Struggles

Wednesday. I will get an Amazon Fresh delivery today, between 11am and 1pm. Unfortunately, it will not contain any toilet paper. Also: I get the order delivered for free if I order above a certain amount. But when I order above that amount some items may not be in stock and I will be charged a delivery fee. Lesson to be learned: order a lot more. And of course I do tip, regardless.

Yesterday my sewing machine jammed for the third time in a row. I did not seem to be able to resolve what was going on there, so I took to Google. Found a sewing machine repair person who comes to your home to pick up and deliver. I contacted him and he said he was in Henderson and would come by to get my machine, which he did! Seems like a really nice guy. He said he'd have it back in two days at most. If that happens it will be fantastic!

Masks made for Animal Foundation so far

It isn't cheap. It's $129. But this includes everything. Full workup, ready to go, cleaned and oiled and whatever else is recommended. My machine was not super-expensive but still well over the bargain price because I wanted something that would last. If you have a $200 machine it may not seem worth it to spend $129. I don't know. But mine was over $600 so it seems like a good idea for me, and the service is everything I could hope for, assuming it comes back today or tomorrow and works beautifully.

Meanwhile, daughter Elaine loaned me hers. And I promptly messed it up, broke the needle. I think I didn't quite thread it right, because it ran well when there was no thread through the needle. I printed out the threading instructions and will have another go at it today. I hope to finish the ten face masks for the Animal Foundation today.  Then I will be on to making more for the family.

Elaine's machine waiting to be rethreaded

I took another little plunge today. I signed up for an online art class by Art Tutor. One of the instructors there started the Isolation Art Challenge on facebook, which is free and which has gotten me drawing again. But I have become super aware of my lack of skill. I do have some native talent but that does not do the job alone. So I am taking the basic Drawing Essentials class. Never mind that I took a basic drawing class at Cuesta College a few years ago. This one focuses more on getting on paper what you see, while that one was an intro to many different media. 

2,035,299 confirmed cases worldwide

130,712 deaths worldwide

618,813 confirmed cases US

27, 086 deaths US

3,211 confirmed cases Nevada

130 deaths Nevada

Staying Awake

I don't sleep well. In the best of times my nights are iffy. But usually after a day or two of little sleep I get a good one. Lately that hasn't been true. At least I haven't been having nights of no sleep too often, just many interruptions. 

I read. When I wake and can't get back to sleep I pull on the chain to my bedside light and grab my latest book. I'm going through them like crazy. Most of the books I am reading now belonged to my co-grandmother, Mimi, my son-in-law's mother. She died in February and I am finding new homes for her books. In many cases that means I read them first.  Many are mysteries set in other countries. I shared that preference with Mimi and I'm indulging big time. Others are historical novels, many of which are also mysteries. I am not a historical novel fan as a rule but some do catch my attention. The ones that try too hard to have characters speak as the author thinks people did back then tend to annoy me. Those move on. These days they move to Little Free Libraries because the regular libraries are not open. I list some on paperbackswap.com or bookmooch.com but not many. It feels wrong to earn credits from her books. At the same time, though, I offer to find books for others on these sites and have them sent to them. Is there a book you've been wanting? Let me know. If it isn't too popular I might find it.

I also dwell on my life now. I am not particularly productive. I am not doing a good job keeping the apartment clean. I set and read or watch television for hours at a time, trying not to eat too much because I do have that tendency.

I've been reorganizing my cupboards.

Yesterday I picked up food from a market and then last evening received a delivery of food from Amazon Fresh. I don't have a place to let things sit outside, and most of what I order is fresh or frozen so that method does not work.  I take the food out and put it away, then wash my hands thoroughly. The bags go into a bag where they can sit for days, until there is no chance a virus will survive there.

Today's goals: finish the ten masks I am making for Animal Foundation. Take out the trash and recyclables. Bring Easter Basket (bag) to grandson's house (to be left outside). Clean clean clean! This place is such a mess! Oh, and do physical therapy exercises.

But for now, it's back to bed.

1,795,978 confirmed worldwide

109,906 deaths worldwide

533,502 confirmed US

20,580 deaths US

2,700 confirmed Nevada

112 deaths Nevada

Placing Orders

I had a craving for a Subway salad the other day. Decided to have one delivered. When making the order I didn't understand the directions completely so ended up not getting as many vegs on that salad as I wanted. I will know next time.

The salad wasn't all I wanted it to be.

Learning the different ordering applications has been one of the least fun things I do these days. For example, I can't figure out how best to order from Target. I know from daughter Elaine that I need to use the app on my phone because the web doesn't have the pickup option. But I have failed to figure out a smooth way to order anything at all from there. I have ordered from Smith's three times now, so I know how to get there. But it's a pain. Each time I search for a product I have to reset the filters afterward. It's a good thing we can keep lists on there, because it will be easier along the way to simply repeat ordering those lists. 

For all of them there is the matter of timing. Orders from a restaurant happen that day, of course, usually in less than an hour. But orders from grocery stores rely on finding an open window for pickup or delivery. These stores only offer a few days ahead so I sometimes have to go back more than once in hopes of finding a new window open. Smith's has started to show several days ahead now, which is how I managed to order on Monday for a pickup Saturday (tomorrow). That was the soonest I could get it. In the case of Smith's, though, I don't know if they will have everything I ordered until about an hour before I pick it up. This sucks when I really want a specific product and it gets deleted. 

I hate to say it but I am getting low on toilet paper. I usually order in bulk from Amazon but I thought I had enough and so skipped one of my regular deliveries. Now that the number of rolls is getting dangerously low I am depending on Smiths to provide just that one pack.  Daughter Mary got a portable bidet-type thing but I do not yet know if it is working for her. 

As more people start to order pickup and delivery I hope the stores will start to shift staff to those areas and even hire more. It is a new world for them, although many of them have offered these options for some time. It was a small part of the business that has become much larger.  I also hope that grocery workers will be able to protect themselves more, that there will be protective equipment they can use. There is still a shortage.

1,634,650 cases worldwide
97,728 deaths worldwide

475,237 cases US
17,055 deaths US

2,456 cases Nevada
86 deaths Nevada

Face Masking Trends

Cloth masks are trending now. There are videos and instruction sheets on making them everywhere we look. Everything from using those blue shop towels to the vacuum bag variety, but it looks like most of us are making the cotton masks.  Today I watched a video on how to care for your cloth mask. Here's what you do:

• Take it off as soon as you get home.
• Wash it with soap, any soap, for at least 20 seconds.
• Rinse and hang to dry. You'll want some sort of hook for hanging. (My daughter hangs hers from shower curtain hooks)
• Then wash the sink and wash your hands again.

When wearing, do not touch it. If you do, wash your hands.

I volunteer for animal services here in Las Vegas. The day before yesterday I got a request to make ten cloth masks, using a specific pattern shown on JoAnn's site. I signed up. So now I am committed to making these within the next two weeks. They will arrange a no-contact pick up or delivery. 

I also made some for my younger daughter, who does not sew, and have sent her five for her gang (one didn't have the right length elastic so I made another). My other daughter, Elaine, has made several of her own, using a different pattern. She likes the ones I have been making and asks that I make her some of those too. So I have plenty to do! Especially considering that I am also doing a "challenge" - Isolation Art Challenge. Create art each day, following that day's theme. I have gotten behind in doing it every day but that's okay. I think only a few are sticking to doing it every day on the day.

Today I tried to order some "crafting wire" from Michaels, to pick up at curbside. All over the page were the curbside instructions but they did not work. I had to have it shipped or nothing. So I walked away from that order and will try at JoAnn's next. The wire is for the nose of the face masks. My pattern has a channel for a wire but so far I have not had wire to fill it. It also has a pocket for a filter. I haven't chosen what to use as filters, either.

1,455,525 cases worldwide
83,656 deaths worldwide

402, 471 cases US
12,914 deaths US

2, 102 cases Nevada
71 deaths Nevada

Posting

The other day I posted my experiences with the blender - and one more with pasta. I suggested that I might be feeling stress. That post is below. (For some reason I can't write more after the image without the paragraph being misaligned.) As you can see, I got 49 comments on that post. It struck a chord and it left me feeling like part of a bigger community, which is good.  

Today: 1,364,781 confirmed cases worldwide

70, 729 deaths

338, 999 US confirmed cases

9, 687 deaths

1,836 Nevada confirmed cases

46 deaths

Blender Woes

Some people have been posting about how this lockdown is affecting their mental health. In general, I think I am doing all right. But there are signs that maybe not.

A couple of days ago I made a smoothie. I wanted something sweet and I had ingredients for a peanut butter and jam smoothie. Sort of. Peanut butter and blueberries, actually. I added a little agave syrup to sweeten it. And I added ice to make it cold. After I tried it, I felt it needed more peanut butter, so I took off the top to add it. At that point the speed was dialed up but the machine was off. After adding more peanut butter I turned it on without putting the top back on and without dialing it back to "low". This is something I don't do, had never done before. The liquid exploded out of the jar and onto the counter, the floors, the wall and cupboards, and a book I was reading. 

Of course I shut it off right away and cleaned up.  That book is now miserably stained but still readable. 

Then yesterday, having yet another craving, I decided to make peanut butter pudding. It's simple: silken tofu, peanut butter, and confectioner's sugar. I guess in these desperate times sugar seems okay. I got it going and it was humming along, but then stopped. It was too heavy near the blades. I needed to use the tamper to push the mixture around. I don't know what I was thinking. I took off the top and put the tamper in there and turned it on again. Lordy! The tamper got caught in the blades. I had to pull to get it off. The blades made a hole in it, but I think the blades are okay, I didn't bend them. I think. 

These are the kinds of things I do when I feel stressed. I act without thinking. 

The News

I write now to remember later. Nobody reading this now will think anything in this post is a surprise.

The coronavirus is all over the news. There is no way to avoid it. The articles are about the number who have it, the number who have died, the number who have recovered. They are about possible cures, and about vaccines in the works. Currently there is a lot of excitement about a combination of drugs that appears to have the effect of reducing the length of time one has Covid-19, and may save lives. There is not enough evidence yet to prove the claims, yet many are touting this drug combo as a cure and people are buying the drugs where they can.

The drugs are hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. Hydroxychloroquine is a malaria drug and azithromycin is an antibiotic. I don't understand how an antibiotic would be effective against a virus, but neither can I figure the malaria connection. Apparently these drugs have been used in China and France especially, so the news of their effectiveness comes from those countries. 

Also flooding the news is the lack of safety equipment for healthcare workers. Story after story points out the dangers these workers face every day. Administrators are forcing nurses to wear one mask all day, and in some cases don't allow masks to be used at all. Many doctors and nurses have died from the infection. They are more likely to die than the rest of us because they are exposed frequently, and more frequent exposures lead to deadlier cases of the disease. 

More states are shutting down every day. In Nevada the prohibition against going outside (except out of necessity) is voluntary right now. There is not much to go outside for, frankly, with all entertainment closed, restaurants only offering drive-through and delivery options, and all non-essential businesses closed. I can't get a pedicure. That may not seem a big deal, and it isn't really, but unfortunately for me I can't get to my toes. My legs don't bend enough. This could get tricky. 

At this point there are more than one million confirmed cases worldwide and over 50 thousand deaths. The curves keep heading upward in the U.S. Predictions are, honestly, hard for me to imagine. The models predict some kind of peak somewhere between April 15 and 30, the last I heard. Of course peak does not mean it's over, just that the number of cases won't keep rising exponentially. 

I am fortunate. I have a regular income. I'm safe, relatively safe. Many are facing job losses - over 6 million filed for unemployment this week. There are some job openings, including delivery services, tech companies (video games are selling like crazy), manufacturing of safety equipment. My grandson lost his job and filed for unemployment. He tends to live on little generally but I doubt unemployment will pay all the bills.  I heard today of a person who lost his job and asked for time to delay his mortgage payments for three months. It was granted but with the provision that he pay all three months when the time is up. That's just crazy. 

I check the numbers too frequently.  A high school student developed an algorithm to gather the stats and present them in a dashboard. I look at that thing all the time. Right now there are 1,022,152 cases worldwide. 245,066 in the US. Every country in the world is infected.

And there are still people out there denying the seriousness of the virus. Today I read a post by one who said she was glad she didn't pay attention to the mainstream news. She watches a channel that features an antivaxx announcer who is known for distorting the facts. And she pointed out, based on his show, that there is a difference between people dying with covid-19 and those dying from covid-19.  Does it matter, really? She thinks it does.

One more thing we see now: everyone is now urged to wear cloth masks when they go outside. I have two masks so far. I have been too lazy to make more, but I will! I do need to get my energy level up. Thing is, the virus can stay in the air for three hours, maybe longer. So we don't know if someone just walked by and left us a gift. 

Is Starbucks going to hang on? I hope so. It is a little bright spot when I go there. Cheery voices responding to mine at the drive-through. It takes so little! Really. But there are, of course, fewer and fewer customers. Which is good, but still. I want them to stay open for our occasional needs.

Working Out

Above is the Las Vegas Athletic Club (LVAC) at Eastern and 215. That parking lot is never empty but now it is. I went to my last class at LVAC on March 17, 2020. I was up and getting ready to go the next day when I read that LVAC had closed. Following the governor's orders, it was possibly the last gym to close here.

I am going to physical therapy even now. The number of patients has dwindled and the tables are more spread out. The in-store Pilates studio is shut down, but the reformers can still be used by therapists (I was on two of them yesterday). One of the therapists gave me some exercises to do at home, and I added some others that I have been doing there, so I have a small workout I do regularly. It takes between 20 and 25 minutes. I bought a flat weight bench from amazon, but have discovered that it is really not right for most of these exercises. I should have gotten a massage table! But damn, those things are big and my apartment is not that large. So I use a mat on the floor. I don't love it because I have trouble getting up from the floor, but at home I have things I can grab onto. Here's my hope: that I will eventually get strong enough to be able to get up and down easily.

Ducks and geese at Cornerstone Park. The goslings may be the first of the season.

I have taken a few walks in Cornerstone Park but it isn't all that comfortable for either my legs or my back. Again, hoping these issues will ease and I can get back into walking.

Honestly, I am not highly motivated. I am able to complete the PT exercises every day but not much else. I have options: LVAC has online classes and links to others; we even have access to Les Mills videos as part of our membership. I also have workout DVDs. These are the most appealing to me right now, but I haven't done any yet.

Food in the time of Hoarding

There is food, as I said in my last post. But hoarders have made much of it hard to get. I keep hoping they will back off, but my guess is that those who have grabbed much and are satisfied for now have been replaced with others who did not grab but now do.

Still, there is food. Just maybe not everything we want. Getting it is another story. I no longer go into the grocery stores. I am hearing that some stores are limiting access to a certain number at a time. Even so, the chances of infection are higher than if I stay out.

So far I have ordered food twice, to be picked up. There are designated pickup spots with signs. The signs say to call a certain number. When I call they ask for my last name and the space number where I am parked. Someone brings out the order and places it in my car.  I have picked up food from Smith's Grocery only so far.  Both times I had to wait; the first time three days, the second four, before I could pick it up. Pickup slots are limited. If more people do this, then will the dates become even farther apart?

Today I placed an order for delivery from Whole Foods through Amazon Fresh. I had the order ready to go yesterday and twice tried to place it but there were no delivery times available. So when I woke a bit after one this morning, I thought to jump on the computer and try again. I got a slot between 1 and 3 pm Wednesday, the day after tomorrow.

Other days I tried to order from Sprouts but it became ridiculous. Sprouts has a feature that allows one to create a shopping list, and I did that, laboriously. But then I discovered that the list is only a handy item you can create for yourself, if you are going inside the store. You can't click on something that says "deliver" or "pick up". I was unwilling to go to the delivery page and start all over. Besides, I am hearing that Instacart is overwhelmed, and that is what Sprouts uses.

Instacart is like Uber or Lyft. Ordinary people go into the store and do the shopping for you, then deliver the items. I believe this process leaves the opportunity for infection rather wide open. No guarantees that individual persons are being careful, whereas the employees of the stores have to follow guidelines to be safe.

My cupboards are slowly thinning out. I have a fair amount of dried beans, although not black beans, and I can never get any of those, wherever I order. I have pasta, rice, other beans and bean mixes, other dried food or nuts. Canned tomatoes, other grains. Last night I made baked beans in the Instant Pot, because I have many white beans.  I am regularly making substitutions in my cooking. This situation may make me more flexible in the future.

covid journal

This may now become, for a time, a journal of living in the time of Covid-19, in Nevada.

It is almost the end of March, and most of us are taking this virus seriously. I still have friends who believe it is no big deal. I don't understand how they could reach that conclusion. I think they simply do not believe the numbers. But why would so many institutions lie about them?

In my 74 years I have never been in a situation remotely like this. There have been other epidemics, other pandemics, but nothing like this. I worry, I get scared at times, a feel a loneliness I did not know I could. Having always been on the outside, content to watch and contemplate, I surprise myself. I want that human contact. I tell people I drive through Starbucks to get that short bit of visible contact and those brief friendly interactions.

Will Starbucks have to close?

How much more needs to happen?

We aren't entirely shut down yet. The flights are still coming in, there are cars on the road, unrestricted. A lot fewer, yes, but many. There are parking lots full, people in the grocery stores. Some stores are restricting the number inside at a time, but that makes outside questionable. 

Many people walking in parks. The majority seem to be dog walkers. That's as it should be. Still some gathering in basketball courts, although the City of Henderson has taken down the hoops.

The big worry is the lack of protective devices for our healthcare workers, and the effect of bottom-line administrators on their health. The frequent re-use of masks means more people are getting infected. Making the situation worse.

I have made one cloth facemask. It's a simple one that does not have a nose wire, so when I wear it it fogs up my glasses. I have another one, different, cut out, but not sewn. I still need to find some kind of suitable wire for it. I know that these masks are no good for healthcare workers but they can provide some protection for the rest of us. We should be wearing them.

I am in physical therapy. The office is serving far fewer patients and the equipment is spread apart more. They are taking precautions but I suspect not really enough. These therapists put their hands on us as part of their job but they are not wearing gloves or masks. Everyone uses hand sanitizer and they wipe down the equipment after each person, but is it enough?

I need that therapy. If I didn't I would postpone it. I am diligently doing the suggested exercises every day at home, which is honestly a new thing for me. I always mean to do them but so rarely do. If they were fun it would be easier, but obviously they aren't fun for a reason. The reason is that I need them.

The parking lot at my apartment complex is full most of the time. That is, the cars associated with the apartments are there most of the time. Once you get a space you pretty much keep it because so few cars are moving. I lost mine and now I have a new one that is holding.

We are not starving. I can't get many food items that I normally buy but there is food. We don't have a crisis that way. I am anxious, though, for the items to come back, the hoarding to slow down.

It's quiet. The air is clean. The lake is clean. The birds at Cornerstone Park are starting to give birth.

NightWalks

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

As summer approaches once more I think about taking earlier walks. If I wait too long I won't be able to walk at all. It will be too hot. Last summer I often walked when it was still dark.

My usual walks are in parks or on trails along the Pittman Wash. However, when it is black outside it makes me nervous to be where there is so little light. Like a moth I am drawn to patches of light. Therefore I tend to walk on the streets, the streets lit by streetlights, car headlights, night lights in businesses.
Gas stations are like beacons, yet look even
lonelier than closed businesses, perhaps because of the bright lights.

Edit: written about one year ago (2019) but not published then.