still alive! / myLot

San Jose, California

May 14, 2020 7:45pm CST

I'm just very busy lately and haven't had a lot of time to sit and post. A couple of you were worried, and I apologize. I've gone back to work. I often wonder at work how many tiny cotton particles I am inhaling into my lungs over several hours while wearing a cloth mask, but the trade-off seems... well, potentially worse if I don't wear one. I've heard rumors that we'll still be under shelter-in-place orders until the end of summer. Los Angeles County has already announced this for its residents, and I'm sure the Bay Area will follow suit. In the future, I'm sure the kids will refer to this as "the year we didn't leave the house".

Anyway, I'm going to get caught up on some posts and will chat with some of you there. I've got a ham-potato-cheese-egg casserole in the oven for dinner and some English muffins to toast for dinner, so it's an easy meal tonight. Photo is me at work this morning.

14 people like this

14 responses

Alex Socorro

@Alexandoy (65308)

• Cainta, Philippines

15 May 20

Thank you for sharing your photo and also the story of your work. I admire people who are in the frontline.

3 people like this

Kelli M

@spiderdust (14741)

• San Jose, California

15 May 20

Earlier this week, 6 families got together and purchased a whole bunch of snacks and treats for our staff, and their children made a poster-sized thank you card, thanking us for continuing to work so their families could still buy food. I was so touched, it made me cry.

4 people like this

Alex Socorro

@Alexandoy (65308)

• Cainta, Philippines

15 May 20

@spiderdust gee, that was your reward for doing that kind of work. Yes, that is very touching.

1 person likes this

Kharla Jolly

@kobesbuddy (74571)

• East Tawas, Michigan

15 May 20

Where are you working, Kelli? I thought before, that you worked at a hospital.

1 person likes this

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Kharla Jolly

@kobesbuddy (74571)

• East Tawas, Michigan

15 May 20

@spiderdust Oh my gosh 20 pounds of vegetables, that's a tremendous amount! I felt bad when Tawas Village(where I worked) started ordering Gordon's frozen prepared foods. These meals are way too high in sodium, for the elderly!

2 people like this

Kelli M

@spiderdust (14741)

• San Jose, California

15 May 20

@kobesbuddy 10 lbs of that was cutting up red potatoes into 1cm cubes! Then there were 5 lbs of diced onion and 5 lbs of diced celery. That soup was amazing by the end though. I might see if I can get some tomorrow if there's any left.

2 people like this

Kelli M

@spiderdust (14741)

• San Jose, California

15 May 20

No, I'm a cook in a high-end grocery store. I make a lot of the prepared foods that people buy to take home, like meatballs and soups and quiches and salads and roasts. Today I made 5 gallons of clam chowder from scratch! That took the majority of my shift to make because I had to dice 20 lbs of vegetables for it.

2 people like this

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much2say

@much2say (53958)

• Los Angeles, California

15 May 20

Please stay safe while you're out working! We have the orders, but I wonder how this will all pan out with everyone reopening (being in CA, I'm glad it's not being rushed). Ohhh, the casserole sounds good!!

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (62145)

• United States

15 May 20

I saw that the Wisconsin Supreme Court declared the Wisconsin stay-at-home orders unconstitutional, and hopefully other states will follow suit. In March they told us fifteen days, and now it's turning into fifteen weeks for some. When the stated objectives are reached (flattening the curve) and there's still a lockdown, this is no longer a "public health issue," it's a dictatorship.

Kelli M

@spiderdust (14741)

• San Jose, California

15 May 20

As far as I am aware, the curve has not yet been flattened. It has stopped rapidly climbing and is dropping, but there's still a lot of infection being passed around.

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (62145)

• United States

15 May 20

@spiderdust -- guess it depends on that ever-changing goal. They used to tell us that it was to make sure the hospitals weren't overrun with covid cases. We have a field hospital that's been sitting at the state fairgrounds for six weeks, never used. Forgive me if I seem a little suspicious of what the government is doing, but I keep thinking of two different quotes from two different presidents in two different eras (and from two different parties): "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." (FDR) And.... "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." (Ronald Reagan)

1 person likes this

Kelli M

@spiderdust (14741)

• San Jose, California

15 May 20

@FourWalls I think it's a healthy thing to stay suspicious of the government (especially these days).

1 person likes this