How Are You Folks Bearing Up?

Tell us your coronavirus / remote work / social distancing stories, in the comments below.

Comments

[marksammiller]

How our startup just went fully remote

https://medium.com/agoric/11-things-covid-19-taught-us-about-the-decentralized-workplace-c03e1efebdc5

[Brett Bellmore]

My wife, based on CDC recommendations, (I'm over 60.) has put me on partial lockdown. Have to come straight home from work, shower, change clothes, and stay home, instead of running errands.

We stocked up on nonperishables weeks ago, could hole up for a month if necessary.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

I'm practicing social distancing by posting on Reason. A lot of my fellow commenters convince me that I really don't want to be around most humans.

I'm also dismayed to find that my local grocery has stopped home delivery. I fear I may have to physically enter their store and once again be around fear-addled humans (well, New Jerseyans, but let's not split hairs).

Remote work-wise, I've said that I really should clean my desk off in case I have to work from home.

[Krayt]

I'm stocked up on baloney for sandwiches.

Wait, that's what I usually eat. Nevermind.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Been working from home for years now, and my pantry is always well-stocked from worries about forest fires, blizzards, earthquakes, and other natural disasters disrupting supply chains. I could go several months, I think, depending on how tired I get of rice and beans 🙂

[SykesFive]

I'm a lawyer at a litigation boutique. My wife is, basically, the executive officer of an area studies center at a university. Her job was taken over by COVID issues about four weeks ago as various study abroad and other international programs were put in jeopardy. This transitioned to preparedness for canceling in-person instruction and moving students out of the dorms.

My job really hasn't changed. I'm the kind of litigator who sits at a desk all day and writes, consults Westlaw, and talks to the rest of my team or very occasionally a client, expert, or opposing counsel. The most exciting thing for my office was supposed to be a jury trial starting two weeks from now, but now that's been postponed. It's not my case but we all help out around here. About a week ago, the associate who was spearheading the trial prep drive started calling chambers every day to find out if the court was making any changes due to the pandemic. He's pretty happy about this. One thing I can tell non-lawyers is that lawyers very rarely actually want to go to trial. The month or so before a big trial is sheer hell and it just gets worse.

Anyway, back to home. We made a big warehouse store trip a couple weekends ago. All that stuff has been sitting in our pantry and basement. We won't really need to buy anything for a month. This was not so much because we think civilization is going to collapse or anything but because we knew that when the closures and emergencies were announced, the shelves would be emptied. And that happened in our town today. There is nothing left to buy except very weird things like cauliflower pizza crusts and some odd flavors of jam.

When we made the big shopping trip, we also decided to knock of nonessential housework and enjoy our weekends and evenings. We figured we'd have plenty of time at home to do chores once the crisis arrived. We also ate out a lot on the theory we'd be eating at home for a couple weeks.

And here we are. The kids are going to get two weeks off school. We can both work from home--really anywhere we have an internet hookup--and have sketched out a plan to alternate going in to work. Both our offices are very accommodating.

We're not big sports fans, but we're both UVa alums and would have watched the Wahoos. We'll catch up on Netflix/Amazon/movies that we missed.

[David Cary Hart]

Yesterday at Whole Foods in South Beach, many of the shelves were empty. Walking down one aisle I let out a small cough. People fled in response.

I am moving end of the month to a building with a great gym. Now I am wondering about the sanity of using it.

Amazon Prime Now (household, grocery and Whole Foods delivery) must be doing a tremendous volume of business. For a $5 tip I avoided Publix.

[Adam S.]

Today I canceled a full week of depositions next week that had me traveling from TN to Chicago. Our firm has closed two offices entirely, but the other ~19 will open Monday subject to changes over the weekend. All staff were directed to bring their laptops home this weekend in case the offices are shut down before Monday, and measures have been taken to beef-up the remote access capabilities of our network so that (hopefully) it won't be overloaded with hundreds of employees trying to work remotely.

[Jmaie]

My commute is 20% less time but my regular poker game got cancelled. So a mixed bag...

[The Turtle Dove]

Finishing a dissertation (and associated negotiations) at a large Midwestern university from distant humble quarters in small town in the mountains.

Stopped into the local Walmart yesterday, a small posse of heavyset good ol' boys was perched at the intersection of the cleaning fluids and the lavatory rolls, watching the scene unfold. (Empty shelves, many carts laden with water bottles.) As I picked up one of the lavatory rolls, one of them called out to me, gesturing at all of the empty boxes on the shelves, "Hey, that brand's on sale." They shared a loud laugh.

Contemplating the newly more Quixotic legal and academic job search to come. On, Sancho.

[Jeff Walden]

I work at Mozilla. I have routinely worked remotely in the past when visiting family for Christmas or other holidays. Working remotely, from home, is not terribly different from that.

However, there's something to thinking about "I'm home, I can go to the office, have camaraderie there, talk with relevant coworkers if they happen to be in my office" that is pleasantly routine. Our office is not wholly closed -- if you need to, you can come in (and I did Monday to briefly pick up two packages I had mailed there) -- but most everyone is out of it, there's no lunch service, the snack supply is not being replenished, etc. So there's not much point in going in, even to break things up.

On the non-work front, I don't own a car, and I either bike or walk everywhere. This means I tend to need to get groceries about once a week or so, because I can't actually carry more than that at once. (To a rough approximation.) I picked up a full load around Saturday. Until about two weeks ago I didn't have a functional bike rack, but I do have one now, so next time I go I will probably bring two panniers so I can fill them with stuff (up to ~54lbs of stuff, if memory serves). I'll probably have to return in the next day or so.

As far as other things go, I've gotten out for a walk occasionally -- there are either many people out during the day, seems like, or very very few. And I can always go on bike rides (tho I would probably keep my distance from anyone). In the past I would be playing ultimate frisbee with friends or going on runs, but an injury gets in the way of doing that right now, so it's no loss for me. I would be watching Red Wings games for other entertainment, but with the season suspended I can't do that now. 🙁

Most pressingly, tho, I was going to go on a bike trip from the Bay Area, to Las Vegas for a Red Wings game and a flight to DC to see Google v. Oracle, then back to bike onward to central Texas to visit family for Easter. The game's off, SCOTUS is closed to the public, so I'm definitely no longer going to Vegas. I'll wait til next weekend to decide whether I'm still biking to Texas or not. I'm betting I won't, but I don't know. A lot will change over the next week.

All in all, my job is ideally suited to remote work. Life is really not that terrible. There's some mild stir-craziness, but it's really not a big deal. I have no dependents, and I can care for myself easily. Life goes on.

[Jeff Walden]

As you might expect, I ended up not biking to Texas, even skipping Vegas. I never precisely decided not to go, but my altered departure date crept closer and closer, things stayed about as dire as they seemed when I wrote the previous comment (or got worse)...and when day to depart came, I found myself just not departing. I am shocked, shocked I say.

Aside from a grandma in Texas who's 96 (but in fairly good health, for that), there's no real rush to do this ride some other time. Maybe in the fall (tho I doubt it). Or for next Easter. Or the one after. I've done some trips where the window of opportunity was narrow, but this isn't one of them. I'll roll with it - what other choice is there?

[Goju]

I work for a paper company. They give us TP, paper towels and napkins on a biweekly basis. I've been picking them up since 1998. Have enough of each to fill the attic.

If there is a TP shortage, I figure to make a fortune.

[Goju]

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2020/03/13/toilet-paper-binary-trigger/

Someone has great marketing skills

[bernard11]

Retired, so I can easily isolate, not to mention that I'm a bit of a recluse anyway.

I have a cold, which freaks people out when I talk to them on the phone, but it's routine - no fever, no aches, etc. - and I should be over it by Sunday.

Modestly stocked up. May have to make a wine run.

[bernard11]

Should have mentioned - major bridge tournament in Columbus cancelled. I actually decided not to go a few days before the official cancellation.

I'm hoping the summer tournament in mid-July will be held.

[Josh R]

Only one club in our unit, and one in a nearby unit, remain open. We are supposed to host a sectional in mid April.

[Eugene Volokh]

Are there are any good apps for online bridge play, which both handle the dealing and playing of the "cards" and show video of the other players?

[bernard11]

There is a terrific site called BridgeBase online which conducts various types of tournaments and lets you set up games, including letting you play with three robots in the other seats. It handles scoring, gives deal records, and so on, but it has no video feature.

It's interesting that, AI successes at chess and go notwithstanding, the robots are not as good as you might imagine.

The site also provides "Vugraph," - real time reporting of the actual play in major championships.

[California Dreamer]

Although the NABC has been cancelled, the on-line NABC robot individual has apparently NOT been cancelled, or at least they haven't said it's cancelled nor have they refunded my registration fee. It starts tomorrow, is a 3-day event (24 boards a day), and is well worthwhile for any moderately serious bridge player who is self-isolating.

[California Dreamer]

It's accessible on Bridge Base Online.

[bernard11]

I'm signed up. Are you?

I've played with the bots a fair amount, but never entered this event before. Curious to see how it goes.

[California Dreamer]

Yes I'm signed up. I played in the last one and did quite well -- averaged almost 60 percent over the 3 days. My robot partners are far from perfect, but I've noticed that the same can be said of my human partners.

[bernard11]

Sixty percent is impressive, especially since the bots will, I suspect, occasionally get you an unavoidable bottom.

Good luck.

[bernard11]

How are you doing so far?

My results are disastrous.

[The Grand Moff Tarkin]

You in Columbus too? Good luck. I get bored working at home. But I leave east of Bexley and I had to commute up to Polaris.

[bernard11]

No. I don't live there.

I was planning on attending a bridge tournament - the North American Bridge Championships - at the convention center there next week, but it has been cancelled.

It would have been a few thousand people, so I'm sure the restaurants and hotels are feeling some pain.

[Dan Schiavetta]

I live in New Rochelle, N.Y.

There are people out and about but the streets are emptier than usual. Both my children are doing the rest of their semesters online. Physically we’re all okay.

I’ve been told to work from home which is actually a relief, saving me the commute. Court appearances are all but canceled.

In other news, a friend got nabbed by ICE and his wife is coming to our house to sign a standby guardian declaration for their kids in case she gets nabbed too.

[Commenter_XY]

Be well captcrisis....glad to read you are Ok. I have acquaintences who hail from New Rochelle.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thanks

[donojack]

Our doctor is fairly certain that I and my wife have coronavirus although we haven't yet been able to get tested. I started having symptoms about three days after returning from a trip to southern California. I believe that I got it either at LAX or on the plane to Atlanta. This was on February 26.

I am now about 80% recovered I would say and have not had to be hospitalized. My wife is still somewhat worse than I am but she seems to be recovering, at least for now. The main symptoms have been more chest congestion than I have ever experienced with persistent productive coughing. That's about the same for my wife although she has consistently run a low grade fever that I have not had. We are 73 so not in a good age category but we are both fit and healthy for our age. Neither of us has pneumonia or strep yet and while we are taking a course of antibiotics I'm not sure it has done any good. We take regular pulse oximeter readings and so far they are normal. If either of us drops below 90% we'll go to the ER.

We got a grocery pickup at Walmart that will allow us to self-quarantine for a month if necessary. If tests become available soon we will get tested, but more for adding to the data than anything else.

[Colossal Douchebag]

Glad to hear you're feeling better; hope you're both back to full health soon. So sounds like a 2-3 week fully cycle based on your experience? (assuming that's what you actually have)

[librarian]

Glad you're feeling better. Hope you recover quickly.

[Eugene Volokh]

Likewise -- glad you're improving, and best wishes to you and your wife for a speedy full recovery.

[donojack]

Thanks to all for the good wishes.

[The Grand Moff Tarkin]

Be well. Get better.

[Reshufflex]

Rumor afloat that my county [ Montgomery PA} about to Q-Tined. Infected 17/ No deaths.

I keep thinking helicopters from the sky will soon begin the spraying. And a baby will somewhere cry.

[um ok]

As a grandfather, about a generation ago, I bought a modest apartment building & turned it into a family compound. As a longtime scout leader, I have kept a month's worth of food & water in stock. As a "stale pale male whale" (the more people I have met the more I have enjoyed Netflix) so my excursions have been limited to low traffic times. As a retired physician, I have practiced "social distancing" for 40 years.
So my answer to your question is: Except for spending hours each day trying to add some calm to a tub of excitement, no effect at all. Yet.

[Armchair Lawyer]

It's OK so far. Feels a bit like the calm before a natural disaster about to hit. My job only partially allows teleworking (oddly enough, they frown on taking the labwork home). A bit of a run on the grocery stories. Standard stockpile of goods, slightly enhanced. So, we'll see.

I'd be slightly worried about the internet backbone being able to take the strain of so many people teleworking and/or streaming Netflix.

[OldGuy]

Why? Is something bad happening?

[librarian]

Doing an online masters so not much has changed. Living in a fairly remote location, so I'm missing out on most of the excitement.

[Colossal Douchebag]

Sheltering in place; wife has us well stockpiled; kid coming home from college for the duration.

Part of me wants to go get infected so 3 weeks from now I can help wherever it's needed most. But with a family I just can't play it that way.

[California Dreamer]

I'm almost 70; my wife has lupus, has had a kidney transplant, and is immunocompromised. As a result, we're staying home except when it's essential to go out. We order food on-line. My mom, who has dementia, is in a nursing home, but no visitors are allowed. I sometimes go out to play 9 holes of golf in the early AM, before anyone else is on the course. When the weather's good, we take hikes in areas where there are few people. I play on-line bridge and read articles about the coronavirus.

[Publius]

Went to a large group event last Saturday; came down with a cold on Monday and began self-isolating; visited the Dr. on Wednesday and was told that in all likelihood I just had a cold - but since I am all but in perfect health there is the outside chance that it was my reaction to Covid-19; celebrated 24 hours symptom-free just now by drinking a Quarantini.

[Grichard]

Anesthesiologist in a big academic hospital. Lots of rushing around, lots of contingency planning. I'm not especially afraid for myself, but I'm pretty worried about our hospital being overwhelmed. I think a lot of my colleagues share this attitude.

No way this can be stopped, but good hygiene and social distancing can slow its spread enough to allow us the capacity to care for everybody who needs it, which will mean that many fewer people will die overall.

I ordered pizza tonight, and I tipped the driver a lot. Home delivery giggers will have a huge role to play in our collective response to this crisis.

[Krychek_2]

I live in Orlando and work for a mid-sized law firm in a 12 story building near downtown. I haven't noticed much of a change at all. Everyone in my building is still coming to work.

However, my sister, who is 81, is in the hospital and not expected to live more than another week or so. She lives in Seattle and I'm extremely reluctant to go out there, first because of the increased risk of catching the virus on a flight, and second because the airlines have cut so many flights I'm afraid I may not be able to get back. So the rest of the family may have to bury her without me. I guess I'll make that decision when the time comes.

[Commenter_XY]

So sorry to hear about your sister Min ha-shamayim tenachumu - May you be comforted from Heaven.

[Krychek_2]

Thank you.

[The Grand Moff Tarkin]

That is tough. I wish you peace of mind.

[Krychek_2]

Thank you.

[cmcc_aus]

I'm mostly retired from the University of Texas at Austin. Still work a few hours a weeks doing data analysis for an office doing front line student contact. Monday at our monthly face-to-face staff meeting, about 25 employees, we took inventory of what we would need to work from distance. Thursday we did a Zoom meeting, as a technology test -- mostly worked well but a couple of issues noted, see my comment in response to Josh Blackman's post here in VC. Maintaining good mood, and think we will mostly be able to continue as usual, except cancelling a potluck lunch.
This morning we had news of the first three confirmed COVID 19 cases in Austin, the third of which was the first within the University community, and as it happens, the wife of the President of UT, who had been in New York last week. Until now, it had been watch and wait, now suddenly it's very close to home. UT spring break was supposed to begin Saturday, and had been extended an extra week, to give us time to figure out how to carry on classes and styudent services while mostly maintain 'social distance'. Today, UT and the public school went on break a day early. But the fact that there are now active cases within the City of Austin doesn't change much. But the fact that there are real cases here already takes attention off of last week's decision to cancel SXSW, or this week's decisions to cancel a lot more stuff

[The original jack burton]

The NRA annual convention for next month in Nashville is cancelled. Major downer.

[Roman Moroni]

I’m a tv writer and am currently pitching a series. All in person meetings have been canceled so we had our first Skype pitch meeting today. I don’t like it as much as pitching in person but it actually went really well. It’s weird to pitch to execs in their homes. Cuts down on L.A. driving though. This will be the new normal for awhile.

[Jeff Walden]

Probably also helps with, uh Weinsteins. 😐

[Bill R]

In much of Silicon Valley, "high" speed internet (anything over 100Mbs), is expensive, subject to rent-seeking data caps and throttling, or simply unavailable at any price. For us software engineers who are now expected to work from home until further notice, that hurts our productivity quite a bit. On the other hand, the daily commute is now excellent.

[Black Richard]

I'm 60 and finally over some sort of plague (as I call flu-like symptoms). Picked it up from my daughter, who lives with me and is a new health care provider (an RN currently finishing her FNP Masters and working a lot of clinicals) so tends to pick things up a bit more than most folks. Probable incubation period about 7 days for me. Symptoms pretty much match what the CDC and Mayo is posting: Fever, Cough, Shortness of breath. As well as fatigue, which they're not listing. Neither of us were tested. (If the CDC/FDA bureaucracy wasn't so ****ed, getting tested would have been easier.) (And, yes, she self-quarantined and didn't see patients until well after symptoms were gone.) Given we're in semi-rural VA -- although near a main corridor -- and the main duration was about 5-6 days (and my impression that C19 symptoms last longer), guessing it was something else but who knows. I will say I've never had a flu like this before in the sense that the roughest issue, at least for me, was primarily the cough. (Ended up with sore abdominal muscles from coughing.) Both of use had some fever. (Both peaked around 101-102.) Although congestion wasn't bad, we both had some breathing issues. She had issues with asthma through her youth and thought she'd outgrown it. Albuterol (and Flovent for her) helped us both. She hadn't used it for years and I've only had one bug before where I had Albuterol prescribed. Who knows. Hard data seems hard to come by.

[Doug Huffman]

We are four Sconnies, Wisconsin-ites, vacationing in Central Florida, riding bicycle on the Withlacoochee SP bike trail. We are 83, 81, 73 and 71. We’ll trek home in six weeks.

I’m up to date on vaccinations except Shingles.

The pandemic is dumb mass hysteria with no termination criterion or exit strategy, and the new normal. What civil liberties will be abused to allow community health inspectors to evaluate home cleanliness and preparation for sequestration.

[Nonstopdrivel]

Are you by any chance from the La Crosse area? Growing up in La Crosse, I knew a Doug Huffman. I live in New Jersey now.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

"The pandemic is dumb mass hysteria with no termination criterion or exit strategy, and the new normal."

Thank goodness Doug is here to satisfy market demand for hayseed malcontent perspectives on pandemic management.

Carry on, clingers. Those of you who are 83, 81, 73, and 71, and apparently disdainful of expert advice? Good luck until replacement.

[Doug Huffman]

Kind’a like the AGW 97% consensus. Science nor medicine are about consensus, but falsifiability - the demarcation criterion from nonsense. (Karl Popper 1959, The Logic of Scientific Discovery).

[PeteRR]

Staying at home, retired, whining about my IRA/Roth accounts. I took a serious bath. I don't need the money for 10 years, so it is mostly pointless whining.

Everybody stay as safe as you can.

[Commenter_XY]

Professor Volokh, I have a somewhat similar experience as other Readers. On advice from my physician, I went into self-isolation over ten days ago. I have a severe autoimmune condition (controlled with immunosuppressive drugs). That necessitated taking an LOA from my nighttime P/T retail job. The GM was very understanding, but I am out the money. Still...it is only money. My primary employer has extensive WFH capability, so WFH is easy. Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams really helps with collaboration. I frankly don't know why Courts don't use this technology in the current climate. I sometimes wonder how we ever did without them. That said, I am extremely concerned about the prospect of layoffs. When you are over 50, you have a target on your back. And the end of Q1 approaches.

On a personal and psychological level, this is a profoundly isolating (duh!) and humbling experience. My wife noticed I was feeling bummed out, and after I lit candles, she suggested we take a short drive (very unusual for me). So last evening, I left the grounds of my property for the first time in over a week, and took a walk in a local park. EVERYONE there distanced themselves by 10' on the walking path. My beloved wife has been fabulous. So glad I married her 30 years ago. She is a rock; my anchor.

On the investment side, so glad I wrote investment policy statement after the Great Financial Crisis. I did not have to think during the market swoons. I calmly rebalanced twice into equity index funds at the 10% and 20% decline points. Almost rebalanced a third time this week, but the S&P declines never got to the 30% point. This was totally different than 2009-09 when I had zippo knowledge and sat there like a deer in the headlights. My plan is working. I have no fear with the market. That is amazing to me.

The hardest aspect. I am fairly observant, and the synagogues in my area have shut down. I mean....shut down. No minchah, no Shabbat service, no school, no shiva calls, no nothing. I participated in Purim via livestream (Zoom). Not the same. It is hard to describe, but I will try: Without going to shul, I feel out of sorts. Nothing is quite right. Cast adrift, and trying to find a secure mooring, and it just is not there to grab ahold. I daven at home, the words are familiar, but nothing is quite the same. In our Ashrei prayer, it is written if you call out to God with sincerity in your heart, God will answer. I am calling out....and I am listening intently. But I feel very alone. This is the most disconcerting thing.

Some things I have discovered (and rediscovered).

One, Instant Pot absolutely rocks! Talk about EZ to cook! And quick!
Two, beans and rice go much better with fresh veggies. 🙂
Three, a smile and kind word go a LONG way to defusing tense situations
Four, your Mother was right - WASH your hands!!
Five, if you have staff, this is the time to have maximum flexibility. Particularly for parents with school-aged children who are now home for the duration. Schools are closing. Be mindful.

Most Important: Your greatest asset is your mind and intellect and your ability to reason. Use it!

[Kazinski]

I am sheltering in place in Phuket. But I may have to make a beeline back to Phnom Penh, where my base is, by Monday because Cambodia just announced travel restrictions for Americans starting Tuesday. I'm not sure if it will apply to me though because I've been in SE Asia since October.

Its interesting that Cambodia is putting travel restrictions on US, France, Germany, but not South Korea or China. I suspect it has more to do with retaliation for the US and Europe actions and criticism over the current treason trial of Kem Sokha over a speech he gave in Australia. The other major opposition figure is in exile in France after he was charged for criminal defamation over a Facebook post.

[Kazinski]

Oh yeah, i may have actually had covid-19 a month ago and didn't realize it, I will probably never know. I picked up a bug in Siem Reap visiting Angkor Wat, with a sore throat, runny nose, mild fever, and finally a dry cough that stuck around a few weeks. At the time there had only been one case in Cambodia, but a few weeks ago they found a couple of cases in Siem Reap and some indication that it was more widespread than they were letting on. That said, I don't think it spreads effectively in the tropics, or Thailand would have been hit hard with the number of tourists they get from all over and the crowds in bars, trains, airports and planes.

[California Dreamer]

I have a slightly different suspicion -- it may spread in the tropics, but people don't get as sick as in temperate climes, so they don't get tested and nobody knows they have it. According to Worldometer, Malaysia has 203 currently active cases (plus another 35 listed as recovered) but it has had 0 deaths and only 4 of its cases are listed as serious. The latter 2 numbers are WAY out of sync with countries in temperate zones. I haven't read any reports about this, but it seems provocative. My wife grew up in Singapore, and might move there for a few months.

[The Grand Moff Tarkin]

I’ve been working at home doing remote assignments since November so not much of a change for me. Went out shopping with my wife on Thursday...this is nuts.
My wife and I were living in the Virgin Islands when hurricanes Irma and Maria hit...now those were real emergencies. We actually were off island and flew back the day before Irma hit. We made all our hurricane preparations before we left so there was not much for us to do. We rode out the storm (boring and loud) than suffered through six months of recovery, including 10 weeks without electricity.

[The Grand Moff Tarkin]

We are low on hand sanitizer but have plenty of soap. We have enough TP to make it through a few weeks...by then there will be more in the stores and the panic. Once people see that there is plenty of stuff in stock, the panic buying will slow down.
There was panic buying for C-cell batteries after the hurricanes. It was a few months before a decent supply was available. When you are living on an island and things run out, you know it may be months before they become available.

[The Grand Moff Tarkin]

Irma hit on a Wednesday. We were off island and got back on Tuesday (when we planned to get back). First thing we did when we got home was move our cars so that they were not exposed to the wind (put them between the house and the hill). The place we lived in was shielded from the wind by hills on three sides...that was lucky. Our landlord was off island; he phoned me and talked me through operating the standby generator.
My wife had never been through a major storm before, but I had been through several. Our landlord and I had already discussed our hurricane plan. One wrinkle...there was a new resident in the other apartment (the landlord lived on the top floor; there were two apartments on the middle floor; there was a studio and a laundry room on the lower floor...all stuck on the side of a steep hill).
We introduced ourselves to our new neighbor...and her mother (who came down to help her move in). I went around and took pictures of the house and checked to make everything was secure. Then we went to bed.
Morning of Sept 6th, they cut the power island wide around 8am. The standby generator immediately kicked in. The wind was already gusting. About 9am the landlord called and told me to turn off the generator...I expected that; you don’t run generators during a storm. NOAA was issuing storm coordinates every 3 hours. Got the coordinates at 8am and 11am. Other than that, my wife and I just rested on the bed and listened to the storm blow by. The wind started getting very strong late morning. It was dark in our apartment because all the steel shutters were covering all the windows.
At 2pm we had some excitement. I was in the process of going online and getting the latest storm coordinates (and looking at the storm location on WINDY.TV) when the storm shutter over one of the bedroom windows broke loose. I managed to reach out, grab it, and lock it in place. Lucky for us, the hills around the house were blocking us from most of the wind. I went back to my computer and saw that the internet was down. I went to our front door and peaked out (it was on the side of the house opposite the wind) and I could see that the weather head for the house at the top of the drive was bent over and the wires were hanging. Goodbye electricity and cable TV. We rested in bed. It sounded like we were in a building that was getting power washed, with jet airplanes flying in the distance. Every hour I would walk around the apartment looking for leaks. I started finding them. We started placing towels to soak up the water. [What we did not know is that a tree on the other side of the lawn fell down, blocked the drainage on that side of the yard, and all the water started going into the other apartment...our neighbors were getting seriously flooded]. By 6pm, the wind had mostly died down.
Our front door was swollen shut. My wife found some postal string and knitted together a rope so that I could abseil down from the balcony. I got a ladder from our landlord’s storage shed and put it up against our balcony. We used that for the next few weeks to get into and out of our apartment.

[jubulent]

There have been 3 diagnosed cases of a respiratory flu within 100 miles of my town, so obviously schools have been closed, stores are out of basic supplies, and my employer is making everyone work from home.

Actually we had planned a "stress test" about 6 months out to see if our servers could support everyone from working from home. It just happens to coincide with everyone turning stupid.

[PoxOnBothYourHouses]

We are retired in Carmel (that's CAR-mel) Indiana, just outside Indy. We're in our 70's, and my wife both is recovering from cancer treatments and has long-term asthma, so she especially is at some risk. We have decided to avoid the gym indefinitely and substitute walks, bike riding, and working in the gardens. The library is open, and there are a lot of ebooks. Like others we are unsuccessfully trying to find hand sanitizer. We're driving to Columbus (Bexley) OH tomorrow to visit my sister-in-law but are shortening the trip. We were planning to drive to New Orleans in three weeks for a family gathering but almost certainly will cancel that trip. We're not planning any more at this time.

We still plan to go out to eat occasionally, at least for the time being. We'll see how long we maintain that attitude. Perhaps we're being foolish. Perhaps they'll close the restaurants. Who knows?

One issue: we're needed to provide kid-care for our grandchildren because Carmel schools are closed as of yesterday. So we can't completely self-quarantine.

[The Grand Moff Tarkin]

Be well.

[Alpheus W Drinkwater]

Here on Hatteras Island NC not a whole lot has changed, but a bit of worry. It's like a hurricane is brewing out in the Atlantic but no one is sure if it will head our way. Also businesses are worried about the summer tourist season being affected. Watching everything going on in the more populous areas of the country is a bit surreal.

[Nonstopdrivel]

The dog park was packed this morning, so people seem to be taking coronavirus very seriously here in South Jersey.

[VenerableLurker]

I and nearly the entire IT division will be working from home starting Tuesday (we have Monday to grab stuff from desks and arrange to borrow certain kinds of hardware such as docking stations and monitors) and lasting until the company decides otherwise. Most other employees in roles which can reasonably work from home probably will as well, though I haven't seen an e-mail announcing that. The company has been proactive without over-reacting, and has done an excellent job with communication. I have the rare good fortune to work for an employer which genuinely cares about its employees and their families.

I used to be self-employed as a contract software developer and consultant, so this is familiar territory for me. I certainly don't mind the pajama commute, but the irony is that I transitioned back into regular employment in part because I had started missing that office camaraderie one sometimes finds in a good workplace.

I haven't been to any stores recently, but planning to pick up a few things tonight and tomorrow. There's no COVID-19 reported anywhere near me, so I don't expect too many empty shelves at stores. However, the local news station has reported the expected shortages of TP, sanitizer, and so on - even bottled water, for reasons which escape me. Once I pick up some dog food tonight or tomorrow, I'll be able to ride out a few weeks of isolation as long as the power and water stay on (no, I'm not anticipating problems like that, but hey, who knows).

If the stores seem empty today, I might hit all the hardware stores tomorrow. Maybe I can fulfill my list of supplies for projects planned through the end of Summer, without having to deal with the usual weekend crowding (I'd do all my shopping at 3 AM if it were possible, just to avoid other shoppers).

The dog is going to be terribly disappointed when all of this blows over and he's no longer getting extra "walkies".

[theobromophile]

I've been holed up at home since surgery in January. Despite being a massive introvert, I'm definitely feeling the need for some social interaction at this point....

[Rat on a train (non donor)]

Spring Break/Coronapocalypse road trip. I'm heading out even though everything but nature is closed. I should be able to get in some hiking as long as the weather cooperates. When I get back, I will work from home until the panic passes.

[KenveeB]

Things aren't too different for me, as I'm middle aged, relatively healthy, and no kids. My particular job would be easy to work from home, but most of my office wouldn't be able to. I'm still going in for now, but it's nice to know I at least have the option. I went to the grocery store a few days before the real panic struck and got a little extra, mostly fresh food that was easily available. It gives me some cooking to occupy myself with, and then I can freeze stuff. My boyfriend and I did go to a restaurant this weekend, but otherwise I tend to stay home and watch Netflix anyway. My biggest hit was the cancellation of the local theater, as I had tickets to see a much-anticipated musical this weekend.

[awildseaking]

My employer bought me a bunch of monitors, USB headset, new laptop, etc. and I'm working from home until further notice.