Karin’s Quarantine Status

Hello my 3 readers! This post is mainly about my experience so far in terms of dealing with the coronavirus. If you don’t know what the coronavirus is, get yourself a Corona, and do some Googling. It’s the new thing going around. This post doesn’t have anything to do with Truth, nor does it tell you what to do. It’s just me yapping about it.

The Beginning

In the beginning, there was a rumor about something called a “coronavirus”. People who seemed like they might actually know what they’re talking about gave us information.

Now, we’ve already lived through the bird flu and the swine flu, and gluten intolerance paranoia. How bad could this be?

Now, during one of the other flus, I remember a day when I went to a class where everyone was hogging the anti-bacterial lotion. I left the class to go to a birthday party where we were feeding each other pomegranate seeds to each other, by hand. No one got sick in either case.

How bad could this be?

So, I watched everyone freak out. Media madness. Everyone forgot all about the elections. People started working from home and tried to convince me to do so as well.

Of course, their method of trying to convince me was to yap about “civic duty” instead of explaining why it’s a good idea. I felt like I was being shamed and as anyone who knows me knows, shaming has never changed my mind. It just pisses me off.

I was pretty much convinced that it’s all a bunch of hyped up hooey, just like everything else in our lives these days. You can’t explain it to me? Maybe there’s nothing to explain!

So, fuck it! I’m going into work!

How bad could this be?

Monday March 9, 2020

There I am, at work. The only other person is Joan. We don’t work in the same department and she’s a heads-down kind of gal. I spent the day annoying her by popping into her office to make sure she was still alive.

Then, I got my Monday email from Mark Manson. He’s one of the few humans I know of who is truly sane. I’m sure he’s insane about something, but his blog and newsletters keep me calm.

Finally! Someone to explain to me why I should go home!  Here it is:

Motherf*cking Monday #21: Things are not as they seem

Read it.

I love Mark Manson.

I’m convinced.  I updated my servers, grabbed the QA iPhone and charger, and went home.

Worries About Working From Home

I worry about working from home.

• I like to see people’s faces when we work together
• What if I need something from work?
• I might be tempted to clean house instead of work
• I’m scared I might justify playing all the Buffy episodes and distract myself

It’s Saturday and I’ve worked 4 days at home so far, and so far, I’ve only been distracted by cleaning the tub. No Buffy. My servers are fine. I can see people using Zoom.

Whew!

I think next week I’m going to make a trip in the office to get the mail for the company, in case there’s something important in the pile. I do know my new Clowning book is there. It’s very important.

Seattle News

Here is what I see happening so far in Seattle:

• Most of the Techies, and anyone else who can, are now working from home
  • This keeps a lot of us away from the rest
• If people have to go to work, they’ve been working
• If they can’t go to work, and they can’t work from home they’ve been staying home
  • I heard that unemployment has been approved to cover this. I hope so for their sakes
• Grocery stores have been getting light on supplies, but then they get shipments in. I went to the story today and there was plenty of stuff, including toilet paper
• The last time I rode the bus, we were at ¼ capacity
• People are still going to the store, out to eat, etc… but not as much
• Most schools are closed
• Most churches are closed
• Libraries are closed
• Sporting and big entertainment events are canceled
• AMC Cinema is open but they are limiting seating so we can avoid each other
• The classes at Unexpected Productions are canceled
• Lyft drivers are still driving around

The changes are happening slowly. Most of the people I’ve talked to about this expect to get the virus eventually. We are just trying to keep from getting it all at once and frying the health system. I figure most of us will get it, and get over it, leaving anti-bodies in our system.

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.

I know when I get it, I’m positive I’ll get over it. I’ll just be staying home and moan for a while. Maybe I’ll re-watch Buffy then.

How I’m Handling It

Here’s how I’m handling it. I’m at about 90% quarantine. 10% out in the world. I’d go crazy if I had to stay here all the time!

The 10%:

• Grocery Store
• Daily Walk
• Improv classes (it keeps me sane)
• Sunday Movie at AMC – I’m going, damn it
• Maybe meet someone for lunch

That’s it and I’m sticking to it.

I have about a month’s worth of food, in can form. (2 meals out of one can) I hope it doesn’t come to it.

I was worried it was going to drive me nuts being home so much, but I’ve been so stressed lately, I think not taking long bus rides and staying out of downtown is doing me some good.

Elbow Touches

At ComedySportz, we came up with a new way to hug, touch, etc… We touched elbows. And yeah, a couple of times people forgot and draped over each other, but for the most part, it was elbows. Some ran around making sure they got elbow touches from everyone, as if it were precious. Like it’s the only way we’ll be able to touch again. During our games, there was a lot of elbow touching. “Dad! I haven’t seen you in a decade!” <elbow touch> It was a great joke.

Elbow Touches – it’s the new hug and handshake!

So, that’s where I am now. Concerned, but okay. Worried about the seniors in that assisted living place. Worried about those who live paycheck to paycheck. But I know that people are working on the vaccine. We just need to hang tight.

If things change too much, I’ll post an update.

Stay well! And if you can’t do that, heal fast!