Yesterday the big news was that America now has the most Coronavirus cases of anyone in the world. Trump is yet, somehow decalring victory. I flipped to Fox news last night to hear him saying he doesn't really believe the governors need all the suplies they're asking for.
Florida cases have passed 2,000- I think we're past 2,500. DeSantis was missing yesterday, but his wife is really pregnant, so some people think that's why. He is going to need to show back up soon, because our numbers and testing is a disaster. They're not reporting certain things from nursing homes, and even with the drive thru tests being opened, lots of people are getting turned away and they've had to close some drive thrus because they ran out of supplies. I don't believe Florida's numbers for a second. There have to be so many more. So, keep an eye on that.
We also have some cruise ships with infected passangers sitting off the coast, so we'll see what happens with that. Some counties have issued "shelter in place" orders, some cities were told they couldn't issue them, so they're issuing "safer at home" orders, which is like the same thing, but you know how there is a lack of messaging coming from the White House? The same thing is happening in our state. There's no cohesive plan, or enforcement of anything. Disney still hasn't announced an extension of their closure, but Orange county said yesterday their 'shelter in place' order until April 9, includes Disney (who originally said they would open back on April 1).
Anyway, on to other things.
Two weeks ago today was the last time I was out for anything other than the store. It seems like forever. I miss Disney, and the zoo, and fresh air that's not from my subdivision. I know our last few weeks of nice weather are about to end- and then the heat and humidity will take over. The best I can do to soak it in, is to go to the backyard, or take the dogs for a walk.
Yesterday, I was a little down on it all, probably because I did go out, and it wasn't great. I've decided to try and limit store visits to once per week, alternating between Publix and Costco. I've read, if possible, it's best to just have one person go out to the store to limit outside exposure. Asa has not had issues with his asthma in a very long time, but the fact that it's a respitory disease is a little concerning there. Plus, if I were to get it, there's no financial impact of that. And, the store is tough, because they're not going to have everything you're looking for, so you have to make decisions on making things work, and I'm just better at that.
So, off to Costco I went yesterday morning on my own. It's a little weird, they've moved all the carts outside, instead of under the overhang. They put them in a big corral, and they are being wiped down as they go into the corral and come out. There's a big dry erase board telling you everything they're out of for the day. I did also notice a sign for
And they are only letting so many people in at a time. I'ts going to be 95 tommorrow, so you can't really have people lining up in the parking lot, so the overhang is now a queue line, complete with pallets to form the que. A couple of employees were pacing on the pallets announcing things they are out of. "There's no toilet paper today, no lysol wipes"... stuff like that. I didn't have to wait in the queue, but it was filling up when I left.
So, instead the store is weird. First of all, it's quiet, eerily quiet. Some people are paying attention to the six foot rule (which I never realized how hard that is to do in a grocery store), and some people are not. Also, some people are taking FOREVER standing in front of the ground beef, or a freezer, or whatever, and you're like 'hello, I can't just come up right next to you, PLEASE move on." At one point some old guy was in the middle of the main walkway trying on shoes. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WALKWAY. You couldn't go to the left or right of him without coming too close. And so I'd just have to sit there waiting for people constantly to get out of my way.
It's like weaving and dodging to try and get items you need, again if they're in stock. So my store didn't really look empty, but where they're used to be maybe 5 different types of things, now they're just a lot of one thing- the only lunch meat they had was the hillshire farms stuff. They had ground beef, but no ground turkey. Packaging has changed. Bread only comes in a single loaf instead of two together. And there's a lot of things with limit one. Weird things, like bacon, and dog food. Although, I appreciate the limit one on dog food, that's probably why it was back in stock. The whole back wall is just bottled water, the only paper product was one measly pallet of paper towels. I picked some up for my neighbor, since I was also shopping for her and her family (they have an immuno-compromised family member, so we've been offering to shop for them- funny enough, I leave their things on the door stop, ring their doorbell with a lysol wipe and run!).
Anyway, I got a couple comments on how full my cart was. First of all, on a normal week I have a full cart. Do you have any idea how much food it requires to feed three teenage boys, and Asa? Plus, I had stuff for my neighbor, and dog food and cat litter, because I have four dogs and two cats, man! This is a lot of mouths to feed, especially if I'm going to Costco only once every two weeks! So, no, I'm not hoarding food. Mind your business people. After someone said something to me, I replied nicely "I have three teenage boys, they eat a lot!" and I rounded the corner, and some guy was like 'I have four kids, I feel your pain-' and he had an equally full cart. I also didn't have anything more than two of anything, and that was only water and milk, because that's how much I buy normally, dang it.
Anyway, that just made a stressful shopping trip an even more stressful one. Be nice out there people. I tried my best not to touch anything, and I took lysol wipes again and wiped down my own cart, and used them to open freezer doors.
And then there's the price changes. I buy some of the same things every single time I go to Costco. I know how much a bag of potatoes is. I know how much spinach and romane lettuce are. Bananas are $1.19 dang it. (They recently came down from $1.29 a couple months ago), and things are more expensive now. Eggs are pricier, and most produce. Plus, I can't really shop the sales or coupon anymore. So, the grocery budget is quickly ballooning. We're doing fine here, though, mostly because Asa's job is uneffected. I keep thinking we're so lucky this happened now, when we own our home and don't have to worry about our landlord situation, and where Asa's job is business as usual, and except for a few of Calib's classes that got moved online. (It is totally lame though, next week, his teacher is having them all meet at the normal class time-- 8 AM!!! to have "class". Dude, just put your lectures in video form and call it a day).
Anyway, checking out at Costco is an ordeal too. There is tape on the floor so nobody gets too close, and nearly every register is open. But, there is plexiglass in front of the cashiers now (something I hear Publix will also be doing soon), There's no food court anymore, and all the tables for eating are gone. They don't check your reciept anymore, not really, because they don't want to touch it. The whole thing is just a bazzarr experience.
And being out of the house is weird, too. There's decidedly less traffic, still some. But way less. Instead of having to wait through 2 or 3 lights, you're just waiting through one. The signs over by I-75 that tell you how many miles and what the travel time would be, as less travel time than miles (a rarity in the Tampa area), gas is fricken cheap. I saw it for $1.89.
Construction on all the new stuff for the most part still seemed on going. The new resturants over by Costco seemed to be coming along, as did Aldi's. I didn't go over to the Main Event area to check on that one, but the boys have been getting updates on whats going on inside Flying Squirrel (the new trampoline gym, where they've been hired, for for obvious reasons, it's delaying it's opening). The resturants are all empty, and the drive thrus looked pretty dead too. The libary is all closed up. It was just kind of weird. It was like being out early on a Sunday morning, but it was a Thursday afternoon. Speaking of Sunday mornings, one church had a sign for "Drive-In" Easter Sunday church service.
Anyway, by the time I got home, I wasn't in the best of moods. I told Hayden to forget his school work he needed me for, I was just over all of it for the day. It's weird, because Hayden and I CAN go on like normal, but some days I'm overwhelmed by all of this, and I just don't want to pull it together for normal work.
Asa made mashed potatoes and Madagascar meatloaf for dinner last night, which cheered me up. And we spent some time in the hammock. Outside helps.
I also got my Amazon order for more printer paper. It was REALLY hard to find some that would be here before April 21st. I didn't see that coming, usually I order more when I'm on my last reem here. But, this time that proved to be a bad mistake. I ended up with half the paper for twice the cost. My guess is with everyone at home, there is a much higher demand.
No count updates for you, since I'm behind from yesterdays blog. Maybe I'll make a new one tonight!
No comments:
Post a Comment