I’m such a creature of habit that it’s not funny. If someone
wanted to kidnap me it wouldn’t take them long to figure out where and when to
do it. Not that anyone would want to snatch a little old lady from the parking
lot of the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon, I’m just sayin’ I like
routine. And I wanted to say it with as many words as I could because writing
during the pandemic has gotten increasingly more difficult and I have a word
quota to fill, you know. By the way, the ‘wild and woolly’ in
the title of this blog should not be confused with the 1932 short film, Wild and Woolly or the 1978 television
film, Wild and Woolly. I’m referring
to the 1917 silent comedy movie about a cowboy-obsessed Eastern who
went on an odyssey to turn himself into a tough guy Westerner. Hasn’t the pandemic
given us all new territory to conquer, new things to learn to survive?
Probably the routine I miss the most is my 1st
and 3rd Mondays brunches with my Gathering Girls pals. We’re coming
up on our third anniversary of meeting for those laugh-fests that comes with our
food. I set up a private Facebook page hoping to keep us in contact that way
but most of the ladies in the group don’t love and hug their computer keyboards
the way I do. They don’t kiss them goodnight or hang around cyberspace looking
for human interaction---Hey, sailor, looking for a good time?---so the Facebook
page was a flop. Next I set up a private chat room hoping to do virtual lunches,
but only three of us seemed to be technically savvy enough to enjoy that form of
keeping in contact. I may try it again before I banish chat to the graveyard
of Bright Ideas Gone South. One of the ladies in the group reaches out through
text messages a couple times a week which is nice but I really hate those tiny
screens and keyboards on our cell phones. I did discover I can use the voice feature to type but so can the TV on in the background which freaked me out when I thought my phone was possessed. There's been a few emails in our group and even a phone call. But nothing
takes the place of poking fun of ourselves face-to-face in a restaurant.
Another routine I miss is going to the post office every
Monday and Tuesday to mail my e-Bay packages. The ladies that work the front desk
are fun to interact with. One is so sweet I swear she’d taste like honey if you
could lick her. Not that I have a desire to do so but I couldn’t think of a metaphor to convey how creditably upbeat and positive she is. The other
woman who works the counter is near retirement age and is a bit cranky but you
can get past that veneer with a few compliments now and then. I’ve made it my mission to make her feel appreciated
because there isn’t a single question about postal rules she couldn’t recite
forward and backwards. Like can I ship a be-be gun? "Yes, as long as there are
no be-bes in the chamber." Can I ship a full bottle of prohibition ginger beer
with a cork top? "Yes, as long as you tape something like a bladder control pad around the top and put the
whole thing in a zip lock bag in case it leaks." She is my postal guru. I swear
if I had a full sized submarine to mail, she’d know how to dismantle it and ship it piece-by-piece.
I also don’t enjoy the new routines the pandemic has
brought of getting up early on Mondays and Tuesdays to
get my boxes put out by the door for postal pickups. And the idea of
getting up before the sun on Tuesdays or Thursdays to go to our designated senior
grocery shopping time slot makes me crazy. I’ve tried ordering groceries online
but the software at one store wouldn’t let me check out without clipping
coupons and when tried doing that, I got kicked off the site. Three times! At another
grocery store I got frustrated with their software. Apparently I do a lot of
shopping by the color of the packaging which doesn’t help when you need to know
brand names to put into their search line. After my husband’s stroke I made him a little picture book of products
he was in charge of finding in the health and beauty department. I guess I need
to make my own little picture book of product labels for online shopping. I didn’t know it for a long
time but Don was often showing a marked page of that picture book to other shoppers who’d help him do
my bidding. Oops. Even without words at his disposal he made lots of friends at the grocery store. I used to call him the Ambassador from the Planet Aphasia.
Back to routines: Every year for decades around my birthday I’ve done a biannual
appointment with my internist. His office called wanting to set up a video appointment.
The office personal who called seemed annoyed that I don’t have a way to video
call. No Zoom, no Skype, no Duo. Ya, I’m smart enough to set something like
that up but I pulled the Old Person Card and said I’m not tech savvy enough to
do it. The idea of having to look good when the phone rings and worrying about
the background the caller will pick up is stress I don’t need. Not to mention
my face in selfies---which I presume all those platforms are basically showing to callers---is a bridge I don’t want cross over. Nope, I’m fine with voices only, old
fashion Graham Bell where no double chins or wayward chin hairs could show up in a screen shot/meme titled 'wild and woolly.' ©
OK, you had me laughing at the dismantling a submarine to ship it idea! Thanks for a great read.
ReplyDeleteI was watching the news when I wrote that and they were talking about submarines. But she really is that amazing.
DeleteI signed up for a Zoom short course for this coming Wednesday, and I wasn't too enthused about having my image online. I did some exploring and discovered there's a way to join a Zoom conference w/audio but not video. We'll see if that works.
ReplyDeleteMy routines haven't changed that much, but I have less 'social' life than you do. Is your post office still open? Ours is, although the hours have been shortened slightly. I have stopped by a couple of times to mail parcels, but of course I'm not involved with anything on a regular basis like you are. I do have my favorite clerk, though, and it was fun to talk with her when I stopped by last week.
Better do some research on Zoom. They've had trouble with hackers lately and have banned from using in schools and places because of the security risk.
DeleteYes, our post office is open, same hours but they put up a huge sheet of thin plastic between them and the customers with a little opening to put your packages on the scale. There's only a single line now and six foot marks are on the floor. Pick up from the house is working well but I do miss my outings to go to the post office and maybe Starbucks or Wendy's on the same trip. I'm surprised at how much I miss that little bit of chit-chat.
Linda, you can appear without video. We'll touch base.
DeleteThe socializing has been impacted the most in this pandemic response - the monthly lunch/game day with friends, the monthly whist night, the birthday gatherings, weekly visits to my mom in a lodge setting, movies at the theater, a day of errands in town & lunch out, weekend brunches. I realize that I miss the micro-interactions of being out and about. In spite of being at home more, there's still a list of things left undone.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. I realist how much I miss even the interaction with counter people at fast-food places, Starbucks and the post office.
DeleteGosh, I don't even know if our post office is open. I'm assuming it is.
ReplyDeleteI think we're all experiencing a great deal of frustration right now. We've had enough, but we know the end isn't in sight, and the idea that we have no date certain for when this will be over is disheartening.
I can't imagine doing all this without the technology we have available right now. But if we had to, we would.
You are so right about our technology. I can't imagine doing this stay-at-home for weeks on end with my computer to keep me in contact with the human race. The economic pains that will come afterward are just as scary.
DeleteRats. OK -- I'll go again, just shorter. My life is basically the same. I do miss physical contact with Rick. I do miss the Southern Exposure workshop I should be at today. I do miss buying fresh flowers for Easter. We zoomed with our lunch group. Put a password on zoom to prevent hacking. It was better than being at lunch because you could actually talk to people at the end of the table. We zoomed our egg dying, which wasn't quite so fun, but beat the alternative of getting sick. My deepest wish is that Stay at Home continues through May. I don't get the people are bent out of shape about gardening spots being closed -- it's mid April for heaven sake, and anyone with a brain knows you don't plant in the ground in Michigan till Memorial Day. Not to mention that you can buy plants and seeds online and some good ones. I will say this would be harder without tech. But even then, people coped before and I'd like to think we aren't wimpier than or pioneer ancestors.
ReplyDeleteNurseries make 80% of their yearly income in May. I do hope if our stay-at-home extends into May, our governor will at least allow greenhouse curbside pickup. And if they can't move stuff out to their retailers then they can't start their planting for the holidays. I also would like to see the lawn care people and builders exempted from a May stay-at-home order. They can easily keep their 6 foot distancing on the job.
DeleteI do often think of pioneers living in sod houses on the prairie and say to myself, "If they can do that I can do this."
You've made good use of Zoom. I literally don't have anyone I could Zoom with.
These doctor appointments have to go. I have been able to postpone all but my cardiologist. He insisted on a phone call. I had recorded my temperature, BP, heart rate and oxygen percentage a half hour ahead of the call. Luckily they were all in the range of a 20 year old so all he did was listen, say that is really good but you are high risk with heart history and COPD so stay home. Under one minute--wonder what that will cost?
ReplyDeleteI've been taking my vitals too, for next week's call. I've done "appointments" through the doctor's messaging app and they've cost $25. There are only so many conditions you can do through it though. UTI, colds---common stuff. I have a feeling the video calls will get a whole more common in the future.
DeleteHave a Happy Easter Jean, my friend.
ReplyDeleteCruisin Paul
Right back at you, Paul! I have no plans or special meal planned.
DeleteI wonder how many in person interactions will permanently change when all this is over (or at least under control). Will we become so used to ordering everything online or for curbside pickup that the idea of actually going into a store will seem inefficient and dangerous?
ReplyDeleteWill social gatherings gravitate to Zoom because it is easier and quicker? How many places of business will never reopen? AS one health guru said, handshakes may never return.
To all of the above, I hope not. We are social creatures who need the press of flesh and the closeness of others.
I have always hated shaking hands so I truly hope this becomes a thing of the past. But other than that I'm with you in hoping our other person-to-person interactions return over time. Living where paranoia become mainstream isn't good for our souls.
DeleteI don't go to the post office that often and usually use the kiosk to ship something if I can but the few times I do go to a clerk I usually find them to be mostly cranky! Oh well, maybe I should be extra sweet and kind and see if that helps!
ReplyDeleteI'm not the only one who loves my post office workers. I've seen people delivery cheese cakes, flowers and boxes of candy to mine.
DeleteHaving done a few Zoom calls, they're OK as a substitute, but can't compare to the same group meeting in person. If I were still working, I might feel differently, but mine have all been social type groups, and I miss seeing people in person. Today on our call, we were discussing Easter and missing our gatherings, etc. One woman said she and her neighbors decided to have a potluck. Everyone else went silent, and I was tempted to chime in, but then I decided I wasn't the sheriff and didn't want to take on that role. Made me wonder, though, how many people are just cavalierly going about their business.
ReplyDeleteI dropped off a package for my daughter in England yesterday (international mail pretty much has to be done in person unless I'm missing something), and the PO was empty except for me and the guy behind the plastic shield at the counter. We had a lovely chat about life and kids and letting them go when they decide to set off to earn their fortunes. It was so nice to chat and not have any pressure to move along. I am pretty certain he was bored and hungry for company, too.
BTW, I've read that the PO is in deep financial trouble and the pandemic is sending them over a cliff if the government doesn't help them soon. I sure hope they don't become a political football.
My neighbors right now are out in their yard with two other couples playing a game of some sorts. Does make me irritated but like you, I'm note the social distancing sheriff either. I read a Facebook posting to about a family Easter gathering. Never going get where we need to be if people keep cheating.
DeleteThe Republicans have done everything they could for several years now to try to force the post office to privatize. I really hope they don't because that data base of where everyone lives is important to keep in the hands of the federal government for many reasons, the least of which is homeland security. I have literally mailed over 1,000 packages and never had a single one damaged or lost.
I'm beginning to like Zoom (the glitches have been fixed ... use a password and CLOSE the app when finished). My sister did Seder with 19 people in 7 cities! Now we are trying to get our siblings to have a visit. The kids do it with school friends. Usually talking works OK for me but with the quarantine, faces are good!
ReplyDeleteI haven't shopped online for food yet. My kidults go every other week and maybe a short produce run in between. I keep hearing that getting a delivery date is difficult ... you have to go online after midnight!
My anxiety ridden daughter is now disinfecting shoes every night ... I had to write a letter to HOA explaining why people will see shoes outside! Oregon is not supposed to even be out driving for a change of space. STAY HOME.
My niece says the same thing about ordering food online and also that you pickup times are usually a 3-4 days in advance and not always at the chain's closest location to you.
DeleteI don't think disinfecting shoes makes any difference but I do believe in having outside shoes and inside shoes all the time, not just in a pandemic.
I'm glad Zoom gives you what you need to keep social.
OK Great post, but I'm most impressed with how you circled back to wild and woolly. I'm still laughing!
ReplyDeleteI had a writing professor once who was a real stickler for wrapping the end to the beginning. I'm always proud of myself when I can accomplish that. So thanks for noticing.
DeleteI've done a few zoom calls. Once I got over how horrible I look, I found that it's a pretty good way to keep in touch. Fortunately, there are a lot of YouTube videos about improving your appearance on-screen. Just like selfies, I refuse to believe I actually have that many wrinkles.
ReplyDeleteMy wrinkles look horrendous in selfies. LOL
DeleteI have to say I am loving Zoom, FaceTime, Messenger Video - all of those platforms - during these Wild and Wooly Times. It’s a bit of a learning curve, for sure. And you want to get the lighting and camera angle right, so people can see you. If you don’t like your selfie, just sit farther back from the camera. HDTV it is not. Have yet to see a chin hair in anybody I am zooming with. š Including myself!
ReplyDeleteThanks for another funny post, Jean! Happy Easter ššš
I believe you but I'm just overloaded with tech things binging and needing this and that. Once I get past all my e-Baying I might explore other fun stuff involving computers but for now I will just have to take your word.
DeleteHave a happy and grateful Easter everyone.
For the most part my daily routine hasn't changed
ReplyDeleteExcept for those things mentioned above my routine hasn't changed much either BUT it just feels so different---tense, uncertain, worried about the future. Can't shake it.
DeleteI wrote this earlier but I'm not sure it went through:
ReplyDeleteWhen we came home from grocery shopping tonight (where we wore our masks) the neighbors downstairs were having a little barbeque at the foot of our stairs. There were about six people, not six feet apart, and Andy said he saw the gal kissing one of the guys when he made a second trip for the groceries. We couldn't keep six feet away from them, but moved by them fast. They're friendly neighbors, but not very considerate about the virus. We've been taking our masks off after we leave the store, but maybe we need to keep them on until we get into our apartment.
Common sense seems to be lost on some people. I would not go to a gathering where common food is served. You might be able to keep six fee apart but when you serve yourself up some food, you could leave droplets on it and certainly leave germs on the service-ware.
DeleteI too miss Social interaction even if with Strangers and my Routines, since I too am a Creature of Habit and now that whole World has been seriously condensed inside of these walls of Forever Boheme'. Apt name, I'm likely to remain in Forever and not have the jaunts, however rare they were, to Events and Festivals where loads of people are likely to also be! I want to think something will be the same but I do not think so, the likelihood of things returning to Pre-Pandemic Normal is not looking so good and who knows what will Recover and what won't Economically... or who will be left standing once we all catch this at some point if it never goes away? Sobering thoughts and I've had a bit of an internal temper tantrum about it since The Move was supposed to open up a brand new Life to us, everything being so close by and in our Beloved Old Community we've finally been able to return to! We try to keep things as Normal as possible during Lock Down, but it's hard, the Tension and Fear everyone feels is evident.
ReplyDeleteI hear you Dawn. I try to tell myself that nothing has really changed all THAT much because normally I'm at home a lot anyway, but like you said the fear and tension is evident everywhere.
DeleteHappy Easter to you! I hope you squirreled away some goodies for the occasion.
ReplyDeleteThat "looking for a good time, sailor" had me laughing. Your writing is just superb and is always sure to make me smile and think.
I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and glazed carrots. Comfort food, and plenty left over for lunch tomorrow.
Stay safe, my friend.
Nope, no Easter comfort foods in the house this year. Tried to by peeps a couple of weeks ago but they have all the other holiday candies but that.
DeleteI'd kill for a green bean and mushroom soup casserole right now. You dinner sounds great.
Happy Easter, Penelope and everyone else reading this.
I've found myself with a whole new routine since New Zealand went into complete lockdown and I had already been lockdown before the rest of the country did due to my underlying health issues. They weren't "underlying" until it got to be a buzz word in this pandemic climate.
ReplyDeleteAnd some of that routine has to do with "what other select for my food shopping" sometimes I can select from an online line of products but usually they are pretty limited. And much have nothing much to do with the brands/types I did usually eat.
I was pretty overwhelmed for a while, but now I seem to have somehow settled in :-)
It takes a while for it to sink in, doesn't it. I've also inherited the buzz word of the 'underlying' and it ticks me off to hear people in social media say things like, "The virus isn't a big deal. It's only killing old people with underlying conditions."
DeleteStay safe on your side of the world!
Jean I don't have skype etc either. My doctor had me sign into a link she sent me in email and it automatically came up on my screen. I did nothing more than that and she then saw me and I saw her full screen. Hmmm...don't blame yourself it could be the doctor doesn't have the right software himself perhaps. I could be wrong but I do know I did nothing more than click a link for her office. Your doctor will have to update how he does this if this continues I suppose. Our new "law of the land" is only so many people in the store at a time. So grocery shopping is now one entrance in and one out. When people leave more can go in. They stand at each entrance with walky talkys and communicate how many left so the other side can let them in. Same with Home Depot Rick told me. And we can't go anywhere without masks and gloves now or you can't enter at all. And Rick saw a neighbor on a walk and he yelled - crazy isn't it? Rick nodded and he said, "it's just a hoax you know. Do you know anyone who has died. So he told him he has and who it was and the guy said have you seen her? She could be alive? As if our friend would tell us her mom died if she had not is hightly unlikely. What the hell is wrong with people? A hoax for real? And he was Chinese and for some reason we found that even more interesting. Idiots like this vote and they scare me.
ReplyDeleteIf my doctor's office had a set up like that, I'd do it. Don't like the idea of putting anything on my computer until I get through e-Baying. Well, except my main computer doesn't have a camera.
DeleteI'm going to the store tomorrow for the first time in two weeks and expect to see one way aisles and only allowing so many in at one time.
People who STILL think it's just a hoax are very scary. Saw a few of them on Facebook yesterday. People are brainwashed by far right sites and the president's friends on FOX.
I think you might really enjoy the video chats with your friends. It's a lot of fun. 2 girl friends and I have been having cocktails together twice a week. We schedule a time and take turns who initiates it. We've been using facetime which seems to work very easily. They are both iphone users and I'm android, but use my ipad so we have no problems connecting. I've not had the need for the virutual medicine thing, but think it would be better than physically going right now due to the exposure. I've tried 3 different methods for ordering food on line with good results, though a bit different. I used Amazon fresh (since I'm Prime member, figured I do it first). They system is easy and quite efficient. I didn't have to search by brands, just by departments...meat, diary, canned goods etc. The problem I did have was selection was a bit slim due to lots of folks ordering. I suspect that's better now, as the initial surge of ordering is probably less. They use Whole Foods. Then I used Costco's who uses Instacart for their shoppers and that was good, but again some items I didn't get with the first order still weren't available. Then several weeks later, I went directly to Instacart, signed in an could select a store. Quite a bit to pick from. I selected a local market wanting to support local. Placed an order and was able to go back several days in a row and add things. I purposely choice my delivery date out a ways to pace when I would need things. It's due tomorrow. Stay well. Popped in from a mutual blog friends blog. It's always nice to meet new blog friends.
ReplyDeleteLots of good tips to try here. Thanks. I have Amazon Prime too so I might start there.
DeleteIt this lasts into the fall, I will probably gear up for a virtual medical appointment. Probably a good thing to know how to do just in case of minor thing comes up that needs attention.
Nice to meet you, I'll wander over and check out your blog later on.
For some reason your Post-Easter Pandemic Post won't load, it's on my sidebar and shows pixs of Colorful Peeps, I was so looking forward to ready it... but it's not here... Sob! {ie: Crying OR Son of a Bitch... LOL}
ReplyDeleteIt will show up at 12:30 AM Wed my time. I accidentally published it too early after editing it and quick changed it back to a draft. That link in your side bar, though, might not work when it goes live because it should pop up as a brand new post, not a republished post and I'm telling you more than you want to know. LOL
DeleteWell, being I'm Bored out of my Mind in Lock Down, you could never tell me more than I want to know... winks.
DeleteCoincidentally, before the pandemic hit, I had signed up to take a two-day class in using Zoom at the Senior College. It turned out to be easy enough, so I signed up for a free account and started Zooming. I really like being able to see people's facial expressions and body language and to have multi-way conversations. And I learned in the first class that you can create a "virtual background" to replace whatever background scene your computer camera is pointed at (a very messy storage area in my study). I took a picture through the window of my woodsy back yard, being sure to get window frame in the picture. So now when I'm on Zoom, it looks as though I'm sitting in front of a window onto a serene woodsy scene.
ReplyDeleteLast weekend, I took the plunge and invited a bunch of friends to a "virtual open house." It didn't work for everyone. One friend has a laptop so old that it doesn't have either a camera or a microphone. Another friend discovered that her older tablet doesn't have any mic -- so we could see her and she could see us, but we couldn't hear one another. Nevertheless, I had a good enough time that I'm organizing a family gathering with my siblings and their children. Even my brother in Florida, who is notorious for not keeping in touch, is planning to attend.
I just heard about the availability of wallpapers for Zoom call backgrounds. That sure makes it more appealing for me to use. I didn't know you could create your own wallpaper like you did. I will probably try it closer to fall because it would be good to be able to have it for medical calls in the winter time. After my doctor call/appointment I got an email that it's been so popular for routine appointments they are keeping it after the covid-19 crisis.
Delete