Couch 212: The French Vanilla couch

Just heard that in my city all restaurants and bars are closing tonite at 8pm. Except for carryouts/delivery.

My coworker seems to think that just because I've moved my office to home that means I am suddenly available outside my work hours.

Nope. I have left the office.

My sons just got an email that their spring term start will be delayed a week and all classes will be virtual until at least May 8.

Ours did that Monday. Which...I guess was yesterday. It feels like the last couple days have been so long, with so many changes, with everything just getting smaller--more and more things closing, gathering guidelines going from 250 to 50 to 10. I said something similar to Dr. T today, how it felt like it had been over a week since I saw him Sunday...when it had been 2 days, because so much had changed. He agreed about how much it had shifted in the past week.

That's the way I am. I work at home all the time, and when my shift is over, I close that door and I do not enter that room!

it does feel like a week since yesterday. it's crazy! I wonder if L will answer her phone if I call her when I get off at 6. I don't want to call now cuz i'll start babbling knowing me and my break will end lol perhaps i shall email instead. i need help. i am not dealing well with all of this.


but... 3rd 15 min break cuz of the long hours woo.

any silver lining in a storm right

or is that port in a storm

i'm too tired to care

Thought I'd share something uplifting , Swans on the canals in Venice where the water is clear for the first time in hundreds of years , and the dolphins return to Sardinia. Mother nature is sending us a clear message!

Hugs, Art. I'm not dealing well either. Therapy session today helped, but someone just posted on Facebook that CDC recommended closing schools 8-20 weeks. WTF am I/we supposed to do if it goes to 20 weeks? I seem to have shifted from depression yesterday, to a bit of hope this afternoon after session then a walk with my D where I saw some birds and flowers...and now into anger. Why aren't they testing more people? How can we know where things stand if we don't test anyone except those who are really sick and/or meet a long list of criteria? Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox. This doesn't just upset me from a parent and US resident perspective, but as someone with some public health training.

And I hope L answers or else calls you back really quickly.

I heard somebody on tv say, testing is one thing, and flattening the curve is another, but really they are unrelated. Testing doesnt help flatten. Distancing DOES help flatten. But mostly its wait and see. And Boris Johnson was like, the government is supposed to support whatever life IS - wartime, whatever.

My aunt called me today, it felt good to talk to her. Most of the conversation was pretty normal. I feel like, now people are more on MY wavelength.

Eta - i went to the DMV on feb 27, it was mardi gras, and we werent even THINKING about this stuff. I think i even went to the pharmacy and walked right past the toilet paper!

But not SD!

Today I have taught two classes on Zoom, walked about 7 miles, and by midnight I have to submit the 3000-word short story for my COA class. I meant to get it done over break, but got distracted by all the virus stuff.

The historian part of me is keeping a daily journal of Life during the Coronavirus. Not so much how I feel but what I see around me, how people behave in public and so on.

I'm going through some sort of stages of grief thing with corona virus isolation, but not quite in the right order. Like denial first, yeah. But quickly followed by depression. A brief period of hope (OK, that's not one of the stages, but whatever.) Now, anger. At assorted people and things.

I just heated up a can of ratatouille that my brother had sent me from Germany around christmas time, and i must say it's really good!! I'd never had it before but have always liked eggplant. I am looking for a recipe to try, once the stores have ingredients to buy again that is. I really like this.

Thank you for sharing!

Our own Samuel Pepys.

Pronounced like the Easter candy, thank you very much.

I came on to announce some very very GOOD news. "Cats" has finally made it to streaming! Couch viewing party?

For me, I am not all that worked up about this. I am not thrilled about not going out to eat or whatever, but in all honesty - it is not a huge burden to me - I am worried about the elderly and the financially vulnerable. I try to figure out how to help those I can (taking canned goods to people who can't get out etc). I am distancing and washing hands and going on with my life just in a smaller physical space. I walk the dogs with a friend -since we have 4 dogs between us - we easily maintain 6-10 feet at all times. There is the phone and facetime and skype. Many people have a much harder daily life even without the virus than I do with it going on. I try to keep perspective and read about how the British handled ww2. Being isolated at home is nothing to me compared to being huddled with a lot of people in bomb shelters. I also limit the amount I read about it. I never watch news people talk. I amuse myself by wondering if we will have little indoor victory gardens or ration books.

Gah. NO.

Are they trying to make this whole thing worse?

Did something new happen?

What if watching "Cats" came with an immunity to the virus? (ETA: Clearly Idris didn't watch it. Good move.)

ETA: Seth Rogen has been watching while stoned (another good move) and live-tweeting: “Some cats in pants. Some no pants.” Precisely.

penelope is laying here on my table totally staring me down - it's treat time and I'm apparently ignoring her. I'm really not. It's just funny to see that stare of hers.

Update: Penny has now had her treats! haha

I just finished a very, very long 13+ hour shift (was supposed to be 16 hours but they let me go a few hours early). We are screening everyone at the hospital I work at. The associates are being PITA's about it. The patients and their families are handling it much better!

Embarrassing moment: I had a woman come up to me and say "Hey, I met you, your name is XXXX. My name is also XXXX - we share the same name". I said "What ?department do you work in?" She said "I"m your departments Vice-President"

Oops - she was my bosses - bosses - boss. Luckily she has a good sense of humor.