The good news is that computer is finally here!
The bad news is that it’s just now got here. I am sorry, we are looking at Monday for Ryder.
I wanted to tell you about my Mom. She has been dead for over a decade now, but I still miss her.
My grandparents had a garden and they used to let me sell apples for them. I was very cute and I sold a lot. My mom found out and put a stop to this. It was not appropriate behavior. She told me people would look down on me because I sold things. I couldn’t understand it. We had extra apples. If I sold apples, we would get money. My eight year old brain had really hard time with the peculiarities of life in Soviet Russia. š
Thirty some years later, behold, my empire of books which I shamelessly sell. Muhahahaha!
Since very early age, partially from selling apples, I discovered that I was a very good bargainer. I can and will haggle. My mother grew up in the planned economy of Soviet Union, where the cheese in the store by the house was $5 a kilo – I don’t remember the price of cheese, don’t hold me to it – and the price of cheese in the store on Voroshilovskii Prospect was $5, and the price of cheese at Central market on Budenovskii, 8 trolley stops away, was still $5. Someone somewhere decided that that’s what the cheese was worth in our city. End of story.
When Soviet Union collapsed, my mother would go to the market and come home green in the face, because she bought cucumbers for $1 a kilo and on the way out she saw them for 50 cents. It would cause her no end of grief. It wasn’t the fifty cents, it was that she felt like a complete failure. Can you imagine the anxiety of someone suddenly having to bargain shop after never before doing it in her entire life?
That’s when I learned that people have different pressure points.
Right now everyone is very stressed out.
We all have a reason to be stressed out. First, there is the plague. It’s killing people. In Texas, 54,509 people are sick. And that’s only those who bothered to get diagnosed. We are having basic goods shortages: toilet paper, cleaning supplies, meat. People are losing jobs. People have trouble paying their rent and mortgage. Kid 1’s boyfriend has been driving to Austin every three days looking for his unemployment check, which is not showing up. We’re not going to even go into politics right now.
This is some awful crap.
This situation affects everyone in different ways. For example, goods shortage doesn’t bother me one bit. The moment China went into lock down, a switch flipped in my brain that said, “We are going to go into lock down. We are going to have shortages. We are now in Russia.”
I can do Russia. I’ve stood in block-long lines to get sugar and toilet paper before. I have a frame of reference to handle this. My kids are the same because they grew up with me. When we couldn’t find the sensitive skin detergent for Gordon, Kid 1 made her own from ingredients. It smells nice and it’s cheap.
A friend of mine panicked. She has never dealt with shortages. She has never baked bread from scratch. I don’t think she has ever baked anything from scratch, actually. Every time she has to shop for something and the grocery store informs her that item is not available, she experiences spikes of anxiety. This is her own personal hell.
People have different pressure points.
I told you that shortages don’t bother me, right? You know what bothers me? Covid. I have enough education in biology to understand the magnitude of this and I have attacks of hypochondria. They are severe. It’s not fun. I worry about the kids, about Gordon, about friends across the country, about colleagues in New York, about Navajo Nation…
The friend I mentioned who has anxiety about food shortages? Doesn’t bother her at all. I will sit there and agonize because Kid 2 has to go to the bank in person and she is like, “I let the kids go to the neighbor’s yard to play.” I think she is crazy. But her anxiety makes her just as miserable as my anxiety makes me.
Another thing I worry about. Kid 1 is preparing to take her certification exams and she will have to look for a job. Almost everyone she knew from the previous courses who went on to get a job has been fired. They were the new hires and the first to be dumped. She worked so hard and now there are no prospects. Right now someone who is reading this might be in danger of getting evicted. Everyone has their own worries. Everyone’s worries make them miserable.
The point I am trying to make is that the times are grim. They might get grimmer for a little bit. Let’s try to cut each other a bit of extra slack. I know it’s hard because some days are pure shit and then you see a comment that was clearly written by an epic idiot.
But still, let’s try to be kind.
I haven’t ever been to Russia, but I do understand having to stand in line, bargain and going home with (or without). For years, we have taken advantage of sales on items people are now hoarding. I’m not worried about toilet paper, food, not much of any consumable really. The thing I worry over is the ingredients for the food I cook for my old dog. Yeah, my 13 year old dog. She has a veterinarian prescribed diet of boneless, skinless boiled chicken and rice. I add her medications to that twice a day. The Wal-Mart limits the number of packages of chicken you can buy. It is a 52 mile one way drive. I worry I won’t have enough for her. Most all of us will get thru this problem and the next and the next because we are willing and able to do without in order to provide for those who have more need than ourselves. We must have faith in God, our neighbors, family, friends and ourselves.
I has that problem with toilet paper in a store. I purchased my stuff walked it out to the car and came back and bought some more, problem solved.
This is the week the meat prices got jacked up. About 2 and half weeks ago I bought a family pack of rib eye steaks for $50 today that same family pack was $77. WOW. Good thing I normally can stretch out on steak for 3 to 6 meals. Lots of veggies.
My parents survived being deported to Siberia and later traveled and lived in 26 countries before settling in the US. Every year they made us kids watch Doctor Zhivago to show what they went through. I can’t complain about anything I am going through as all my family on both sides had the same experience.
I also quick watching the news as most throw so many negative comments that it just makes the situation worst.
Can you tell my mind is ping ponging all over the place?
We will be ok. Our parents, grandparents, great Grandparents went thru tough times. Tough times donāt last, tough people do.
Great comment, Lizabeth!
And thank you ALs (OK, “HA” if I have to) for your blog, your books, and for bringing together the BDH. I always find something inspirational when I read this blog.
Thank you for the moments that I can share with my friends and family. They bring much needed giggles and laughter in a time when stress is causing everything to fall apart. I am the only one in my extended family to still have a job so everything is chaos, tears and bill juggling. Coffee cat is my boss every day so I bring gummies instead and call it an āalternative energy streamā. It gets me through the day š
Yes. This. I was only barely employed in retail before the shutdown. I am now not. I have plenty of time to look for work in my field (writing/editing), but there are fewer jobs and, while many writers and editors are being afforded the opportunity to work remotely (yay!), many still are now unemployed. It’s a numbers game. I am anxious about covid, hugely, and I am anxious about having no income at some point (I am saving that extra $600/week so I have it to live on longer if it takes me a very long time to find work). (Also, $600/week is too much. Even $200/week would have been a godsend.) I am very anxious about what our society and our communities and our relationships and interactions will be like as we move forward. That’s what I’m most anxious about.
Glad your computer showed up,but don’t fret about Ryder,it is you who are doing us a favor.
I am very fortunate, I am employed,been working from home since mid March instead of commuting into NYC, and though I live in one of the epicenters of the disease in northern NJ, I am so grateful people around here take it seriously, people wear masks in stores,they distance inside,stores try to protect their workers and people don’t get irritable if they have to wait to go into the store. We walk our two goons a lot and people have been great.
There is one idiot near where I live with the big poster of you know who on a tree outside his house,who yells at people wearing masks as sheep giving up their freedom, who claims he will force his way into stores that require masks and makes a jerk of himself…and is being shunned by his neighbors and from what I hear has been banned from Costco and other stores in the area. It saddens me to see political.conservatism meaning I don’t give a crap about others, when it is supposed to be about responsibility, not to mention many of those refusing to act sensibly claim to be religious; whatever happened to love they neighbor as you love yourself?
I worry about our son, he is living in Houston and from what he says everyone there is acting like everything is fine,no masks, no distancing and they make fun of those wearing masks. He has asthma and even though they now say it isn’t necessarily a risk w Covid,I worry about it.
Things are opening up more here, I understand why people are going stir crazy, we notice that when any semblance of normalcy comes back, the local Asian restaurant for takeout or our favorite Greek diner, or they reopened the parks, it just feels so.much better It is also great that if I need to go to the hardware store to fix or do something,I don’t have to decide if it is an emergency or not but rather is simply needed.
Overall I am grateful that I and my family are okay and that while I don’t worry about myself, I worry and pray for all the people hurt by this and do what I can to help.My worse nightmare is not getting sick from this, but somehow infecting others.
I hear you about Kid 1. I’ve got one in graduate school, one is graduating from university next year and one in high school. None of them are going to find summer jobs in order to contribute financially towards their college funds. They can’t go out and do any activities that they love and we are scattered around four states. I’m with my elderly mother, my eldest is with my father, my youngest is with my in-laws and my husband and Kid 2 are at our home. I miss them so much, but our parents can’t be alone during this pandemic so we scattered.
Like you the shortages I can deal with, it’s the inactivity that is making me grumpy and I miss my job, but I couldn’t risk working because I have an autoimmune disease and I do not want to get sick so I’m holed up with my mom and we are two very cranky ladies.
What I am afraid of is urban civil war.
Thank you, the sentiment is on point, couldnāt agree more. And I love how instead of being preachy you make me smile. That is why I read your blog. Not because I love your stories, though, I do. I read it for your down to earth wisdom, your homey stories and the fact you often make me smile if not out right laugh.
If you havenāt seen this Iād like to return the favor, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFZFjoX2cGg
PS: more Artha please
An excellent post. Thank you for the perspective.
Thank you for the post and then the amusing comments. I am working hard to remind myself that Iām very lucky. Itās hugely stressful and fat lots of my life sucks but in many ways I was more prepared than many of my friends. I work hard to be positive , look for the happy has been a part of my mindset for decades. One way Iāve been looking for that happy place is in books-a lifelong obsession with reading set me up well for this. I have been immersed in worlds you have created to escape from my own for a bit . It is not a total solution as I miss my usual stress relievers with a bone deep passion (family, museums, sightseeing and nature ) but has helped. It has helped a lot! So again, thank you!
PS
However impatient I may be for Ryder it is something I didnāt expect at all so – being so bold as to speak for most fans- we will be happy to get it whenever we get it!
I’m glad you got your computer!
I’m also not too fussed about shortages (I stocked up on toilet paper, coffee, and over-the-counter medications) but the coronavirus scares me silly.
Much as I look forward to each new Ryder, I also got a lot of comfort and perspective from your words today.
Whenever I find myself stressing, I remind myself that my grandparents survived two world wars AND the Spanish Flu. This too shall pass.
I live in Italy, I’m very very afraid of this virus. To the point that I’m afraid to go out and go to the supermarket or something like that.
It is since the beginning of the crisis here in Italy that I’m staying at home. In the beginning, I did go out to take away the groceries at the supermarket (basically it was like the McDrive but for the supermarket) then I couldn’t anymore because we couldn’t leave our village.
I’m very very afraid… The other day I went out to do a little walk with my daughter and husband and I had so much anxiety when going out and seeing other people walking in the neighborhood. I’ve never been like this… Now I am… I don’t know if or when this anxiety will go away… I hope fast.
Oh, Lyanna, I’m so sorry you’re experiencing paralyzing anxiety and/or panic. I have both Generalized Anxiety Disorder (my all-day walking around anxiety level is very high) and Panic Disorder (causing me to experience 5-45 minute long spikes of terror.) One of the happiest days of my life was 30 years ago, when I finally opened up to a doctor who said, “okay, this is what it is, and this is how we’ll deal with it in therapy, and here’s your first prescription.” There was life before, and then there was so much better life afterward.
Obviously, this may not be the best time to seek out a psychiatrist (for medication management), or a therapist/psychologist (for strategies and toolbox building), ideally both. But would it be possible to do a phone consult with your regular doctor, perhaps for a prescription to get you back on a more even keel?
Most especially – life is not AS scary right now as your body is telling you it is. You’re not weak, a coward, or a failure. You’re not letting anyone down, and you have nothing to be ashamed of. This crisis has just hit you in a *physically* vulnerable spot (the brain is as physical as the liver), and it *will* get better. If you got hit by a metal pipe at the right place and angle, it might break your leg. So, get a cast (tell your family and doc you need help), get temporary crutches (medications like a benzodiazepine), and give yourself time to heal. Be gentle with yourself, this situation just keeps beating on us in new ways with different weapons. You’re likely to need support and treatment at least until science has some solutions for this virus. The good new is science already has a LOT of solutions for anxiety. My very best wishes for you and yours!
Iām sending good wishes, positive thoughts and strong happy vibes your way. Take care of yourself, Lyanna ????
Thank you, IA, for your balancing post. Love your humour.
You bring back memories. My mother and father have been gone nearly 26 and 25 years respectively. Still miss them, my mother especially as she was the loving, kind cog in our world and was taken away in a flash.
Compassion and kindness are so important right now, and from reading the comments, even for the eejits (couldn’t resist) who behave the way they do because of their own insecurities and fear. When fear is at the forefront it is difficult to manage our emotions. If anyone practices meditation, I find this guided meditation is really helping me now. https://youtu.be/KaeGOOtWKjA
Being compassionate to ourselves enables us to be compassionate to others. It’s such a challenging time…
Happy the computer arrived. Have a great weekend and Rhyder will be welcome whenever you get to it. ????????
The shortages didn’t bother me all that much: I am sort of a “prepper” anyways: because I have never felt secure in my employment and I always felt like I had to be able to survive for a month or so if I had to with nothing coming in……I’ve been out of work since early March and although I could have survived on my savings (and husband’s Social Security), I am actually making more money on unemployment (because of the stimulus) than I was working 46 hours a week. So I get to stay home, not go anywhere or have to do anything but read?? and not starve? It has been WONDERFUL. But I worry over my daughters: the one who has had to keep working every day because she has an “essential” job. The one who has always been already prone to hysterical anxiety who has been working from home and feels imprisoned in her apartment because apparently people in Austin do not take this seriously and congregate in the pool area outside her apartment…..the things I have no control over. It is the loss of control, I believe, that is everyone’s pressure point. The thing I have taken away from this that hurts me the most, though, is the deep sorrow I feel for how my country has handled this whole thing. I’ve watched it slip away for years, but it has really been brought home to me the last month or so that the America that I knew and grew up in really and truly is gone and I am mourning. Because it’s not coming back. It’s just…..gone.
Thank you so much fir posting when it must be the last thing you feel like doing. The BDH need to know youāre ok its a kind of sanity lifeline
On a lighter note since you mentioned you are a bear of very little brain is gordon Christopher Robin? If so I do hope that he hasnāt tried to drag you down the stairs by your heels Bitter experience its very painful on a concrete stair!
Oops this is in the wrong place!
In my tiny country things are way better.Still we have to wear masks and stuff.There are people who dont. Im going crazy.Some are relatives and dont think its wrong to visit my 70 – somthing parents.
Hoping 2021 won’t be as f***ed up
In the meanwhile, take care, Author Lords and BDH alike, sending positive vibes your way ~
I know enough about Covid to be scared of it, and enough about math to know Iām probably ok. And I have been saying this all along. Until.Until we found out that symptoms are basically random. Coughing is the ONLY symptom that has consistently occurred in more than 50% of cases. And even then, the severity of coughing varies wildly. In March I had a cold. Sore throat, stuffy nose, a cold. The WHO told me at that time that there was a 95% chance of NO Covid with those symptoms.
It isnāt about who is bothering to get diagnosed. I donāt know if tests are as short in Texas as elsewhere, but even if they are plentiful, how is someone to know that foot rash is a symptom of Covid unless they saw the ONE newspaper article on it? Or that their mild cold is Covid and not one of the three strains of Coronavirus that cause a common cold?
But math still helps me. In places where there are more closed than open cases, itās a 15% very sick and 2% mortality rate. And Iām lucky to be in Austria, where itās close to over (at least until they open the borders again). And has one of the best estimates of numeric accuracy (comparing normal mortality rates during this time period to actual mortality rates, Austria has the smallest gap). So take comfort in the math when the science is too damned scary!
And remember 1917-1918 and that it could be a lot worse. It could have been the flu.
One of my oldest friends does computer modeling in one of the (many) labs working with the live virus. The math gets better. Triple the number of positive cases for those who are asymptomatic or very mildly symptomatic. He and his partner were both exposed (well, ok, he was the one who exposed his partner), both tested positive, both had zero symptoms. He worked from home right up until he tested negative twice (heās still working from home, since the modeling can be done remotely). On the downside, double the number of reported deaths. The math still gets a lot better that way, just not as much better.
The only thing I can not do without is toilet paper – I normally order packs of 48 rolls at a time, so as I ordered a second set just after everything kicked off, I can deal with everything else ????
For the rest, what will be will be (I can’t remember how to spell it out in Spanish, a la shades of Doris Day ????)
Can’t resist… it’s que serĆ” serĆ”. No idea why that’s floating around my brain. All this ordering delivery, and I find I suddenly can’t remember my own zip code!
Iāve been singing that song ever since I saw that post! Itās from a movie called The Glass Bottom Boat. I donāt know if itās available anywhere but if youāre looking for a fun, silly and romantic HEA movie, this is it ????
Iām blessed and lucky to have had a fairly easy coronavirus shutdown experience. Being single Iām used to being alone, content with my own company, love to cook/bake and have plenty of hobbies. I do childcare and that has enabled me to keep working a bit and be around people. My background and training is in the medical field which has helped me to be neither frightened nor complacent. But Iām fully aware that others have not been so fortunate. So I hope and pray and think positive thoughts for all who are sad and suffering, sick/infected/recovering/, and especially those who are working so diligently to keep us safe.
xoxoxo to you all!
Thank you for continuing to think of us; we’ll love Ryder when we can get it.
Meanwhile, back at the Raunch House … er, whatever, we all do have our stressors and our fears. And it is not necessary to go around poking at strangers in the hope of finding one such. After much practice and study I have found that by combining several types of meditation with Primal Scream Therapy that it is actually possible to scroll past other people’s posts. Yes!!!!!! No matter how desperately a post cries out for my brilliant analysis and rapier-like wit, I actually can just ignore it. And move on …
Prayers for those with anxiety and fears.
I’ve spent about half my life overseas (from Minnesota originally) and I’ve got similar issues – food shortages, baking at home, political instability … I grew up partially in Africa, went through my first coup d’etat in Burkina when I was 5, taught English in Moscow for 9 years… I can deal with that. I mean, not always happily or well, and I am SO sick of cooking at home, but I can deal. But this simultaneous isolation and never actually being alone of quarantine? I’m in Germany now, all the kindergartens are closed for who knows how long, and there are days I feel like my child has taken a buzz saw to my brain. I mean I adore him I just sometimes wish I could take a sledgehammer to Roblox, like, the entire platform.
My photo business is just gone. I did event photography and portraits at events, mostly larps, historical reenactments, and medieval dances so we aren’t talking big money or full time work but it was the difference between “just scraping by” and “living with some frills and fun”. The depression from losing that has been really hard.
I started writing again, though, which I haven’t since high school, and that’s been the main thing getting me through. It’s not fanfic but definitely draws inspiration from Innkeeper and KD (but probably more Shadowrun, Changling, and Endzeit), and I just want to thank you guys for having written those, and I guess opened up the relief of spending time in a world where everything has already gone wrong? Anyway, if it helps anyone else, doing something completely outside what you normally do, in this times that are completely outside normality… well it might help. Good luck to you all!
If it takes a century for the next chapter of Ryder to appear there will be a 174 year old man patiently waiting for it, and that will be me.
::laughter::
I am now 200 miles from my home, after looters burned the pharmacy a block from our house in St Paul, MN. My husband and I evacuated with 2 cats and my 86 year old mother, who is now living with us since she couldn’t deal with the isolation of the pandemic. We are in a 1 bedroom vacation home, which is very nice but very crowded at the moment. We could deal with shortages, staying at home and pandemic precautions, but rioting in the streets is just pushing us a bit too far. I seek to accept what is happening with grace, compassion and patience, but I am running low on all three.
Love all the people on here. I am lucky I can telework. My main fear is being back to work in real clothes again. I too worry about everyone else. I love that we are opening up again in my city, but I just can’t bring myself to go where groups of people gather, masks or no. I have asthma and know what it’s like not being able to breathe, and COVID has no cure. So I will stay home as long as I can and have groceries delivered. Good luck to everyone and thank you Ilona and Gordon for all you do.
Personally I havenāt stopped my daily activities. Yes I got fired from my job, but if I want to go do something I do it, I also know that I had this thing in November. So I donāt worry about it.
Very interesting reading everybody’s stories here. I am reminded again to be thankful for a few rather tough years we had, after moving to rural SW Virginia during a recession. We burned all kinds of things in a basement coal stove (including dumpster-retrieved phone books) to keep from freezing. We wasted nothing then, and I picked up a bit of a hoarding habit. But if it weren’t for that period, I would not have a capacity to know what this is like. So many people I know don’t have that blessing and cannot understand.
P.S. I still haven’t had to buy TP since December. My stash is still adequate.. š
Thanks for sharing. Here in Germany the situation is pretty mild and I know that even if I catch the virus I will receive the necessary care – kind you I am still careful. I have a secure job, so no pressures on that front but I live alone (luckily with cats to keep me company). So the thing I miss the most is being able to hug my friends and family – the loneliness sometimes feels so suffocating. Thanks so much for your kind works. Because even though I have it good. It is nice to acknowledge that there are different pressure point for everyone
Keep well š
Thank you for this thread! I live in CT, surrounded by the horror that is covid. Prior to all of this my sister was dying of cancer. I took early retirement so that I could head down to TN to care for her. My last day of work was March 14. (oyoyo) We decided I shouldn’t risk infecting her, so we put off the visit for a couple of weeks, then the lockdown hit. She died 4 weeks later while we’re still in lockdown. Even though covid didn’t kill her, she tested positive so I coulda/shoulda/woulda made the trip without harming her. That’s all sad but what really spikes my anxiety is that most family members live in the south. In areas that are not hit so hard, where death from the disease doesn’t seem so real. My brother traveled from AL to TN, twice, because he’s not going to be like those “sniveling, irrational cowards who quake in fear in their homes.” I don’t get his lackadaisical attitude and he doesn’t get my fearful attitude. So yeah…TMI, hahaha. But to talk about it within the family creates divisions.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Lynne. And I’m sorry you seem to be having to be the peacemaker in such a trying time. As for the coulda/shoulda’s, didn’t mom Baylor have some good advice for that? Burn For Me, the night or next morning following getting the artifact piece from the building that went boom? Now I need to go look that up! Wishing you peace, health and healing.
Thank you so much for sharing this! It is always a good thing when someone can get others to take a step back and see the world in a new perspective. Anxiety is personal and so is the way people deal with their own anxiety and we should all be respectful of this. Thank you expecially for your family story is really amazing to read!
Hugs. Just… hugs. To you and you and y’all, and y’all’s y’all. A lot of grace, a little humility, and a lot of deep (masked) breathing go a long way.
Also, OY!
Thank you for your words. They fit to all of us – worldwide. Be kind.
Hugs about about your mother. Mine passed almost 2 years ago and the loss is still fierce as Iām sure yours is. Thank you and Gordon for the amazing books. They are getting me through many things right now. Stay safe, be well. š
I’m retired and have a pension as well as Social Security. My life hasn’t changed a whole lot, though I sorely miss going to the library and I and my offspring who live in the same complex are planning to go to our favorite restaurant the day it reopens and make a serious attempt to buy out their entire menu.
I have been taking advantage of being up with the sun and going for morning walks around my neighborhood. I still haven’t found a pattern for three miles, though there are lots for one mile or two and I’ve found two (slightly) different routes that work out to four miles each.
Somebody has been putting crotchet work around stop sign poles on one corner.
From working in academia my entire career, I have had a lot of experience with handholding for the stressed-out. I live in Oregon, which seems to be dealing fairly well with things, and if I actually know anybody who’s been sick with COVID-19, they haven’t told me. I still get to talk to a lot of worried people, and I do what I can to help. One friend and I spend about 3/4 of every conversation talking about books – very often the Innkeeper series, and, lately, Ryder.
This is very true and as such I will unequivocally apologise if I have at any time upset anyone about anything.
We don’t know what’s going on with anybody else so I suppose the best thing to do is to try and be understanding.
Here in the UK we are loosening lockdown while still having 300+ deaths a day from covid19. Obviously we want to come out of the measures but we’re very concerned about how it’s happening and how people around us are following the rules, which does leave you in an almost constantly anxious state. Then there’s the fact you can’t escape the pandemic, it’s everywhere, you can’t see your family the same way, you can’t go out the same way, you can’t shop or even watch TV soaps the same way. It’s pervasive and draining and irritating and upsetting all at once.
So I want to send everyone everywhere a huge virtual hug and pat on the back (I’m not much of a real life hugger normally and am famed in my family for my heavy back patting!). We can all get through this, I truly believe it, it’s just difficult.
Hugs and comforting pats all round.
Glad your computer arrived. One less worry for you. My children are in their 40’s and I still worry about them. I now have 3 grandchildren to worry about. One good thing about CO19 it is affecting the elderly, I’ll be 70 in august along with my twin sister. The Spanish Flu killed the young. I’ve had great life. Retired when I was 68 from nursing. I would love my children, God willing, to enjoy retirement and to be blessed with their grandchildren. The young are wonderful human beings and are our future. That’s why I love hearing about Julies story and how she has developed to an adult. Be brave everyone the Spanish flu went away, so will CO19.
I remember standing in a queue in USSR, in Kiev for toilet paper in late 1980s with my grandmother. When you’re a kid this all feels like an adventure.
I am sorry you’re having anxiety attacks, those are never good for stress and general well being. Also best of luck to Kid 1, I am positive she will get there.
Shortages were worriesome at first, but South Africa was pretty good about items coming through. The restrictions are being relaxed, but we’re entering winter so that’s not great. Unfortunately, our economy was bad before lockdown, if it doesn’t reopen we might have a mini civil war. So a combo of the flu season and second infection wave isn’t great, but here’s hoping for the best. Well, that and learning to get through the day with a mask on (it’s currently compulsory in South Africa to be in public with a face mask)
I have a bread machine. I used to make bread all the time until my German Shepherd learned that the breadmaker opened at the top. She would wait, open the bread machine, and eat most of the bread. I moved it, she still got to it. I moved it again. Zoe Bernstein ate the bread. I gave up.
Your dog is very smart. And very naughty.
I lived for a while on a Caribbean island and every day you’d look at the harbor to see if a boat came in – that dictated what would be in the stores. The news spread like wildfire, “oh, there’s milk at the grocery!” or “they’re unloading furniture from Paris!”. In these times, I look at the trip to the grocery store like that . . . it’s a treasure hunt and my friends and I send gleeful emails to each other when we find something good.
Our fears, whether they be fear of infection, fear of permanent work loss, fear of losing dignity, or a myriad of others, can make us angry and defensive. I try to avoid the stereotyping of someone based on my fears, as people have complicated lives that I may not understand by one action. I have told my friends (both sides of the political spectrum) that their rants are what upset me most so when figurative foaming at the mouth starts, I bow out. Be kind out there and you can’t go wrong.
House Andrews, you can’t overestimate how much we appreciate not only your work, but your level-headed and calm approach to life. Thanks for inviting us into your world.
“House Andrews, you canāt overestimate how much we appreciate not only your work, but your level-headed and calm approach to life. Thanks for inviting us into your world.”
I couldn’t agree more! š
I live in Prague. The situation looks very good. Thanks to strict measures, the measures are released after three months. On the street we can already without Masks at intervals of 2 m. I am not afraid of contact with people.
Yup. Covid is scary. I work for a police dept. We have been very careful, even sharing hours so the other clerk and I aren’t in the office at the same time. I go grocery shopping and to the hardware store when needed, but stay home otherwise. I’ve gotten a lot done but not as much as I wanted to. On a good note, my dr did my physical and my BP was down! Looking forward to my bloodwork results.
I have spent years working emergency management for NYS. Plane crashes, terrorist attacks, nuclear power plant training. I have a diff threshold of anxiety than most people.
My anxiety from this is because my hubby is in a nursing home and I haven’t kissed or hugged him since March 11th. We have been fortunate because there has only been one patient and 4 workers who have recently tested positive. They all had contact with each other, none with him. I can get thru this as long as I know he is safe.
Iām waiting on results from a COVID test. It sucks so hard. I wonāt know until Thursday.
Iāve had a murderous sinus infection for a month. Found out the lady who cleans for me tested positive, and it hit her as a sinus infection. I had been on a killer antibiotic which did basically zip. Which means itās a viral infection. Now, is it COVID? Well, havenāt had a fever and I can still taste. So…maybe not. But I have 80-year old parents, and I need to be sure so I wonāt kill them.
In the meantime, Iām wearing a mask in my own house to protect my kids and hubby.
My anxiety is same a yours Ilona. I can’t with people (A.K.A. relatives) asking if they can visit us now that we’re down to GCQ (general community quarantine). I mean…IT’S A QUARANTINE. I did not just spent 2 months in lokdown just to get infected by fools.
I visited family behind the Iron Curtain for the first time in the late 70s. I remember the local market with a few sad carrots and potatoes in bins, and being served beef with so much gristle you couldn’t chew it at the Introurist hotel in Moscow. In those days you could not visit the Soviet Union without an Intourist guide and the hotel room were all bugged. Ah, memories! One really helpful thing from my background is the ability to make multiple meals with just potatoes, bacon, onions and flour/potato starch. The temporary shortages have not bothered me, but the disease scares the heck out of me. we’re easing off some restrictions, but I don’t see stopping wearing a mask for some time yet, no matter what some rant. Here’s to better days!
You guys are too cute…. I love the panchait and the ‘people’ lessons that are always included in these snippets…. one day, in a book signing….. someday….. I’m
just gonna walk up and give you guys both, a big giant bear ????hug … Social distance be damned.
My heart is heavy for all those who are suffering, in so many ways. But let me encourage you that, in most places, the percentages are very good that you wonāt get it, or if you do, that it wonāt be serious. Iām not denying the risk, or the suffering of those who have had it , or worse – lost someone to it. But I worry that this fear is adding stress to people who donāt need more stress. Iāve been looking up some numbers to encourage my daughter (who lives in Indianapolis and is so afraid she might give it to someone if sheās asymptomatic) and the numbers are looking good,! We really caught it early. In the whole state of Indiana, as of yesterday, they had just 529 new cases since 4/28, and 40 deaths. Even if you double that number, itās very good odds. In my county in Pennsylvania, we were fortunate to have only 149 test positive ( since March!) and 5 deaths; 4 of which were octogenarians, one 96 yo man, and someone in their 70s. Those are are sad losses but good numbers! And believe me, I had to dig to find them. Often they would give numbers for the whole state and not even mention the time period they were talking about. This makes it sound bigger than it is. We arenāt being given enough facts to make informed decisions for ourselves, and it seems to me that there is a lot of fear-mongering. Every year the regular flu kills many, (almost 80,000 in 2018), but we donāt hear about it or worry about it much. I had a young, seemingly healthy young friend who was hospitalized with a bad case of flu last year. To get a proper perspective of numbers, we need to know the percentage of each population and the usual numbers of fatalities and do the math. A lot of elective surgeries have worse odds, as do the risks of our everyday lifestyle, but we donāt even think much of them.
In other good news, they seem to be making progress with a vaccine.
I agree itās terrible how mean people can be, and fear makes people angry too, which doesnāt help. Some people are also harsh with those who donāt wear masks -my other daughter got a nasty comment when she took off her mask outside a store! Personally, I wear them in businesses out of respect for others, but they make my face itch, which means Iām touching my face way more than normal. Also some people have anxiety issues with masks- they feel they canāt breathe. I think it should be an individualās or a businessā choice whether to do masks or not. Especially if the numbers stay as they are. Sometimes the masks may do more harm than good for the wearer,. The only good they could do as far as I can see is keep someone from accidentally sneezing or spitting on others. But thatās not enough reason to make millions of people miserable, and more stressed. If they make you feel safer, then wear them! But please try to understand that other people may have good reasons for not wearing them. And they arenāt unscientific just because they disagree with some expert or you. An āexpertāsā opinion is still just an opinion and not an absolute truth. You can find experts with widely oppositional beliefs.
It takes courage to have freedom, because it means taking responsibility for our own choices and allowing others the freedom to choose differently.
Respectfully no. It is unscientific to ignore the scientists and do whatever you want. I wonāt call it stupid, but it is unscientific. Every day that I walk into my hospital in Pennsylvania and worry that resources have been diverted or we run out of something or whether I can see to operate in my faceshield I pray that those people you are referring to wonāt be dumped on my doorstep to fix due to their own idiocy. Masks work, else I would have tested positive two months ago. Maybe if you refuse to follow protocols you should opt to stay home so as not to burden the health care system. Some are saying let Darwin take itās course.
Mary, masks are there to protect other people. I know they are itchy and uncomfortable, but every time you put one on, you are saying to everyone you meet that their lives are important to you. None of us know if we are asymptomatic carriers. If everyone wears a mask, the transmission of the virus will plummet. So please try to tough it out, if possible. š
You DO realize that no matter how well your state is doing *now*, all it takes is one extroverted super spreader to set the disease off in your community. 100,00 dead in 3 months, means 400,000 dead in twelve. More without masks and lock downs. And I never saw refrigerator trucks parked outside hospitals and mortuaries during any flu season.
Great post. And so true. I had the same reaction when China shut down. I went out and bought a big pack of TP and PT, but I thought it would all be over in a few weeks. A month at most. Then I had to get creative. We haven’t done without though, so we’re very luck. Amazon, Target and Costco have come through.
Many sleepless nights over COVID though. Not fearing the disease so much as losing my house. Husband already lost the job he was on and half his business, so it’s crappy.
But we had a lovely picnic in the park with the kids and all the other people there socially distanced nicely under their own shade trees. We ate, played a trivia game, and all was right in the world.
Glad you got your computer!
I can understand anxiety over all of this. I came from a family that for many ears was a single parent family. I understand how to stretch a dollar. Iāve made laundry soap, love it. Iāve learned to bake bread under these circumstances, and muffins, lots and lots of muffins. I stress over being able to feed my kids, I stress over the thought of them going back to school in the fall. I have been the parent to limit their contact, being the only one doing the shopping. I stress over the fact that I have 2 teenage girls and a toddler girl and they are climbing the walls and Iām doing my damnedest to not come out of my face at them bc they are bored and taking it out on each other while I am trying not to take it out on them. I live just outside Atlanta and the thing that are going on right now bring on a whole new level of anxiety as a mother and a decent human being. Your blog, stories, comments, snippets, anything you give us really, is what makes me smile during these times. I grab a kate book and read for a bit to lighten my mood and carry on. So thank you. You help keep us sane in this crazy insane world.
As always, thank you for your perspective and sharing. There’s a group out here in NE posting signs to encourage. .. You Got This. And you do!
I have always had a food and tp anxiety….or at least since I have been on my own and no longer in my parents house….I know what it is to be without and I don’t ever want to be without again……I am not a hoarder I am a planner……I have had that shoe drop before so I always have a stocked pantry (95% of which I rotate so it gets used by , but have on occasion been human and missed ) so when the lock down came I did not have to rush out and get toilet paper or food…….all my friends know that if I have something and they need something I am a phone call away because I am always willing to share ……but I definatly understand the anxiety that comes with this……my daughter lost her job and can’t get unemployment (the system does not recognize her ss number and no one has responded to our request for help) I am grateful for my husband and my son to both have a job ……but I worry that they will catch covid ……one works in retail at a store that sells cheap stuff and people can be nice and people can be rude or just plain awful….at some point in time I have to pull away from the daily trouble ..play games …..talk to my friends via facebook and read a few books …..thanks for writing the books ~~~
Thankyou so much for posting this
Thank you for your wise words and your humour.
Back in the beginning of March I recently had a hip replacement. I was very lucky I had that before they stopped doing voluntary surgeries. Since I was already in isolation, I was worried about whether I still had a job. I was even more concerned about whether I could still get food. I live in an apartment in Manhattan and all the reports about the scarcity of food and other supplies worried me very much. However once I was released and went home, I found I could order supplies and groceries. Once I knew That I still had a job and could work from home and I could get food, the full horror of the disease itself hit me. New York has been especially hard hit and reading about how many have been infected and how many have died was heartbreaking. Even more terrifying were the reports of violence and refusal of some not to take this seriously. Luckily I live in a neighborhood where people do try to take care of each other. The people in my apartment building have been helpful and supportive. Iām glad to see most people do wear masks when they go out although there are some that still refuse to do this. I am sorry SGN with John Krasinski is no longer doing new episodes. It was so good to see that they were people who rose to the occasion and went out of there way to help others. It was good to see that the majority of people were acting in a sensible and responsible way. The news has a tendency to only show the loud minority who act irresponsibly and selfishly. We will get through this. Hopefully once we do we will be better, wiser, and kinder. We will take what we learned and make the world better.
I always look forward to your posts and now I see Iām going to have to take it one step further and read the comments.
Iām a retired RN from Oregon and have been traveling in a small RV for the past 5 years. Iāve spent part of the last 3 years in Texas staying in different parks.
This year with the COVID-19 hit has stopped that. I have at least 3 high risk factors and have decided to settle back down in Oregon.
Iām buying a condo in a 55+ park, selling my RV and staying put much to my childrenās relief.
Thank you guys so much for your books and stories to give us an escape in these trialing times.