Reading during the Pandemic

We’ve been reading during this stay-at-home time. An unknown reader has gathered some appropriate books.

The English patient had caught it on the beach. “I should have stayed home,” she said. Now she was in quarantine in the dark house of isolation. Still, hope springs eternal. With a little bit of luck, common sense, and personal hygiene, horror stories must end soon. Always remember, clean hands save lives. And when in doubt, don't go out.

Restaurant Food During Stay-at-Home

A couple weeks ago Jimmy John’s had a special offer: their 8” sandwiches for $2.99.  That’s a great deal, normally they run close to $6.  Amidst the stay-at-home order, I knew I could order online and they have a carry-out rack where they put the order and you just walk in the door and grab your order in a sack.  J agreed to make the pick-up.

I attempted to order online.  Got a not available response.  I tried another store a little bit further away but within a reasonable distance.  Got the same response.  I tried phoning in the order, but received a busy signal.  I pretty much figured they were receiving too many orders.  But I was not happy so I found their “feedback” button on their website, and I told them their online ordering was not working.  I was surprised to receive an email reply back fairly quickly.  It said they were overwhelmed (just as I suspected), but I could go to the store and order in-person.

J went and purchased our two sandwiches.  Even that apparently wasn’t problem-free.  They were out of the 8” sub rolls.  J could accept their sandwich bread (no!) or they could use their smaller-sized Little John roll or he could wait ‘til the rolls were baked.  He accepted option 2.  I doubt I would have noticed the difference if he had not told me.  The sandwiches were great.  I’m glad we persevered.

The following week I received a $10 gift card from Jimmy John’s.  No explanation, but it must have been because of my comment to their “feedback” option.  I consider that classy.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

I received my yearly birthday reward -- a free burger -- from Red Robin.  I decided to take advantage of their “free” delivery option and order our supper from them on Friday, my actual birthday.

I stumbled through their online order process.  It was a little confusing to get the free burger processed, but I finally did and received the response that our supper should arrive about 45 minutes later.

A half-hour after the delivery time, I called to ask where it was.  The gal answering the phone said it was sitting there waiting to be picked up.  I called again 2 hours after placing the order and spoke to the manager.  He gave me two options: he could deliver it himself “but I don’t know when that would be” (sure, I want cold burgers) or he could cancel the order.  I told him to cancel it, and he assured me the amount would be deducted from my credit card AND that my free birthday burger would be added back to my rewards account.

That did not happen.  I called again Monday night and talked to a different manager.  He explained that the 3rd-party delivery company had a major computer glitch Friday evening.  He then took down my information and called me back a few minutes later to tell me my credit card had been corrected and that the free burger was back in my account.  I’ll redeem my birthday burger offer in a few days.  But this time I’ll order it for pick-up.  And maybe run by Portillo's for my free slice of birthday cake.

Alaska Bound .... Or Not

Our airplane tickets for our Alaska cruise vacation were selected March 30.

Then 2 weeks later we learned that Princess Cruises had canceled all of their Alaska land/cruise trips.

Truthfully, this was a relief.  It took the decision away from me.  I would not be comfortable traveling in September even if it is considered “safe.”

Encouraging Thoughts

Encouraging thoughts during the pandemic stay-at-home orders.

The Whiffenpoof Song

I heard The Whiffenpoof Song on my iPod while walking.

We're poor little lambs who have lost our way
Baa, baa, baa
We're little black sheep who have gone astray
Baa, baa, baa

I then spent several minutes wondering “What is a whiffenpoof?” and “Why is that word part of the song’s title?”

Google and Wikipedia helped:  A whiffenpoof was a tool for training Boy Scouts in tracking skills. The whiffenpoof itself was a small log, about the size of a stick of firewood, with nails driven into it on all sides, so that it bristled with nails. This was dragged through the forest on a short leash, by the older Scouts who were training the younger. It might thus create a track that the tenderfoot must learn to trace out. Or it might, alternately, be dragged across a trail in order to confuse the trackers. The fewer nails that were driven into it, the more difficult and subtle was the effect.

That connects a whiffenpoof to lost sheep.  But why wasn’t the song called Poor Little Lambs or Lost Sheep.  That’s when I discovered there is an introductory verse which I’ve apparently never listened to.

To the tables down at Mory's
To the place where Louie dwells
To the dear old Temple bar we love so well
Sing the Whiffenpoofs assembled with their glasses raised on high
And the magic of their singing casts it's spell

Yes, the magic of their singing of the songs we love so well
"Shall I Wasting" and "Mavourneen" and the rest
We will serenade our Louie while life and voice shall last
Then we'll pass and be forgotten with the rest

We're poor little lambs who have lost our way
Baa, baa, baa
We're little black sheep who have gone astray
Baa, baa, baa

Gentleman songsters off on a spree
Doomed from here to eternity
Lord have mercy on such as we
Baa, baa, baa

It’s still a pretty strange song.

My questions have now been answered, and I’ll figure out something else to think about on tomorrow’s walk.

Fun with Felines

>>  written March 18, 2020 -- how COVID-19 interrupts everyday life  <<

We were supposed to be in Chicago this weekend (Thursday - Sunday) taking care of P and J’s cats while they were away on their respective bachelor/bachelorette weekends.

P and their two cats

Yes, you read that right.  Me taking care of a cat. 

Several weeks ago P called and asked for a favor.  I said “Don’t ask us to babysit your cats.”  Ha!  Little did I know.

Early January one of the cats, Bella, was diagnosed with diabetes.  They changed the food and had to give Bella insulin shots twice a day.  I knew JB would be able to handle the shots, and I figured I’d be able to observe.  Then P said it was really a two-person job: usually he held the cat and comforted her and J would do the injection.  That made me double-think.  But …..

I’m getting a little excited thinking about eating breakfast/lunch out in their neighborhood.  I took a look at Google Maps and spotted several potential restaurants.  I started thinking of easy suppers I could prepare for us and what foods I would need to tote along.

JB said he could occupy his time watching March Madness.  I knew I could either sit in a chair that does not entice a cat to want to sit with me, or I could hole up in the guest bedroom.  P said they’d move the litter box out of the guest bedroom closet.  Ya think?

I went to the library on Friday (instead of Saturday which had precipitation forecasted) and borrowed a couple books.  A custodian told me they’d likely shut down the library.  So JB and I went back Saturday morning during slushy snowfall so he could get books and I could find a couple DVDs.  If we’d waited for nicer weather, the library would have been closed.

I was excited to find Amadeus on the shelf.  I’ve been wanting to see that again for a long time -- it’s never on TV.  I also borrowed Suffragette.  I know nothing about it, but Meryl Streep is in it, and I like her.

Then, things changed.

I was getting a bit antsy about needing to “shelter in place.”  In other words, people really shouldn’t be traveling around no matter how safe they think it is or that they feel o.k.  It just seemed like being a good citizen required JB and me to not go.  But I didn’t want to screw up P and J’s plans.

I needed to put a vacation hold on our mail and newspaper deliveries.  So Sunday morning I asked P if the weekend was still going on.  He had previously told me that Bella had improved and wasn’t taking insulin shots at the moment.  Since this was a “vacation” for us, we still planned on watching the cats.  But on Sunday P was concerned that his elderly parents shouldn’t travel into the big city, and he said they would get friends to stop in a couple times a day to check on the cats.

Then the next day he said their weekend plans were canceled, too.  Wise decision.

So, I don’t get to watch Amadeus.  And we wouldn’t have been able to eat out at restaurants with all of them closed.  I get to “shelter in place” all that I want.

Meanwhile, their wedding has been postponed and they are considering their options for a future date.

Update: March 20, P texted that their other cat Jack had been lethargic and weak lately.  They took him to the vet, and it sounded like he has liver cancer.  Then the next day, P said Jack died the night before.  So very sad for them.  But as it turns out, this happened the weekend P and J were supposed to be out of town.  So, even though it was very stressful for them, at least they were home with Jack when he died.

Jack in February

Hoping to Achieve Nothing

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Pritzker’s stay-at-home order went into effect Saturday at 5 p.m. All residents were directed not to leave their houses except to conduct essential business, and all non-essential businesses to stop operations.

The order came as the Illinois Department of Public Health announced 163 new confirmed cases of the disease and one additional death, bringing the total, as of Friday afternoon, to 585 cases in 25 counties and five related deaths. The C-U Public Health District announced on Saturday that two University of Illinois employees tested positive for the virus.

While the order is in effect, people will be allowed to leave their home for a wide range of ordinary functions such as seeking medical attention and to acquire necessary supplies and services, including groceries, medicines and supplies that enable them to work from home. They also will be allowed to leave home for outdoor activities such as walking, jogging, running or walking their dog, provided they maintain at least a six-foot distance from others. Per the order, bars and restaurants will still be allowed to offer carryout, curbside pickup and delivery, and mail and shipping operations will continue as well.

Dr. Emily Landon, lead epidemiologist at University of Chicago Medicine, described the measures as necessary and indicated they might remain in place beyond April 7. “In short, without taking drastic measures, the healthy and optimistic among us will doom the vulnerable,” she said. “We have to fight this fire before it grows too high.”

“These extreme restrictions may seem, in the end, a little anticlimactic,” she continued, “because it’s really hard to feel like you’re saving the world when you’re watching Netflix from your couch. But if we do this right, nothing happens. Yeah, a successful shelter-in-place means that you’re going to feel like it was all for nothing. And you’d be right. Because nothing means that nothing happened to your family. And that’s what we’re going for here.”