Daily Check-In

[mecurtin]

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time on Monday) to midnight (8pm Tuesday Eastern Time).

Poll #23680 Daily poll

This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 71

How are you doing?

I am OK
61 (85.9%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now
9 (12.7%)

I could use some help
1 (1.4%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
31 (43.7%)

One other person
19 (26.8%)

More than one other person
21 (29.6%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

Comments

[teaotter]

My stress levels are incredibly high today. It was my first trip to the local grocery store since they instituted social distancing (only letting a few people in at a time, waiting line dots painted six feet apart). I'm glad they're taking steps, but it's such a fundamental change that I've felt off-kilter ever since.

[elayna]

They hadn't started that here when I went to the grocery store last Friday. Sensible, but yeah... weird. Just the signs that people are taking the steps they need to is unnerving to me.

[darkemeralds]

I checked "I could use some help" in this post for exactly this reason. Not specifically the grocery store, though there is that, but the stress levels. It helps me to know I'm not the only one.

I wonder if or when that off-kilter feeling is going to normalize. I don't want to waste energy longing for it to be gone, but it's hard to know how best to spend my mental and emotional and even physical energy at all.

We don't "know" each other, but I hope you're doing okay.

[starwatcher]

.
Well my stomach upset yesterday was apparently the acid reflux after-effects. Today my tummy and my temp are back to normal, I've been making a point to drink more water, and I was able to get out with my weed-whacker this afternoon. Cleared out a new place for feeding the birds. (Yes, the tune from Mary Poppins goes through my head -- but I put out a bucket, rather than a bag, and I costs a lot more than tuppence. *g*)
.

[elayna]

We've had really nice weather the last few days. It's been nice to be able to go outside and see beautiful spring plants. I'm sure the birds very much appreciated you!

[velvetglovefic]

My husband B's employer cut his salary by 30% (!!!!!) today while also firing all his support staff. So he now has everyone's work to do for significantly less money. He already took a huge pay cut to secure this garbage job. Now he's scrambling for a better situation, and I've had to cancel every single recurring pleasure in my life. Most of those pleasures had gone virtual already, but I still can't afford them.

I make zero money. I work 8-16 hours a day but I haven't published in about five years because I have no idea how to proceed out of the self-pub realm I failed in and am ill-equipped to navigate. In the past, I was infuriated when a supposed friend suggested my writing need only be "therapeutic" for me, but her insult is basically the reality I'm working with. Anyway, I'm working really hard, but I'm not helping our financial situation in the least. And who wants to buy books now? It's either everyone or no one and I certainly can't tell.

Alternating tears and shark-like ruthlessness for B and I today. But we still lost a shit-ton of money and have no recourse.

[egret]

This sounds so stressful. Sorry you are dealing with this.

[feng_shui_house]

*HUGS* I wish I had useful advice. All I have is sympathy.

[mecurtin]

omg, how very sucky that all is. All I can offer is kittens.

[darkemeralds]

I'm so sorry. The stress is so high!

It's not much, and I don't know whether you can access it, but this one-hour free call with a couple of my writing-business mentors (Tim Grahl and Sue Campbell) might be interesting for you. Pretty sure they're using Zoom.

LIVE Q&A WITH ME AND SUE CAMPBELL

This Thursday at 3pm Eastern I'll be live along with Book Launch Coach Sue Campbell to answer your book marketing and mindset questions.

There's no training or agenda here.

Since we're all stuck inside and isolated, I thought it would be good for us to spend some time seeing each other and hanging out together for an hour.

Here are the details:

What? Open-ended Q&A for you to ask whatever you want.
Who? Me, Tim Grahl, and Book Launch Coach Sue Campbell.
Day? This Thursday, March 26th.
Time? 3pm Eastern / 12pm Pacific / 7pm GMT / Convert to your timezone.
Register? All you have to do is click this link. You'll automagically be registered.

[kathmandu]

Oh, sympathies. That is unfair and short-sighted of your husband's employer.

[egret]

Today was deceptively busy. Colleagues were emailing me asking for phone calls literally from the moment I woke up. Then I taught my class in Zoom and ate dinner. Feel physically well but drained today and going to bed early. Currently changing planners back to my week view so I can list daily tasks and hopefully keep track better. Trying to think about a grocery list/meal plan so I can shop smarter next time I venture to the grocery store.

[velvetglovefic]

It sounds like you're handling things really well, and I hope you feel good about that.

[feng_shui_house]

I've just been a cut up today- cutting up cotton fabric for face masks. Once I get them done, I have found a directory with contact info so I should be able to link up to someone that wants them.

I've got 49 cut out, with 5 of them spoken for... Is that weird I'm now thinking of 'bespoke face masks'...

[velvetglovefic]

I got really excited about being able to make masks until I went into my fabric stash and found basically all wool and silk. I have some small amount of cotton, but it's very inappropriate voile. I've got a couple more storage boxes to go through, and I'm *think* there's some substantial cotton around here somewhere...but I'm also trying to accept that this might not be a way I can help.

Good for you actually getting it done! If you don't find a resource that wants them, there's a FB group organizing it too.

[serafina20]

I talked to some of my second grade students on the phone today. It made me both happy and sad. The reality that I might not see them this year, or ever again as I'm looking for a new job, hit me.

[darkemeralds]

That's so sad! And the kind of little but huge thing nobody thinks about till it happens. I'm so sorry. And the students will be forever shaped by this experience. "What grade were you in when COVID hit?" will be their "where were you when the Towers came down/Challenger blew up/Kennedy was assassinated?"

We'll get through it, but so much change is really hard, and I try to remind myself that it's okay to grieve what's lost in the process.

[wickedwords]

Talked to my brother today, which was great. His family was to have been in las vegas for a wedding, but instead, they are all working and studying from home. His wife had pneumonia, but is on antibiotics and getting better. It's wonderful news.

[mecurtin]

Oh, excellent! Any respiratory condition is super distressing right now.

[lastrega]

I was doing ok, then I found out my daughter is sick, and she's 2000km away. She assures me she's fine and it's just a cold/flu thing, but I can't help worrying. They've had so many cases where she lives.

[mific]

Ah, I feel for you. There are a lot of ordinary colds and flu around, though, so fingers crossed.

[darkemeralds]

A good friend of mine has worrying symptoms, so this day seems worse than yesterday. I'm holding up okay--no real hardship, and I'm used to being mostly alone--but I have to acknowledge that the stress is getting to me in weird, subtle ways.

No will to do anything. No willpower either. No focus. Just zombie-ing through the day. I hope tomorrow will be better. The vicissitudes of mood and good news/bad news are unsettling.

[mecurtin]

I'm writing at 7:25 my time, having been awake since 4:30 or so. This is the same pattern I fell into in the months after November 6, 2016, so it's not unfamiliar. And I've been being treated for depression for decades at this point, so I'm really good at recognizing the symptoms & being able to tell when it's exogenous instead of endogenous. Though I also printed out a schedule of when I'm supposed to take my meds for my husband & daughter, so they know when to remind me--anxiety like this makes me extra-forgetful.

One thing that really helps many people is going outside, to garden or on nature walks.

[minim_calibre]

We just got the stay-at-home order. As going on drives is not on the list of allowed activities outside the house, my kid's last nerve has snapped and now I'm dealing with a complete meltdown. (Well, my spouse is, because I've been kicked out of the room. It's not great.)

[mific]

Damn, that's tough. They're letting us go outside or drive here, as long as we're solitary or in pre-existing family groups.

[azurelunatic]

Today I finished cleaning my desk and setting up my desktop computer, which had been down for various reasons including repair since early January. It feels good to have it again, though sitting in the chair is making my back yell.

[mific]

It reels good to use the time to get things organised. I have to do it sitting as I have a bum knee at present.

[wyomingnot]

A colleague called me today and said that the 'stay home' order here will be expiring in less than three weeks. I haven't heard it from my boss yet, though. So I'm not counting it as official. She also said there was no official word on school resuming. So. Who knows. Nobody does.

This reminds me that I need to call and see about cancelling my flights for July. Ain't no way that trip can happen.

[jb_slasher]

Yesterday work issued an order for everyone to work from home until further notice so today is my first real self-isolation day. I'm bad at stocking things long-term so my pantry has some things but nothing to last for weeks. The closest grocery store is just a few minutes' walk away and I'm thinking of making some kind of food plan at some point. So, yeah, really slowly easing into this situation. I still can't quite believe this is actually happening.

[darkemeralds]

I feel the same way. Constant disbelief, followed by yeah, it's happening all right, followed by more disbelief and disorientation, and around and and around we go.

I'm hoping the human capacity to get used to anything will kick in here pretty soon. Until then, deep breaths...

[ratcreature]

I've developed a sore throat last night that I'm now feeling disproportionately paranoid about, considering that I don't have a fever or persistent cough or anything.

Also it's kind of sobering that even if it isn't the new one, I clearly still got some bug despite having stayed home for two and a half weeks now, only venturing out twice for a brief trip to the supermarket and twice downstairs to bring my trash out. And I washed my hands a lot too.

Also I'm bummed that having some respiratory symptom now means I can't go out to get fresh vegetables, dairy and stuff later this week, like I intended to.

[firestar]

I am pissed. Given that the UK is now in mandatory stay at home mode, my store has temporarily closed for being non-essential. We got an All Colleague email from our CEO that has, as a hashtag right at the end of the preliminary update, #profitbeforepeople.

I can't even. 😤🤬

For clarity's sake, I am not angry about the store closure, just the incredibly tone deaf top level management who probably isn't going to be inconvenienced by this in the slightest.

[lastrega]

Wow, that is gross and tonedeaf.

A cheerful ficlette

[feng_shui_house]

Since this is a fandom checkin, perhaps this is appropriate. Resting up from yesterday's marathon fabric cutting (all day standing is not what I'm in training for) I just wrote a 800 word Tony/Pepper fic in which Tony survives using the gauntlet, but he's high risk, so he's isolated due to the pandemic. Pepper gives him a call to cheer him up.

It's happy crackfic. Tony lives. JARVIS lives. Gerald the Alpaca lives.

One Hand Washes the Other

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23297245