Quarantine Day 17

I live in Ohio . . . I work at the local Public Library . . . the library has been closed since March 18 . . . that makes today Day 17 of the Quarantine.

I work in the business office and am considered an “essential” employee and am lucky enough to work from home . . . I have a laptop, a mobile hotspot device and set up a work space in the basement in Prince Charming’s Ham Radio area (he called it his Ham Shack).  It’s a little chilly so I bought an “office cardigan” and a little space heater to keep me warm in my new work space.  Except for the whole “world health crisis” thing, life is pretty good . . .

With the trouble I have with my low level anxiety, I’m surprised that this hasn’t thrown me off the deep end.  I’m not having any problems with stress or worry . . . I guess the whole “I’ve already faced my worst nightmare” thing has prepared me nicely for this new reality . . .

That being said . . . I do worry about my Mom’s health . . . she’s 85 and has some underlying health issues . . . I’m concerned about BIL #1’s health . . . he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s a couple of years ago . . . I’m worried about Baby Sister as she struggles with anxiety and is not doing well facing this crisis . . . but I’m confident we will get through this . . . we’re tough cookies.

I’m enjoying having time at home with the dogs.  Millie is THRILLED that I’m home all the time because that means more cookies.  Rocky is not thrilled.  I’m home all the time which means that Millie is spending a lot more time out of her crate and BOTHERING him as he’s trying to nap.

There’s a zillion things I SHOULD be doing . . . cleaning . . . organizing . . . reading . . . working on my cross stitch projects . . . finding new recipes in my cookbooks . . . and I’m not doing any of that . . .

I’m walking the dogs and enjoying watching spring arrive in my little part of Ohio.  I’m watching stupid TV shows and catching up on my soaps.  I’m reading a lot of silly stuff on the internet . . . and some very serious stuff.  My world stops at 2 pm every day for the Governor’s daily press conference . . . we call it “Wine With DeWine”!

Yes, the coronavirus stuff is serious.  It’s scary.  It’s a strange and scary new world we live in.  But there are a few silver linings in those ugly black storm clouds.

 

 

Equal Time

I’m sitting at the computer in the kitchen checking my emails . . . and Rocky walks into the kitchen and puts his chin on my lap . . .

Rocky: Hey, Mom, can I ask you a question?

Me:  Sure, Big Guy.  Whatcha wanna know?

Rocky: Do you have the ‘rona?

Me: Oh, gosh, no, baby.  I’m not sick.  I’m just home because the Guy With the Glasses shut everything down and the library is closed for a little while.

Rocky:  When will it open back up?  When are you going back to work?

Me:  Hard to say, Big Guy.  Whenever the Guy With the Glasses says it’s okay to go back.  Why?

Rocky:  Because you being home is throwing off my schedule and Millie is bugging me ALL THE TIME when you’re in the basement and she’s stopping my naps.

Me:  (giggling) Okay, honey, I’ll tell Gov. Dewine that he needs to get this shit figured out so I can go back to work soon.

Rocky: (leaving the room and shouting at Millie) Millie!  Mom said you have to leave me alone so I can nap!

These two are killing me . . .

MOMMY’S HERE ALL THE TIME

HI!!  I’M MILLIE!!  HAPPY TO MEET YOU!!  DO YOU HAVE A COOKIE FOR ME!!  (SORRY, MOMMY DOESN’T LIKE ME TO BEG BUT A GIRL’S GOTTA TRY!!)

MOMMY SAID I COULD WRITE ON HER COMPUTER!!  THIS IS FUN!!

MOMMY HAS BEEN HOME ALL DAY FOR SO MANY DAYS!!  LIKE WHEN SHE’S ON ‘CATION BUT BETTER BECAUSE IT’S LONGER THAN ‘CATION!!  AND SHE WILL BE HOME FOR LOTS MORE DAYS!!

WE HAVEN’T GONE ON TOO MANY WALKS BECAUSE THE WEATHER IS YUCKY!!  AND ROCKY DOESN’T LIKE TO WALK IN YUCKY WEATHER!! COZ HE’S OLDER AND HIS BONES HURT!!  SO WE STAY HOME AND SNUGGLE ON OUR BEDS AND WATCH TV WITH MOMMY!!

WE LIKE TO WATCH TV EXCEPT FOR WHEN THAT ONE GUY WITH THE GLASSES COMES ON WITH THE LADY IN THE WHITE COAT AND STOPS MOMMY’S SHOWS!!  SHE DOESN’T LIKE WHEN THAT GUY STOPS HER SHOWS!!

TODAY MOMMY SAID SHE HAD TO GO TO WORK BUT SHE WAS REALLY IN THE BASEMENT!!  WE SAW HER GO IN THE BASEMENT AND WE COULD HEAR HER AND SHE WAS THERE FOREVER!!!  WE WAITED IN THE KITCHEN SO WE COULD BE SURE SHE WAS OKAY DOWN THERE!!  WE DON’T GO IN THE BASEMENT BECAUSE IT’S SCARY!!

MOMMY SAYS WE HAVE TO HAVE A ROUTINE BECAUSE ALL THIS LOUNGING IS NOT GOOD FOR ANY OF US!!  WONDER WHAT MOMMY HAS PLANNED FOR US??!!  HOPE IT’S MORE WALKS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!!

OKAY I GOTTA GO NOW!!  NEIGHBOR MIKE IS OUTSIDE AND HE HAS TREATS FOR US!!

SEE YA LATER!!

 

 

I’m Probably Gonna Regret This . . .

My little part of Ohio is shut down for the forseeable future.

No movie theatres.  No shopping . . . unless it’s for groceries.  No eating out.  No sports.  Lots of stuff shut down, postponed, cancelled . . .

Starting next week, I’m working from home two days a week and working a 4 hour shift at work . . .

I’m looking forward to spending a lot of quality time with Millie and Rocky . . . Millie and Rocky are pretty excited about it . . . I’m excited about it too . .

Since I’ll have all this time on my hands and I need to keep Millie busy while I attempt to get some work done . . . I promised her that she could do some guest blog posting . . . she’s so excited that she’s chasing Rocky through the house . . . I’m probably gonna regret this.

Don’t say I didn’t warn ya . . .

 

A New Normal

The Coronavirus has hit my little part of Ohio . . . almost everything is shut down . . . starting to look like a ghost town around here . . . and not a roll of TP or a can of vegetables to be found anywhere . . .

I’m fine . . . my family is fine . . . I have plenty of supplies to last a couple of weeks.  Yes, I was caught a little unprepared and I swear I can hear Prince Charming’s laughing at me for not taking his “prep for anything” lectures seriously.  Right now my biggest worry (besides worrying that my mom might get sick) is “will I have enough green beans to feed Millie?” and “why the heck can’t I find any canned green beans anywhere?” . . .

The Public Library where I work has closed until early April.  Once the schools closed, the kids were coming into the library to hang out during the day.  And since we couldn’t keep the kids away . . . and since we have several staff members who are part of the “high risk” group . . . the Director decided it was best to “shut ‘er down”.

Even though the library is closed to the public, there is still work that can be done and most of the staff will be able to work partial hours at full pay during the shut down.  I work in the business office and was offered the opportunity to work from home.  For the next couple of weeks, I have to work four 4 hour shifts.  Two days a week at home, and two days a week at the office . . . I won’t have to work on Fridays!!  The library provided a laptop and a mobile hotspot to use as an internet connection . . . I just needed to find a spot to convert into an “office” for the duration . . .

So that’s what I did today . . . converted Prince Charming’s “Ham Shack” in the basement into my new “office” . . . and it broke my heart to tear apart all his ham radio equipment and put it away someplace safe . . . because . . .

And now that I have an organized work space . . . I need to clear out the clutter in the rest of the basement . . . and maybe tackle the spring cleaning . . . and . . . and . . . and

If nothing else, it’s going to be interesting . . .

 

That Went Sideways Pretty Quickly

I survived The Haigs with very little incident . . .

Haig 1 realized he’d over stepped his bounds and made himself scarce for the rest of the week that The Director and The Fiscal Officer were gone.  Although he did cruise the hallway in the Admin Wing pretty frequently he never ventured into The Business Office again . . .

Haig 2 was sick the first two days of the week and kept to her own office when she was at work because we told her we didn’t want her germs . . .

Life was good . . .

End of Month processing went smoothly . . .

Preparations for the upcoming State Audit have been relatively uneventful . . .

Then . . . the shit hit the fan . . .

Coronavirus hysteria hit my little part of Ohio . . . it hit the entire state . . . and ALL the Haigs are expressing opinions. . . spreading rumors . . . stirring the pot and causing chaos.  Life is not good . . .

I am safe.  I have plenty of food, water and necessities for the next couple of weeks.  My family is safe and they’re all healthy.  There are no reported cases in my little county.  Just about every library in the state has closed or will be by the first part of next week.  The Director is trying to balance the best interest of the patrons and the best interests of the staff . . . and it’s not a job for the faint of heart . . . right now it’s more a matter of “when” we will close and not “if” we will close . . .

Right now my biggest concern is keeping my regular level of every day anxiety from flying off the charts with the “what if” scenarios and “am I prepared enough” second guessing discussions with myself . . .

I’m half tempted to tell the fates “I’ve been through way worse than this . . . is this all you’ve got?” but I know better . . .

Hang on, y’all.  We’re in for a bumpy ride . . .

I’m In Control Here . . .

I work at the local public library . . . I’m an Account Clerk in the Business Office.  I process all the accounts receivables and book invoices.  It’s a lovely job and I enjoy it immensely.

Especially the people watching opportunities . . . sometimes it’s the patrons that amuse me . . . most of the time, though, it’s my co-workers . . . especially the “power struggle” that always happens whenever the Library Director and the Fiscal Officer are out of the building at the same time . . . because there are certain supervisors who like to think they are “in charge” during their absence and the shenanigans are hilarious . . . .

We call it them the Alexander Haigs of the Library . . . you know how Alexander Haig tried to assure everyone that he was in charge when Reagan was in the hospital following the assassination attempt?  Yea, that’s pretty much what happens every time the Director and Fiscal Officer are out of the office at the same time . . .

I told you that story to tell you this story . . . the Director and the Fiscal Officer will be attending a conference in Nashville next week . . . and before he left, the Director warned me and my business office cohort to be aware of the upcoming shenanigans and to keep him posted if the shenanigans got out of hand.  I’ve been in the Business Office for a year and a half and have seen the shenanigans first hand and know what to expect.  It’s annoyingly hilarious and oh so much fun to watch the Haigs try to out-Haig each other.  My poor cohort has only been in the business office for about six months and has no idea what to expect . . . and thought that the Director and I were kidding her about what was going to happen . . . until she saw the first bit of shenanigans today . . .

Haig #1 sticking their nose in where it doesn’t belong and trying to figure out why my cohort handled a situation the way she did . . . and realizing that his input wasn’t needed or helpful . . .

Haig #2 casually “stopping by” the Business Office at 5:01 pm (“oh is it that late already?”) to discuss a purchasing question with my cohort . . . “oh we can talk about it on Monday!”  when we both knew that she was making sure we hadn’t left early . . .

It’s going to be a long week . . . funny as heck . . . but annoying . . . and really long . . .

Please pray for me . . . and my cohort . . .