Coping with Coronavirus

Are those adjustable? It's hard to tell, even on their site.

Ah, I found their sizing diagram:

IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/cr443rV/mask-sizing.png)

Too big for me! I guess I have a tiny face.

We had a friend making cloth masks for $5, so we got some school logo stuff. Then got some of the PM2.5 filter inserts from Amazon.

We got the Headly apron ones. Probably will buy more. We also got a cheap pack of cotton ones from amazon but the apron ones are pretty nice, fit well for us, and have space if you want to add a filter.

The elastic is NOT adjustable though.

The Hedley ones look nice. Do they have a tag saying where they were made? The website doesn't really say.

I'm thinking of switching to a washable cotton mask from my usual surgical masks. I was pretty much fine but now the high humidity is making breathing more difficult.

LeapingGnome wrote:

The Hedley ones look nice. Do they have a tag saying where they were made? The website doesn't really say.

From website on FAQs about masks.... LA, Asia, and South America.

Masks have a tag on inside but it just lets you put your name on it.
Looks like they have added some new styles though that have two ties.

@Jayhawker Those H&B masks look very well done.

My wife ordered something similar (link when she wakes up), and the biggest thing for her was the nose wire (running from bridge of nose to chin) that keeps it off of the mouth area.

I felt lucky when we got a box of the blue surgical masks at the beginning of all this.
They are comfortable and easy to wear for short periods of time (quick grocery visits,etc).

I sat in a doctors office for about 90 minutes with one on and it was not terrible, but it wasn't great.

BadKen wrote:

Are those adjustable? It's hard to tell, even on their site.

Ah, I found their sizing diagram:

IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/cr443rV/mask-sizing.png)

Too big for me! I guess I have a tiny face.

Something to consider is something like this if you are having fit issues.

IMAGE(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/y4cAAOSwgoNefel2/s-l300.jpg)

Teresa actually made a few when she made my mask, as our daughter, Jo, was having issues with the strings on her ears. Those were just some strips with buttons sewn on to change how tight they are.

I grabbed one off Redbubble with the Umbrella Corporation logo.

Yeah one of the ones we got is kind of tight on my ears, so much so that it was making my glasses slide off a bit. My wife suggested one of those things around the back.

My mom is getting on a plane tomorrow night from Columbus, OH to Sarasota, FL.

She is 72 and she is travelling with her companion who is 78.

He has business in FL, some rental properties being remodeled that he wants to be there for, etc., and they had originally planned on driving, but the tickets were, of course, dirt cheap. She said the flight is mostly empty and social distancing seating and masks are required.

They had been basically quarantined since the beginning, but they relaxed their personal restrictions during the recent "soft open" of Ohio restaurants and such. They have been to restaurants. They have had friends over for dinner, and they have had friends over to enjoy the swimming pool in this awful heat. I have no idea what social distancing they used, but you can't wear a mask while you are eating.

While she is gone, I will be house/dog sitting for her, and I was planning on getting there early to at least see her and give her an air-hug, and an air-kiss.

I haven't seen or hugged my mom in like four months and I am really, really worried now that that might be the last time I see her. So I am having some pretty difficult issues with even seeing her tomorrow.

That sucks, sorry to hear. I am in Columbus too and I can’t imagine what would make me go eat in a restaurant right now, even more so if I were 70. I have had a couple of meals outdoors on patios but if I am inside anywhere I am wearing a mask.

I hope she stays safe but heading to a hotspot and being cavalier about it is a bad recipe! Crossing my fingers for you.

Thank you, LG.

I have been vigilant, but my wife (also vigilant) has had contact with her sisters, brothers and parents somewhat recently, so there is just no way I am going to even breathe in (edit: moms) direction, even with a hazmat suit on.

mortalgroove wrote:

I haven't seen or hugged my mom in like four months and I am really, really worried now that that might be the last time I see her. So I am having some pretty difficult issues with even seeing her tomorrow.

Hang in there. That's rough, and I don't really no what to say. I have lots of relatives who would unfortunately do the same.

I'm still feeling fine, so I have no idea what I had. Partner hasn't had similar symptoms, so... *shrug*. We'll continue to completely quarantine in the house here for the next couple weeks.

I did find out today that I can get HUB to deliver amazing beer to the house. Ordered $150 (that includes the 20% tip) worth of beer, and it all showed up today. So, I won't be running out of beer at least.

Thanks, tuff.

Wow, you have it made with Hub!

Mom did tell me that there is a big package of not just beer brats in the freezer, but IPA brats!

Man I used to live in Sarasota. But I'm glad I'm not there now. Things have been sh*t in Florida. Wouldn't go anywhere near that. Sorry, mg.

Thank you, Stele.

He could have gone alone, but she chose to go with.
She was struggling with being cooped up and wanted to get away I guess.
I would have been fine with them just going to his home (driving) in Sarasota, with a pool and all the such and such, and they could quarantine there just as easily as Ohio.

mortalgroove wrote:

Thanks, tuff.

Wow, you have it made with Hub!

Mom did tell me that there is a big package of not just beer brats in the freezer, but IPA brats!

Bet you are hopping up and down with excitement.

Vector, I could barley contain myself.

Quick update:
I didn't see mom before she left tonight.
She has arrived "safely" in Sarasota.

She called from the departing airport (the smaller Rickenbacker, in Columbus, where Allegiant flies from) and said the seats in the waiting-to-board area were packed, no social distancing. She found a place on the edges to stand with some other folks that were wearing masks and were keeping six feet apart.

Equine therapy as mental health treatment goes on despite demands of coronavirus

For counsellor Jane Ashton, a paddock is the perfect place to see her clients, and whether it is in person or via Skype, they are accompanied by a horse.

"Essentially, the horse provides a biofeedback mechanism to help the client get a greater awareness of what's going on physiologically in their own body," she said.

That means people tune into how their body responds while they are interacting with the animal so they can begin to self regulate their behaviour.

"Animals are non-judgmental.

"They're very good at teaching us how to be present in the moment, teaching one how to self-regulate and how to accept what is.

"It means [the clients] are able to do the work themselves without me having to teach them.

"They're learning how to breathe and regulate because they're wanting to engage with the animals."

Ms Ashton operates her business with other equine counsellors out of The Therapy Pod based in Tallebudgera Valley.

In addition to the five horses, the farm has llamas, goats, dogs, guinea pigs and even a lizard lending their company to Gold Coasters.

But it was the guinea pigs that Ms Ashton said were fantastic for self-regulation with children.

"For a child to be able to learn those skills is really quite incredible," she said.

"They take those skills from the paddock into other areas of their lives."

The counsellor's work has continued to work with her clients virtually during the coronavirus crisis.

"Some of our clients have gone online, which I never imagined," she said.

"The horses have engaged through the telephone process of holding up the Skype.

"People have needed support with the isolation and we've been aware that a lot of people have needed extra mental health support with jobs being decreased and people feeling more isolated."

Our two week complete quarantine is done ever since I had a 102 degree fever and then nothing the following day. It was very strange to not go running or leave the house for groceries for two whole weeks. Very surreal.

Probably wasn't Covid but was still weird. At least shouldn't spread what I had got.

One of my company's schools has switched back to online only due to a case at the nearby public school (of which there is undoubtably some student overlap). Cases have been on the up in Tokyo for a few weeks and now the signs are showing elsewhere so there is a chance that the country will go back to a soft lockdown. Teaching online is exhausting so not excited about that but, also, teaching in protective gear and doing double duty on cleaning is exhausting too so it's pretty much lose-lose (except for still having a job).

Spoke to a family member in Melbourne and their work schedule has gone belly up and planned time off has evaporated.

Been having some fun playing a mobile game Trivia Royale. I always thought I was awful at Trivia but I've realised that it's all about the topics. Sure, I might not know much about 60s/70s music or Australian colonial history (common quiz night fodder from back in my student days), but apparently I'm unbeatable in the topics of Video Games and Tech. Nice little something to take my mind off things.
Trivia Royale iOS / Android

Edit: and Math and Grammar too it seems. Where were all these questions back in my pub trivia days?

I've been sewing them for myself and my family/friends. I've had people suggest I sell them, but I'm not yet.

Cross-quoting from the Depression thread:

bekkilyn wrote:

I just want to post something that has really been helping me on this journey, and it's a YouTube channel that I've been listening to for about a couple of years now that plays instrumental music composed by this guy Peder B. Helland in Norway with the channel name of Soothing Relaxation. He has three live streams that run 24 hours a day. Here is one of them:

He also has many videos that are anywhere between 1 hour to even around 12 hours long.

The music is wonderful for meditation, studying, sleeping, relaxing, etc. And the videos that coincide with the music are peaceful beautiful scenes.

I have a daily spiritual practice that includes meditation, and I almost always have this channel on in the background through it and even throughout the day, except when I'm doing a guided meditation or something that requires silence. It along with giraffe and other animal cams along with habitual practice of spiritual disciplines has really helped me.

Considering the current state of my house, and my lower energy level, I'm still not where I want to be, but I compare where I am now to where I was four years ago, the difference is big. Maybe even brain-cell changing and hormone settling big.

Everyone is different so what works for one person may not work for another, but since I was thinking about it, I thought I would post in case it might help someone else, but I really do like this guy's channel and I even recently bought one of his CD's (digital download in my case) just in case he ever goes away from YouTube!

Does anyone have recommendations for fast food restaurants and fast casual during the pandemic?

Our 8 year old loves Chic Fil-A and luckily their COVID protocol is top notch; they don't handle your credit card, they bring your food in a bin and everyone is masked.

Similarly, Five Guys offers contactless curbside with the food delivered to your car in a bin.

However, from what I can see from the other popular drive thru chains, they appear to be offering minimal to no added protections, but I also haven't tried them to confirm.

Anyone good or negative experiences in this realm?

Where are you located?

Badferret wrote:

Does anyone have recommendations for fast food restaurants and fast casual during the pandemic?

Our 8 year old loves Chic Fil-A and luckily their COVID protocol is top notch; they don't handle your credit card, they bring your food in a bin and everyone is masked.

Similarly, Five Guys offers contactless curbside with the food delivered to your car in a bin.

However, from what I can see from the other popular drive thru chains, they appear to be offering minimal to no added protections, but I also haven't tried them to confirm.

Anyone good or negative experiences in this realm?

Do you live somewhere that does delivery? Delivery introduces a lot of the protections you'd need.

Badferret wrote:

Does anyone have recommendations for fast food restaurants and fast casual during the pandemic?

Our 8 year old loves Chic Fil-A and luckily their COVID protocol is top notch; they don't handle your credit card, they bring your food in a bin and everyone is masked.

Similarly, Five Guys offers contactless curbside with the food delivered to your car in a bin.

We do those 2 and Chipotle almost every week lately. Chipotle order from the app and then you just pick it up at the door and walk right out, and everyone seems to wear masks there.

Otherwise I check DoorDash for some local places and usually get either pizza or burgers from those once a week.

I can't think of any other national chains I've been to lately though, sorry.

Stele wrote:
Badferret wrote:

Does anyone have recommendations for fast food restaurants and fast casual during the pandemic?

Our 8 year old loves Chic Fil-A and luckily their COVID protocol is top notch; they don't handle your credit card, they bring your food in a bin and everyone is masked.

Similarly, Five Guys offers contactless curbside with the food delivered to your car in a bin.

We do those 2 and Chipotle almost every week lately. Chipotle order from the app and then you just pick it up at the door and walk right out, and everyone seems to wear masks there.

Otherwise I check DoorDash for some local places and usually get either pizza or burgers from those once a week.

I can't think of any other national chains I've been to lately though, sorry.

Culvers has done pretty well in MN and WI as far as I have seen. Some are drive thru only and a few seem to have some dine in.

COVID protocol quality is largely going to track with their pre-pandemic service quality. Places that were well run will likely do well, places that weren't well run back then aren't about to start now.