April 18

I was out to a grocery store this morning.

This afternoon I was tidying up and realized that one of my gloves was missing.  I'm sure I was wearing it when I came back into the building but stopped to use hand sanitizer and I was dealing with two grocery bags so I imagine I dropped it at that point.  I went and checked the hallways and the lobby but no luck.

These are gloves that were given to me by a former friend around 50 years ago and I've worn them off and on since.  I guess I assumed they would be with me for the rest of my life.

So I'm feeling such a sense of loss.

Isn't that silly?  In the middle of a pandemic I'm mourning the loss of a glove.

April 16.

I'm getting so comfortable being alone in my condo and not having to deal with world except remotely.  In a way I almost dread having to go back to the outside world.  I'm only going out for groceries or to take the recycling down once a week.  I'm not going for walks anymore because there are just too many people not making the effort to keep their distance.  It would be nice to see my friends but at the same time I feel relieved that I don't have to bother going to a restaurant and trying to find something on the menu that my fussy gut will tolerate.

I'm sorry that I'm going to miss seeing a lot of plants coming out.  One of favourite things is watching life return to the world in spring.  I find that brief period where the trees just have a faint green tinge of new leaves budding out very beautiful.

One problem with staying in is that I have to put up with the various clunks and bangs that I hear from the various neighbours.  It could be worse but at times it sends me into a startle response which I'm sure isn't good for my heart condition.   From morning until late evening I usually have multiple white noise machines, fans etc running.  I often leave them all on when I'm watching tv and use  headphones so that I can hear the audio.

I've worn a mask the last two times I've been to the grocery store but I have only a few of them.  I don't think I have the materials or the patience to sew a washable one, and I'm not at all convinced that they're that much good anyway.  The masks I have have been sitting in the closet for 30 years since my late father was on home kidney dialysis and the kidney center didn't want any open boxes of supplies returned.

April 10

I was out for a walk and a stop at a nearby convenience store yesterday.  Only canned corn in the vegetable aisle, small choice of packaged meat, but lots of fresh produce.

I'm still quite comfortable spending all these days at home.  I think I may be getting tired of video and leaning more toward reading.  The days go by very quickly and I don't get the reading done I would like to.

I am feeling no desire to do anymore than the absolutely necessary when it comes to housekeeping.

I am making the effort to keep up my personal hygiene as far as showers, shaving, clean clothes etc.  Since I'm wearing t-shirts and boxers most of the time it's making laundry day petty simple.

One thing I miss is the library.  I finding lots of ebooks to read but there are lot of books I would like to read that are not in ebook format.

Apr 6

Day something over three weeks.

I was out for groceries and a short walk on Saturday morning.  The streets were not too busy and most people were good about distancing, but not everyone, some just couldn't be bothered.  I went to a small store and it wasn't busy which was good.

I wasn't out yesterday but a friend who lives in the building beside mine was and he was amazed at how crowded the streets in the neighbourhood were.  But, it was a Sunday and it was nice weather that felt like spring, and people just naturally want to be outside on a day like that.

I think we may be at a point where the numbers in Toronto are really going to go up for a while (and then, I hope, come down) so I'm going to try and stay in now.  I don't need food but do at times want to get out in the outside air -  that's all, I don't want to go into shops or see anyone. But....

P(S)D Day 19

So, watching video stuff and doing light reading.  I don't seem  to be able to concentrate for long on anything too serious.

It's a lovely day outside but I just feel uncomfortable even going for a walk.  Too many people on the sidewalk and too many of them aren't making an effort to keep well apart.

I'll need to go for groceries at some point - mainly things like bread and fresh vegetables - while I still can.  They're encouraging we over 70's to stay in as much as possible.

I may not even try to get my income tax stuff to the accountant.  I'll just pay whatever fine there is.

Physical (formerly Social) Distancing Day 16

Actually I'm not feeling much of a sense of social distancing.  In normal times I get together with friends for dinner on Saturday or Sunday and usually for the rest of the week I see no one.  Maybe once in two months I will get together with someone for lunch.  So I've only missed dinner out for two weekends so I haven't really felt it.

Yesterday was a rainy morning so I went for a walk thinking there wouldn't be very many people out and that was true.   I stopped at the No Frills and was very pleased that they were limiting the number of people that could be in the store at one time.  They had a guard on duty and tapes on the floor where you lined up six feet apart to wait for someone to leave.  In the store they had similar tapes for the checkout lines.  Most items had at least some stock on the shelves, the fresh produce area was fully stocked but again there was very little meat available.

Social Distancing - Day 14

During this time I have been out for groceries three times and down to the lobby to pick up my mail twice.

There was a repair person in yesterday to replace the smoke detector which had been beeping every few seconds for two weeks.  Fortunately not very loudly and I couldn't hear it in the bedroom.  Unfortunately  it didn't help and the new unit is beeping in the same way.  I'm leaving it as is since even though the repair guy wore an mask and kept well away from me I don't want anyone coming into my unit if I can avoid it.

I'm over 70 so being in the high risk of dying group I'm doing my best to be safe.

I'm not getting much exercise since I'm not getting out for walks as I normally would.  I find there are just too many people (the majority walking dogs) for me to feel that I am comfortably maintaining a two meter separation.

I'm finding lots of video stuff to watch even though I don't have Netflix (yet!).

There's not problem finding reading material between the internet and ebooks.

What would this situation be like if we didn't have the internet?