Health and Sanity Check-Ins

[sprocketta]

Things are crazy now. I think we are all trying to stay healthy and maintain sanity as well. I thought I would start this thread so folks can check in and discuss how they're doing. I want all my BIC friends to be okay. I will kick this off with a first post. Take care of yourself lovelies.

[greeneyedgirl107]

@Seymore3 I'm sorry to hear about your situation.  Keep your chin up.  It sounds like you have a good perspective.

[heartsmyface]

Checking in from the ghost town of the Sheraton in Vancouver BC now has 231 confirmed cases and 7 deaths.  Such a harrowing week.  We had to revamp our entire business and are running our first all remote conference ever right now using a skeleton crew of six brave mask wearing hand sanitizing souls.   It’s going surprisingly well- better than we expected for a complete overhaul a week prior to our conference date.  
We’ve been alone in the hotel.  It’s literally just us and 1000 empty rooms, some bored staff and lots of Lysol wipes, spray, hand sanitizer, n95 masks which we preemptively bought for all our physical attendees before the group gathering ban took effect.  We’ve been biking the hallways and playing zombie apocalypse and hiding behind the first thing we see if we spot one of the other people here.  A bit of lightheartedness to get us through all the tension while keeping ourselves as distanced as possible.  I’ve only had two emotional breakdowns which given the stressful circumstances isn’t too bad.  
I’m hoping everyone stays safe and is able to self isolate.  This is going to be a rough one mentally and financially for a lot of people.  If anyone’s bored, sad, frustrated or feeling desperate don’t do it alone. I’m up for video chats and messaging.  Stay healthy💕💕💕 

[GG84]

@heartsmyface 

BC is being hit especially hard right now. I wonder if it’s because Washington is at your border? We have the next highest cases in Ontario bordering NY. I have no idea 🤷🏼‍♀️ It’s scary. Keep your family safe friend.  

[heartsmyface]

@GG84 Vancouver is a port city so it’s no surprise we’re both importing and exporting cases.   The government seems to be handling things well but we could use a little harsher of a lockdown.  I think that’s coming.  There are too many people not taking the recommendations seriously.  the beaches and sea wall had way too many people out and about enjoying the sun today.  It seems most people were following the two person group limit but when there are hundreds of duos out in the same location that location needs to be cleared out.  
You too love.  Scary times. 

[ather]

@heartsmyface  I’m glad your able to have some fun out of all of this. I feel so bad for BC. I was suppose to fly to NB on Monday but we aren’t going now. I’m not leaving my small town! I also still have to work since I work at a hospital. And I haven’t started wearing a mask but I am cleaning everything and everyone all the time!! Things will get better. We just have to stay positive!! If you need anything I’m here for you 💜

[heartsmyface]

@ather  I think we’d all go insane without a little humour.  It took the edge off at least.  

Take care of yourself.  I’m seeing all the healthcare professionals here and am feeling so worried for everyone and am hoping everyone is able to stay healthy through this.  All the cleaning has been both necessary and therapeutic for me here.   I feel like I’m doing something while feeling helpless.   Thank you.  The same goes for you.  If you need to vent or anything feel free to message:) 🌝

[ather]

@heartsmyface  My only struggle is what to do with my toddler all day. He’s very busy so it’s hard to keep him entertained in the house all the time! Hopefully it warms up and we can go for a walk this weekend!! 

[heartsmyface]

@ather   YES!   here are some ideas that have worked for us and tend to amuse for longer periods-

blow bubbles inside in a carpeted area so the floor doesn’t get slippery.  the soap that dries on the carpet makes spills easier to clean up later:D

Make a big batch of play dough and hand him some utensils and random things to imprint in it) use painters tape to make ‘roads’ on the floor And hand him some hot wheels 

pull a chair up to the kitchen sink throw some towels down and let him play in the built in ‘water table’ in the house 

never underestimate classic pots and pans 😄 

tape a bunch of paper to the floor and hand him some washable markers 

give him a cardboard box. 
build a fort or house out of blankets And cushions 

[ather]

@heartsmyface  Omg those are awesome ideas. Thank you so much I will definitely try them out this weekend!!

[snoflakefaerie]

@heartsmyface  You may already be planning on this, but if you are able I highly encourage looking in to donating the extra N95 masks and extra supplies to a hospital. Especially in larger cities, medical staff are running out of PPE due to the run on supplies. I also commend you all for going remote with the conference. My boyfriend's mom just came back from a medical conference at Disney and I'm flabbergasted they didn't go remote with it. I can't imagine all these doctors and nurse practitioners going back to their hospitals not knowing if they are carriers. 

Anyway, I don't mean to be preachy or anything. Good luck to you and your coworkers. 🖤🖤

[heartsmyface]

@snoflakefaerie   We’ve been in contact with a public health nurse who can take them off our hands.  

As for the conference, we HAD to make it work because it’s our main source of income for the year.  The only reason I believe we were even able to is the nature of our conference.  Most conferences would have to hire tech support but we ARE the tech support.  We know just the right people to throw something this big together in a week (with no sleep but haha😅) It’s been so hard watching a crew of 40 staff dwindle down to six as people’s countries quarantined them, flights were cancelled and the borders were closed.  We’ve been waking up every morning waiting for the damage report on the news before knowing what our course of action will be.  

And oh my gosh, are they all in quarantine now?  I heard there was at Disneyworld in early March who contracted Covid-19!  Doctors should know better but maybe it was before we knew how serious this was? 

[snoflakefaerie]

@heartsmyface  I'm glad to hear the resources will go to those who need them and know how to implement their best use. 

I haven't heard from my boyfriend what the expectations are of the conference attendees, but his mom seemed to think it was fine to go back to work (at a hospital) because she doesn't have direct patient interaction (she flew back yesterday), which was honestly baffling to me. I'm hoping that they quarantine her for the appropriate time, or that she can get tested to know for sure.

This conference was the week of 9th-13th, so I personally think they should have postponed it or tried to do it remotely, especially given the news of the Biogen conference being a direct cause of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Boston. But maybe I'm just feeling sensitive since that's where I live.

[heartsmyface]

@snoflakefaerie It was mutually beneficial.  They’ll be used to help some of the homeless population affected by this and we get to feel good knowing we could help in our small way.  

Had our conference been a week earlier, with the public knowledge and recommendations we had then,  we would have been throwing it physically ourselves... with protective gear and chairs two meters apart so it’s not completely shocking they threw the event.  Just odd that they’re not enforcing self quarantine measurements for attendees.  I realize that missing work could hurt her and she may be in denial but she CAN pass it to people at the hospital that DO have patient interaction.   
Everyone’s entitled to their feelings and none of them are wrong.  We’re all viewing this from our own perspectives so of course we’re going to have different reactions.  it’s easy to see things retrospectively and be frustrated at how things were handled.  All we can do is try our best from where we’re at now. 

[RebeccaBT]

Hi @sprocketta,

I am loving this idea. I hope everyone is staying safe! 

Best,
Rebecca

[sprocketta]

Adding an update. My smaller suburb now has 2 cases which shut down a daycare and a Chick-Fil-A drive thru. I usually get iced coffee in the McD's drive thru and ordered some cans of Costco cold brew coffee to be delivered instead. My boss is now working from home as she has been coughing. She and her husband have been taking their temperatures daily and hers was 99 today. Certainly not a fever but she talked to her boss and decided to work from home. @Kim888 I looked at pictures of NYC and couldn't believe the empty spaces. This thread is making me feel fortunate for what I have and it's good to hear the check-ins.

[ather]

@sprocketta  They closed down all schools and daycares where I live until September 😱

[sprocketta]

Wow @ather I've heard this was a possibility. It feels so crazy. My nephew is already bouncing off the walls. My sister told me he's really restless. I have a work friend who is worried about his sin as he struggles in the summer without the structure of school. Things are very crazy indeed.

[heartsmyface]

@ather  Same.  They’re saying as long as kids were on track with their schoolwork they’ll be bumped to the next grade and plan to give us learning packages.   

[ather]

@heartsmyface  That’s good. They said here that all kids automatically passed. But it looks like now it’s online. So crazy. 

[ZakiyaBT]

This is a great post! @sprocketta I hope that you all stay safe and healthy! 

Best,
Zakiya

[makeitup305]

Checking in from AZ. It's not too scary over here so far, at least where I live. Stores are pretty depleted on grains, milk, eggs, and meats (and no toilet paper, of course) but there's lots of fresh veggies and fruits available and they seem to restock the other stuff in spurts. Thankfully I'd been going to various stores almost every day since last Friday so we're pretty well stocked. My last day at work was on Tuesday and no idea when I'll be back on. I do home health so it's pretty up in the air right now when I'll be able to do some work again.  Unfortunately, both my boyfriend and I are independent contractors so if we don't see clients we don't get paid. We don't get vacation or sick days and we don't have health insurance so it would be really scary to get sick. We thankfully have some savings but not as much as I would wish for. We might pick up a small side job (working for an apt concierge service) in order to have something during the next couple of weeks. Both of our families are spread out so it's just the two of us here, along with our pup. We have two different couples that we're good friends with so we might have a couple of game nights so that we don't kill our SO's. It sucks because my way to destress is shopping or walking around the mall and both of those things are a no-go right now. I hope everyone is staying safe.