Thoughts On Going Back To Work

Delaware is beginning to reopen but hotels are not included.....yet.  I have returned to work last week.  While I like being back in the rhythm of my regular routine of working part-time, two days a week (Mondays and Thursdays).  

Delaware governor John Carney has issued the tenth iteration of the COVID-19 pandemic beginning June 1st. All hotels, including the small hotel where I work, are not included.

I was collecting unemployment benefits, which included an extra payment to stimulate the economy. I was making more weekly on unemployment that I make a month working. When I returned to work that payment stopped. I knew that situation was too good to be true. It was.

I am glad to return to work though. Working gives my life balance. I understand others may prefer full retirement and no job or volunteer work, but for me working part-time is the best of both worlds. I earn extra money plus I know I am still making my contribution as a good citizen of this country. Ever since my Mother got me a job as a paper boy when I was ten years old, I've been working. Works for me.

When I wasn't working the past six weeks, I felt at loose ends. While I enjoyed receiving the extra stimulus payment, I actually prefer working. But my concern now is that I'll eventually get laid off again because I don't see this pandemic going away this summer. 

Interesting times folks. But I know I am extremely lucky that I have other sources of income and we can survive. We'll always have enough food on the table, even though we don't eat off a table or even eat that much. We done' have to worry about rent because we own our house. Just the other house expense like heat, air conditioning, electric, taxes, lawn maintenance, Internet connection and TV. We'll survive. I think I can even continue those quarterly trips with Pat that I so look forward too.

Interesting times folks.

Going Back to Work This Week

Thursday I will be returning to work at the hotel. 

The doors will be locked and we are not accepting guests at this time. We're going back to get the hotel ready for opening, at twenty-five percent capacity, on June 1st. 

I will be working the 2 PM to 8 PM shift. My responsibility will be to answer the phone. Housekeeping will give the hotel a thorough cleaning for our reopening in June 1st.

There will be a few changes. My temperature will be taken upon entering the premises. I will wear a face mask and work behind a plastic shield. 

I will no longer be handling the guest's credit cards. They will run their own credit card through the machine. And of course I will be maintaining a proper social distance of at least six feet.

The new normal folks, should be interesting.

Yeah, I noticed in the generic image of a hotel front desk clerk checking the temperature of a guess, "Where are the face masks?" 

Coronavirus Update Delaware April 11, 2020

My new custom made mask by Dr. Spo

This Easter Sunday I was scheduled to fly out to Palm Springs to help my Canadian Travel Buddy Pat prepare his condo for updating. Of course I cancelled that plane trip a couple weeks ago. I also cancelled my plans to visit Philadelphia with Pat the end of next month. I've also cancelled my plane trip to Canada via way of Buffalo, New York for my annual visit to Pat in Hamilton, Ontario. Life is on hold now folks. But I realize I am in a much better position than many of our fellow human beings on this earth, all of whom are affected by this pandemic.

Cars lined up at a food bank in San Antonio Texas yesterday

This morning I was talking to my longtime friend Lar on FaceTime. We're both retired now and have a base income from Social Security and modest bank pensions. I asked Larry, "Can you imagine going through this pandemic when we were young an dependent on our weekly paychecks for food and rent?"  Neither one of us had any significant savings at that time.  We would have been down Schitt's Creek if this pandemic happened then. Look at the photo above, that is just some of the ten thousands vehicles lined up yesterday at a San Antonio Texas food bank.  I just can't imagine what those people are going through now, especially the young families. Makes my travel plan changes insignificant in comparison, which they actually are. The money I paid American Airlines for my tickets will be held in credit for me, if and when this pandemic is over and assuming we survive. Also my deposit on the guest suite in Philadelphia will be held in credit for a future stay. I'm also lucky to have my application for unemployment insurance go through. I received my first payment already last week. 

I'm going to make good use of this time that we're restricted to our homes. I have a nice home. Not too hard to take. Our home is also paid for and I have enough money to pay the electric, heat, Internet connection and food. Very fortunate for which I am thankful.

Health wise Bill continues to do well. That is his body.  He is having increasing cognitive problems, is hard of hearing and very frustrated with this macular degeneration (eyesight).  He is so used to working on his projects which he can't do now. 

I don't feel the best and would like to take a coronavirus test but that is almost impossible regardless of what the Con Man in the White House says.  Here in Southern Delaware you have to have severe symptoms and a doctor's note. I don't have a doctor other than the VA and good luck getting through to them now.  I mainly use the VA for my prescriptions and annual blood tests. 

I have a cough, my chest hurts, and I have a slight headache.  I'm thinking maybe I'm watching too much TV coverage of this pandemic and I'm imagining things. I still have my sense of smell and taste, which I heard goes if you have the virus. So maybe this is all in my mind but I would take a test if I could. It's a crime that tests aren't available to everybody because this is the only way we're going to control this pandemic. Every one has to get a test so we know he has it and who doesn't.

The graphic below shows the status of the pandemic in Delaware as of yesterday. Thank goodness we're not a hot spot like New York and New Jersey. But we could be because this virus spreads to fast.  I do think that social distancing and sheltering in will make the difference.

Today is a nice, sunny day. Cold yet the sun invigorates me. Much better than the gray, cloudy, misty rainy days of last week.

Later today Ferdinand, a local man who does occasional yard work for me, will be by to lay the four cubic yards of mulch I had delivered yesterday. Now that I'm receiving unemployment pay, I'm going to do my bit to interject it back into the economy.  I'm going to save a some, and spend some. No extravagances though, because I don't know how long this pandemic will last. My feeling is that we won't be out of this for at least twelve to eighteen months. And even then our way of life will be changed much the same way that after the Shoe Bomber, we all have to take our shoes off at the airport before boarding a plane. 

Thoughts on Coronavirus Pandemic

Here we are folks on this spring Saturday morning sinking deeper into the Coronavirus pandemic crisis.  Just the latest threat to life as we know it. Look for the movie next year.

We survived the Avian Flu, Mad Cow Disease, SARS, Ebola and many other threats to civilization on this planet as we know it. But this one does feels different, concerts are being cancelled.  toilet paper is disappearing from the shelves of stores. This latest End of the World As We Know It is different. 

Of course I'm not going to let this blog post go through without acknowledging the absolute total failure of Our Dear Leader (Trump) to prepare us for this pandemic. From disbanding the pandemic office in the White House to the failure of testing for the virus, I don't know where to start. Trump lies like the rest of us breath. He's been lying his whole life (and getting away with it), he knows no other way.  Let's just acknowledge Trump only cares about himself and getting reelected and move on from his lies and hate to the adults who are assuming leadership in this crises.

How are we doing here at Casa Tipton-Kelly?  We're not panicking, I can tell you that.  Although when I went to our local supermarket this morning most of the shelves were empty.  I'm not sure if they were empty because they're cleaning the shelves or they were just out of food. I only wanted to get a five pound bag of backing potatoes, strawberries, and twelve grain bread for egg salad sandwiches. Nothing, empty shelves.  Store was packed.  Lines were long. And this was early in the morning. After I post this blog I'll go to another store nearby for my potatoes and strawberries. If they don't have them, I'll manage.

Pat and I are still planning on flying to Palm Springs February 13th, to get his condo ready for sale. Seeing and hearing about the panic on news and at the store this morning, made me more determined to go to Palm Springs.  Sure, it will probably be a semi-ghost town, and the crowds will be gone and no events. So what?  We're there to prepare Pat's condo.  The wide, beautiful streets are still there. Hopefully some of the restaurants will still be open. If not, we'll cook our own food in a VRBO rental.  We'll manage. You ask, "Aren't you a senior citizen? Should you be flying?" I suspect the plan won't be full like it usually is. Brings back memories of a time long ago when I flew to San Francisco (1979), when there were so many empty seats on the plane I took back to Philadelphia, that the airline attendant asked if I would like to sit in first class because there were empty seats.  Would I?  I did and it was fantastic!
Maybe I'll get lucky again on my flight this April 13th?  But one thing is for sure, as long as the planes are flying, I'm taking it. Especially after seeing that scene at my local supermarket this morning, I'm not panicking. I'm to going to hole up in our house here, afraid to do anything. Of course I'll take precautions. Washing my hands, using my hand sanitizer, not shaking hands (there was a slip up this morning when my friend Frank made a mulch delivery - he put out his hand and I shook it before I realized what I was doing. So used to shaking hands, I have to retrain myself). 

I'm starting to ramble here folks. Time to wrap up my meandering thoughts on this latest crises. Hey, I grew up working about the atomic bomb. As a six year old first grader I was told to get under my desk when "the bomb" went off. Even then my six year old brain had figured out that getting under my desk wasn't going to help me much if an actual atomic bomb dropped on the East Ward School in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Same here folks, I'm taking precautions but I'm not going to retreat into a canonic state. Besides, I have plenty of toilet paper to last for months.