Story 25July2022: Covid!

Today’s blog will be shorter and to the point. The hummingbird house has an outbreak of Covid. I have tested negative, and so has Susie. Susie was not feeling well, according to the nurses there. I have not gone to visit as this is too fluid of a situation for me to pop into. I will try to get there in a few days.

I have talked to the RN and some of the nursing aids. Unfortunately, my call last call was not returned. I am sure they are busy and will get back to me soon.

The day started with me being tired and my breathing issues coming back. I take my inhaler, but I sometimes feel like drowning in the air. I know that is not happening; it is just your mind playing tricks on you, but it is not a great feeling.

I woke at 6:15 and then decided that 7:30 was better. The extra hour did help. I had breakfast, yogurt, and a pair of small lemon poppy muffins I made yesterday. I listened to the 8:05 status meeting that ran over its time slot. I then got in the shower and dressed, thinking I was headed to hummingbird house today.

I had multiple calls from Michelle Nixon, the owner of the hummingbird house, and a note to listen to my voice mails. I missed the call while getting dressed. The message told me that Covid-19 may have come to the adult foster home.

I tested for Covid-19, and after 15 minutes, I was negative for the virus. I gave permission to test Susie; she was bi-weekly tested at Forest Grove, so this would be a normal process for her. When I got my last update from Brittany, the RN, Susie was negative but not feeling well.

I was not visiting today. I left a message to let Susie know.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I managed to mess up my timesheet to my boss’s amusement–it took me three tries to get it right. I did follow along and helped with a crisis of the moment.

Lunch was leftover spaghetti I had delivered a few days with chicken parmesan. I was also using my inhaler a lot. Likely a reaction to the new stress of dealing with this. Also, not visiting Susie leaves me feeling inadequate and alone. I know nothing I can do but let the Covid-19 emergency play out and know that Susie and the folks are all bolstered by the follow-up vaccinations. I have had four shots. We are doing the right thing, but it sucks.

I will self-isolate for the next three days and test every day–I have all these test kits we never needed. Guess it is time to learn how to use them.

Here are my negative results with the verbose instructions with pictures. Yes, I swabbed myself. Sucks.

On instructions, I got a brilliant set of new instructions for the 1/100 HMS Victory plastic model I want to build someday (it is enormous) delivered from the Czech Republic today. The instructions include every rope and block to be constructed and strung, and the instructions create an assembly order that makes each process small steps. It also has clear painting instructions (not cheap at 60 Euros). In addition, I have bought sails, cannons, wood decks, and other components to enhance the model from the same source: HIS Models. I was so happy I sent them an email, and they replied, offering to provide any help when I start the build. In addition, they hope to see photos of the model when completed. Excellent.

During all this chaos, I finished replacing two more outlets in the house. I did cut the power to the house and just did the two replacements. I did slip with the pliers to get the wires out of the old outlets. Back in the 1970s, they had a push in technology for the plugs and lights. Now I am using the old-school stuff that requires creating a loop and placing the loop under a screw. Getting the wires out of the old stuff is a challenge. I finished them in about 15 minutes and tested the plugs; they were all good. One of the plugs I replaced with an expensive wall plug with C-USB power plugs.

Aside: I update the house occasionally, and when the light is bright, it is hard to see with the power out. I replaced almost all the incandescent lights with LED fixtures. Some I have replaced again as the LEDs fixtures can fail as they are both the light and the fixture. The LEDs use much less power, and cost less over time, I do not have to get on a ladder but once now to replace the light (I hope), and the LEDs produce little heat.

I made dinner listening to the last status meeting at 5:05. I defrosted a pork chop by just putting it outside and flipped it after 45 minutes. I found some frozen veggies and microwaved a potato. I was hungry. I made pan gravy for the chop, but I did overcook the chop on the stovetop. I usually use the oven to finish a chop, but it is a hot day, so just the stovetop for dinner today!

I chopped some garlic and fried it in butter with almond slices. I wilted the beans I took from the microwave with the goodness of butter, almonds, and garlic. Frozen green beans need a bit of kick to make them good. To be perfect, frozen corn niblets must be steamed in a basket with pepper and the lightest salt (show it the salt). I like adding butter to the frozen corn before the water gets hot. Sour cream for the potato and a bit of the pan gravy, and I add one green olive as I saw that done in Istanbul’s potato bars.

I finished dinner and finished the book The Club Dumas, trying to relax my breathing. I like the ending and the complexity of this book. The movie made from the book, The Ninth Gate, does a great job of resetting the story in New York and simplifying the insane plot of the book. I love both. But, it is hard going as the author does not make the characters very sympathetic–you have been warned.

I needed to relax, and over the last few years, I have looked at all the fabulous 2001 A Space Odyssey model kits. Some are even 3D printed! Many nice things with lighting kits and movie-matching layouts are available now. Thus, I put on, for free, the movie and watched it about 1/2 way. I did not remember the film very well. I did notice all the colors now, as all of that is reproduced in many models.

I wrote the blog and tried not to panic.

Thanks for reading!