Daily Log: An Update

Here we are, day 52. I honestly can't believe I have kept this log going for this long. I did this as an experiment to see how society, and I, changed over time during this pandemic.

 I am currently taking a break from posting, however I am still writing my log. I find it interesting. I am curious to see the difference between me posting and not posting what I have written. I will keep going with this experiment, either online or offline. I will know soon.

I hope everyone is safe and healthy.

Edit: I have decided to quit the online daily log for now. I am going to pick a day and do weekly reports instead, in a more formatted way. Less of a daily log and more like an essay on life. I will be removing some of my less interesting daily logs, in favor of a "best of" list.

Thank you for reading along as we all figure this global pandemic out together.

Day 46: April 27th, 2020

Day 46

Today is a rest day. I still have a bad migraine. I am listening to music and resting most of the day. The things I need to do are nagging at me, but I know I will get them done. I should not stress over them.

I stretched quite a bit today. It feels good to get a good stretch. I made sure to stretch my arms and shoulders against a wall because I have not been moving them as much as normal.

I feel like the rest and attention to what I needed such as the stretching, really helped me today. 

Day 44: April 25th, 2020

Day 44

Tense this morning and so I listened to calming music.

I am kind of excited to work on my project and it almost over shadows my fears this morning, though I am back to being scared of getting sick. I watched videos last night of people with a rare disease where they rapidly age. It gave me some perspective. I am alive and I need to be thankful for that.

I worked on my rain mobile most of today, after doing chores. I have it hanging outside on the balcony. I like how it turned out, very rainy.

When I took the trash out, the bag broke and I had to go back up to my apartment to get a second bag. I cleaned up what spilled and doubled bagged it. Then I washed up, because... Yeah.

I watched some tv the rest of the night. I watched After Life. I won't get into details but it was not great yet I still watched most of it because some of the actors were funny.

I think both my boyfriend and I have stress hangovers. We both feel exhausted today. I have a headache. 

Listened to calming music again to get to sleep.

Day 43: April 24th, 2020

Day 43

Woke stressed about the car. I do not think I have had to file a claim before. I've been lucky and I didn't need to drive much for a few years.

It is weird filing a claim right now. My insurance had no one manning the phones. The website was not as helpful as I had hoped, but I was able to figure out what to do with  help. 

I will take my car in at some point, I guess. This is just another thing to add to my growing list. 

I still have a migraine today. I feel like crying, but I won't. 

Challenged my boyfriend to make something out of an item out of the recycle bin. He is making a chandelier out of beer bottles and I am making a rain mobile from a plastic jug. We are using the craft supplies that we already have.

I feel a bit better after painting. Today was not a great day mentally, for reasons won't get into the details of. But, I had a ptsd episode.

The rest of the night was spent crafting or watching youtube silliness.

I definitely needed calming music tonight.

Day 41: April 22, 2020

Day 41

I woke late and feel a bit droswy. I still have a headache but at least I feel less anxious. I think yesterday helped.

It is raining today. My balcony plants are loving the weather.

My boyfriend took some time to go to the store. We ran out of some of the staples. We signed up to try a veggie delivery service, but it won't start until May. I wish we could join a CSA, but our local one is full.

He found every thing we needed at the store except soy milk and hemp milk and cleaning products. I understand the cleaning products as the stores have been out for 40 days, but I do not understand the soy milk or other nondairy milks being gone. How many vegetarians are there in my area? Will have to go to the other store again for milk on another day.

Oh, the cleansing ritual... First he carries the groceries into the kitchen. Then, I put on a long sleeved shirt for protection. We carefully put the groceries away. I wipe down everything we or the groceries touched and a couple things that get left out like a chip bag or cat litter containers. We put all the bags in recycling. Then we wash our hands and his mask and I remove my protective clothing. He takes a shower. Every household seems to have their own routine based on house size and amount of cleaning products.

Doing a little sluething. I saw a big structure in the parking lot next door and wondered what it was. I looked up the writing on the side and it is a portable or rather, a modular office / storage building. Curious what it is for but it seems odd to yell across the fence.

Watched Tangled. The music was pretty good. Some of it sounded like Aladdin, but there were parts of the orchestral score I really loved. The animation was odd, but still cute.

Also watched Some More News and The Daily Show.

I find it ironic that I watched The Death Of Stalin yesterday and now it turns out that Kim Jung Un is very ill. Weird how things line up sometimes.

I got some elastic bands and want to sew masks again. I also forgot that I have t-shirt yarn I could use for ties.

Egg noodle lentil bolognese was very good for dinner. I remembered that we still had last year's garden tomatoes frozen and needed to use them up.

I listened to relaxing music at night.

Day 39: April 20, 2020

Day 39

Woke up and went back to researching mattresses.

I keep noticing that they have sales often and so the prices jump around. Though I am getting better at determining the quality of foam mattresses by eye, I do not know how to be fully sure of what I am getting. May look into videos later.

Noticed a mattress company or two are making cloth masks for the public. One was selling them at cost.

Whelp, we did it folks. Oil is worthless. It tanked down to .10 a barrel and then into the negatives.

Looked at the projects I want to do because I started to get overwhelmed. I need to research mattresses, I want to sew some handkerchiefs and cleaning cloths, and I want to plan and plant the garden soon. 

Swept my building's stairs because no one is coming around to do it. I honestly do not mind doing it because sometimes the building uses a leaf blower which does not work well.

I did some cleaning and chores.

Watched a movie, The Death Of Stalin. It was pretty good. It had Michael Palin and Steve Buscemi in it.

I was feeling relaxed enough to read the news tonight. Then I read that we are running out of C02 for processing a number of food and beverages and possibly water. I really hope they figure it out soon. Sounds like our VP was warned April 7th. Normally, I would not be worried, but I feel like this administration cannot take care of important necsesities.

Day 38: April 19th, 2020

Day 38

Lazy Sunday.

Stretched quite a bit this morning. My back feels like it might go out each morning because of the mattress lately. This has been going on for a while, but has recently gotten unbearable. Glad to have the new couch. The floor is starting to look good too.

I have been able to eat a little more the past few days and today is the first morning I did not lose weight. I was starting to wonder what was going on because I was losing weight quickly. I think it is a combination of higher stress and being more active.

The cat was very cuddley today. She kept wanting to be brushed and picked up. Now I remember that she jumped on the bed this morning and sat with me. She has not done that in a long time.

Cleaned at little, and then played some No Man's Sky.

Ate tikka masala for dinner. 

I researched and made a spreadsheet of possible mattresses we could buy. There are many possibilities. I want to be sure because we cannot try it first.

I stayed up a bit and watched some youtubube. Jonh Krazinsky's Some Good News was adorable.

Day 36: April 17th, 2020

Day 36

Woke early. Listened to calming music and got some much needed advice on the gov site I was having trouble with.

Listened to some new music from Fionna Apple that she put out just for the quarantine. She has not released new music in 10 years. Greenday released some punk covers of '80s songs because their tour was cancelled. I also listened to another Colin Meloy live stream. I've listened to many of his, Ben Gibbard's, and Ben Folds' live streams lately.

Waited for my boyfriend to get off work early and then we went on a walk at a wildlife refuge nearby. On the way there I noticed the small stretch of highway we take was littered with trash. If only we had the right tools to pick up trash. That would be good exercise!

The trail had only one car parked, so we did not need to avoid other walkers like we do on neighborhood walks. I got to take a few photos, use my camera.

On the drive back I noticed several people riding bikes today. 

Processed photos for most of the night and then watched Unorthodox.

Day 34: April 15th, 2020

Day 34

Listened to calming music again. This really helps when I wake up anxious. Also watched some youtube videos. 

After a few sunny days we are back to cloudy. I hope it rains.

I stretched on the balcony.

Bought some stamps, because they looked cool and the postal service needs the money.

I read the news because there were some things I felt I needed to pay attention to. Seems like mask wearing out in public will be the new normal for a couple years, possibly. 

The news, it stressed me out. People are protesting staying inside in some states but they protest in their cars. The president only cares about money, and only money. Average people pick up the pieces and try their best. Some companies are helping to provide PPE.

I watched a movie about Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie, golf course designer. 🙂

Cleaned the kitchen counters, did dishes...emptied and filled dish washer.

Walked outside to retrieve something that fell off my balcony. Picked it up with a baggy on my hand, just in case. I'm becoming germaphobe.

My boyfriend called his sister and talked to her for a while.

Some person is blasting the Star Spangled Banner from the grocery parking lot near my apartment. It was on loop for about 10 minutes. It gets loud, then quiet. I think they are driving. It changed to Proud To Be An American for a finale.

Chili for dinner again. Yum!

Played games on the computer. My boyfriend realized you can walk around a generated populated "world" in GTA 5. And, you can take photos and wander around to the ocean and places similar to the Santa Monica Pier.

I watched youtube and ate a snack that I invented. It was an apple dip? I made it using ground flax, peanut butter, molasses, cinnamon, raisins and a little salt. I mixed it up and dipped apples in it. Yum!

It's the joy in the little things that will get us through this pandemic.

Day 31: April 12th, 2020

Day 31

I need to find a way to calm down. I woke up very anxious today. I felt sick from anxiety.

My boyfriend went to the store this morning. There were a few things still that we needed, so I went to another store. I waited in line to get in, shopped masked as per the new normal, and got my three items. I kept dropping stuff on the floor. I hate anxiety.

I did the ritual cleaning when I got home. Since I was having a difficult time today, I decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood.

I took photos of some of the flowers at businesses and a yard. There were chalk Easter bunnies and Easter eggs drawn on several blocks. It was pretty adorable. The other walkers were much easier to walk around today. I think we are all getting a bit more aware of our situation. 

Did see a man in a worn plaid dress shirt and khakis digging through a dumpster behind the frozen yogurt place by my apartment. Never have seen that happen before.

I listened to some music and watched sketch comedy. I feel a bit better now.

Made some chocolate mug cakes. They were cute, but I'm not sure they settled well. Do not recommend.

Had a lot of fun laughing about random things tonight. Needed that.

Day 27: April 8th, 2020

Day 27

Woke up, took recycling out to the dumpster with my handkerchief on my face. Then I walked around the parking lot in the sunshine. Still amazed at the lack of masks and face coverings on other people. Saw some people doing laundry.

I took photos of my trees growing on my balcony because I realized I nearly have a forest going out there. Birds drop seeds in my planters and I let the trees grow. 

Looking at the news today. Bernie suspended his campaign. Probably for the best. I just hope that Biden can try to learn from the Bernie and Warren supporters about what we want to help turn this country around. Most important, still, is just supporting the democratic candidate so we can have a chance. I want a president that supports and protects, or at least tries to support and protect, the whole country not just private interests.

One thing I noticed yesterday, but forgot to write, was that I forget more often to do my daily stretches. Even while my boyfriend works from home, each day feels odd. Not quite a weekend but not a normal weekday either. I have tmj stretches on my to-do list, and even still, I wonder why I hurt if I have not done a stretch in a couple of days. Ugh.

Trying to sew again today and having another fight with my machine. Is it me? Is it my lack of machine oil. I think it is mostly the lack of oil, but it is also a little bit me. I do not sew very often. I just wish I had someway to help other than sitting on my ass.

I want to help, but I feel helpless. I am frustrated.

Worked on trying to get my old laptop up and running. It won't connect to the internet. I finally got it to work. Who knew that following instructions could be helpful. Huh. A newer operating system would be nice. I think I have the Mac equivalance of Windows 7 or possibly Vista.

Ate tofu and bean tacos for dinner while watching youtube latenight and BA videos.

Day 25: April 6th, 2020

Day 25

I woke very early this morning and did not feel so great. I played games on my phone until I fell back asleep.

Finally, I woke up later and did chores and such. I checked social media.

Learned that Oregon is a big donator of ventilators to New York. ❤️

After finding my binoculars in my gardening bin, I started doing nature observations for a volunteer program. This is something I wanted to do, but things were always getting in the way.

I played some videos games for an hour or so, this time I played Monster High. 

Next, I started working on more cloth masks. I am trying a new pattern, one I can donate if there is still a need.

I was fighting with the sewing machine most of the night. I got one mask finished and another cut out. The new masks are thinner, but they fit better.

I watched the rest of Kim's Convenience and Man Like Mobeen along with latenight shows.

Day 23: April 4th, 2020

Day 23

Talked to my Mom this morning. Everything is going well.

I did chores and ate.

Played Terraria for a while. Games are a good distraction when I am feeling less stressed. 

I washed some material for sewing more masks.

I ate what we are calling spaghetti lasagna. It probably has a real name, but it is a delicious pile of baked spaghetti with (a so-called Mexican blend of) cheese on top because there was no veg. parmesan at the store. It was delicious!

I've been reading a lot about mask construction and mask safety pertaining to cloth masks. It is pretty interesting. I guess materials are important, but equally as important is proper mask use. Good materials to use are thick tightly woven cotton materials. Three layers of quilting fabric or thick t-shirt material is good, or double layered cotton upholstery material is great too. Then, not touching the front of the mask, where air is sucked through is the main point of proper usage. This area is where most droplets would be. Taking the mask off, and putting it on via straps is the best hygienic practice.

I am glad that I have not had to wear my mask anywhere except on a neighborhood walk. I did wear my bandana inside of a store, but I was careful not to touch the front of the bandana after I wore it. I only recently read / watched about how to wear a mask.

So, tonight I tried installing a game that was on sale, but it was installing slowly. My computer needed some tlc. It took all night to clean things up. Working on my computer or coding something always turns into a time sink. A good quarantine activity, I suppose.

I was being extra nerdy tonight and looked at Magic cards during my install waiting time.

Day 22: April 3rd, 2020

Day 22

Woke up with no cat bothering me. I brushed her for a half hour last night. That seemed to help her feel better. She had a knot in her tail that needed brushed out.

Went for a neighborhood walk. I tried out my mask. I wish more people were wearing masks. I have only seen one person at my complex wearing one. A dust mask is better than no mask.

Saw multiple people at the bus stop. I wonder if they know there is no bus or if it was for a special transport.

I wish people would be more careful when driving. Pedestrians are needing to be extra cautious and go out of their way to avoid each other. It would be nice if cars would not try to run us over while doing so. 

My mask worked well. The tissue under the nose trick only worked ok.

Very happy to go for a walk. I have been very tense and it has been hard to eat and sleep as a result. I never realized how often I do go on hikes and walks until I was forced to adapt to pandemic life.

Sewed another mask tonight. 

I trimmed my hair. I usually cut my own hair, so this is no different from usual. 

Afterwards, I played Terraria.

We ate veggie burgers for dinner, with whole wheat buns this time! 

I played games on my phone until I slept.

Day 21: April 2nd, 2020

Day 21

Cat woke me up. This has been her go to move the last few weeks. She doesn't do this when my boyfriend physically goes to work, just when he has been working from home.

My boyfriend took half of the day off to go shopping. He found most everything at Roth's. Had to go to Lifesource and Walgreens too. We were limited to 4 rolls of toilet paper per family. Thankful for my parents giving us a few rolls too, yesterday.

I was able to buy 4 rolls of tp for a friend who is in need because the store forgot to put up signage. That was very nice of the workers and I thank the store very much. My friend has a sick husband and needs a bit of aid.

I only physically went into one store, but I had my bandana on like a cowboy.

Got home, showered, washed my hands probably twenty times already today.

More packages arrived. Today's package was deoderant. Fun.

My cat is pretty ill today. Very barfy. We are not exactly sure what the culprit is this time, but it could be many things. I had to go and make the cat's day worse by using the sewing machine to try to make a mask.

The mask looks and works well. It is a three-layer  "fu mask".  I used scraps and decided to try three layers because I did not like the quality of my fabric. I used cotton for one layer and cotton fleece for the other two layers. 

Watched tv the rest of the night. Lots of latenight to catch up on.

Day 20: April 1st, 2020

Day 20

Slept better. 

Woke up, ate breakfast.

I walked in the rain with my new yellow pancho.

Lots of traffic for quarantine traffic.

I just found out there were a bunch of earthquakes in Idaho, specifically the town and lake I used to visit every summer as a kid. My grandparents and many family members were from Idaho. I am imagining that lake just splashing around all day long. I hope everyone is safe.

Took recycling out with my bandana around my face because the rain stopped and had to spend time by the dumpster.

Mom was very nice and brought us much needed cleaning supplies. Now I can try to use the laundry room if I need to with out as much worry.

I got materials out to make a few three layer masks. I will work on them tonight and tomorrow I hope.

Ended up cleaning the bathroom, parts of the kitchen and windows. 

Also, watched Kim's Convenience on Netflix until I fell asleep. I worked on a drawing too.

Day 19: March 31st, 2020

Day 19

Accidentally deleted this day in my notepad. Wow. Where is ctrl+z when you need it? Well, here is what I recalled happened.

I ate breakfast, the storm light outside was really pretty outside. I took a photo to put online. 

Listened to an at home John Legend concert.

I talked to my mom on a new app. It was really nice to see her and my dad, and to talk to her. I paced on my balcony with my gaming headset on, video chatting with my mom for a while.

Then I rearranged the airpurifier because the apartment is getting stuffy. Bad airflow plus not leaving the apartment plus rain is not a good combo. I hate allergies.

I watched more of The Office.

Talked about camping and Idaho in general and looked at randomness online. (See Day 20 when it goes live.)

Day 14: March 26th, 2020

Day 14

Waiting for final prescription to be filled. It has been 5 days since I requested them. Presciption rules are particularly dumb right now when I want to make few as possible trips to the pharmacy.

Found the obituary for my boyfriend's great aunt. She died a little over a week ago. 

Today was a sad day. 

Day 13: March 25th, 2020

Day 13

Helping boyfriend troubleshoot work from home situation.

Microphone not working on either computer for skype. Trying to figure out why. Have two mics. One is a headset. 

Parkinglot is very full today. Good sign that people are not listening to our dumb president.

Boyfriend did a food shopping trip. Missed a couple items. Still no cleaning supplies. We only have a little bottle of bleach and about 5 clorox wipes. And half a container of rubbing alcohol. I hate to even use it when we need it. Some regular bar soap is on the way from amazon and we have the soap I am allergic to. 

I am glad for the lessons I learned from my wwII/depression era grand parents. We are not doing too bad, except for the cleaning supplies. And we know how to make things last a bit.

People outside at 5 standing in the parking lot at 6ft apart talking and laughing. It is an odd sight. I want to walk, but need to wait for the standers to be gone.

Watching Blast From the Past. Rented it on Youtube. I love the soundtrack and thought the theme of living in the bunker was suitable but still funny enough to make us laugh at our current isolation situation.

The news is rough today. I hope people can stay at home as much as possible and eventually get the support they need from the billionaires.

Day 8:March 20, 2020

Day 8

Slept in. 

Just feel tired and headachey.

I have been doing much more than normal. It is good, but I need to remember to watch my health more carefully. 

Went on social media

Looked through my gg'mas old post cards. Found ones from during spanish flu.

Posted 3 of my family's post cards on twitter. I have some family post cards from during the 1918 influenza (aka the spanish flu), which lasted in the US from 1918 through 1920. 

I thought I would post a few of the post cards, because, like tweets, they say a little about life during a pandemic, like a short story.

I have fewer postcards from this time period compared to before and after. I do not know if my great grandmother was just busier or life was more hectic for them in general.

I did notice they tried to talk even if they had nothing to say. ❤️ That's love.

Boyfriend and I are rating car alarms. First today was a little weak, not great sound. We have a favorite, it gets a lot of air time and it has a nice beat. 

Went out for a walk around the neighborhood. It was rush hour on friday. It looked more like 8pm on a Monday. There was a jogger and a couple people doing yard work. We tried our best to navigate from parked cars and mail boxes.

Watched some youtube, faves being Jimmy kimmel with his fam with formal friday was cute and binging with babish and his pantry basics chickpea edition, very inventive.

Ended the night with popcorn and Australian soccer.