I am OK

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Today is a random day of writing.  I have never had a day like this in quite a while.  Most of us have never had a day like this.  It is called social distancing. 

In many cultures that make up the human race, it is a necessity to gather together as a community.   In the United States, we must gather for:

Photo by Pixaby

• Social events, such as sports, concerts and to worship
• Family events.  Family is important to some people and it does not matter if they are biological or adopted.
• Work.  We work for food, clothing, shelter, and enough money to buy the entertainment tickets, pay our tithes and offerings, and help out with family and friends. Note:  you do not need a car in most cases, but you do need to get some mode of transportation, such as a subway/train, bus, or Uber/Lyft/taxi services. Unless you manage to become an entrepreneur or work remotely from home through your job, chances are that you will be working with a co-worker or two.

Before I begin with today’s topic of discussion

I had originally titled this piece, “Corona, Corona” (those people of the baby boomer generation know exactly where the title was taken from, I am slightly younger than you). I wanted to take it in another direction.  I am not an expert on all things disease-wise and I do not want to get into a debate with anyone who is dealing with this strain (doctors, nurses, the CDC), so I am leaving out the details of this strain.  You already have heard what to do, and you know what your limitations are in terms of temporary restrictions and such. Each country is different, as well as each area of that country is different. Please be diligent and mindful of the rules and regulations that are given to you by the people who are in charge. In other words, be safe.

Now on to today’s blog post….

Like everyone, this virus has me on edge.  This virus is not good for the elderly and those with a compromised immune system, so I have a concern for my parents.

The world as we knew it.

On top of that, I temporary have a cat.  My nephew and his girlfriend are temporarily staying with my parents because they just had a baby and they are finding an apartment.  Gizmo is their cat, so they will get her when the time comes. 

I have two dates that I feel will be canceled due to this virus.   I am sure that everyone had that one place which was canceled due to Covid-19.  The first one happens every first Tuesday of each month.  It is a woman’s business group that I belong to.  I hope the meetings will resume in May.  The second date is a date I could not get out of in the first place.  It is jury duty.  I have to go unless the courts decide to delay jury duty, which I hope they do.  I avoided it twice in my life.  I also had planned on going to a scrapbooking event scheduled for this weekend, but it ended up being an online event anyway.

Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine, has issued a “Shelter in Place” ordinance as of 11:59pm last week.  I have said this about Longaberger’s deadlines for shipping and sales campaigns before, and I will say again for those in the back, “who stops or starts anything at 11:59 pm it makes no sense?”  It is like any price with $.99 tacked at the end of a whole price.  You might as well put zeros at the end of the price ($5.00 instead of $4.99).  You might as well say 12 am instead of 11:59pm. What does that curfew allow me to do and not do? The same thing that I have not been able to do in the first place:  Eat in restaurants, go to movies, worship at church, shop at all hours of the night (oops, I thought that was the reason for online shopping, LOL), drive (unless you have a job to go to), and social mingling.  I think that is most of the country. 

The governor, as well as The president, does encourage everyone to work at home.  The problem is that most minority groups as a whole cannot afford to work from home.  This includes taking online classes that university students have to finish by the end of the semester.  Once done, they are officially on break until further notice.

The Walt Disney Company, which had originally closed its Asian parks, now has closed the North American and European parks as well.  This gives me time to properly plan my next vacation, which is making up for the one I had to cancel in October 2019 for travel to Disney World in Florida in December.  I will put up a report in my new Disney blog in May or sooner, so I will not bog down this blog or Home Prep (formally known as At Home with Tricia's Baskets). Meanwhile, Shanghai Disney is slowly getting back to normal, by reopening the market area, Disneytown first, the parks and resorts second. Disney has slated the reopening of both The Disneyland Resorts and Walt Disney World Resorts as of April 1^st, but that all depends on Florida’s governor and the president, and the rule that governs this country at the time of the reopening.

(Update:  Even as I write this post, things have changed.  Everything is canceled at the Disney American parks until further notice.  The earliest booking you can make is for June 1^st.  I am understanding that this is the time that the Reservation line for both resorts will be staffed.  Cast members (employees) will be paid until April 18^th).

Most schools are closed at least until April 13.  Some are even out for the summer.  I know that Columbus Public, one of the largest school districts in the state of Ohio are out until April 13.  If extended, this could mean that they will be out for the rest of the school year.  Until then, most school districts, including Columbus are providing home school assistance.  

There is so much more that we do not know about this virus.  If I happen to sell something during this crisis, I am wondering how I am going to deliver it. Am I going to be able to go to the post office?  Of course, there is the Disney event that I would like to attend in May.  I just found out that they opened up another date for it.  It is now a day date of May 12, which is actually the day before the date of May 13, which is still sold out.  May 14 is still available as well.

Things to do if reading books, watching television, and using social media get you down:

• Organize.  Now it the time for spring cleaning.  “You have junk.  I have junk.  All of God’s children got junk.  Before this virus is over, we going to get rid of our junk, and then we going to walk around a clean house.  A clean house.  A clean house.  We going to walk around a clean house.”  Shout out to that verse based on the Negro Spiritual, “I Got Shoes.”  I hope I do not get kicked out of heaven for that.   But seriously, get rid of the junk, open up the window, and clean.  Get rid of the cobwebs while you are at it.
• Take up a new hobby.  Have you always wanted to learn something new?  Now is the time to learn how to get yourself promoted if you have a job or think that drawing Mickey Mouse is cool.  There are free and paid courses online that will teach you. 
• Side hustle.  Do you have that drive to start a business?  You may not be able to go out and look at spaces to rent. (Now is not the time anyway and it is not the first thing you do when starting one).  You can start a babysitting service for people who have to work during that time (even though my lovely governor is trying to poo-poo that plan that states you have to apply for a crisis license to keep children during this time).  How about a virtual assistant?  Freelance writer or graphic designer?  Offer your expertise with an online course.
• Catch up on sleep.  OK, this is a stretch, especially if you have kids.  I am speaking from the experience of a single woman with no kids, I can do this.  I am also speaking from a person who has a business I work from home. I may not be able to see clients (unless I do video conferencing, which I have not set up yet), but at present, I can catch up with sleep.
• Update something on your computer.  One of the things I am tackling while I am in a sort of downtime, is updating my blogs.  As I have explained before this pandemic, I want to switch platforms.  I am now officially in a love/hate relationship with Blogger, and I have read another blogger website, and I want off this train called Blogger.   I have said that Blogger is good for the person who is starting their blog, but you do not have to stay there.  Hopefully, this will be completed by the end of next week.  I started last night, looking at WordPress themes, and I think I will be using the same theme that I have used for my P. Lynne Designs website (which is almost completed), and it is a paid theme, that uses Elementor and I think it is a go on that.  I saw some that I might use for my ATWTB/Home Prep blog, and my newly decided Disney blog.  But one blog at a time, when you have to finish your website.
• Home and Business Projects.  This is not to be confused with the home organization, though it could contain organizing with the project, depending on how you will use it.   I would start off with this:  Name your project and ask yourself “if money was no objection, what would that project look like”?  Is it a big or little project?  Big as in it will cost over $350 or whatever budget over your minimum projected cost, little as under $350 or below your minimum.  I used $350 because that is my minimum for a big project.  Minimum looks good on paper to me because I can always get $350 from my personal, personal bankers, my parents if strapped for cash and it is an emergency.  Why not $500?  Because this is the amount that if I had an emergency, my father would pay, but would get mad at me for not having in reserves.

There are really a whole host of other things you can do while you are stuck inside.  I have a cousin whose daughter is learning how to tap dance.  She takes it anyway (FINALLY, I am not the ONLY tap dancer in the family), but while she is away from her dance teacher, she is still learning.  Speaking of learning, many schools have home school for their students, this is the time for you to learn what your child is learning (remember CORE math, anyone?).  Learn a new skill.  There are plenty of online courses to take at little to no cost. Take a drive.  Yes, you can go outdoors without coming into contact with people.  It depends on your government's curfew.

Summary/conclusion

As for me, again, I am doing my part. I had to get a couple of items from the grocery store today.  Nothing major, some tomatoes and a favorite black bean and corn salsa that I use as a sauce for spaghetti/ramen noodles.  The Starbucks in that store was open, so I used my rewards card to score some major points on my Cookie Crumble Frap.  I will be online shopping.

I hope you take some lessons from this self-quarantine situation.  Learn how to appreciate all that was given to you before this time, like freedom, perseverance, and a job.  Survivor, the television show needs to go off the air after this because we would have all survived Quarantine 2020 like nobody’s business, and Phil needs to find a new job.