We had two “huddle” meetings at work about coronavirus at the start and end of the day. We still have to come into work, odds are low the entire place will close, a couple of managers are going to try to experiment with working from home in the next few days to see if it’s doable, but really it’s not because we can’t access several things we need without a VPN. So yeah, still not working from home. Not that I expected to, mind you. I keep rooting for the entire place to be shut down so I don’t have to.

I brought up stuff like “Hey, remember when we were shut down due to protests and y’all just didn’t have people from the public come in?” (though at this point our entire managerial chain except the youngest manager is too new to remember this, at least the Reiki-doing manager does) and they were all, “another office might let us use their window.” I hope. Otherwise, they are having meetings online, including some conference they were going to have tomorrow (the one that grandboss spent a lot of time crafting for...so much for that).

Can I just point out the irony of my grandboss going to Washington over the weekend (at least she drove rather than flew) and then talking about this stuff? I’ve had meetings with her every day and it what, takes five days for symptoms to kick in? I guess we’ll see if we all get it next week. Also, HOW HAVE TRUMP AND PENCE NOT CAUGHT IT YET?!?!? Fucking seriously?! If I believed in the devil or whatever...

I admit, I’m fortunate: I don’t work for my livelihood in selling stuff or the entertainment industry or food service. I’m not going to get laid off for lack of business. I am 99% sure that even if we are utterly closed, I will still be paid since they paid us for being closed during the great smokeout. Financially I should be fine. I have more reasons to be exposed than some folks, but that’s about it.

Other than that, it’s quieter but otherwise situation normal-ish (all fucked up). I’m still seeing students hanging out in groups, going out to the restaurants near to work, etc. I still wonder where all the Asian students are getting all the face masks when no one else can get them. However, now theater shows are getting canceled left and right. The latest one in Winters is supposed to start tomorrow and I would probably go (unlike other theaters, they actually would have the space to spread people out since seating in a community center is flexible and not set seats, they have fairly small audiences, etc.), but I strongly suspect it’ll get canceled so what is the point. Am bummed for my friends, who I was looking forward to seeing. I overheard my other coworker who acts (at a different theater) mentioning rehearsal and I guess his show is still going on, though it doesn't open for a few weeks. Laurel is in that one.

I’m getting weird emails on my personal account. Like O’Reilly (which I have bought stuff at like once or twice) sending out emails about how they clean everything, ditto the credit union, and some theaters were doing the same before they got forced to cancel. I am somehow now on some random custom T-shirt mailing list I do not remember buying from or signing up for, advertising shirts saying that you’d trade your spouse for hand sanitizer. I get that they’re still trying to make a buck, but who’s going to see that shirt, the spouse that you’re now stuck at home with? And anyone else sending out sales and events like it’s a normal life just looks like they should turn off their auto-blasts. Come on, people.

After work, I went to the library (still open) and the Dollar Store and Grocery Outlet. I started feeling like I was very slightly getting a sore throat and thought, “what if I can never leave the house again?”, so I went. (I’m fine, I ate ice cream and it went away.) The latter was the busiest I’ve ever seen the joint, with people actually buying full carts of stuff. I trust that at this point I have enough snacks for a month of quarantine, at least. I don’t even have the storage room here for this much food.

Heard from a lot of people today.

Tigress talked to Lioness, and the news at her house is bad. I will just say that it sounds like her son made some poor life choices that will definitely ensure that he won’t be parenting again, or sobering up, any time soon or far. Tigress also called a former coworker of ours (on speakerphone in the office...I wish she wouldn’t do that, but she wants me to eavesdrop on half her work calls now) and that one is sick, with fever... though of course we don’t know if it’s coronavirus or her usual tendencies to get sick, who knows there.

I briefly talked to Mom, who seems fine but mostly was concerned about her volunteer job at a theater, which has of course been closed now.

I also heard from my shrink today, saying that life has been a clusterfuck. She went to NYC a few weeks ago because her uncle was dying, then her aunt died of grief right after the funeral, and her husband had another health incident but is fine now. She said she didn’t know if she should go back to California and leave her 97-year-old mother alone, and I concluded that if she leaves, (a) she may not be able to come back and (b) most likely never see her again. I assume one way or another in a few days, flying home won’t be an option for her anyway. I felt like I was doing the therapy.

Jackie called and she was less freaked out about her grandma than I would have expected. Mostly she was all “There’s still plenty of places open!” and “Where’s a good halfway place we can meet up next month?” and “Let me know if the Scottish Games are still on, I wanna go!” I was all, uh, seriously, I don’t think anything at all is going to be open to go to within a few days other than the grocery store...

It’s Scott’s birthday today, which I suspected might kind of suck under the circumstances. I sent him a silly picture (coincidentally, today’s anti-affirmation calendar had a rude message about eating cake makes you too fat to kidnap) and he liked it, said he was doing all right, and that was it there for trying to make conversation.

I think under the circumstances of presumably not seeing him or well, probably any friends, my mom or anybody else who’s not my coworker for the foreseeable future...yeah, time to get over it, right? I know, not a priority these days, but it bothers me anyway, like all the shows and festivals being canceled, and wanting to go out this weekend. And being asked what my plans were for the weekend and being all, “well, I wanted to go to a play and the bookstore in Sacramento but I guess I can’t do ANYTHING.”

I just keep thinking of the Newsfleshverse, and “The Last Man On Earth” TV show because everyone died of “a virus” in, what was it...2020? Yeah, we didn’t need THAT to become a reality.

previous entry - next entry
archives - current entry