Well, so much for my ideas about the coronavirus and me. My 29-year-old daughter entered the picture and lovingly explained my options: Go along with her program or become critically ill.
Our Food Stocks
We’re now well stocked with toilet paper, paper towels and basics like pasta and sauce. Our freezer and refrigerator are filled. And we have a grocery delivery coming on Saturday (this service by Texas’ H-E-B costs about $10) that will stock us even better.
My daughter also is ordering a small deep freeze that we can keep in my husband’s workshop, so we’ll be better prepared.
Listening to the President
I’m listening to the president right now, who says we may have an extended period of this, going until July or perhaps August. This truly is unimaginable to me. But my daughter really has me on very limited exposure.
Heading for Census Training
I am heading out shortly to go to two days of training for the 2020 Census, where I will work as a Field Supervisor. In my job I will manage a group of door-to-door enumerators. However, I worry about this and hope the census operations will be pushed back until after this crisis is over. Will anyone open their doors to a stranger otherwise while this threat continues? Will census workers want to go door to door? Let’s hope people fill out the online census or do this by phone or mail-in paper instead. But my experience in 2010 indicated that a lot of people do not do this.
Babysitting for 3 Weeks or More
My grandson’s elementary school will be closed for at least the next three weeks, which means my husband and I will be his caregivers. While this all sounds great to 6-year-old Joey, we have a responsibility to keep him engaged in reading, writing and math. I don’t mind this, but it may be a challenge.
Long Days
I don’t know about you, but self containment means the days are long. You have to find projects to keep you busy.
Hospitals, Ventilators
It is scary to listen to the television reports that hospitals may be overwhelmed and that there may be a shortage of healthcare workers. If there aren’t enough hospital beds or equipment like ventilators, we may really be in trouble with some of our ill citizens. A relatively young man was on Morning Joe this morning saying he lay on a table in a hospital emergency room in a mask for six hours only to be told they had no tests. He then drove an hour to another facility where he did test positive, as has his wife since then. Let’s hope our medical facilities are adequate.
My Mother’s Nursing Home
My 99-year-old mother lives in a nursing home where my daughter is business manager. All visitors, including family, have been banned from the building. And now residents must stay in their rooms where meals are brought in to them. The staff members have their temperatures taken as they arrive to work every day and every shift. My mom is okay but socially isolated and depressed.
Virus Scare Spread by Media? I Don’t Think So
Last week at my census training one of my co-workers said he felt this was a scare generated by the media. I think the president felt that way at first too. But I think even he believes this is real, important and scary. I hope people will follow the directives of local officials, state officials and the federal government. I talked with the manager of our retirement funds today who said, we’ll get through this and lost monies will be recovered. I choose to believe this. I also believe that while the federal government’s initial response was disorganized and really horrible, people are getting up to speed now. This probably was too late to help many people, but let’s hope the disaster is being managed.