Thursday, April 23, 2020

Plague diary April 23


It's been five weeks today since we decided to not go anywhere that we would run into other people.

There are a few things that I like about being locked down.  Such as being able to stay up late and sleep in as late as I like.  In fact, I've been getting extremely restful and satisfying sleep throughout the plague time, plus not a single nightmare or disturbing dream about getting sick.  And I think that scam telemarketing calls are down, probably because scamsters can't trust their employees to work at top efficiency if they're not right there in the boiler room.

But of course there are things I don't like.  Top of the list is not being able to see the grandchildren, although the other day I returned some empty tupperware, sat on the porch swing while the kids played in the front yard and chatted at a distance with son and daughter-in-law.  That was nice, but not as nice as hugs and kisses.

I realize that I really dislike not being able to go grocery shopping.  At first in the lockdown my sons went to the store for me, and might call or text from the store to ask whether 2% milk was OK since there was no skim, but that stopped when they want into lockdown as well and we all started to use the grocery store pickup.  Which didn't always deliver what we ordered, and sometimes delivered what we didn't order (mixed nuts with "less than 50% peanuts," yuk).

But I like to shop for groceries as targets of opportunity.  I like to check the leftover bins, where yesterday's ground beef is marked down, and the getting-old produce is put at random into 99-cent bags.  That's when I might decide to buy five bags of getting-old apples to make a pie and some applesauce, or two bags of getting-old avocados, to eat one of at every meal till they run out.  Sometimes the red peppers look fabulous (buy a half dozen) and sometimes they look limp and pathetic (buy zero).  And if I'm not in a hurry, I like to go slowly up and down the aisles to see what looks good that I forgot to put on my list, or didn't realize that I wanted till I see it.  You can't do this with Kroger Click Pick.

from the fruit stand, chosen by ME!!!
I have been violating my orders (from my sons, not from the health department) and have made two trips to the fruit stand and one to the butcher in the last five weeks.  Wearing my mask and standing far from others.  But I'm really jonesing for a trip to the big grocery.  They have geezer time for an hour every morning, where just old people are admitted.  Some of my friends, even older than I am, go to the grocery regularly and so far seem to be uninfected, but I'm resisting so far.



6 comments:

  1. I didn't notice until you mentioned it, but you are so right, I have not gotten a single scam call since this whole thing started....

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  2. I'm still getting scam calls but my phone is set no sound for unknown contact and to direct them to voice mail. Some do leave a voice mail. Also, Kathy, I believe everyone should be what they believe is best for their own safety but I do go shopping to my Kroger store every 2 or 3 weeks during Senior hours. I wear a mask, gloves, and take disinfecting wipes. You have to use the stores bags. Last week I got a turkey breast for $.49/lb. There are very few shoppers there when I’ve been. Much fewer than the number allowed in the store at one time. I’m much happier picking out my own food.

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  3. I like to pick my own fruit and vegetables too, and have been sneaking out to the local produce market......don't tell my daughter!

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  4. Same here. My hubby has been venturing forth but I am not always 100% satisfied with his judgment. We have managed to hold our grocery shopping trips to about every 10 days. In our town, “old people” hours are actually more crowded than regular people hours, and worse, they are crowded with old people (!) some of whom seem completely unaware that there is anyone else in the world. Besides, we are pretty tired of being reminded daily that we are old and vulnerable. Otherwise, our county in CA has done a bang-up job of sheltering in place and social distancing, and consequently our curve is very flat...and stretching on into the foreseeable future, apparently. At last, the sun is out!

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  5. I love the face mask you made that I received for donating to your gallery. Thank you! I feel the same way as you all do about the grocery store. I go out every 10 days to two weeks and get what I want. I gear up with a face mask and hand sanitizer...wipe my own cart down...go early when there aren't many people around. Running into store employees in the aisles is the problem but most of them wear face masks. I wipe stuff off...not perfectly...when I get home and wash all the produce right away. It seems to take forever but maybe that's one of the life changes I will be making as we all mover forward with this, so I just roll with it. My life has slowed down so much, I have time to do this which is taking care of myself. Maybe that's one of the things we weren't doing so well before this pandemic. Anyway, it's quite the experience that was picked to happen in our lifetimes, don't you think? Not everyone got to have a pandemic!!

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    Replies
    1. Blanche -- I'm so glad you like it!! Wear in good health, especially at the grocery store.

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