Not good…not good at all.
2:28 p.m.
It’s been a pretty crummy Labor Day so far. Everybody is still upset about having to miss the baseball game. I’m watching it on television by myself. Violet is down for her nap. Dylan is playing video games in his room, and Kate is reading in our room. She said she’d make everybody’s favorite for dinner tonight – tacos – in an attempt to perk us up. It’s days like today that I wish we had a house with a yard. I mean, I love condo life for the security and the ease of lifestyle it provides – not having to rake leaves, cut the grass, constantly make home repairs, that kind of stuff – but I miss being able to just pop outside, throw the Frisbee, play ball with the kids or just get some fresh air. If property taxes weren’t so damn high here, it’d be a consideration, but paying ten grand a year or more just for the honor of owning the property itself seems ridiculous to me. I don’t know how some of these people do it. Of course a lot of them are dual-income families. But if Kate was working (besides doing her internet stuff that is), we’d have to pay for daycare for Violet and an after-school program for Dylan, and that would be another huge chunk of change. Oh well, condo life isn’t all that bad; I just miss having a yard is all.
6:28 p.m.
Dylan’s bouncing off the walls with excitement. We just got a phone call from his school with a recorded message from the district superintendent telling us that classes are cancelled for the entire week. I’m glad they called because Kate and I were having a tough time deciding what to do. We were going to let Dylan take the day off tomorrow anyway, just to be on the safe side, but we weren’t sure what to do after that. We really didn’t want to let him go back with the flu spreading like crazy, but we also didn’t want him missing too much school.
Well, problem solved. But I’m somewhat concerned about how long all this is going to last. It could really screw up his summer break. I know that Kate had activities planned for Dylan starting the second week of June. If his school gets extended much longer due to the flu outbreak or because of snow days later this winter, it could have Kate scrambling to try and reorganize his summer schedule.
Well, at this point, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, the boy is pumped up about no school. I DID inform him however that it won’t be all video games and TV watching, and that he has to read and do some math practice too. That kind of tempered his excitement…but not much.
9:28 p.m.
This won’t be a long entry since I’m getting ready to go to bed. I think that just sitting around the house actually makes me feel more tired than when I’m out doing stuff…even working.
Really, I just wanted to do a quick Su flu update. Television coverage of the flu is nearly nonstop now. Hospitals are filled and overfilled. Apparently hundreds of people are dead or dying and they don’t have room for the bodies. It’s all pretty horrible. I’ve decided that tomorrow I’m going to make one more run to Devries’ grocery store to see if there is anything left. I’d like to stock up on a few more items just to be on the safe side and then hunker down for a while. After this trip, I really don’t want to go into public places any more than I have to for the rest of the week. By then, they’ll hopefully start getting this thing under control.
Tuesday, September 3 rd
6:57 a.m.
I’m writing early this morning because I want to get a jump on going to Devries’. I’m hoping I can beat the rush, get there while they still have some stuff available, and avoid as many people as possible.
I’m wearing a white surgical-style mask that I picked up this weekend at the store (I think it’s more for home repair work than preventing disease, but it’s all they had). And even though it’s just a couple blocks, I’m going to drive so that I can get more stuff. Dylan’s pestering me to come. He’s going stir crazy having been shut up in the condo all day yesterday, but I’m not letting him. He went back to bed in a huff. Just as well. Letting him sleep is the best way to keep him out of our hair. I don’t know what we’re going to do with him being home all week. I know he’s excited about not having school and thinks this is all some sort of extended snow day, but I’m afraid he’s quickly going to get tired of sitting around inside. But I’m definitely NOT letting him out around other people.
I don’t really have a shopping list for this trip. I’m just going to see what’s left and try not to be too picky. If we like it, if it’s got a reasonable shelf life, if it’s available, and if it’s not too expensive, I’m probably going to buy it. I don’t see any reason to chance it at this point. It’s not like we won’t eat the stuff eventually, especially the way Dylan has been going through food lately. I swear that kid hits a growth spurt every other week. He’s going to be as tall as his mother soon.
Okay, better get moving. Devries’ opens at 7 a.m. and I want to be there when the doors open.
10:23 a.m.
There was a line almost 20 deep when I got to Devries’. A lot of people were wearing masks similar to mine. It reminded me of photos I’d seen of airports or bustling city streets in Asia during the bird flu, SARS or similar outbreaks. A couple people, apparently unable to come up with masks, were wearing scarves over their faces. It’s strange to see people wearing scarves in early September when it’s 70 degrees out.
Devries’ must have gotten their shelves restocked over the weekend because they had a good amount of stuff. I loaded up with as much as I could afford and could fit in the car. Other people were doing the same. By the time the first wave of shoppers had gotten through the small store, there wasn’t much left. I felt kind of bad taking so much, but I guess if other people aren’t concerned enough about their families to get out early do the same, well, then that’s on them. All I can do is worry about us. I’m sure I’m just being overly protective. But the way I see it, why not? If nothing happens, then nothing happens. But if the wheels do fall off this bus, I’d rather be safe than sorry. Sure, the credit card bill for this month will be way higher than usual, but in my opinion, it’s worth it, especially if we consume most of the stuff I bought. We’d have to get it now or get it in the next few weeks, so we’d pay for it eventually one way or the other. That’s my logic at least.
Dylan – ever the little trooper – helped me carry all the stuff up the three flights of stairs to our condo and then assisted his mom finding space for it all in the kitchen cabinets. It took them almost half an hour, but now I feel pretty comfortable hunkering down for the next few days. I guess we’ll just wait and see what happens next.
7:03 p.m.
Mmm…taco dinner.
Everyone’s fat and happy now. Kate cooked up her special refried beans with Oaxaca cheese melted on top (I got mine with hot taco sauce). I have a feeling it’s going to be a battle for the bathrooms tomorrow morning.
I have to write fast. Yep, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve turned the television off, and I have to move my butt before I lose my audience. I think that not having the television on is kind of a shock to the system for everyone. We’ve all gotten so accustomed to it over the years, it’s almost like another member of the family. But with it off, there’s no Su flu news coverage, no reality TV shows, no video games, no outside distractions. Sitting on the dining room table before me is a stack of board games – Sorry, Monopoly, Candyland, and Chutes and Ladders.
Dylan looks mortified, but I know he’ll get into it once we start. Violet has already got the Monopoly money all mixed up and is playing “race-around-the-board-game” with the Monopoly horse challenging the sports car. Guess it’s time to go play before Dylan deserts us and Violet starts losing – or eating – the game pieces.
11:05 p.m.
Everyone’s asleep but me. I’m tired, but all this Su flu coverage has my mind racing and adrenaline pumping. Just sitting around most of the day hasn’t helped. I haven’t used up any energy. Plus, I think the tacos are doing battle with the refried beans and taco sauce in my belly.
All the news feeds are coming in from LA rig
ht now. Night has finally settled across La La Land, and the place is going wild. There’s looting, there’s rioting, and it looks like general chaos and pandemonium is ubiquitous. Cars are on fire. Buildings are on fire. People are shooting at about anything that moves (or doesn’t move for that matter). Traffic on a lot of the streets and highways is moving at a snail’s pace or stopped completely. Bodies are laying in the street (most of them look dead or close to it), and the overall scene is one of utter dissolution of law, order, and sanity. The police are trying to handle things, but it doesn’t look like they’re able to get a handle on the situation. According to reports, the governor has called up the National Guard, but supposedly they won’t have the forces necessary to deal with the number of people going bananas there until sometime tomorrow.
I’m worried that the same thing will happen in Chicago. I know that our police and fire departments are good, but if what is going on in LA starts here, it could get out of hand quick.
Scary stuff…VERY scary stuff.
Wednesday, September 4 th
8:32 a.m.
This morning was interesting. Over coffee, Kate and I discussed whether we should try leaving the city or if we should stay here and stick it out. We went round and round on the subject but never really came to a conclusion. I’m more of the mindset that we should get out of town after having watched the television coverage of LA last night. I put on the news this morning in hopes of getting Kate on the same page, but things there have calmed down now that the National Guard is on the scene, so it didn’t look nearly as bad as it did last night. It didn’t do much to support my case to leave the city. Kate felt that if things start getting too bad here, our governor will most likely call in the Guard too. Since we’re a good 10 miles from downtown and in an upper-middle-class suburb, I just don’t think she can envision things breaking down in our area like they did in LA.
I didn’t want to push the subject too hard. And I have to admit, the thought of packing the kids up and hauling them out to the middle of nowhere isn’t very appealing. Plus, what happens then? I mean, it’d be a fun camping trip for a day or two, but then what? What is the long term plan…spend a long weekend…a week? If things get that bad, I don’t think they’ll have shaken themselves out in a couple days or even a week, so what’s the point of pulling up roots and running off to the wilderness? And then what if nothing happens? What if work and school resume and we are out in the middle of nowhere with no cell service? I’d be fired and a truancy officer would be waiting at our door when we got home wondering why Dylan wasn’t in school.
While I don’t think I’d mind a break from the city, both Kate and I tend to agree that with the kids in tow, leaving just isn’t a very feasible – nor fun – sounding idea. So I guess we’ll just continue to hunker down here for now and see what happens. What do they call it, ‘shelter in place’? I guess that’ll be us. We’ll be sheltering in place. I’d go get some movies from the library to watch, but after having checked their website, it appears that the library is closed until further notice. Great. Looks like we’ll be watching the movies we already own. At least the kids have their tablets. They can watch stuff on those. Maybe I’ll rent a couple movies through our cable provider too. We can have a family movie night – could be fun. I’ll even make popcorn!
12:56 p.m.
I just can’t stop watching this flu coverage stuff on TV. It’s addictive and it’s all over the place. Even during regular programming they’re cutting in for updates. And now it’s not just from cities around the US but worldwide.
It looks like hospitals, which are filled to capacity and WAY understaffed, are starting to shut their doors to people. This is causing even more concern among the general public. The hospitals don’t have the personnel necessary to deal with the number of patients arriving, and those numbers appear to be increasing exponentially by the day.
The news is saying that the city morgues are full and they don’t have places for the influx of corpses that are arriving due to the flu. There was even a shot of a parking lot outside Rush University Memorial Hospital where they had hauled in those big Dumpsters with the ends that can be opened up. They had plastic tarps over the tops and guys in hazmat suits were loading bodies into them. Sometimes they would just drive a fork lift with a pallet piled high with filled body bags right into the Dumpster.
They’re showing cities like New York, Los Angles, Atlanta, and even Washington D.C. having the same problem. And I guess there still isn’t a cure or any new vaccine for this thing. The CDC officials they keep interviewing don’t seem to have a clue. They give their standard lines about people staying inside if and when possible, washing their hands, avoiding public areas, and wearing masks if they have to leave their homes, but it doesn’t seem to be helping much by the looks of things.
The president is supposed to make a statement tonight. I guess we’ll see what he has to say.
Meanwhile, back on the home front, Violet seems to enjoy having us all home with her. Earlier this morning, she and Kate played with her Fisher Price town set (the old one that I played with as a kid), and then she served us all brunch with her toy food set. It was sweet…something I don’t get to enjoy when I’m at work. Dylan on the other hand is going a little stir crazy, but overall I think we’re handling being cooped up together pretty well.
6:23 p.m.
Well that was a bummer. We pretty much got a whole lot of nothing from our president. During a dinner of burgers and fries, old fearless leader said about the same thing as all the news reports and CDC – stay at home, wear masks if you go out, do lots of hand washing, and they’re working on developing a vaccine. He’s got a conference call with state governors scheduled for tomorrow, blah, blah, blah. So much for that. Turns out, the president’s daughter got the flu and passed away earlier in the day. Doesn’t say much for surviving this thing if we, “the little people” of the world come down with it. If they can’t save the president’s own daughter, what’s the hope for the rest of us?
After that downer, it’s definitely time for a movie to get our minds off things.
9:08 p.m.
We ended up watching “The Incredibles” movie. We’ve seen it before…multiple times, but Violet is in that stage where she loves watching the same movies over and over; plus, we all love it. It’s one of those feel-good family movies that has that ability to whisk you away and take your mind off things for a couple hours.
I made two bags of microwave popcorn with extra salt and butter, and we finished them both. It was a nice way to break away from the troubles of the world around us and enjoy some quality family time together.
After our movie, I asked everyone if they’d like to go on a special “night ranger” mission. I know that it’s kind of dangerous going outside with the way things are, but it seemed quiet, and I figured that at this time on a Wednesday night, it wouldn’t be too risky. We didn’t do anything crazy. I mainly just wanted to give everyone the chance to get some fresh air and stretch their legs.
It wasn’t a long walk, just a quick jaunt over to Devries’. I was curious to see what the situation was there. I also wanted to see what the rest of our little business district looked like.
In a word, it was “dead”, even for a Wednesday night. We walked the few blocks to Devries’. When we got there, a sign on the door indicated that the store would be closed until further notice due to “supply issues”.
Yeah, no kidding. I guess that’s what you would call it when no one is coming to work because they’re scared of catching the flu, there’s no one to load the supplies on the trucks, there’s no one to drive the trucks, and there’s no one there to receive the supplies should they actually arrive.
By the time we headed out on our little adventure (a little after eight), it was already past Violet’s bedtime, so we didn’t make it a long trip; plus, I didn’t want us running into people who might be flu carriers. After making a quick circuit of our tiny downtown, where the majority of the many
shops and restaurants had followed Devries’ lead and closed for the foreseeable future, we came home. It felt strange seeing our little burg looking like a ghost town, but it was kind of cool at the same time, like we owned the entire place or something. I think we counted six cars go by the whole time we were out. Usually, Main Street would be busy with traffic, even at eight o’clock on a Wednesday night.
The whole thing was weird…like something out of a “Twilight Zone” episode.
Thursday, September 5 th
10:12 a.m.
This morning’s news has brought more wild reports. It seems like things are starting to get crazy everywhere. We even had some problems with the cable and Internet this morning, and our cell phones are on the fritz. Kate was all in a tizzy since she wasn’t able to check her online store. I tried to be supportive, but I eventually told her to just try to relax, there was nothing she could do about it. I know it’s hard for her. Heck, I’ve been checking my work email almost nonstop lately. I’ve been very worried about our productivity numbers. It’s amazing just how interconnected with and dependant upon our technology we are. I feel bad for Kate. She was afraid that she was going to start getting customer complaints if her store went too long without her being able to check in. Thankfully, everything was back up and working again by nine this morning, and she was able to log in and get things squared away. I could see her going totally berserk if she wasn’t able to log in until tomorrow.
The Pandemic Diaries [Books 1-3] Page 2