covid19 gja Infection 200318 ... raze you know you're living in a strange time when there are people selling single rolls of bathroom tissue on ebay as dozens of desperate would-be buyers bid against one another to drive the price up far past what you'd normally have to pay for a whole case. i say this, of course, as someone who spent a hundred dollars on two cases this morning. it's nothing but empty shelves everywhere you look in the city now. and personal hygiene is a thing. i understand why people are hoarding more food and supplies than they'll ever need, even if i think it's selfish and short-sighted to leave nothing for anyone else. i know it's about fear and self-preservation more than anything else. i can empathize. the cretins who see this pandemic as an opportunity for some good old-fashioned profiteering, on the other hand, deserve whatever they've got coming to them. as kx21 might have said, "give me a global crisis and i will tell you how wonder you are." 200319 ... nr i am getting very stressed by all the "STAY THE FUCK HOME," "STAY INSIDE," etc. etc. posts to equal social distancing. social distancing doesn't mean you have to stay within your home's walls like a prison inmate. if you don't need to self-quarantine or self-isolate (which you absolutely need to do IF you meet any of the criteria to do so), you can go in the outside world as long as you still practice social distancing. source: any nurse, epidemiologist, and public health professional i've spoken to/read something by 200321 ... nr i'm also unclear on why people are hoarding things like toilet paper. from what i've read, we haven't run out; the stores are just bare because people are buying everything. but they will and have been restocking. 200321 ... nr *will be and have been 200321 ... raze someone told me the toilet paper thing got started because there was a video going around showing people in one specific city losing their minds when one store ran out of toilet paper. apparently some of those who saw the video thought, "we could run out too. we'd better buy it all while we can." not sure how true that is, though. i would guess a lot of it has to do with everyone wanting to be prepared in case they start exhibiting symptoms and need to self-quarantine. the problem is the moment stores restock their shelves, the same people who have already bought fifty cases are camping out and waiting to buy more. some have taken to buying up all the napkins and paper towels since toilet paper is so hard to come by now. i've never seen anything like it. you'd think cashmere bathroom tissue was some talisman to ward off evil spirits or something. i would have expected this to happen with nonperishable food items, but not bum kleenex! 200323 ... epitome of incomprehensibility nr - Yeah, I noticed that too! I guess "stay home" is supposed to be short and clear, but literally staying inside isn't needed. It's a bit weird going off the sidewalk to walk around people. I feel like when this is over I'll have a knee-jerk reaction for a while: "Don't get too close in case one of us has the plague!" Then again I'm smiling at people more when I pass them, to convey that no offense is meant by going circuitously around them. raze - This area was on-and-off for the toilet paper thing. We've got enough now but the first time my dad went to the store it was out. Honestly, I'm pretty well off. 4 people to 1 modem has led to the Internet becoming a contested zone at times, but right now I'm glad I'm with my family because I kind of panic if I'm alone too much. And I'm tutoring at home over Skype. The English test for teachers was postponed, but I still have a few students for that and others in college or university. I don't have classes today so I wish I could help with volunteer work, but I still have a bit of a cough. (Yeah, on Wednesday I panicked that it was The Virus despite the lack of fever - then a grumbling assumption that it was a sinus infection and I probably wouldn't be able to get antibiotics for a month - and now I'm feeling mostly better so it was probably just from the cold I had earlier.) ANYWAY I'm fine. But in some places things are terrible. Like NYC, holy shit. :/ 200328 ... nr fucking grinch variant. i really don't want to spend my first christmas ever without my mom alone. (or with covid19.) 211217 ... nr the decision stress is causing me literal stomachaches. 211222 ... kerry same here, nr. dreading some potentially awkward conversations. i hope you can see your mom this year. 211222 ... nr thanks kerry. she actually passed away in april :( my post wasn't clear; i meant it's our family's first christmas without her. i decided i am going to see some family though, and keep all the PPE on and my fingers hella crossed. good luck with your decisions too. 211222 ... epitome of incomprehensibility Okay, guess who caught a mild case of the plague just after she finished all her term's work??? But emphasis on the mild: I only have cold symptoms so far (itchy throat, congestion, a bit of a headache). No fever or serious fatigue. Also, I may have emailed my boyfriend and best friend with "A mild case of the plague" in the subject line. I mentioned in when_I_woke how I had a sore throat yesterday morning, but the rapid test that evening was unclear - the second line that tells you if you have it was pretty faint. So I took one again today and it was darker. But it's a lucky time to get it, now that the variants are weaker, I have three vaccinations (from what I've gathered, this helps - but this is not meant to annoy anyone who thinks differently) aaaaaaand I'm not right about to leave for England. I just can't go gallivanting to wild places like (checks notes) the local library. Until Friday at least. 220509 ... raze i'm so relieved to hear your symptoms aren't serious. i hope you feel better really soon. 220509 ... past may it be as mild as my kids: a bit of coughing and then running feral for the length of the isolation period! or at least an excuse to sleep off the end of term? 220510 ... tender_square wishing you a speedy recovery, e_o_i, with lots of rest and reading for pleasure. 220510 ... e_o_i Thanks, everyone! Yes, I'm lucky it's not so bad - it just feels like I have a cold. And my parents got their booster shot recently, so they should be relatively safe. 220510 ... nr sending you well-wishes, eoi! 220510 ... er e_o_i 220510 ... kerry yikes! i hope you’re back in tip top shape soon. could be a good excuse to lay around with a book and some tea, if you aren’t too fuzzy to read. sending a blather hug to ya. 220510 what's it to you? who go blather from