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Quarantine Tuesday Reading Kaffeeklatsch: 5/5/2020 (edit)
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Today was fun for me, my baby boy turned 17 so we ate "out" - ordered takeout sushi from our favorite restaurant, and just now had his birthday cake (mango supreme) from our favorite Filipino bakery, Red Ribbon. We pigged out but it was all oh so good! We could only find one candle, tried to light the cherry stem but it wouldn't burn.
Wow! Happy Birthday! Looks like a fab cake!
My spirits got lifted within the last week just because the sun finally stayed out longer than 5 minutes! 2 days in a row! I got my flower beds cleaned out and it looks like today will be another decent day and I will be able to work on my vegetable beds. I mentioned before that my local Farmer's Market has been open for drive through. This past week-end they had flowers and herbs. I was appalled by the number of people walking around unprotected! Thank goodness the market required the vendors to have masks and gloves. Anyway, I was able to spy a flower vendor from the car all by his lonesome in the corner. I grabbed a beautiful salmon colored begonia that was large enough to split into three pots for decoration on my back porch. Yeah! Now I can drink wine surrounded by beauty ;)The antibiotic prescribed for my daughter worked and she has an appointment on Friday to see the doc. Not sure if they will be able to do any surgery (because my daughter did not bother to ask-ugh!) but at least we are moving in the right direction.
annapi wrote: "Today was fun for me, my baby boy turned 17 so we ate "out" - ordered takeout sushi from our favorite restaurant, and just now had his birthday cake (mango supreme) from our favorite Filipino baker..."Well Happy Birthing Day to you Anna and of course Happy Birthday to your son. It sounds like you made it very special for him. My eldest sister is in a group home and her care-giver is Filipino-she bakes all the time and makes beautiful cakes just like the one you show in the picture-my mouth is watering just looking at it!
annapi wrote: "Today was fun for me, my baby boy turned 17 so we ate "out" - ordered takeout sushi from our favorite restaurant, and just now had his birthday cake (mango supreme) from our favorite Filipino baker..."Happy Birthday to your son!!!
Joanne wrote: "My spirits got lifted within the last week just because the sun finally stayed out longer than 5 minutes! 2 days in a row! I got my flower beds cleaned out and it looks like today will be another d..."
I'm so happy the antibiotics are working!
This has been a great week so far! I'm still struggling to find a job but I'm realizing that it's probably the Universe at work. I'm going to look into staying a 1099 employee and seeing if I can get more work that way. I'm LOVING all the flexibility that it is affording me. We got approved on the forbearance for both mortgages (I have multiple properties). Yay!!
I've grabbed a couple of domain names and a facebook page lined up for starting a book blog. I'm going to dig into the best way to tie social media all in together to really get a presence. It's exciting and scary all at the same time.
We've had amazing weather until today and I've cleaned out two of our front beds and have no clue what I want to put in there. A neighbor cut down a dangerous tree, so they might get more sun than they have in the past.
And the best news of all... we have a cabin on my mom's property that friends (the people we bought my mom's house from) live in during the summer. They were apprehensive about coming this summer because of everything. The wife has decided she is coming up at the end of May with her two dogs and two horses!! We are so excited to have at least her back. I'm assuming the husband is coming up too. We are all good friends and I'm looking forward to having them here! Luckily the cabin is separate from my mom's house, so we'll be able to social distance/quarantine them for a couple of weeks.
Now off to take my mom to her retina doctor for her eye shots... yes.. eye shots...
Charlotte wrote: "annapi wrote: "Today was fun for me, my baby boy turned 17 so we ate "out" - ordered takeout sushi from our favorite restaurant, and just now had his birthday cake (mango supreme) from our favorite..."Oh how nice to know you will have a friend in close proximity!
and eeew..eye shots, *making awful safe and shuddering*
I came into my office today to check mail, return files, pick up files, transfer some office supplies to my home office, that sort of thing. As in the past when I have journeyed in, I'm the only one here. But this time, for the first time in the 5 or 6 times I've been here since WFH started for everyone, all the suites on this floor had lights on indicating someone was in!These are all law firms plus one engineering company. I predict that the principals at least of every one of the firms on this floor will be coming in more often as NYC re-opens gradually. The courts reopened partially tis week. It is expected that non-essential construction will start up again next week. There is definitely an energetic feel to the air.
AND there was a treat waiting for me (besides some checks from clients paying my fees) - my Christmas cactus is blooming a second time! I have learned over the years that when I allow them to dry out and be left in a certain amount of darkness every day, it blooms reliably and like crazy. It had very few blooms in December because I'd been working such long hours, it was not sitting in the dark as it needed. But after weeks of the office being closed essentially, with erratic watering, it's getting all the dark it needs.
I texted my suite mates to tell them to stop and admire the blooms when they come by to check their mail. Don't want the blooms to go to waste!
Theresa wrote: "I came into my office today to check mail, return files, pick up files, trasnfer some office supplies to my home office, that sort of thing. As in the past when I have journeyed in, I'm the only on..."Oh always so nice to see fresh blooms! I am happy to hear that things in NYC are trying to come back. Besides the North West States your area was one of the first to get hard-that means there is hope for the MidWest!!
Charlotte wrote: "Now off to take my mom to her retina doctor for her eye shots... yes.. eye shots...."omg! Please please please let this NOT be my future! (I have had eye issues and have been on eye drops for years now - for my eye pressure.)
We had a neighborhood (well four couples) "driveway" cocktail party on Sunday when it was sunny and got up to nearly 70 F. The two houses across the street from us both have large double driveways with the equivalent flat space of about a 3-car garage. The driveways are separated by a 20-ft wide floral border / hedge, which is currently not yet blooming, nor leafed out, so you can clearly see one driveway from the other. We each brought our own chairs, drinks, glasses and small tables. I went to Scott & Linda's driveway. While Jo & John went over to Cirsten & Jason's driveway. So nice to just sit outside gabbing and enjoying ourselves - together, but separated. Monday was back in the "chill" zone ... but sunny. So I packed sandwiches, chips, water bottles and orange slices into an insulated bag and Hubby and I drove up to a town about 40 miles north of us. We went to the park by the lake (Lake Michigan) - and parked in the lookout area high on a bluff looking out over the water. We opened the sunroof on the car, but stayed in the vehicle, eating our lunch and watching the boats in and out of the harbor.
The crab apple in the front yard has LOTS of little tiny leaves on it (probably buds too, but I can't see them from the office window). Seems to have sprouted overnight because I could swear it was just bare branches on Sunday.
AND ... our cleaning crew is coming on Thursday! They bring all their own equipment and cleaning supplies. Will be wearing masks and gloves as well. I now have to pick up some of the clutter I've let accumulate over these last 8 weeks so they can actually CLEAN. I've managed to keep the bathrooms and kitchen clean, but have neglected the dusting and vacuuming. Will be very happy to have a clean house again.
Book Concierge wrote: "We had a neighborhood (well four couples) "driveway" cocktail party on Sunday when it was sunny and got up to nearly 70 F. The two houses across the street from us both have large double driveways ..."I am so jealous of your cleaning crew coming! As soon as the work ban is lifted for such services, I am hiring one! I will keep my cleaning lady on hiatus because I do not want her risking the subway.
LibraryCin wrote: "omg! Please please please let this NOT be my future! (I have had eye issues and have been on..."
My mom started losing her vision a handful of years ago and it was found she was having branch ocular inclusions. Kind of like having mini strokes in the blood vessels around the edges of her eyes. She has some vision loss in her right eye. The shots help. She went from having to have them every 6 weeks to now 10. Her sight isn't going to get better but the shots keep it from getting worse.
She told me her retina doc told her that some of the people that come in for appointments don't understand why they have to wear a face mask and go through all of the things they have to at the office since they feel that the virus is fake and everything that is going on is fake. I've been thinking about it the rest of the day and the only thing I can guess is it's denial. I've seen my family members go through it and I know a lot of people use it as a defense mechanism against bad things. I just can't imagine.
Good Morning from Germany,where slowly things are moving again.
School has already started for the students in the final year, next week it is going to be the eleventh grade. That is where I have most of my classes, so I am going to go back to school next week at least for a few days. We don't have regular classes though, but I will have a whole morning with one class, and another with another class. Students are not allowed to change places, they can only use their own stuff etc. . I normally use a lot of cooperative learning and teaching methods, and I am a little at a loss, how to do that while at the same time keeping up the security measures. Group work or working with a partner is possible, but does it make sense, when the students sit 1.5 metres apart from each other? Also we are not supposed to move furniture... I am going to think of something, but for now I am overwhelmed with scepticism.
Another weird thing is going to be that the class will be split up and be sitting in two adjoining rooms and I have to go from one room to the other and back again. Ugh. And then we were told that we cannot use any of the work we did while the schools were closed. We have to revise the stuff we taught before (that is what we taught before March 13) and the exams (which they still have to write at the end of May) are supposed to be about that. So basically all the work I did in the past 7 weeks is null and void. I am really frustrated and I assume the students who did do their work will be, too. Also, we were basically done with the topic and all ready for the new one. Now it is back to a topic we had actually finished and were done with (in more than one sense). Sigh.
Well, today I have a meeting with the principal and another person from administration about this and the next weeks. I am going to the meeting with another colleague. We are both elected representatives of the teachers at our school. We'll see what happens.
I have had a really stressful week so far with lots of work (thinking of and planning and uploading new assignments, correcting assignments that were handed in, giving feedback, trying to keep in touch with students etc.). I have not mustered up the energy to actually go for a longer walk or bike ride. I have cooked yesterday, though (nothing Mexican, cinco de mayo isnt't a thing here) and have read a few nice mysteries and watched two great films in the evenings. That of course meant I went to bed too late. I got up early anyway, so now I am quite tired.
I am just noticing I think I am a glass half empty kind of person today.
We are lucky with the weather,though, it is sunny most of the time and that helps so much! And on Sunday I discovered the best frozen aoghurt place, because it has creamy vegan frozen yoghurt ! I am not vegan, but I don't do well with milk products.
Two weeks ago I sowed tomatoes and cucumbers in little pots (inside) and little plants are starting to grow. Like with your cactus, Theresa, this is making me smile.
The birds are flocking to my birdfeeders and bird baths.
I sent my mother flowers for mother's day (which is this Sunday), I am travelling to see my husband in Berlin this weekend.
The eye shots are making me shudder as well. I hope they go well.
And Joanne, cool that the antibiotics worked!
annapi wrote: "Today was fun for me, my baby boy turned 17 so we ate "out" - ordered takeout sushi from our favorite restaurant, and just now had his birthday cake (mango supreme) from our favorite Filipino baker..."Happy birthday! And really yummy-looking cake!
@Miriam - it is important to speak up and discuss with administration your concerns and issues. Especially over a curriculum that essentially is pretending the last 7 weeks of learning did not exist!Change is hard. But there is also no need to make it even harder. Which it sounds like the curriculum proposal is doing.
Love your little pots of growing things! Have a lovely weekend with your husband!
Theresa - it seems like there is a metaphor or symbolism in your experience of the Christmas cactus needing time in the dark in order to bloom. Like we should be using this time to nurture our own blooms.
Robin wrote: "Theresa - it seems like there is a metaphor or symbolism in your experience of the Christmas cactus needing time in the dark in order to bloom. Like we should be using this time to nurture our own ..."💕
Robin wrote: "Theresa - it seems like there is a metaphor or symbolism in your experience of the Christmas cactus needing time in the dark in order to bloom. Like we should be using this time to nurture our own ..."Robin - 💡! I believe you are on to something! Definitely there is opportunity to come out on the otherside stronger in some way.
Something else positive happened today. I had come to accept that a home office will indefinitely factor into my work life. And that leads to finding a cheaper real office than I have at present - I will always need a real office because I need conference room use regularly. A colleague just emailed that she has decided that by end of summer she will switch to working from home entirely, did I know know anyone who might be interested in taking over her lease! It is perfect for me, the other lawyers have a similar practice, and the cost is a third of what I am currently paying.
It is not a done thing of course, but again, a silver lining that has me looking forward, not backward, and providing me with control.
Charlotte - I feel a bit like you!
This is especially for Amy ... but anyone might enjoy... A little film titled "Talk to Me"https://vimeo.com/410910368
It's a film / play about a therapist and the people she is counseling during this time of COVID19.
Theresa wrote: "Robin wrote: "Theresa - it seems like there is a metaphor or symbolism in your experience of the Christmas cactus needing time in the dark in order to bloom. Like we should be using this time to nu..."Remarkable how the universe seems to take us in a direction we did not think we wanted to go-I think everyday life is going to change for all of us.
Theresa wrote: "Robin wrote: "Theresa - it seems like there is a metaphor or symbolism in your experience of the Christmas cactus needing time in the dark in order to bloom. Like we should be using this time to nu..."Nice!!!
I agree with Joanne... it's amazing what the Universe provides when we are open to it.
Book Concierge wrote: "I now have to pick up some of the clutter I've let accumulate over these last 8 weeks so they can actually CLEAN. ..."And this is why I can never have a cleaner... LOL!
Charlotte wrote: "My mom started losing her vision a handful of years ago and it was found she was having branch ocular inclusions. Kind of like having mini strokes in the blood vessels around the edges of her eyes. She has some vision loss in her right eye. The shots help. She went from having to have them every 6 weeks to now 10. Her sight isn't going to get better but the shots keep it from getting worse. ..."Oh, wow. My big thing was a retinal detachment. It's been about 7 or 8 years now, I think. I've been on eye drops since (high eye pressure).
About a year after the detachment, I had cataract surgery on the same eye (I'm not sure if I was even 40 at that time!) - they did say the detachment speeds up such things.
I'm told I'll probably need cataract surgery in my other eye eventually, as well. And, they are watching for glaucoma, though there is no family history.
Charlotte wrote: "She told me her retina doc told her that some of the people that come in for appointments don't understand why they have to wear a face mask and go through all of the things they have to at the office since they feel that the virus is fake and everything that is going on is fake...."Yikes. :-(
I know a lot of people are being stupid about it, anyway, but you'd think in a medical place, people could respect the request to use a face mask.
Miriam wrote: "School has already started for the students in the final year, next week it is going to be the eleventh grade. That is where I ha..."That is so frustrating. I'm sorry it's all working out that way.
One thing I thought of as I read through your message. Are there students who might not have had the technology to be able to keep up with everything from home? Even if that is the case, it still sucks that those of you who could can't still get credit for that while others catch up.
I know some in US were wondering why their stimulus money had not yet been received. I have this week heard from several friends, retired and receiving SS, that they just received it. Most were direct deposit into the same account as gets their SS. But one received a check for some reason even though SS is depositd directly. So stimulus money is still being paid out, which confirms the original news that it would take through June for it all to be distributed.
I missed a lot of action this week, very busy at work! Silver lining today is it's Friday!
Also binged and finished Schitt's Creek, what an amazing show!
That's a lot of exclamations 🤣😂
I have GOT to catch up on my reading this weekend.
YAY FRIDAY! I also had a busy busy week at work.
Happy Mother's Day Weekend to all the mom's out there! Hope you all get to chat with your loved ones no matter what the distance.
Happy to have Korean baseball going! And the NFL season was announced also. SPORTS!
Meli-I'm almost done with Season 1, working my way through for the first time, so funny! I'm hoping Alexis grows some though, I'm getting tired of her already!
Joi wrote: "YAY FRIDAY! I also had a busy busy week at work.
Happy Mother's Day Weekend to all the mom's out there! Hope you all get to chat with your loved ones no matter what the distance.
Happy to have..."
YAY, SPORTS!
OMG, you are in for a treat, Joi.
I will say Alexis gets better and better.
Theresa wrote: "I know some in US were wondering why their stimulus money had not yet been received. I have this week heard from several friends, retired and receiving SS, that they just received it. Most were dir..."We finally got ours this week-They fixed the damn website and I was able to re-input our banking information-which was stupid that I had to do that because they direct deposit our SS every month!
Yes Yip, Yip for Friday! It is my brother's 60th birthday today so we are surprising him with Zoom Cocktail hour-should be funny as he is not a computer using at all.
Joanne wrote: "Yes Yip, Yip for Friday! It is my brother's 60th birthday today so we are surprising him with Zoom Cocktail hour-should be funny as he is not a computer using at all."
Happy Beddian Birthday to your brother! (the one where you turn the same age as the last 2 digits of your birth year).
Meli wrote: "That's a lot of exclamations 🤣😂..."LOL! I do that, too!
Spike Lee's tribute to NYC .. all boroughs .. during time of Shelter in Place. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/08/entert...
Been musing about my city, diverse population of 18.8M living on top of each other in small apartments, an expensive city, starting week 8 of Shelter in Place. Protests here are a way of life, and New Yorkers have strong opinions expressed loudly. Yet essentially no anti-lockdown protests.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/01/new-yor...
#NewYorkStrong#NewYorkGetsItDone
That is wild! I thought this was cool too... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/ar...
I wonder why the protests wouldn't take in NY City... that's interesting.
We are about to be open, with limitations, but those limitations will not be followed. My friend was at the grocery and a guy was coughing on the meat section to piss people off then loudly talking about how dumb all the people being cautious were with another lady and that seems to be prevalent where I am.
But I shall not rant!
Today I am going to catch up on Burnt Offerings. I binged Schitt's Creek and got no reading done this past week.
I think most New Yorkers have firsthand evidence that this is a true danger. Even upstate (where I am) people are taking it very seriously. People in some regions don't believe anything that comes from scientists or newspapers, and they defy any attempts to reduce their freedom.
People coughing on food or people have been arrested in some places. Grocery shopping has become dangerous.
I'm loving all the nice stories this week! And I'm sorry for those going through medical issues. Eye shots? Ouch. My hubby has had many sleepless nights, but he finally found a local lawyer with a great track record. (Thank you Theresa for getting me started on the search.) He has a 'prima facie" case for age discrimination because his manager hired a young employee to take his place on the same day he fired him. Salary discrimination is tied to age discrimination, so that's not a good enough reason to fire someone. He got an offer for part time work, thanks to one of his clients. They don't really need him yet, but they want to secure him for an upcoming project. In the meantime he'll be fine on unemployment and a small 1099 project.
I'm really grateful to have this group as a refuge and to help me put things into the right perspective.
Nancy, I am glad your husband is taking action-he deserved better, I am sure!
Joanne wrote: "Nancy, I am glad your husband is taking action-he deserved better, I am sure!"Thanks Joanne. He does. He's never been unemployed for more than a week before, so I'd like to see him do something fun while he can. Yesterday he found my (or rather my mother's) old sewing machine in the attic of our old house. Today he's tinkering with it to get it to work again. I think that's fun for him. I haven't sewn anything since high school, when I had colorful patches and needlework on my jeans. So I hope he doesn't expect me to start making things.
NancyJ wrote: "I'm loving all the nice stories this week! And I'm sorry for those going through medical issues. Eye shots? Ouch. My hubby has had many sleepless nights, but he finally found a local lawyer with ..."
I am beyond pleased that my comments and encouragement have benefited you and your husband. Victims of age discrimination in the workplace often do not pursue claims from many of the same fears, and even insecurities, as sexual discrimination and forms of harassment. I like to think the very large aging Baby Boom population is changing that by taking action when merited.
NancyJ wrote: "I'm loving all the nice stories this week! And I'm sorry for those going through medical issues. Eye shots? Ouch. My hubby has had many sleepless nights, but he finally found a local lawyer with ..."
Nancy, I'm glad you are beginning to get things sorted with your husband's job. It sounds like you are turning a corner in this difficult time.
I keep wondering where upstate you live?
Glad everyone is finding those open windows with the pandemic door closing on original plans!Found this fun article and thought I would share on how Sally Quinn's erotic novel published in 1991, Happy Endings, based the hero on Anthony Fauci!
https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/05...
She knew who he was back in 1991 and based on erotic hero on him?? Damn, queen 🤩
OMG, what a treasure of a find! HAHAHA. PLEASE someone read and review this book! Fauci was a heavy hitter during the AIDS crisis, so I think many people know about him in the 80s.
Joi wrote: "OMG, what a treasure of a find! HAHAHA. PLEASE someone read and review this book! Fauci was a heavy hitter during the AIDS crisis, so I think many people know about him in the 80s."
This sounds like one for NicoleR 🤣
Joi wrote: "OMG, what a treasure of a find! HAHAHA. PLEASE someone read and review this book! Fauci was a heavy hitter during the AIDS crisis, so I think many people know about him in the 80s."
Oooooooh, that makes sense. I was a little young and not familiar with the medical side of the crisis... thank you for the clarification. Derp 😋
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Well, no Cinco de Mayo special dinner of Spanish rice for me - it was scavenging through leftovers. But there also was no noisy Cinco de Mayo parade lining up outside my window, yay! It was charming my first year here...and it's been a downhill experience ever since.
Busy as I was, work is picking up. I'm even refering new work on to others. And I am planning to take a long weekend for Memorial Day.
So I need to get my Proust reading quota in today and will let others chime in. As always, this is a safe space to talk. But let's also share the silver linings.
My silver lining? As my work uniform is now tees and leggings, I have worked through 3 overstuffed dresser drawers of tees, and banished all no longer socially acceptable or ill-fitting tees. I am down to one drawer only 3/4 full, all fitting ... well except one. My Bette Midler The Showgirl Must Go On from Vegas is torn and stained but I could not pitch it. I need something to clean in while my cleaning lady is on hiatus, right?