How's Everyone Doing?

[Avaitor]

I'm happy to see Biden be this much closer to a victory, but still saddened and disturbed that Trump only seems to have done better in 2020.

That must be some tasty Kool Aid his followers have tasted. But I mean, I'd vote for a room temperature, unbuttered cob of corn over Trump.

[blackcauldron85]

I just ordered groceries online. Not to be "delivered" or for pick-up, but to be shipped. I bought lots of canned goods, like soup and vegetables and fruit. I feel really bad for the delivery people and super guilty (also for my carbon footprint due to shipping). But with election craziness (what if there is violence @ the grocery store is literally going through my head) and Corona getting worse, and being lazy, I won't lie, and they allow it (I bought from Target), I figured why not. (I'm so concerned that the boxes will rip because of the heaviness of the cans...) Have you guys ever bought groceries online to be shipped?

[UmbrellaFish]

No, but I have always been curious about what it would be like— for me, laziness would be my main motivation (DoorDash was the best worst thing to ever happen to me haha). Please let us know how your experience goes!

[blackcauldron85]

I have never used a service like DoorDash; I wonder if delivery would have been a better option; I guess they would have bagged the items vs. put them in boxes. But either way a vehicle needs to drive them to the house...

Do you buy more restaurant food now with DoorDash than you usually would- is that what you mean by "best worst thing?" You're spending more $ than you'd like to because it's super-convenient to have someone bring yummy food to you?

One thing that gets me with online shopping is when they ship certain items together, and certain items by themselves. Like in my Target order, 5 cans of pineapple will be delivered all by their lonesome. Is pineapple kept in a different warehouse than the other items?! I feel awful that a UPS driver has to make an extra trip just to drop off 5 cans of pineapple, when I *could* have gone to the grocery store...*sigh*. #2020 makes us do crazy things?

(*edit* If I had bought perishable items, I'm sure that my only options would be pick-up or delivery; so maybe they don't mind shipping canned and boxed food...) I'm trying to feel less guilty.

[blackcauldron85]

Um, maybe having cans shipped to home wasn't a great idea...the box was falling apart, and a lot of the cans are dented. Oopsy poopsy. Not everything has arrived, and not everything is in a can, but my husband was like, why didn't you do the Pick-Up option... Maybe I'll do that next time. If they're dented during shipment to me, I don't need to worry about botulism, right?

*edit* We had a 2nd larger box just open in front of our door. Boxes (of Ziplock bags, shelf-stable cartons of milk- 2 leaking) totally crushed, Rice Krispie Treats partly crushed. (Now that I'm unpacking it, leaked coconut milk is on lots of the stuff.) Luckily they bag breakables, so my ripped flour is salvageable in the garbage now because my husband said it's not safe. This was a failed experiment. Not the most awful thing ever, but I feel guilty for all the employees involved. On the plus side, I don't need to go to the store for a while... I hope it's safe to eat the food inside these dented cans. (I started refunds online for the extremely dented cans and for the broken items above.)

2020 is for experimentation... So sorry for the boring story! But I learned my lesson.

[Disney Duster]

Haha, it's ok Amy, you tried it out. I'm glad you don't have to go to the store for a while!

[DVDBuff1]

So, Biden is officially the President.

[blackcauldron85]

^ I don't want to leave the house at all. I hope there isn't violence, but I don't trust people enough at this point. But I am so hopeful for the next few years for this country.

My husband said that his step-mom said "Remember this economy and the low gas prices; kiss that goodbye," and he gave her a talking to about how that wasn't Trump's doing. The people that are selfish and only care about $ make me sad.

[Avaitor]

I drove around downtown Atlanta today, and it was full of people partying, cars flying up Biden flags and honking. It's a pretty good feeling overall, I won't lie.

[UmbrellaFish]

HAPPY DAY, HAPPY DAY, HAPPY DAY! Beaming with joy!!! What a wonderful day!!!

(Also I’m sorry your groceries came messed up, Amy. That’s a shame. :/ )

[Disney's Divinity]

Yay, God bless Kamala! I know the Georgia run-offs are unlikely to be wins for Democrats, but I don't know, I try to never give up hope. I hope we can get the two Senate seats to protect women’s rights and same-sex marriage rights. After this, Stacey Abrams' stock has risen substantially. I hope Biden finds a way to extend both her and Buttigieg's experience during his administration somehow. <3 I'm happy for sooo many reasons, but in particular to know the attacks on and the de-funding of the public school system will end, at least for the next four years (perhaps eight).

[UmbrellaFish]

For the Americans, what are your Thanksgiving plans looking like? I finally convinced my parents (whom I live with, and my sisters) that we shouldn’t go to my grandparents for Thanksgiving. My mom is going to break it to them today but honestly if my grandparents push back hard, my parents might change their plans. If they do change their minds, I just won’t go while the rest of my family does.

One of my sisters is currently sick with a nasty case of Mono which maybe has made my parents reconsider the risk of somehow exposing my grandparents to coronavirus. I work with children— yesterday during snack time a little boy was talking to me without his mask on and I could feel the spit dropping on me before I made him put his mask back on. :/ Yesterday I was talking to a co-worker about all the kids and workers who are now in quarantine.

It’s been a bleak year, Biden’s victory notwithstanding. I’ve never been so concerned with mortality so much. I’ve been looking for ways to cope. We’ve already decorated for Christmas, usually we wait till Thanksgiving to decorate but “we need a little Christmas now.”

[Avaitor]

My plans were to drive back to Florida for the first time since I left in late September to be with my mom. It'll just be the two of us, so I'm not very worried. My sister will come down for Christmas, and I'm similarly not worried about then.

...although this is currently up in the air, as we just found out that one of the people we work with has tested positive for COVID. He isn't in my particular division, and mostly stays with a small crew of people, who are all currently being quarantined, so I'm not too worried. Still going to stay low this weekend, and will wait until I get the results from the test I have on Monday to decide if I make the drive after all.

I hope your sister feels better soon, UmbrellaFish, and that your family makes the right call for holiday plans. Better to have a lighter holiday this year than every year after.

[blackcauldron85]

OMG, UF, I hope that kid at snacktime did not have coronavirus and does not get you sick. But thank you for going to work every day and being with those kids! <3 And that sucks for your sister- I definitely hope she gets better soon.

I’ve never been so concerned with mortality so much.

This so much.

Avaitor, OMG I hope YOU don't get Covid from the coworker. It's so scary out there.

I know that my parents are not having us over for Thanksgiving. I don't know if my husband's parents will invite him over, and if so, I don't know if he'll go. :/ I have a turkey breast in the freezer and we'll have that here, or if he leaves, I'll eat it and enjoy it.

[Disney Duster]

I hope your sister gets better soon UmbrellaFish, and that you and Avaitor don't get sick.

I hope you all have a nice and safe Thanksgiving UmbrellaFish, Avaitor, and Amy.

[blackcauldron85]

^ Thank you, Disney Duster! I hope YOU also have a nice Thanksgiving! <3

Um, not to bum anyone out, but the NYT newsletter says this about the next few months. PLEASE take precautions, you guys- stay safe! <3

The last major pandemic in the U.S., in 1918, initially hit in the spring and came roaring back to peak in the fall, when a majority of victims died. In many ways, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 is following a similar trajectory.

“This will probably be the darkest period,” said Julia Marcus, an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School. “I think we can expect probably the most difficult moment in the pandemic to be these next few months, both in terms of challenges related to social isolation and economic devastation but also sickness and death.”

When we spoke to Dr. Anthony Fauci, he told us that what makes this surge different from past waves is the steepness of the curve.

“It’s almost an exponential curve,” he said. “It’s different because when you have an exponential curve up like that, by the time it peaks and then comes ultimately down, the duration of the surge is much longer.”

“I think that December, January and early February are going to be terribly painful months,” Dr. Fauci added.

...

“Earlier in the pandemic, it was possible for people to make reasonable plans based on risk levels,” said Apoorva Mandavilli, who covers science for The Times. “But for the next two to three months, no activity is truly safe unless you’re at home with your family.”

If you’re feeling weary about the prospect of a locked-down winter, there are signs — for perhaps the first time in the pandemic — of significantly better times ahead, provided we can get through the next few months.

Asked about what gives him hope, Dr. Fauci cited “the spectacular results of the vaccines.” Now that shots from Pfizer and Moderna are on their way, with Pfizer applying for emergency F.D.A. approval today,“this should be a motivation to double down even more to get us through this until the vaccine comes to the rescue.”

Don’t take the vaccines as an invitation to throw caution to the wind, he said. “It’s kind of like the last soldier to get killed in a war when the war is going to be over soon. You don’t want to be that person.”

[UmbrellaFish]

Phew!

Last week was the week from hell. Not going to go into it, but it was terrible and stressful and perfectly befitting 2020.

Aviator, I hope your test results turned out fine! And I hope everyone has nice Thanksgivings— no matter how small the dinner table is this year. My sister has been horribly, horribly sick with Mono (I’ve never had it or seen it before— it’s bad) but today she was doing a little better so she may be on the mend. My parents bought a lot Thanksgiving meal groceries for own little Thanksgiving. I love to cook so I’m looking forward to that.

[blackcauldron85]

I sure hope your sister is on the mend; it sounds awful. And I'm truly sorry that you had a crummy week.

I'm glad you're excited to cook! I had to write it on my calendar to thaw my turkey and take the plastic giblet bag out of it has one (my dad still heckles me for something from 15 or so years ago! ).

I don't know what else we'll be eating; we have plenty of food at home, but when we last were at the store, my husband said we'd get potatoes, etc., later...I don't know when later is. Maybe we'll have turkey and hash browns since those are in the freezer. And I forgot cranberry sauce, and he wanted to get his gravy "later."

[UmbrellaFish]

Turkey and hash browns sounds good to me! I’ve never actually eaten cranberry sauce although it’s been served at my family’s Thanksgivings before.

[blackcauldron85]

Cranberry sauce is apparently an acquired taste, but I love it. Have you had cranberries or cranberry juice? The sauce usually has sugar in it (the canned stuff anyway) I think, so it's not too tart,IMO.