Pandemic life

What entertains you right now? I know a lot of people are busy homeschooling their littles or just working, but after that, what are you doing? Maybe you're just entertained by all of life's little things. 
Like right now, I'm entertained by all the birds at our feeders and squirrels trying to find all the nuts they buried last Fall. I'm entertained just looking out my cool office window at home, at the comings and goings of our neighbors and how green everything is becoming.
Maybe you're busy being entertained by Netflix and the Tiger King? Holy wow is that bizarre! I had to bail after just the first episode 😵
Or maybe you're just catching up on all those books you wanted read?
Or hobbies! Like quilling!! :-)
Are you spending more time on social media? Looking up more things? Watching fun videos? I found a Facebook page I'm in love with; Doggy Daycare Farm Trips. I love this place! If you have FB and you love dogs, you should check it out. 
Maybe you're learning to cook, or bake!
I hope you're all enjoying this once in a lifetime opportunity to slow down, look at things and enjoy your time alone.

Pandemic life

I had another day "in" the office.
Here are things I've noticed;
I missed all the Spring blooms on my drive.
They really are working on the roads right now! Perfect time. Do we don't have to complain about the potholes now :-)
Cars on the road are multiplying. I think everyone has hit their limit. Interesting. So, 6 weeks is long enough. Hmmm.
At work, the restrooms are clean, all day! It's awesome. There are directional arrows taped to the floor in the main hallways. You know, in case we don't know what side of the hall to walk on? Cuz there are always those few ((eyeroll)) Europeans.
Also, in all the elevators, there are TWO yellow X's taped on the floor in diagonal corners. Presumably to mark social distancing? Like only 2 people are going to get on the elevator at once. Puhleez. And signs are starting to pop up about keeping your distance and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. 
The weather was still crappy when we went home but now that it's getting to be nice out, there are a lot more people out and about. Dog walkers, runners, etc. I don't think that's COVID related though. 
And I'm starting to see requisition lists of supplies that we'll be required to have...masks, gloves, sanitizer, Lysol. 
In another month it will be a lot different than today. 

Pandemic life

I don't mean this to sound exaggerated or cavalier...but the coronavirus has literally changed almost every living creature on the planet! Oh ok, maybe not bugs...or birds...
Think about that for a minute. The impact is just so hard to wrap your head around. Dairy farmers dumping milk. Pig farmers killing piglets. Potato farmers giving them away. Oil companies running out of places to store it. The push for socialism, again. Finger pointing. Misinformation. Celebrities suffering attention withdrawals. And the attention athletes are getting is more like, why do you make so much? Greed, whoa, what's happening to greed? What IS happening to greed???? Oh this is gonna be so interesting!

I believe a year from now, we'll mostly be back to normal. Humans by nature are narcissistic. Americans are consumer driver. And things that I think will change, will take awhile. Mostly, I think big businesses and corporations will start to wonder why they are spending millions of dollars on leasing office space when so much of their work can be done from home. And ultimately, what a boon for the environment too! Less gas, less pollution, less car accidents, lower insurance rates, more family time, the list is almost endless. I'm so curios to see what the world will look like in another 5 years.

Pandemic life

So what is everyone buying while they're stuck at home?

Toilet paper - 123% increase
Amazon - 23% increase
Freezers - 500% increase in 10 households have purchased one
Firearms - 80% increase. Desperate times... 
Subway - 40% to 80% decline
Frozen pizza - 92% increase. Gotta feed those teenagers! 
Frozen cookie dough - 454% increase. This one surprised me a little
Starbucks - 70% decline
Television and streaming services - 20% increase. Netflix alone added over 13 million new subscribers in the last couple months!
Hand sanitizer - 470% increase 
Airline tickets - 96% decline. WOW!
Fitness equipment - 535% increase. That many people go to a gym? 
Beer - 42% increase. LOL 
Puzzles - 370% increase. They're hard to find on Amazon, along with paint by numbers. 
Gasoline - 30% decline. I thought this would be more.
Video games - 65% increase. 
Walmart - 20% increase. I bet Target's numbers are right up there as well
McDonald's - 13.4% decline
Milk - 47.5% increase. Yet dairy farmers are still dumping milk!  

How about you? At the grocery store, I feel like we’re buying more meat but less produce. That’s odd. But we aren’t hoarding tp or paper towels. It’s getting harder though, to be stuck at home. I miss Hobby Lobby and Kohls and eating out. Last Friday, we had dinner out, courtesy of Penn Station. They have curbside pick up. It was nice. And I loved that when I picked it up, they brought it out to my car and said, "thank you for supporting us!"  I think my fella gets his fix because Lowes and Menards are still open. He's been remodeling our bathroom. And, we've gone for 'a drive' a couple times. Not the same. 

Pandemic life

Working from home has it pros and cons, like anything. 

The cons are, I'm less busy working from home. Apparently, at least 1/2 of my job is just being 'seen'. In the office, I kind of sit out in the open. The introvert in me hates that. But functionally it works out great because any supervisor that walks out of their office sees me and thinks, oh yeah, can you...blah, blah, blah. But working at home, nobody sees me so they don't think to ask me to do things for them. Also, because I'm introvert, I don't get out of the house very much if I'm working from home. I guess if I were retired and this was permanent, I would have a different routine, so I would get out of the house?

The pros are many though. No commute! That's the best! Really, I think I love that the most. Also, I'm saving a ton of money on gas. I have a window office :-) I get to talk to someone during the day who's not all freaked out about work issues. I have a window office :-) There's softer T.P. at home. Free coffee. No shoes is awesome. I have a window office :-) Pretty cool. Now I know why I was such a daydreamer in school, staring out the window. I know A LOT more about my neighbors now! For instance, the lazy guy across the street runs with his dog every morning. We just call him the lazy guy because he doesn't take care of his house. He would be a better condo owner. Every week he gets a delivery from Crown Liquor and he receives many Amazon deliveries! Then there's the woman next door to him with the 7 year old. She like to decorate for every holiday, with lots of yard art! She was recently married, not to the baby daddy. And we think she's building a tiny neighborhood of her own in her backyard! There's the big pirate ship, a big shed and 2  tiny people houses. Weird huh? Especially since her son really only wants to play in the street out front. The young Indian couple next door has 2 kids. They come out to play after lunch, presumably after home schooling is done. There's a little old Jewish fella who walks up and down our street twice every morning. The young, newly married guy at the end of the street is putting fake grass in his backyard. And the old lady a few houses down, died the other day. That was sad. Oh, and we have a TON of squirrels in our neighborhood!!! 

Yep, for the most part I like working from home. I would like to go into the office maybe twice a week. Yeah, that could work for me. 

Pandemic Life

Thank you delivery drivers!
Thank you for bringing me everything I want and/or need.
You can get dinner from PF Changs, crafting supplies from Hobby Lobby, groceries from almost anyone, face masks, medication, just about anything you can think of! AND, free shipping from almost anyone!! You literally don't need to leave your house for anything. Is that ok? What if all this social distancing really just leads to social dysfunction? I mean, we thought that social media was bad for relationships. What the hell is this going to do us? No more touching? No more going out. I'm going to buy stock in pajamas and yoga pants. 
Germany even cancelled Oktoberfest. 6 million people attend Oktoberfest...in OCTOBER! Can you even imagine what the lines will look like in November when you go to vote? Will there still be social distancing then? Ugh.

Pandemic life

I'm so sick of journalists opinions. Sensationalism. I'm sick of press conferences every day that don't have anything new to say. Sensationalism. I bet if I still watched the network news, I would be sick of them too. Sensationalism. 
Here's the ultimate in irresponsible reporting;
Monday, the leader of the World Health Organization said, "trust us, the worst is yet ahead of us." WHAT? He didn't say why he thought that. He didn't provide any supporting information that makes that seem likely. All he said was, the worst is still coming. Ummm, ok. Here's the thing - first of all, why is any news media outlet reporting that? (Sensationalism) He didn't say anything!!!!! Come on people! All that's going to accomplish is scaring people for no reason AND making them not listen to your bullshit anymore. Because now it just seems like you're crying wolf. Nobody believes 100 million are going to die. Jerk 

Pandemic Life

I started a new folder in Pinterest called, COVID 19. Really, there are a lot of hilarious things out there! Things about parents home schooling their kids. Things about wearing your pj's to work, gaining weight, toilet paper shortages, Zoom meetings, Microsoft Teams meetings. 

Speaking of, what a great stock to own right now! Technology is experiencing something incredible right now. You can still be connected to your staff at home, to your family on the other side of the city, to friends for happy hour on Fridays. Even entertainers are getting in on the action. They're using Facebook live, Youtube and Instagram to broadcast live performances, from their homes! How cool is that? I wonder how Amazon's video devices are selling right now? I want one. I want all of my family to have one so I can see them when we talk. :-)    (Christmas spoiler) And maybe Christmas will come in July! Because honestly, we all might not be traveling for a while! :-(

Just don't forget to laugh...

I hope the weather is good tomorrow for my trip to Puerto Backyarda. 

I'm getting tired of Los Livingroom

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Anyone else's car getting 3 weeks to the gallon right now?

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Nail salons = closed

Lash salons = closed

Hair salons = closed

It's about to get ugly out there!!

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Traffic is so much better without all you non essentials on the road.

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Really sucks that coronavirus hit during allergy season.

I'm over her like I can't decide if I have 5 days to live 

or I just need a Claritin.

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I thought we would have flying cars in 2020. 

Nope. Here we are learning how to wash our hands again.

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"2020"

Apparently, this year is being written by Stephen King

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In the future, my grandchildren may ask about the global crisis of 2020 and how the world was tragically out of T.P.  I plan to tell them that we had to drag our butts across the grass, up hill both ways, in the snow.

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2020 is a unique Leap Year. It has 29 days in February, 

300 days in March and 5 years in April.
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Thank you Pinterest!

Pandemic life

Things happen to the world when people stay home. Have you seen the pictures of the canal in Venice? This morning I saw a picture of a beach in North Carolina, overrun with sea shells because no one is there to pick them up. What about the average air pollution downtown Los Angeles?  In my home state, dairy farmers are having to dump milk because they have too much. I feel like they could figure out a way to give it to people. And there's a huge stock of chicken. Why? Because there were no sporting events so people didn't need to make buffalo wings or grill out on the patio! And beer! There's too much beer. And some potato farmers are giving them away before they go bad. Amazing.

But other things are harder to find. Frozen foods for one. I had to think about that for a second. Then I realized part of the toilet paper shortage was for the same reason...people are at home, kids, workers, parents, everyone is at home! You need a lot of frozen foods to feed those teenagers. You know, something they can pop in the microwave.  

Oh, but the bakery section of the grocery store is fully stocked! Guess nobody cares about cookies and cakes right now. 

It's a little better now but it's still pretty weird in the grocery store. All those empty isles and shelves. It was a lot worse in the beginning but still. Yesterday I went to the store for the first time in a month. I was surprised at how few people were there. It made me wonder, in the future, will people flock back to the grocery store to buy an abundance of things they don't need? Or will they just go when they need to and buy what they need to?

I took these pictures on March 13th, in the evening. I had to go to the store to 'see' it for myself.

Pandemic life

In the beginning, I chose to stay at the office. I didn't really feel like I needed to leave. Hundreds of people were transitioning to work at home. Our office building closed to the public. Still, I stayed. I didn't feel like it was a foolish decision though. Especially since there were about to be so few people in the building. I washed my hands a lot. I used a lot of hand sanitizer. 

Then on March 20th, the Governor ordered everyone who can do their job at home, to go home. So I started working from home on the 23rd. I did go back into the office on the 27th though. I felt like I needed to touch things. I forgot how stressful office life currently is. See, I work for the state agency called the department of workforce development aka the unemployment office. Super stressful time for our agency! I was happy to go back home. I didn't realize how much anxiety I was feeling when I was in the office. So much panic and fear and chaos all around me. At home, it's nice and quiet. NO people around. It's great. I don't like people so this is a big plus for me! Although, my normal 55/60 minute commute was reduced to about 35/40 minutes. That was pretty cool. And I drove through several red lights on my way in on that Friday. It was awesome! By then, we were under a stay at home order. This is what our streets looked like that Friday;

And this is my 12 level parking garage. It's usually cram packed!

It was very odd.

Life Is Good

Seriously, you have to check out the new Life Is Good line of t-shirts. So awesome!

https://www.lifeisgood.com/tees-for-the-times/women/?pageID=3

Virus movie

On December 31, Wuhan confirmed that they were treating dozens of  pneumonia of unknown cause.
On January 11, they reported their first death.
On January 20th, the first confirmed case in the US.
On January 23rd, Wuhan, a city of more than 11 million was cut off.
On January 30th, the W.H.O. declared a global health emergency.
On January 31st, Trump restricted travel from China
On February 2nd, the first death outside of China, was reported. 
Think about that for a second.
On February 7th, the Chinese doctor who tried to raise the alarm, died.
On February 14th, France announces its first coronavirus death.
On February 23rd, Italy sees a major surge in cases and officials lock down towns.
On February 26th, Latin America reports its first case
On February 28th, Africa reports its first case
On February 29th, the US records its first coronavirus death
On March 11th, Trump blocks most visitors from Europe
On March 13th, Trump declares a national emergency.
On March 17th, France imposes a nationwide lock down
On March 19th, China reports zero new infections
On March 23rd, Britain locks down.
On March 24th, India lock down
On March 26th, the US leads the world in confirmed cases.
On April 4th, the CDC recommends that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public.

It took 67 days to reach 100,000 cases in the US. That was March 27th. 5 days later the US had 200,000 cases. It only took 3 more days for the US to reach 300,00 cases. Today, 4 days later, we've reached 400,000. Staggering, and scary shit for sure!

Virus movie worthy. Dammit.

Virus stories

I LOVE virus stories! Stephen King's "The Stand", the movie "Outbreak." I don't know why.
Anyway, this is how a really good virus story starts...first there's an outbreak and the media freaks out. Then the government gets involved and says it's not really a big deal so people calm down a little, then things start happening and before you know it, it's too late and everyone dies!!! Mwahahaha. I hope I'm not living in a virus story. It seems so contradictory to just say; wash your hands, stay home if you're sick, more people have died from influenza, and in the same breath say, travel is restricted, no spectators allowed at spectator sporting events, schools are closed, public libraries are closed, concerts and festivals are postponed, etc. I'm getting emails from places like Lowes, Kroger and PetSmart telling me what they're doing to help prevent the spread of the virus in their store.  I've never seen anything like it, it's SO CRAZY!

I am a procurement agent work. You would not believe all the crazy requests I got last week. Gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes. Guess what I said! NO. Hahahahaha. Wash your hands. 

It would be more helpful if they would just say, doctors and hospitals are not equipped to handle the number of people flooding into them, with the flu and corona virus. Be honest.  Tell us the actual facts. Say to us, the mortality rate of COVID19 is about 2.0% vs 0.1% for the flu. The rate at which it is spread is 2.5, which means one person will infect 2 1/2 other people. The flu is 1.3 Be serious, not chaotic! You know, unless it's a virus story. In which case we're ALL screwed!! I think I'll go ahead and have that donut tomorrow morning and fries with dinner along with big rum and coke! What the hell.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/covid-19-vs-seasonal-flu-what-you-need-to-know-about-both/

The Giving Pledge

Cool, huh. More people should do it. I was a little disappointed that Jeff Bezos name wasn't included but then he just gave away 10 BILLION dollars so I got over it.

https://givingpledge.org/Home.aspx

Dogs are cool and so is Purdue

Purdue taking part in life-long study of dogs health

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WTHR) — Researchers are looking for America's oldest dog.

They don't want to teach him new tricks, but they are hoping he could teach them a few things.

And your dog could be part of their life-long scientific study that's looking to learn from pets nationwide.

More than 40 scientists and researchers from across the United States – including one from Purdue University – are looking for dogs to participate the national study of the general health and wellness of dogs.

The Dog Aging Project will be looking at dogs of all breeds and mixes from across the nation. This is the first major longitudinal study involving dogs, and it's scheduled to last at least 10 years.

“We are going to look at a lot of different aspects of dog’s lives that affect their health and longevity,” says Audrey Ruple, a veterinary epidemiologist at Purdue.

“Dogs are good models for humans,” she says. “They have similar genetics, share our environment, and they also have similar diseases and health issues. We will be asking, ‘How do dogs age healthfully?’ in order to help better understand how we can age healthfully, too.”

Dogs of all age ranges, breeds and sizes are eligible to participate in the study. Owners go online to register their dogs, then create a personal profile to track health, home life, diet, environment and lifestyle.

Dogs will need to make regular veterinarian visits every year. If a dog is assigned to a specific group, the owners may get a kit for their veterinarian to collect blood, urine or other samples during the annual visit.

Participation is voluntary and there is no cost to participate.

“It’s important to get dogs from all parts of the U.S. because of the different environmental factors present,” Ruple said. “And we’re trying to find the oldest dog in America, as well.”

All dogs registered will be eligible to participate in various studies. The group conducted a soft launch with 4,500 dogs registered earlier this fall. Recently, the researchers reached 75,000 dogs for the study.

“Our study population just keeps growing and growing and growing,” Ruple said.

Researchers hope to find out more details on how genetics, demographics and environmental factors such as chemical exposures and noise pollution impact health and longevity.

Ruple says one goal of the study is to not just improve the health and longevity of dogs, but also extend those findings to improve human health. “By studying aging in dogs, we hope to learn how to better match human health span to life span so that we can all live longer, healthier lives,” Ruple said.

Funding for the Dog Aging Project comes from the National Institute of Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health, as well as from private donations.