Voicelessness and Emotional Survival > Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board
Coronavirus
Twoapenny:
Well it's chaos here. The schools have gone back, with instructions that any child with cold type symptoms is kept off school until they receive a negative covid test and they're running out of tests! People are queuing for days to get one with some being told they have to do round trips of hundreds of miles to get to a testing centre. Schools are closing as quickly as they open with parents getting back to work for a couple of days before being told they all need to stay home again until the tests have been done - which is taking days for many. Apparently the phone lines are constantly jammed and the website keeps crashing so people can't get tests sent out to them at home either. The papers are constantly publishing all sorts of conflicting and speculative articles which is causing panic and a lot of people are pissed off with the whole thing and just doing what they like now anyway. I've honestly never witnessed anything like it in my life. The rules are changing so often that no-one knows what they're meant to be doing and everything's so contradictory that a lot of people have given up even trying to follow them (me included).
It really doesn't bode well with winter coming. Everyone gets coughs and colds in the winter and presumably everyone will be wondering whether it's Covid or not. I'm putting together our two week supply box in case we get locked down and the supermarkets are empty again but other than that I don't feel I can do much else. I'd love to head out a bit further afield with son now; it's been months since we did anything other than laps around our local area but the information is so patchy and contradictory that it's difficult to assess risk. It's hard for him to not have an end point to all of this. What an absolute shambles.
Hopalong:
I hear you, Tupp. I think perhaps our first six months of quarantining will have been easier than the next, because of the season. I just ordered another case of TP. Will be replenishing dried beans, canned fruits, frozen everything. I won't go hungry, this town is small and elite enough (for the privileged) that there will be food, and my neighborhood is calm. But I can't imagine what it'll be like for people under the most stress to start with.
BUT. The challenge is still there. It's not too late to buy or make dehydrated everything (one can dehydrate fruits and veggies in one's own oven). They can then be stored in strong bags anywhere--under a bed, stuffed in a closet, any odd corner. I ordered bags of dried veggies that are probably an eighth of their full weight/size! I have them atop the fridge but after a closet purge they can go in with the coats if need be. In winter when I make crockpot stews/soups, that nutrition will be there.
As to socializing, as of now I'm averaging a Zoom call [EDIT] about half the weekdays (and one friend visit almost every week) in the late afternoon. Sundays, church activity gives face-connection by Zoom, and I normally don't bother about Saturdays. If I'm seeing a human face most weekday, and one in person almost weekly, I think that'll get me through the cold months, psychologically, though in-person visits will get harder. A friend is getting one of those propane heaters for her yard (which I thought about for my patio) -- so I can go see her from time to time too.
One thing I always forget about winter is that for me, the anticipation of the cold and dark is half the battle. A couple months into the cold weather I've mentally adapted and am always surprised by how lovely I find winter light, and the days of unexpected sunniness. With exercise, as much social contact as I can construct, and more attention to health and well being in every way I can cobble together, I think it's going to be okay.
Plus, it's not guaranteed but possible we'll have a sane administration again by then, so the dark tide may begin to turn. If that's the case, daily news will include hopeful things, not only more horrors.
hugs
Hops
Twoapenny:
I'm with you on the winter light, Hopsie, it's so beautiful at times and I find winter sunsets stunning to watch. We are pretty stocked up; I should be able to get the last few bits we need over the next week or so and it's all tins and packets and I'm putting recipes on cards to put in the box so I don't even need to faff about working out what to put with what. Plus I've ordered bleach, loo roll, soap and so on. It's just such a chaotic way that it's being handled - people can't really follow the safety advice because the things they need to do so aren't available! I think what I realised this morning is that I really need to find a routine that I follow first thing. Because I get up before my son, that early part of the day is the only time I get completely to myself so I'm reluctant to spend it doing anything - I just want to sit, maybe watch some TV or read. But my mind wanders then and I find myself getting anxious so I think perhaps I need to get up and just get on with something straight away so that I don't start ruminating. I do want to make myself get out to different places for walks now; son's reluctant so I haven't been pushing it but I think I need to bite the bullet tomorrow and just get us on the bus and go for a walk on the beach. Numbers here are low but our dumb arse local MP has been declaring that numbers are so low there's virtually no risk here so people have been turning up to enjoy the risk free environment! So numbers are going up again, still low compared to some places but honestly, the wandering about needs to stop.
I was talking to a friend yesterday who joked that at least you can clear a queue quickly now by coughing loudly which did make me laugh (she was only kidding lol).
I do find I keep wobbling as well about how best to cope - buy a car so we can get out more, do the house up so it's more comfortable to be in, move somewhere more remote so there are just fewer people (and less noise!). I do keep coming back to making the house more comfortable as the most sensible thing but in those moments of not being sure what to do I start to feel anxious. I'm trying to focus on what i can do in the here and now but it's not always easy to keep your mind on one track xx
sKePTiKal:
I'll make a suggestion here - in case of flu, cold or covid (not the severe type) while you're still isolating.
Right now, put together a box with your usual OTC symptom reducers, very easy to make foods (or pre-freeze single servings to easily reheat). And all the comfort items you might require. Even a sinus infection is going to be miserable when you're stuck home alone... and if you have any fever - well, chances are you won't be seen by any docs UNTIL a covid test indicates infected or not.
I am a fan of Traditional Medicinal or Yogi tea - I can't remember which brand makes the Breathe Easy tea or Gypsy Cold Care. Both are VERY GOOD and soothing for the usual winter ailments. Stock up on lemon juice & honey - an old wives remedy is the hot toddy: an ounce of bourbon, teaspoon of honey, teaspoon or more to taste of lemon juice, and boiling water. The hot toddy right before bed, also helps induce sleep. I'm also a fan of mucinex (decongestant type) at night to facilitate sleep during a cold.
Sore throat lozenges, nasal spray or neti pot, epsom salts to soak away aches in a hot bath, even aspercreme helps... or tiger balm. Plenty of tissues and toilet paper. I have gotten some temporary relief from a sinus infection by boiling a pot of water, putting a towel over my head and just inhaling the steam.
Chicken soup!!! Home made is best, but canned works too. You can easily freeze a big batch of soup for later. Myth or no, this is the world's best comfort food for winter sicknesses.
Put everything in one box, handy to access, except frozen stuff. That way, if you're on your own when a bug strikes... you can cope without having to think too hard about "where did I put that?" or when even the idea of retrieving x, y or z seems too daunting.
Knock on wood, but I haven't had the flu in over a decade. Washing my hands first thing, when ever I return to the house, is now a religious rite for me. Soap is a lot more plentiful right now than hand sanitizer - and some studies say it's more effective. Buy a 12 pack of ivory soap bars or if you can find them, the liquid pump soap.
Twoapenny:
All good advice, Skep, which I will act on today as the science people are calling for another two week lockdown to stop the virus spreading again so no doubt people will be stampeding the shops as soon as they hear. We're pretty well stocked already; I've been putting bits away over the last few weeks and we use quite a lot of natural/old wives' remedies anyway so I've usually got the bits we need to look after ourselves but I'll do a stock check today and order whatever else we need to put by. We are still doing pretty well in this part of the country compared to other places, I think because we just have more open spaces and fewer people in them most of the time. But caution, none the less. I just feel sorry for kids if their schools get shut again and businesses that have only recently reopened having to shut down but we'll see what happens. This one's a stayer! When it all started I honestly thought it would be over and done with within a few months, I think the ongoing stress of it is very hard for a lot of people.
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