday's episode where they speak to two friends of Katherine's who have had Covid-19 and recovered.

I've found the whole series to be interesting and this latest episode particularly compelling.

It's free and can be found through The Atlantic website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.


Hoping you are all still staying safe and well

[TheLibrarian]

I'm still trying to get my unemployment claim finished, I need to send more paperwork in tomorrow. My boyfriend hung a couple of hammock swings for us to relax in outside. And we did! It was great, until the rope he used untied and I fell on my ass in the driveway. Fortunately, it was like a foot off the ground and other than my butt being a little sore the next day, I'm fine, lol. We bought new rope and he SWEARS it won't happen again but that's what he said the first time so.....

I've been managing to work my way through a couple of projects I brought with me. One was an 'up-cycle' (except not really because I bought it purposely for this project, it wasn't something I already had). Also just ignore how terrible I look:

a) I hadn't put my contacts in yet (I eagerly await the day I actually *lose* the 'who has worse eyesight' game) and

b) I haven't been able to find the motivation to put on makeup (or strangely, my watch) for the last couple of weeks

I'll probably switch to making a couple of masks for us tomorrow. I don't have quite the right materials but it should be good enough (or at least better than nothing).




And because I'm a girl, #Pockets:





Today has been kind of a waste, I haven't really done anything but watch YouTube and think about dinner. I feel like I should be doing more and not wasting all this time but I'm not really sleeping much so by the time I'm caffeinated enough to be useful, I've already fallen down the YouTube rabbit hole. Although, I realized yesterday I don't have any interview clothing here (because I was not expecting an interview when I came down). So when I was at Target yesterday I picked up a scarf to try and rig something appropriate over a tank top I've got. It's a video interview so it only has to look good from like, the collar bones up 😁

I hope every one is staying healthy (and sane).

[twosandalz]

Thanks for the reminder to get fresh air. I've been cleaning house all weekend and was going to skip today's walk in favor of some quality sofa time. The sofa can wait!

[kathryn]

I was doing pretty well on the fresh air front until this happened... #NotNowWinter!

Luckily, it seems that it will be close to 40 F tomorrow so it should all melt.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PaulT00]

It turns out that I love working from home. I'd like to do this several days a week when this is over.

Several of my colleagues feel exactly the same way about working from home, having had the opportunity (!) to try it for an extended period. One guy is actually far more focused working from home, because he doesn't have to commute for nearly 3 hours every day and can deal with domestic stuff in the time he's gained so it's not constantly interrupting him.

One of the perks of WFH is using my fountain pens. They're laid out in a row on my desk and all inked in different colors. Since I'm at home I don't worry that any will walk away, or that purple and green inks on a page of notes looks unprofessional.

I need to flush and rotate about a dozen fountain pens at the moment, but motivation is a bit lacking!

@PaulT100 I'm on a crusade to get everyone at work to actually use Teams. Some are annoyed when anyone chit chats in the OT thread because one doesn't visit using work tools, apparently. A bunch think it's neat but email because everyone one else still emails. The boss tells us to use it, but never uses it herself. Someone doesn't want to use it up. Our serial reply all email fiends don't get why we'd ever switch from the marvel of email. It's an uphill climb!

We actually have two pinned chat sessions in Teams which are used all day, intermittently. One is a "daily catchup" thread, with the whole team attached and connected with a Teams Meeting in the calendar every morning. 10am, everybody video conferences in for half an hour or so; we get to see each other's faces and remind each other that we're not alone and stuff is still happening in the world. It also helps us to keep in touch with what everyone else on the team is working on and any issues which are appearing - kind of like an "Agile" daily standup but mostly sitting down. The other thread is a group chat thread with the whole team attached, which is used specifically for IM chat, banter, saying good morning or good evening to each other, and letting people know when we're e.g. going to be away for a bit for lunch and so forth. This seems to be working pretty well! I've used Teams, Skype, Skype for Business, Jabber etc extensively for years - a close colleague and friend is based in Brazil for about half the year, and we've spent many hours chatting by voice or IM and helping each other to stay sane over the last decade or so. At this time particularly, I think it's very important for people who find off-topic chat over work related channels "inappropriate" to get over themselves because EVERYBODY who is working from home needs that human contact right now, probably more than ever.

MENTION=13900]nukediver[/MENTION], so glad to hear Mrs Nuke is doing well!

More good wishes to Mrs Nuke here!

Home delivery? FUGHGETTABOUTIT!!! Regardless of what time you log in, there are never any available delivery windows. Like, EVER.

Order from Amazon? Sure! If you don't mind waiting until May 12.

We have the same problem in the UK. My partner is supposed to be able to access priority delivery slots through several different supermarket chains, on account of being "clinically vulnerable" (i.e. has COPD and heart problems and would very likely have severe illness if infected; so advised to self-isolate and have no external contact for 12 weeks); but in practice it's almost impossible. We did get a delivery slot for Monday 27th April (which we snagged by logging on at midnight 3 weeks prior to that date) but other than that we are reliant on a couple of very good neighbours to fetch essentials when they go shopping. It's quite dispiriting when you keep trying but the answer is almost invariably "no slots available". It's amazing what you can order in bulk and have delivered - beer, sparkling water, new kettle, tea... - but if you want a carrot you are Out.Of.Luck. We've had a couple of "Boris Boxes" - food parcels containing basics, delivered to our doorstep - which have kept things going; but man cannot live on Heinz Tomato Soup alone - I'm having serious cravings for Pak Choi, for some reason... Broccoli... Mmmmmmm....

My internet has REALLY slowed down, which is no surprise; EVERYONE is at home, and I live in the most densely-populated neighborhood in the most densely-populated city in America (201,000 residents crammed into 1.7 square miles).

Fortunately, we live in a small town and had already upgraded to the fastest generally available internet connection (BT "Infinity", VDSL-based with fibre to the street cabinet); we get the occasional dropout, but most of the time it's (touch wood) pretty solid and while it might be running a bit more slowly than usual it's generally fast enough for things to work normally. For which I'm VERY grateful!

Apart from that, the stress of being in lockdown is starting to get to me a bit: disrupted sleep and, over the last couple of days, twinges of angina which have been largely absent until recently. I realised yesterday that the car hasn't moved from the parking spot on the drive for a month, and - aside from forays to the front drive and rear garden - I haven't left the building for nearly that long. Having had issues with isolation before, which took me down the rabbit hole into a couple of patches of depression, I'm doing my best to maintain what social contact I can via all sorts of channels. Nobody needs cabin fever, thanks!

[G42]

I realised yesterday that the car hasn't moved from the parking spot on the drive for a month, and - aside from forays to the front drive and rear garden - I haven't left the building for nearly that long.

I'm glad you're both mostly hanging in there! It's hard to not have the delivery windows, but it's great that you have some folks helping out.

That's a good reminder to everyone - if you have a car and are suddenly not using it, be sure to turn it on and drive around the block for 5 or 10 minutes, keep the fluids moving, battery charged, move the tires, etc.
On my daily walks around the neighborhood, I've already seen several cars getting battery jumps.

[NYCWriter]

We have the same problem in the UK. My partner is supposed to be able to access priority delivery slots through several different supermarket chains, on account of being "clinically vulnerable" (i.e. has COPD and heart problems and would very likely have severe illness if infected; so advised to self-isolate and have no external contact for 12 weeks); but in practice it's almost impossible. We did get a delivery slot for Monday 27th April (which we snagged by logging on at midnight 3 weeks prior to that date) but other than that we are reliant on a couple of very good neighbours to fetch essentials when they go shopping. It's quite dispiriting when you keep trying but the answer is almost invariably "no slots available". It's amazing what you can order in bulk and have delivered - beer, sparkling water, new kettle, tea... - but if you want a carrot you are Out.Of.Luck. We've had a couple of "Boris Boxes" - food parcels containing basics, delivered to our doorstep - which have kept things going; but man cannot live on Heinz Tomato Soup alone - I'm having serious cravings for Pak Choi, for some reason... Broccoli... Mmmmmmm....

I don't mean to discourage you here, but here in NYC this has been happening: you're lucky enough get a time slot ... you fill your cart ... you check out ... and then as the time draws close for your delivery, it's -- CANCELLED -- and your money is refunded.

Ironically, in this age of social distancing, we are more reliant upon EACH OTHER these days than ever before. Cherish and treasure those neighbors of yours!!! You will need to help each other.

Apart from that, the stress of being in lockdown is starting to get to me a bit: disrupted sleep and, over the last couple of days, twinges of angina which have been largely absent until recently. I realised yesterday that the car hasn't moved from the parking spot on the drive for a month, and - aside from forays to the front drive and rear garden - I haven't left the building for nearly that long. Having had issues with isolation before, which took me down the rabbit hole into a couple of patches of depression, I'm doing my best to maintain what social contact I can via all sorts of channels. Nobody needs cabin fever, thanks!

You're not alone.

I just did a story yesterday about a 15-year-old girl in California who killed herself because she was so despondent over the self-isolation.

I realize this is easy(er) for me to say since I'm still getting dressed and going to work each day, but the isolation is getting to all of us, including me. As an "empath", it's impossible for me to feel happy when others around me are unhappy.

Keep the faith, my friend.

[xyppy]

I don't mean to discourage you here, but here in NYC this has been happening: you're lucky enough get a time slot ... you fill your cart ... you check out ... and then as the time draws close for your delivery, it's -- CANCELLED -- and your money is refunded.

This happened to you, too? I was wondering who, if anyone else had this experience. It happened to me 2 Fridays ago. But I was given a time slot the following Tuesday. Now I've locked in a weekly Saturday morning time slot, until they cancel another order or switch the hours of their time slots. Then I'll have to try to lock in another weekly time slot. It's seeming like every 2 weeks I lose my weekly reservation. But I really should not complain. I've still been able to get groceries delivered at regular intervals. Fresh Direct has been very good to me and my loyalty to them as a customer for nearly 5 years is paying off big time in the service they've given me since covid-19 hit NYC.

[PaulT00]

Ironically, in this age of social distancing, we are more reliant upon EACH OTHER these days than ever before. Cherish and treasure those neighbors of yours!!! You will need to help each other.

We very much appreciate our neighbours; my partner managed to snag a "click and collect" grocery slot for this Thursday, just after midnight on Monday morning. One of those neighbours has volunteered to go and deal with the "collect" bit, and in return asked that we add a few items to the order on her behalf so that she is then set for the next week or so. An entirely fair and equitable arrangement if you ask me!

I realize this is easy(er) for me to say since I'm still getting dressed and going to work each day, but the isolation is getting to all of us, including me. As an "empath", it's impossible for me to feel happy when others around me are unhappy.

In some ways this is easier on my partner and myself than it might be on others, since we have both been working from home for years - I started doing so in 2009. But under normal circumstances I would expect to be going out to the shops maybe 3 times a week, and travelling up to the main office in London - which is now closed until further notice - for a couple of days every two weeks... and having dinner out with the guys while I'm there. The lack of that is really starting to hit home; and the frustration of not being able to just pop out to the shops and fetch whatever ingredients we need for dinner is, I'm afraid, a big part of that!

I find that if I "shlomp into slob mode and stay there", as there is a strong tendency to do at the moment, it affects my mental state; it ruins anything resembling productivity in a work sense, and makes me depressed. To counteract that, even though I and all my colleagues are working from home these days, I'm still getting up, getting dressed ("to shoes", as Flylady used to say!) and operating a normal(ish) work routine. It's not like I'm putting on a suit and tie - but then I haven't done that for several decades since - but a reasonable "office casual" outfit, chinos + rollneck + proper shoes/boots (for some reason, putting on a pair of comfortable but fairly sharp jodhpur boots like I might wear to the office seems to send a strong signal to the brain - trainers not so much!) sharpens things up and helps me to be in "work mode". Plus I look at least halfway put together in the innumerable video calls we're having these days!

[twosandalz]

Plus I look at least halfway put together in the innumerable video calls we're having these days!

My colleagues and I have been laughing about our unprofessional hoodies and jackets and blankets we're wearing on calls. We're all grumpy about our suddenly higher heating bills and are leaving the heat set as low as we can stand it. Even though we're saving a bundle on our commutes

[NYCWriter]

I find that if I "shlomp into slob mode and stay there", as there is a strong tendency to do at the moment, it affects my mental state; it ruins anything resembling productivity in a work sense, and makes me depressed. To counteract that, even though I and all my colleagues are working from home these days, I'm still getting up, getting dressed ("to shoes", as Flylady used to say!) and operating a normal(ish) work routine. It's not like I'm putting on a suit and tie - but then I haven't done that for several decades since - but a reasonable "office casual" outfit, chinos + rollneck + proper shoes/boots (for some reason, putting on a pair of comfortable but fairly sharp jodhpur boots like I might wear to the office seems to send a strong signal to the brain - trainers not so much!) sharpens things up and helps me to be in "work mode". Plus I look at least halfway put together in the innumerable video calls we're having these days!

I can totally relate.

Clothes -- and location -- and even occasion -- very much influence our mood and our motivation.

It's what prompted me a few years ago to rent office space downtown; I found I was more productive dressing up and being in an office, surrounded by other "office" people. Plus, when I got back home -- after having been productive -- I could be truly RELAXED at home, without my desk and computer nagging at me.

Of course, there were additional benefits of a business address, being able to much more legitimately claim office space deductions (in the eyes of the IRS and the New York State Department of Revenue), and the invaluable benefit of networking with other professionals sharing the space.

It was worth it while it lasted -- until I had to start supporting two households -- and I could no longer justify the expense.