Today:
* Woke earlier than normal
* Discovered 4G was faster than my home network which was hindering my professional work
* Troubleshot and fixed network speed. The family should be thrilled
* Worked my 8-5 job, wrote a fully functioning website in 3 hours
* Picked up groceries from Kroger curbside
* Wired a new GFCI circuit in the house
* Went to sleep at 2am
Tag: covid19
Safer at Home Order for Knox County
And Knox County is locked down.
“To further combat the spread of COVID-19, the Knox County Health Department has issued a Safer at Home Order — directing all residents of Knox County stay inside their homes, and immediately limit all movement outside of their homes beyond what is absolutely necessary to take care of essential needs.
…
YOU CAN …
• Go to the grocery, convenience or warehouse store
• Go to the pharmacy to pick up medications and other healthcare necessities
• Go to medical appointments (check with your doctor or provider first)
• Go to a restaurant for take-out, delivery or drive-thru
• Care for or support a friend or family member
• Take a walk, ride your bike, hike, jog and be in nature for exercise — just keep at least six feet between you and others.
• Walk your pets and take them to the veterinarian if necessary
• Help someone to get necessary supplies
• Receive deliveries from any business which delivers
YOU SHOULD NOT …
• Go to work unless you are providing essential services as defined by this Order
• • Visit friends and family if there is no urgent need
Maintain less than 6 feet of distance from others when you go out
• Visit loved ones in the hospital, nursing home, skilled nursing facility or other residential care facility, except for limited exceptions as provided on the facility websites.
Is this Order mandatory? What happens if I don’t comply?
Yes. This is a legally enforceable order.”
National Emergency – Day 8
Today the household stress was tangible.
The 14-year-old escaped to the park and rode his bike for 10 miles. That was good! Cathy had the opportunity to escape the house.
I spent the day cleaning the basement which is why I took this week of vacation. Finally made a dent!
Amy keeps herself sequestered to her bed.
Tommy sleeps through the day then works the evening at Dominoes then games through the night.
In short, we maintain a semblance of normalcy.
Made a loaf of cinnamon bread.
And my very first homemade lasagna. It should not have taken half a century and a worldwide pandemic for me to learn how to make lasagna.
Tonight, date night! The stay at home edition.
National Emergency – Day 7
Began the day with an outing to have a meeting with one person. Saw another stranger at the Starbucks drive-thru. Other than that, it was just my immediate family in the house.
Spent the entire day working in my budget. My budget was so fine-tuned in October but then my software changed with an update and I had to basically begin again with a new paradigm. This was cathartic but not in the spirit of my 4th day of vacation which I had want do be furious progress on the house.
Last day of vacation? Rain in the forecast. More computer time. I hope to accomplish something on the house today.
National Emergency – Day 6
The entire day of vacation day 3 was spent on the computer programming. Then I drove my son to work. And tried to buy some PGA for cooking but apparently everyone bought all the PGA to make hand sanitizer. My evening was spent cooking, budgeting, and invoicing.
National Emergency – Day 5
This was also vacation day 2 for me. A vacation I intended to use working on the house.
My nearly 102-year-old grandmother’s assisted living facility is on complete lockdown. Despite repeated attempts to call her, I cannot get anyone to answer the phone. Why doesn’t someone put an Amazon Echo device in her room so I can use the drop-in feature?
I made a one-hour drive around Knoxville to pick up free food as encouraged by my big boss who is footing the bill. Thank you! Many people appear to be going about life as normal.
The rest of my day was spent working on a webpage that I cannot seem to get to load in less than 112 seconds.
National Emergency – Day 4
This day was spent working. I’m fortunate to have a job that allowed me to work out of the basement in various stages of disrobe (get that picture out of your head) for 12 years. So, I worked all day long on a frustrating optimization project. I improved the code I wrote 4 years ago but ultimately it came down to a data issue.
I had a one-hour outing to make a run to Kroger (grocery), Barnes and Noble (a chocolate chip cookie), an adult store (lube and wishful thinking), and CVS drive-thru (medicine). Okay, one of these is made up.
I finished the evening making a screencast for another client and watching an episode of Locke and Key with my wife. An amazing show aside an amazing woman!
National Emergency – Day 3
My wife made me rethink our family’s status in this pandemic.
My MIL works with the general public in a demographic that believes coronavirus is a hoax (are these the same people who believe we never landed on the moon?). She came to the house yesterday for social visit after shopping at Costco.
I went to hot yoga yesterday to sweat in a sealed-up room recycling the air of 20 people crammed together and will probably go a couple of times again this week.
My wife remains isolated in the house but is in contact with all of us high-riskers.
My eldest son works the cash register at a pizza joint that has run out of cleaning supplies and all his coworkers believe this is a hoax. He is spraying Lysol on the pen and cash as he interacts with the customers.
My eldest daughter works at an airport.
My middle son is on mandatory work from home. He lives with my MIL and joined her at Costco and the social visit yesterday.
My youngest daughter is house-sitting for my eldest daughter and hanging out in the Asheville mall.
My youngest son is addicted to working out at the YMCA.
We are not going to escape this plague.
Nationa emergency – Day 2
Since I work in technology, this Saturday, I continue working.
My wife is already irritated at my presence and wishes I would go back to the office.
National Emergency – Day 1
Today, the president of the United States declared a national emergency in response to a worldwide pandemic. The pandemic is decimating Italy. China is in bad shape. This is playing out like a post-apocalyptic zombie movie. Of course, many Republicans are calling the whole thing a hoax. They’ve their minds.
I’ve spent the past half a decade trying but failing to make our household self-sufficient but I’m in the wrong tax bracket. It’s very difficult to garden and generate your own power and supply your own water when you work night and day and barely scrape by.
Amy is in Asheville house-sitting for her sister and her SO who are camping in the woods. Those three are safe for now. Tommy is working at Dominoes dealing with the general public so he cannot self-isolate and is the highest risk of being patient zero in our home. Evan is out of school for Spring Break but wants to go to the gym every day. We are going to have to work on him to convince him that tasks like chopping wood are just as good as the gym. Noah is on mandatory “work from home.” We haven’t let Cathy out of the house in a year so she is used to being shut-in and will lead us through this. I’m on vacation for the week.
What next? I’m spending the evening cooking food.
