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#Post#: 17653--------------------------------------------------
14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: Jack Date: March 14, 2020, 8:27 am
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Yes, that is a quote from an Ozzy Osborne song.
Life is somewhat busy right now - rather suddenly an
unexpectedly.
Yesterday morning, I had to make my mother go to the hospital.
She called me because she was having chest pains, but she wasn't
sure if she should go or not. My basic reply was 'why would you
not go?' It turns out it wasn't heart trouble. She has a blood
clot in her left lung, which probably explains why she's been
feeling short of breath lately. I took some things up to the
hospital for her. The doctors kept her overnight and put her on
some blood thinners. She seems to think she's coming home
today, but I'm sure the doctors are going to want to run some
scans and see how things look before deciding.
Van and Jared spent the night at her house last night to care
for her dogs and cats.
Also yesterday, they closed the schools.
BISD and BCA were both closed yesterday already. It was an
in-service day for the teachers, and the start of spring break.
They were supposed to go back the 23rd, but they extended the
vacation an extra week for sure. Because this is so sudden,
there's no plan for homework or anything. Chris and Marcus both
say it was suggested they put together tentative 'online
learning' or 'at-home projects'.
With most of my kids being older, their friends don't require
babysitting anymore. Of course, Chris, Terry, and Marcus will
all be home, and PJ's job is going to let about half their staff
work at home for at least a week to see if it works out. For
right now, that means I'll have my grand-nephews on a daily
basis, and I'm sure some of the other grands will be here as
health allows and parental temper requires.
There are a few kids who will be staying here on a regular basis
while school is out - most of them are Craig's friends or
younger. I'm still not sure who exactly that will be, so I'll
try to share that list soon.
I have talked things over with some other parents. At this
point, unless things get worse, I'm going to allow visitation to
be fairly open. As you can imagine, in a household like this I
ALWAYS have a ton of cleaning and disinfecting materials, and I
love those Clorox wipes. It's easy to get the boys to pull one
of those and wipe something down, rather than having to get a
spray, get a sponge or cloth, then expecting them to put the
stuff away and clean the sponge or cloth properly. We don't use
them all the time, but they're a great help in casual cleaning
when you have this many people living together.
I have plenty of thermometers, and anyone coming over here
understands that we are on a close watch for the symptoms. I am
also letting it be known that anyone hanging out here will have
to prove they know how to really wash their hands and will be
expected to do so on a regular basis. I have already talked to
Kenny, Van, Craig, and Connor especially about food preparation,
just in case that is an issue and no one with a cough or sneeze
will be helping prepare meals for others.
The most fun part is the colleges. I'm not going to try to go
through all the details right now, but all of the colleges now
have extended Spring Breaks, and I think three of them have
switched to online learning for the rest of the semester. So
yeah - that means I'm about to get an influx of college
students. Worse, at this point - our local college is NOT
closing down, so I don't have extra apartments available. Of
course, at this point, the crowd should only be for a couple of
weeks, so maybe that won't be a big issue after all.
And it will be nice to have so many of my kids home.
I have talked to everyone and reminded them that, while this is
a vacation, it's also serious, and all of us are going to have
to chip in to keep things running smoothly, which means they can
expect me to start being a bit more strict about things than I
have been lately. Hopefully everyone can batten down and we can
get things done, but, given the circumstances, I'd be shocked if
there aren't a few spankings over the next two weeks or so.
#Post#: 17655--------------------------------------------------
Re: 14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: Zyngaru Date: March 14, 2020, 9:58 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the update Jack. I knew, being as organized a person
as you are, that you would have a comprehensive plan in place
for your household. Once everyone is home and into the program
things should run smoothly for you, except maybe cabin fever
after a few days. It might be difficult keeping that many kids
at home without them wanting to run here and there, which of
course would defeat the purpose of quarantining them in place.
Like you have mentioned your greatest vulnerability is with
visitors. Screening them is most essential. Be aware that some
might take ibuprofen for a fever before visiting, thus not show
the signs. This is one of the problems my sister has. The one
who owns and runs her own daycare. Parents know they cannot
bring a sick child to daycare, so they give their kid Tylenol to
mask their fever.
Schools here in Indiana are closing on a per school basis. Some
states took it to the state level and declared all school
closings. But Indiana left it up to each school district to
make that decision. Most if not all have closed by now. They
would have been closed anyway, with spring break upon them
within the next week or two. Thus school will be closed here
for at least the next three weeks. What Indiana has in place is
the E-Learning System. Every child has a school laptop, which
they were sent home with, and they are supposed to do their
schooling online from home over this period of school shutdown.
Basically Indiana is going to homeschooling for the next few
weeks. Teachers will be holding classes over the computer.
This is something Indiana has been testing for a few years now
and has used it on a limited bases, like for snow days. This
situation gives the state a longer trial to see if it will work
long term.
One of the concerns in my state has, is the school food program.
Indiana feeds students both breakfast and lunch at school.
Many of our kids, this is the only meals they get. I have seen
many school districts, opening one of their school gymnasiums
for the handing out of ten day pre packed meals for the
students. Patents go to the school to pick those meals up.
As for me and my sister, we are staying home. If the weather is
nice and we get cabin fever, we will drive to an outdoor
activity where few people will be around to get sunshine and
fresh air. There is an outdoor Passion display that we have
been to before that we both would like to visit again. There is
an outdoor sculpture field we would like to check out and there
are cemeteries everywhere and we both like visiting cemeteries
to look at all the old and unique tombstones.
I find it interesting that stores are being overrun by people
buying up things. I mean don't people keep a stock of food and
cleaning supplies in their homes, normally? I used to work in a
grocery store and when snow was predicted people would rush to
the store and clean out the shelves of stuff. It is like that
now except maybe doubled. Stores here can't keep toilet paper
on the shelves. They stock an entire row of the product and in
less than fifteen minutes it will be empty again. I mean
really, how much toilet paper does a regular family need? I
understand your house, Jack, would need a huge supply, but a
regular family? One mega pack, lasts me for months.
Well, stay safe and keep a good attitude. Being cooped up in
the house with so many kids, will be interesting. I am sure
there will be a spanking or three along the way as tension
builds up.
#Post#: 17656--------------------------------------------------
Re: 14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: db105 Date: March 14, 2020, 10:19 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Much strength, Jack and everyone else. My whole country has been
put on lockdown. Starting Monday, we are not allowed to leave
our homes for non essential reasons. Basically we can go to work
(although teleworking is encouraged when possible), go to food
stores, pharmacies or to get medical attention, and things like
that.
#Post#: 17658--------------------------------------------------
Re: 14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: Jack Date: March 14, 2020, 3:33 pm
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[quote author=db105 link=topic=1765.msg17656#msg17656
date=1584199148]
Much strength, Jack and everyone else. My whole country has been
put on lockdown. Starting Monday, we are not allowed to leave
our homes for non essential reasons. Basically we can go to work
(although teleworking is encouraged when possible), go to food
stores, pharmacies or to get medical attention, and things like
that.[/quote]
I had heard something about this, but didn't realize it was that
strict. I guess if it saves lives, it's a good idea.
[quote author=Zyngaru link=topic=1765.msg17655#msg17655
date=1584197908]
Thanks for the update Jack. I knew, being as organized a person
as you are, that you would have a comprehensive plan in place
for your household. Once everyone is home and into the program
things should run smoothly for you, except maybe cabin fever
after a few days. It might be difficult keeping that many kids
at home without them wanting to run here and there, which of
course would defeat the purpose of quarantining them in place.
[/quote]
We had planned a quiet Spring Break this year - no trips or
anything, so there was nothing to cancel. On top of that, a lot
of the college kids have finished their Spring Breaks, and will
be coming home now, so the surprise visits will help. It looks
like we're expecting the next week or so to be pretty rainy, but
I have a big house, and there are a lot of things to do, so I
hope we can avoid too much in the way of 'cabin fever'.
[quote author=Zyngaru link=topic=1765.msg17655#msg17655
date=1584197908]
Like you have mentioned your greatest vulnerability is with
visitors. Screening them is most essential. Be aware that some
might take ibuprofen for a fever before visiting, thus not show
the signs. This is one of the problems my sister has. The one
who owns and runs her own daycare. Parents know they cannot
bring a sick child to daycare, so they give their kid Tylenol to
mask their fever.[/quote]
I am lucky that I am dealing with friends, not customers, and I
hope and expect that they wouldn't do anything like that.
Sometimes all you can do is trust in another person's
fundamental goodness and hope for the best.
[quote author=Zyngaru link=topic=1765.msg17655#msg17655
date=1584197908]
Schools here in Indiana are closing on a per school basis. Some
states took it to the state level and declared all school
closings. But Indiana left it up to each school district to
make that decision. Most if not all have closed by now. They
would have been closed anyway, with spring break upon them
within the next week or two. Thus school will be closed here
for at least the next three weeks. What Indiana has in place is
the E-Learning System. Every child has a school laptop, which
they were sent home with, and they are supposed to do their
schooling online from home over this period of school shutdown.
Basically Indiana is going to homeschooling for the next few
weeks. Teachers will be holding classes over the computer.
This is something Indiana has been testing for a few years now
and has used it on a limited bases, like for snow days. This
situation gives the state a longer trial to see if it will work
long term. [/quote]
We don't really have anything like that in my district, but all
the teachers do have web sites or something similar where one
can check for homework. There are online learning classes
available, and those might be an option if this extends longer
than they're expecting right now.
[quote author=Zyngaru link=topic=1765.msg17655#msg17655
date=1584197908]
One of the concerns in my state has, is the school food program.
Indiana feeds students both breakfast and lunch at school.
Many of our kids, this is the only meals they get. I have seen
many school districts, opening one of their school gymnasiums
for the handing out of ten day pre packed meals for the
students. Patents go to the school to pick those meals up.
[/quote]
At this time, I know that BCA and the public high school both
have something like this scheduled, as well as daily hot meals.
Everything is pick up only - no meals served there, which should
avoid most possible trouble.
[quote author=Zyngaru link=topic=1765.msg17655#msg17655
date=1584197908]
As for me and my sister, we are staying home. If the weather is
nice and we get cabin fever, we will drive to an outdoor
activity where few people will be around to get sunshine and
fresh air. There is an outdoor Passion display that we have
been to before that we both would like to visit again. There is
an outdoor sculpture field we would like to check out and there
are cemeteries everywhere and we both like visiting cemeteries
to look at all the old and unique tombstones.[/quote]
Sounds like a good time. We have enough space here that, as
long as the weather is nice, the kids can get out and play ball
or something. I'm more worried about how things will get if the
weather is bad for the next ten days or so.
[quote author=Zyngaru link=topic=1765.msg17655#msg17655
date=1584197908]
I find it interesting that stores are being overrun by people
buying up things. I mean don't people keep a stock of food and
cleaning supplies in their homes, normally? I used to work in a
grocery store and when snow was predicted people would rush to
the store and clean out the shelves of stuff. It is like that
now except maybe doubled. Stores here can't keep toilet paper
on the shelves. They stock an entire row of the product and in
less than fifteen minutes it will be empty again. I mean
really, how much toilet paper does a regular family need? I
understand your house, Jack, would need a huge supply, but a
regular family? One mega pack, lasts me for months.[/quote]
I think it's a panic reaction. People don't think about the
fact that a normal load of groceries lasts them mostly a week
(or whatever). They think about being stuck inside and running
out. Seeing someone else panic buying something just spanks
their own instincts.
As for me, I have about 250 rolls of toilet paper right now, so
I'm not too concerned. I normally buy a 4 pack case of 48
rolls, but they were on sell last time I went to the warehouse
club, so I bought two. Food is about the same - while I go
shopping every week, this week I bought a lot extra, expecting
to have a bunch of guests around all week. I will probably run
out of some things, but I also keep a lot of 'emergency food'
available - mostly in the form of canned goods.
[quote author=Zyngaru link=topic=1765.msg17655#msg17655
date=1584197908]
Well, stay safe and keep a good attitude. Being cooped up in
the house with so many kids, will be interesting. I am sure
there will be a spanking or three along the way as tension
builds up.
[/quote]
I'm not too worried to tell you the truth. This won't be much
different than having a snow storm, but with better weather. It
should be fun for a few days, then we just hope no one gets in
trouble from boredom.
#Post#: 17659--------------------------------------------------
Re: 14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: Adric Date: March 14, 2020, 6:04 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Jack link=topic=1765.msg17658#msg17658
date=1584218025]
Seeing someone else panic buying something just spanks their own
instincts.[/quote]
They should be spanked for yielding to such counter-productive
instincts. ;D
#Post#: 17671--------------------------------------------------
Re: 14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: Jack Date: March 15, 2020, 6:57 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Wow! I guess we know where my brain is at...
For the record, Mom is home. I'm not going to go into all the
medical details, but she's feeling much better and they have
here on a couple of new meds to avoid the problem in the future.
In other news, the comic stores are staying open for now. We've
expanded our sick leave policy, though there are no cases
confirmed in our area yet. I have instituted a mandatory hand
washing policy, and we've put more hand sanitizer. I already
had those big bucket sanitary wipes in the stores, and I was
able to get more of those, so we have them next to the door, and
wiping the handles and everything is a regular chore now. I
also have gloves for people when running the register and making
change.
If we start getting reported cases in this area, I might change
my mind, but it seems like the best compromise for now.
On the other hand, we decided to close most of the restaurants,
and the Continental, the Burger Shack, and Ruben's are going to
be open for drive through and carry out only. After some
discussion, we're closing the House of Bounce for now, though
we're in negotiations to still open for a couple of parties that
had already been reserved.
It looks like tomorrow might be family only, while everyone
still tries to get a handle on exactly what's going on. For
now, I think everyone in this area is still playing it by ear.
#Post#: 17703--------------------------------------------------
Re: 14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: Jack Date: March 19, 2020, 2:26 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Just a quick update for now.
Things are going well, more or less. We're having some
troubles. I'm trying to keep the kids from going completely off
schedule, even though this is spring break. The college kids
are split between being able to access classes online and still
being on an extended spring break. I have relaxed the rules on
screen time, but I'm also requiring educational activities for
at least a bit of time every day. The maid service isn't
working right now, so they boys are having to do more chores
than usual, which isn't too bad, since we also have the college
boys home to help with it all. I have come close to spankings
on a couple of occasions so far - mostly with Connor, Curtis,
and Craig, though I had to have a serious talk with Barry and
Noah the other day (neither of them have early morning classes,
and I had to get on them about disrupting other people's
schedules).
My big problem is that we've been having a lot of rain lately -
most of it overnight. The problem is, the temperature has been
in the upper 70s and 80s, which means it's been very muggy. The
kids are mostly okay with it, but it's been wearing me out. On
top of that, the projected high for today is 82F and for
tomorrow is 58F, which is the kind of thing that wreaks havoc
with mine and Mickey's sinuses. He's taking a nap, and I just
got up from one.
We've only had a few visitors so far. Sam Sutton came over the
other day and the Worley boys came over this afternoon. We've
also seen the Dugans join us when we were outside playing. It's
mostly been family so far. We've kept things interesting so far
by digging through old board games, card games, and dominoes,
and by finding old video games and having tournaments. The
older boys are helping a lot with their little brothers.
Business isn't a huge problem yet. Some of you may remember
that I'd gone into debt a couple of years ago - I opened three
new businesses in a fairly short time and bought a building for
one of them. However, last year, I sold some real estate I
wasn't making much use of and was able to pay off those debts,
so I'm in a pretty strong position so far. I have also been
waiting for Trump to tank the economy for three years now, and I
moved to an anti-recession stance when he took office, so I
haven't been effected too much by what's going on.
We closed the Berry Patch for now. It was always a dine-in
place. We were set up for doggy bags, but not for carry out,
and we decided trying to switch over would be too much trouble.
We're keeping the other restaurants going with drive-thru, curb
side pick up, and delivery. We're doing the same with comics -
posting new release information online and allowing people to
order by phone or computer, then drive up and pick up.
I had my accountant run the numbers, and we're going to keep
paying everyone's regular salaries for now. Of course, the feds
are taking steps that will probably help, and my major
distributors are working with us as well, so I'm not worried
about it for now - I might have to re-consider where things
stand in a month or so.
I think that's about it for now. I'll try to update further if
anything major happens. Until then, I hope everyone is staying
safe.
#Post#: 17704--------------------------------------------------
Re: 14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: Zyngaru Date: March 19, 2020, 3:33 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the update Jack. I look forward to reading them and
finding out how you and yours are getting along.
Glad to hear you set your finances to handle the downturn. I
did that myself when I retired. I set my IRA's to super
conservative. So even though the value has dropped, it is still
nothing to be overly concerned about. Yet. I have decided not
to remodel my bathroom this spring. I'll wait until the IRA
bounces back before spending large sums of money.
Weather here is doing the same thing as it is doing for you. Up
a day or two and then down for a day or two, with rain just
about every day. Temps are colder here than you, but that's to
be expected since I am up north. 50's and low 60's on the
upside of the curve and 30's on low side of the curve. It's 50's
and 60's this week, but then the weekend will be in the 30's for
our highs. Rain every day. I am so tired of rain.
Our Governor today declared schools will remain closed until May
1, and then he will re-evaluate it then. I am expecting our
schools to remain closed until next fall.
Yesterday one of my Nieces took her baby girl, 18 months old, to
the doctor for flu symptoms. The doctor said she has a virus
and contact the Board of Health for testing. The Board of
Health told her, she doesn't qualify for a test, to quarantine
her at home. So my Niece took off work for two weeks, her
husband works for the state and they sent him home for two
weeks, they are both home with no pay. Since my Grand Niece
wasn't tested and confirmed with Covid-19, will my Nephew and
Niece get any financial relief since they have to stay home from
work?
Our local electric company said they will not disconnect anyone
during this time. Which is good for them, because they have a
total electric house.
My other sister runs a day care. She also called the Health
Department and they couldn't tell her what to do, even though
her grand daughter was being watched there before she got the
virus? The State doesn't want Day Cares to close, because there
are too many kids with no place to go, while their parents work.
The State has actually waived the child numbers rule for Day
Cares, so they will take even more kids in, especially school
aged kids. My sister did contact her kid's parents to let them
know that one child did have a virus and is being quarantined.
This way each parent can make up their own mind as to whether
they send their kids to Day Care or not. Because the State told
her NOT to close her day Care unless they tell her to.
Things are interesting here for sure.
Yes, the sinuses are giving us all fits, because of the weather
and temp changes.
So have fun Jack. We are all just getting started with this.
We still have a long way to go, before things start getting
better.
#Post#: 17706--------------------------------------------------
Re: 14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: db105 Date: March 19, 2020, 4:36 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I'm glad you're fine. Take care, and I'm happy you guys are in a
secure financial position.
Hopefully, they'll do something so that people who have to
self-quarantine can get paid. Otherwise some will go to work
despite being ill.
#Post#: 17707--------------------------------------------------
Re: 14 March 2020 - I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
By: Jack Date: March 19, 2020, 4:51 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Very rough with the grand niece - it's a situation where there's
no good answer.
Hopefully enough of this stimulus they keep talking about will
get to the people that need it to make a difference.
I had a call from my friend who runs the BBQ place around here.
He's had several cancellations for catering this weekend, so I'm
taking a big order from him, which will certainly make my kids
happy for a day or two.
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