Thursday, March 19, 2020
Thursday, March 19, 2020
This was a lively day, comparatively. I got to brave the Outside. I refilled a prescription for Rosie at Walgreens. Blue tape on the floor marked the 6-foot intervals for waiting in line. Luckily, it wasn't busy. Though my purchase of the prescription and the discount card from Walgreens took a hot minute, and I felt for the poor guy who waited behind me for a few minutes. But business was transacted and I finally got out of there.
I can't tell you how weird it was to touch buttons on a credit card terminal, to poke the screen with a stylus. Probably a low risk of infection with those tiny interactions, but STILL, y'all. And they were pretty well out of anything that looked like a cleaning product. I did see a couple of individually-wrapped rolls of TP, so if you're looking...Walgreens.
Then I ventured out to a local quilt shop for some invisible thread. I called first, to make sure they were open and that they had what I was looking for. When I walked in, the nice sales lady was on the phone, keeping un-bored probably with either a customer or a friend. "Oh, look, here's my first customer of the day! Are you here for the nylon thread?" I thought I might have earned a prize for being her first customer. They're so nice at Quintessential Quilts; go see them if you're into that sort of thing. I apologized a bit for paying in cash, but she reminded me that money was filthy before all this madness started.
Then I dared to visit the grocery store. A friend texted me while I was out to ask if I was getting out today. I offered to grab what was on her list for her in addition to my paltry list that I'd accumulated. I was stoked to realize I had coupons for a lot of the items I needed (thanks, Metro, for targeted marketing to me -- it works). These guys were still out of flour, except for the biggest and smallest bags of AP flour. That'll be another trip to Woodman's when I get desperate. They were also out of many cleaning bits. I got the penultimate box of Cascade powder (I hate the pods) and found a laundry detergent I didn't hate. The friend wanted a stain remover for laundry, and I had like two choices. So it wasn't terrible. It was surprising (though not at all shocking) to see the self-serve bakery items not there, salad & hot bar not there, the butcher counter, NOT THERE. It's a weird world we are living in now.
Emotions are still a rollercoaster for me. I read something this morning that set me off into some tears of worry and annoyance and fear, but I confess I can't recall exactly what that was. Oh, wait. I remember. This, from the Lorelei Ensemble: https://youtu.be/Zhe1Ukykx2Q
MCC sang this piece last spring, and it was a mantra for us then. These ladies slay in this recording. And what really hit me, is that they're all less than 4 feet apart. I don't know when I'll feel that musical closeness again.
Best part of today? Well, a couple things. A short video from Bert, our choir director of MCC -- one of him reading the lyrics of the first movement of The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore. I surmise he'll do a movement a day to keep us peppy.
And right about now I'm due to a Virtual Happy Hour with some friends. I have my beer and my glass and my computer ready. Think how noisy the bar won't be! And yet, how many are in the service industry with no jobs and no tips and gosh damnit this really freaking sucks...
time elapses...
It was really nice hanging with the crew we usually happy hour with, okay, occasionally happy hour with. Friends of our friend who all work at Exact Sciences, happy hour generally at Vintage on Whitney Way. It's closed for the time being. We had our beers and enjoyed each others' company. Mused about what it's like to run out to the pharmacy for dog meds, or to the grocery store for meager supplies. What's in stock, what's not. Again, how it's weird to be in remotely close proximity to people, or having to interact with credit card terminals or cash registers. How one couple just came back from a tropical vacation and are in voluntary isolation afterwards, perfect timing at least. How there were only 18 cars in the parking lot, for those who went in to work today. Ugh. They mentioned a virtual tip jar. I owe the good barkeeps at Vintage WW a few bucks. Miss those kiddos.
BTW, for those interested in the "dona nobis pacem" bit I mentioned yesterday from Orban, here's a link to that recording, I hope:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1py8WREe4JQ2myNouLJP_6IpeSchgrw4v/view
This was a lively day, comparatively. I got to brave the Outside. I refilled a prescription for Rosie at Walgreens. Blue tape on the floor marked the 6-foot intervals for waiting in line. Luckily, it wasn't busy. Though my purchase of the prescription and the discount card from Walgreens took a hot minute, and I felt for the poor guy who waited behind me for a few minutes. But business was transacted and I finally got out of there.
I can't tell you how weird it was to touch buttons on a credit card terminal, to poke the screen with a stylus. Probably a low risk of infection with those tiny interactions, but STILL, y'all. And they were pretty well out of anything that looked like a cleaning product. I did see a couple of individually-wrapped rolls of TP, so if you're looking...Walgreens.
Then I ventured out to a local quilt shop for some invisible thread. I called first, to make sure they were open and that they had what I was looking for. When I walked in, the nice sales lady was on the phone, keeping un-bored probably with either a customer or a friend. "Oh, look, here's my first customer of the day! Are you here for the nylon thread?" I thought I might have earned a prize for being her first customer. They're so nice at Quintessential Quilts; go see them if you're into that sort of thing. I apologized a bit for paying in cash, but she reminded me that money was filthy before all this madness started.
Then I dared to visit the grocery store. A friend texted me while I was out to ask if I was getting out today. I offered to grab what was on her list for her in addition to my paltry list that I'd accumulated. I was stoked to realize I had coupons for a lot of the items I needed (thanks, Metro, for targeted marketing to me -- it works). These guys were still out of flour, except for the biggest and smallest bags of AP flour. That'll be another trip to Woodman's when I get desperate. They were also out of many cleaning bits. I got the penultimate box of Cascade powder (I hate the pods) and found a laundry detergent I didn't hate. The friend wanted a stain remover for laundry, and I had like two choices. So it wasn't terrible. It was surprising (though not at all shocking) to see the self-serve bakery items not there, salad & hot bar not there, the butcher counter, NOT THERE. It's a weird world we are living in now.
Emotions are still a rollercoaster for me. I read something this morning that set me off into some tears of worry and annoyance and fear, but I confess I can't recall exactly what that was. Oh, wait. I remember. This, from the Lorelei Ensemble: https://youtu.be/Zhe1Ukykx2Q
MCC sang this piece last spring, and it was a mantra for us then. These ladies slay in this recording. And what really hit me, is that they're all less than 4 feet apart. I don't know when I'll feel that musical closeness again.
Best part of today? Well, a couple things. A short video from Bert, our choir director of MCC -- one of him reading the lyrics of the first movement of The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore. I surmise he'll do a movement a day to keep us peppy.
And right about now I'm due to a Virtual Happy Hour with some friends. I have my beer and my glass and my computer ready. Think how noisy the bar won't be! And yet, how many are in the service industry with no jobs and no tips and gosh damnit this really freaking sucks...
time elapses...
It was really nice hanging with the crew we usually happy hour with, okay, occasionally happy hour with. Friends of our friend who all work at Exact Sciences, happy hour generally at Vintage on Whitney Way. It's closed for the time being. We had our beers and enjoyed each others' company. Mused about what it's like to run out to the pharmacy for dog meds, or to the grocery store for meager supplies. What's in stock, what's not. Again, how it's weird to be in remotely close proximity to people, or having to interact with credit card terminals or cash registers. How one couple just came back from a tropical vacation and are in voluntary isolation afterwards, perfect timing at least. How there were only 18 cars in the parking lot, for those who went in to work today. Ugh. They mentioned a virtual tip jar. I owe the good barkeeps at Vintage WW a few bucks. Miss those kiddos.
BTW, for those interested in the "dona nobis pacem" bit I mentioned yesterday from Orban, here's a link to that recording, I hope:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1py8WREe4JQ2myNouLJP_6IpeSchgrw4v/view
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