Thursday, March 26, 2020
It has been an interesting morning so far. As of 6:00 a.m. today we have a stay-at-home order for the state of Colorado. To me, it simply seems like a formality, but there are people choosing not to follow suggested guidelines, so the governor decided to quit suggesting and start requiring. The people I have interacted with recently are already staying home except for essential trips. One of my helpers called me last night asking for an employment note in case she needed to go through a checkpoint. I explained a stay-at-home order was not martial law so there would not be checkpoints and sent her a note via email anyway.

The new law does not substantially change any actions at my house. I do not expect to get on a bus again for three more weeks, when my next wound care appointment is scheduled. My significant other, Donald, went to a hobby shop last weekend; they will probably be closed today. Donald goes to work and the grocery store mostly. Skilled trades are still essential services. My older daughter, Megan, only works doing personal care for me now, so she travels from her house to mine with an occasional stop at the gas station, Target, or grocery store. We have already been staying at home.

I got out of bed at my regular time and uploaded some client work into a shared drive before my daughters could complain about me stealing all the Internet bandwidth. First-world problem: My children are home from school and work requiring me to share my Internet. The horror! I thought I would get some pushback from my seven-year-old, Mika, this morning because she likes to watch Netflix cartoons while eating her breakfast on her extended school break. Instead, Mika went outside to play before she ate breakfast for almost an hour. I am thankful I have a big back yard. After today, next Wednesday will likely be the next day warm enough for me to go for a walk with Mika.

We are still allowed to go for walks and hikes, and visit the parks, but we are asked to maintain at least six feet of personal space. Fortunately, we simply have a stay-at-home order and have not been placed on quarantine. I cannot imagine not being able to leave your house at all, not even for walks. On the bright side, if we do get quarantined at any point, we have that big back yard to keep Mika occupied.

Mika just asked me the answer for a complicated math problem. Mika is not doing a complicated math problem; I am not making her do schoolwork work this week since it is Spring break. Mika likes to ask me random math problems and expects me to be able solve for the answer in my head. The math problem Mika queried about was similar to 100 + 78 – 5 ÷ 42. After I explained I have an average brain and could not keep that many steps straight in my head, Mika asked me what divide means.

It makes sense that Mika does not know what divide means because she has not even learned how to do multiplication yet. I told Mika that just like addition and subtraction were opposite functions, multiplication and division are opposite functions. Addition and multiplication make numbers larger, and subtraction and division make numbers smaller. I think I did a pretty good job of simplifying basic math functions for a second grader. Kudos mom!

My helper will be here soon, so we can finish my project. My helper came yesterday also, and we are nearly finished with my project, so I can probably send her home early today. Unfortunately, the washer and dryer still require the same amount of time to do their job no matter how much other work she needs to do.

My piece of advice to you is to get outside if your stay-at-home order allows it. I feel for the people in condominiums and apartments that may not have a yard or balcony. Open all your blinds to let some sunshine in to brighten your day.

​Until next time,
Susanne

Please check out my GoFundMe page.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020
My seven-year-old, Mika and I are having a fun day kicking back for her actual Spring break. Today is a warm day so we walked to Mika’s school to get a lunch. We do not need a free lunch at this time; but getting a to-go lunch at the school gave us a purpose. We passed several neighbors who were taking advantage of the good weather to get some yardwork done. We said hello to everyone; and stopped to chat with a few as we made our way to and from the school. We maintained proper social distance.

I do not plan to get very many of the free lunches at school while the schools are closed. That food should go to someone who needs it, and we are fortunate not to be in need right now. Mika’s teacher had sent a message at the end of last week letting us know the school district had added Mika’s school as a pick-up location for lunches from 10:00 a.m. until noon this week. That is a much better time for me than the 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. the other school in the area is doing. It is cold in Colorado in the morning.

I messaged Mika’s teacher to find out if she would be on lunch duty this week. She told me no; but said Mika’s kindergarten teacher would be there Wednesday and Thursday. I told Mika we could walk to her school to pick up a lunch and say hello to her kindergarten teacher. At a few minutes before 11:00 a.m. I grabbed my coat and hat, and Mika and I started our adventure. (It may be warmer, but it is not warm enough for me to go out without a coat and hat -- 87 days until summer.)

As Mika and I were walking to the school, we saw a man and two boys stop at our neighborhood park to play. Mika asked to stop, but I told her we needed to complete our task first. Mika thought one of the boys was a kid she had been in Head Start and kindergarten with and I told her it did look like his dad driving the car. I was hoping they would be gone by the time we returned.

The lunch delivery was set up nicely. There was a cart of bagged lunches set near the driving lane so the four teachers could easily give them to the people in their cars. I imagine that cart will be under the awning by the front door on Friday if we get the forecasted rain. The teachers will get a little more exercise Friday. Mika and I walked up the sidewalk, and her kindergarten teacher walked over to hand her a bag of food about 12 feet from the cart and then Mika moved back away to talk to her teacher for a minute since there was not anyone else picking up lunch bags right then.

Mika asked her kindergarten teacher if she had seen the boy she thought was at the park, and the teacher said they had picked up lunches a little while ago. As Mika and I walked away, we saw a car turn into the parking lot to pick up lunches. I am happy my school district is providing this service because so many people in my area need it. It is nice to know the lunches are available if we do need them in the future.

When Mika and I passed the park on our way home, the man and two boys were still there, and it was the boy Mika thought it was. It was entertaining to watch Mika and the boy try to keep social distance. They mostly talked instead of playing. The older boy climbed on top of the play structure and the dad called him down. The dad told the boy dare-devil moves were not allowed because the hospitals needed to focus on COVID-19 patients, not boys who break their arm or leg. The family stayed for about 15 minutes after we arrived, and we left when they did.

My piece of advice to you is to be part of the solution. The dad told me he would have let his son climb into precarious positions if the coronavirus was not weighing down our healthcare system. Think about ways you can ensure resources are there for those who need them.

Until next time,
Susanne

Please check out my GoFundMe page.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020
It is Tuesday, which is Susanne journal video day. Today I edited the best video reading so far. My friend, Cass, sends me hilarious videos to edit. When Cass makes a mistake while filming the video, she says a funny line to me and keeps going. I edit out those funny mistakes, so viewers are not going to find Cass’s videos nearly as funny as I do, until today (or June 3rd, the day the video goes live on my YouTube channel). Today I laughed out loud at least five times each of the at least three times I watched it.

Viewers will probably laugh only once, but it is really funny. I talk about how much I admired Spock from Star Trek, and when Cass reads the words, she throws up the Live Long and Prosper Vulcan sign. It cracked me up. I appreciate every single video my volunteers record for me, and I know it is not nice to have a favorite, but I cannot image anyone giving me more joy when I watch a video than I received today, not even Cass. This video was simply a matter of the text matching up perfectly with the ideal personality.

I do not match a particular post with any particular person for the most part. My friend, Crystal, has asked to read the posts I write about her and her family. Crystal usually gets very emotional when she reads my posts because she loves me so much, and I usually wait a month or longer for Crystal to record a tear-free video. Yesterday, when Crystal was visiting me, she asked me for a post that did not involve her family so she might be able to get through the whole video without breaking down.

Crystal thought she would do a better job with the assignment she already had, if she could record a tear-free video first. I chose a post I thought was not emotional until I read the final paragraph. I read the last paragraph out loud to Crystal to see how she would react. I watched the tears well up in Crystal’s eyes when I read the paragraph. When I finished reading, I told Crystal I would choose another post for her and she told me she could do it. I sent her text to record, hopefully her experiment will work

I do have a fairly political post coming up soon that I will probably end up reading on video. I skipped it for the person who would have gotten it in my volunteer rotation because I thought she might object. I do not want to assign the video to anyone who has not yet read any of my videos because they might not feel comfortable telling me no. I have assignments currently out to two people who might not misinterpret my words. When they return their assignments, I will send them my post. If both my volunteers decline, I will record it. I was not trying to insult anyone when I wrote this particular post, but sometimes what we say, is not what others hear. Angry Susanne wrote that post, so there is not much chance it will make me cry when I read it out loud (I may, however, raise my voice a little).

My helper came today instead of yesterday, so I could limit the people here for our play date with Crystal and Lily, and because I had a big project I wanted to start this week, and I would have been too distracted yesterday.. The switch in days worked out very nicely today because I did not have very many videos to edit today. I would have spent the afternoon programing journal entries to my blog, but I chose to start my cleaning project instead. I need to start getting my items ready to transport to the donation centers. I have been slacking on trying to do any decluttering because I did not have any volunteers scheduled, and I had expected my sister to be here this week to help me. 

My piece of advice to you is to revisit what make you laugh often. I have a parody video saved on my desktop of an acapella group called The Maccabeats performing Candlelight. I do not know the original song, and I am not Jewish, but every time I watch the video it makes me smile. The young men in the video are so adorable and dorky, they remind me of my adorable and dorky children. When I am having a bad day, I watch the video and my mood instantly changes.'

Until next time,
Susanne

Please check out my GoFundMe page.

Monday, March 23, 2020
We had a play date today! My friend, Crystal, brought her daughter, Lily, to play with my seven-year-old, Mika. We both payed attention to everyone’s health during the preceding days, and today both families were healthy. Crystal left her younger daughter, Alice, home with her dad, so Mika and Lily could have a special day by themselves. I am sure Crystal was also trying to limit my exposure to germs. Crystal and I were able to talk more because we were not tracking Alice’s whereabouts.

I told Crystal I was obviously losing my mind because I could not remember details from one day to the next. Last week, I saw a report on the news stating that our local bus service had discontinued some service due to driver illness and other reasons. Wednesday evening, I checked the bus route changes and an express bus route to a now-closed college campus was discontinued, and two routes would switch from 15-minute frequency to 30-minute frequency. Woo hoo! The bus route cuts did not affect me.

I had gone to my wound care appointment on Thursday, and, true to form, I was finished two minutes after a bus had just gone by. It was cold and I did not want to wait 28 minutes, so I rolled three blocks down to catch a bus with 15-minute service. I sat at the stop for nearly 15 minutes wondering why the bus was late. Then I remembered, this was one of the bus routes that switched to 30-minute service. Silly Susanne! I could have sat 20 minutes in a heated building instead of out in the cold. Live and learn.

The girls talked about some movies they liked, and it reminded me of a story I had seen on the news this morning. Last week my helper, who we both know, had seen the movie Emma. My helper did not like Emma, she thought the movie was boring. The reviewer this morning had raved about what a great movie Emma was. I wonder frequently if the reviewer watches the same movies regular people watch.

I told Crystal about the worst movie I have ever seen. Twenty years later Sexy Beast still reigns supreme as the worst movie I have ever watched. A little more than twenty years ago, our local one-dollar theater experimented with independent films. The theater had eight screens and each week they brought in one movie nobody had ever heard of before. I went nearly every week by myself to expand my horizons. I saw a few movies I even almost liked such as The Golden Bowl. Colorado Springs no longer has even a two or three-dollar theater. All the theaters in town are first run and too expensive for regular family entertainment.

Since this movie was released in 2000, I had a subscription to the newspaper. Every Friday, the newspaper had a pull-out section covering area arts and entertainment. Each week, I would read the review for the independent film so I could decide if I wanted to see it. The review for Sexy Beast was captivating. The reviewer wrote of this action gangster movie and I was in. I went to the theater on that Tuesday and waited for this awesome movie to start.

And I waited… And I waited… When was this awful movie the theater was playing going to get finished so I could watch the movie the reviewer talked about? This movie may have had the same name and actor, but I wanted the movie in the review! Sexy Beast was so bad, I almost asked for my dollar back. Sexy Beast was boring and did not make any sense. Honestly, I may not have disliked Sexy Beast so much if the review had not led me astray (Sexy Beast would still be the worst movie I ever saw, but I may have forgotten the name).

My piece of advice to you is to quit worrying about what other people think. I promise you; Sir Ben Kingsley does not care that I dislike his movie; he does not even know I think it is the worst movie I have ever seen. Sir Ben Kingsley was nominated for an Oscar award for his role in Sexy Beast, so a whole lot of other people obviously liked it. Their opinions count, not mine.

​Until next time,
Susanne

Please check out my GoFundMe page.

Sunday, March 22, 2020
My significant other, Donald, bought a dishwasher today. Our very old dishwasher, that came with the house when we bought it, quit working. Three hundred and sixty dollars, and five hours later, we have a beautiful black, working dishwasher. I am not sure how old the dishwasher and refrigerator in my kitchen were when we bought the house, but the stove, hood, and oven were from the original build in the 1960s.
 
Our kitchen appliances are starting to fail. We have had a pretty good appliance run in the twelve years we have lived in this house. We did need to buy a new washer and dryer within the first six months of moving in because the washing machine the previous homeowners left quit working and the washing machine I moved from our old house would not work when we hooked it up. I confess, we spent the big bucks and purchased a set which I could use to do laundry independently. (I have moved laundry from the washer to the dryer a few times.) Black was not available in the set I could use, so they are champagne colored.
 
We bought a second refrigerator for our lower level after our seven-year-old, Mika, was born. I had planned on purchasing that refrigerator since we moved in, but I was working in an office three days a week and the other two weekdays I would go to the convenience store to get a drink or lunch. Once Mika was born, I needed to open my wallet and finally purchase a refrigerator I could access for bottles and baby food. We bought a beautiful, black side-by-side with an in-the-door ice and water dispenser and deep door shelves to give me easy access to food and beverages.
 
We needed to replace the kitchen stovetop approximately six months ago. Donald bought a sleek black stovetop because black is my favorite color. I love it! I do not think Donald needed to replace the hood, I think he simply did not like the color difference between the stovetop and hood. Now we have a black hood, stovetop, and dishwasher; a yellow 1960s oven, and a white refrigerator in the kitchen.
 
I know that poor, old, tiny oven will not stay in my kitchen much longer because Donald already commented on mismatched appliances today; however, he took it one step further. He mentioned not wanting different brands. Personally, I do not care if any of my appliances match. I think you should not replace appliances until they no longer function. Yes, I would like all my kitchen appliances to be black, but I would not take out a functioning stove hood to match the stovetop.
 
Honestly, if I spent as much time in the kitchen as Donald does, I would probably find the contrasting colors distressing also. Donald was raised in a newly built home, the appliances matched; he thinks that is normal. I was raised in an older home, the appliances did not match; I think that is normal. We are both right, we are both wrong. I simply dislike the idea of replacing a perfectly good appliance before its time.
 
In the end, it is Donald’s choice. I do not spend enough time in the kitchen to overrule him. I spend my time in the laundry room where I get to see the champagne washer and dryer, and the black refrigerator. I picked out each of those appliances. Perhaps if I agree to a sexy, black oven I can persuade him to keep the white refrigerator until it dies. Today, we will both admire the new dishwasher and the ENERGY STAR label. I am sure Donald will be telling me how much better the new dishwasher is than the old one was in the days to come after he has run a few loads.
 
My piece of advice to you is to squeeze every last bit of life out of your appliances and be willing to let them go before their time. My oven has given nearly sixty years of service; it will be sad to see it go. The sexy, black oven will be beautiful, but it will not function for sixty years. They do not make them like they used to.
 
Until next time,
Susanne

Please check out my GoFundMe page.

Saturday, March 21, 2020
“Don’t touch my six pack.” My seven-year-old, Mika, just said those words to her adult sister, Megan. They have completed their third round of spontaneous exercise breaks. Mika was playing with her toys and Megan was using the family computer as I worked from my computer. Megan hops up every 20 minutes or so and she and Mika do a quick exercise. The first round of spontaneous exercise was 25 jumping jacks.

When Megan hopped up for the second round of spontaneous exercise, she told Mika, “Pick a number and an exercise.” Mika picked 30 pushups. Ah, the foolishness of youth. Mika barely bends her elbows for pushups, so they could be called rockers. Megan bends down to chest parallel with elbows and then rises, so I think they should be called dips. I told them when I exercised, back in the stone age, we started pushups on the floor. All the way up, all the way down. My parents probably did pushups with one hand and my grandparents probably did pushups with rocks on their backs.

The third round of spontaneous exercise was 10 mountain climbers, and now that I am about to wrap up writing about them, round four is 15 sit-ups. The girls needed to pause after four sit-ups because our big dog kept trying oi lick Megan in the face. When they finished sit-ups, Mika said that was the hardest exercise so far and went outside to play. Spontaneous exercise could be a fun coronavirus bonding experience for them since Megan has been laid off from two of her three jobs and has more free time.

I was getting ready to write about one of my clients when Mika’s sentence caught my fingers. I got up today to find an email with an attached article my client and I had discussed she write. My client sometimes has difficulty deciding where to start a project, and the subject was time sensitive, so I told her I would write a draft and then she could rewrite it in her words. I wrote a page of five tips and sent it to her last weekend.

I did not try to write like my client does when I wrote the article, I did not even try to write like I do, I wanted words on the page to give her a place to start. I imagine she opened my file, read it, and thought, “This is not what I would say at all!” Her next thought was probably, “How would I say it?” She said it in three pages instead of one, and it does not look like what I sent her at all. She did use two of my sentences in her article and I thought, “Woo hoo! I wrote those.”

My client called me yesterday to let me know the article was finished and being proofread, and to tell me of an idea she had of another way to use the article in her business. It was a great idea. This morning, as I read the article, I had another idea for a different way to use her article in her business. I sent an email asking her to call me today, so I could explain it to her. She said she had the same idea, and then laughed and said, “You notice I did not mention it.” I laughed too because my idea is related to another project she is having difficulty deciding where to start. We will be working on both the related projects next week.

We were able to make all this progress because I recognized my client’s weakness, and then acted. I understand how hard it is to start from a blank page, so none of my journal pages are blank when I open them. I have the month and year on the top and “My piece of advice to you is to” at the bottom. Those few words make a big difference. Removing the blank page is what I did for my client. I sent her a full page and told her to make it better. She made that page so much better because that is her strength.

My piece of advice to you is to acknowledge your weaknesses and embrace your strengths. My client hired me to look for her weaknesses and find a way to compensate, whether that be me doing work she is not good at or me telling her where to start her project. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and for some reason, most people wallow in their weaknesses instead of shining a spotlight on their strengths.

Until next time,
Susanne

Please check out my GoFundMe page.

Friday, March 20, 2020
I think my residual steroid hunger has worn off. The few extra weeks I was hungry after my chemotherapy treatment stopped were good for me. I have not had supper yet today, but every other day this week I have not eaten even half of what my significant other, Donald, serves me. It is official, Not Hungry Susanne has returned. The return of Not Hungry Susanne concerns me a little. The 11 steroid doses I received November through February did their job to fatten me up. I gained a lot of weight during those four months I want to keep.

Several stores in Colorado Springs have started offering “senior” hours one or two days a week to help keep the most coronavirus-vulnerable people away from the rest of the devil-may-care population. Okay, I do not think only older people care about protecting their health and the health of others. My issue with the senior hours is that they are the first hour a store is open. I get it, the store is cleaner because it has recently been cleaned and nobody has pawed all over the items on the shelves. I understand people attending the senior hours are more likely to get most of what they need because the stores restock the shelves with new deliveries each night. Limiting the number of trips a member of the most vulnerable population must make to purchase essential items simply makes sense.

I, for one, am not about to show up at the grocery store or Target at 8:00 a.m. Fortunately, I do not even need to weigh the pros and cons of choosing to risk my health or give up my comfort. Donald does the shopping for the family. (For the record, I am not yet a senior, but I am a member of the vulnerable population.) Honestly, I am sure I would choose to shop with the general population. Even in July and August, it is quite cool in the morning because this part of Colorado has a semi-arid climate and I dislike the cold. My risk thoughts may change when I start chemotherapy again. Hopefully the stay-at-home order can be lifted before I resume chemotherapy treatments and it will be safer to be out.

I just filled out the census form for my household and I found one of the questions to be awkward. It read: “Select one or more boxes AND enter origins. For this census, Hispanic origins are not races.” I chose white and there was a box under the word “White” with these instructions: “Enter, for example, German, Irish, English, Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, etc.” The origins box makes sense for immigrants, but I was born in the United States. I entered United States in the box for each of us and moved on.

Questions like the one on the census remind me of how little the human race has accepted the fact we are all part of the human race and that should be all that matters. When I was a teenager, my friend told me her father did not think black people were human; he thought they had six toes. I decided my friend’s dad was ignorant; and did not think much about her statement. Then a family of Mexican immigrants moved into my tiny town.

For six years, my family had been on the receiving end of bullying, taunting, teasing, and physical threats because our religion was different. For me, the harassment stopped almost overnight (I do not know if it was the same for my siblings). The people in town had a new target with brown skin. I am ashamed to admit Teenage Susanne was a little relieved the town had a new target. I would like to think I treated the family well because my parents did not raise us to look down on other people for any reason. I cannot imagine I ever would have intentionally treated any of the children badly, but I also do not remember making any effort to become good friends with any of them. Perhaps I simply did not have the time to deeply befriend any of the children because we moved out of town shortly after their family moved in.

My piece of advice to you is to learn from your past. I wish Teenage Susanne had the wisdom I have now; and reached out more to that family to let them know they were not alone.

Until next time,
Susanne

Please check out my GoFundMe page.

Thursday, March 19, 2020
Yesterday, I convinced myself I may have contracted the coronavirus. I had pressure in my chest; and started feeling exhausted and chilly early in the afternoon. I felt like I had a fever, and I was pretty sure the batteries in my thermometer were dead. I called the battery store to find out if they had been closed yet by an executive order; and was told they were still open. Woo hoo! I decided when my older daughter, Megan, came to put me in bed for the evening, I would have her get a battery for the thermometer.

I lucked out. The thermometer worked! My temperature was 99 degrees, not high enough to worry about. Ninety-nine degrees could be caused by environmental reasons, such as me keeping the computer heater on high because I was feeling very cold. I had Megan put me in bed a little after seven and I dozed through the evening television shows until 10:00 p.m. I woke back up all the way when the news came on, and I felt fine. The heaviness I had in my chest the past few days was completely gone. I had dodged the COVID-19 bullet.

Yesterday, the governor of Colorado signed an executive order requiring all schools to be closed until at least April 17th. I am not sure why the governor stepped in. Most of the schools had already closed for at least two weeks. If people are already complying with an unwritten rule, why write it down? Perhaps some private or rural schools did not close yet and some people were concerned.

I had a wound care appointment today, so I needed to ride the bus. I thought the bus might be a lot less busy since the college near me had closed already, but there was a fair number of people on the bus already when I got on. I asked the bus driver if ridership had dropped, and he said it was still pretty steady even though the schools were closed. I transferred to the bus route that takes me to my wound care appointment, and the second driver asked me why I did not take the Mobility bus to my appointment.

I told the driver I did not want the Mobility drivers reaching over and around me to strap down my chair. I do not know where those drivers have been, and what germs may be on their jackets. I have less personal space intrusion on the fixed route bus than a Mobility bus. The driver told me I should not ride this particular route because a testing tent had been opened in the parking lot near the building I was going to. The driver told me the people who thought they were infected and could not drive would be riding this bus route. I made a mental note that I now knew where to go if I convinced myself I had COVID-19 again, and I could get there by bus. Lucky me!

My wound care visit went well, my deep wound is shallower, but one of the other wounds was not so happy this week. I was chatting with one of my favorite nurses about the testing tent in the parking lot, and she told me 500 people had been tested on Wednesday. The nurse also told me that the hospital system management was planning to “retire” any nurses that are 60 or older. I told the nurse that was a ridiculous idea when nurses are going to be in short supply, then I changed my mind. “It is workers compensation behind the idea.” I said. “Older people are the most affected by this disease right now and the insurance company must want to limit their liability.” 

When Dr. Dash came in, I asked her about her private practice since the governor of Colorado had just issued an executive order eliminating elective surgical procedures. (Dr. Dash is a cosmetic surgeon.) Dr. Dash said she and her husband had closed their practice because they did not want to put their staff in danger. Dr. Dash said she would pay her staff as long as she could. Statements like that make me love her even more.

My piece of advice to you is to not give in to the fear. Four weeks from now I will take that same second bus to my wound care appointment and not worry whether other people are going to get tested.

Until next time,
Susanne

P.S. The hospital never did retire their older-than-60 nurses.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2020
I have been seeing the best in people and the worst of people this week. The news has reported that several charities have had more people apply to volunteer during the past few weeks. I am going to guess most of those new volunteers are the newly laid off, and I applaud them for taking their unwanted time off and using it for a productive cause. There is a good chance many of these volunteers will need charity services before this coronavirus situation is resolved.

Today was nearly 60 degrees so I took my seven-year-old, Mika, to our local park to run around for a while. We stopped along the way to record a video for her YouTube channel. Someone put an “eating animals” sticker on a stop sign along our route. Mika thought it was so cool and wanted to share it with the world. I do not have the heart to tell her it is vandalism, especially since I think the sign is cool also.

Across the street from the stop sign, a man was sitting with a skateboard. We chatted across the street from each other for a couple of minutes. He said he was going to show his daughter a fifty-year-old man could still skateboard. After we finished filming, an SUV pulled up to the stop sign. I motioned to the driver to go ahead of us and she started around the corner and then stopped. She rolled down her passenger window, so I rolled to the truck. She told me she was headed to the grocery store and asked if I needed any items. I thanked her and told her I have someone to shop for me.

I wished her luck finding what she wanted from the grocery store as I considered one of the actions which show the worst in people. I do not understand the empty shelves in grocery stores. I wonder if people are buying two years’ worth of supplies instead of two weeks’ worth of supplies. Fortunately, we have some toilet paper in the house, but I wonder if we will be able to buy any toilet paper three weeks from now.

I am hoping milk is available again this weekend since I drink so much of it. I expect my significant other, Donald, will once again face empty shelves for many of the items we wish to purchase this weekend. I know some areas are limiting numbers of items per purchase. I am pretty sure people are treating those limits like Black Friday limits. Everyone in the family goes in individually to purchase the maximum amount available, so they can get more. When I bought my first Black Friday purchase in high school, my three younger brother and sisters bought the same deal I did. It was candy bars that we did not share with one another, so I do not feel too bad about that one -- it truly was four individual purchases.

Last night, I heard the one story that has made me really wonder about humanity. Local gun shops are experiencing a much higher level of gun and ammunition purchases. I would like to think that anyone who has the money to purchase a gun would not be going to their neighbor’s house with a gun to steal their toilet paper and eggs or keep people away from their property, but I am not quite convinced.

On a lighter note, Mika and I had a good time at the playground. Just as our trip on Monday, there were not any other children in the park. There were four young adults talking and riding skateboards on the basketball court, so I told Mika to play elsewhere. We brought a NERF dart gun and Mika shot at a tree, she has pretty good aim. She had a long swing and then we went home.

My piece of advice to you is to ask people how they are doing and what they need. If my neighbor told me they were out of toilet paper and I only had two remaining rolls, I would give them one, perhaps both. Please quit thinking guns are a solution to the coronavirus issues. Knock on every door on your block or apartment building floor. Give your neighbors your number and tell them you are there for them. Your neighbors will likely reciprocate. “We don’t need no stinking” guns.

Until next time,
Susanne

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Tuesday, March 17, 2020
“It is my turn to call you next time.” That is what my friend, Rene, said to me before we ended our phone call yesterday. Rene and I used to work together before I started my own business, and we have kept in touch semi-regularly since. The only reason we still communicate is because Rene does all the work. I like Rene a lot and really enjoy our conversations; however, I almost never call him.

When Rene still lived in Colorado Springs, he would sometimes stop by with some Jimmy John’s and chat with me for an hour or so after we both left our mutual job. His wife is a wonderful woman and a fabulous cook. She and Rene moved to Alabama last year, and I do have their phone number, but I have not called since they moved. Fortunately, Rene is very social and calls me every few months to catch up.

Rene and I share a birthday month, 20 years apart. If Rene emailed me, I would respond more often, but he has always been a relationship person and does not to like to use computers for communication. Rene was a salesperson and understands the value of person-to-person contact. I get it; our phone conversations are much more interesting than an email exchange would be.

Yesterday Rene told me he only keeps in touch with two people from our office anymore. We chat about our families, mutual acquaintances, and politics. We are both politically conservative, and he leans a little more right than I do. We are both very practical; however, and support some politically liberal ideas. We both believe our health care system is broken and one of the biggest issues is that insurance is mostly tied to employment. We do not necessarily agree on the best way to fix it, which is the same as the politicians.

Yesterday we talked about airline bailouts and we actually agreed they should not happen. I happen to have read an article in the New York Times in the morning that advocated for performance strings to be placed on bailouts of large companies, American Airlines in particular. Rene felt the big airlines should not be rewarded for bad business decisions after they were bailed out after 9-11. He reasoned that air travel was necessary and someone who has made good business decisions could buy an airline for cheap after it files for bankruptcy and the new company will hire all those laid-off employees. I think both ideas have merit. I would be more sympathetic toward the airlines if they had an emergency fund to use first.

Rene told me I was his most bizarre friend. Mind you, he started the call telling me he had finally read a few of my journal posts online, and said I was the strongest person he knew. After he told me I was bizarre, Rene told me that a person cannot be insecure and be my friend. I agree with that statement. Rene said it was because I rarely reach out to friends casually. He pointed out an insecure person might construe that lack of outreach as a sign I do not really like them.

I rarely reach out to people casually. If you call me, I will talk your ear off and really enjoy our conversation. I am such a loner; I do not crave connection often. When my friend, Crystal, brings her daughters over for a playdate, we chat the entire time, yet I do not call her between playdates. That does not mean I do not need connection. I expect to actually make calls before this social distancing period has finished, because one of my networking groups has switched to online meetings and I am sure the other will cancel our April event.

My piece of advice to you is to reach out and touch someone with a phone call, a video chat, or talking through a closed window at their house. We are all going to need to get our souls filled during our isolation and social media and email are probably not going to do it.

Until next time,
Susanne

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