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Post by fullmahina on May 12, 2020 21:15:00 GMT
Discussing with DH and pondering how we may have changed as a result of the pandemic.
We used to bop around to a lot of different stores, several times a week, just for the heck of it. No real need to do so, just habit.
Now, we base our shopping on needs and consolidate our trips. Lists in hand, determination mode. I am freezing large quantities of things, including quarts of milk which I never felt the need to freeze before. It's kinda nice, actually. Big shopping every three weeks or so, little run-ins as needed.
But I have come to realize that I really don't have to do as much shopping as I had done previously and much of it was just a time-wasting thing. There are many things that I can order online---health and beauty items, pantry goods.
Until this COVID-19 thing is resolved I think we will be making the most of online ordering and shopping run consolidations.
Thoughts?
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Post by mom2casey on May 12, 2020 22:15:49 GMT
This isn't about shopping but in talking with a lot of my parents on the phone many of them have said how the kids hate being on the computer/tablet now. I think that's interesting when it used to be all they wanted to do. I'm the same way. I'm on the computer all day- I was a lot before but not like this- and now I'm like, I don't even want to look at my phone! lol I think that this will help us all appreciate each other more- kind of the opposite from where we were socially before all of this. Less screen time-including phones- and more face time/together time. Funny too... the other day I was thinking about when my grandparents were around and how they used to talk about 'Sunday drives'- because that's what they did for entertainment- they did used to stop and visit. I just wonder if people are doing that now just to get out of the house- without the visits.
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Post by finreporter on May 12, 2020 23:14:26 GMT
mom2casey, that's a really interesting observation! i think it will give all of us, even kids used to their device screens, a deeper appreciation of the outdoors and of interacting face to face with human beings.
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Post by surfgirl on May 13, 2020 1:48:06 GMT
mom2casey, the week before and the first weekend of stay at home orders, we went for a Sunday drive with a car picnic. Drove to a remote location and ate lunch in the car. It was nice to be out and about. But after that we realized that we'd be part of the problem if we did that so we stopped, but I miss just getting in the car and going for a Sunday drive. We love doing that when we're not busy with something specific. We stop and take photos, walk around, it's lovely and I miss it. But I'm okay for now. As for shopping, we're like fullmahina except we've been going weekly. My husband is higher risk so he waits in the car. I go in with gloves & mask, armed with a shopping list that I made that's done in areas of the grocery store. So I have a list of produce, canned goods, dry goods, etc. so I can breeze through ASAP. The decontaminating everything takes like an hour so shopping becomes a big deal now. We're thinking of getting a second fridge for the garage, both as a back up if/when our real fridge dies, and to buy extra food for back up. We have enough now for a two week quarantine I think, and we try to just top up produce, etc. each week. I never used to think like that but now I do. I am most sad about not being able to travel for the foreseeable future. My consulting work is overseas and I just dont see when I'll feel safe flying 20 hours to Africa or Asia in the next 12 months. Which sucks because I was hoping to be somewhere cool for my birthday this fall, but I don't think that will happen. The not being able to travel is a big loss to me if I think about it right now. But if you're dead you're not traveling anywhere, right? So it's a no choice right now.
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Post by finreporter on May 13, 2020 2:24:17 GMT
surfgirl. i'm a little sad about the loss of ability to travel as well. we were going to take our girls in june or july to either mexico city (because our girls are in a dual immersion language school and have been immersed in learning spanish for 5 years now and i'm slowly learning it myself too via app) OR we were thinking of going to montreal because my ex used to live there and we thought that might be a nice experience for the girls too.
oh well. like you said, there will hopefully be more opportunities to travel later.
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Post by hpeterson1951 on May 13, 2020 12:29:08 GMT
I agree, I miss the travel. We never did anything big-just weekend trips to places like Corning NY or Blackwater falls WV. But I don't see that happening for a long time.
I also think masks are here to stay, during cold and flue season things like that. You often see videos of people in China and Japan wearing masks whenever there is a local outbreak of a cold/flu.
I think that will be us from now on. Which means I'm thinking of getting a real mask and not just using the bandanna folded over with hair ties.
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Post by lani on May 13, 2020 16:45:22 GMT
surfgirl, what is the problem with driving if you don't leave the car? I worry about restaurants surviving. We never ate out often, but are close enough to San Franciso that we could have extra special meals there once in a while. It would be a shame to lose a lot of them and a huge blow to the economy there.
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Post by bbbearsmom on May 13, 2020 17:31:30 GMT
I miss being able to go out to the store just for the heck of it, our overnight trips to New York City, going to concerts, not having the worry about the virus hanging over our heads.
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Post by bbbearsmom on May 13, 2020 17:39:23 GMT
surfgirl, We bought a freezer and got it delivered a few weeks back. It is a nice one because only the more expensive ones were available. We got it just in time to stock it up with meat.
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Post by cherryt38 on May 15, 2020 13:33:53 GMT
I don't see anything wrong with taking a drive somewhere, and as long as it was someplace where nobody was around I wouldn't hesitate to get out and walk around either, look at the scenery, sit in the sun, etc.
I do more online ordering too. I've been ordering things from the Walmart web site that I used to get in the store, such as paper goods, cat food, even non perishable food, like peanut butter or other canned goods. With a $35 order the shipping is free. I live out in the country so it isn't feasible to order and pick up.
Living in the country gives me a lot of space to be where there are no other people. I live on 10 acres and my nearest neighbor is a mile away. There are other places close by where I could go too without running into anybody else.
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Post by bbbearsmom on May 15, 2020 17:08:13 GMT
Don't know when I will feel comfortable to go back to dining in a restaurant. Really miss going out to eat with my friend. She is ready to go back to our favorite diner the minute it is opened. It will be a while for me.
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Post by finreporter on May 15, 2020 18:37:52 GMT
i feel the same. i will likely not be dining in at a restaurant for some time. i haven't even gotten take-out this whole time. i'm probably being overly-cautious, but just don't feel like risking someone who may have it to be preparing my food. plus i have so much food in the house i may as well consume it.
we got an email from the district today surveying how we would feel most comfortable proceeding when fall semester starts for the kids, specifically in the absence of no vaccine yet available. i said that i'd be fine with a staggered school schedule of smaller class sizes. the other option was to continue online learning as we're doing now. i don't even know how much more of that i can take beyond these next 3 weeks, but if they decide that is best, that's fine with me too. i won't love it, but i'm not going to demand they risk everyone's health for my own wishes.
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Post by linda72 on May 15, 2020 21:54:59 GMT
no vaccine yet available. I would not hold your breath waiting on the vaccine. A doctor mentioned yesterday the virus is mutating a lot already (based on testing of patients) which will make a vaccine very difficult to produce. Kind of like a vaccine for the common cold. Schools and other businesses need to come up with other ideas to move forward. Of course, the anti-vaxxers are already saying they won't take the new vaccine. Plus, they reported today that childhood vaccinations have dropped dangerously low since everyone is staying home. I really hope those parents get back to their doctors soon for regular vaccinations. We don't want to start having outbreaks of measles and chicken pox now.
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Post by finreporter on May 15, 2020 22:00:48 GMT
yeah i don't expect a vaccine anytime soon. the survey was just basically saying "given that there is no vaccine and won't be one by the time the kids start back up to school in the fall, what is your preference - partial distance learning/partial classroom with staggered schedule OR full on distance learning, same as we are doing now."
i'm just hoping that at the very least, there is a medication available by then that reduces the symptoms should we end up with the virus. and not clorox or light therapy as someone who shall not be named was musing!
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Post by bbbearsmom on May 15, 2020 23:36:41 GMT
finreporter, linda72, But Trump promised millions of doses of a vaccine by the end of the year today.
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