Category Archives: coronavirus

Dirt and COVID

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I am getting a tiny bit less rigid about having no contact with others  than I was in the beginning, way back almost a year ago when this coronovirus hit. Hard to believe I’ve been almost totally in my apartment – literally not going to the store, ever; not having anyone over, rarely; wearing a mask when anyone delivers a package or food, and so on – for this long. Good thing I love my apartment.

One thing i am noticing is dirt that’s collecting more aggressively on the rug in the spots where I sit all day. What, you may ask, am I doing sitting all day? Cruising the web, writing stuff, getting up and down for tea, snacks, meals, bathroom breaks, exercise.

Speaking of exercise, I missed my step and zumba classes terribly.  So for the first several months I worked out fairly vigorously to videos on YouTube. Found some rockin’ music and followed along, pretending I was in the class with them. Eventually, this wore thin. You need real people in class to give you the motivation.

These days, I read my Kindle propped on a stand while I step side-to-side on a thick rubber kitchen mat. On the days I do it at all. My FitBit Charge 3 tells me I’m getting steps and achieving “active minutes,” so who am I to argue?

Back to the dirt. I began to notice the rug was starting to look a little disheveled. I worried the crumbs and loose hairs were clogging up the fibers of the rug and would undoubtedly hasten the end of its best foot forward.

Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash
Dirt can take many forms, some much easier to see.
Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash

I normally get some help with housework but for several months, I didn’t want anyone in my house and many folks had no interest in going into other people’s homes.

Unfortunately, my closet is so jammed  that it’s hard to drag the vacuum out. Early on, I bought a nice hand-vac that I’d use to suck up the obvious chunks of debris on the rugs and on the other hard-surface floors like in the kitchen and bath. But it has limited ability to suck up embedded stuff, so eventually the dirt started to taunt me.

One day I got down on my knees – a serious commitment since getting up these days is a project. I’d already energetically applied the hand-vac and now I used a brush. Wow, who knew I’d been molting! And of course my hairs are extra long these days, with no hairdresser assistance, and I was shocked to find many of them somehow weaving themselves into the fibers of the rug. Reminds me of one of the many reasons I don’t have a dog. Then I started noticing them woven into my hoodies and other upper body coverings.

New helper comes now, and she vacuums well. It looks better, But having been down on my knees playing dirt snoop, I know it’s time. Anybody know of a good area rug cleaning company…that will also move furniture? I’ve got my double mask ready.

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What to make of this time in our lives

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Friends through it all

Difficult. Lonely. Scary. Frustrating. Whatever your choice of adjectives for it all, taken together, this pandemic, the increasing instances of natural disaster,  the pervasive injustice of racism and sexism, and our severely divisive political situation are making it hard for many die-hard optimists of any age to keep their stance.

How are you coping with life these days?

Before all this, many of us Chicagoans were carefree frequent consumers – partly a function of living in the heart of this big, vibrant city. The hope is we will go at least partly back to those times, but that’s not going to be fast or easy. So much uncertainty and instability.

Still, like grass and weeds that relentlessly creep up among building ruins and through cracks in abandoned playgrounds, roads and parking lots, the human race will rise again. But let us also fervently hope that we will find some meaning in all that we have been and are still going through. Perhaps we’ll learn to listen more carefully  to our fellow humans. Perhaps we’ll find new reasons to be gentle with ourselves and with others, however egregious the transgressions.

“Be kinder than necessary
because everyone you meet
is fighting some kind of battle.”

― J. M. Barrie (author of Peter Pan)

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Enjoy fall Saturday nights at Lincoln Park Zoo

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Join the animals for a fun night out at Lincoln Park Zoo

If you’re looking for something fun to do – outside and safe – on Saturday evening, and you’d like to support one of the city’s most beloved institutions, check out Lincoln Park’s new Zoo Nights series featuring extended evening hours, fall decor, food & beverage by Levy Restaurants, and a family-friendly outdoor experience.  Standard safety guidelines apply to accommodate COVID-19 including required face coverings, limited capacity, and more.

Zoo Nights are Saturdays through October 31st from 6pm – 9pm. All guests require advance tickets for $5 each available at https://www.lpzoo.org/event/zoo-nights/. Members will get an extra 20% off food and non-alcoholic beverages. If the weather sucks or you can’t make it for any reason, you can give your ticket to someone else. Or just write it off as a donation to our wonderful zoo.

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Essential workers keep the world going ’round – even in pandemic

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Essential workers without PPE – Photo by Remy Gieling on Unsplash

This strange time in history has me reading and listening to the news more than I ever have. Saw something this morning that got me wondering; Latino workers in essential jobs tend to suffer more infectious outbreaks of COVID-19. So where are these “essential jobs” and what do we know about them?

The Economic Policy Institute conducts extensive studies and recently compiled their 2019 data into tables of demographics about the 55+million workers deemed essential in our country. Those people going to work every day during the COVID pandemic…taking care of our needs despite the danger to themselves and their families. The industries that employ 60+% of essential workers are:

  • Health care – 30.2% of all essential workers
  • Agriculture and food – 20.6%
  • Industrial, commercial, residential facilities and services – 12.3%

All the rest of the industries deemed essential are in single-digit percentages of that 55+ million workers. If you’ve got the time to review, these tables reveal some fascinating facts.

News sources report that many  of these essential workers don’t have adequate access to effective PPE (personal protective equipment like masks and gloves) and are not able to keep proper distancing while working in close quarters. Unsurprisingly, then, they get infected in greater numbers with the coronavirus.

Imagine a world without enough people to work these jobs…with limited access to the services these workers provide.

Say thank you to these folks when you see them they do their thing: Treat your sciatica. Repair your vehicle. Cook your meal. Drop off your package. Fill your tooth. Deliver your food. PIck up your garbage. Take your temperature. Do your laundry. Drive you home.

And if you have any ability to affect such things, stand up for their right to be protected during this pandemic. Thank you, people.

P.S. Oh, and check out the wages table. The average gap between male and female pay in many industries looks to be ~$2 to $4/hour. Yep, really.

 

 

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Cleaning out your closets during quarantine?

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Quarantine project???

Helluva 9 weeks we’ve all been isolated at home. Many folks are doing in-home projects they wouldn’t usually find the time/energy for. One of those things is cleaning out and reorganizing closets. And what do we all have dozens of pairs of in our closets? Shoes. And if you’re like a lot of us, you have a few pairs you like but that aren’t that comfortable.

Sampled a new product recently called Formé Shoe Shapers. Articulated in all the right places so you can stretch just the right spots on your flats, highest high heels, and everything in between. Easy to use.

Formé Shoe Shapers even work in high heels!

Use these in ballet flats, boots, strappy shoes and more. They’re easy to adjust by expanding the “wings” of the toe shaper. As little as an hour can make a difference in comfort, but you can leave them in overnight or longer if you want more stretch. Just don’t stretch them so much that you get ridges showing on the outsides of the shoes. If you see those, release a little of the pressure.

I gave the shapers a real challenge. A year ago I bought a pair of Clark’s comfort shoes from Zappo’s – based on the hundreds of 5-star reviews. Got them delivered. Tried them on. Found they felt a little like Earth Shoes. If you’re a Boomer Lady you undoubtedly remember those shoes where the heel was slightly lower than the toe – supposedly good for your feet but not really all that comfortable.

Worse, after I’d worn the Clarks a couple of times around the house I realized they were quite tight across the instep – and there was something sharp pushing into the top of my foot. Somehow I didn’t have the energy to repackage them and return them (even though Zappo’s offers free returns). Still, I couldn’t wear them, so they sat in a basket for a couple of months.

When I got the shapers, I put them in the offending shoes for a couple of days. I can now wear thicker socks with them and that obviates the pointy thing (that I cannot locate no matter how I try). So these Formé Shoe Shapers have given me a pair of closed-toe comfort shoes to wear around the house instead of slippers.

The company delivers these shapers with a simple set of instructions on a nicely laminated card. You can keep that in the box with the shapers or in your file folder maybe under “S” for shoes – you have files, right? If you do file it in a folder, make yourself a note somewhere where you usually look for things. Once you become an experienced user, you won’t need the instructions anymore.

These are good for shoes that fit you but might be just a tiny bit too tight. They don’t let you go up a half a size or anything. If you’ve got the room in your closet and the budget, buy a few sets. Put ’em in your most popular shoes every night and keep those puppies ship-shape – instead of smashed on top of each other in a basket outside my pathetically disorganized closet. Available on Amazon.

And good luck with all your quarantine cleaning projects. It’ll be interesting to see which directions we all go in once we’re done with those.

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