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News from Quarantine

April 25th, 2020 at 12:08 am

Well, there's not really much in the way of news but it's been 2 weeks since I posted so figured I'd check in.

Our daughter wasn't eligible for unemployment because her last job was with a non-profit and they don't pay into the system. The look back period ended 9/30/19 and she had only been at her current job about 2 months at that point and needed to have 20 weeks of work history.

There may be a silver lining, though. She got a call from her manager the other day and it sounds like they got money from the payroll protection program as she said they may be able to pay her for 8 weeks worth of income. She's waiting for confirmation and details.

I'm working same as always. Urgent care is still very slow. The hospital census has been gradually increasing but not to a point where they are overwhelmed and calling in more help. I'm hoping that remains the case and they won't need us. I really don't want to go work there.

DW is managing okay. She and her mah jong friends got set up with an online game platform so a couple of times a week they get together virtually and play. They use a 2nd device to Facetime so that they can all see and talk to each other. They'll probably keep using that system even after quarantine ends at least sometimes because it means nobody has to drive around. It will be great if we have bad weather or someone isn't feeling well but can still play without getting others sick.

We've become regular Zoom users, as I'm sure lots of you have. We've had meets with our bourbon club, our Disney friends, family members, and more. What a great resource to stay connected with everyone. I've used it a few times for work also for updates and meetings.

At work, we've been very grateful for some of the community support, mainly in the form of free food. We've gotten lunch from Five Guys and Mission BBQ, free smoothies from Smoothie King, and free donuts from Krispy Kreme among other things.

Financially speaking, the quarantine has really cut down our spending. Less gas, less dining out, less unplanned shopping, no outside entertainment - it's all added up to over $3,000 of reduced spending compared to the first 4 months of 2019.

I hope everyone is hanging in there. Stay safe.

6 Responses to “News from Quarantine”

  1. crazyliblady Says:
    1587774902

    I have also had significant savings due to less spending. I think it's been around $300.00 in addition to my stimulus payment.

  2. LifeBalance Says:
    1587778644

    That's great that your daughter may get paid.

    It's strange to hear of your work being slow. Are you still seeing patients in person? It seems like you'd get more business from folks with problems that would not want to go near the hospital. Or maybe they think they can't go in if it isn't life threatening. We haven't been able to get our new-to-us cat neutered - the animal clinic keeps canceling and rescheduling the surgery. (I know it's a cat and not a person, but still...;-)

  3. CB in the City Says:
    1587818829

    I am puzzled by your slow workload, too. I don't know where you are, but you must not be in a hot spot. Good news that you might not have to be called to the hospital.

  4. disneysteve Says:
    1587834446

    I work in Urgent Care. As soon as they announced schools were closing back in mid March I told my team our volume would drop off within a week or so and I was right on the money. With schools and day cares closed, the germ factories are gone. Then businesses pretty much all shut down so no more of, "It's going around at my office". No more flu, colds, strep throat, ear infections, or bronchitis. Add in cancellation of sports and that took away all of the injuries we typically see. That didn't leave much. We normally see 30-35 patients per day. Now we're seeing as few as 6; maybe 10 or 12 on a "busy" day. And yes, we are in a "hot spot" for COVID and we've seen a fair number of potential COVID patients who we sent for testing, or in a few cases, sent directly to the hospital.

  5. rob62521 Says:
    1587839223

    There was a story on national news about fewer people going to the hospital emergency rooms for heart attack and stroke symptoms due to fear of catching Covid 19. Guess it plays the same for other germs.

    Sounds like you are all coping well.

  6. LifeBalance Says:
    1587870493

    DSteve, if you get bored, you're welcome to neuter our cat!

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