Staying Ahead of The Game
18/03/20 07:20
We're all going to die! Most of us are going to die? By the time this is coronavirus thing has run its course will we all know someone who died as a result of this virus? We just don't know. None of us do. The prognosticators and government officials keep referring to this model and that model each of which has a different prediction for how many people will get infected, how many people will survive, how many people won't.
It's the demographic breakdown that has us avoiding our grandparents like the plague. I honestly can't tell you when we might see Mrs G again. She's off limits. Her independent living facility is on lockdown. She can leave the facility but has been cautioned not to do so. Not that she might become infected but rather that she might bring the virus back into the facility and that could have dire consequences for the population at large hunkering down on the premises.
We called Mrs G last evening and used FaceTime (on our iPhones) for the first time ever to connect with her. Walking her through that experience was a challenge but we got it to work even if only for a short period of time.
She kept putting the phone up to her ear as one is want to do when talking on a telephone but that is not how FaceTime works. Putting it up to your ear guarantees that the person on the other end of the FaceTime call sees nothing but shadows or worse.
By the time we got her to hold the phone away from her face we finally caught a glimpse of each other and we all had a good laugh together before we started to experience problems with the audio. It might have had something to do with the fact that we tried to bring Debbie into the FaceTime call already in progress. It was an epic fail.
One or both us pressed the wrong buttons and everything was muted from there on in. It was a good start. Not at all inauspicious. Short of being there in person for her mother, FaceTime should be a nice alternative until this world of ours sorts itself out.
I don't know how I feel about our personal prospects. I do think having our wills and so forth up-to-date is a must so we've urged our attorney to get moving on our more recent requests. We're able to self quarantine for the most part and that should help minimize the prospects of any contact with the virus from external sources.
Our local market designated special shopping hours for folks over a certain age as a prophylactic against exposure to a potentially younger and more infectious and carefree generation. Asymptomatic as they may be, they can spread the virus to those with less than robust immune systems with sneeze, a cough, or something as innocent as a sniffle.
While being a vector of transmission may nothing more than a trifle to a younger person, it is tantamount to a death sentence for an older person susceptible to respiratory ailments and the like. Think Typhoid Mary if context is needed. She never had a sick day in her life but was unknowingly responsible for the death of millions. Falling into the age group that puts me at risk, I took advantage of the special hours at the market for the first time this morning.
Short of having visited an ailing aunt in a nursing home as a youngster, I don't think I've ever been around a more sickly and desperate population than I was at the store in the early hours of this very morning. Contracting the coronavirus was the least of their problems and may in fact be a blessing in disguise were they to become infected.
It was perhaps a glimpse into my own future sadly enough and I decided then and there that I was going to take my chances shopping with the twenty-somethings from here on out.
We've decided that getting take-out meals may not be worth the risk so we're not going to do that with any regularity. I was hoping that might provide some occasional relief from the garden variety fare we're having at home but it's time to reassess. For last night at least, we planned to have Nancy's lentil soup. It's one of my favorite dishes so that was good.
I think Nancy is going to want to get out for a drive at least once a day. Yesterday afternoon we drove into Portsmouth and most stores were closed with very little traffic thereabouts either by car or on foot. It was sad really. On a normal Tuesday afternoon you would have to circle the block more than once and even then you would be lucky to find a parking spot. Nancy thought it might be a good idea to stretch our legs so we parked near the bridge going into Maine and walked over the bridge and then back again.
We were concerned that we might have to walk by someone or someone might pass us by on the narrow walkway across the bridge walking at a faster pace perhaps and we would be in violation of the social distancing required to avoid coming into contact with the virus. We crossed the road a couple of times to avoid coming into contact with other walkers. Other times, we didn't have to avoid other walkers. They avoided us by walking in the street long enough until we were passed then resumed their walk on the walkway.
Being in proximity to others regardless of distance felt like we were taking unnecessary chances. Unnecessary because we could have walked down by the beach closer to home and avoided contact with others altogether. Walking across the bridge seemed like a good thing to do when we were there but we thought better of it as we weighed our options and evaluated our risk after the fact.
Business after business had notices posted on their doors and in their windows giving guidance to both their regular as well as their prospective customers as to why they were closed and when they expected to be open again. The duration of their closures varied but most seemed to be in a two to four week period. We didn't see any "until further notice" notices. I suspect many of the notices will be revisited and extended until there is some light, any light, at the end of this nightmare.
I'm beginning to wonder about Evan. I thought he just couldn't make it over the other night when we thought he might come by for a visit. He made some comment yesterday which gave me pause. He didn't articulate it exactly but what I thought I heard him infer was that he was probably not going to visit because either he didn't want to give us the virus if he had it or he didn't want to get it from us if we were asymptomatic carriers. We didn't press him. It was just good to hear his voice.
What we don't have the heart to tell him is that if we get this damn thing we'll be using his bedroom as a sanctuary for whomever gets the virus first. Not that he needs his bedroom for obvious reasons, but because he likes to come over to "chill" now and then when he feels the need to get away.
He may stay the night and he may not. That said, he's hinky enough to not want to use his bed again if he knows we slept his bed while making every effort to recuperate in-house. I told him long ago that our home is and always will be his home. I think that was comforting for him to hear. Let's hope no one gets sick.
Evan finally showed up last night and stayed a while but didn't stay for dinner. We had a number of items for him to take away and we packed a couple of shopping bags full of items that under normal circumstances he might well buy himself at the store.
I'm mindful these days that when I find myself at the store I need to buy for him as well whatever that means. He's unlikely to give me a shopping list as disorganized as he is about such matters but we know him well enough to know his likes and dislikes when it comes to food.
All we asked was that he leave nothing in his car once he arrived back at his place. Take everything up into your apartment with you even if you have to make two trips to do it. Times are hard with people losing their jobs and losing hope can make people do bad things. Don't give someone an opportunity to break into your car and take something from you that you otherwise need. Just don't do it. Be smart and be safe.
It's the demographic breakdown that has us avoiding our grandparents like the plague. I honestly can't tell you when we might see Mrs G again. She's off limits. Her independent living facility is on lockdown. She can leave the facility but has been cautioned not to do so. Not that she might become infected but rather that she might bring the virus back into the facility and that could have dire consequences for the population at large hunkering down on the premises.
We called Mrs G last evening and used FaceTime (on our iPhones) for the first time ever to connect with her. Walking her through that experience was a challenge but we got it to work even if only for a short period of time.
She kept putting the phone up to her ear as one is want to do when talking on a telephone but that is not how FaceTime works. Putting it up to your ear guarantees that the person on the other end of the FaceTime call sees nothing but shadows or worse.
By the time we got her to hold the phone away from her face we finally caught a glimpse of each other and we all had a good laugh together before we started to experience problems with the audio. It might have had something to do with the fact that we tried to bring Debbie into the FaceTime call already in progress. It was an epic fail.
One or both us pressed the wrong buttons and everything was muted from there on in. It was a good start. Not at all inauspicious. Short of being there in person for her mother, FaceTime should be a nice alternative until this world of ours sorts itself out.
I don't know how I feel about our personal prospects. I do think having our wills and so forth up-to-date is a must so we've urged our attorney to get moving on our more recent requests. We're able to self quarantine for the most part and that should help minimize the prospects of any contact with the virus from external sources.
Our local market designated special shopping hours for folks over a certain age as a prophylactic against exposure to a potentially younger and more infectious and carefree generation. Asymptomatic as they may be, they can spread the virus to those with less than robust immune systems with sneeze, a cough, or something as innocent as a sniffle.
While being a vector of transmission may nothing more than a trifle to a younger person, it is tantamount to a death sentence for an older person susceptible to respiratory ailments and the like. Think Typhoid Mary if context is needed. She never had a sick day in her life but was unknowingly responsible for the death of millions. Falling into the age group that puts me at risk, I took advantage of the special hours at the market for the first time this morning.
Short of having visited an ailing aunt in a nursing home as a youngster, I don't think I've ever been around a more sickly and desperate population than I was at the store in the early hours of this very morning. Contracting the coronavirus was the least of their problems and may in fact be a blessing in disguise were they to become infected.
It was perhaps a glimpse into my own future sadly enough and I decided then and there that I was going to take my chances shopping with the twenty-somethings from here on out.
We've decided that getting take-out meals may not be worth the risk so we're not going to do that with any regularity. I was hoping that might provide some occasional relief from the garden variety fare we're having at home but it's time to reassess. For last night at least, we planned to have Nancy's lentil soup. It's one of my favorite dishes so that was good.
I think Nancy is going to want to get out for a drive at least once a day. Yesterday afternoon we drove into Portsmouth and most stores were closed with very little traffic thereabouts either by car or on foot. It was sad really. On a normal Tuesday afternoon you would have to circle the block more than once and even then you would be lucky to find a parking spot. Nancy thought it might be a good idea to stretch our legs so we parked near the bridge going into Maine and walked over the bridge and then back again.
We were concerned that we might have to walk by someone or someone might pass us by on the narrow walkway across the bridge walking at a faster pace perhaps and we would be in violation of the social distancing required to avoid coming into contact with the virus. We crossed the road a couple of times to avoid coming into contact with other walkers. Other times, we didn't have to avoid other walkers. They avoided us by walking in the street long enough until we were passed then resumed their walk on the walkway.
Being in proximity to others regardless of distance felt like we were taking unnecessary chances. Unnecessary because we could have walked down by the beach closer to home and avoided contact with others altogether. Walking across the bridge seemed like a good thing to do when we were there but we thought better of it as we weighed our options and evaluated our risk after the fact.
Business after business had notices posted on their doors and in their windows giving guidance to both their regular as well as their prospective customers as to why they were closed and when they expected to be open again. The duration of their closures varied but most seemed to be in a two to four week period. We didn't see any "until further notice" notices. I suspect many of the notices will be revisited and extended until there is some light, any light, at the end of this nightmare.
I'm beginning to wonder about Evan. I thought he just couldn't make it over the other night when we thought he might come by for a visit. He made some comment yesterday which gave me pause. He didn't articulate it exactly but what I thought I heard him infer was that he was probably not going to visit because either he didn't want to give us the virus if he had it or he didn't want to get it from us if we were asymptomatic carriers. We didn't press him. It was just good to hear his voice.
What we don't have the heart to tell him is that if we get this damn thing we'll be using his bedroom as a sanctuary for whomever gets the virus first. Not that he needs his bedroom for obvious reasons, but because he likes to come over to "chill" now and then when he feels the need to get away.
He may stay the night and he may not. That said, he's hinky enough to not want to use his bed again if he knows we slept his bed while making every effort to recuperate in-house. I told him long ago that our home is and always will be his home. I think that was comforting for him to hear. Let's hope no one gets sick.
Evan finally showed up last night and stayed a while but didn't stay for dinner. We had a number of items for him to take away and we packed a couple of shopping bags full of items that under normal circumstances he might well buy himself at the store.
I'm mindful these days that when I find myself at the store I need to buy for him as well whatever that means. He's unlikely to give me a shopping list as disorganized as he is about such matters but we know him well enough to know his likes and dislikes when it comes to food.
All we asked was that he leave nothing in his car once he arrived back at his place. Take everything up into your apartment with you even if you have to make two trips to do it. Times are hard with people losing their jobs and losing hope can make people do bad things. Don't give someone an opportunity to break into your car and take something from you that you otherwise need. Just don't do it. Be smart and be safe.