Archive for March 29th, 2020

End of the first PAUSE week

Sunday, March 29th, 2020

So things constantly change and evolve, and I’m reading this and watching that to make sure we’re staying safe at work, since we’re open. No clients in the building, staff staying 6′ apart, if we must be closer than 6′ we wear lab coats, gloves, eye protection and masks (we have reusable cloth masks that mothers made! Mine has poodles on it). People pay over the phone and we leave their purchases in a drop box by the back door or a PPE’d staff member takes them out with their pet. I feel more relaxed at work now, since we’re all taking this seriously. And I NEED to be working. A week or so ago I was scared to leave my house, now I need the normalcy (and the paycheck). I make myself put makeup on and be presentable just like it was a regular day.

This is the the weekend I was supposed to be at the National Agility Championship. AKC.tv has agility on all weekend. I really REALLY REALLY miss agility, I miss my peeps and running my dogs. There’s no way in hell I’d want to be at a trial right now though. Talk about first world problems, but it’s just a symptom of everything that’s going on.

I think I’m coping as well as I can, but fuck it’s hard some days. The worst hasn’t hit us yet here, it could be weeks before the first peak. NYC is very hard-hit. Cuomo is keeping me sane, he follows the same plan in his addresses most days: goes through the numbers, talks about the need for PPE and ventilators etc., reminds us that MOST people don’t get that ill and just recover at home, SOME people go into the hospital for a short time then go home, a SMALL PERCENTAGE need to go on a ventilator, MOST of those are people who are older and with compromised lungs or immune systems, etc.

Social media is a blessing and a curse and I spend very little time on there compared to BC (Before COVID19). I can’t take the doom and gloom and fearmongering, it gives me a panic attack. If it’s not Cuomo, the CDC or Dr Fauci, I don’t want to know. We wipe down our packages and leave shelf stable groceries sitting in the front room for days until it seems safe to unpack them. Some days I wake up and have to remind myself that this is really happening. I hope they don’t try and make things go back to normal too soon. We need to keep this social distancing (physical distancing) up for a while if it’s going to help. I am thankful to live in a state where the folks in charge seem to get it.

The dogs get a good long walk every day pretty much. When we see people out in the world we smile and wave from across the street.

Sometimes it feels like we’re all pulling together, sometimes it feels like the zombie apocalypse. I need Jim to remind me that this isn’t Captain Tripps on the regular.

Mornings are weird. So, so quiet.

3/24/20 the next street over

What last Wednesday morning sounded like:

What last Friday morning sounded like: