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Post by smalltowngirlie on Apr 14, 2020 15:50:41 GMT
I am already figuring I won't be able to leave the house ( hubby does the shopping, I only have telemedicine doctor visits) until sometime next year. Because I don't want to get Covid and I'll do ANYTHING I can to prevent that. And if that means 18 months in my house, then thank god we have a pool, so at least we can enjoy the summer sunshine. Start prepping for a long haul. Start thinking that way. Then if it turns out things change, and we get to be out and about sooner, great. I have to ask, is it ok to sacrifice the health and safety of the employees at those grocery (I'm assuming) stores your hubby shops at? How about the pool supply stores, whether brick/mortar or online? Employees have to make, sell and ship the chemicals, all so you can enjoy your summer. It sounds like you have it it covered for the long haul. What about everyone else?
I have been all in on social distancing and quarantining since the beginning. However, yesterday I went to pick up a prescription (which by the way is only the 2nd time I've left my house in a month) and driving thru my neighborhood I saw one house with a lot of work trucks lined up, and they were getting a new driveway poured. First thing I thought was "good for them." Why shouldn't they be allowed to work, outside?
Later I saw on the news the Michigan governor saying people aren't "allowed" to shop for paint, and no garden centers, and I thought why the hell not? People are ordered to stay home, but they can't paint? What about people that need the outside of their houses painted? No? People aren't going to be allowed to plant their own food and vegetables? What the fuck? I suppose people can buy their seeds and plants online, but again, that would still be employees working to pack and ship product.
What about all of the people that have lost their jobs-how exactly are they supposed to live and survive? Barbers, hairdressers, waiters, retail workers, etc., have to survive on unemployment? How? That won't come close to covering rent, mortgages, car payments and on and on and on.
People are going to start loosing their patience, and thinking we're just going to have to stay shut down until who knows when isn't realistic. Start telling people what they can and can't buy, where they can and can't go, and randomly deciding who should work and who shouldn't, is going to get real old for a lot of people. How long are all those currently on unemployment going to be allowed to stay on unemployment at a fraction of their pay. Oh wait, if you were a self employed and your occupation deemed non essential you get nothing, right? You can't buy seeds to plant a garden in your back yard. I know lets get ration cards and you can only get your set amount of designated groceries on your assigned day and time. Wouldn't that make it easier for everyone. You cannot leave your house unless our government says its ok. We really only need one store open if we do this, so lets say only Walmarts can be open now, they have pretty much everything you will need, the rest is nonessential anyway. I am glad some of you have the luxuries to stay at it for the long haul, but not everyone has that. Yes I am going to the extreme, but this is a path I am sure some would be totally ok with, me not so much. Lets try to find a balance, I don't know what that is, but no extreme is good.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Apr 14, 2020 16:26:17 GMT
Keep in mind, there was a time not all that long ago that kids didn't have a million options and they survived just fine. I went to camp for the first time when I was 12. I went the following year and then that was it. We didn't have video games, we had one tv that got 4 channels, the VCR wasn't invented yet and if we wanted to talk to somebody on the phone we had do it with the phone hanging on the wall in our dining room. What we did do was PLAY. We were outside all day. It wasn't until I was about 10 that we started to go to the pool about 3 days a week. We "spritzed" with the garden hose. We had a small kiddie pool that we would get out of storage and fill with water so we could splash around in it. We rode our bikes in our driveway and yard over and over and would pretend we were riding to the shore. We had a small tent and would sleep out in the tent several nights during the summer. My 2 cousins and I would play "Brady Bunch" with just the 3 of us - we would each be 3 of the characters. We needed to use our imaginations. Create tents with blankets in the living room and camp out at home. Save your Amazon boxes and have the kids paint them and create a castle or a car out of them. Catch lightning bugs. Have picnics in the back yard. Teach the kids how to sew or make small home repairs. Give them an old radio and tell them to take it apart to see how it works. Get out old clothes and have dress up times. Have them write a play and perform it. Have them write songs and sing them. Have them invent their own sport. Play kick the can in the yard, learn how to bake cookies or learn to sew. I tried to write this earlier and needed to step away from the board to gather my thoughts in a non-profane way. I can't begin to tell you how out of touch with reality you are right now. Some idiot stopped my kids walking the dog in our neighborhood to yell at them about social distancing. Some yahoo on nextdoor shamed two families for letting their kids ride bikes together on a local trail - fyi they actually stopped their bikes and were on the GRASS TALKING. FFS some pea called 911 on some kids skateboarding. If you think this situation is at all comparable to you bopping around with your COUSINS (why are you socializing with someone not in your immediate family) and kids should just go out and play, you need to take a look at what's going on right now. The MAJORITY of my kids friends have not left their house in 3 weeks - and these are teenagers who at least a parent can hope to explain 6 feet distancing.
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QueenoftheSloths
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Post by QueenoftheSloths on Apr 14, 2020 16:56:32 GMT
Keep in mind, there was a time not all that long ago that kids didn't have a million options and they survived just fine. I went to camp for the first time when I was 12. I went the following year and then that was it. We didn't have video games, we had one tv that got 4 channels, the VCR wasn't invented yet and if we wanted to talk to somebody on the phone we had do it with the phone hanging on the wall in our dining room. What we did do was PLAY. We were outside all day. It wasn't until I was about 10 that we started to go to the pool about 3 days a week. We "spritzed" with the garden hose. We had a small kiddie pool that we would get out of storage and fill with water so we could splash around in it. We rode our bikes in our driveway and yard over and over and would pretend we were riding to the shore. We had a small tent and would sleep out in the tent several nights during the summer. My 2 cousins and I would play "Brady Bunch" with just the 3 of us - we would each be 3 of the characters. We needed to use our imaginations. Create tents with blankets in the living room and camp out at home. Save your Amazon boxes and have the kids paint them and create a castle or a car out of them. Catch lightning bugs. Have picnics in the back yard. Teach the kids how to sew or make small home repairs. Give them an old radio and tell them to take it apart to see how it works. Get out old clothes and have dress up times. Have them write a play and perform it. Have them write songs and sing them. Have them invent their own sport. Play kick the can in the yard, learn how to bake cookies or learn to sew. I tried to write this earlier and needed to step away from the board to gather my thoughts in a non-profane way. I can't begin to tell you how out of touch with reality you are right now. Some idiot stopped my kids walking the dog in our neighborhood to yell at them about social distancing. Some yahoo on nextdoor shamed two families for letting their kids ride bikes together on a local trail - fyi they actually stopped their bikes and were on the GRASS TALKING. FFS some pea called 911 on some kids skateboarding. If you think this situation is at all comparable to you bopping around with your COUSINS (why are you socializing with someone not in your immediate family) and kids should just go out and play, you need to take a look at what's going on right now. The MAJORITY of my kids friends have not left their house in 3 weeks - and these are teenagers who at least a parent can hope to explain 6 feet distancing. I believe she USED to play Brady Bunch with her cousins. She is talking about her childhood, not her current activities.
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Post by pierkiss on Apr 14, 2020 17:06:00 GMT
Keep in mind, there was a time not all that long ago that kids didn't have a million options and they survived just fine. I went to camp for the first time when I was 12. I went the following year and then that was it. We didn't have video games, we had one tv that got 4 channels, the VCR wasn't invented yet and if we wanted to talk to somebody on the phone we had do it with the phone hanging on the wall in our dining room. What we did do was PLAY. We were outside all day. It wasn't until I was about 10 that we started to go to the pool about 3 days a week. We "spritzed" with the garden hose. We had a small kiddie pool that we would get out of storage and fill with water so we could splash around in it. We rode our bikes in our driveway and yard over and over and would pretend we were riding to the shore. We had a small tent and would sleep out in the tent several nights during the summer. My 2 cousins and I would play "Brady Bunch" with just the 3 of us - we would each be 3 of the characters. We needed to use our imaginations. Create tents with blankets in the living room and camp out at home. Save your Amazon boxes and have the kids paint them and create a castle or a car out of them. Catch lightning bugs. Have picnics in the back yard. Teach the kids how to sew or make small home repairs. Give them an old radio and tell them to take it apart to see how it works. Get out old clothes and have dress up times. Have them write a play and perform it. Have them write songs and sing them. Have them invent their own sport. Play kick the can in the yard, learn how to bake cookies or learn to sew. I tried to write this earlier and needed to step away from the board to gather my thoughts in a non-profane way. I can't begin to tell you how out of touch with reality you are right now. Some idiot stopped my kids walking the dog in our neighborhood to yell at them about social distancing. Some yahoo on nextdoor shamed two families for letting their kids ride bikes together on a local trail - fyi they actually stopped their bikes and were on the GRASS TALKING. FFS some pea called 911 on some kids skateboarding. If you think this situation is at all comparable to you bopping around with your COUSINS (why are you socializing with someone not in your immediate family) and kids should just go out and play, you need to take a look at what's going on right now. The MAJORITY of my kids friends have not left their house in 3 weeks - and these are teenagers who at least a parent can hope to explain 6 feet distancing. Kids are still allowed to play in their own yards. They can ride bikes around their neighborhood. They can do things with their immediate families outside in the world. They can swim in kiddie pools or in their own real pools if they are fortunate enough to live someplace warm enough for the to be opened now. All of the kids in my neighborhood are observing social distancing rules. Their parents make sure of it. My kids sit 3 feet back from our property line and the neighbors kids do the same thing. They shout at each other across the property line, it’s pretty funny. A lot of her other ideas are good ideas that can be done inside while social distancing. I don’t understand why you are so upset at her for posting these ideas. Pretty sure the comment about her and her cousins was just an example of something they did together in the past. Not that she’s suggesting she still gets together with her cousins to play Brady Bunch today. But the kids that all live in the same house could go outside and play Brady Bunch together. Mine play Star Wars together in our yard.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Apr 14, 2020 18:15:30 GMT
The point is it was one of the condescending - when I was young I walked up hill the snow with no shoes both ways - anecdotes. I realize she's not playing with her cousins today. I was pointing out that this situation has no resemblance to her childhood. If you found it helpful great, I found it tone deaf at best.
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Post by refugeepea on Apr 14, 2020 21:44:01 GMT
Well then there are the kids who are an only child. Who do not live within shouting distance of other kids. Who do not have a yard, or a garden hose, or a pool. The kids who have never had a friend their age their entire life. Their "friends" are the teacher, the aides, the speech therapist, and the OT aide. They can't go on bike rides because they will never learn how.
They can play in a kiddie pool, but they've already broke an arm in one with close supervision. Their time outside of the backyard has to be limited because they don't understand hygiene. They have to have a backpack with a leash attached to them and they will get stared at by others.
They can't sleep in a tent because they will only sleep in a recliner. They can't stay in the backyard long because any small object they find, they will throw over the fence; into the road, neighbors backyards, or the driveway hitting a car. Despite always having to come inside every.single.time. after throwing.
I get it. My kid is not "normal". But damn, even if my older two kids were this age, it's still hard. It sucks. This is not any kind of resemblance to the good old days of my youth.
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Post by tc on Apr 14, 2020 22:11:58 GMT
Here's my offshoot of this topic. Work is going to want me to go back into the office eventually. I'm guessing on the downward side of our state's curve - probably before all restrictions are lifted (and then applied again). "Time to get back to the office." I'm sure there's a draft email written already from upper management. What do I do with my kid if I can't get him into any summer activities? If I can't get him even into a daycare because they maxed out their "classes"? If I can't afford a nanny because that's just more than I can afford in my current budget? There's going to be a delta there and I can't imagine I'm the only one staying awake at night wondering what I'm going to do when the roles of mom and paycheck-earner conflict.
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Post by stampinchick on Apr 14, 2020 22:49:57 GMT
The point is it was one of the condescending - when I was young I walked up hill the snow with no shoes both ways - anecdotes. I realize she's not playing with her cousins today. I was pointing out that this situation has no resemblance to her childhood. If you found it helpful great, I found it tone deaf at best. Perhaps you live in a more urban area than I do. If I lived in NYC, things would be different. But that isn't my reality. I live in a small town surrounded by lots of rural area. People still walk the sidewalks past my house. I still talk to my neighbors while keeping at least 6 ft apart. We have a rail trail that a lot of people use to walk and bike and run. I'm sure there are some people who tell people on the trail they should be further apart. It's ridiculous that all the warnings and 24x7 coverage have caused people to freak out to the point of calling the cops when they see kids riding their bikes or on their skateboards. I haven't heard of any of that happening here, with the exception of a busybody woman who called the cops after hearing second or third hand that a man who supposedly had the virus was visiting neighbors and playing cards. She expected people to be outraged that somebody in our community was doing this and instead she found out that people thought it was terrible that she called the cops about information that was hearsay. Where I live, all of the things I said I did as a kid could be done without getting closer than 6 ft to anybody other than those that live in their household. Here, there is no reason why kids have to stay inside, as long as parents monitor them. I don't live in an apartment complex. My neighbors have yards and driveways. This summer I expect to see neighbor kids playing in their fenced-in yard just like they have every summer. They just will have to play by themselves or with siblings because they won't be able to play with the other neighbor kids or have friends and family come over to play. The whole point of my post was to say parents should encourage their kids to be creative with their time instead of just moping around being bored this summer (driving mom and dad crazy) because they won't be able to do their normal summer activities. When I said I played Brady Bunch with my cousins (who lived next door to me and were my everyday playmates), it was to show that with only 3 kids we had to be creative in order to play 9 characters. My older cousin always got to be Marsha and Jan and I had to be Cindy, Carol and Alice. My other cousin had to play all 3 boys and Mike. We didn't need any special things in order to play that. Sometimes we did use items we had. When "Alice" was making dinner, she sometimes got a bucket of water and pulled some grass and leaves and put it in the water and stirred it with a stick then would tell the family that dinner was ready and everyone would "eat" the "soup". That was my point - we had fun just pretending. Somebody else mentioned their kids play Star Wars. That's great! When my nieces were younger, they had their own restaurant. They had a name for it, one of them was the hostess, one was the waitress and one was the chef. When I went to their house, they wanted to play restaurant. They had nametags they made from post-it notes. The hostess would seat me and tell me the specials, the waitress would take my order, the chef would prepare it then the waitress would serve it to me. All of it was invisible food on invisible plates. I would pretend to eat it and rave about it. Then they would ask me how the service was and how I would rate it. It was too cute! Encourage your kids to think outside of the box, regardless of where you live. That's what I'm trying to say.
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Post by stampinchick on Apr 14, 2020 22:58:38 GMT
Well then there are the kids who are an only child. Who do not live within shouting distance of other kids. Who do not have a yard, or a garden hose, or a pool. The kids who have never had a friend their age their entire life. Their "friends" are the teacher, the aides, the speech therapist, and the OT aide. They can't go on bike rides because they will never learn how.
They can play in a kiddie pool, but they've already broke an arm in one with close supervision. Their time outside of the backyard has to be limited because they don't understand hygiene. They have to have a backpack with a leash attached to them and they will get stared at by others.
They can't sleep in a tent because they will only sleep in a recliner. They can't stay in the backyard long because any small object they find, they will throw over the fence; into the road, neighbors backyards, or the driveway hitting a car. Despite always having to come inside every.single.time. after throwing.
I get it. My kid is not "normal". But damn, even if my older two kids were this age, it's still hard. It sucks. This is not any kind of resemblance to the good old days of my youth. I'm sorry this is what you are dealing with. Obviously, my suggestions aren't going to fit every situation. I can't imagine the stress you are dealing with. I hope you have some kind of support system to help you when things are "normal" but especially now I hope there are people who can come along beside you to help you in some way even while keeping their distance.
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FurryP
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Post by FurryP on Apr 14, 2020 23:02:14 GMT
I think it is going to be a looooooooooong summer. I think 2020 in general will feel like an eternity ![:(](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/s8bLJ0Otyp3gGsUrq2h2.jpg) . One day at a time. One day at a time. ![](https://media.fotki.com/2v2JGmVoCxA5eGL.gif) I'm kind of hoping this stay at home stuff, curbs my "entertainment" shopping. I feel really good about the money that is not leaving my account.
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Post by stampinchick on Apr 14, 2020 23:03:23 GMT
Here's my offshoot of this topic. Work is going to want me to go back into the office eventually. I'm guessing on the downward side of our state's curve - probably before all restrictions are lifted (and then applied again). "Time to get back to the office." I'm sure there's a draft email written already from upper management. What do I do with my kid if I can't get him into any summer activities? If I can't get him even into a daycare because they maxed out their "classes"? If I can't afford a nanny because that's just more than I can afford in my current budget? There's going to be a delta there and I can't imagine I'm the only one staying awake at night wondering what I'm going to do when the roles of mom and paycheck-earner conflict. I have wondered about this. There is no way things are going to go back on like a switch. There will need to be gradual openings. And I would hope there are provisions and requirements put in place that parents who have kids need to be given leeway in returning to work if childcare is an issue. Daycare centers are not going to be one of the first things to open. There will need to be requirements that jobs are protected if a parent can't return right away if they don't have child care. This is going to be a long process to get everyone back to work.
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Post by rahnee on Apr 14, 2020 23:09:48 GMT
Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, but I can't imagine how things could be back to normal in the US anytime soon. From what I can see, the US has approximately 4% of the world population yet it has 20% of the coronavirus deaths. The death toll doubled to over 25,000 in a week. That just seems insane to me.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 14, 2020 23:40:54 GMT
Here's my offshoot of this topic. Work is going to want me to go back into the office eventually. I'm guessing on the downward side of our state's curve - probably before all restrictions are lifted (and then applied again). "Time to get back to the office." I'm sure there's a draft email written already from upper management. What do I do with my kid if I can't get him into any summer activities? If I can't get him even into a daycare because they maxed out their "classes"? If I can't afford a nanny because that's just more than I can afford in my current budget? There's going to be a delta there and I can't imagine I'm the only one staying awake at night wondering what I'm going to do when the roles of mom and paycheck-earner conflict. I have wondered about this. There is no way things are going to go back on like a switch. There will need to be gradual openings. And I would hope there are provisions and requirements put in place that parents who have kids need to be given leeway in returning to work if childcare is an issue. Daycare centers are not going to be one of the first things to open. There will need to be requirements that jobs are protected if a parent can't return right away if they don't have child care. This is going to be a long process to get everyone back to work. In our state daycare centers are still open and are considered essential. A lot of people aren’t sending their kids though because if they already are having to work from home, have been furloughed or laid off and/or have older kids that would be in school normally but now aren’t, it doesn’t make sense to continue paying for daycare for their younger kid/s when the rest of the family is at home. A friend of mine works in a daycare said that they are down to about 20% of their usual capacity and as a result have laid off all of their part time workers.
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Post by tc on Apr 14, 2020 23:44:31 GMT
I have wondered about this. There is no way things are going to go back on like a switch. There will need to be gradual openings. And I would hope there are provisions and requirements put in place that parents who have kids need to be given leeway in returning to work if childcare is an issue. Daycare centers are not going to be one of the first things to open. There will need to be requirements that jobs are protected if a parent can't return right away if they don't have child care. This is going to be a long process to get everyone back to work. In our state daycare centers are still open and are considered essential. A lot of people aren’t sending their kids though because if they already are having to work from home, have been furloughed or laid off and/or have older kids that would be in school normally but now aren’t, it doesn’t make sense to continue paying for daycare for their younger kid/s when the rest of the family is at home. A friend of mine works in a daycare said that they are down to about 20% of their usual capacity and as a result have laid off all of their part time workers. Ours had to cut their class sizes down to 10 kids.
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zella
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by zella on Apr 17, 2020 22:29:10 GMT
I am already figuring I won't be able to leave the house ( hubby does the shopping, I only have telemedicine doctor visits) until sometime next year. Because I don't want to get Covid and I'll do ANYTHING I can to prevent that. And if that means 18 months in my house, then thank god we have a pool, so at least we can enjoy the summer sunshine. Start prepping for a long haul. Start thinking that way. Then if it turns out things change, and we get to be out and about sooner, great. I have to ask, is it ok to sacrifice the health and safety of the employees at those grocery (I'm assuming) stores your hubby shops at? How about the pool supply stores, whether brick/mortar or online? Employees have to make, sell and ship the chemicals, all so you can enjoy your summer. It sounds like you have it it covered for the long haul. What about everyone else?
I have been all in on social distancing and quarantining since the beginning. However, yesterday I went to pick up a prescription (which by the way is only the 2nd time I've left my house in a month) and driving thru my neighborhood I saw one house with a lot of work trucks lined up, and they were getting a new driveway poured. First thing I thought was "good for them." Why shouldn't they be allowed to work, outside?
Later I saw on the news the Michigan governor saying people aren't "allowed" to shop for paint, and no garden centers, and I thought why the hell not? People are ordered to stay home, but they can't paint? What about people that need the outside of their houses painted? No? People aren't going to be allowed to plant their own food and vegetables? What the fuck? I suppose people can buy their seeds and plants online, but again, that would still be employees working to pack and ship product.
What about all of the people that have lost their jobs-how exactly are they supposed to live and survive? Barbers, hairdressers, waiters, retail workers, etc., have to survive on unemployment? How? That won't come close to covering rent, mortgages, car payments and on and on and on.
People are going to start loosing their patience, and thinking we're just going to have to stay shut down until who knows when isn't realistic. Start telling people what they can and can't buy, where they can and can't go, and randomly deciding who should work and who shouldn't, is going to get real old for a lot of people.
IMO painting and gardening are no different than caring for a pool. It can go downhill quickly if it's not cared for. There are no easy answers, are there? I wanted hubby to buy our own pool testing kit so he didn't have to take the water over to the pool store weekly, along with months of supplies of chlorine etc. Our pool store is actually very smart. They have people line up outside. One person comes to the door, wearing a mask, opens it, asks for the order or takes the water for testing. No one in the store but employees. There is NO easy answer for grocery stores and pharmacies. We need meds and we need food. Believe me, there isn't a purchase we make without thinking about the things you bring up. We buy as little as possible that isn't "necessary." With regards to the pool, it helps with exercise and mental health. I may be stuck home a lot longer than most because of my health issues, our daughter too, so I do also take that into consideration.
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Post by Merge on Apr 17, 2020 22:40:00 GMT
Texas' governor called school off for the rest of the school year today. My younger daughter's potential summer orchestra camps (variously located in Michigan, Tennessee, and north Texas - she would have attended one of them) have all been cancelled. I very much doubt that the state of Maine is going to allow visitors to travel in through June and July, which means no trip to our vacation rental house.
The oldest child will likely not be able to work this summer, which means she's living at home for the foreseeable - a situation guaranteed to make everyone cranky.
I think this spring and summer is going to be a big pile of suck. Mentally preparing myself for that.
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Post by susancinpa on Apr 18, 2020 19:26:15 GMT
We have resigned ourselves that we won't have our spring vacation and would be highly surprised if we would be able to go by late summer/early fall. We normally would have had a vacation scheduled in March to go somewhere like Aruba or St. Maarten, but put it off since once of my work teammates was going to be on maternity leave. We thought we'd do something in late May/early June and then this all started to get stirred up. Glad we hadn't booked anything.
In December, I had requested time off for a June scrapbooking retreat, pretty sure that won't be happening, unless there's some kind of miracle at this point.
While these things are highly disappointing, everyone's health & safety are definitely more important. It's just hard not knowing when our next vacation will be because from 9/14 - 3/19, we didn't do any vacations due to having a diabetic cat that was our priority until we unfortunately lost him to an autoimmune disease.
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cycworker
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Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Apr 18, 2020 21:12:12 GMT
Ditto! I said wow as I scrolled down! The tricky thing about this situation is that it is, from what I understand, completely dependent upon where you live, in two ways. One, due to the sheer size of North America, and the disparities in population density. Two, it does, to an extent, depend on who is in charge. The chief medical officer in British Columbia is very cognizant of the need to balance public safety in the context of mitigating the spread of this disease with the risk of people getting careless due to the mental stress of being cooped up. So in BC, in May we will see elective surgeries start to be scheduled again. She has said she is working on a plan to allow us to have some kind of a summer and resume some activities. Now, what that looks like, we don't know at this point. I suspect we will have staff at parks controlling the numbers, so people can start to go outside. We might get to have limited seating at restaurants. Maybe time limits to allow more customers to have a chance; no more loitering for hours with your laptop at Starbucks, at least right now. Even if we are allowed to, say, go to the lake, in June or July, I suspect it will be longer before we are cleared for non-essential travel across the border. And when I say across the border, I don't just mean Canada/USA - I am talking inter-provincial, because BC is further ahead than Alberta, Ontario & Quebec (the 3 other big provinces) at flattening our curve. I don't know that they can forbid inter-provincial travel, but they are certainly going to continue to strongly discourage it for quite a while. And as long as Trump is in office, I suspect we are going to want to keep the Canada/USA border closed to non-essential travel. They are at the point where they can tell where the strains of outbreaks are coming from. In Quebec/Ontario, Canada/US travel was a big issue. In BC, it's been transmission from Washington state, China, and however the outbreaks started in the Lynn Valley care homes There are a lot of reasons for that; on Vancouver Island, where I live, we have the second lowest number of cases in British Columbia. Throughout BC, we have had some community transmission, but the bulk of our deaths & overall infections are connected to outbreaks in some lower mainland extended care homes. We are at the point in British Columbia where we are starting to work on contact tracing & increasing the amount of testing. That, more than a vaccine, is what is needed to get us back to some semblance of normal life. As I mentioned in another thread, if you are just interested in understanding the science of this pandemic, Dr Bonnie Henry's press conferences are fantastic. She speaks clearly, kindly and with authority. She also has done town halls where she answers people's questions. Again - layperson's language, and a tonne of patience. She doesn't lose her cool at all when she gets the same question more than once; she seems to realize that if that happens, it's likely people didn't understand something in her original answer, and she can rephrase it so it's clearer. She's extremely sensible & reassuring. Her motto is, "Be kind, be calm, and be safe."
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cycworker
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,378
Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Apr 20, 2020 5:11:41 GMT
I think 2020 in general will feel like an eternity ![:(](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/s8bLJ0Otyp3gGsUrq2h2.jpg) . One day at a time. One day at a time. ![](https://media.fotki.com/2v2JGmVoCxA5eGL.gif) I'm kind of hoping this stay at home stuff, curbs my "entertainment" shopping. I feel really good about the money that is not leaving my account. I am up in one area, down everywhere else (except fixed expenses of rent, cable & hydro). The area I am up is that I have been supporting a locally owned stamp store. I don't want her to lose her business because of this mess. She is doing curbside pickup and she has cut her hours to 4 days a week. Has laid off staff & is doing it all herself. She does Facebook Live every day she is open and features a different company she carries. Or she does technique videos. But I have spent almost nothing on gas, I'm not eating out, no entertainment... so I will still come out ahead at the end of the month of April, as I did in March.
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cycworker
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,378
Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Apr 20, 2020 5:21:02 GMT
sunshine - you make a fair point. Where I live, the places that are closed (hair & nail salons, for one) are closed because the Premier declared a state of emergency. Criteria for being open is whether your business can maintain social distancing. I think when we start to allow people to slowly get back to life, they will require social distancing measures. You'll find only half as many chairs at the place you go to get your hair cut. The person cutting your hair will like be required to wear a mask & gloves. Restaurants will likely open for sit down but with limited seating. Can't expect grocery stores or pharmacies to close. They are truly essential. You make a fair point that this can't go on this way for much longer. But by the same token, we can't put people at risk, and too many people out and about at once creates too big a risk, at least until we can get mass testing sorted out. We have got to be able to do contact tracing. That's the key.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 17, 2024 21:50:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2020 12:49:20 GMT
Keep in mind, there was a time not all that long ago that kids didn't have a million options and they survived just fine. I went to camp for the first time when I was 12. I went the following year and then that was it. We didn't have video games, we had one tv that got 4 channels, the VCR wasn't invented yet and if we wanted to talk to somebody on the phone we had do it with the phone hanging on the wall in our dining room. What we did do was PLAY. We were outside all day. It wasn't until I was about 10 that we started to go to the pool about 3 days a week. We "spritzed" with the garden hose. We had a small kiddie pool that we would get out of storage and fill with water so we could splash around in it. We rode our bikes in our driveway and yard over and over and would pretend we were riding to the shore. We had a small tent and would sleep out in the tent several nights during the summer. My 2 cousins and I would play "Brady Bunch" with just the 3 of us - we would each be 3 of the characters. We needed to use our imaginations. Create tents with blankets in the living room and camp out at home. Save your Amazon boxes and have the kids paint them and create a castle or a car out of them. Catch lightning bugs. Have picnics in the back yard. Teach the kids how to sew or make small home repairs. Give them an old radio and tell them to take it apart to see how it works. Get out old clothes and have dress up times. Have them write a play and perform it. Have them write songs and sing them. Have them invent their own sport. Play kick the can in the yard, learn how to bake cookies or learn to sew. I get this, I really do, but also as a kid I used to be able to walk to my cousins house and play there all day, nope can't do that anymore. We used to be able to go to the park to play with friends, nope can't do that anymore. We used to go camping in a tent, in some areas, nope can't do that anymore. DH used to leave his house in the morning and hang out with the neighborhood kids all day, nope can't do that. So you can say kids have so many options, but those have been taken away and there are options I had as a child that are also gone. I said this before and I will say it again, we need to find a balance between public safety and the economy. I want to add to that the mental health of many people, the mental health of our nation. What scares me more and more is the mental health of so many that may now feel trapped. History has shown the higher the unemployment rate the higher the suicide rate. I can see domestic violence increasing, abuse cases increasing and there will be no one seeing the signs because everyone is sheltering at home. You can say everyone just stay home, but there are some major concerns I have about that also. There is no perfect answer and no matter what is decided people will second guess everything done. Did we do enough, did we do too much, what else could we have done, we didn't need to do that etc. That you can't drive to a parking lot by a beach and watch the water, from your car is crazy, not everyone can sit home all day everyday until who knows when. Life will need to more forward at some point. Wrong. It's not permanent. Stop saying "can't do that anymore." It's "can't do it right now" and quite frankly, large gatherings, big events should be cancelled for a while. In time, we'll be able to go back to doing all the things you're whining about. Just be patient. Or be like the protestors and do it anyways. I don't care.
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Post by smalltowngirlie on Apr 20, 2020 14:40:49 GMT
I get this, I really do, but also as a kid I used to be able to walk to my cousins house and play there all day, nope can't do that anymore. We used to be able to go to the park to play with friends, nope can't do that anymore. We used to go camping in a tent, in some areas, nope can't do that anymore. DH used to leave his house in the morning and hang out with the neighborhood kids all day, nope can't do that. So you can say kids have so many options, but those have been taken away and there are options I had as a child that are also gone. I said this before and I will say it again, we need to find a balance between public safety and the economy. I want to add to that the mental health of many people, the mental health of our nation. What scares me more and more is the mental health of so many that may now feel trapped. History has shown the higher the unemployment rate the higher the suicide rate. I can see domestic violence increasing, abuse cases increasing and there will be no one seeing the signs because everyone is sheltering at home. You can say everyone just stay home, but there are some major concerns I have about that also. There is no perfect answer and no matter what is decided people will second guess everything done. Did we do enough, did we do too much, what else could we have done, we didn't need to do that etc. That you can't drive to a parking lot by a beach and watch the water, from your car is crazy, not everyone can sit home all day everyday until who knows when. Life will need to more forward at some point. Wrong. It's not permanent. Stop saying "can't do that anymore." It's "can't do it right now" and quite frankly, large gatherings, big events should be cancelled for a while. In time, we'll be able to go back to doing all the things you're whining about. Just be patient. Or be like the protestors and do it anyways. I don't care. I totally agree that large gatherings should be cancelled for a while. Things need to start opening at a controlled pace. It will be different for each state and maybe even within each state. But when some say they pretty much have what they need so everyone should feel the same way, nope not everyone will. Not every house is set up to be this wonderful playground, even with the most imaginative parent. You don't know what is happening from one house to another. People will start to feel trapped, I do and I am usually pretty content to be at home, but dang I want the option to go out and do some fun things with friends. Not a gathering of 100, not 50 not even 15, but maybe 1 or 2 other couples. Shoot, even just being able to go to each others house, but that is not an option NOW. Virtual get togethers are not and never will be the same. I think the thing that really affects all of this is the unknown. I have seen multiple predictions of when we will peak and they are all over the place. I can be patient, but again, for how long? There are some on this thread that would be completely content to keep this as they are now until a vaccine is ready, so 12-18 months. So their expectation is we all sit at home for 12-18 months. How many small businesses will survive that? How many can survive the next 30 days?
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
Jun 26, 2014 2:34:35 GMT
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Post by luvnlifelady on Apr 20, 2020 14:49:31 GMT
I just had a thought. The County Fair is a really big deal in my area and I'm sure kids are getting their baby animals to raise and show now. The fair is the last week of August, right before school starts. Ours is one of the last ones of the summer. I wonder if those are off the table? Granted it's mid-June to early July but the one in San Diego is canceled. It's huge and draws lots of crowds right near the beach. Hopefully yours still gets to go.
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
Jun 26, 2014 2:34:35 GMT
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Post by luvnlifelady on Apr 20, 2020 14:51:58 GMT
In Washington at least, no fishing, campgrounds, hiking, boating, swimming, playgrounds, beaches...you can't go and sit in your car and watch the ocean, the parking lots are closed, they've even closed all the rest stops. Except walking around your own neighborhood there isn't anywhere to go Although I heard our county fair (beginning of August) was still happening... Sounds like California everything is closed. I’m sure glad we have a nice backyard at least but it doesn’t replace getting out for a hike or going to the beach or mountains. It’s going to be a long, long summer. Not sure if they are hiking on closed trails but I have at least one FB friend who regularly posts pictures of trail hiking in the desert area of Southern CA.
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
Jun 26, 2014 2:34:35 GMT
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Post by luvnlifelady on Apr 20, 2020 14:55:41 GMT
I have to ask, is it ok to sacrifice the health and safety of the employees at those grocery (I'm assuming) stores your hubby shops at? How about the pool supply stores, whether brick/mortar or online? Employees have to make, sell and ship the chemicals, all so you can enjoy your summer. It sounds like you have it it covered for the long haul. What about everyone else?
I have been all in on social distancing and quarantining since the beginning. However, yesterday I went to pick up a prescription (which by the way is only the 2nd time I've left my house in a month) and driving thru my neighborhood I saw one house with a lot of work trucks lined up, and they were getting a new driveway poured. First thing I thought was "good for them." Why shouldn't they be allowed to work, outside?
Later I saw on the news the Michigan governor saying people aren't "allowed" to shop for paint, and no garden centers, and I thought why the hell not? People are ordered to stay home, but they can't paint? What about people that need the outside of their houses painted? No? People aren't going to be allowed to plant their own food and vegetables? What the fuck? I suppose people can buy their seeds and plants online, but again, that would still be employees working to pack and ship product.
What about all of the people that have lost their jobs-how exactly are they supposed to live and survive? Barbers, hairdressers, waiters, retail workers, etc., have to survive on unemployment? How? That won't come close to covering rent, mortgages, car payments and on and on and on.
People are going to start loosing their patience, and thinking we're just going to have to stay shut down until who knows when isn't realistic. Start telling people what they can and can't buy, where they can and can't go, and randomly deciding who should work and who shouldn't, is going to get real old for a lot of people. How long are all those currently on unemployment going to be allowed to stay on unemployment at a fraction of their pay. Oh wait, if you were a self employed and your occupation deemed non essential you get nothing, right? You can't buy seeds to plant a garden in your back yard. I know lets get ration cards and you can only get your set amount of designated groceries on your assigned day and time. Wouldn't that make it easier for everyone. You cannot leave your house unless our government says its ok. We really only need one store open if we do this, so lets say only Walmarts can be open now, they have pretty much everything you will need, the rest is nonessential anyway. I am glad some of you have the luxuries to stay at it for the long haul, but not everyone has that. Yes I am going to the extreme, but this is a path I am sure some would be totally ok with, me not so much. Lets try to find a balance, I don't know what that is, but no extreme is good. I am currently at 5 weeks without pay. Luckily I do have financial reserves but this is getting ridiculous. My state, PA, has the most unemployment filings and I haven't heard a peep as to my status. This is getting tiresome. I might be going back "soon" but I've been hearing that for awhile (food service).
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
Jun 26, 2014 2:34:35 GMT
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Post by luvnlifelady on Apr 20, 2020 14:57:31 GMT
There will certainly be people that refuse to get vaccinated and then we'll also have the asymptomatic people. Therefore, I'm not sure we'll really have a way to tell if it's "safe" to go back out there but we have to eventually.
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