Another Covid Week
May. 7th, 2020 08:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39Nothing new to report.
Still doing my steno at work. It's great because I'm really retaining the material from being able to practice throughout the day.
I can now spell maybe 60% of words in the English language, and take realistic guesses at the other 40.
It seems just yesterday I was learning the shorthand alphabet!
But next will be speedbuilding, and that will be HARD. I'll probably complain, just to warn you.
I finally got my insurance card from work and decided to set up an actual PCP.
Holy hell. You guys, I have not had a PCP since I was a child.
Even in the circus with the best healthcare available in the US, I couldn't have a PCP because we were in a different city each week. If I needed an exam or a medication, I had to rely on clinics wherever we happened to be. Of course with excellent insurance it was never hard to find somewhere to go, but still. It means that I had a pap smear in Ohio and TB shots in Indiana and bloodwork in Rhode Island. It means that I was never able to gather all of my medical records in one place (if I had planned better maybe it would have been possible, idk).
But now! I can give this a shot! I mean who knows what happens in the future. But for now I can at least try to see the same doctor!
I dug around online and ended up going with a large hospital/care chain in this area, and found a doctor with a lot of excellent patient reviews and awards to his name. Why not shoot for the moon, right? My copay is ridiculous so I may as well get my money's worth, or something.
On Wednesday I had a FaceTime appointment with my new doctor. I had sent all of the paperwork and photos of ID cards and such via email and an app, which was cool. The appointment was just like a regular doctor visit...it started late lol. I was checked in and waited in FaceTime, and eventually the doctor showed up and we chatted a bit. He couldn't take my blood pressure or temperature or any of those things, although I have a scale and thermometer in the house so I was a little surprised he didn't ask for those things, but maybe there's too much room for error. Anyway, we made a plan to get me up to date on various exams and to get some bloodwork going once everything is "back to normal", or back to a point where we could meet in person.
After that I did a few small chores like laundry and spraying neem oil on the pool deck to deter spiders.
My tomato and basil plants are not looking great, I feel sad and helpless about it but after doing a bunch of research and seeing others' plants, I realize that this is just how it is. A lot of plants just can't survive a Florida summer. Daytime highs have been above 90 and they've been in full sun. I moved them to the shade but I'm not sure it'll matter, they're annuals and it may just be time for them to go. I'm going to leave them alone except for watering and pest control, and see what happens.
Meanwhile my other plants are doing fairly well. The vanilla and passion vine love this weather.
The watermelon seedlings look healthy and happy to be here.
In the afternoon we had lunch and worked on our giant 2000-piece doughnut puzzle. We are making amazing progress!
Jameson did the edges while I sorted pieces by color/pattern. He has the attention span to really focus on each doughnut, while I'm more scatterbrained and end up filling in holes and connecting parts. That's why we're a great puzzle team! :)
Then I started a simple bolognese for dinner, and while it simmered we went for a walk.
On our walks we talk about various things. I like to hear what Jameson's found interesting online this week, and the issues he encounters through his online teaching. I know he wants to branch out to other types of online teaching and projects, but this whole situation makes it impossible to plan really. Shanghai Disney will be opening soon, so that's a good sign for the Orlando park as well depending on how things go for them. And then Jameson might have work with them again. We shall see.
Back home we cleaned up and had dinner while watching Community. Jameson played Animal Crossing while I shopped for underwear online. I don't normally buy clothes online because it can be a pain to find things that fit, and I hate having to send things back. But who knows when I'd be able to try lingerie on again!! I really need bras, and I've been trying sooooo hard to hold out, but all of my bras are at least a year old and many are 3 or more :/ so the underwire and padding and all that are getting weird. Anyway I did order some underwear but no bras yet, didn't get up the courage.
Speaking of courage, random sidenote. My sister Kate is an OR nurse and she is amazing.
Around this time last year she was recognized by her hospital as "Nurse of the Month", and they took this beautiful picture of her.
She has recently dealt with her first Covid patients (she lives in a small town) and I can't tell you how worried and proud this makes me.
I admire her so much.
On Thursday I slept in and had a good breakfast, then actually got to enjoy goofing off online. I feel like every "weekend" I've always got some chore to do or meal to cook or homework or whatever, anything to keep me from just sitting still for once. But this week my chores are pretty minimal. It's nice. I watched a new anime and looked into the possibility of getting some flowers since my garden has become so bare. Jameson had an online class to teach, and while he did that I joined a Ringling alums video chat.
It was pretty amazing! Around 50 people showed up. It was great to see everyone. Lots of people have unfortunately lost their jobs, but at minimum it was great to see everyone alive and well. Circus kids have grown up. People have facial hair. People have lost weight or gained weight or had kids or added pets to their families. It just made me so happy to see even a fraction of our little family back together.
I've said it many times and will say it again: the circus was more than just a show.
It was a culture, a lifestyle. A town. A living thing.
We've all "moved on" with our lives. But in a lot of ways, we haven't. The number of people who said they miss the circus life, or they have the urge to be on the road again...well, I wasn't surprised. I think Jameson and I both feel that way too a lot of times.
When someone dies, you miss seeing them, hearing their voice. Their little mannerisms. The things you used to do together. How they smelled or felt or laughed.
This is the same. All those same things, we miss about the circus. Seeing our family, hearing the animals or the preshow music or the scraping of the rails. The little things like the last show dance, or playing cards in Pie Car. All the cities we saw together, the favorite restaurants and bars where we'd hang during load out. The smell of the horses (or even the tigers) and how each train car had a unique, not always unpleasant, scent. We remember it, and we miss it.
Although a lot of us are still sad about all these things coming to an end, we still love it and we still care about each other. The proof of that is how many people showed up tonight, even if only for a moment to say "I'm here and I miss you all".
Anyway. Tomorrow it's back to work as usual.
Everyone please stay safe and healthy.
Still doing my steno at work. It's great because I'm really retaining the material from being able to practice throughout the day.
I can now spell maybe 60% of words in the English language, and take realistic guesses at the other 40.
It seems just yesterday I was learning the shorthand alphabet!
But next will be speedbuilding, and that will be HARD. I'll probably complain, just to warn you.
I finally got my insurance card from work and decided to set up an actual PCP.
Holy hell. You guys, I have not had a PCP since I was a child.
Even in the circus with the best healthcare available in the US, I couldn't have a PCP because we were in a different city each week. If I needed an exam or a medication, I had to rely on clinics wherever we happened to be. Of course with excellent insurance it was never hard to find somewhere to go, but still. It means that I had a pap smear in Ohio and TB shots in Indiana and bloodwork in Rhode Island. It means that I was never able to gather all of my medical records in one place (if I had planned better maybe it would have been possible, idk).
But now! I can give this a shot! I mean who knows what happens in the future. But for now I can at least try to see the same doctor!
I dug around online and ended up going with a large hospital/care chain in this area, and found a doctor with a lot of excellent patient reviews and awards to his name. Why not shoot for the moon, right? My copay is ridiculous so I may as well get my money's worth, or something.
On Wednesday I had a FaceTime appointment with my new doctor. I had sent all of the paperwork and photos of ID cards and such via email and an app, which was cool. The appointment was just like a regular doctor visit...it started late lol. I was checked in and waited in FaceTime, and eventually the doctor showed up and we chatted a bit. He couldn't take my blood pressure or temperature or any of those things, although I have a scale and thermometer in the house so I was a little surprised he didn't ask for those things, but maybe there's too much room for error. Anyway, we made a plan to get me up to date on various exams and to get some bloodwork going once everything is "back to normal", or back to a point where we could meet in person.
After that I did a few small chores like laundry and spraying neem oil on the pool deck to deter spiders.
My tomato and basil plants are not looking great, I feel sad and helpless about it but after doing a bunch of research and seeing others' plants, I realize that this is just how it is. A lot of plants just can't survive a Florida summer. Daytime highs have been above 90 and they've been in full sun. I moved them to the shade but I'm not sure it'll matter, they're annuals and it may just be time for them to go. I'm going to leave them alone except for watering and pest control, and see what happens.
Meanwhile my other plants are doing fairly well. The vanilla and passion vine love this weather.
The watermelon seedlings look healthy and happy to be here.
In the afternoon we had lunch and worked on our giant 2000-piece doughnut puzzle. We are making amazing progress!
Jameson did the edges while I sorted pieces by color/pattern. He has the attention span to really focus on each doughnut, while I'm more scatterbrained and end up filling in holes and connecting parts. That's why we're a great puzzle team! :)
Then I started a simple bolognese for dinner, and while it simmered we went for a walk.
On our walks we talk about various things. I like to hear what Jameson's found interesting online this week, and the issues he encounters through his online teaching. I know he wants to branch out to other types of online teaching and projects, but this whole situation makes it impossible to plan really. Shanghai Disney will be opening soon, so that's a good sign for the Orlando park as well depending on how things go for them. And then Jameson might have work with them again. We shall see.
Back home we cleaned up and had dinner while watching Community. Jameson played Animal Crossing while I shopped for underwear online. I don't normally buy clothes online because it can be a pain to find things that fit, and I hate having to send things back. But who knows when I'd be able to try lingerie on again!! I really need bras, and I've been trying sooooo hard to hold out, but all of my bras are at least a year old and many are 3 or more :/ so the underwire and padding and all that are getting weird. Anyway I did order some underwear but no bras yet, didn't get up the courage.
Speaking of courage, random sidenote. My sister Kate is an OR nurse and she is amazing.
Around this time last year she was recognized by her hospital as "Nurse of the Month", and they took this beautiful picture of her.
She has recently dealt with her first Covid patients (she lives in a small town) and I can't tell you how worried and proud this makes me.
I admire her so much.
On Thursday I slept in and had a good breakfast, then actually got to enjoy goofing off online. I feel like every "weekend" I've always got some chore to do or meal to cook or homework or whatever, anything to keep me from just sitting still for once. But this week my chores are pretty minimal. It's nice. I watched a new anime and looked into the possibility of getting some flowers since my garden has become so bare. Jameson had an online class to teach, and while he did that I joined a Ringling alums video chat.
It was pretty amazing! Around 50 people showed up. It was great to see everyone. Lots of people have unfortunately lost their jobs, but at minimum it was great to see everyone alive and well. Circus kids have grown up. People have facial hair. People have lost weight or gained weight or had kids or added pets to their families. It just made me so happy to see even a fraction of our little family back together.
I've said it many times and will say it again: the circus was more than just a show.
It was a culture, a lifestyle. A town. A living thing.
We've all "moved on" with our lives. But in a lot of ways, we haven't. The number of people who said they miss the circus life, or they have the urge to be on the road again...well, I wasn't surprised. I think Jameson and I both feel that way too a lot of times.
When someone dies, you miss seeing them, hearing their voice. Their little mannerisms. The things you used to do together. How they smelled or felt or laughed.
This is the same. All those same things, we miss about the circus. Seeing our family, hearing the animals or the preshow music or the scraping of the rails. The little things like the last show dance, or playing cards in Pie Car. All the cities we saw together, the favorite restaurants and bars where we'd hang during load out. The smell of the horses (or even the tigers) and how each train car had a unique, not always unpleasant, scent. We remember it, and we miss it.
Although a lot of us are still sad about all these things coming to an end, we still love it and we still care about each other. The proof of that is how many people showed up tonight, even if only for a moment to say "I'm here and I miss you all".
Anyway. Tomorrow it's back to work as usual.
Everyone please stay safe and healthy.
