During the last update, Lawrence along with Douglas County had issued a stay-at-home order but by the end of this week, the governor will have issued a stay-at-home order for the entire state of Kansas. In previous posts I have referred to these days as the New Normal, but it wasn’t until this week when things have started to feel like this is what the foreseeable future will be like and I might as well settle in for awhile.
Day 10 – Monday, March 23, 2020
Settling into Unsettling Times
This week began like most previous work weeks, particularly for Mondays – up early and several meetings throughout the day. Only now I have gotten used to enjoying the extra time I save from not having to search through clothes to wear and drive to a building for a meeting. I am settling into a routine and with a routine comes some sense of normalcy. Our children are also starting to realize the larger picture of what is happening around the world and one of our daughters finally baked a cake with us. As the economy begins to falter as businesses and services begin to close their doors, the treasury announced that it had access to 4 Trillion dollars available to flood the economy once it had directions from Congress, but Congress continues to haggle over the finer points of the stimulus plan. Today marked the first time that over 100 people had died in a day from the Coronavirus. I left the house to make one final trip to my building to retrieve some items to work from home. I wore my ID just in case I would get stopped by law enforcemnet for being out and about (even though this is not currently being enforced) but I am trying to follow community directives as best I can.
Day 11 – Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Olympic History
Several work meeting today so it was refreshing to see my colleagues but I am beginning to feel somewhat sedentary and a bit cooped up. At lunch time the weather was cooperating so I went for a little run. It felt good to have the flexibility to do something like that in the middle of the day and it felt good to be outside for an extended time. I can’t forget to do some physical activity everyday or I am going to come out of this new lifestyle 50 pounds heavier, which I am already 50 pounds heavier than I should be (Ok maybe 40 due to my husky build) but still. Today the 2020 Olympics were officially postponed (never happened before) to next year due to the virus and the World Hearth Organization has sent out a warning that the United States may become the new epicenter as the global death toll passed 17,000. Sensing that public restrictions may increase in the coming days, I left to go to Menards for some essentials (they do sell groceries there and actually had milk and eggs) but essentials for me this day was lots of paint for the bedrooms and laundry room. It was odd to see how empty the store was and even odder to see all of the giant blue “X’s on the floor to show where people should stand in order to be six feet away from everyone else. With no NCAA basketball games or high school track meets in the near future, I was going to need something to do so I started painting the bedrooms.
Day 12 – Wednesday, March 25, 2020
$20 Fill-ups
Found out this morning that Prince Charles has tested positive for the virus while at the same time, China has lifted the lockdown it has had in place in the country since the end of January. If we follow China’s pattern of shut down through to now, we might be lucky to be dining in our favorite restaurant (23rd st. Brewery) by mid-May. The senate managed to pass a 2 trillion stimulus package that is now on its way to the House. I spent much of the day meeting with staff to get organized for the upcoming week but it was also 72 degrees outside so when Amy found a break in her day, we went for a nice, refreshing walk. I ran to the pharmacy later in the day and realized I needed to fill up my car for the first time in abut two weeks and I purchased gas at $1.79/gallon. So, cheep gas, but can’t go anywhere…
Day 13 – Thursday, March 26, 2020
The Thunder Rolled
The unemployement mark is marching towards 4 million today based on filings for jobless benefits with the number forecasted to end somewhere near the 6.5 million mark when this is all said and done. The US has passes the 1,000 death total and I have had two colleagues whose children have been tested for COVID-19 (live in other states) because of exposure to people who have tested positive. The areas their kids are from report that it is bad, much mores than we are seeing in Kansas and warn that it is heading our way. Every time I look at the chart for new cases, the US line keeps bending vertically which is not what we want to happen. I have a bottle of champagne waiting for us when that thing finally flattens! Seeing the line bend vertically is disconcerting. Spain is now in a lot of trouble with the virus. Today was supposed to be the opening day for baseball but of course, that season isn’t playing either and presently doesn’t know when it will return. Maybe a super short season will be the only way for my Cleveland Indians to win a World Series. Tonight a strong thunderstorm rolled through the area around 11:30 PM with lots of thunder and lightening. If you are like me and have lived in Kansas your whole life, there is something very peaceful about lying in bed and listening to a thunderstorm.
Day 14 – Friday, March 27, 2020
United States takes the lead, but that’s bad!
Two weeks has felt like two months. I made my weekly Dillons run at 7 AM and looks like the supply chain is catching up and the panic-shopping is slowing down. I found everything I was looking for and the only items in short supply were cheese and sanitizer. I am optimistic that I can start shopping in future weeks at what I would consider normal times, like an evening or a Saturday afternoon. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also tested positive so that make the prince and the PM positive for the UK, both still to appear to be in good health. The stimulus bill passed the house today so checks are start going to be delivered to the people to help offset the financial hit of this virus to the economy but I think a lot of people that get these checks are just going to stick them in savings for awhile until we see if anything changes. Many people are still able to draw paychecks, albeit from working at home but with US surpassing Italy and China today in confirmed cases, I’m not sure how long it will be before we get to be social again.
Day 15 – Saturday, March 28, 2020
A Visit to the Ozarks
It is the weekend so the morning was pretty slow around here. After a late brunch it was time to get back to painting the girls’ bedrooms. They all still had the flat brown paint from when we moved in so they were happy to get a fresh coat and clean new look. We got two rooms completed and the others taped off and during this time we received news that the governor had issued a stay-at-home order for Kansas that would be in effect at midnight tomorrow. Besides hearing that, I didn’t watch much news today and after finishing the two bedrooms, we decided to kick back, relax and start watching one of our favorite Netflix series – Ozark. Marty still has lots and lots of bad days.
Day 16 – Sunday, March 29, 2020
Escape from LFK
Not pretending to be Snake Plissken or anything, but we did escape from Kansas on Sunday afternoon. I realize I may have violated a local stay-at-home order but the weather was cooperating enough to have our daughter take her senior pictures. It was good for her soul. We had waited this long because she was set to get her braces off in March but shorty after she got them off the virus hit. Her school closed, her prom was cancelled, her track season was cancelled and so was her graduation. Her photographer agreed to meet us in the West Bottoms district of KC MO, which normally isn’t very full on a Sunday afternoon but today was particularly deserted. I promise we followed all CDC guidelines during the shoot and I can assure you that social distancing was not a problem. It was good for her to have one senior-themed activity during these crazy time and so we took advantage of crossing state lines while we still can. Before and after the trip to KC, we finished painting the other two rooms and then continued with our Ozark series. earlier in the week, President Trump had discussed reopening the economy by Easter weekend but today he took the advice of his doctors and extended the CDC social distancing guidelines through April 30th. Based on this decision, at a minimum, we still have one more month of this….
Current Mood:
Being in normally busy locations like Menards or the West Bottoms in KC and seeing them now devoid of people has an almost apocalyptic feel to it. The big, empty pictures of Times Square, NY, the French Quarter, NOLA and the Las Vegas strip are equally as shocking, I look forward to seeing the people come back and socializing with our friends.
#ucandewitt 
Love your updates keep them coming if you would . Stay safe miss all the staff
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