COVID-19

COVID-19: Day 21: And technology fails me

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The other day, I was trying to have a conversation on my iPhone when the speaker phone kept cutting off.  Now I’ve gotten to be hard of hearing and I need that speaker phone.  No amount of tweaking, tech support, Apple chat, etc. etc. could get it to stop turning itself off after about a minute.

I’ve been lusting after the new iPhone.  That camera!  And, by golly, I was up for an upgrade.  So I did it.  I ordered the latest and greatest phone.  It arrived today and my internet promptly went down.  So I went to the grocery store thinking all would be well upon my return.

An aside:  I did the Kroger Clicklist.  Once again they were out of a lot of the stuff I ordered.  Pinto beans, yeast, potatoes, ham hocks, egg noodles and Spam.  I have a powerful hankering for both beans and cornbread AND scalloped potatoes with Spam.  Evidently, I’m to have neither.  I did stop at the Dollar General and find bow-tie pasta to substitute for the egg noodles.  Tuna casserole is in my near future.  Don’t laugh.  I make a mean tuna casserole!

All was not well upon my return.  I called Frontier.  Blessedly, I got competent folk each of the 4 times I called.  They would do this.  They would do that.  They would do something else and then VOILA my wireless would work for 15 minutes and then go down.  By the 5th time I called, I was getting desperate.  A very nice tech support guy apologized for all the problems and declared I needed a new modem.  I had suggested this on phone call number 1.  Never mind.

So, I am without wireless until Wednesday maybe Thursday.  This means I am tied to this behemoth of a desktop on the second floor of my house in the hottest room during an expected stretch of warm weather.  It also means I can’t set up the new phone as I need wireless to transfer from Phone A to Phone B.  I am not a happy camper.

COVID-19: Day 20: Technology Again

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Again, I am reminded of how technology is keeping me sane.  I’ve emailed and texted with friends and coworkers.  I have ZOOMed with my writing group.  Of course, there have been telephone calls.  And now I’m settling into a night of Facebook.

This could be so much worse.  We may be social distancing, but many of us are both maintaining social connections and building new ones.

Of course, I say this having turned the television off early this morning.  The relentless reporting of this crisis is necessary, but it is not necessary that I watch every minute of it.   I trust that if it’s important, they will tell me tomorrow when I turn the news back on.  Too much is just too much.  I’m practicing safe television.

Namaste, y’all.

 

 

COVID-19: Day 19: Another Acceptance

/ wvfurandroot / 2 Comments

Today was a long day.  Every minute seemed an hour and the work I was doing was just not engaging my brain.  I checked my personal email and discovered that I had been accepted to read for the Writing Conference of Northern Appalachia’s Facebook Live readings.

I’ll be reading The Plum on April 27th at 8 p.m.  Details to follow.

I’m excited and nervous.  This reading is via Facebook and a laptop camera.  I’m sure to have 17 chins and look like death warmed over.  I don’t video well.  Not in the least.

But I’m honored to be a part of this.  It certainly livened up my day.

I’ve now found a home for all my orphan writings that I think needed one.   It is time to write something new.  I’m finding that hard.  I have the attention span of a gnat.   I keep reading various articles in the vein of What To Do With Yourself While Quarantining.  Most stress not to expect too much of yourself.  Most of us grieving in some fashion and there’s a period of adjustment that we need to go through.

However, I’m desperate to find equilibrium.  I’m getting there.  My daily schedule helps.  Talking to friends and family helps.  And blogging helps.  Thanks for reading.  OH!  And please comment.  I love comments!

 

COVID-19: Day 17: New Normal

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I put myself on a schedule in order to protect my sanity.  Up at 6 am, work by 8 am,, lunch at noon, quit working at 4:30.  Bedtime at 10.  (This latter is problematic, but it’s a goal.  So is sleeping all night.)

It’s working.  I’m centered.  I got stuff accomplished today.  And now I’m entering the entertainment time of the day.  I’m watching crime dramas on one of the few channels my antenna can receive, sipping a glass of wine, and playing with the dogs.  I’ll clean the kitchen here in a minute.

I did leave the house today.  If I’m to work at home, I will need paper:  nary a sheet in the house.  So, off I went.  I was surprised to be greeted on the interstate with a sign telling me I was supposed to be at home.  Essential Travel Only!

The office was dark and rather eerie.  It was a very atypical Monday morning.  I watered the plants and grabbed a ream of paper.  Home I went.  The round trip took slightly over an hour.

But there were people out.  Not as many as normal, but a fair number.   That may change a little.  They closed the park today and they’re going to start ticketing/citing folks who don’t comply with the stay-at-home order.

An aside:  Speaking of which, the Virginia governor told his people they to stay at home until June 10th.  JUNE 10th.  He’s a pediatrician by training.  He probably understands this stuff better than most.

All-in-all, today was uneventful.  I’m not anxious or stressed and I’m settling into a routine.  Let’s hope this continues.  We all gotta do what gets us through the night.   I’m sorry this is so boring, but I’m grateful for an uneventful day.  They’ve been few lately.