I've been collecting pictures. Some funny, some stupid, some who knows what. I thought I'd share a few with you here.
Squirrel in a bag on Winnie's deck. He could care less about self-isolation, but a nurse friend of mine saw this and suggested the squirrel had better protective gear than she did!
Some beauty while I was walking outside. Violets bring some normalcy to life.
I put on my pants today is an award a lot of us are trying hard to win these days. Another friend mentioned that in the evening, she took off her daytime PJs and put on her nighttime PJs. Yep, that's about right.
Nothing to do with coronavirus, but cracked me up.
Borrowed from a group on Facebook. They say this whole thing started with someone eating a bat. Who knows?
Speaks for itself with all the crazies in the grocery store these days.
Willie always calls BS when he sees it.
Another fun one.
Dog is pissed. NOT.
We'd all like to know, but we're a patient people. We can wait.
For a long time now, I've dissed the concept of having someone grocery shop for me. I just thought it was the stupidest thing ever. And now, I eat those words. Is that a pun that I am talking about groceries and I also eat the words? Anyway.
Food Lion has had a sign about home delivery in front of there store for a minute, so I thought I'd give them a go. I am done with going out to stores by now. Food Lion felt like I was doing the order on their site, but it's tied into InstaCart (IC), for whom the shoppers actually work. It's like Uber - an order comes in and they see a list of potential shopping gigs on the app, and boom, you're paired with a shopper. In the beginning, the Food Lion site was not well synched with the IC site and it was very frustrating to make the order. It was unable to be edited, etc. But, it was paid for and tip was given at the same time for no contact delivery.
When it's your turn, you get a text saying that Zane (our shopper for the purposes of naming a shopper) has begun your shopping trip. And you can text back! So, that first time, Zane would tell me what they were out of and what he could substitute for items. I was worried about having no control, but the back and forth made me feel like part of the process. Eventually, I got a text telling me my shopper was done. The shopper brought items to the porch and I told them I'd take care of it from there.
The second time I used delivery was with Publix, also through IC. They are limiting items in a bit of an odd way, so some things were not available in the quantity I needed. I get it, but Ravioli in a can? Again, the shopper was super communicative, but the groceries were more expensive and less available. This second time, though, I opted in for free delivery for a month for $9.99 that will renew every month, but can be canceled at any time.
Here's a good, though long and super detailed, video about what to do when you get stuff delivered.
Fast forward to today. Fill-in groceries from Food Lion. They've fixed their web site and it's synching with IC just fine. You can chat with the shopper through the site or through the app (IC app). I think hoarding may be getting better - Food Lion had toilet paper. It wasn't my brand, but who cares?
When the guy arrived, I kept my distance. I had on gloves and had a pocketful of alcohol wipes. I took the bags in (wiped the door knob after using it) and proceeded to wipe each item with wipes and putting them in a clean space. When the cleaning was done, Winnie and I put stuff away. Afterward, I wiped down the counter where the bags had been.
So, that's shopping for now with this frickin virus in the world. Winnie got news that an old, very good friend at one time passed away last night. Not sure if it's the virus or not, but it's maddening. John Prine is probably going to die from this mess. This world changing event is so odd and from time to time, it's hard to make sense of it all.
Today, Richard and I took Abbey to the Warhill area to walk again today. After about a mile of dodging other people and enjoying the warm weather and sun, she was pooped! LOL Here we are, olds, and she's so out of shape that the walk wears her out. We added another halfish mile and called it a day.
I woke up this morning and stayed in bed till 10. I just didn't want to get up. I was mostly awake and had taken Abbey out at 6. She wasn't interested in getting up either at this point. So, we played the sleep/wake game for a couple hours and finally got up. I just wasn't feeling it. No spunk at all. I had planned on making breakfast when Richard got back from Richmond, brunch really. He got back really quickly, so I started sausage. Then I got to thinking that we needed those potatoes I had planned on frying up with left over baked potatoes. At that point, I went ahead and got out the eggs to fry. I wasn't into it, but I got it all made and it was delicious.
Since the walk, I've done my pill box and vacuumed the dining room, as well as set up a fan since it's going to get extra warm today. Winnie is cooking on the old grill tonight (hot dogs). I ordered a gas grill to play with and it should be here any time. Toys are good right now while we're isolating.
I'm sure there's more happening today, but feet up and internet cruising works for me. I have Wyatt Earp on demand and Richard is sitting next to me relaxing too. Go us!
As seen on Facebook:
God bless the internet and a world of creative people!
The conspiracy theories are pretty amazing with this one. I'm gonna see if I can pin this post to the top so I can keep adding to it.
For today - I introduce to you the Stop5GNow movement. It's on Twitter and on Facebook, and I'm sure there are web sites devoted to the theory that the upgrade to 5G and the cell towers are messing with us. Boom, coronavirus. Here's a link to a story showing the misinformation regarding Stop5GNow. Feel free to drop theories that you're finding.
I have to admit, I'm becoming increasingly careful, bordering on paranoid. I'm gloving up, leaving packages outside for 24 hours, and just being super vigilant. So much so that I brought into the house the boxes of toilet paper that had been delivered here last week - porch pirates, you know.
It's Saturday. That means sleeping a little late, making a little something for breakfast, and extended coffee break. For color, I broke down cardboard boxes for recycling, collected trash from around the house, and Richard and I went to the convenience center (our county's term for the small dump). While there, the attendant saw my empty Charmin boxes and said, "Did you really have toilet paper in those boxes?" By virtue of the fact that she noticed my boxes, I know I did the right thing bringing them in earlier. LOL After Richard dumped the trash and I did the recycling, I grabbed a wipe. Richard mentioned we didn't touch anything other than what we brought with us and I asked for a wipe anyway. He used it too. I then took it and wiped off interior parts of his truck. Take that, germs!
Then it was time for planting radishes and some target shooting. Winnie and Richard and I took out the small guns and went plink, plink, plink. I really want to be more comfortable with my small carry gun. At one point, Richard suggested I get into the actual range of the target that I would be in if I was defending myself. Closer to the target, I shot flawlessly. Boom! I know I'm a good shot, but today, I felt like an accomplished shot and am good with my gun.
Naptime and then more time on the deck with Richard, just enjoying the weather and the birds. I did get a little bit of walking done today, but more so, got functional activity.
We ordered Pizza Hut. I read their site and their precautions and decided to go for it. We set out a plastic bag on the counter for the pizza box. For the desserts, Winnie gloved up and we put them in our own containers and threw away what they came in without contact. We opted for no contact delivery and the guy opened a folding chair on our front porch and slid our boxes out of his carrier into that chair. Bravo, Pizza Hut guy. I didn't see him, but Winnie confirmed that he was wearing gloves. Cleanup was just as cautious as setup, and we all washed up. Winnie cleaned the counter with a wipe (we're going to do that every day regardless of the number of times we wash it with a sponge.
Overall, it's been a busy enough day to keep us occupied. Now it's time for a cup of coffee and television.
Getting gas quarantine style. Get your debit card out and have it at the ready. Put on the one glove you have in the car. Get a wipe ready for when you get back in the car. Touch the keypad with the gloved hand. Scan the key fob for your discount with the ungloved hand. Answer a lot of questions on the keypad with the gloved hand. Open the gas cap on the car and put the damned gas in the damned car with the damned gloved hand. Put the nozzle back and repeat process for closing gas cap. Tell the damned machine you don't need a frickin receipt with the frickin gloved hand.
Oh, you're not done yet.
Open the car door with either damned hand at this point. Sit. Drop the frickin key frickin fob in your lap. Take off the glove the way they taught you when you worked at the hospital 40 frickin years ago. Put it in the present trash bag. Get the preset wipe and first wipe hands. Wipe them a lot. Wipe the outside door handle. Wipe the inside door handle. Wipe the steering wheel. Wipe the key fob. Wipe the shifter knob. Wipe the damned dog while you're at it cause she's in the car watching you trying to figure out what else you need to wipe. Oh yeah, wipe the debit card.
Don't put the wipe in the trash till it's dry. Wipe anything that's not moving and some things that are.
What I'm saying is that there are a lot of steps to getting gas that didn't use to be there. A lot of fuckin steps. I hope I don't need gas again.
P.S. I wasn't even close to another person, but the ones I could see were also wearing gloves. Good going, gas needers.
Everything will be okay, but it's a little frustrating to order groceries. I never in my life thought I'd have groceries delivered, and here I am, doing just that.
Food Lion is not fully synced with InstaCart and that makes it hard to make changes. I wanted to cancel the order this morning and see no way on the site or the app to do it, so I called. At first, my wait time was 57 minutes, then 33, then 26 (about 20 minutes later), and then it went back up to 50+ minutes. It was at that point that I said fuck it, and decided if I have duplicate items, so be it.
Publix is better tied in with the system. I did an order with them, but it won't be here till Monday. Again, it'll be okay.
My doctor advised me via email to not go out, so even though I'm tempted to go get my stuff myself safely, I'm not going to.
The house is getting a tiny bit smaller, but not much. I'm more concerned about Allison not going out than I am with the situation here. I am also a bit concerned by Tom, but I can't get any information out of him. Ronnie and Stephen are going out way too much, but that's up to them. We're all doing this our own way.
