Still here. Still at home. Still Corona-free. We did venture out to the grocery store mid afternoon. I don’t know what it’s like in other states, but Seattleites are in general rule followers. There was a line to get in. Everyone automatically spaced themselves 6 feet behind the person in front of them. The store employees wiped the carts off and let people in one at a time as other people exited as if it were some highly popular nightclub. I wore gloves. Not because I was afraid of getting germs on them…but because they are my reminder to not touch my face. Two weeks ago going out in public with bright blue nitrile gloves would have earned me some really odd looks. Today no one even noticed, they were too busy trying to shop and stay away from the other shoppers.
Dispatches From the Pandemic – Day 1
It’s not the first day of my isolation but rather Day 1 of my Pandemic Journal. Life is different now. Downtown is a ghost town. No one quite knows how to cope. I’m lucky to have my son here but many are stuck at home alone. This is 1st Ave in Seattle at midday on a sunny Saturday.
I started working from home Wednesday the 11th when Howard and I decided to make it mandatory for all non production or lab personnel. It was a good thing I did, because after going to my wonderful neighbor B&B’s apartment for a working from home lunch, that very first afternoon I got a sore throat. And a mild fever. Luckily it turned out to be just a head cold and the fever quickly went away. But I was worried and realized I had no idea where to go to get tested or anything. Virginia Mason has a chat bot that you can use as a decision tree and it determined I didn’t need to go (I already knew that, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to check). I also decided not to call and overload their systems because I had no fever or cough though my head and throat hurt like the dickens.
So this is the end of my first week and a half at home and I’m going to keep a journal. I might as well do it here since I’ve been meaning to write every day anyway. Last might my lovely friend T hosted a Virtual Dance Party. Several of us had had a fun few hours dancing on Zoom, waving to each other through the window across the street and otherwise being silly. Eventually we settled down to a nice evening of Drinking with Friends While Wearing Tiaras and leaving the video running while we cooked dinner.
It’s important to connect with your friends and make sure they get the contact they need. Especially your extrovert friends like T.
Who did you call today? Who will you call tomorrow?