Month: March 2020

Ok, so, one of my friends posted on Facebook that she was looking for positive and uplifting posts.

I thought I would tell everyone about the positive things I’ve experienced during this time of aloneness.

First and foremost working from home is a delight, I feel almost no stress. I have no distractions, I cleared out my unused bedroom and put my work computer in there. I have no television, no radio, just me and my company phone and computer. I am thinking of getting some artwork for the walls. Or maybe talk my daughter-in-law into creating something for me. She’s incredibly talented.

I do have pictures of Dean Cain on my work “desk”, I have that in quotation marks due to it is a card table. I don’t want to purchase a desk until I see if this is going to be long term. A chair was one thing, I needed that for the health of my back. I also have my shoe calendar. Some amazing soul sent it to me. I still don’t know who did it. If you are reading this, I brought it home with me and I am enjoying seeing my shoe of the day.

I am getting to spend time with my pets, I love them so much. I do believe Ronald a.k.a. Fat Catstard, is over me. I think he wants me to go back to work. I’m torturing him, you’ll see why at the bottom of this missive.

I am all caught up on laundry, I have never been caught up on laundry, like ever. It’s amazing! Oh and I live in pajamas and workout clothes.

I bought a new pair of running shoes and they actually make me want to run. Before you judge, I ordered them online, I love them, they are purple Asics. I found a great deal and they are so comfortable and my feed don’t hurt after my walk/run with Storm.

Who loves being walked twice a day, she now knows when it’s time to go and waits eagerly by the pet gate for me to get the leash. She has her pink harness and she prances when she spies a human looking at her.

I miss human interaction on a daily basis, yes I talk to people all day on the phone. But I miss seeing actual humans.

I’m going to start with I’m not sure what day it is anymore. I still love working from home, I’m not sure about the animals. Fat Catstard is definitely not happy, I have cut into his torture the dog time. Stormie however loves it, she sleeps at my feet while I work and is happy with the two walks a day situation.

Today is cold and rainy, I find myself wanting comfort food. My favorite comfort food of all time is the amazing Frito Chili Pie. You have to say that in an Oklahoma kind of way. And you have to say the whole thing, Frito Chili Pie. It rolls off of the tongue and invokes so many amazing Owasso Middle School memories. You could get one of those delicious creations from the snack bar.

The best ones used to come from Sonic, they don’t make them anymore, pity. There was nothing more comforting than a Sonic Frito Chili Pie, onion rings and a cherry limeade. I think my eyes just rolled to the back of my head envisioning that particular feast.

Sonic onion rings, invoking the name makes me want to jump in the car and drive to the nearest Sonic and buy some. How does one go to Sonic and not get onion rings? It simply isn’t done.

I miss my comfort food, no one makes a good Frito Chili Pie anymore. My friend Carol’s ex-mother-in-law used to make a great one. She called it a casserole and it was heavenly.

I know a lot of people are feeling uncertain during the time we are in now. I am not one of those, I have absolute faith God is on His throne and in control. I have no fear of man made situations.

I’m not stupid, I take precautions and prepare for the worst and hope for the best. My parents taught me very well how to survive anything. That’s the advantage of growing up with parent that grew up during The Depression. They taught me frugality and perseverance, all with a smile.

I pray everyone is keeping their sense of humor in all of this. Remember it’s better to laugh than to cry, if you have to cry, get it all out at once and then go back the business of living.

Watching a Dean Cain movie or show doesn’t hurt either, he is the prettiest man on the planet earth.

Since today is my last day of my weekend I decided to actually be productive around the house.

I cleaned out the spare room and set up my makeshift office. Since I am now a WFH person and am likely to be for the foreseeable future, I needed to reclaim my living room.

Luckily for me the equipment my office gave me to bring home is wireless. I’ll wait to see if I need to buy a desk. I have everything set up on my card table. I don’t want to invest anything else until I see where this is going.

I watched all of The Tiger King on Netflix, that was a wild ride. I had no idea this guy existed in Oklahoma. What a character, when you watch it, please remember he does not represent the part of Oklahoma I hail from.

I also finished the season of Picard. If you are a Star Trek fan I highly recommend it. Very enjoyable and thought provoking. As most Star Trek shows are, I am not ashamed to say I’m a Trekker.

This is a sad weekend, it is the weekend I was supposed to have seen Dean Cain again. I’ve always had bad timing, I suppose I shall take my disappointment and go read a book. That’s what I usually do when I need an escapism. I choose to go to a different world, a different place, a different time. Sometimes a whole different world.

What do you do when you want to escape the realities of your life?

I do pray everyone is safe and well.

Today is one of my normal off days, I decided to go to the store as I need supplies. I decided on Target because, well I love Target.

I didn’t go to my normal one, I went to one closer to where I am. They had bison! I’m so happy! I have a hard time digesting ground beef, ground bison is easier for me to digest.

I also found my Amy’s soup, eggplant and they had plenty of milk products (cow, almond, cashew, coconut) and cheeses. Strangely no sour cream and no cottage cheese. I find it completely fascinating what is being cleaned out at the grocery stores.

I didn’t check the frozen aisle as I didn’t need anything. I did check the toilet paper aisle, completely empty. Personal hygiene products overflowing.

I do have a few suggestions for keeping sane while in semi-quarantine. Keep a routine, shower, put on real clothes at least once a week. Even if you live alone, don’t get lazy about showering and washing your hair! Start your car and drive it a few miles every couple of days. Your car needs that, you will thank me later if you do that.

Check on your friends, especially those who seem a little stressed on social media. Check on the ones that work in essential occupations. There are many, telecommunications workers, mechanics, grocery workers, truckers, farmers, medical fields, police departments, military personnel and all of their families.

I am loving working from home, I hope after this is all over they company I work for sees the advantages of us working from home. Fingers crossed! Seeing all of my coworkers online in our company chat rooms gives me a sense they are right there.

Social media gives me a link to my friends and family. I hope you are all doing well and keeping sane during this time.

For those of you that are curious, I did put my chair together. Only one mishap with one of that arms and that was quickly corrected.

I have some semblance to a routine going, wake up, brush my teeth, warm lemon water then work. On my first break I put my workout clothes on. When it’s lunchtime I take Storm for a walk then make lunch. Today I made the best lunch ever! I have some keto friendly bread, I made avocado toast with an egg on top! I also used everything but the bagel seasoning. That filled me up all day. Then my second break I usually start laundry and clean the kitchen. Then work to the end of the day.

I am thinking of working overtime next week. We’ll see.

I am beginning to miss human contact, tomorrow I venture out to the store. I am in need of lightbulbs and more avocados. I will more than likely go to the local grocery store here in my town. I really want to go to target but feel the need to stay local and spend my money in my town.

One of the saddest things I’ve seen during this time is the older gentleman that lives down the street from me. Every day after school he stands on his driveway and waves to the school children walking by. Since the school closed I see him sitting I. A lawn chair in his driveway looking sad. I can’t even go up and visit with him. That made me sad.

I hope everyone is making the best of their exiled lives. I fully believe without a doubt we will be back to our own normals soon.

As I said yesterday I ordered an office chair to make my work from home time more comfortable.

I decide to open the box today and begin the onerous task of putting it together. Because I had no idea it didn’t come assembled. I open the box and take out all of the pieces and there are no instructions. I have no idea how to put this together!

I can’t hire someone because we are not supposed to have anyone in our homes! What am I supposed to do with this? I guess I could hire someone and have them assemble it on the porch. Or I could YouTube it and figure it out. I need Superman to come rescue me!! Dean where are you?! Beau Bennett where are you?!

I am not a handy person, I can do little things, hammer things, plant things. Change light bulbs, that’s about it.

I am literally laughing hard at my predicament, only I could order something I need during the apocalypse and it needs assembling.

Anyway, other than that, life is good, getting a little too solitary. When this is over I may end up hugging strangers in the street.

Day one of working from home, this is a blessing and a curse, curse is a strong word. Not curse, I’m looking for a different word, I mean I love my alone time, I am a loner by nature. On the flip side I am a very social person, I love people, I love conversation and I love seeing my coworkers.

Most of the people I work with I have know over 10 years, some over 14 years, some longer. Coworkers become friends, friends become family, I miss my work family and it has only been one day.

On the other hand I got to work in my pajamas, then changed into workout clothes and took Storm for a walk at lunch.

Then another walk right after work, no commute, no traffic to fight, it was rather lovely.

There were a few glitches, mainly due to what was between the keyboard and the chair. But I got those worked out and for the most part it all worked the way it was supposed to. I look forward to tomorrow and it working even better, by it, I mean me.

Very exciting happenings here in Anna, TX, on one of our walks we found someone was so excited to be in quarantine they ran out of their clothing into their house.

Just a few minutes ago we found a turtle in the backyard. I have no idea how it got there, I don’t think any of my neighbors have one as a pet. Storm was very curious, I was afraid it would snap her nose off. I made her come in, until it can find its way out.

I watched The Ranch on Netflix recently, I binged it, of course, I decided if I can’t get a Dean (I’m not losing hope) then a Beau Bennet (aka Sam Elliot) will do nicely. He also misses Ronald Reagan, I think we would make quite the pair. Also, ranch in Colorado, in the mountains, bonus. I could have snow in the winter, real snow, a real winter, I could wear my boots for a much longer period of time with impunity. I didn’t get to wear all of my boots this year, still so many to wear, so many to acquire.

I bought an office chair, if I am going to work out of my home for a minimum of 2 months, I need a more comfortable chair. I only have my dining table ones and folding chairs, not exactly comfortable for 8 hour sitting.

So it came today, I had no idea I was going to have to put it together. It has screws and parts, what is even happening! I will do it this weekend when I can sit in the floor and cry while doing it. I’m too tired to face it right now.

I’ll save it so I have something to look forward to on my weekend.

I am really beating myself up for being lazy and not going to the nail salon for a pedicure before they shut everything down. My feet are frightful and sandal season is fast approaching, no one wants to see them in the state they are in. scary.

That’s all I have for now, oh, one bit of advice, if you are staying in for an extended period of time, don’t forget to go out and start your car every few days. Your battery will thank you.

Day two of self imposed exile, just kidding, it’s my weekend. I go back to work tomorrow. No worries, we are taking precautions at work, we have enough floor space that we are a minimum of 6 feet apart.

I do miss hugging my coworkers, we are a very friendly group of people. A lot of us have worked together for over 10 years. We are muddling through.

So on Thursday I read a news article regarding the way Spectrum is handling this current environment we are in. It’s not good and the optics are horrible.

As a lot of you know, I work for a major telecommunications corporation. We’ve been around a lot longer than Spectrum and the way our management team is handling this situation, well night meet day.

Our first line managers immediately found hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes. They put these items in all areas then set about making sure all of the computers and phones in all cubicles were working. They then moved us around so we are at minimum 6 feet apart.

Then upper management sent an email saying at risk employees or ones that have someone in their home that is at risk or parents that have nowhere to put their children, could immediately take two weeks off with pay.

I want you all to know this is unheard of in our industry. I have heard that other steps are being taken, I am not at liberty to say what at this time.

I work with and have worked with a lot of people that have become family to me. Seeing the company I work for invest this kind of time and effort into making sure we can still come to work is heartening.

I feel like the work I do makes a difference and we are considered essential. I’m happy that I am still able to go to work and help keep people connected with loved ones.

I keep thinking about those of us that are not able to hole up in our homes at this point. There are a lot of us that still need to be at work, not just the medical field and police officers and firemen (people), I hold those people in great esteem, my daughter-in-law Amanda is one of those medical professionals going to work and seeing patients.

I started to think about the prisons, if it’s running rampant in nursing homes, is it running rampant in prisons? These people can’t “social distance” 6 feet apart. No matter what put them there they don’t deserve to contract an illness for it. I haven’t seen this addressed anywhere, if you have can you send me a link? I’m genuinely curious to see what is happening on that front.

I have yet to see any toilet paper in the store, for those of you that stockpiled this stuff like it’s Armageddon. No words. Find some old people or disabled people to give it to.

That’s all I have for now. Stay safe and leave me some Cauliflower and Brussel sprouts! I haven’t found any in a week.

Ok, so, I had the most disconcerting dream last night, or early morning as it were.

I was in a car with someone I know, Jeff, we were driving down a dark road behind a truck. The truck ran over something, not over with tires, the item was between the wheels. When we got up to it, turns out it was a child. The child stands up, is filthy, I open my door and say call 911. As I open my door I hear rustling in the field next to me. As if someone is coming towards us. I try and shut the door all the while screaming Drive Drive Drive. Which is when I wake up yelling drive! I totally scared the cat, the dog didn’t move.

After that I didn’t want to fall back asleep, I was terrified I would pick up where I woke up. So I’ve been awake for a long time today.

Today was a real Monday in the sense that we were swamped due to this whole Coronavirus. I don’t even know how to address it. So I’m not going to. What a nightmare for those of us who actually have to go to work during this.

Today I spoke to a nurse in San Antonio, she has a message for everyone. Stop hoarding toilet paper! It effects the respiratory system it does not cause diarrhea. We both laughed then cried a little for humanity.

I’m going to go to sleep early tonight and pray I don’t have a nightmare.

Peace out and share your TP with your elderly neighbors. In all seriousness, check on the stay at home moms and dads and the elderly. They may need some things.