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Plague 2020#2
Apr. 1st, 2020 12:03 pmNo need to do a March recap since March 2020 will always be remembered, I think. I am now working from home fulltime. The Dean of CEAT (College of Engineering and Technology) thinks the entire college is "Mission Critical" and should therefor be going to work every day like normal. I gave up waiting for him to stop being a jackass and to be reasonable and asked my dr. for a note saying I was a higher risk and should work from home. I'm almost disappointed she agreed so quickly - I was contemplating really going on a crusade against the asshole Dean. Arts and Sciences, OTOH (where E is), have been working from home for weeks. Well E still goes into his lab most days, but everyone else has been sent home.
I know lots of people are struggling with being at home all the time, but honestly, it's not such a change for me, especially since I worked from home for 9 months in Prague not too long ago. I go out and take a walk (we are way out in the boonies) every day, I do my PT exercises, life goes on pretty much as usual. I am severely limiting my news and FB consumption, especially in the evening, which is definitely helping me be less anxious at night. I'm going to PT 2x/wk for my Achilles tendon, and they are SUPER careful there; everyone is in a mask and goggles and they wipe down everything all the time, even the pens at the front desk, so I don't feel like I'm taking undue risks.
The big excitement here (other than, you know, Coronapocalypse) is that some lovely spider decided to bit me FOUR TIMES on the arm and it swelled up like a MF and blistered and looked all kinds of gross. Monday was my last day at work, and I showed it to a few people who were completely appalled and encouraged me to go my dr. So I called and got in right away (they are also being very very careful and the plague, and I did not feel at risk) and she literally gasped in horror when she saw me. It's always a good thing to make your dr. gasp in horror, especially during a worldwide pandemic. So I'm on antibiotics, and two days later it is much improved, though still blistered and kinda gnarly looking, and I am hopeful we won't go into necrotizing fasciitis or anything fun like that. Dr. says probably not a brown recluse, although I rather think it was.
The hardest part of this plague thing (for me) is guilt. I feel terrible that I'm in such a privileged position. Neither E nor I are likely to lose any income. We have health insurance. We are both in a higher risk group (diabetes for him, asthma for me, history of pneumonia for both of us) but I am hopeful that we can avoid infection with this whole staying at home thing. I have friends who are nurses, working in COVID wards without proper PPE. I have other "friends" who still out and about like it ain't no big thang. Lots of people here think it's all nonsense, and yeah, maybe it's bad in New York, but it could never be like that here! I have other friends who will loose all their income because they are waiters or gig workers. I've decided that I will donate to whatever (personal) fundraisers my friends/acquaintances advertise and have already donated to two (one for a funeral, one for masks for a care home). We are well supplied, but we are not hoarding. I am trying to be a decent, caring human being who is well informed by not consumed by the news because otherwise I will be far too anxious to be of any use to anyone.
I know lots of people are struggling with being at home all the time, but honestly, it's not such a change for me, especially since I worked from home for 9 months in Prague not too long ago. I go out and take a walk (we are way out in the boonies) every day, I do my PT exercises, life goes on pretty much as usual. I am severely limiting my news and FB consumption, especially in the evening, which is definitely helping me be less anxious at night. I'm going to PT 2x/wk for my Achilles tendon, and they are SUPER careful there; everyone is in a mask and goggles and they wipe down everything all the time, even the pens at the front desk, so I don't feel like I'm taking undue risks.
The big excitement here (other than, you know, Coronapocalypse) is that some lovely spider decided to bit me FOUR TIMES on the arm and it swelled up like a MF and blistered and looked all kinds of gross. Monday was my last day at work, and I showed it to a few people who were completely appalled and encouraged me to go my dr. So I called and got in right away (they are also being very very careful and the plague, and I did not feel at risk) and she literally gasped in horror when she saw me. It's always a good thing to make your dr. gasp in horror, especially during a worldwide pandemic. So I'm on antibiotics, and two days later it is much improved, though still blistered and kinda gnarly looking, and I am hopeful we won't go into necrotizing fasciitis or anything fun like that. Dr. says probably not a brown recluse, although I rather think it was.
The hardest part of this plague thing (for me) is guilt. I feel terrible that I'm in such a privileged position. Neither E nor I are likely to lose any income. We have health insurance. We are both in a higher risk group (diabetes for him, asthma for me, history of pneumonia for both of us) but I am hopeful that we can avoid infection with this whole staying at home thing. I have friends who are nurses, working in COVID wards without proper PPE. I have other "friends" who still out and about like it ain't no big thang. Lots of people here think it's all nonsense, and yeah, maybe it's bad in New York, but it could never be like that here! I have other friends who will loose all their income because they are waiters or gig workers. I've decided that I will donate to whatever (personal) fundraisers my friends/acquaintances advertise and have already donated to two (one for a funeral, one for masks for a care home). We are well supplied, but we are not hoarding. I am trying to be a decent, caring human being who is well informed by not consumed by the news because otherwise I will be far too anxious to be of any use to anyone.
