Couch 213: The Tulip couch

Oh, right, that. I figured Una (or some other Freudian) would explain that for me...

The days seem so long now...I "meet" with Dr. T in a half hour, and it feels like I haven't spoken to him in ages...We had a session Friday... It feels like I haven't seen him in person in months, when I think it's been...3 weeks maybe? The sameness of the days is just messing with my sense of time... It also feels like my D has been off school much longer than 3 weeks (this is start of the 4th week). Who knows how much left to go? Right now, schools are scheduled to reopen on April 27th, but that ain't happening, not based on the rising infection level in my state (though I'm sure part of that is the limited testing, too...like many of the people testing positive now were likely positive, say, a week ago, just didn't know it.).

Also, I'd forgotten (blocked out?) how much guinea pigs poop... Trying to use them as an example for D, who tries to avoid pooping: "Look, they poop every hour!"

Yeah but @@ walks for miles and miles.

Loan dog is perineum-sunning. New cat, a foot away, is belly-sunning. New cat is ignoring loan dog, but I think loan dog is too into his perineum-sunning to notice anything.

We’re allowed to use the roof terrace and the building garden to walk dogs.

I just noted the food and types of toys my neighbor had for him and got the same at the pet store (rather than bringing possibly contaminated objects in here). I also gave him a bath since we don’t know if dogs or cats can transmit the virus to humans yet.

Also, now I need to stalk the Whole Foods through Amazon site to see when a delivery slot opens. As they appear to actually have eggs (for now at least) and some other stuff. My cart is filled with lots of random things, but I figure much will sell out by the time I can place an order.

Ugh, I hear you on the long days. It helped a little when we finally figured out a daily routine. That kind of breaks the day into chunks. I also find it hugely helpful to have something specific entertainment-wise to look forward to in the evenings after baby bedtime (first Tiger King, now How to Fix a Lab Scandal, both on Netflix, though you may have more refined taste in television than me...).

As for groceries, I am liking the grocery chain near us that makes substitutions when shopping and then gives you the option to say yes or no before pickup. It's frustrating that other places won't give you eggs if they don't have the exact kind you selected. Plus Instacart made some very odd, non-optional substitutions the one time I used them.

Omg. I turned on the news and saw a video of pandas mating, in the biological way, which is not usual for giant pandas.

Omg. My eyes.

I kinda picture them like george costanza and his pastrami, only with the bamboo.

h had a sore throat and slight fever over the weekend, and now this morning started coughing. he just called off work and told them he doesn't really think he's sick-sick but at the same time since he's over 65 and diabetic he doesn't want to take any more chances so is not going to work for awhile. He is in the other room filling out the thing to try to get unemployment since the new laws allow independent contractors to qualify. Now I am worrying about both L and him. If h has it I'll probably end up with it too. It is so hard to focus on my job today usually working helps me to not think about everything but today with h adding the cough in to his sore throat and fever - I cannot think and my anxiety is through the roof today. Ugh.

safe virtual hugs to anyone who wants. i'm on my lunch break now maybe i'll go take a shower and try to calm down.

I hope H feels better soon Artie!

If you don't have any luck there, I was able to place a Shipt delivery order on Target's site, so that may be something you want to look into. I did have to stalk the site for a bit to find when times open up; I think it may be in the a.m.? They only have delivery times a few days out, but it was nice to get groceries so fast. They do text you re: substitutions, too, if you select that option when you place the order.

Oh, and I was able to get a one-month free trial membership.

I was also very surprised because they had almost everything I wanted, including eggs. (Which seem to be the new t.p...not in use, ha , but in popularity.)

If you google there’s a video. With sound.

Panda porn. That’s a sign of the end times, right?

I've read that they make this and play it (in the sanctuaries in China at least) to try to encourage the pandas to mate naturally...

Thanks for this! I think the eggs issue is also partly due to Easter. And also due to baking, I guess. I did place a shipping order (two, actually, because I forgot stuff) from Target a couple days ago--it's so complicated, because some stuff is "shipped," which is by mail, and other is "delivered" by Shipt, and you can't put both in same order to meet the minimum ($25 for shipping, $35 for free shipping with Red Card). Sorting them still shows both. So it was like, "Yay!!! I found coffee that can ship!" The other thing I got excited about was that they had tissues, Kleenex brand and everything, available for shipping. It was like, "What has life become to that I'm like, 'yay, tissues are available!'"? (We're still good on TP and paper towels for now...Had to make a frantic online hunt for hand soap the other day though.)

So if Whole Foods doesn't work out (mainly trying them because I have free shipping through Amazon Prime), then may go for the Shipt. I mean, I could also venture into stores, but the last couple H tried, he was able to get everything BUT eggs. And my D is into hard-boiled eggs right now...

ETA: there was another small locally owned place that I was going to order from for curbside pickup, but they were taking orders for like 15 days from now

Here, on most online grocery stores (we only have like two, really) the delivery dates are constantly booked out for two weeks in advance. They even started to do a virtual queuing system since otherwise the servers go down... but if you are actually able to get a slot, there's enough of almost everything, sometimes stuff is sold out like frozen burgers, but there's definitely no food shortage. More of a shortage of people who can actually deliver.

I'd sort of prefer a queueing system where I could lock in a delivery for, say, even a week from now rather than constantly refreshing (as it says slots are released throughout the day).

If you're trying to get an Amazon delivery window, try refreshing on the hour. That's how I've been able to get a window. The hardest part for me, is if a window comes open when I'm asleep, the stuff in my cart might disappear because it becomes unavailable.

ATAT - I think it is nice you are taking care of the dog. It always has taken my cats and new dogs (or new cats) about 4-5 days to a week to all decide it was going to be fine. My cats are definitely the bosses of the dogs.

Chris - hope your DiL does okay.

No wonder they don’t mate naturally if it gets broadcast to the world and other pandas whenever they do.

It's raining here. Not heavy rain at the moment, but consistent---I live in a desert so rain is news. There are alerts of flash flooding though. That always scares me. Luckily my commute is--get this--less than 5 minutes! But the road I will be driving on does tend to flood. Bummer.

Also in unrelated news, I am eating dry honey nut cheerios. It would be better with milk, but oh well. The shift in dosage in my AP has made me hungry all the time gosh dang it!

I took a little money out of my investments which I will put into savings just in case. I don't feel secure not having a little bit more in savings than I do (my hospitalization ate up my savings and my tax refund). I know we are supposed to get that government stimulus in a couple weeks but I'm just concerned, especially going from 40 hours a week to 24 hours a week. That's tough! Hopefully I get unemployment benefits for the lost time, it won't be everything but it would help. Then hopefully my work gets approved for work sharing and we can move to that because it is a better program.

Sometimes convenience stores have individually wrapped hard-boiled eggs by the string cheese and stuff like that. Probably not the most economical, but if she needs a hard-boiled egg, it's an option.

Mom said she is making chicken soup and cheese biscuits tonight for supper. That sounds really good on a rainy day!