Didn't know where to put this. It's about community coping and a holy shit situation re coping.
One of my family works for a food program feeding thousands each day via school programs (closed), street people, elderly, infirm. Usually 7x more volunteers than staff. They're now not allowed to have anyone into the building so no volunteers inside any more. Staff people packing food and vol drivers delivering it. They're 4 days behind right now. And homeless and hungry wander the streets with everything closed. No one allowed in into any buildings. It warmed up to -5° this morning. People sleep outside together for warmth beside building vents.
All I hear is hospitals and ventalators. We have a low infection rate so far here. If gets into this population we're toast. Primary prevention is a problem, social distance and physical isolating aren't enough. Food security, safe places to stay. I'm for comandeering hotels, student residences, churches, sports faculties, anything. I suspect this is an issue everywhere
And there's truly a run now on kitty litter. Can't get any. Which isn't a real problem.
(Sorry, Cat lovers, and I am aware of the value of the Feline Ministry To The Sick, but surely if ever there was an animal able to look after itself, without human intervention, it's the Cat.)
(Sorry, Cat lovers, and I am aware of the value of the Feline Ministry To The Sick, but surely if ever there was an animal able to look after itself, without human intervention, it's the Cat.)
Well, yes, but without kitty litter, they are likely to look after themselves in rugs, carpets and other locations from which it may be exceedingly difficult to remove The Smell.
I think far more British (and European) cats go outside than American ones do. It is a Pond difference. And I suppose that if your cat is not used to it, they might not cope so well.
I think far more British (and European) cats go outside than American ones do.
Many shelters here will not let you adopt a kitten or cat unless you agree you won’t let it go outside (and won’t have it declawed). We had one cat that adopted us. She had lived outside, and she would have been miserable if we’d made her stay indoors all the time, so she spent a good portion of the day outside and nights inside. (And she never used a litter box because she always did her business outside.)
When son wanted a cat of his own, we went to the SPCA shelter. They would not let us adopt one because we let the cat we already had go outside, even when we assured them this new cat would stay inside. So we went to the county shelter, where they weren’t neatly so particular about such things.
Today's adventures in cooking have included tea smoking some salmon chunks from the freezer (after defrosting), which was served with rice, asparagus, wild garlic and mayonnaise, and making a sort of marmalade with the Seville oranges I had sitting around. The tea was a Thai chai sample which arrived with the loose tea, but neither of us like chai to drink. Further experiments in smoking need to wait for a day when all the windows can be left open for a while, not today which is a bit chilly with the wind.
The members of the FMS local, who are both Strictly Indoor Kitties, assure me that litter is absolutely necessary. On this subject, I believe them.
A lovely lady from church brought me both a meal (salmon!) and treats today. Among the extras is a TP four-pack. Since I'm currently in pretty good shape on that front, I'm saving it for someone whose need is greater than mine; I'm sure that s/he will be along presently.
Mr F has long, scary letter from the NHS basically telling him to hide in the attic for 3 months, as his condition is one which makes him extra vulnerable.
Trouble is, I am now the only one of us who can go out, but I am also the only potential vector. I don't drive, and some of the things we will presently need will either not be available locally or too heavy/bulky for me to carry.
Supermarket delivery slots are unobtainable, and friends close enough to ask favours from such as getting groceries, are mostly in the elderly/vulnerable categories themselves.
And it looks as if my fish van man is halting deliveries.
Mr F has long, scary letter from the NHS basically telling him to hide in the attic for 3 months, as his condition is one which makes him extra vulnerable.
Trouble is, I am now the only one of us who can go out, but I am also the only potential vector. I don't drive, and some of the things we will presently need will either not be available locally or too heavy/bulky for me to carry.
Supermarket delivery slots are unobtainable, and friends close enough to ask favours from such as getting groceries, are mostly in the elderly/vulnerable categories themselves.
And it looks as if my fish van man is halting deliveries.
This could get difficult.
Are you in the U.K.? All vulnerable people are being supplied with food parcels starting today. Here is the link - https://tinyurl.com/wrc87eq
The suggestion I’ve heard - don’t know whether it can work for you - is to book a click and collect slot and then pick up the items by taxi. I think taxis are allowed?
Mr F has long, scary letter from the NHS basically telling him to hide in the attic for 3 months, as his condition is one which makes him extra vulnerable.
Trouble is, I am now the only one of us who can go out, but I am also the only potential vector. I don't drive, and some of the things we will presently need will either not be available locally or too heavy/bulky for me to carry.
Supermarket delivery slots are unobtainable, and friends close enough to ask favours from such as getting groceries, are mostly in the elderly/vulnerable categories themselves.
And it looks as if my fish van man is halting deliveries.
This could get difficult.
Are you in the U.K.? All vulnerable people are being supplied with food parcels starting today. Here is the link - https://tinyurl.com/wrc87eq
I'm in Edinburgh. I can see some news items on the local council delivering food parcels, but no indication of whether that is a subset of the UK programme. Nor does your link indicate whether this is something you apply for, or whether it automatically follows The Letter.
@Firenze I believe you can register yourself or someone in your household on the gov website as extremely vulnerable - and the supermarkets etc will prioritise you for deliveries.
@Firenze I believe you can register yourself or someone in your household on the gov website as extremely vulnerable - and the supermarkets etc will prioritise you for deliveries.
Many of the links on the map are to Facebook pages, but if you're not a Facebook user you may be able to find other contact details by Googling the name of the group.
I'm expecting the long and scary letter, possibly doubled for me for asthma, for my daughter who is immunocompromised by the steroid she's on to keep her breathing and her brittle asthma. I saw it on Instagram, posted by a transplant survivor who lives on a boat and runs every day. I suspect the transplant patient's distinctly unchuffed. (I suspect my asthma is worse than I make it out to be, as I got lots of warnings the last few times I've been checked.)
We've just nearly finished the fortnight inside, barring walks avoiding everyone, playing pacman on the streets when not overridden by those we were trying to dodge, following my daughter's cough and fever. The symptom tracker at covid.joinzoe.com suggests that she has had it over this last couple of weeks which makes me suspect I may have had it too.
That link is to Kings College research trying to track the progress of Covid 19.
Something I'd add in general for people who aren't able to get groceries is that there seem to be quite a lot of local FB groups that have been set up, where people volunteer to do shopping for vulnerable people. There is a lot of kindness and goodwill being shown.
... Mr F has discovered a place online selling high-end single malts ...
Good to see he's got his priorities right ...
I don't know whereabouts in Embra you are, but have you got a local independent butcher/greengrocer or whatever who might do deliveries? We did a phone-and-pick-up from Mark McGill in Lanark Road, who do deliveries to Juniper Green, Currie and Balerno; would there be anyone similar near you who delivers locally?
@Piglet - we're a bit too inner city. Balerno probably has enough of the village identity to support that kind of local services. Though I think a couple of our neighbourhood wine merchants will deliver, so there is that.
Earlier I took Captain Pyjamas out for his permitted one hour constitutional. We went in a shop for a couple of bits and there I spotted the most extraordinary sight so far: a woman wearing a percolator coffee filter as a face mask. Madame, it's not protecting you, but it is making you look ridiculous 😲
Well, actually...I'd wondered about that. And if you do a search on "face mask coffee filter", you'll see others have, too.
I'm in a couple of risk groups. I have some basic filter masks I got for something else, years ago. I've worn one or two. I'm mostly at home anyway, even without the threat of COVID-19, so I'm not going to go through them anytime soon--*but* I'm aware of the plight of medical workers not having safety gear, and I also know I might have trouble buying more, anyway, because of the high demand from everyday people. I've hears of medical workers improvising with bandanas and such, another approach I considered.
And yes, many experts say to skip masks (with the possible exception of vulnerable people). BUT it's complicated:
Researchers who see no evidence for their effectiveness in the general population, when pressed, will take a deep breath and admit wearing masks themselves.
Anyway, just wanted to suggest that you rethink about the woman you mentioned. Some filter masks do look quite a bit like coffee filters, which is why people are considering them.
Of course, Miss Amanda's idea of a high-end single malt is a tablespoon of malt powder added to a vanilla shake. But she's odd.
...served to you while you're wearing a cashmere sweater, poodle skirt, bobby socks, saddle shoes, and possibly a simple string of pearls...while sitting at a malt shop...while Bobby Darin is crooning on the jukebox...
ROTFL! Yes, especially in your area! Of course, certain things like that were used in "Star Wars"--particularly the original movie, IIRC (SW VI). I think they were solid colors, though.
I wonder if anyone in India is using a sari as a mask?
The food parcels are arriving with the extremely vulnerable - I know four people who got them this morning.
I’m very thankful for the people who are coordinating this nationwide. 👏🏼👏🏼
Yesterday, when I came out of the park with the dog, there was a police car going slowly down the road and they were noting down who they saw.
I’m grateful that my dogs are coping well with the new routine - of course, both are already well aware of ‘what comes next’ and remind me if I’m late!
We do -
A long walk
Grooming
Scent games
Training
Retrieving in the garden
Hoolying in the garden
Chewing chews (Yak chews are good - they are made of hard yak cheese and last weeks, even with powerful chewers)
‘Hide the toy’
Snuffle mat (like a rag rug, you hide treats for them to snuffle out)
@Golden Key it definitely was a coffee filter. Which serves zero purpose apart from making you look ridiculous because the holes are more than big enough for a virus to pass through. Also having no elastic to hold it on, it fell off repeatedly, entirely defeating one of the actual useful purposes of a mask (stopping you from touching your face).
The food parcels are arriving with the extremely vulnerable - I know four people who got them this morning.
I’m very thankful for the people who are coordinating this nationwide. 👏🏼👏🏼
Yesterday, when I came out of the park with the dog, there was a police car going slowly down the road and they were noting down who they saw.
I’m grateful that my dogs are coping well with the new routine - of course, both are already well aware of ‘what comes next’ and remind me if I’m late!
We do -
A long walk
Grooming
Scent games
Training
Retrieving in the garden
Hoolying in the garden
Chewing chews (Yak chews are good - they are made of hard yak cheese and last weeks, even with powerful chewers)
‘Hide the toy’
Snuffle mat (like a rag rug, you hide treats for them to snuffle out)
My wife does all that with me, she says I am definitely improving.
Our local Salvation Army corps is co-ordinating volunteer help from ALL our local churches, as far as possible. It's taking a little while to get organised, but is clearly a Good Thing, especially if it avoids unnecessary duplication of effort. AIUI, food parcels are certainly high on the agenda.
We have another Zoom meeting on Wednesday, by which time, hopefully, some progress will have been made.
@Golden Key it definitely was a coffee filter. Which serves zero purpose apart from making you look ridiculous because the holes are more than big enough for a virus to pass through. Also having no elastic to hold it on, it fell off repeatedly, entirely defeating one of the actual useful purposes of a mask (stopping you from touching your face).
Yes, I understand it was a coffee filter. I'm saying that lots of people are considering them out of desperation, for the reasons I mentioned. And IMHO some kinds of filter masks *do* look kind of like coffee filters are involved, and I think that helped spark the interest.
I got a sliced loaf from the freezer to get a couple of slices off...and forgot to put it back. It will be OK to freeze it again, won't it?? (It is a gluten free loaf and there is only me in the house who eats it...) I'm so cross with myself.
Yes, St.E, it will be fine! I keep a gluten free loaf for my daughter and it goes in an out of the freezer, frozen and thawed. You can't do it more than a couple of times though, it seems to get dry. Though 10 secs in the microwave solves that problem!
We are very fortunate here in Australia * and New Zealand that there is such a lot of nature reserves to walk in. So we can not only exercise but also "nature bathe" (as the Japanese call it), for our mental health as well. And we can let children loose in the backyard (at leas that's where my daughters unleash their respective children (aged from 12 to 2)
So my sympathies go to our lady in Paris ( la Vie en Rouge) who has, IIRC, like most of the population there, only suburban streets into which to escape from her apartment with small child. Again IIRC, although there are lots of small childrens playgrounds in Paris, they have been closed for the duration, which is good for reducing the spread of the virus, but otherwise not so good for small children and their parents.
* Canberra (my home town) is built around a ring of hills, all of which are nature reserves, complete with gum trees, kangaroos, and multiple species of birds, ants, and other wildlife.
I wasn't sure which thread to post this in, but the Pray As You Go series now has a support series called Pray As You Stay. It is based on Ignatian spirituality, finding God in all things. I am finding it helpful, so wanted to share.
Though, a nature reserve is only of help if it's a short walk away and only a small number of people who can walk to it do so at the same time. I've a country park about 15 mins walk from here, but my exercise hasn't taken me there because I suspect that many of the families living close to the park are also walking there.
My exercise today was hiking to the further of the two local small supermarkets. Fairly well stocked, but a lot of items on the shelves with short dates and quite a few with expired. I brought a backpack rather than shopping bags so that I could totter back with rather more and heavier items (we have bananas!)
Comments
One of my family works for a food program feeding thousands each day via school programs (closed), street people, elderly, infirm. Usually 7x more volunteers than staff. They're now not allowed to have anyone into the building so no volunteers inside any more. Staff people packing food and vol drivers delivering it. They're 4 days behind right now. And homeless and hungry wander the streets with everything closed. No one allowed in into any buildings. It warmed up to -5° this morning. People sleep outside together for warmth beside building vents.
All I hear is hospitals and ventalators. We have a low infection rate so far here. If gets into this population we're toast. Primary prevention is a problem, social distance and physical isolating aren't enough. Food security, safe places to stay. I'm for comandeering hotels, student residences, churches, sports faculties, anything. I suspect this is an issue everywhere
And there's truly a run now on kitty litter. Can't get any. Which isn't a real problem.
Cats are more important than people?
(Sorry, Cat lovers, and I am aware of the value of the Feline Ministry To The Sick, but surely if ever there was an animal able to look after itself, without human intervention, it's the Cat.)
{{all those involved in community coping}}
When son wanted a cat of his own, we went to the SPCA shelter. They would not let us adopt one because we let the cat we already had go outside, even when we assured them this new cat would stay inside. So we went to the county shelter, where they weren’t neatly so particular about such things.
[ETA I checked, it’s actually been illegal in the U.K. since 2006, carries a fine of upto £20,000.]
I buy cream cheese with added chive and onion to put on my celery.
Some people might be buying it for their own use. (I think we talked about it, on some thread, perhaps jokingly.) Goes with the stash of TP.
A lovely lady from church brought me both a meal (salmon!) and treats today. Among the extras is a TP four-pack. Since I'm currently in pretty good shape on that front, I'm saving it for someone whose need is greater than mine; I'm sure that s/he will be along presently.
Trouble is, I am now the only one of us who can go out, but I am also the only potential vector. I don't drive, and some of the things we will presently need will either not be available locally or too heavy/bulky for me to carry.
Supermarket delivery slots are unobtainable, and friends close enough to ask favours from such as getting groceries, are mostly in the elderly/vulnerable categories themselves.
And it looks as if my fish van man is halting deliveries.
This could get difficult.
Are you in the U.K.? All vulnerable people are being supplied with food parcels starting today. Here is the link - https://tinyurl.com/wrc87eq
I'm in Edinburgh. I can see some news items on the local council delivering food parcels, but no indication of whether that is a subset of the UK programme. Nor does your link indicate whether this is something you apply for, or whether it automatically follows The Letter.
Registration link is here.
(I have had the same letter, but intend to discuss with my gp as I think they may have misidentified me as having severe asthma when I don’t.)
Apologies, I checked - and that link is only good for England. However, Sainsbury’s are actively trying to do something in Scotland - you might want to try ringing them.
Many of the links on the map are to Facebook pages, but if you're not a Facebook user you may be able to find other contact details by Googling the name of the group.
We've just nearly finished the fortnight inside, barring walks avoiding everyone, playing pacman on the streets when not overridden by those we were trying to dodge, following my daughter's cough and fever. The symptom tracker at covid.joinzoe.com suggests that she has had it over this last couple of weeks which makes me suspect I may have had it too.
That link is to Kings College research trying to track the progress of Covid 19.
I find this little item a tad expensive but indispensable.
My next-door neighbour has offered to get me heavy items from the supermarket.
I've ordered orange juice from the milkman.
Mr F has discovered a place online selling high-end single malts.
We will survive.
I don't know whereabouts in Embra you are, but have you got a local independent butcher/greengrocer or whatever who might do deliveries? We did a phone-and-pick-up from Mark McGill in Lanark Road, who do deliveries to Juniper Green, Currie and Balerno; would there be anyone similar near you who delivers locally?
Are you sure these are for you and not the FMS?
Well, actually...I'd wondered about that. And if you do a search on "face mask coffee filter", you'll see others have, too.
I'm in a couple of risk groups. I have some basic filter masks I got for something else, years ago. I've worn one or two. I'm mostly at home anyway, even without the threat of COVID-19, so I'm not going to go through them anytime soon--*but* I'm aware of the plight of medical workers not having safety gear, and I also know I might have trouble buying more, anyway, because of the high demand from everyday people. I've hears of medical workers improvising with bandanas and such, another approach I considered.
And yes, many experts say to skip masks (with the possible exception of vulnerable people). BUT it's complicated:
"Every expert opinion you’ve heard about wearing masks is right." (Quartz)
Anyway, just wanted to suggest that you rethink about the woman you mentioned. Some filter masks do look quite a bit like coffee filters, which is why people are considering them.
I'm willing to share, within reason.
...served to you while you're wearing a cashmere sweater, poodle skirt, bobby socks, saddle shoes, and possibly a simple string of pearls...while sitting at a malt shop...while Bobby Darin is crooning on the jukebox...
https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32618531113.html
Of course it could cause people to jump to conclusions
ROTFL! Yes, especially in your area! Of course, certain things like that were used in "Star Wars"--particularly the original movie, IIRC (SW VI). I think they were solid colors, though.
I wonder if anyone in India is using a sari as a mask?
I’m very thankful for the people who are coordinating this nationwide. 👏🏼👏🏼
Yesterday, when I came out of the park with the dog, there was a police car going slowly down the road and they were noting down who they saw.
I’m grateful that my dogs are coping well with the new routine - of course, both are already well aware of ‘what comes next’ and remind me if I’m late!
We do -
A long walk
Grooming
Scent games
Training
Retrieving in the garden
Hoolying in the garden
Chewing chews (Yak chews are good - they are made of hard yak cheese and last weeks, even with powerful chewers)
‘Hide the toy’
Snuffle mat (like a rag rug, you hide treats for them to snuffle out)
My wife does all that with me, she says I am definitely improving.
Our local Salvation Army corps is co-ordinating volunteer help from ALL our local churches, as far as possible. It's taking a little while to get organised, but is clearly a Good Thing, especially if it avoids unnecessary duplication of effort. AIUI, food parcels are certainly high on the agenda.
We have another Zoom meeting on Wednesday, by which time, hopefully, some progress will have been made.
Black socks and black shoes, please. If Miss Amanda has taught you anything, she's taught you that.
Yes, I understand it was a coffee filter.
FWIW.
Of course. {Makes note.} You want fries with that?
Mr Boogs flight has been cancelled again. He’s booked on one at the end of April.
The foreign office gave hope today that they may charter flights for people stuck abroad.
Our town is unbelievably quiet. I went to the chemist in the town centre and the only movement was four speeding ambulances.
It brought it all home to me.
So my sympathies go to our lady in Paris ( la Vie en Rouge) who has, IIRC, like most of the population there, only suburban streets into which to escape from her apartment with small child. Again IIRC, although there are lots of small childrens playgrounds in Paris, they have been closed for the duration, which is good for reducing the spread of the virus, but otherwise not so good for small children and their parents.
* Canberra (my home town) is built around a ring of hills, all of which are nature reserves, complete with gum trees, kangaroos, and multiple species of birds, ants, and other wildlife.