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I have been walking a lot actually.  It does help when I’m feeling cooped up, but it doesn’t do much to alleviate boredom for me.  (Also I can’t/won’t go out walking in the middle of the night, for safety reasons.)  Gloomy weather does not bother me at all, in fact I prefer it to sun most days, lol.  I find that bright sunlight saps my energy, especially in the morning.

8 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

But before we could get there, she crossed the street and continued on that sidewalk.  I felt like hollering "Do we have bad breath or something?!"  :P

I’ve been trying to maintain an extra wide distance between myself and other people; not because I’m worried about catching something, or even transmitting something, but because they react like I may as well be a leper if I get within 10 feet of them.  “Avoid like the plague” has taken on a more literal meaning these last few weeks.  It feels a little ridiculous to sway around people like I’m orbiting a planet, but I’m trying to be a good, sensitive citizen by staying as far away from other people as possible, lol.  Maybe that’s all most other people are trying to do too, but I have definitely gotten some fearful looks when I walk “too close”.

 

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4 hours ago, Artemis said:

It feels a little ridiculous to sway around people like I’m orbiting a planet, but I’m trying to be a good, sensitive citizen....

And who knows, one of those other good, sensitive citizens may be contagious -- you never know.  I'm not exactly *afraid* of getting the coronavirus, but I'd just as rather avoid it.

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2 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

And who knows, one of those other good, sensitive citizens may be contagious -- you never know.  I'm not exactly *afraid* of getting the coronavirus, but I'd just as rather avoid it.

Yep, you never know!  That's kinda how I feel about everything though; I'm not really more worried about catching the coronavirus than I am normally about catching any other illness.  If I were older I'd be a little more concerned, and it's mostly for those people that I'm trying to be sensitive.

I have severe driving anxiety, and the way people are treating this virus is the way I wish people would treat driving, lol.  At the store yesterday, there were X's on the floor at the checkout and signs about how many cart-lengths away you need to stay from the next shopper in line.  When I'm driving I'm always ranting about how people are violating the "1 car length for every 10 miles speed" rule on the road, lol.  It's for safety, people!

 

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25 minutes ago, Artemis said:

At the store yesterday, there were X's on the floor at the checkout and signs about how many cart-lengths away you need to stay from the next shopper in line.

Were people doing that?

The veterinary clinic that I mentioned the other day (with their coronavirus guidelines) has built a drive-through window so people can pick up prescriptions and supplies (and presumably drop off specimens) without actual human contact.  I am amazed that they'd do that just for a (presumably) temporary situation -- though it does sound convenient in any case, so perhaps they'd already been thinking about doing it, and this seemed like an appropriate time.

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3 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Were people doing that?

Yep, they were!  People around here have been adhering pretty strictly to the social distancing rules, actually.

3 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

I am amazed that they'd do that just for a (presumably) temporary situation --

It has been interesting to watch the speed at which some of these services are being made available now.  A lot of them had been requested for years prior to this and were either treated with sluggish indifference, or outright refused.  The ability to telecommute, for instance, is something that a lot of employees have practically been begging for, and their employers told them it wasn't possible.  Apparently it is.

 

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2 minutes ago, Artemis said:

The ability to telecommute [....] is something that a lot of employees have practically been begging for, and their companies told them it wasn't possible.  Apparently it is.

Alex's former employer has had a policy for some years that allows employees to work from home when practical -- but apparently it's rarely practical!  He did get permission to do so for a couple weeks back in '08 after I had surgery (bless his heart!) and a few other times, but I never got the impression that it was a common thing, despite the policy.  Now that Alex is retired, though, he can stay home every day!  :D

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Just came across this picture online.  Not sure how I feel about all the points, but the first one kinda coincides with this convo.

ippa9mb9kem41.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&a

 

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35 minutes ago, Artemis said:

Not sure how I feel about all the points, but the first one kinda coincides with this convo.

Yup.  I guess we aren't the only two people who've noticed that implication.

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On 3/21/2020 at 4:23 PM, Arcadia said:

Okay, before anyone's imagination runs away with them ...  I get together with a couple friends once a week to paint and yak about stuff. Now we're all terrified of each other.

Do it via video call! I saw my sister in-law does that. I am amused actually, I don't (thankfully) have regular meet-ups. One reason is because I stay abroad from them, but we never feel the need to do video call as well, or even regular messaging. I think my pattern of relationship are, get in touch when we feel we want it, as in very irregularly, but we click all the same. Same thing with my siblings. I'm the only female, maybe that explains, our group chat is mostly quiet all the time except, where is mom? (she is hopping between kids).

On 3/22/2020 at 7:10 PM, Arcadia said:

I wonder if you just soak spices in hot water, would they make spice tea?

Does it work?

Long long long time ago, I was in this training and expected to survive on nature, given nothing so had to forage or whatever for food. Found banana and happily collected some plant, imagining grill banana and vegetable soup to fill the belly on cold night under the stars. I knew how to differentiate dangerous plant but definitely didn't know which one is edible. The banana was full of rocks, tiny little stone (not sure if that is the norm of because it's merely grew up) and the 'soup' was bitter. Tossed all of it. My concept that time, any plant can be used for veggie soup, how bad could it be??:D

  

23 hours ago, Artemis said:

I’ve been trying to maintain an extra wide distance between myself and other people; not because I’m worried about catching something, or even transmitting something, but because they react like I may as well be a leper if I get within 10 feet of them.  “Avoid like the plague” has taken on a more literal meaning these last few weeks.  It feels a little ridiculous to sway around people like I’m orbiting a planet, but I’m trying to be a good, sensitive citizen by staying as far away from other people as possible, lol.  Maybe that’s all most other people are trying to do too, but I have definitely gotten some fearful looks when I walk “too close”.

I wish for the other way around, I wish they would avoid me like a plague. Maybe it's not really taken seriously here yet, but people bumped into me (when they could easily avoid) and I gave a death stare to a woman who grabbed my shoulder to offer me something at the market. I jumped and turned around, it's rude even in normal situation. I would have same reaction but never this pissed.

Edited by Carol the Dabbler
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10 minutes ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

I wish for the other way around, I wish they would avoid me like a plague.

Ha, indeed.  Certainly in any normal situation I want my personal space, and I like even more than most.  Some people get way too close for comfort, and even when I back up they just step closer to close the gap, lol.  But right now, here, the distancing is being taken to a very abnormal extreme.

 

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1 hour ago, Artemis said:

But right now, here, the distancing is being taken to a very abnormal extreme.

Haven't felt it around here.

But I have been thinking that all my life seems like fitting with the concept of social distancing. I don't like to shake hands, I don't hug, yes I keep bubble of personal space around me when I could, I stay at home, and I wash hand like a maniac almost all the time, and I always avoid event or crowd whenever I could. 

Now I'm wondering if extroverts are suffering right now. It probably boils down to two things; that they find our kind of lifestyle is actually healthier :P and we will be more understood than ever, or,

they think we are nuts even more than ever now that they are trying to live like us.

Either way, fine by me! :)

 

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2 minutes ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

But I have been thinking that all my life seems like fitting with the concept of social distancing. I don't like to shake hands, I don't hug, yes I keep bubble of personal space around me when I could, I stay at home, and I wash hand like a maniac almost all the time, and I always avoid event or crowd whenever I could.

Same here, lol.  I've always had good hand-washing habits.  When I worked in a library, my hands would get grimy from all the materials passed from person to person.  I became really sensitive to the feel of dirt on my hands, even when I couldn't see it yet, and I started washing my hands after touching anything I thought a lot of other people might have touched, e.g. after shopping.  When I heard that handshakes were cancelled I was just like, 🤷‍♀️ ... fine by me!  Never cared for them anyhow, I'd rather just nod if I must acknowledge someone, lol.  As far as personal distance is concerned, nothing's really changed all that much for me except for the fact that, like I said before, I now have to circle far around people when I walk by them sometimes instead of continuing in a straight line.

12 minutes ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

Now I'm wondering if extroverts are suffering right now.

Oh they definitely are.  My mother's an extrovert, and normally I only occasionally hear from her, but I've been getting texts from her every day lately that are along the lines of, "HELLOOOOO, ANYBODY OUT THERE????"

 

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20 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:
On 3/22/2020 at 7:10 PM, Arcadia said:

I wonder if you just soak spices in hot water, would they make spice tea?

Does it work?

Not particularly, no. I think if I'd used more spice I would have gotten a better result, but on the whole it was just easier to get in the car and go shopping.

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13 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I think if I'd used more spice I would have gotten a better result....

Just curious -- did you try simmering it for a while?

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Yeah, quite a while, half hour at least, maybe longer. (Sort of forgot it was on the stove... :) )  I'm used to Tazo's cinnamon spice tea, which is especially strong. This was almost flavorless by comparison. Smelled nice!

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First thunderstorm of the year today.  It's officially spring!  Some people look for signs of spring in robins, geese, flowers... I wait for thunder.
 

source.gif

 

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28 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I'm used to Tazo's cinnamon spice tea, which is especially strong.

Well, that explains it.  Tazo Cinnamon Spice has "natural flavor" added, which often means something from a lab.

Here's the legal definition of the other kind of "flavor" (from the FDA website:

The term artificial flavor or artificial flavoring means any substance, the function of which is to impart flavor, which is NOT derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof.  [emphasis added]

That doesn't leave much in the "artificial" category, does it?  So just about any flavoring agent that's somehow derived from edible plants or animals is legally "natural."  From the same page of the FDA website:

The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof....

I try to avoid anything with either "natural" or "artificial" flavors added.  For one thing, they can be *so* tasty that they spoil one's tastebuds, to the point where the real thing no longer tastes good.  I'd rather eat food that tastes like food because it *is* food.  Admittedly, it can be kinda hard to find these days, even in "natural" markets!

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17 minutes ago, Artemis said:

First thunderstorm of the year today.  It's officially spring!  Some people look for signs of spring in robins, geese, flowers... I wait for thunder.

So that's where this storm came from!  :P

Radar looks like it should be out of here pretty soon, which is good because I really should be in bed, but I have trouble sleeping during thunderstorms.

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27 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

I have trouble sleeping during thunderstorms.

Why is that?  Is it just that the thunder keeps you awake?

I actually sleep pretty well during thunderstorms.  I find it cozy and comforting.

 

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8 minutes ago, Artemis said:

Is it just that the thunder keeps you awake?

I actually sleep pretty well during thunderstorms.  I find it cozy and comforting.

I sleep well when it's just raining -- like you say, cozy.  But unexpected noises tend to wake me, even if they're not very loud (e.g., a cat throwing up).  And this storm was pretty boomy up till a few minutes ago.  Hopefully it's done with that.

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I'm a light sleeper too where noises are concerned, but for some reason thunder seems to be an exception.  Or maybe it wakes me, but it's easy for me to fall back to sleep.  Anyway, it is boomy!  We had some really close strikes.  My poor dogs.

I hope you can get to sleep soon.

 

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You'll have to quietly make your escape tonight, lol.  I made the mistake of drinking two cans of Mountain Dew Kickstart (Pineapple Orange Mango) a couple hours ago, so I'm rarin' to go.  You'll be lucky if you don't wake up to another of my photo-posting sprees tomorrow morning.  :P
 

giphy.gif

 

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Well, as you may have noticed, I cut out before the happy juice kicked in. Is that croc from Peter Pan?

9 hours ago, Artemis said:

I actually sleep pretty well during thunderstorms.  I find it cozy and comforting.

Same here. Rain in general soothes me to sleep, even (ahem) in the daytime. Usually sleep right through thunder unless it's right on top of me.

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8 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Is that croc from Peter Pan?

It is, lol.

 

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