That's Gneiss! #127 ~ I am in a right tizzy and need a rant!
Also: printing is enabled and cheese on toast
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Hello friends,
I regret to inform you that we are not going to wake up tomorrow and find that all of this has been some bizarre collective nightmare. Today is the 23rd day that we have been staying home, with the exception of taking Rowland for his walks and a couple of short car drives to give the engines a workout.
When you’re stuck at home, watching the neighbors becomes both entertaining and horrifying. I do watch the movements of the caution tape that was left behind when we had our pipes repaired last summer, but it gets a bit boring after a while.
The couple on the corner appear to be moving, and I feel for them trying to get this done with the current limitations. They’ve been loading their small SUV again and again and again and again. No fun. Other folks on the street are obviously working in essential jobs and other than keeping their regular work schedules seem to be staying in.
But the people on each side of us? Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhh…
The neighbors on the north side of us are doing okay. They’re really nice, and we’re worried because one of their cars still leaves almost every day. Where are they going?
It’s the neighbors on the south side of us that concern me the most. Here’s a one-second representation of the scene next door…
I am going to use this family as a case study in how not to “Stay Home, Save Lives.” I know enough about them to know that the trips they take out can’t possibly all be essential.
There are five people in the house - the grandparents, the adult daughter, and her two daughters, aged ~8 and ~15. They have three vehicles, and on some days every single one of them comes and goes. Before “the ‘rona” hit, Michael observed that the grandfather left the house multiple times a day in his pickup truck - a habit that has apparently been hard to break. I can’t tell you how often we look out the window to see that the truck is gone. Where on earth can he be going? I tell myself maybe he’s just driving around, but if that’s the case then he’ll still have to stop and buy gas which means TOUCHING THE GAS PUMPS.
The adult daughter leaves almost every day, and usually returns quickly with a soda in hand. I suspect she’s off to one of the corner stores to buy cigarettes.
The third car doesn’t leave as often, but when it goes it’s gone for a long time. Two evenings in a row, the grandparents were out for an extended time. Visiting family or friends? We were excited to see them get a grocery delivery the other day - we thought maybe it’s starting to sink in! The next evening we saw the old couple return laden down with grocery bags.
Sigh.
Oddly, it’s the two younger girls we hardly ever see. The youngest occasionally comes out into their back yard with their dog, and bleats on her recorder. The teenager has disappeared.
Has she died of ennui? Have they eaten her? Where is she?!!!
I hope you understand my frustration. I know that there are people who cannot stay home and have essential activities to take care of. Not everyone can afford to have their groceries delivered, and many people still have to go to work in essential jobs. We are happy that we can afford grocery delivery. Rather than the two of us shopping, there is one person doing the work and we are helping to support them.
Yesterday the sun came out and it was a lovely day here. People were out working in their yards, and there were more people out walking/jogging/biking. At one point Michael called me and said there was a large group of people on the corner.
What?
I ran out, in time to observe several mommies pushing strollers out for a walk together. I wasn’t able to count them, but there were a lot of them. Maybe eight, or ten? Several assorted small children on foot too.
What part of DEADLY PANDEMIC do these people not understand? I was compelled to make a collage with a message to all of the people who are doing things they shouldn’t be doing.
We are fortunate that we are still allowed to go out and get exercise, and are not completely confined to our homes. However, if people can’t manage to do it responsibly, those rules may change. We’re still learning about the virus, and how it’s passed from person to person. Remember that term from the beginning of March - “an abundance of caution?” That still holds, even though nobody is using it anymore.
Ugh. Sorry for the rant, but not sorry. Social distancing is working here in Washington, but it can be even better. We can all find something to do that helps the effort, and it’s different for everyone. Some people sew masks, some stay home, and some work their asses off and put themselves at risk. If you are able, the best thing you can do is STAY HOME. Leave your home to exercise, but do it responsibly. Yes, it can be boring to be home all the time. Be kind to yourself and adjust to the new reality. Michael and I are acutely aware of our privilege in this horrible situation, and will do everything we can to keep others safe.
Life is not totally horrible! Here are a few things to counteract the rant above.
My new job title at work is FINALLY official, so I now feel comfortable talking about it. You may recall that back in July I alluded to some disruption at work, but didn’t go into details. I still won’t go into details, but can let you know that I am now the Programming Coordinator for our library system. I’m happy that I can focus on one thing, and in this new strange world there are some interesting possibilities.
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WE BOUGHT A PRINTER!
Ooooh la la! We found a refurbished laser printer for a nice price. We have a few printing needs that make it worth it.
Life is grand.
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UPS. Can I gripe about them for a minute?
Too bad, I’m going to do it anyhow.
I decided that it was time to dye my hair purple again, so I placed an order with Manic Panic (there may be bleach involved this time around too). They always ship ground, and things are generally delayed now so I wasn’t paying to much attention to arrival time. However, it had been a while so I decided to check in…
WHOA WHOA WHOA
They held my order for three days without trying to deliver, and then returned to sender? I’m sorry, but I do see UPS trucks out every day making deliveries.
I’m miffed.
I’ve been trying to get this sorted out, because I WANT PURPLE HAIR, DAMMIT!
I will not be thwarted.
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Some pretty flowers.
Thank you for humoring me today. I really enjoyed writing about the Kingdome last week, and would love to do more of that sort of thing to help us all get our minds off of this situation we are in. Please see the question of the week below to contribute to future editions.
OMG THE NEIGHBORS ARE OUT AGAIN!!!
It never ends.
I wish you and your loved ones good health and responsible neighbors.
Take care, and see you next week!
~Anne
Tidbits
Today’s Big Stuff - a cathartic daily update with LOTS of swearing. Thus the catharsis.
Visualizing the History of Pandemics - appealing pompom graphics! (via Jenny’s Library)
Statistical "Which Character" Personality Quiz - try it, it’s much better than your typical FB quiz (via University of Winds)
Making: cannot be revealed! It’s a gift.
Recently eaten: today’s lunch… cheese on toast with bacon on top.
Reading: still focusing more on other things. I may get back to it this week… I just checked out several graphic novel ebooks.
Videos of the Week
One thing we’ve been doing on the weekends is having a cocktail (or three) and creating our own dancercize fun. Michael is going to put together a playlist for me so I can do it more often. Here’s one song I insist is on the list! Still so timely…
The new one from The Nightingales… so catchy! I don’t know if it’s intentional, but the video has a certain sense of social distancing madness to it.
Question of the Week
If you feel like answering the question, hit reply to this email. Answers will be shared in next week’s newsletter - anonymously. Don’t be shy! General public commenting is available too at the end of this post.
Is there a topic you’d like to learn more about? Let me know, and I’ll conduct some research and write about it in a future newsletter. The quirkier the better. Help me not write about the virus!
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Last week I sent you over to the Internet Anagram Server/I, Rearrangement Servant to see what you could come up with.
Ok, on to the anagrams. I spent faaaar too long on these trying names and other things. There are just too many results for my brain. But I did get a couple that were interesting. I tried "Never Let Me Go" and got "Emergent Love" and "Nineteen Eighty Four" and got "Fun In Heterogeneity" which seems kind of twisted. I also tried "Murder on the Orient Express" and got "Experimented Sunset Horror", and Geronimo Stilton came up with "Toileting Morons" which I think sounds mean but if Geronimo could say his true feelings about some of the other characters he has to deal with I think it might be appropriate.
I tried a few, and found the advanced page helped winnow out pesky two-letter words. Captain Underpants turns out to have some great possibilities… too many to list here!
Captain Nuder Pants
Satanic Trapped Nun
Radiant Nascent Pup
Panda Recants Input
Canned Turnip Pasta
Curtained Nap Pants
Nuanced Papist Rant
Nuanced Tapir Pants
Current Temperature: 51.8 F (11.0 C)
Current Humidity: 64%
Wind (max gust): 13.6 mph
Precipitation: 0.00 in