Second Week of Shelter-in-Place

It’s hard to believe that it is only the second week of the “shelter-in-place” order here. It feels like forever already.

S is doing her schooling online. She had online school for a year when we were in China and that did not work well for her. Her grades were good but she hated it because she felt isolated. She is intensely extroverted and craves human interactions. It’s bad timing that shortly after the move she had to study at home. She was just starting to meet new people and make friends.

Our new chest freezer arrived and we went to the store to pick it up. It’s not very full now, but at least we can now buy some more food and not have to worry about the storage. Getting grocery deliveries is a little tough sometimes, so it’s good if we can stock up a bit. Furthermore, having more ready meals really helps during lunch time as I don’t really have much time to cook and eat before getting back to work.

Working from home can be challenging, with everyone else also working at home, but I am grateful that we are safe and actually have work to do. I am still waiting for my desk and chair to arrive, which should be early next week. Since my company is involved in Coronavirus testing, my workload is heating up. The coming weeks should be challenging but it feels good to be able to do something meaningful in the fight against the virus.

Some of the masks arrived as well, those from my cousin and from a friend in China. The ones from China are reusable KN95 masks, but they must be made for Chinese heads. G put one on to try it out and his ears were completely bent by the strings. It was rather comical.

It’s funny how excited one could get over certain things at this time, such as finding a Chinese grocery store that delivers (even though the delivery date is more than a week out), or getting a shipment confirmation for toilet paper.

We stay put mostly, and went out for a 30-minute walk on Saturday. There were not many people walking on the street, and all the trails/parks close to us were closed. There were more cars on the street than I’d expected though.

G told me that Mardi Gras still took place. There were many New Yorkers heading to Florida. It just seems all so crazy. Why people don’t just stay put so that we could minimize the spread? Don’t they understand the risk? G follows this thing closely but I just can’t (and don’t want to) do it. For now, I am grateful that none of the people I know are affected. Let’s keep it that way.