Fudgie

I got some bad news re: work and some assignments. Basically, we are anticipating getting absolutely slammed and trying to manage sick nursing home patient at a nursing home, can't send to hospital, hospitals too full. I told my boss I'll do what I can to help, if they need to staff. If what they are preparing for happens, we are going to have a lot of dead people. There will be more people crashing than I will be able to help and people are going to die. I hope it doesn't come to that.

YES YES YES. I can do anything for a short time, even drastic measures. Several more cases in my city. A bunch of people are hospitalized.

I hate it say it but unless someone's in an actively abusive relationship, it doesn't seem like it's a good idea to try to get out of a relationship or try to find a new one. A lot of businesses are closing up for now. Heck, my apartment complex let their office staff go home. They are dealing with maintenance issues and still send staff to your apartment if you call for help with something still but no walk-in office for people inquiring about a new apartment. Best to hang tight for now.

Reinvent, I too am really unhappy to not see people complying. The number of cases in my community goes up EVERYDAY and we've already had at least one person die from COVID. Restaurants are closed but some bars aren't. My favorite bar closed a while ago. It makes me sick when I am driving by to the store and I see people inside a bar. Stay. The. Heck. Home. Nobody needs to be out drinking! Go to the liquor store, stock home, then stay home.

Essential trade will still go through so US and Canada will keep their trade agreements up with each other to their benefit. Just no non essential travel. I'm going to miss my family over there but when this blows over I'm going to see them again.

Haha I do, watched that a lot in college even though it came out long before that. I really can relate to the yak

Aww man I can't see your vid because I'm not in Canada.

Exactly. South Korea is doing well in this regard for now, if you look at their numbers. This is where the "flatten the curve" bit comes from. Reduce the daily new infection rate so that the system can better deal with the new cases and those in the hospital can recover and then get out to free up the beds. It is inevitable that the numbers will come down but everyone needs to adopt a collectivist mindset. I worry about compliance. I also think that until we get a vaccine, COVID may flare up time to time but hopefully we can develop a practice that localities can implement immediately to quell outbreaks. But in the meantime, have to hold it together. Somehow. I'm hoping for a warm day so I can go for a walk (i am near a huge park). Being isolated sucks. I'm taking extra meds and fighting the urge to drink myself asleep on nights I'm not working.

Yes, many have recovered. Especially in China. My concern is that many people, particularly older ones, who get this need some time on a breathing machine as they recover. Most younger people will be fine without but some younger people and a lot of older people will need this help. We don't have enough breathing machines. I worry about what the virus is going to do to our already cruddy health system more than what it's going to do to the human body. Resource management and availability of the proper treatment is key to having fewer deaths. The issue is that our system cannot handle the surge should many more get infected. This is why we are isolating.

I have no idea how long this is going to go on for but people really need to be socially distancing. If places need to stay closed, people need money/bill forgiveness from the govt. No one should starve or be evicted.

You were really smart to do that. People are having to stay at home anyways so they will be able to be at home with their kids. You can't risk getting sick or your family either. My school (now closed) is now the center of a mass emergency daycare for all of the local healthcare workers who HAVE to work and cannot stay home with kids. I think it's wonderful that the community is stepping up to help.

If people call 911 or try to show up to the hospital with mild symptoms, they are told to go back home. Only severe (i.e. breathing difficulty) symptomatic people are being let into the hospital and that's how it should be. But the symptomatic people? We don't have enough tests to test them to see if they are positive and need to be quarantined. So We don't actually know how many cases there are. I get temp scanned for work now. I'm sorry your son is dealing with that. I would not let a nurse scan my temp unless I see that she/he has alcohol'd that little probe before touching my head with it. He should demand the same.

Thanks I am here for you too. We will all pull through, although I'm not exactly sure when I don't know what it will look like when we are done. I had a moment last week where I just wanted to quit my job and get the hell out to the countryside and just sit and isolate myself and my family and be fine. But I would be leaving my patients high and dry and they are already very sick and at risk and I just can't do that. I also have my own education to consider. I can't just f off and leave. Got word today of the first death in my city from COVID. I think there will be more to follow. We do not have enough tests and masks are running low in some facilities. We don't have enough ICU beds/life support machines. I fear a lot of people are going to die.

I'm really struggling right now emotionally. I work in healthcare with a very vulnerable population so I am isolating myself for the time being. I have gotten a few "contactless" deliveries and of course, wiping everything down. I may get dragged into the ICU to work with COVID patients. I don't know yet. The uncertainty is absolutely killing me and of course, the isolation isn't helping either. Thankfully, I am good on TP and such because I shop at Costco and I was well stocked before all of this stuff happened because that's just how I roll. (get it?? roll?! hahaha ahh) The one thing I am out of is hand sanitizer. I wash my hands at home. I need a bottle for the car. These damn people stockpiling them all - I just need one freaking bottle and I can't find one anywhere and I don't necessarily want to put myself at risk by going store to store looking for one.

Lolita, I am really happy your pregnancy is coming along nicely. I had the honor of assisting with a few births recently and have been taking care of post partum mothers and I have developed a new appreciation for child birth and child rearing. The human body is so amazing! You are creating life. LIFE. Isn't that just amazing? I think you're going to be over the moon when you give birth and yes, it will be overwhelming and scary at times too (I did some education with a new set of parents the other day and I had a little chuckle about how shell-shocked they looked, teehee) but I know you and D are going to be great parents. It really saddens me when people call you mean things because you are following your path. And this is coming from me: love, marriage, and children are not big in my life. I love being with K but I have more utilitarian reasons to stay than go and he adores me, I don't want to get married, and I am irreversibly sterile. And it still really p__sses me off that people are saying that to you when you are just doing what makes you happy. Your life has no bearing on theirs just as theirs has no bearing on yours. All we can do is make ourselves happy and live lives that are full of purpose and meaning. To some, that means family, to others perhaps a fulfilling career, maybe to others it is some passion or intense hobby, or religious pursuits, what have you...really, can be anything or not much at all, depending on the person. Their lashing out at you says a lot more about them than it does about you. Those who are anti-feminists are not the ones who choose to be homemakers and have children...its the women who put other women down for no other reason than "you're different from me". So pay them no mind! Also, I have to add, did you know that the UK has excellent outcomes for babies and mothers in terms of infant and mother mortality being very low? Much lower than the US! You're in a good place, I think. Far better than here. Your baby will be here before you know it.

I'm extremely broke right now. Bills are all paid up, bf had to pay application money for schools, way more than we anticipated (we are talking hundreds and hundreds of $), all that good stuff for the past 2 pay periods. The bad news is, no money leftover for groceries in a long time. I have money in savings that I can't withdraw so it won't help anyway. I ran out of eggs last week, ran out of milk this week. I am out of onions and fruit and fresh vegetables. Fridge is very bare outside of grapefruit and condiments. I have a few days off from school so I am home. The fuel light came on recently so that's a no go anyway. When I return to school, my bfs check will have come in so things will be okay but I have to wait a bit. Anyway, it's very irritating to me because I want to make things but I am so limited. This morning, I microwaved some green beans with garlic and oil for breakfast. I found a package of pork chops in my freezer so I'll make those later but I have to improvise because I'm missing a lot. I wanted to see my folks but I don't have the gas and I don't want to reveal my temporary financial state. Sorry this is totally first world problem but that's what is annoying me.

What kind of car are you looking to get? I have what you may know in the UK as a Honda Jazz. Actually, so does my boyfriend. It's a cute little car with seats that fold flat. I know a couple who use it with a baby seat and they do fine but if you're planning on more than one kid, I can't recommend it. One baby seat is enough in the back of that car. When I grew up, my parents had a minivan. It got absolutely disgusting because, well, children, particularly me, I was a messy child. My best advice is to have a "kid car" that you don't mind getting dirty and if having a nice "adult" car is important to you, then keep one separately and use it for your leisure. Or let D use it if he's going to he traveling for work and you can keep the minivan and use with the kid(s). Oh and when they get old enough, get yourself something nice!

I'm so happy for you! Pregnant! That's so exciting! Have you gone to the doctor yet? Do you know how roughly far along you are? Probably not much if you have been actively trying and looking for signs! Yup, I left my job. I am getting another Bachelors degree for another healthcare job. I'll be done in one year but that means I have very little life/free time now because I am cramming in so much. I will pursue my Masters in a few years but my future job will pay for that (and if I want to get a doctorate, it will pay for that too) and I'll be making a LOT more than I have been, so it's all good. My boyfriend has moved into my apartment so he is covering my expenses while I go to school which is nice. He works 50-60 hour weeks and is studying for some tests too so we are both really busy and don't have a lot of downtime but seems to be working out so far since we make time for each other and sometimes social events for friends. I really enjoy being a student again.

Hey Lo I know what kind of game you're talking about, kinda like Cards Against Humanity? I'm not really a fan and I only play those games if I'm drinking. I find other games way more entertaining instead but you can't drink if you play them or else you can't concentrate and you'll lose. I do agree with you that it's not fun if it has to be forced. I pretty much only play games with people I've met through a special group which includes only adults who like to play board games. Forcing people to play, frankly, is boring because they don't have fun, they don't retain the rules well, and that's not fun for me either. For me, board games are definitely the new normal. I actually can't remember the last time I went to a bar that didn't involve board/strategy games. My boyfriend and I play several a week both together and with others. But I respect that they aren't everyone's cup of tea and that is A Okay. I hope life is going well for you. I left my job and am now back in school so my new home is the library now.

What sort of board games do they play? I'm kind of a board game nerd myself though I can understand why you'd be frustrated with the crowd. My boyfriend and I go play games with folks a couple times a week and yes, there are some guys and girls there who are clearly lacking in social skills. I love games and K and I always have a couple two player games on hand for us, but if you can't handle silence or talking without playing something, then that's not good at all.

I really cringed when I read about the story of you getting ready to go to a social event with him and he's needling you, making you feel bad for taking pride in your appearance. I'm sorry, that just makes me really sad. You don't deserve that treatment. You're not a rebellious teenager with a too-short skirt and he's not your father.

To answer your question before, yes, most couples will argue/disagree about something, make up, and then move out. It really should not be this long, drawn out affair unless it's something really big, like one of you cheated or something and you're trying to reconcile. I get into "tiffs" with my boyfriend on a weekly basis but they are resolved very quickly and we move on. I wonder if S has unrealistic expectations for a relationship. I can't really tell.

Well the winds are not really here anymore but the Temps are really low, yes. Tonight is the Bachelorette finale. I plan on getting the hell out of dodge when my shift is over around 7pm, when the storm will be happening. Maybe if 3pm rolls around and it is quiet (as in, I'm not busy) AND it is storming I'll ask my boss if I can skip out early. I am not sure. We will see. Right now I'm at work and it's quiet and I was running late this morning, no coffee, so I don't feel that sharp. I'll get a $1 coffee from the machine later. I'm going to need it if I'm driving home in a Blizzard.

I'm going to try and convince my mother not to go.

I would be going through the Niagara region and then onward toward Toronto. In a car. So basically, yeah, bad idea, right?