Couch 213: The Tulip couch

Never mind the super-soaker loaded with bleach in your shoulder holster...!

Fuzzy - no. If they need human contact, they can go pick up some food somewhere. Thats been my human contact, food delivery once a week or so. Dont they have their own house to go to? Why do they want to bring cooties into your house? What part of stay home (and dont breathe on us) dont they understand?

We are not letting in anybody at all, so I can't imagine a circumstance where I would let this person in either.

ETA: Much of my contact with non-household members for the last few weeks has been pleasant shouting exchanges from 6+ feet away. So I might invite them to stand in my driveway while I shouted at them from a window? Or we could shout at each other from opposite sides of the backyard. But no, stay out of my house.

Hm...that's the time when someone is particularly contagious. If this was more of a social visit to your house, I'd say not to let them come. If they want to visit, do that over video chat. If it's someone who usually lives there, try to have them isolate in their own part of the house.

My one guinea pig, Lexie, is apparently kind of a jerk. I put plenty of veggies in there for both of them (cucumber this time), and she keeps trying to steal the one that Amelia's eating, even though there's another piece sitting right there! There was much squeaking over it. This has happened like the last 5 times I gave them veggies, too...

We let an appliance repair person come in briefly this past weekend, i am wondering about the wisdom in that now. we kept our distance, he did his thing and left, we wiped down the appliance he touched with soapy water (can't find anything stronger anywhere here as it's all been hoarded) and are hoping for the best. i hope we didn't make a huge mistake.

I love that you have a guinea pig named Amelia because one of my kitties is named Amelia. Amelia was a very naughty kitty this morning and got out of the yard. She came obediently when I called her and I finally managed to wrangle her into the house so she could have her breakfast, but she was very naughty this morning. There is a big open field next to my house and I suppose it was just too tempting for her.

I'm so glad to hear that, chihirochild!!

15 more cases in my county since last night. it didn't start hitting my county really until the week of march 8th or so and as of today we're up to 217 confirmed cases and who knows how many presemptive or whatever positives and un-tested. one of my friends has been sick for weeks but she can't get tested.

Aaaand now that my test is back they're putting me to work.

Tomorrow I've been assigned to work in an "ICU" that they jury-rigged out of a PACU (where they normally take people after they've had surgery). I will have no interns. The attending will be overseeing both the regular ICU and this PACU-ICU so will have more patients than usual and will be located on a completely different floor. I will either have to stay in a spacesuit-like-thing all day except to eat and go to the bathroom or I will be re-using PPE, they haven't told me yet. And this is actually at one of our sister hospitals so I will not know any of the nurses or RTs or any of the phone numbers to call these people in an emergency.

I hate this. I HATE THIS! Working in the ICU scares me under normal conditions. This is just insane.

Hugs, Chihiro, that sounds really difficult and scary, especially if you have to reuse PPE.

I've been really struggling lately. L offered to do a double session today. H is pissed at me if I do I can't win.

Thanks for the input. I needed some objective eyes because it's the kids' dad.

First he decided that he wasn't comfortable with the isolated no-contact-with-outside-world boys coming to his house because of potential exposure for his elderly mother. But he kept making karate videos with his instructor and her son.

Then he told me that he needed to "choose his circles" (his words) and that the kids were his circle, and he was going to tell his instructor to ask others to help. He still wasn't comfortable with the boys going to his house, so I said he could spend time with them here. I even told him I was impressed by how careful he was being for his mom's sake, and confirmed that he wasn't spending time elsewhere.

It wasn't true. Now the instructor is ill. He's got all kinds of reasons why it was okay that he went anyway and didn't let me know so I could choose whether it was safe for him to be in my house. I am trying to decide whether I am being reasonable in asking him to wait until we know he's in the clear before spending in-person time with the boys. I don't even know what to say about his poor mom. Just pray he doesn't get it, I guess.

I am alternately furious with myself and feeling like a f***ing idiot for believing him. It's like expecting the wind to not blow, you know. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me a thousand times and when am I going to flipping learn? I just thought that THIS was important enough that he'd be responsible. And I am worried about him because his irrational contradictory logic was just rearing its head all over the place, which is not a good sign. I was trying to walk the tightrope of setting good boundaries and being respectful and navigating the odd thinking.

There. Sorry that got long. Whew.

There is no possible way that "making karate videos" is an essential activity, so I am already questioning his judgment. If he thinks that is a reasonable excuse for contact with other people, you can pretty much guarantee that he isn't taking proper precautions in other areas of his life either.

"Choosing your circles" is not a thing. Imagine the walls of your home and the people who sleep inside. That is your circle. Ta-da! My (otherwise very intelligent) sister-in-law said something similar as an excuse for regularly hosting two non-household members. No. Stay home. I know it sucks. It sucks for everybody. But so does inadvertently infecting other people and killing them.

Do you have to let the boys' father see them? (i.e., is there a court order to consider here?) If not, I think the smart thing to do as a parent is to keep your boys in your house and away from him until this is over, while encouraging video or phone contact.

WFS--I figured it was the STBE. He can wait.

Info and I were discussing my frustrations with the people not taking this seriously enough and the people making up dramas about it (like saying they have it when they don't), and she said in her opinion what both groups shared was they never grew out of their teenage brains, a la the FL spring breakers. STBE seems similar.

Info fashion update: black top, not sure if it was meant to be off the shoulder because her clip-on mic kept pulling it down. No wardrobe malfunction, but plenty of wardrobe adjustment.

I could see the teenage brain thing. The red/blue social distancing divide is fascinating and bizarre and ultimately utterly unsurprising to me too. I read an Atlantic article on it this morning.

I am not frustrated by what other people do or don't do because I am lucky enough to have the ability to control my surroundings and I am fairly self-contained. I think it is irresponsible and foolish -but I try to limit my self inflicted irritations to reading what therapists are saying = that is my preferred self created frustration. I did enjoy the story of the guy who didn't let his kid back in after spring break but gave him money and groceries and sent him on his way.

It helps that I already think most other people operate on only about 4-5% of their brain capacity all the time regardless of a pandemic or not. I didn't expect there to be a massive influx of intelligent behavior as opposed to dead flat stupidity and overly emotional knee jerk hysteria.

Fuzzy - pardon my crudeness but apparently he .

@@ et electric - yeah ive been reading the comments on youtube from news outlets from other areas of the country showing the trump press conferences - remember im from the state of that young lady governor! so our local comments are turning blue! - but its a good way to get a good read of whats happening from all over - at least from the wacky people who post their opinions online! Heyyyy...!

Yeah. I do know that. And my kids need to see their dad. What I was hoping to do was make two safe isolated spaces so that they could go back and forth. But that means you have to trust that the other household is going to remain isolated as well.


This is the tricky part. Yes, we have a custody agreement. AND because everything is shut down and slowed down, nothing is final. Not only is it tricky to navigate the ins and outs of social distancing and parenting together from different households, there's that worry in the back of my head about being accused of keeping them from him.

So now it's easy to decide.

ETA: Una, I think you are absolutely right. It's a valid choice, as is seeing his kids during this. Just not BOTH.

WFS, that's a really difficult situation. Could you maybe contact your lawyer?