I am not on facebook so I don't see all the updates and pictures. So, I thought I would start a thread to "chat" about how we are handling our new normal. It has been one week (last Thursday evening) since we started to hunker down. I knew this was coming so I started building up supplies in pantry and fridge three weeks ago. I supplemented these with a grocery run last Saturday morning and a top off today. We still have well over a month's food in the house.

I put a lot of thought into planning and purchases. I realized a couple of days ago that I however made two mistakes. One is that I didn't get lots of cash in advance of the lockdown. Luckily no impact on financial system and I have been able to top off at ATM. The second is not getting a gun and training on how to rightly use that gun. No way to fix that now as I am not going to take a chance catching the virus going to a store to buy a gun and then spending all the time at the range to get trained.

How is everyone else handling this self isolation?

Marc

PS Arlene and I have really enjoyed getting back into cooking; tomorrow we are going to bake an apple pie!

Seriously, Marc?! Do you really think things will get get that bad? Here in LA if hordes of hungry people show up in my yard I plan to throw oranges and yoga mats at them. 🤪

We are well fixed for food and dog treats and vodka. Oh and Amarula. We should be fine.
————————-
Helen

I'm not on Facebook either but really appreciated finding out how all in the USA are coping. Whatever happens, retain your sense of humour!

One thing I realised is our employees do not want cash - too many germs - lots of them want us to pay with card only. We also don't have guns - I'd probably shoot myself in the foot if I tried to shoot anyone or anything. I have no idea how toilet paper became so popular - maybe people were trying to cash in on our need for it. We don't physically have to stay home (yet) and the supermarkets are opening an hour earlier just for pensioners and disabled. Hasn't worked too well as the stores do not have adequate stocks for those standing in line (all close together).

Our restaurants are still open but that could change at any time. Take-aways (you call them something different) are doing a roaring trade but things change quickly.

Unfortunately our next cruise has 'bitten the dust' and I feel so sorry for Ngaire and her staff - what a 'bloomin' mess!

Marc - my younger sister had 'carpe diem' on her front door - but I don't know what the rest of the quote means? Thanks in advance.

Seize the day, put very little trust into tomorrow.

Plenty of squirrels, deer, and wild turkey around here. Illegal to shoot a gun in city limits but it would be nice to be prepared.

I had a client send me this yesterday.

In my father's time he was asked to leave his family and go to fight and possibly lose his life. We are being ask to sit on our our couch at home. I think we can handle that.

That put things in perspective - this too will pass.

Ngaire, very well put. Arlene and I are working on a jigsaw puzzle for the first time in forever.

Tom & I are fine...we've watched lots of movies ON DEMAND. We didn't buy enough food (by the time I went the shelves were empty) but have plenty of TP and wine (essentials). Door Dash is a godsend so not going hungry. Dogs still getting daily walks in immediate neighborhood. (when it's not raining). It's like a ghost town in SoCa. All the schools are closed, most businesses too. People are working from home. Most restaurants are closed, those still open are take out , drive thru's or Door Dash only. We're on Day 10 of being self quarantined. Amazon and Amazon Fresh have been very helpful !! Every 5 days I've driven around town just to get out of the house for a change in scenery without getting out of the car.

We too are hanging in there. We have food, wine, papertowels and at least for now TP. Its like a ghost town here too, took a little drive yesterday and it was unbelievable. One good thing is we talk to the kids a little more often so thats nice. I think what we miss most is our social life in our community, everything is shut down and all events cancelled and we are all just staying low.....going to the market when necessary although our last trip was somewhat of a waste as shelves were empty. Watching a lot of HGTV and Food Network. Last couple of days have been warm enough to sit on the patio or screen porch, but I think that is changing tomorrow.
Looks like our Hawaii trip won't happen, although we haven't officially cancelled yet. Had to cancel Frank's 80th birthday celebration and our son and daughter in law have cancelled their planned visit for that. But overall we are holding our own.
Miss our KLT friends......good idea Marc at least we can stay in touch via LCT.

Sorry for that assumption, Marc. I grew up in NY so of course I assumed you needed a gun to shoot your neighbors. Only Wild Turkeys in NY were in the liquor store.
Marcie, my sister says she was able to use an app called Instacart to order groceries and have them delivered. I haven’t used it but she says it worked great.
—————
Helen

Helen - You crack me up! Oranges and yoga mats!!!
Marc - I was shocked when I read it last night. Then I woke up early and though, oh, he must have been joking.
So, shooting a deer maybe could accomplished if we had a gun. But then I'd have a bigger problem in knowing what to do with it??

Alice and I are fine and lucky that we can work from home.
We have enough wine and vodka for several weeks. And enough food so that we won't have to go out foraging for a couple of weeks. We have some local small restaurants we want to support who are doing take-out only.

Started to watch all the Stars Wars movies in chronological order.

Here is a great video our golf pro found and sent to all the club members. It really explains why it's so important to stay home. It's a few minutes long, but hopefully everyone will watch all of it.

Click here or copy and paste link below into browser

https://www.youtube.com/embed/fgBla7RepXU

Kim, I bought 40 pounds of charcoal but have no idea how to dress a squirrel or a deer; at least charcoal won't go bad. Maybe I can find some ribs or brisket next grocery run.

Marc

George and I are still working. I have cancelled all non urgent appointment (annual exams, etc) but still have to see patients and am now seeing all these women who are overwhelmed with stress. Still doing surgery as most of mine is not elective. George works in his office and on the phone, then goes out to the ranch to help Jonathan.

Stores are pretty bare, but we have enough meat in the freezer and food to last several months. Also stocked up on wine. The guy at the liquor store was doing a booming business and was really happy!

George has enough guns and ammo to supply everyone. And he can field dress a deer. Also pheasant, ducks and quail. Ponds are stocked with catfish. Plus we have over 250 cows. So we are good there.

I think we should be able to see where this thing is going in about another week. The median incubation of the virus is 5 1/2 days, with the longest known incubation being 11 days.

June and I are in New Zealand. My visa expires on April 2 one day after we were scheduled to leave on April 1 to take a cruise from Abu Dhabi. Of course that was cancelled. We booked a flight to LAX for March 30 as I can not over stay my visa as they could deny me entry for several years in the future. We saw an immigration lawyer about extending my visa. Can not extend my visa but can apply for a new visa as the spouse of a New Zealand citizen. Did that on March 18. We were told by the lawyer that they normally grant an interim visa so I can stay while they process my new visa. Have not received the interim visa as of today. Will give them until middle of next week but will need to either get an interim visa by March 29 or pack and take the flight home on March 30.

If I get the visa we will be here until around June 1 at which time we would return to CA. Even with the new visa there are stay limitations that I need to keep in mind or we can not return on November 19, 2020 as planned.

As I do not expect most of you are aware of what is happening here I will summarize.

The government of New Zealand has taken excellent steps to control the spread. They have been well ahead of the curve on the transmission of the virus. As of last night there has been no community transmission of the virus. There are 39 cases all of which are travelers from outside the country. I really commend the government for taking the steps they have. All travel into the country is limited to citizens or spouses of citizens. Stores have been emptied which has frustrated the government which is constantly telling the public that there is no shortage of supplies. We are not limited in our ability to go out and about. Had lunch with the Howell's on Thursday afternoon at a local restaurant at the harbor. There were not many customers and we were able to sit mostly well away from others. Schools are still open. The governent has warned everyone that they may need to put in place more restrictive polices in place so are encouraging all to limit contact and wash, wash and wash your hands. The government yesterday gave New Zealand air a loan of almost One Billion as the air carrier is considered an essential national asset. Which I agree. Kiwi's can not get around their country without air transport nor get to other parts of the world. Air New Zealand has cancelled most of its international travel schedules with only a handful of fights still flying.

I apologize for the long post. Just thought some may be interested.

Meanwhile the US government is telling US citizens get home as soon as possible or they may be denied entry or words to that affect. We are all affected in one way or another, just all with different issues.

Tonight at midnight the Ambassador Bridge (between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada) is closing to non-essential travel (commerce and nurses and doctors excluded from the ban). So far in Windsor there are no cases but they are trying to contain it by closing the border to the U.S.
Schools, churches, restaurants are closed here. We have two cruises booked on the Explorer in May and August.
I have serious doubts that either will sail, but that is the least of our problems.

Hoping everyone stays safe and healthy during these trying times.

Susan F.

Interesting Ralph. You should definitely stay in NZ if you can.

Los Angeles county is essentially in lockdown as is Orange County. I drove to Chino in San Bernardino county this morning to take a walk with my sister and noticed that way more places were open there than here in LA County. I stopped at her local Trader Joe’s to get a lime ( necessary for Cosmo-making) and much to my shock and dismay there was a line of about 30 people waiting just to get in the door! I haven’t seen that before today. I may have to go steal some limes from neighbors trees😏
—————————
Helen

Thanks Ralph.

That was a great summary of what is happening in NZ. Much the same here in Australia - our borders were closed last night to coordinate wth NZ. Even Tasmania is self isolating!

We are day 9 of our self isolation. Thankfully lots of lovely walks where we live so we can keep fit in mind and body. Buts it’s feels really strange to keep our distance from other walkers where only a few days ago we would stop for a quick chat.

I know, right? Alice and I are experiencing the same thing out on our walks!

I am baking more cookies than Mark can eat! We are lucky to have deserted beaches and forests to walk through for exercise. As for entertainment, we have started watching "The English Game" on Netflix that premiered yesterday. It's from Julian Fellows, who brought us Downton Abbey. Not exactly my favorite subject, it's the story of football (what we call soccer in the US) but it has lots of side stories which are great. Some of the accents are pretty thick so putting on sub titles helped us hear every word!

Russ and I are at our lake house which is nice. Lots of deer, squirrels, Aoudads, and of course wild hogs Marc. We don't hunt (Russ does have a bb gun) but lots of friends here do.
I am setting a remote pouch game at 1 today with our kids. I will let everyone know how that goes.

Take care and pretend it is a sea day.

I like that idea!

There are also live streaming safaris to watch.

Making travel plans for my next trip:

,


,


,


,


,

The remote pouch worked. Russ and I were playing with one deck. Our kids each had a deck. We would deal each hand then via facetime hold up their cards and they would pull from their deck. It was slow, but we were not in a hurry. Sea day in Texas.

If I get through this, I may live to 100! Doing strenuous, daily 2.5 mile hikes (with no chats with those few I see) and am back on a light-weight exercises routine a few times a day. Eating so much citrus, I'm turning orange. Lots of odd jobs in support of Mary, who besides making our house shine is making a hundred or so stuffed bunnies for inner city kids at Easter services - yes, my high skill job is stuffing!
Best to all
Jim C.

Jim, I hope those bunnies are stuffed with trivia questions; need to train the next generation of trivia teammates.

Say hi to Mary for us.

Marc

Just made it home after 38 hours of planes & airports. Perth was a breeze, Singapore crowded and many wearing masks, Dubai a total confusion & mess, No lounges open and 3 security checks from leaving our plane and getting to the next in the same concourse. Now we may self isolate so we don't catch the virus here - we've been in such a sterile environment for so long. I'm not so worried about passing through Singapore & Dubai airports because nobody from the many affected countries was allowed to enter them. Orlando was a breeze. Used Global Entry and just had carry on. Made it from the plane to car in 15 minutes.
Jim

Jim and Pat. Pleased to hear you are home. Can not imagine traveling for 38 hours. You must be more than exhausted. Stay home and rest up.

Glad to hear you made Jim and Pat. We were worried about you guys getting out in time.

Jim and Pat so happy to know you are home as well. Ralph and June in New Zealand - a safer place to be for sure. Flying home March 30 hope all that goes well.

So relieved to hear you made it home!

Mark and Cheron

Since you're all staved for entertainment, and have nowhere to go, for a few weeks anyway, I make this offer ...

I will build a made-for-message-board game for your amusement. But it takes me time and effort to do that, and I would want to know, in advance, that there are at least three players who will participate, which you can indicate with a reply here.

I've done this before mimicking Jeopardy!, but I've also done other games - Wheel of Fortune, Name That Tune, Family Feud, the 50 Cent Pyramid, and so on. (If you have a preference, post that in your reply also.) I'm American, so the trivia tends to be American-centric. And I try to use a lot of visual and audio clues because you can't just do an Internet search to figure those out.

This is an example of a game of Jeopardy! on my board - which sometimes uses colorful language, so click only if you're okay with that.

https://dribcritic.com/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=14

I've done this on other message boards - a hockey board, and a modern living board - and my own boards. They can take anywhere from a week to a month to finish a whole game, because like climbing the Cliffs of Insanity, it's slow going.

If I know that enough people want to play by Monday, we can start on Tuesday - because I also am starved for entertainment and have nowhere to go.

I'll give it a go, although I will admit that I am neither as clever nor as perverse as drib, despite my having come up with what is arguably (as long as I am the only one arguing) the best acronym for a cruise in the history of cruise acronyms (PENGUINS & ICEBERGS, which was ignominiously overlooked in favor of the easier-to-remember-but-rather-prosaic POP - not that I am in the slightest degree bitter about that oversight, of course). Speaking of POP, I nominate its creator to join this game, as he is possibly as clever as drib and certainly as perverse.

Editing to suggest that the Jeopardy format is a good one (as long as Alex is still with us, of course; otherwise, the game would be even too morbid for the likes of drib and the creator of POP, no??).

This afternoon, Monday , March 23,2020 in New Zealand the government put the entire country on Lock Down as of Wednesday. Certain services will continue. Schools closed, no social gatherings etc. There was some indication of stopping all air flights except certain flights considered necessary. Do not know at this point the status of my Visa Application and if an interim visa will be granted. If not and if the flight is still going I guess we would leave NZ for CA on March 30. We hope that an interim visa will be granted will be calling the immigration service on Tuesday to see what the status is. We are somewhat apprehensive to fly as it is impossible to avoid the other passengers on the air plane.

We are living thru something that will go down in the history books and talked about for the next 100 years.

Up date in Australia.

All States locked down.

We drove down the famous Hastings Street today to park at the end and walk through the rainforest. All the restaurants were closing up, putting shutters down. We pondered to ask ourselves when we would see them reopen. Not for sometime we fear.

Ralph, sincerely hope you get your visa extended. You and June are much safer where you are.

Drib, I will give it a go; although I am not as clever as Fred. I think we need Adrenn to "pop" in too.

Marc

Fun idea Drib, I will not be playing though. We are pretty busy right now trying to sort out all the cancellations and FCC issues. Appreciate you all being so patient. Hopefully make some headway here before the next set of cancellations comes in from the cruise lines. I am guessing they will do it 30 days at a time. It is taking forever to sort out all of this out but eventually we will get there. Dallas put a lock down on going to office as of midnight tonight (shelter in place) only essential offices could stay open. Expect our town of Plano and Frisco will do the same thing. Fortunately we can all work from home so that really helps and we are very busy with the cancellations. But we even made a few new bookings that was nice!

14 cases in Williamson County (all under age 60) including four in Georgetown; possibility of getting from chance encounter in grocery store or food takeout or delivery slowly rising. I assume none of cases are in retail as I would hope that they would release that info as many could have had an interaction. Went for a drive yesterday and was surprised to see Office Depot, Best Buy, and Michaels still open.

Game on!

See you tomorrow, same forum, new thread.

I might post the first one tonight, so you can get in the groove. I'm in Pacific time, and I'm usually done walking the dogs and all about 9am.

Wonderful idea dribs! I will fill in the third slot for trivia. I nominate fogmalkin to the fourth slot.

Back here in revolutionary war country, we 5 counties including Philadelphia are earning a third week of home sweet home, including a brand new curfew at 8 pm. Our little town, to date, has no cases. We are the only white area in a sea of blue (denotes case(s) in that town). Enjoy it while it lasts.

Public service announcement:. The owner of the LA Times,who is also a doctor, has a terrific video on the pandemic virus. I found it on YouTube; there must be a link on the LA Times website. It is 33:15 runtime and very informative.

Cheers, Anne