COVID 19 What is sustaining you through the COVID time? How are you emerging on the other side?

[Clix Pix]

Another entity, a source of needed supplies, which is and has been sustaining me through this COVID-19 time is.....Amazon. Yep, early on in the shutdown as time went on I needed a few things that normally I would've bought at my local stores, either the grocery store or the hardware store or some other place....well, that was no longer happening and it was apparent that even when things began to open up again that some supplies just might not yet be available. A few still are not. I never would've thought that I'd be ordering my favorite brand of spaghetti sauce through Amazon! Other items, too, but it just strikes me as so weird to be ordering something so normally commonplace as a particular brand of jarred spaghetti sauce at Amazon. I placed the order, the spaghetti sauce arrived in a couple of days and I enjoyed it when I was ready. When those two bottles were gone, I ordered more.... Thank you, Amazon!

So now here we are almost in November 2020 and while many items are now more available, to my distress my local grocery stores still do not have spray disinfectant-type cleaners. I'm almost out of Clorox Cleaner with Bleach and Clorox Foamer, the two items that I use the most.... Every week I've searched in vain in hopes of being able to pick up new bottles of these before I run out completely. So far, no luck. Thankfully, right before all of this pandemic stuff started, I'd just bought new bottles as at that time I was was starting to run low and it was just a routine replacement purchase thing.... And now, yes, seven months later, unsurprisingly, I'm running low again. No routine replacement this time! However, once again, Amazon to the rescue! I've now ordered two bottles of each and although this shipment coming from Amazon is a little more expensive than when I can simply pluck a bottle or two off the shelf at the local grocery store, at least I'll be getting them, the disinfecting sprays that I prefer, and will be able to use them as needed! Thanks again to Amazon!

We are definitely living in weird times, though, aren't we?

 

[fooferdoggie]

The changes to business and education will be felt for a long time. It’s going to be an exciting new field.

That must have been horrible.

ya the air was so bad. it was a bit crazy. this was the worst day could not even see a block away.

 

[Eric]

ya the air was so bad. it was a bit crazy. this was the worst day could not even see a block away. View attachment 1025

Yeah they said you guys had the worst air quality on the planet during that time, crazy.

 

[Mark]

@Clix Pix ...amazon...clorox...pasta sauce... yes!

amazon certainly saved me too.
and fortunately for me a local large grocery store chain here started to deliver exactly in march. so it was so fortunate a timing.

amazon japan did some amazing work during the early days of scarcity.
of masks, >70% alcohol wipes, alcohol based hand soaps, plastic gloves, etc.
they really did a great job of refunding money, with almost no questions asked, when certain chinese vendors took advantage of customers by shipping only a part of an order but charging customers for full delivery and things like that. and allowing you to cancel orders to get refunds if the deadline had passed, even if later the order eventually showed up.

and just recently Made in Japan masks that have snugger fits are again available at normal prices.

one of the last things to recover was yeast and baking flour.
these two things finally became available again just a few weeks ago.

the good news is that we have learned that it is mostly carried through the air and of course by exhaled larger droplets.
but really most of the cases are being caused through breathing in the micro droplets. airborne.
so i have decreased my sanitisers to a less OCD level...
but realize that i don't want to be in any confined spaces any more...

 

[Gutwrench]

I’m loving it; absolutely loving it.

 

[lizkat]

I’m loving it; absolutely loving it.

I haven't been proselytized for a long time now while hanging out the laundry, so there's that.

Re-upped the over-winter pantry to the point where I will not have to entertain the exasperating situation of discovering that a courier has delivered to the not-used front porch in February despite his having to slog through 14" of snow and up some unshoveled steps to avoid taking ten pounds of something along a choice of 2 plowed driveways and through my nicely cleared and salted paths to the rear deck. WTF?!

(File that one under Amazon / Walmart loss and let them figure out it's FedEx / UPS to blame. It's not like I wouldn't occasionally like to order something in winter despite my pantry but I'm an April-October customer any more... even my "subscribe and save" orders are pegged into that timeframe.

Still feeling terrible for folks whose jobs are here-today-maybe-gone-again-tomorrow during this pandemic. Read today in the paper that the third largest employer in this rural county has had to issue public statements that no it has not yet issued a 90-day required notice if it means to close up shop and take the work to its other factory in the South... but yeah like any business it is weighing its options.

So we have 430 workers with a little more anxiety about nature and timing of any next round of stimulus. Everybody else with a retail job hereabouts is wondering as of this morning exactly how many of those workers are a core part of their own consumer base.

 

[Gutwrench]

I haven't been proselytized for a long time now while hanging out the laundry, so there's that.

Re-upped the over-winter pantry to the point where I will not have to entertain the exasperating situation of discovering that a courier has delivered to the not-used front porch in February despite his having to slog through 14" of snow and up some unshoveled steps to avoid taking ten pounds of something along a choice of 2 plowed driveways and through my nicely cleared and salted paths to the rear deck. WTF?!

(File that one under Amazon / Walmart loss and let them figure out it's FedEx / UPS to blame. It's not like I wouldn't occasionally like to order something in winter despite my pantry but I'm an April-October customer any more... even my "subscribe and save" orders are pegged into that timeframe.

Still feeling terrible for folks whose jobs are here-today-maybe-gone-again-tomorrow during this pandemic. Read today in the paper that the third largest employer in this rural county has had to issue public statements that no it has not yet issued a 90-day required notice if it means to close up shop and take the work to its other factory in the South... but yeah like any business it is weighing its options.

So we have 430 workers with a little more anxiety about nature and timing of any next round of stimulus. Everybody else with a retail job hereabouts is wondering as of this morning exactly how many of those workers are a core part of their own consumer base.

Yep, I have great concern for others like small businesses, but I’m doing fine...perfectly fine actually.

Speaking of UPS...last night I was ordering some sauna accessories from a company out of Washington (state). There were five items for about six pounds. The UPS model wanted to charge $450, unless I wanted it next day which was north of $1k.

 

[thekev]

Speaking of UPS...last night I was ordering some sauna accessories from a company out of Washington (state). There were five items for about six pounds. The UPS model wanted to charge $450, unless I wanted it next day which was north of $1k.

It's hard to wrap my mind around that. Did it have some kind of insane shipping issues like large packed volume and must be stored upright?

 

[Gutwrench]

It's hard to wrap my mind around that. Did it have some kind of insane shipping issues like large packed volume and must be stored upright?

I’m waiting for an explanation from the company.

 

[Edd]

I’ve hit my limit on staying home, with no traveling, greatly diminished socializing, and winter making that worse. I’ve wondered how close I’ve come to depression, having no real experience with it.

Luckily, I’m a skier. Going tomorrow for my first day of the season. The lodge experience will be greatly compromised however. The ski areas are telling us “your car is your base lodge”. Hanging out in the parking lot is trickier in the northeast. The western ski areas get more reliable sun, less rain.

Not having the gym to go to I’ve tried to stay fit but have lost ground. You’d think I would have come up with a new hobby this year but I’ve failed.

I feel very fortunate to have my wife and not be alone through this. Also that our incomes have been unaffected. My problems are small. I’ve just shifted to a lower, less happy gear.

 

[Alli]

I was just thinking about how lucky my family has been throughout this crazy time. Both my kids have remained employed. My daughter, who has seen a therapist weekly for years due to anxiety, told me this has been the best year of her life. She’s very happy working from home, and is about to turn in her shoe box NYC studio apartment for a sprawling 2-bedroom place with balcony in FL for 2/3 the price of her studio. My mother, along with her brother and sister-in-law have spent their time playing cards every day since they live in the same apartment community. Their lives have not changed.

Although I’m still getting used to retirement, being a full-time student keeps me busy (when I want it to). My brother and sister-in-law were able to reopen their stores, and business is booming. So there are plenty of others who have not been adversely affected.

I worry about those who have been affected though. The ones who have lost their lives to Covid. The ones who have lost their livelihood because of Covid. The ones who are about to lose their homes. Part of me feels guilty for doing well while others suffer. Covid prevents me from doing much of the volunteer work I would normally do, and damn politics has taken a lot of the $$ I donated in previous years to food banks.

I can’t wait for some sense of normalcy.