I got a call earlier today from my brother and his wife. I had sent him an email mentioning that we couldn’t get a food delivery time slot because they were all taken up for the week. As you may recall from Day 2 he and his wife very kindly sent us a big supply or organic mac and cheese. Anyhow, on the phone my brother offered to ship us supplies. I told him that if things in terms of food and such gets worse he may receive a phone call from me. Very appreciated!
I wouldn’t say I’m the most sociable person, in fact, I’m quite the opposite. I am extremely introverted. But even I, whether I want to or not, am experiencing the virtual event takeover. Yesterday I was invited to a virtual tea party, today I had a virtual feedback session and on Thursday I’m going to attend a virtual club meeting that is going to include a celeb.
The irony of all of this social activity is that the camera of my laptop, due to it having a postage stamp over it, has left adhesive on it so I am a blur to the eyes of whoever I am corresponding with.
It’s amazing how quickly everyone has adapted to this way of life. When the time comes that this is all over, will virtual continue as a thing? Probably not with this intensity, but it surely will be more often employed than pre-COVID-19.
I was out minding my own business in our condo lobby, frightening an old person in mask because I moved 5 1/2 feet away from him rather than the recommended 6 as I headed to the mail box. He looked genuinely terrified and scurried into the abyss. Once getting the latest correspondence which was primarily doctor’s bills, it happened…
As a gentleman stepped out of a nearby door, his tiny poodle ran up to me immediately having his way with my leg in up and down motions. I let out a sound of disapproval and pulled myself free of the toy dog. My first though was that he had potentially left some COVID-19 germs on my pants which I could potentially get on my hands if I scratched my shin.
Scratching below the knee is not a “thing” with me, I’m more of a, unfortunately in these Coronavirus times,’ one who touches his face. The cannine made a whining sound and scurried back to the owner.
Once returning home with the mail and and washing my hands thoroughly, I told my tale to my wife. She chuckled and stated emphatically that pets don’t get the virus. But now, less than 24 hours later, I am vindicated. Pets R 2.
Okay, the question of the moment is “Would you accept a mask from her?” It’s time for COVID-19 101. The answer clearly is a resounding NO.
Do you know why? On the surface it seems she is being sweet. Caring enough about another human being (you) that she is handing you something to put on your FACE. That’s right, face. And note the term HANDing. H-A-N-D. Her hand is all over it.
Let’s say you discovered that she has the Coronavirus and is touching something to protect you from getting sick. Doesn’t make sense does it? And for that matter you DON’T know whether she has the virus or not do you? In fact, she could have COVID-19 and not even know it herself yet.
Earlier this afternoon in a live broadcast from the Javits, Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, pushed back on Trump’s statement of the low amount of ventilators the Donald felt were needed. Cuomo said that he operates on facts and that the president’s view on how many ventilators are needed is way off.
Could this be then end of the Bromance? Trump had nice things to say about A.C. for the most part on Hannity last night (yes, I have to admit, I watch Fox News sometimes), but the tide could changing.
There are even those who are speculating that Cuomo might jump into the political race for prez. Who knows. We do know though that here in Manhattan and the other boroughs we need our ventilators and hospital beds!
Still a Long Way to Go?
Earlier tonight my 11 year old daughter was asking me when it would be over? When we could go outside? She even made a joke about having the last name “Frank.”
Are Voters Involved?
I had to tell her that no one knew when we could go out. Not the doctors and definitely not the president. She asked me if he was talking about ending the mandate on or about Easter to please the religious vote?
It Comes Down to One Question
The irony is that time is flying by quickly for all three of us, yet the lingering question always is: “Will it ever stop?”
Be Careful
Our hands can be our undoing. They tell us not to touch our faces which turns out to be more difficult than one would think. I found my finger scratching my cheek on a few occasions while in potentially dangerous environments.
Even in Pre-Coronavirus Days They no Longer Delivered to the Door
I just scratched my nose while typing this. But my hands have been washed thoroughly within the last 20 minutes. I had gone down the stairs to pick up yet another package and came back up with it.
Doing What is Necessary
My paws had to be rinsed. This activity seemed to be ever the more important because of an email my brother sent me. He had seen a prior post on this blog and had noted I was in the habit of picking up parcels in the lobby. He scolded me about being seemingly lax in my COVID-19 protocol. We are in New York after all and according to recent stats, at the moment Manhattan is the worst city ever to be in because of having the highest numbers.
An Escape Plan?
My sister suggested leaving the Big Apple and renting a bungalow in the Hamptons until this thing blows over. Right now we couldn’t even leave NYC if we wanted to. And all because of people itching their mugs.
My wife, about a month ago or so ago, pointed toward the heavy supply and said “Why did you get so much?” On some level I guess I intuitively knew where things were going. Can you imagine what our lives may have been like if I hadn’t been quite so eager to get a good supply? I remember as a kid being told, when we were in a wooded area, that we could use leaves. I don’t think I ever had to do that. But now thinking about that concept, I’m not quite sure how one would deal with such a challenge. Perhaps a moist cloth that you could rinse out? I’m glad we’ve never had to find out.
So what they tell us about the Coronavirus is to not touch our nose. Not touch our lips. Not touch our eyes. Don’t touch your face. This is especially true when traveling in a New York City subway, which I haven’t been on for weeks. Imagine all the hands that have touched the rail that you’re holding on to. Maybe their palms were a little sweaty. Maybe they had early COVID-19. Then you touch the same rail next touching your nose or touching your lips or touching your eyes. You get the picture.
Today, day 16 I haven’t been outside since Day 5 of this journal. 11 days without going outside. The closest to the outdoors I’ve gotten is going downstairs to our apartment’s entry area where are PO Box is and where delivery people leave our packages. It used to be they would come to your door. No longer. They leave your packages downstairs. Sometimes they don’t even do that and claim you weren’t home when they came by and you were at home actually. The guess is they didn’t even bother to come to the building at all. But they aren’t to be put down. Now they’re called our heroes.
I didn’t put up a Coronavirus post yesterday because I took the day off to think. As well as to finish up a project I’ve been working on for a while. An eBook about a subject matter that’s close to my heart.
And now refreshed from time off, I have some perspective on what we’re all going through right now on this planet. Life is never going to be quite the same for a long while.
Even if a cure and vaccine are uncovered, folks are going to be a little gun shy. We’ve discovered that we can do a lot of things virtually that we never thought about doing in this manner pre-COVID-19. Some of that is going to remain with us or maybe even have the opposite impact of causing us to have a complete rejection of technology.
