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Covid19 Day 4

Nuther crazy day! 

With a very good start!   I spent more than an hour with my mom on Google Hangouts, talking about our experiences and enjoying each other’s company.

Her very positive attitude was a good reminder to me.

And then we had a video conference call with our company’s CEO.  I wish she could be our country’s president.

They clarified our current situation – only about 12 of our 120 odd stores country wide will remain functioning (no customers – only web and phone orders that will all be routed to them).

I had quite a bit of admin to finish.

Wilhelm started with a garden in the back yard and still did a bit of cleanup in our garage where a lot of stuff had been stored for far too long.

I cleaned a few totes – kept the minimum – and found this little key tag:

 

I also found a few hard drives from long ago and so I could destroy them to feed my magnet addiction.  Well, not an addiction, more a fascination.   Of course I do not know what I will use them for, but I have them and the data on the disks are now longer available to that evil guy who just waits for you to throw these away and then steal all your personal information from the disks.

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Covid19 Day 3

Up to now the plan was to be home for two weeks as per our governor.  My store is closed and I am on paid leave.  Our company foresees up to eight weeks of paid leave, if needed.

But things change so fast in these days.

Today our company informed us that we will be on furlough as from Wednesday, April 1st  ( No, don’t even think April Fools Joke………. ). 

It was quite a shock.   I will have to apply for Unemployment Insurance (Gina and Wilhelm is doing that too).   BUT I will have a job – I stay employed and the company will maintain our benefits – I just do not get paid.

All this makes my head spin – what happens at my store and my employees and my own admin there, what has to be done (EVERYTHING is non-routine), things to remember, trying to get relevant info to react to our new environment, etc. etc. etc..

To calm down a bit, I wrote this, deliberately by hand:

My handwriting still needs a lot of practice….!  I even got the date wrong – it is supposed to be 3/30/2020.

 

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Covid19 Day 2

The only leatherwork I got done was to dye a gusset for a book carrier and did a little beveling on the lion-man.

We listened to church on the Facebook Livestream.

Somehow the day flew by without more productivity.

I realize I am adapting to this stay at home thing with some difficulty.   Of course the backdrop is the whole world gone crazy, people hoarding toilet paper for no reason, politicians showing either good leadership or none at all, and people being positive or infusing themselves with fear.

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Covid19 Day 1

My countdown in the heading is the days I personally have to stay home.

Day one: At home by order of our governor. At least two weeks.
Not easy to mentally adapt to the full time at home. But I was able to be productive. A bit slow, but productive……
Amongst others I came up with a temporary standing desk setup (I never sit during a workday, so my ass soon gets sore sitting to long). I did sit down for a bit of leather tooling!
I got a little leatherwork done:
Yes, of course it is another self-portrait……!

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Next few step with diabetes

Two weeks after that very rude awakening, I had my annual checkup – new blood labs with lower results and Blood pressure normal again.

According to the doctor I can possibly control my diabetes and even reverse it with diet and exercise.  No meds at this point.  And I must eat less carbs.  That road I am already on and the doctor’s records show that I lost seven pounds in two weeks.

And in another two weeks I see a Diabetes Educator.

So not much more information to live on day by day.  I did join the American Diabetes Association website; that seems to be a good support system. 

I have cut back severely on sugar intake, but not totally.  Most sugar free foods contain artificial sweeteners that have given me EoE (Eosinophylic Aesophogitis) and I definitely do not want to go there again ever. 
One of the amusing changes I have made is to have a few tablespoons of heavy whipping cream on my cereal in the morning zero carbs vs too much in milk!   But I am also watching my fat intake.

I am much less stressed about the situation now.   But it is super tough walking through a grocery store – every few steps I get the thought “You are so F#@k’ed – you will never be able to eat THAT again!!!”

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First Steps with Diabetes

Wow!

Sunday I wanted to donate blood at the state fair.  I was denied, because my blood pressure was too high.

I started monitoring my blood pressure and it did not want to come down.  So I made an appointment to see the doctor on Wednesday morning.  He tweaked my BP meds a bit and did some blood labs.

The next day I got a call from the clinic with me lab results :  “Everything is fine, except your blood sugar levels.  They are very high.  You have been diagnosed with diabetes.”  What else she said I can honestly not remember……

The rest of Thursday was a rollercoaster ride of all the emotions you always hear when people loose loved ones.   The one emotion I have been left with is terror in various levels.

I am due for my annual checkup in two weeks and that is when I will learn more.   I assume that I will not die immediately or go blind or loose a foot or whatever else can go wrong with you when you have diabetes.

I have been looking a bit on the web, but I have no facts to work from – what type do I have, should I eat more or less or more regular.

All this stress is doing a new number on my BP – the tweaked meds is not helping too much.

That kind of sums up where I am now.   I have not told anybody else – because I think my stress is so high, I want to burst out in tears even just thinking about talking to anybody.   But maybe I should make a big effort and just let go of it toward someone.

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This time of year …..

…when winter is ALMOST over…….   This is classic and funny:

The Diary of a Snow Shoveler

 

December 8 – 6:00 PM. It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our tea and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses Print. So romantic – we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!

 

December 9 – We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the whole world? Moving here was the best idea I’ve ever had. Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life.

 

December 12 – The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment. My neighbor tells me not to worry, we’ll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we’ll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I’ll never want to see snow again. I don’t think that’s possible. Bob is such a nice man, I’m glad he’s our neighbor.

 

December 14 – Snow, lovely snow! 8″ last night. The temperature dropped to -20F. The cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn’t realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I’ll certainly get back in shape this way.

 

December 15 – 20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4×4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife’s car and 2 extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that’s silly. We aren’t in Alaska, after all.

 

December 16 – Ice storm this morning. Fell on my butt on the ice in the driveway putting down salt – hurt sooooo bad. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.

 

December 17 – Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should have bought a wood stove, but won’t admit it to her. God I hate it when she’s right – I can’t believe I’m freezing to death in my own living room.

 

December 20 – Electricity’s back on, but had another 14″ of the horrid stuff last night. More shoveling. Took all day. Stupid snowplow came by twice. Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they’re too busy playing hockey. I think they’re lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they’re out – might have another shipment in March. I think they’re lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me. I think he’s lying.

 

December 22 – Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white stuff fell today, and it’s so cold it probably won’t melt till August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to stop and help my wife. By the time 1 got back out there again I was too tired to shovel. Tried to hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter; but he says he’s too busy. I think the jerk is lying.

 

December 23 – Only 2″ of snow today. And it warmed up to 0F. The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning. What? Is she nuts!!!?? Why didn’t she tell me to do that a month ago? She says she did but I think she’s lying.

 

December 24 – 6″ Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the idiot who drives that snowplow, I’ll drag him through the snow by his hair and beat him to death with my broken shovel. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at a 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I’ve just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents, but I was too busy watching for that rotten snowplow.

 

December 25 – Merry -GROAN- Christmas! 20 more inches of the white slop tonight. Snowed in. The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. I hate the snow! Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she’s lost her mind. If I have to watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” one more time, I’m going to stuff her into the microwave.

 

December 26 – Still snowed in. Why on earth did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She’s really getting on my nerves.

 

December 27 – Temperature dropped to -30F and the pipes froze, plumber came after 14 hours of waiting for him, he only charged me $1,400 to replace all my pipes.

 

December 28 – Warmed up to above -20F. Still snowed in. THE WOMAN I MARRIED is driving me crazy!!!

 

December 29 – 10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That’s the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb docs he think I am?

 

December 30 – Roof caved in. I beat up the snowplow driver! He is now suing me for a million dollars for the beating I gave him !!! The wife went home to her mother. 9″ of new snow predicted.

 

December 31- I set fire to what’s left of the house. No more shoveling.

 

January 8 – Feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. But wonder why I am tied to the bed?

 

Keep Smiling… Enjoy the Season!