Something's Gotta Give

As if all the STUFF going on in the world weren't enough.

The coronavirus is starting to surge again, and things like toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies are becoming scarce, and my foraging trips are getting longer and longer.  Protests over social justice have been ongoing for over two months now and the social media are uglier and uglier.  The church denomination I belong to is getting ready to split, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that.  The economy is unsettled.  There is so much uncertainty in all facets of life that we're all kind of walking on the edge.

So I've had a frustrating week.  After days of rain, the weather has finally cleared up, but then That Man and I had a "discussion" about the financials of removing the buckeye tree that snapped off.  And the next day, his cell phone bit the dust - the battery wouldn't hold a charge more than a couple of hours on standby, and it's a phone with a battery that couldn't be replaced, of course.  He's been back at work for nearly three weeks, and working third shift, he sleeps during the day so I was left with the fabulous job of securing a new phone.  When That Girl was here at the beginning of July, we drove to the Verizon store where she stood in line outside and waited her turn to buy a new phone.  It took some time, but she got it done. 

Well, things have changed since then!

You can't just show up and buy a phone anymore.  I had to go online, figure out what phones were acceptable, then figure out what phones were actually available nearby (he wanted it ASAP), then order one and pick it up curbside.

Easy, right?

Well, it SHOULD have been, but...!  When I'd click on a specific phone, a different one would come up.  When I finally got a phone and a case into the online shopping cart and agreed to this that and the other, I clicked on "Proceed to Secure Checkout," and wound up on the same page.  I checked and checked, but I hadn't missed filling in any fields or checking any boxes.  So how come I couldn't Proceed to the Secure Checkout? 

I started working on this project at 9:00 in the morning.  By noon, I hadn't been able to even get a phone into the cart!  I was working on a laptop, and I was to the point of pounding the keyboard with my fist (NOT my typical solution to computer troubles) and almost throwing it across the room and against the wall.  I was so frustrated and angry I couldn't stop tears from coming.

Finally, I gave up and called Verizon.  The nice lady on the phone said three-quarters of the calls she'd gotten that day were about trouble with the website.  She placed my order and we crossed our fingers - it went through!

The hard part was over!  HA.

 In about an hour, the email arrived - come get the phone.  I drove to the store, got the phone, drove home, and started activating the beast.  During the activation, you can copy your setting and apps just by having the old phone and the new phone next to each other.  Things were going according to plan, but then the new phone tried to pull the settings and apps from MY phone!  GREAT.  More frustration and tears until I figured out how to back out of the activation mode and start over. 

When it was all over, it was 5:00, and I was mentally and emotionally exhausted.  The next day, I felt like I had a hangover!  I was completely worthless.

So why did it affect me so strongly? 

Well, like I said at the beginning of this post, we're all walking on the edge. The stress that's become the white-noise background of our lives and keeps us on the edge.  I'd found a precarious balance on the tightrope, and the phone fiasco was just enough to push me over that edge. 

Oh, it was definitely annoying and way too time consuming, but was it something to cry over?  No, but when you're overwhelmed,something's gotta give, and it did.

I Took THE TEST (What It Was Like)

Do you have COVID-19?  How do you know?  I mean, you could be asymptomatic, right?  Have you been tested? 

Because testing has been opened up, I jumped on the State site and signed up for an appointment the following morning.  (When I say I jumped on it, I mean I JUMPED on it!)

The testing location wasn't terribly close to home - about 25 miles, but pretty close to a straight shot without many slowdowns or traffic lights.

So I drove up to Elwood (Red Gold Tomatoland) for my test.  That Man grew
up there, so it was a familiar drive.  I told him the address and described its map location, and he said there used to be a Harvest Market right about there.  He has a good memory!  I turned off the main street at the Harvest Market, went a couple of blocks farther, and there it was - the National Guard Armory.  Well, that makes sense!

I walked up toward the door and stood (6 feet) behind another person waiting to enter. 

We waited.  And waited.  And....

WAITED.

Finally a State Trooper came out, told us they just weren't set up yet, asked us which cars we were in, and said he'd come out to our cars to tell us when to go in.  Fair enough!

Back to the car.

Waited.  And waited.  AGAIN.

Then out came the trooper, stopping at each car in the parking lot.  The nurse who was supposed to do the testing hadn't shown up, so a different one was on her way.  He said we could come back in the afternoon at any time and get tested if we wanted.  I told him I couldn't come back that day because I had another obligation (That Man's physical therapy appointment) in the afternoon.  So he gave me a phone number to call to reschedule the test.

I drove home, and when I called the number (just past 10 o'clock in the morning), I got a recorded message saying the office was closed at this time, the hours are 7:00am to 8:00pm Central Standard Time, and please call during those hours. 

Wait a minute - what???  It was 10:00 Eastern Standard Time which would make it 9:00 Central. I was WELL within their office hours!  But if they're not there, they're not there.  Nothing I could do about that.

I tried again around 1:00 - and got a recorded message saying due to high call volume, all representatives were busy, I could probably get faster service on their website (except the website isn't set up for rescheduling!), or I could stay on the line for a LONG time and speak to a real person.  So I plugged in the phone, put it on speaker, and proceeded to putz around with other things until my call was answered. 

Well.

I got a lot of little things accomplished; I was on hold for nearly an hour!

I was, however, able to get rescheduled for the same time and place on the following day. 

So through the country I drove, up to Red Gold Tomatoland AGAIN.  To the Armory.  Up to the door, and...

They let me in!

Of course, I had to wear my homemade mask, and upon entering the front door, use hand sanitizer.  I waited at the closed door to the drill hall until a nurse waved me in.  The previously tested person had just left by the back door.  The nurse stood behind a clear vinyl curtain attached to a PVC pipe frame and asked to see my driver's license, and then to step around to a table to the left, where she placed a form for me to sign.  No contact.

A nurse wearing a face shield waved me over to her for the actual test.  Out came the dreaded SWAB.  Of course, I had to uncover my nose for these indignities.  Up one nostril - WAY up.  "Do you need a tissue?  Some people say this makes their eyes water," she said.  Well, I could definitely see WHY!  Up the other nostril - again, WAY up!  Eeyow!  It was uncomfortable, to say the least.

It wasn't all THAT bad, but when you don't know what to expect and you're a little nervous it's difficult to stay completely composed!  It didn't take long, though, and soon I was shown the back door, back in my car, and heading home. 

If it hadn't been for the nurse being a no-show the first day, it would have been a quick, smooth process.  But you know how the first day of anything is - glitchy!

I got my results in less than 72 hours - NEGATIVE! 

Now we KNOW.

Keeping Safe and Busy at Home

I hadn't done much sewing for a long time, and then suddenly...the coronavirus pandemic! 

My first two masks - one that ties, and one with elastic.

When the pandemic began, face mask patterns were posted all over the internet.  How else were we going to get any, when they were difficult for medical facilities to find?  But how could we make our own when the craft and fabric stores were closed?  And the craft and fabric departments of the big box stores like Walmart were pretty much emptied of appropriate materials.

I got out my sewing machine and found a couple of barely-used sheets in the linen closet, and a little seam binding, medium-weight interfacing, thread, and elastic in my sewing supplies.  There was only enough interfacing for four masks, so I got online and found some on Etsy.  I had to move fast before it disappeared!  I found a FEW packages of seam binding at Walmart.  The guys wanted masks with ties rather than elastic, so that ate up the seam binding pretty quickly.  In the end, I was able to make thirteen masks.

Since I was in the sewing mode, I got out some old "craft cuts" I'd stashed in the antique dresser in our guest room and unearthed a few months ago.  Craft cuts are lengths of cloth with toy or decor patterns and instructions printed on them.  These included a flowery teddy bear, a Humpty Dumpty, two fairly realistic loons, two cuddly "Victorian" sheep, and a coyote and cactus.  I thought why not FINALLY get around to making these items (I've had them in my stash for only about 25 years) and getting them out of the dresser and into the paws of The Grands.  All I had to do was buy a monster-sized bag of Poly-Fil(tm) to stuff them with.  There were two at our local Walmart - what luck! 

Humpty Dumpty was super simple.  The loons were a little more involved, but not much.  The bear was a BEAR to assemble!  So.  Many.  Pieces.  And lots of easing to do to make the pieces match up correctly.  He still has no face at this time.  I had to order black embroidery floss online; there was none to be found in the stores.

I'd post pictures of the stuffed stuff, but I'm still working on them - only the coyote, cactus, and sheep to go.  And the bear's face, of course!

Shortages - What We're Doing

Finding things at the grocery is still hit or miss.

Several weeks ago, when the pandemic had just started, I had used the last of the chicken in the freezer and headed to Kroger.  No chicken.  AT ALL!  There was SOME pork and beef, but no chicken!  When chicken finally appeared in the meat department, there was a sign on its refrigerated case that said customers were limited to two packages of chicken.

That situation continued until a couple of weeks ago when all the meat cases were consistently full again.  Woo hoo!  Unlimited meat products!

Then some of the meat and poultry processing plants started shutting down because they had sick employees.  And now, the signs are back up.  I went to the store yesterday, and there was some chicken, but no skinless, boneless breasts.

And there is still no flour, sugar, yeast, dried beans, or rice.  There are canned beans, but not much variety.  You can make chili - there are plenty of kidney beans!  Hardly any toilet paper or paper towels - still!  I grab what I can find, and there are those signs - only ONE package of paper goods allowed.  There is bleach on the shelves, but just a few jugs.  At the beginning of all this, it couldn't be found at all.

Frozen vegetables have been hard to find, too, and not just recently.  Almost as soon as the pandemic was acknowledged, frozen vegetables in the stores disappeared.  You can sure tell what people DON'T like - that's what's left - lima beans, for one (yuck!), riced cauliflower, edamame (soy beans), broccoli cuts (which are mostly stems).  No peas, green beans of any kind, broccoli florets, cauliflower, mixed vegetables, corn, mirepoix mix (diced onions, carrots, and celery), or chopped onions.

I've been searching for chopped onions for a couple of weeks because I'm getting low (one package left).  Yesterday, I finally decided it would be a good idea to just buy some onions, chop them up, and freeze them myself.  There weren't many onions in the produce department, either!  But I did get some.  Better than none!

This afternoon, I took out the food processor and got started.  I filled five quart-size freezer bags with onions.  I had to process them in three batches, but I got it DONE.

Nine onions in these bags.

         

One large-ish cucumber.

I figured I already had the machine out, so what else needed processing?

One entire bunch of celery.

Well, cucumbers - why not?  That Man likes them on his salads.  I was on a roll.  And how about celery?  That can go on the salads, too, and some can be frozen for cooking.

So I sliced and chopped my way through a pile of produce.  FUN!!  Except all those onions killed my eyes - ouch.  Better than doing it by hand, though.  I got to play with my sorta new toy, plus I feel like I've accomplished something I needed to do.  Always a good thing.

Anyway, food shopping has become a competitive sport and I'm doing the best I can with what I can find.  I hope you're having luck finding what's on your list!

Laundry Festivities

Laundry is so much FUN.

About 3 1/2 months ago, the washing machine got loud.  Not just louder than normal, but LOUD.  It sounded like a freight train was running through the house.

A year and a half ago, that same machine had gotten loud (read about it here).  Again, LOUD.  But that was a gradual buildup.  This time it was sudden.  Last time, we took out the drum and some motor components and replaced the shaft and seals.  It took ALL DAY, but we got it done.

So it was the same deal this time around, except, to be honest, I don't want to deal with pulling the drum out and all that hoo-haw on an annual basis, so I ordered a new washing machine.  Usually, I buy the matching dryer at the same time, but this time, after over a year of That Knee keeping its owner on long-term disability, we decided to replace only the washer.

So the washer was delivered and installed, and everything was just GRAND.

Until the DRYER started making noise, just a couple of months later.

REALLY?

So, I googled the problem and found the probable cause - a bad idler arm, and possibly the drum rollers.  I didn't want to deal with removing THAT drum, either, so I only ordered an idler arm assembly online.  It arrived just a few days later.  I took the back off the dryer and replaced the assembly - a pretty quick fix.

Except it wasn't fixed.

RATS.

The new laundry twins!

I was fed up with it and decided to just buy a new dryer like I should have done when I bought the washer.  By this time, the coronavirus pandemic was heating up, so I couldn't go into the store.  I got online and ordered a dryer.  It was a Saturday, and according to the website, the dryer would be delivered the following Tuesday.  I received an email confirming the day and time for delivery.

Well.

That Monday, I was notified that because of the coronavirus pandemic, the dryer couldn't be delivered and installed at that time, but PERHAPS they'd be able to JUST deliver it - drop it off at the door, and we'd have to get it inside and hooked up.  They'd let up know.

Long story short, a month later I got a phone call - when would I like to have the dryer dropped off?  I said how soon can you get it here?  So it arrived two days later.  I asked the delivery guy to remove the box for me.  It was the WRONG DRYER.  Not their fault.  I'd somehow clicked on the wrong machine.  Good grief.

I got on the phone and requested to return the wrong one, then got online (AGAIN) to order the right one.  You bet I checked and rechecked that it was the correct machine that time!!!

The right one was delivered, the wrong one was taken away, and my new dryer has been doing a great job for a couple of weeks, so I'm happy!

EPILOGUE

The day the right dryer arrived, I read the whole manual (yes, I'm special that way) and saw an optional accessory - a dryer rack.  It's for drying your athletic shoes or wool sweaters - you know, those things they tell you either not to tumble dry or to dry flat - what a pain.  I'd seen a dryer rack mentioned in the manuals of my two previous dryers and have coveted one for twenty years now - maybe longer.  I'm afraid the stay-at-home orders have taken a toll, because I said to myself, "Why not?"

The dryer rack inside the dryer.

And I did.

I got online (AGAIN - seems I'm spending an inordinate amount of time online these days) and researched and price checked and ordered a dryer rack!  If you've never seen one, it's a platform that you slide inside the dryer, place your items on, choose your settings, and turn on the dryer.  The drum is supposed to rotate while the rack remains stationary.  The rack is pretty big, and when I unboxed it, I thought, "How the heck will THAT ever fit?"  But it did!

I placed the rack inside the drum, turned the dryer on as a test, and, shockingly enough, the drum DOES rotate while the rack does NOT!  Now I'm looking forward to washing something that needs to be laid flat to dry.  What will it be?  Oh, I can hardly wait!

It sure doesn't take much to get me excited, does it?  What a nerd!

Sloppy Joes (From Mom's Recipe Card File)

Like everyone else staying home because of the coronavirus pandemic, we've been eating at home, which means I've been cooking and cooking and cooking.

When I want to make something I can count on to please everyone, I often fix Mom's "Barbecue," or Sloppy Joes!  It's a simple, all-pantry-ingredient recipe (except for the buns) that we never tire of eating.  Great comfort food.  I make it about every other week.

I make a large-ish batch so I'll have leftovers.  It freezes well, but we usually end up eating it all in a couple of days.  Something else I like to do is to mix all the sauce ingredients up and freeze that.  Then all I have to do is grab a container of sauce out of the freezer and add it to 2 pounds of lean ground beef and 1 cup of chopped onions, browned.  I usually make two to four containers of sauce at a time.  So convenient!


Sloppy Joes

2 lb lean ground beef
1 c chopped onions
1 1/2 c ketchup (I like Heinz)
3/4 c sugar
3 T mustard
1 T prepared horseradish (or to taste)
1 T vinegar
1 1/2 t celery seed
1 1/2 t Worchestershire sauce

Brown the ground beef and onion.  If not using lean ground beef, drain; if using lean ground beef, cook until nearly all the juices have evaporated.

Add the remaining ingredients, simmer about 20 minutes.  Serve on sandwich buns.

Staying Home and Social Distancing - What I'm Doing

With the coronavirus crisis, we're staying home like everyone else, except for periodic foraging trips to the grocery.  I cook - a LOT.  I clean.  I actually bleach my kitchen counters and sink, something I never did before.  I'm taking a short-term online American history course from Hillsdale College.  I'm trying to learn Tai Chi on YouTube.  I make to-do lists and try to check things off.  I scroll through FaceBook.  I'm working on painting watercolors.  I'm knitting hats for the 2021 NBA All-Stars volunteers.  I'm crocheting chemo caps.  Not all at once, of course!

We're also watching a LOT of television.  Thank heaven for cable TV while we're staying home.  Turner Classic Movies and MeTV really get a workout!

There are daily visits from the likes of Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Blondell, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Clara Bow, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Ruby Keeler, and a zillion others.  I especially like the movies on Silent Sundays - I"m glad we can DVR those - they start at midnight!  Not that I wouldn't stay up all night to watch them, but...!  Not a good idea, when I'm doing home health care right now, and medicines need to be doled out at specific times.

There's a boatload of MeTV to watch, too - Leave It to Beaver, The Flintstones (!), Green Acres, Hogan's Heroes, The Andy Griffith Show.  And we've officially turned into Old People - after dinner, we watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!

Oh my.  We're turning into our parents.  I guess someone has to.

On top of all this, because of CDC recommendations, I've started making face masks for us.  I cut up material yesterday, and today I started assembly.  There's a nice pile to work on, as you can see.

So, plenty to DO.  I had long lists of things I wanted to do after retiring, but now my lists are somewhat different.  

But...

IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY.

I Scored Potatoes and Onions This Morning!

Onions and potatoes seem like odd things to get excited about, don't they?

Well, I'm the designated forager, so I hit the stores yesterday to pick up some milk, bread, and a few other things.  They were busy, but not absolutely jammed like they were on Friday.  Friday was hit by kind of a double whammy - not only were people stocking up for the coronavirus emergency, but the forecast for Saturday was for 3-4 inches of SNOW, piling one stressor on top of another.

I'd planned a St. Patrick's Day dinner for us - corned beef, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and Irish soda bread, plus I wanted some rye bread and sliced Swiss cheese so I could make Reuben sandwiches with the leftovers.  Well, no potatoes, onions, cabbage, or rye bread most places.  Hardly any sliced cheese of any kind anywhere.  I did find one loaf of rye and a few onions.  I caught sight of some toilet paper, but it wasn't on my list.  Still no rice or dried beans - also not on my list.

I did get a little tickled walking down the boxed dinner aisles - no boxed macaroni and cheese, which I expected, but I also noticed that the shelves for Hamburger Helper were nearly empty!  I don't know exactly why I thought it was funny, but it just struck me that way.  Still plenty of ice cream and wine, though!

Anyway, I had a few potatoes at home, but they were starting to look poorly, so that was one thing I really wanted.  I was able to use those sad-ish potatoes with the corned beef because they would be boiled, but they wouldn't be good enough for roasting or baking or mashing.

Last evening the grocery ads arrived and looking through them, I saw POTATOES and ONIONS advertised!  So I planned to hit Kroger this morning.

I got to the store about an hour after they opened.  SCORE!

I was able to buy two five-pound bags of potatoes and a three-pound bag of onions, so we should be okay for those things for a couple of weeks.

The stores still have low stocks of many things, but the situation is improving - the supply chains are starting to catch up.  So be patient!  It's on the way!

Why I'm Not Prepping for the Coronavirus (and Other Thoughts on the Emergency)

So the coronavirus is an official national emergency. 

We've all heard the recommended steps to prevent its spread - avoid crowds, stay home if possible (self-isolate), avoid touching your face, clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces, don't shake hands, stand six feet away from others in public places, change clothes when you return home from public places, and WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY.

Here's a meme making the rounds of social media:

The YouVersion app on my phone sends me a daily Bible verse.  Yesterday's was amazingly current:

"Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."  (James 4:8, NIV)

Wow!  That kind of tickled me!

I went shopping yesterday to pick up a few things that were on my list - ice cream, soda, salad mix, celery, apples - you know, just STUFF.

It was a revelation.

Walmart wasn't crowded (everybody was at work), but certain aisles had been decimated.  All the toilet paper and paper towel shelves were completely empty.  There were three small jugs of bleach in the laundry aisle.  No antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizer, or medical gloves.  No bags of rice.  A few bags of dried beans.  No dry milk.  No eggs.  No bananas.  A few cases of bottled water. 

Later, I hit Kroger, this time after 5:00.  WHOA!

Everyone must have stopped there on the way home.  The parking lot was completely full - all the way out to the street!  Everything missing at Walmart was missing at Kroger, plus, people trying to check out were lined up all the way to the back of the store.

I'm happy to report there was plenty of ice cream, however!

Both places, most people had loaded their shopping carts to overflowing.  I had a handbasket.

I wasn't stocking up because I don't need to.

For example, I keep two of the largest packages of toilet paper in each bathroom.  When the second one is opened, toilet paper goes on the shopping list.  I keep between fifteen and twenty pounds of hamburger in the freezer.  I have the equivalent of several cases of assorted canned tomatoes in the utility room.

Am I some kind of doomsday prepper?  No!

I'm just an extremely LAZY shopper!  I want to be able to cook what I want without having to run out and buy a bunch of stuff first.  I'd rather buy my groceries when it's convenient instead of as needed.

I keep my grocery list on the front of the refrigerator.  When I use something from the freezer or pantry, I write it on the list and buy it the next time I go to the store.

Besides, we have tornadoes and ice storms here.  If there's a weather-related travel advisory, I have what I need right here at home.  If there's a power outage, we have a boatload of candles and some oil lamps for light and a little heat.  I've used my backpacking stove to cook hot meals when we've been snowed in with no power.

It's really not hard to get started.  When you're doing your "normal" shopping, buy one or two extra things.  Or decide to spend ten dollars a week on things you want to keep on hand.  If you're low on storage area, there are websites devoted to finding space.

I'm just saying that having a reasonable stock of food in the house allows me to have a more relaxed outlook when emergencies happen.

So...

Keep Calm and Stock On!