Living the Remote Life

I have time on my hands and very little really happening. I have the computer on my lap and feel the urge to communicate. We are travelers, no surprise to most of you. We live for the next trip/adventure. There has been something planned for the not to distant future since we got our first motorhome and foreign travel has been an annual, at least, experience since I retired/sold my practice in 2012. 

There is a flight booked to Charlottesville for April 6, somehow I don’t have great expectations that we will be going. I just checked and Delta is expecting us . We had planned to drive to Alaska leaving Jojoba Hills on April 26 , that also seems unlikely since the border with Canada is closed to all traffic other than necessary commercial traffic. We talked about booking a trip to Sicily in the Fall, unlikely. I am feeling a bit stranded. Even a trip into town for medical or supplies requires intense thought and planning to get the most out of the time with the least contact with other people.  No surprise, supplies for staying safe are not readily available. Forget toilet paper and hand cleaner. Facial tissue is almost unavailable as well – I saw a box of 75 sheets for over $10 on Amazon, price gouging much? This was an outside seller delivering through Amazon. 

My expectation is we will be here through the summer. As we adjust to the new way of living, it will get easier for us. I am grateful we are retired and not dependent on work to keep food on the table and rent paid. Too many people are without work and without income. We are concerned about our staff, most of whom are laid off as “non essential”. We are paying our monthly maintenance fee based on paying their salaries, shouldn’t we just keep paying them? That may be an existential question to put to the board. Glad I am not on the board now.  

Tech is king now. We Zoom to get together and to have working meetings.  Even our Happy Hours include gathering around the computer screen with Zoom with drink in hand. We have apps for the stores where we will shop so we can preorder and have the order waiting at the pickup location for us. We email, text, message and write blogs to stay in touch. We even make phone calls! I know there are many other social apps people are using, but it’s enough to keep track of the ones I mentioned.

What am I doing? Washing my hands, watching PBS News Hour, watching movies and series, reading books and writing here and on a variety of forums and FB groups that I participate in. If you want to talk, send a zoom link, send a text or just call me at 585-721-2355. Do remember I am in California so 10 AM on the East Coast is 7 AM by me and I might be a bit out of sorts 🙂

 

 

One thought on “Living the Remote Life”

  1. Sounds very similar to our lifestyle. Lar and Rache do the shopping and wash hands as soon as coming home. We take walks and keep a wide berth around other people – though it’s very quiet out there. AS I’m sure you know, NYS is shut down like CA. Stores are open for foods and other necessary stuff, doctors same and hospitals. But almost everything else – GONE. Which means people who can’t work from home aren’t working – very financially stressful for many people. Also, we can’t visit mom, and it’s hard when she is confused. I wish I could see her – but I’m glad for her that we can’t. She’s got a cough, but she doesn’t seem to have symptoms of COVID, and so far no one at the Home has tested positive. But I am waiting to get answers in terms of who if anyone has been tested at all.

    I’m hoping staff gets us set up with Zoom for my weekly cancer support group at Gilda’s Club, and I’ve also got a private FB
    group I set up. And I’ve been busy pulling together an online resource guide for my clients stuck at home. I’m trying to keep busy and productive. I donate food, etc. I miss hugging people….

    Love to you both. Hang in there….this won’t last forever. Stay safe.

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