The Big Quarantine – May 10, 2020
Happy Mother’s Day!!
The Day in The Doctor is In: Throughout the day yesterday I had a nagging headache that kept gaining on me. It wasn’t a migraine or anything seriously debilitating, but my head hurt and I wanted it on a pillow. I don’t get sick hardly at all (I cavalierly proclaim as a pandemic bears down upon me). However, the pandemic knocking at the door means we all have to be diligent about symptoms and we are all medical doctors. Because we’re ensconced in really bad news, self-diagnosis can feel like a walk down a dark, dark hospital hallway in an old black and white movie…with super eerie music [get the picture?]. I took a deep breath (my new number one Covid indicator) and my temperature, and an insurance Advil. I decided that I did not feel like I was coming down with any illness much less the Covid. I just (JUST) had a headache.
Basically I felt puny, or as I sometimes call it oogie. In non-Covid times, a puny day is a day to sit on the couch, watch some TV, and doze throughout the day. Puny normally feels like a gift. Yesterday, puny wasn’t welcome. I missed some internet social-ness because I was a bit cranky about the puniness. I’m still not 100% but I’m on the upswing and I am not worser (yes, worser). This doctoring stuff is a breeze!
The Day in Steppin’ Out: Today was the first time my Mom has left the house since mid-March and we went to a grocery store. Woo-woo! I spent the entire week prepping her on what to expect. She’d not seen social distancing or an empty cleaning aisle. It was her first time wearing a mask. We talked about touching merchandise (Don’t) and that the idea was to get in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Luckily, the store wasn’t that busy so it was a good introduction back to the new world for her. Kroger still seems to staff checkout lines like it’s business as usual, but the lines seem to move a tad slower due to the way people now shop. This results in a lot of humans standing around.
The only thing we messed up was the time alcohol can be purchased in Ohio, which is 10 am, not 8 am like I thought. Sadly for us, we got to the register with Mom’s weekly wine supply a few minutes before 10. We could have been asses and hemmed and hawed and started screaming about our rights to buy alcohol while the line behind us built up until we could ring out. Instead, we paid for the groceries and then I took Mom’s box of wine to the u-scan and by the time it was my turn it was literally 10:01. Cooperation people! We talked about this in kindergarten!
The Day in Masks (Masks…I Can’t Quit Talkin’ About Freakin’ Masks): My Mom wore an N95 Medical mask during the entire time we were together. This is a mask that is built to prevent her from breathing in the virus. She is a willing mask user but we have to figure out a way to tie the mask on behind her head, not her ears. The ear straps are fighting for space with her hearing aids. We can purchase head straps for masks, but, like the masks themselves, they are in short supply. I’ve got Mom on a DIY project to rig something up until we get a decent strap. I should note, we are not a talented DIY family. I cannot wait to see the results.
The Day in (Extremely Rare, Practically Unheard of) Bacon Disappointment: Yesterday I went to Findlay Market for the first time in a while and was glad to buy my favorite bacon from one of the vendors. This morning I pulled the bacon out of the bag and was caught way off guard. The bacon was tossed unceremoniously into a plastic bag instead of placed in the beautiful layers of bacon I think we are all used to seeing. I thought for a second I had someone else’s bag because I’d never seen bacon treated so poorly. Sure, the bacon tastes fine, but I didn’t want to have to unfold and realign the entire package this morning. Honestly, is anything going to go right in 2020? 😉
Nothing Ever Happens on My Street 
Seems to me like a nice day. Any chance you could use ribbon or a shoe string to pull the ear elastic to be able to tie in back of the head?