The Big Quarantine – Tuesday, March 31, 2020
The Day in Reversal of Opinion: For days that are pretty much the same, today, after weeks of poo-pooing the idea, experts in the U.S. are now saying that face masks of any kind might NOT be a bad idea. Really?!?!? Everyone else in the world wears them. Medical personal wear them. Yet for weeks you’ve been telling me face masks for my day-to-day life are not a good idea. Gah!!! It’s like fanny packs people. Don’t stigmatize something so useful!
I had to go to the grocery store today to pick up items for my Mom. Kroger has a lot of rules in place to mitigate Covids from flying through the air and into my lungs (I’m sure that’s how it works. I’m as much an epidemiologist as any of my Facebook friends, as you can see.) Among other precautions, they have marked 6 feet zones, put up plastic shields between the customer and the cashier, and posted that if you bring your own bags, you pack your own bags. Grocery shopping is a real test of endurance and following directions.
These days a grocery store is the place where I spend the most amount of time with the most amount of people. I do think a mask is a good idea. As part of my 3 hours prepping to shop (which included re-writing my list by zone as well as mentally preparing myself), I watched countless videos on how to make a face mask. They ranged in time from 2 1/2 minutes to 40 minutes, in materials from fabric, to 16 oz. plastic drink bottles, to paper towels, and in complexity from using masking tape to no-sewing to hauling out your sewing machine.
I chose the easiest one I could find and made myself a simple, if flimsy mask out of an old t-shirt. I glued an extra layer of fabric on the inside, and set off shopping.
There weren’t very many people wearing masks which I suspect will change when I go back in another week. For me, besides having to constantly adjust it as I got used to it, I found it extremely difficult to communicate without using my whole face. Wearing the mask felt more isolating to me than sitting alone in my apartment.
The Day in “Treat the Virus Like Glitter”: When I got home, everything that could get left by the front door, did get left my the front door. Obviously the perishables are in the fridge, but I can get to the rest tomorrow. Also, my shades were up, so apologies to anyone in the Park who happened to look into my window at approximately 3:10 pm today as I sped from the front door to the shower.
The Day in Neighborly Dining: Just as I’m trying to lessen trips to the store, I am preparing almost all my own food instead of going out. Of course I still treat myself to the culinary offerings of the neighborhood and support my restaurant neighbors whenever I can. Today I picked up some takeout from Crown Republic for my Mom. Like last week’s pizza, today’s fried chicken sandwich and especially the macaroni and cheese really caused a lot of excitement on my Mom’s porch when she peaked in the bag.
Crown Republic has one of those open kitchen set-ups where there isn’t much between the dining room and the working kitchen staff. For Covid, that entire part of the restaurant is blocked off, but what they can’t block off ,and what hit me when I walked inside, is the smell of cooking. Of all the things I’m missing about going out, picking up lunch for Mom today reminded me how much I miss the smells of great food being prepared. That’s everything from burgers to curries to bbq to ramen soup, and even to the fresh popcorn at Nat’s bar. The list goes on and on. I can’t wait to get back to that!
The Day in Wow, I Have Something to do Tomorrow!: If you’re following the saga of my Mom’s broken hearing aid, I have a 9:30 am appointment to pull up to the curb of the hearing aid store tomorrow for a transfer of the broken hearing aid to a technician. It’s part of the new world of necessary commerce. Also, based on the way I just lay around in bed in the morning these days, I might have to set my alarm as a reminder that I actually have to move. I can’t remember the last time I had two back to back days of activity!
The Day in Miniatures: Here’s an action shot of me (wearing a mask, obvs) sneaking out of the house.
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Covid 19 Info
If you want to help local bars and restaurant and their workers, please check out the links below:
Pleasantry OTR and Allez Bakery: Buy a meal for a healthcare worker
Restaurant Workers Relief Program: www.leeintiative.org
This organization needs funds and donations to keep feeding furloughed restaurant workers for the Restaurant Workers Relief Program. All donations go right back to the restaurants in your city that are feeding people in need.
We need supplies: diapers, baby food, tampons, toilet paper, canned food, and shelf stable food.
We can only buy in limited amounts so we need you to help us
Please order online at @amazon @target @walmart @instacart @meijerstores or any delivery service, buy supplies through your account and ship it to the local restaurant that is giving in your city.
𝗟𝗼𝘂𝗶𝘀𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲- @610magnolia 610 W Magnolia Ave, Louisville KY 40208
𝗗𝗖 – @succotashrestaurant 915 F St NW, Washington DC, 20004
𝗟𝗼𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀 – @chispacca 6610 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 – @salareseattle 2404 NE 65th St, Seattle, WA 98115
𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗴𝗼 – @bigstarchicago 1531 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
𝗗𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿 – @eatwithsafta 3330 Brighton Blvd #201, Denver, CO 80216
𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗹𝘆𝗻 – @olmstednyc 659 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗹𝘆𝗻 – @gertienyc 357 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
𝗖𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶 – @mitascincy 501 Race St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
𝗔𝘁𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮 – @restauranteugeneatl 2277 Peachtree Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
𝗟𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗞𝗬 – @greatbagel’s 3650 Boston Rd #108, Lexington, KY 40514
𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗢𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 – @cochon_nola 930 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70130
CDC – Cases in the United States
Updated March 31, 2020
These numbers are updated regularly at noon Mondays through Fridays. Numbers close out at 4 p.m. the day before reporting.
- Total cases: 163,539 (Yesterday = 140,904)
- Total deaths: 2,860 (Yesterday = 2405)
- Jurisdictions reporting cases: 54 (50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and US Virgin Islands)
* Data include both confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 reported to CDC or tested at CDC since January 21, 2020, with the exception of testing results for persons repatriated to the United States from Wuhan, China and Japan. State and local public health departments are now testing and publicly reporting their cases. In the event of a discrepancy between CDC cases and cases reported by state and local public health officials, data reported by states should be considered the most up to date.
Nothing Ever Happens on My Street 