On going back "inside"

[FirstLight]

As things continue to "open up" and the inherent spikes continue, it's just getting way to "peopley" out there for my taste.

I almost got lulled into that false sense of safety for a couple weeks, especially as the weather got better...I know I have taken more risks in the last weeks as well.

So today I realized I was having bad dreams and low level anxiety lingering under the surface. I have an autoimmune disease and take immuno-suppressants, so I still have a lot to worry about. Anyway I decided to take a step back inside and try to stay there again. Make my deck my sanctuary, work in the yard, etc. I can go to the beach and swim, i just go alone and stay away from the busy spots (I know my own local play-spots anyway).

Unfortunately i still have to find work, so as I continue to search for online opportunities. I did take a gig with the Census for a few weeks. Supposedly they provide PPE and training for guidelines, so I figure I will give it a few days and see how comfortable I feel. (but Im nervous about that too, to be honest.)

~ ~ ~
I keep wondering if these states are gonna have to try and close back up if numbers get worse (yeah, what's worse? who knows...) And will people actually go back inside? I don't think the general populace is concerned with the virus, and everyone is so hell bent to get their lattes and also get their voices heard...it's a weird time.
Will there have to be people literally falling ill on the streets or the huge hospital backups we saw in China before we could shut it back up? Would people care?

I'm not looking forward to the next month or so

[northoftheborder]

1. Me either.

I felt like I was taking my life in my hands by getting a hair cut last week. My barber assured me ahead of time that he was being super careful with sanitizing, wearing a mask, etc.. He does have his own room and outside entrance. But his attitude was too lackadaisical - he said if his client didn't require him to wear a mask, then he didn't, but for those who wanted it, he did. (His mask covered his mouth, but not his nose. The person ahead of me had his mask on but didn't care if the barber wore one, so he didn't. In general conversation I felt he didn't really think wearing a mask made any difference. Our state is still going up in cases, but opening up more every week. So I don't think I'll be getting another hair cut any time soon.

[Skittles]

5. he assured you ahead of time

then ADMITTED he only wears a mask on request, but it doesn't cover his nose. Your last sentence reminds me of this video:

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. As soon as he said he doesn't wear it if the client doesn't require it

you should have walked out. Or when you noticed he wasn't covering his nose. For all practical purposes, he wasn't wearing a mask.

Only go to a barber who actually does it right.

I'm going to hope that the chain walk-in places are doing it right.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Oh, my dear FirstLight...

[Wounded Bear]

3. Yeah, trying to get out a little more, but...

definitely masking up, using gloves when I go to stores, etc. Hand washing and sanitizers.

I need to walk more for my health, but precautions are still being adhered to.

[Frustratedlady]

4. I agree. It is a scary time after we've invested so many months staying at home.

I am allowing myself the luxury of the beauty shop once/week, but I have others doing my grocery shopping and running errands. I would SO love to walk the greenhouses and enjoy looking at the new plants/flowers. But, I figure 6' apart beats 6' under, so I stay home.

Yesterday, I had a woman come clean my house but she had to promise to wear a mask. Dust doesn't take a holiday, so it was necessary. Some tasks just have to be done, pandemic or no.

Be cautious. No one can do it for you. Hopefully, we'll be able to look back and be glad we were wise and had control of our lives. The last thing I want is a nursing home stay.

[Hekate]

14. I hear you. I'm so hesitant about having my cleaning ladies return. Will masks be enough? etc.

I haven't been to the beauty shop since January, and my hair is in my face a lot. Also, it is amazing how the color has grown out. By the time I do go back, I'll tell her to just cut off everything that is not silver, and be done with that phase of my life.

Hubby and I finally lined up a lot of necessary appointments, starting tomorrow, so we'll see how uncomfortable we are with that.

Anxiety.

[FirstLight]

6. what's the worst is that live in a tourism "destination" from all over the world...

Tahoe has reopened the casinos, shops and everything else. I can't tell you how many out of state plates I see daily! the traffic and sheer number of people has blown up exponentially in the weeks since Memorial Day... even *IF* CA still had a ban on non-essential travel, it was in NO way being enforced.

we have a 68-bed facility for a 20K LOCAL population (x5 or more for visitor numbers any given week of summer)...only 5 ICU beds in that number.

and NOBODY is masking except for locals, and even then it's not everyone.
During the quarantine, places that were open for takeout had maybe 1-2 people in the lot or line at any time...now parking lots are FULL and there's lines everywhere


where our town was able to keep total numbers around 20 or so, now it's creeping toward 60 cases just in the past 2 weeks!

[Iggo]

7. I been home since March 16th, and I ain't going out 'til the all clear.

I'm still working my forty, though, so that's easy for me to say.

[FirstLight]

8. yeah, it's probably easier when you have that locked in...

I was just coming off disability when the shtf so Im scrapping. Harder to lay up supplies.

[Iggo]

13. I wake up sweating in the middle of the night wondering how I'd survive if I lost my job right now.

I've lived hard before, but that was when I was in my late twenties, not my late fifties.

[demigoddess]

9. I've been home since March 10 but I am beginning to think we should plan more

on 'coming out' in Dec or Jan.

[FirstLight]

11. when you say you've been home since.... really? how do you get groceries?

Or do you live in a rural or urban area?

even if I have enough $$ to do the e-cart thing, we still have to go pick it up...

otherwise I am at the bargain market once a week at least
then sometimes I have hit the food bank too on fridays

each time i do mask and wipe/sanitize and stay 6' or more away from everyone...

[Iggo]

16. I live in a house with three working age adults, one 90 yr old man, and one four year old boy.

Suburbs a little less than 20 miles outside downtown L.A.

The working age adults are 58, 52, and 36, the last of whom is our designated shopper. She follows all the protocols (online orders, curbside pickup only, mask, wipes, distancing, hand-washing...)

And that's how we've been living for three months.

[FirstLight]

17. good for you guys!

I am the only adult and live with my 17 yr old son... i have one client who i do admin work for one day a week, we have been wiping and distancing everything when I need to go to her place to work, but she's also 73 and stays home as well, gets all her stuff delivered, so she's been pretty safe.

My college age daughter lives across town with a roommate, but they have had friends over, who say they are also stuck at home but that another layer of exposure. I've been driving my daughter to the store & such because I dont want her taking public transport, but she's notorious for forgetting things so she can have another day of "let's go drive around with mom..."
I had to put her in her place today and lovingly tell her she has a bike and she can go ride around and fget her jollies, but I can't keep getting exposed

[Generic Brad]

12. We're back in our hidey-hole too

We decided to revert to picking up our groceries and ordering everything else on-line. I returned to working exclusively from home two weeks ago (my office has opened back up for normal business and that brings substantially more risk of Covid). Plus we were noticing that we were about the only ones at our local grocery store wearing masks again.

Local cases here have more than doubled since Memorial Day and virus related deaths have increased 150%.

[lunatica]

15. I'm still staying in and only going out to get my mail

at night when no one is around. I live in a gated condo that requires a key or a code in order to get in and management laid down some rules to keep distancing safe. I get my groceries delivered which I have for years because I have mobility problems.

I’m also normally a shut in so my life is basically the same as it was. I’m retired and my condo is paid off so I count my blessings every day.

[marble falls]

18. The only relief we've gotten is the Trumper neighbor who's finally wearing a mask ...

as most everyone else seems to have lost theirs. We have been quarantining since March. Now it looks like maybe another three months of it. We were in the grocery and masking's gone from almost 1/2 to less than a 1/3.

At the farmer's market, no one but we were masked.

Texas is a time bomb that will go off if it hasn't already. The state has done an effective job of obscuring the news of the white shark at the beach.

[El Mimbreno]

19. Complacency kills

Too many people are not taking this seriously and it makes us uncomfortable. Groceries at Albertsons doesn't bother us much; masks required and most people are fairly good about distancing. They will provide masks, but the regulars seem to know the drill. Sam's club in the city; masks required, security guard at the door. Walmart in our nearby small town - they have signs up, but no enforcement of the state mandate for masks. Maybe 70% masked. We're always anxious to get out of there. At the checkout we observed an unmasked guy greeting relatives with hugs. One unmasked, the other with the mask around her neck. His parting words: "Stay safe."

Some. people. just. don't. get it.

[Texin]

20. I think the good weather gives a false sense of safety.

I've been sticking to the house except to go pick up provisions I've ordered online and for which I can just pop the trunk and the groceries, wine, etc. can be put back there without involving a close interaction with the stores' employees. If I can't get things that way - or have them delivered to the front porch, I won't bother. I get gas self-serve and use a mask and gloves. And I wear a mask or carry one in the car with me and even if another person is over ten feet away I mask up. I won't enter into the business premises of any place right now and for the life of me I can't fathom anyone actually blowing this infection off like it's nothing more than a bad cold. The very idea of going into a restaurant or fast food place causes me to lose any appetite I've had. This is life, folks.

A person has really only one good choice now and that's to do everything in his or her power to stay safe by every means available to keep them that way. And, based on everything I'm hearing or seeing the world is simply not going to get a vaccine and a miracle cure any time soon, and certainly not within the next six months. This is going to be ongoing and the virus is not simply going to magically "go away".

[Boomer]

21. This is my new normal

I've been working from home since March and never go out. My wife goes out once or twice a week for groceries and essentials, but she's careful to wear a mask and gloves, and she goes during off-hours. We rarely socialized before, so the social isolation is no different from Before Times.

I don't see an end to this seclusion any time this year, and I'm not counting on any end date. Best case scenario is likely 2-3 years, and that's assuming a safe, effective vaccine is possible.

[murielm99]

22. I have noticed that more people in my red area

are going without masks. Why did this have to become political?

I was so thrilled that my small town finally had a local grocery store after eight years without one. Now they are getting lax. The clerks do not have to wear masks if they choose not to.

I may have to take all my business to the larger store twelve miles away. They are strict about masks, distancing and one-way aisles.

I will let them know in town how I feel about this.

My husband and I are both high risk. We have no one to do errands for us, and we live in the country.

[CrispyQ]

23. We will shelter-in-place for the remainder of the year, maybe longer.

I can't believe how many people have forgotten or are ignoring tenth grade biology and not taking this seriously. Maybe when they actually start to see people in their lives get this awful disease they will wake the fuck up.

[Larissa]

24. Likely to go back undercover

It's apparent that a number of states are spiking but are planing to increase activities regardless. I seriously entertained the thought of going to my hair stylist, even making an appointment for week after next. But that gut feeling cannot be denied. When I made the appointment, my stylist said nothing about any changes in procedures or extra protections. That raised the red flag in my gut. I'm in New Jersey and we've been on strict lock-down and mandatory masking, but we were right in the red zone with New York state. The thought of being hospitalized with Covid-19 literally terrifies me. I don't want to be in an induced coma on a ventilator. I know if things get really bad the health infrastructure will be pushed to the edge even more. I know I'll eventually get to the beauty salon, but I'll never make it there if I'm dead from a virus that can turn my lungs to Jell-O. For now it can wait.

This is one of the articles I use for a reality check. I cannot beat a pathogen that's 10,000 times smaller than the circumference of a single strand of hair, without making myself as scarce as possible. We are at its mercy.

https://time.com/5839573/coronavirus-images/