3/25 quarantine chat

[rubytue]

good morning lovelies!

I busted into my “bug out box,” for two surgical masks and a bottle of steramine sanitizing tablets. Part of me was annoyed at breaking into emergency supplies. The other part of me was “ummm isn’t a GLOBAL PANDEMIC a reason to bust into emergency supplies?!  Isn’t this what you prepped for?!”

and I am such a minor prepper. It’s a Rubbermaid tote, with not that much. But apparently, global pandemic was on my list. I also feel weird knowing I had 3 masks and healthcare workers don’t have any. Very guilty admitting that. But I bought the, 3 years ago and stashed them in the box. So I didn’t contribute to hoarding now. Plus, they are the type worn in asia for whatever, and I can’t even tell from the packaging if they are N95. 

[nsl]

We are closing on our new house tomorrow, and because we're still living out of state we have to engage a mobile notary to sign all of the documents. I had to go three rounds with the title company guy last night about how we're going to make this work while still maintaining social distancing. It's like I was the first homebuyer he'd dealt with who was pushing back against "business as usual" and it really pissed me off.

We finally agreed that everyone will bring their own pens, I will provide a clipboard, and we'll sign the papers in our driveway with the notary staying in his/her car parked on the street.

[basilosaurus]

I'm confused by "type worn in Asia." It's usually surgical masks or, if you live in a place like I do with particulate pollution, n95. I do have some masks that are labeled n95 but look like surgical ie they don't have the stiff shape and metal bridge to pinch, but the material is finer. Don't feel guilty. You have a real need, too.

I tried to keep how it relates to me out of the news thread, but I'm in minor freak out mode about what to do about being stuck where I am and my lease ending elsewhere before I can leave. I'm pretty sure I can figure out a solution, and it's not like anyone new is going to need my condo. I've been there about 18 months, it's the lowest season during the year, and no one is really coming or going. I just hate that I'm paying for 2 places and there's so much unknown over my head.

If I'd known things would develop this quickly, I'd have faced overstaying my visa, damn the consequences. Things changed within 3 days from business as usual to should stay inside to full on lockdon. But I don't really mean that b/c jail there is no joke, and I'd be deported to the US where I'd feel even less safe (sorry). They've still not addressed the visa situation to any measurable degree. I'm hearing reports of people extending students visas and having to wait in crowded rooms upwards of 3 hours, and that's in a fairly minor city. At least here I'm pretty damn sure I'll remain healthy.

I'm good on my current visa for at least 80 days, so that's a worry I can ignore for now.

Oh, have I mentioned there's no way I've been able to figure out to refill my anti-anxiety meds? Technically I can only get them at a government hospital which, no. Even if they're allowing people like me, healthy in body, I really really want to avoid. And forget drive through pharmacies. Not a thing. Also paper prescriptions aren't a thing from my doc/whole country, so I can't even use that. We get our meds in blister packs in ziplock baggies with fill in the blanks written on the front for name, dose, qty direct from only certain licensed docs.

[ohgillian]

I'm embarrassed that I only understood last night that the issue about grocery shortages isn't *just* stockup and hoarding; it's also that restaurants are closed and people are having to cook at home. I seriously had not understood that that is part of the grocery crunch right now.

[wildrice]

rubytue don't feel bad at all about your masks. It is such a small amount anyway, and you have an actual medical issue you need to protect yourself over. I think the main problem is people hoarding boxes and stealing from medical facilities.

basilosaurus I'm really sorry about your apartment situation. Do you have any friends locally who could either help you or help you find a local connection to help? I know on our college campus (so obviously not the same thing at all, lol) we have workers boxing up students' stuff and putting it in storage if they can't come and physically pick up their things right now. Maybe there is a service like that available you could hire?

I'm actually at work right now for employee orientation. The few of us who are here for it are all pissed off and cranky. None of us believe we should be here. I am supposed to go talk to my supervisor after the session (the first time I'll have a 1:1 conversation with him in at least 3 weeks) and I'm going to have to be very careful about expressing myself. I want to emphasize that we need to think of a new plan and that we are all scared to be here, without sounding angry and emotional.

[hocus2]

Mar 25, 2020 8:41:32 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I'm embarrassed that I only understood last night that the issue about grocery shortages isn't *just* stockup and hoarding; it's also that restaurants are closed and people are having to cook at home. I seriously had not understood that that is part of the grocery crunch right now.

  There are many people who are cooking dinner at home now but there is also the lunch phenomenon. DH always got lunch to go at work. Now what we're all home I am making a proper lunch vs. just grabbing toast with jam and soup. I do meal planning and I try to use everything I buy but even with that our grocery bills are sky high.

[periwinkle]

I'm trying to stay positive that my business is going to be ok and then feel guilty for worrying because at least I am working right now while others aren't able to. We are considered essential because we work in behavioral health but a lot of clients are canceling sessions. Our providers are all getting their telehealth setups going and they are seeing clients remotely so there will still be revenue coming in. It's just scary. We only have 1 employee and she said she is ok with reduced hours and can handle the paycut since her H is a cop and he's working so much overtime right now. We offered to lay her off for the time being so she can collect UE but she said she's fine right now so we're taking it day by day.

I sat on a conference call yesterday with my mom (co-owner) and the owner of our biggest client to talk strategy for a few things. We had a solid minute of silence because I think the whole thing was so overwhelming for all of us. One insurance just announced they are waiving copays for 90 days and Medicaid is allowing telehealth so some good steps are being taken. We're hoping the other insurances will follow suit so people can still continue therapy. If they don't then we will probably end up just waiving fees for now.

[Pom]

Yes, restaurant eating has all now shifted to grocery store demand. We are eating 2 meals a day with a light snack like a piece of fruit or cheese cube, for health reasons and to conserve our food supply.

[t]

I am so tired of cooking allll the meals. H normally buys lunch every day, and I usually make one thing for myself to eat all week, and breakfast as well. I still did that and made an egg casserole, soup, and salads. However, I forgot about DH and now he’s chipping into those and dinner leftovers, which is fine but it also screws up my plans for the rest of the week.
I was so proud of myself for being so organized, but I didn’t account for other people eating my food. Womp womp.

[mel]

Mar 25, 2020 8:59:21 GMT -5 hocus2 said:

Mar 25, 2020 8:41:32 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I'm embarrassed that I only understood last night that the issue about grocery shortages isn't *just* stockup and hoarding; it's also that restaurants are closed and people are having to cook at home. I seriously had not understood that that is part of the grocery crunch right now.

  There are many people who are cooking dinner at home now but there is also the lunch phenomenon. DH always got lunch to go at work. Now what we're all home I am making a proper lunch vs. just grabbing toast with jam and soup. I do meal planning and I try to use everything I buy but even with that our grocery bills are sky high.

Like ohgillian, I'm embarrassed to admit that I hadn't thought of this and was so confused why I'm spending almost double on groceries. Wow, I need sleep.

[pixy0stix]

I have shingles. Goddamnit.

[rubytue]

Mar 25, 2020 8:33:56 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I'm confused by "type worn in Asia." It's usually surgical masks or, if you live in a place like I do with particulate pollution, n95. I do have some masks that are labeled n95 but look like surgical ie they don't have the stiff shape and metal bridge to pinch, but the material is finer. Don't feel guilty. You have a real need, too.

Sorry, I was trying to say it wasn’t like one you’d see in a hospital in the states, more like a stock photo from China avoiding pollution. Like they have happy hearts on them. And that the labeling was all in one of the character languages, hence why I don’t know if they are N95. I can’t read them. 

And I have an innate guilt for like everything. Like keeping my 3 masks, and that my description cross a stereotyping line. 

[aurora]

H found a N95 mask in our garage that apparently we had bought 5 years ago when we re-built the deck. I guess we'll clean it (of sawdust) as best we can and use it if we need to. Such a strange world that this would be noteworthy.

[pierogigirl]

Mar 25, 2020 9:23:21 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I have shingles. Goddamnit.

That sucks.  I had it this past summer after my father passed away - I think the stress brought it on.  The anti-viral helped, but they say it works best if you get it as soon as you suspect.  Mine was several days after the blisters and it still helped, IMO.  Hopefully, you can get a telehealth appointment since the diagnosis is done visually.  Good luck.  

Mine resolved but did result in a numb area on my back.  It can take a year, according to my doctor, to know if that is permanent.

[bears]

If you are distancing and you are the only person at home, working remote, is there anything you would like for your supervisor to know/understand?

One of the women on my team lives alone (family all 1.5 hours+ away), had a really rough 2020 so far, and had some risk factors that mean she is very worried about covid.

The team as a whole is having daily conference calls, sending funny pictures/pretty pictures, and calling each other as needed. I'm a bit worried about how this is impacting her--she sounds fine, but I want to help any way that I can.

[RoxMonster]

We got the go-ahead to start teaching our college courses again on Monday (I'm a HS teacher but also teach some dual-credit classes with the CC here). I am laughing at myself that I was excited to do some work today because it gave me something to do that felt purposeful.

I thought it was going to be warm and sunny here today, but right now we have fog. Blah. I hope the sun comes out this afternoon, so I can take a nice long walk and get some Vitamin D.

[pixy0stix]

Mar 25, 2020 9:37:33 GMT -5 pierogigirl said:

Mar 25, 2020 9:23:21 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I have shingles. Goddamnit.

That sucks.  I had it this past summer after my father passed away - I think the stress brought it on.  The anti-viral helped, but they say it works best if you get it as soon as you suspect.  Mine was several days after the blisters and it still helped, IMO.  Hopefully, you can get a telehealth appointment since the diagnosis is done visually.  Good luck.  

Mine resolved but did result in a numb area on my back.  It can take a year, according to my doctor, to know if that is permanent.

I already went into Urgent Care. We're not seeing a ton of covid-19 cases here yet, so I felt relatively ok going in. I was the only one in there. I have the antiviral and will start taking it today. The first bit of blisters popped up 2 days ago.

[RoxMonster]

Also, I thought I'd try asking a question here instead of starting a brand new thread. I've never had to do a virtual meeting before. But we are having a faculty meeting and department meeting virtually through Google Meets next week.

What do you use for a microphone? They told us our computer mics are probably not very good. I don't think I have headphones with a built-in mic (I have Bose noise-cancelling earbuds and don't think there's a mic on them). Do I need to online order an external mic and hope it gets here in time?

[rubytue]

Mar 25, 2020 9:23:21 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I have shingles. Goddamnit.

Oh boo! Thanks covid stress. I hope you can get a video appointment and antivirals quickly. 

i tried to get a shingles shot a few months ago, but apparently it’s not approved under 50, despite people under 50 clearly getting Shingles! Ugh. 

[rubytue]

Mar 25, 2020 9:46:51 GMT -5 RoxMonster said:

Also, I thought I'd try asking a question here instead of starting a brand new thread. I've never had to do a virtual meeting before. But we are having a faculty meeting and department meeting virtually through Google Meets next week.

What do you use for a microphone? They told us our computer mics are probably not very good. I don't think I have headphones with a built-in mic (I have Bose noise-cancelling earbuds and don't think there's a mic on them). Do I need to online order an external mic and hope it gets here in time?

I would suggest earbuds with a mic. Laptop mics work, but you tend to get a lots of weird echos if you use laptop speakers and microphone. You can definitely tell who is using that setup when you are on the call.  However, if it’s the only time you’ll use them, then it’s probably not worth it. Especially considering the prime delays these days. 

[krystee]

Am I the only one still doing takeout? I swear, we are eating out even more than we did before because we’re bored and it’s the one thing that adds variety (plus it supports local businesses). Most are curbside pickup so I don’t feel like I am adding danger.

[glw]

Mar 25, 2020 9:39:50 GMT -5 bears said:

If you are distancing and you are the only person at home, working remote, is there anything you would like for your supervisor to know/understand?

It's really, really lonely. Video chat is much better than a conference call for feeling connected. It's nice to talk about non-work (and non virus) things. Taking my laptop to another part of the house for a chat breaks up the monotony of being alone in my home office, so I try to do that when I have a video call. Also, it's nice when someone doesn't play into the suffering Olympics and acknowledges that this sucks for everyone in different ways. It's okay to be down about it, even though others may have it "worse".

[Velar Fricative]

Mar 25, 2020 9:23:21 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I have shingles. Goddamnit.

Oh no!!

[Velar Fricative]

Mar 25, 2020 9:53:47 GMT -5 krystee said:

Am I the only one still doing takeout? I swear, we are eating out even more than we did before because we’re bored and it’s the one thing that adds variety (plus it supports local businesses). Most are curbside pickup so I don’t feel like I am adding danger.

We are doing takeout occasionally too. We wipe down everything before bringing into the house and throw out the containers right away. Going out for groceries is riskier, IMO.

[Velar Fricative]

I miss pub trivia and the local league started virtual trivia via Instagram. My friends and I will try it soon. I’m more excited than I should be for something like this.

[pixy0stix]

Mar 25, 2020 9:41:33 GMT -5 RoxMonster said:

We got the go-ahead to start teaching our college courses again on Monday (I'm a HS teacher but also teach some dual-credit classes with the CC here). I am laughing at myself that I was excited to do some work today because it gave me something to do that felt purposeful.

I thought it was going to be warm and sunny here today, but right now we have fog. Blah. I hope the sun comes out this afternoon, so I can take a nice long walk and get some Vitamin D.

I've been using a cheap gaming headset that I picked up from Best Buy. It has a microphone and headphones, and is working well.

[basilosaurus]

Mar 25, 2020 9:24:20 GMT -5 rubytue said:

Mar 25, 2020 8:33:56 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I'm confused by "type worn in Asia." It's usually surgical masks or, if you live in a place like I do with particulate pollution, n95. I do have some masks that are labeled n95 but look like surgical ie they don't have the stiff shape and metal bridge to pinch, but the material is finer. Don't feel guilty. You have a real need, too.

Sorry, I was trying to say it wasn’t like one you’d see in a hospital in the states, more like a stock photo from China avoiding pollution. Like they have happy hearts on them. And that the labeling was all in one of the character languages, hence why I don’t know if they are N95. I can’t read them. 

And I have an innate guilt for like everything. Like keeping my 3 masks, and that my description cross a stereotyping line. 

Gotcha. FWIW I've bought 3M brand in Asia. I've also bought various Chinese brands that the pharmacists say are n95. I know people here are worried about counterfeit n95s, but I've not seen evidence that's a legitimate concern. The city I (normally) live in regularly is in competition for the worst pollution, and it's all particulate, from Feb-Apr, so I don't think it's a stereotype that you picture the scenes of everyone be-masked. We allll wear them, and I'm as white as they come. 

[smock]

Mar 25, 2020 9:46:51 GMT -5 RoxMonster said:

Also, I thought I'd try asking a question here instead of starting a brand new thread. I've never had to do a virtual meeting before. But we are having a faculty meeting and department meeting virtually through Google Meets next week.

What do you use for a microphone? They told us our computer mics are probably not very good. I don't think I have headphones with a built-in mic (I have Bose noise-cancelling earbuds and don't think there's a mic on them). Do I need to online order an external mic and hope it gets here in time?

I wouldn't order an external mic. I'm picturing all the faculty meetings I attended and thinking audio quality will be low on the list of problems with a virtual meeting. Anyway, I rarely talked much at that kind of meeting, so ordering a mic just for that seems like overkill.

Also, I regularly use my MacBook for video calls without an external mic and I've never had a problem. One of my clients once bought a fancy external mic and it didn't change the audio quality at all. I wouldn't stress about it.

[tacokick]

Mar 25, 2020 8:41:32 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

I'm embarrassed that I only understood last night that the issue about grocery shortages isn't *just* stockup and hoarding; it's also that restaurants are closed and people are having to cook at home. I seriously had not understood that that is part of the grocery crunch right now.

Things should start to normalize when stores start modifying their orders to meet current demand. There is actually more food in circulation now because of restaurant closures, cruise lines in dock, hotels and resorts closing etc. Stores don’t have huge back stocks and there was no way to predict exactly what days and what items were suddenly going to be busy.

[InBetweenDays]

Mar 25, 2020 9:46:51 GMT -5 RoxMonster said:

Also, I thought I'd try asking a question here instead of starting a brand new thread. I've never had to do a virtual meeting before. But we are having a faculty meeting and department meeting virtually through Google Meets next week.

What do you use for a microphone? They told us our computer mics are probably not very good. I don't think I have headphones with a built-in mic (I have Bose noise-cancelling earbuds and don't think there's a mic on them). Do I need to online order an external mic and hope it gets here in time?

Most virtual meetings I've attended have the option to either use your computer speaker/microphone or call in to use your phone. I always use my computer for the video but call in and use my phone for the audio. I tend to get a lot of feedback and extra noise when using my computer audio.