Ever since I left New York City 3.5 years ago, I miss it all the time. Like always. The energy, the vibe, Central Park, my friends, etc... You get it. But in the last week or so, I have never been more happy than not to live in NYC than I am now. They are the hot zone right now with their cases of COVID-19 cases being the highest in the country by a lot, and continuing to grow. I honestly don’t know what I would do if I was there right now. It’s a lot to even think about. But also, seeing governor Cuomo all over the news being a strong leader, is at least minorly reassuring. Him and JB Pritzker have really been stepping up in this very terrifying time. They have to to do it and take the lead since our president is not.
Our President continues to be an incompetent fuck and endangering everyone’s lives more and more each day. I could say more about this, but it actually infuriates me. I know I said this before, but I really can't begin to comprehend how people still continue to support him. He will have hundreds of thousands of lives on his hands, but since he is a arrogant sociopath, he doesn't seem to take any responsibility or care that the blood is on his hands.
(Day 8) March 24: It was announced today that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are postponed one year. This is unheard of to do, but also, since this is a global pandemic, all countries are being affected and at different rates and times and that in turn affects training obviously international travel. This has never happened before and the only time the Olympics was cancelled was during WWII. Wow.
This cancellation has made me think of my summer trip and how that may be affected, if at all. Right now my friend and I are set to head to Bali and Australia from mid July to early August and that may have to be cancelled based on flight restrictions and counties still having closed borders. Currently, Australia's border is closed indefinitely and they stated they may keep it closed for six months. Like with everything happening during this pandemic, time will tell and everything is unpredictable, but our health is the most important factor so I wouldn't even feel comfortable going if this virus continued to be an issue on here or on that part of the globe.
(Day 9) March 25: Today was a gorgeous spring day so I headed out to the lakefront earlyish for a walk and some fresh air. The UV index was a five so I was hoping to get a little tan as long as I was out there, but instead went back to my apartment and had a friend come over and hangout on the roof in the warmth. Neither one of us had been around any people the last two weeks so we felt it was okay at this point to see each other because we hadn’t really been exposed to anyone else. Otherwise, it wasn’t going to happen. Trust me.
(Day 10) March 26: I stayed at home the entire day today for the first time of this quarantine. I only left my actual apartment to do laundry, which is in the building. The weather was crummy so I didn’t get my walk in today. And I treated myself to some take out as well. I asked for a no-contact delivery, but the delivery guy didn’t follow instructions and leave the food downstairs so I got it from him when he was coming out of the elevator. I then promptly threw the bag away, took the food out of the container, threw that away and ate my food. (And yes, of course I washed my hands a couple times during that process.)
(Day 11): March 27: My PT/friend has a car and offered to take me Target for some groceries. I was really nervous to go, but needed to get some things to eat the next week or two. She told me she’d pick me up and had rubber gloves for us, so I agreed to go even though I was super anxious. I sat in the back seat of her car and tears started welling up in my eyes on the way there just because I was so nervous to be in such a public space. We got there right at eight when it opened and there was already a long line to get in so we waited a minute or two and then made our way to enter. Once inside the store, it was totally fine as far as crowds go, although a lot of the shelves were still picked over.
I still got what I wanted, and a lot of stuff I never would have bought had we not been in quarantine, but if not now, then when? Damn, now that I think about it, I should’ve gotten some White Castle frozen burgers too then. But anyway, even though I still had food at home, this should hold me for another two weeks, like my last batch from Trader Joe’s did. Plus, I do want to support some local restaurants so I'm sure I will order in once or twice again.
Even though I had way more than ten items I went through the self checkout just to avoid another person touching my groceries and I used their plastic bags since the mayor has waived the bag fee for this time so people don’t bring their own bags in to track germs around. And as soon as I got home, I tossed all the bags immediately. However, I did not wipe down all of my groceries, because that just became too much for me and another thing to stress about. If there does happen to be any COVID-19 germs on there, hopefully they’ll die before I touch the package or surrounding ones again in a day or two. But I did wash my hands more times than I’d like to admit after touching all of them again.
I also went for a walk today before the rain was supposed to come. With the lakefront closed and blocked off now, my friend and I were going to walk through Lincoln Park but as we got closer too, we realized that it was also blocked off with a cop car. We had an inkling that would happen since all parks are also closed, but wasn’t sure where the cut off for that park would be, but they sure are serious. Which like, good, they should be. So instead of that, we just walked around the neighborhood down side streets we hadn’t been down, looking at lots of real estate neither one of us will ever be able to afford.
(Day 12) March 28: It was supposed to rain today and I knew I wanted to get a walk in at some point so had to watch the radar and hourly forecast. I set myself up to watch QB1 on Netflix, which my dad recommended and said was right in my wheelhouse, and I can say, it’s awesome. I did get out for a walk between the rain, and it was 50 degrees and cloudy, but it seemed a lot of people had the same idea as I did. I made my way toward Lincoln Park around the zoo and through the neighborhood. The cop car was there again, but I realized it was just there to keep an eye on people in case they do come in groups and not to stop them from walking around that park. These walks have been pretty difficult to do with my knee brace on and the lack of bending I can still do, but they are keeping me a little more sane than if I was to stay indoors all day. It sounds corny, but I need to feel the fresh air on my face.
(Day 13) March 29: I did a lot of sitting around again today because once again, the weather wasn’t all that great. When I finally did get motivated to head out, my walk didn’t last very long because the wind was so intense it almost blew me over. My stability isn’t great because of my knee so I had to really be careful. I also continued with some more QB1. I have felt particularly lazy lately, but also know that I am doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. Staying in and staying safe. I also helped support a local restaurant by ordering in (this is me rationalizing ordering dinner even though I just got groceries). As soon as I got my food, I tossed the bag, took the food out of the container, tossed that, washed my hands and counter a thousand times (yes, an exaggeration), and then finally ate a delicious cheeseburger and fries.
(Day 14) March 30: Today would have been the Cubs home opener which I had taken a personal day for, but here I am, at home, quarantining still. And it looks this this will be everyone’s reality for the next month as our President finally listened to the health experts and said social distancing and mass closures will continue until at least April 30. It sucks, but it has to be done. Hopefully by then we will see the curve start to flatten.
I know that Chicago still hasn't seen its peak yet and it's scary to think how that will be. If it's anything like NYC has been (which it very well may be), it's going to be pretty bad. The city is going to turn part of McCormick place into a make-shift hospital with 3000 beds and the thought of that alone is just so sad. Our last two weeks of being indoors has bought us some time to prepare for Chicago being the next hot spot, but it doesn't make the thought any easier to digest and make sense of.
Anyway, that has been week two of what is now our new normal and what looks to be a six week quarantine/shelter-in/stay-at-home period so. In this time, I do plan to learn at least one TikTok dance, clean a little more, continue to stare at my phone and laugh at memes, complete a puzzle, and who knows what else as the inside world is my oyster. I'm open to any fun suggestions though so let me know if you have any. Heck, I may even order an indoor nerf basketball hoop. Time will tell. Stay safe and healthy.
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