I know I need to go for walks and when I do so I enjoy and benefit from doing so, but I make every excuse not to do so. Every one is valid. Too hot, too cold, might rain, might need the loo, just too boring walking round the houses.....
But the thought of taking single items upstairs one at a time does not appeal either.
I have a fairly good walk in the morning with the dog, but some days she is more into stopping and sniffing rather then moving along so then I have learned to march in place. Other then the dog walks, some days I search for excuses to not move, the pedometer has proven to be a big help on those days.
Coping with the virus means that my wife can cross the US border to be with her mother, our children and grandchildren, but the organised crime gang that polices the border won't allow me in. Looks like I'll soon be able to come to Scotland to visit my end of the family and lots of friends, though.
I continue to be amazed at how slow people seem to grasp the full import of the mask thing.
I went to lunch today at a local fast-food eatery that makes good sandwiches and donates a portion of their proceeds to first responders (in particular, firefighters). I arrived a few minutes after opening time, and appeared to be their first customer.
After I placed my order, and while I was waiting for the sandwich to be made, several other customers came in all wearing masks and all social distancing from each other. So far so good.
However, one young gentleman came in unmasked, and did not don his mask until he approached the order desk. Even then, he put his mask on in such a way that it covered only his mouth, not his nose. I no longer felt safe, and so grabbed my sandwich and drink and headed outside to sit an an outside table, even though the temperature by that time of day was slightly over 100 degrees.
While I continued to eat at the outside table, I noticed other customers arriving: several who donned their masks before getting out of their cars; several not donning them until they approached the door of the place; one wearing her mask down around her chin (her companion, who was driving their car, was unmasked but he merely dropped her off and did not go inside); one lady whose mask covered her mouth but not her nose (I think they said something to her, since when she came back out both her nose and mouth were covered); two police officers who should have known better but remained maskless until halfway between their car and the door.
I felt safe sitting outside in the open air, but come on, people, what's so hard about comprehending that both your nose and mouth must be covered at all times except in the privacy of your car?
Since I can't wear the usual design of mask with ear loops (hearing aids) I've been sewing my own. The best effort so far in terms of coverage and comfort seems to be a pleated rectangle, secured with two strips of elastic, the lower shorter than the upper, so that it tucks under the chin. It also gives a bit of breathing space inside the mask. The more fitted design is a bit stifling, and promotes - I find - a dry mouth and a tendency to cough (not socially popular).
Yes, I made my own pleated ones which I wear and found the fitted one I made stifling (not helped by my vague post-covid shortness of breath).
Which reminds me, my post-viral syndrome appears to have mostly gone away it took 4 months, a high fluid intake and lots of exercise.
I’ve been using quilting cotton, 2 layers due to my mild hypoxia. My first experimental one was a white linen one but it looked like I was wearing a bag over my face. I might experiment with some others, I have a room of fabric from my old sewing business. I would think the Indian silk would need 3 layers to give it structure and density (I’m now eyeing up some old saris).
Yes, I find the pleated ones most comfortable too. I have asthma but the mask makes no difference to it. Probably helps as less pollen and dust is being breathed in!
I also find the two straps around the head works best for me. Not only do I wear hearing aids but I seem to have a floppy ear on one side and around the ear masks just keep falling off.
First occasion today when I wore my mask for more than a few minutes. It felt fine for the half hour I was in the supermarket, but when I got into the car and removed it I was quite sore behind the ears.
Tomorrow I am due to go garden centre shopping to choose a garden chair of some sort with my son - this may take a little time, so I have attached a length of tape to one ear loop and will pass it behind my head, through the other ear loop and tie it so that he elasatic doesn't rest on the back of my ears. I hope that will do the trick.
Hoping to goodness that my persistent cough (which is not at all Covid related, 100% AnOther condition) goes away and stays away. Or it’ll be back in home and garden and No More out and about.
Right now is not a good time to be coughing.......
I'm going for a chest x-ray next Thursday due to my horrendous cough - it appears not to be 100% asthma, it definitely isn't Covid (or wasn't when it first started up) but the doctor (I actually saw an actual doctor in an actual surgery!) thinks it's a post-infection cough.
What that infection might have been, nobody can tell...
I popped out to the Co-Op earlier, to make sure of BEER supplies before tomorrow's forecast Burning Fiery Furnace occurs.
Two macho-looking, bare-chested, Young Chaps came out of the shop while I was waiting to go in. Neither of them was wearing a mask, or carrying one, post-doffing.
Three Young Gels (mid-teens?) waited politely for me to leave. They were all wearing masks - colour-coordinated with their T-shirts and shorts! Well done, Young Gels - a good example to us all.
Sometimes I don’t pay attention when eating and end up needing to have a good cough. Which is bad when one works in a hospital. Hence last week I was heard shouting to my department “it’s not the virus! I just aspirated some sour patch kids powder!”
Also I have a strong photic sneeze reflex (sneeze when the sun is in my eyes). So every morning as I trudge in to work from the car park I sneeze at the same place and field dirty looks from people around me.
My sibling is a wee bit west of you, so not affected by this (at present), but is concerned. And has been concerned for some time that the lockdown easing was going much too fast. In some ways, I think they would prefer it if lockdown were re-imposed...
I am seething at the the total failure by the government to ensure that their tests actually worked. Just had a letter from the CEO of mum's group of care homes to say that they've had to stop routine testing of staff and residents as no tests are available due to problems with one supplier. They've been told that they may be able to test in five weeks time. Regular testing was one of the cornerstones of the policy to re-open care homes, so goodness knows when that will be. A little digging shows that the company in question is Randox. Not only have their been queries about the accuracy of their tests for a while, they were given a contract without tender and have links to the Conservative Party.
In the meantime elderly people are dying, not just of Covid 19 but grief at not seeing their loved ones.
When I first required 24-hour care in mid-February, several well-meaning people suggested that I should move to an assisted living place. I did not give the idea serious thought; I was then expected to be dead within eight weeks, and wanted to stay home with my cats and familiar things. Thank God I said no!
Today our local store closed down for cleaning after 2 of the workers tested positive. The bad part is that it is the only game in town. Thankfully another smaller store is open 6 miles away. I am not concerned as I have local farm delivery box each week, and can also get a food box from the senior center so we can get by for a number of weeks without a problem. And yes I have toilet paper.
I asked a co-worker today how her business is going. She all but burst into tears. She's a hairdresser, and she's been working with us while she was on enforced shutdown. Now our county is back on the watch list, and I guess she'll have to close again. All I could do is offer a hug, but at least she knows somebody's thinking of her and is on her side.
We have been doing quite well so far here, but I am waiting for the State Indoctrination Centres public schools to reopen here. That should put a monkey wrench in things.
NZ has had an increase in people home schooling their children because they weren't happy with them going back to school, There are also some who have just disappeared from the system.
Shockingly high temperature meant I had to send away for Corvid testing kit. Have duly done it and sent it back, now waiting result. Would not be surprised to be told it was contaminated and therefore void, as when I went round where my tonsils used to be 80 years ago, discovered the wee bit of chocolate I had eaten was all over the probe!!
Cabin fever got the best of me today and I decided to go out for lunch.
My favorite Chinese buffet is open for business but I couldn't muster up the courage to go in. I don't think we're quite ready for buffet style dining yet.
My favorite pizza place has gone out of business.
I ended up getting a Big Mac meal at McDonald's but had to eat it in the Amandamobile, as they weren't allowing in-house dining.
For dessert, I craved ice cream. I stopped by the nearest Dairy Queen but they weren't letting people inside and the drive-in line was too long. Another Dairy Queen was allowing people in, but I spied a clerk behind the counter not wearing a mask, and so spun on my heels and ran out without ordering.
I thought I could at least get a shake at the In-N-Out Burger down the street, which (for those who don't know) is strictly drive-up and a carhop brings your order out. "A small vanilla shake, please," I said. "What flavor shake?" the clerk asked. "Vanilla." "What size?" "Small." "That will be $15.85 please." "No, a small shake is $2.49." No reply. I drove away.
I think God was trying to tell me the world is not yet ready for dining out, and that I really shouldn't be ordering ice cream anyway.
Silly question, maybe, but don't they sell ice cream at McDonalds? I'm sure I recall devouring some sort of tasty ice-cream thingy (a Flacmurry?)from that emporium...
Dining-out is being actively encouraged here in Little England, as the virus appears to have gone away, and the *government* is anxious to get everybody out of their pits houses, and back to work, shopping, sport, sittingshitting on the beach, sex, binge-drinking, and the other religious observances of the nation.
I think Miss Amanda may be right (apart from God not wanting her to have ice-cream, that is).
Silly question, maybe, but don't they sell ice cream at McDonalds?
Yes, but it would have melted in the Amandamobile as I was eating my burger and fries. I wasn't about to go back inside to order more. When I first arrived, there was only one other customer besides me, and he was properly masked. As I was waiting for my order to come out, more customers came in, including one gentleman who wore his mask down around his chin. I kept my distance, but I would have left then and there had I not already paid for my order. As it was, I contemplated leaving anyway. I was beginning to feel unsafe.
Miss Amanda, I do not know if you have Schwans home delivery in your area, but they have the most wonderful ice cream at very reasonable prices. We order their ice cream for the home freezer.
My recollection of Flacmurries (Flucmarries?) is that they taste fine, but that they do indeed go runny rather quickly, so I take Miss Amanda's point about not letting them loose all over the upholstery of the Amandamobile...
Miss Amanda, I do not know if you have Schwans home delivery in your area, but they have the most wonderful ice cream at very reasonable prices. We order their ice cream for the home freezer.
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But the thought of taking single items upstairs one at a time does not appeal either.
There’s an app for that 🙂
I went to lunch today at a local fast-food eatery that makes good sandwiches and donates a portion of their proceeds to first responders (in particular, firefighters). I arrived a few minutes after opening time, and appeared to be their first customer.
After I placed my order, and while I was waiting for the sandwich to be made, several other customers came in all wearing masks and all social distancing from each other. So far so good.
However, one young gentleman came in unmasked, and did not don his mask until he approached the order desk. Even then, he put his mask on in such a way that it covered only his mouth, not his nose. I no longer felt safe, and so grabbed my sandwich and drink and headed outside to sit an an outside table, even though the temperature by that time of day was slightly over 100 degrees.
While I continued to eat at the outside table, I noticed other customers arriving: several who donned their masks before getting out of their cars; several not donning them until they approached the door of the place; one wearing her mask down around her chin (her companion, who was driving their car, was unmasked but he merely dropped her off and did not go inside); one lady whose mask covered her mouth but not her nose (I think they said something to her, since when she came back out both her nose and mouth were covered); two police officers who should have known better but remained maskless until halfway between their car and the door.
I felt safe sitting outside in the open air, but come on, people, what's so hard about comprehending that both your nose and mouth must be covered at all times except in the privacy of your car?
Which reminds me, my post-viral syndrome appears to have mostly gone away
What fabrics have you been using? Pleated one is an outer of synthetic silk - bugger to sew, but a dense weave - lined with cotton.
I have an ex-skirt of Indian silk, I was thinking 3 layers of that?
Tomorrow I am due to go garden centre shopping to choose a garden chair of some sort with my son - this may take a little time, so I have attached a length of tape to one ear loop and will pass it behind my head, through the other ear loop and tie it so that he elasatic doesn't rest on the back of my ears. I hope that will do the trick.
Right now is not a good time to be coughing.......
What that infection might have been, nobody can tell...
Two macho-looking, bare-chested, Young Chaps came out of the shop while I was waiting to go in. Neither of them was wearing a mask, or carrying one, post-doffing.
Three Young Gels (mid-teens?) waited politely for me to leave. They were all wearing masks - colour-coordinated with their T-shirts and shorts! Well done, Young Gels - a good example to us all.
Also I have a strong photic sneeze reflex (sneeze when the sun is in my eyes). So every morning as I trudge in to work from the car park I sneeze at the same place and field dirty looks from people around me.
The sensible are being penalised alongside the reckless. Our area now goes into a partial lockdown so these kinds of meetings are now banned. 😢
Ten (!) people were tested positive at my brother’s work place. All were young and had attended the same party. One became very ill. 🤬
In the meantime elderly people are dying, not just of Covid 19 but grief at not seeing their loved ones.
Prayers ascending for your mum and her carers.
((votives galore)) for the poor souls stuck in care homes, and for the poor staff, and families, who have to cope with this ghastly situation.
My favorite Chinese buffet is open for business but I couldn't muster up the courage to go in. I don't think we're quite ready for buffet style dining yet.
My favorite pizza place has gone out of business.
I ended up getting a Big Mac meal at McDonald's but had to eat it in the Amandamobile, as they weren't allowing in-house dining.
For dessert, I craved ice cream. I stopped by the nearest Dairy Queen but they weren't letting people inside and the drive-in line was too long. Another Dairy Queen was allowing people in, but I spied a clerk behind the counter not wearing a mask, and so spun on my heels and ran out without ordering.
I thought I could at least get a shake at the In-N-Out Burger down the street, which (for those who don't know) is strictly drive-up and a carhop brings your order out. "A small vanilla shake, please," I said. "What flavor shake?" the clerk asked. "Vanilla." "What size?" "Small." "That will be $15.85 please." "No, a small shake is $2.49." No reply. I drove away.
I think God was trying to tell me the world is not yet ready for dining out, and that I really shouldn't be ordering ice cream anyway.
Someone's having a laugh ...
Dining-out is being actively encouraged here in Little England, as the virus appears to have gone away, and the *government* is anxious to get everybody out of their pits houses, and back to work, shopping, sport, sittingshitting on the beach, sex, binge-drinking, and the other religious observances of the nation.
I think Miss Amanda may be right (apart from God not wanting her to have ice-cream, that is).
Are you going to celebrate by eating more CHOCOLATE?
Yes, but it would have melted in the Amandamobile as I was eating my burger and fries. I wasn't about to go back inside to order more. When I first arrived, there was only one other customer besides me, and he was properly masked. As I was waiting for my order to come out, more customers came in, including one gentleman who wore his mask down around his chin. I kept my distance, but I would have left then and there had I not already paid for my order. As it was, I contemplated leaving anyway. I was beginning to feel unsafe.
Yes, we do. Good suggestion. Thanks.