The Best and Worst of Isolation

Because We're Not Going Anywhere

The best:

1. I don't need to check my calendar for anything. 
2. I can serve dinner at 8 or 9 pm because it won't interfere with anyplace we have to be.
3. Instead of our walks outdoors, we are now doing YouTube exercise/fitness videos. It's actually more fun than the fitness classes I'd been taking.
4. I don't feel I need to put on makeup most days. (Think of the savings!)
5. We're saving a ton of money on gas.  
6. I have more time to read. 
7. The telemarketers have been laid off, too. Spam calls are greatly reduced.
8. I am organizing everything - the pantry, my closet and the utility room are pretty well done. 

The worst:

1. I don't need to check my calendar for anything. 
2. I miss visiting with friends.
3. I am in dire need of a manicure/pedicure. 
4. We're spending more on groceries because they are being delivered.
5. I want new pots and plants but I can't get them.
6. The weather is so perfect and we're not out in it much.
7. Companies are not answering their phones. If there's a problem with your bill, you're going to have to write a snail mail letter. 
8. I'm afraid this will go on far longer than we think it will. Even if the curve gets flattened, without a proven treatment or a vaccine, it will still not be safe.

Things that don't make sense:

1. I want to buy new clothes, but I don't actually need them because we're staying home. 
2. Some days I don't do much because I want to have something to do the next day.

Wasting Time

I'm aware that people are dying and I don't want to get disproportionately bent out of shape over some shoe boxes. Even though those boxes are standing between me and a perfectly organized closet and a bedroom floor that is free of shoes. It troubles my OCD soul.

But what really annoys me is that they wasted my time. I ordered on March 21st. On March 23rd I got the notice that my order had shipped and would be delivered on April 1st. Okay. I'm not going anywhere. I can wait. Then on April 1st it got to be past 6 so I checked the link they sent me. That indicated that the order would be delivered by 8 pm. Okay, I can wait. Then at 8:30 when I checked the link they sent me, I got a different message. "We're sorry. On the way but running late. Contact the shipper." - Which in this case they claimed was UPS.

Now the thing about UPS is that they can't help you without a tracking number, and I didn't have one. Amazon is short handed at the moment and they didn't answer the phone. The automated system advised me to contact the shipper. Apparently, the shipper should respond within 48 hours. At any rate, you can't request a refund for at least 3 days.

My best guess is that if there had actually been a shipment, they'd have been happy to give me a tracking number. They went immediately to refund after three days with no response to the request for the tracking number. Therefore I assume they never actually shipped it. They knew the day they told me I'd have it on April 1 that I would never see it at all. So I wasted 10 days waiting for it and another 3 to get the refund.

I figured I'd be clever and order it through Mark's Prime account so I could have next day delivery, but in those two weeks I was waiting for it the price went up. Significantly. From $88 to $115. So that plan didn't work either. I know they're price gouging on toilet paper but why are they raising the price of plastic shoe boxes?

Last night I ordered them from Bed Bath and Beyond. They say I'll receive them sometime between next Friday and the end of the month. In the meantime, I live with the disarray. (It bothers no one but me.) But I still don't understand why that Amazon seller felt it was okay to waste my time. I'm nearly 70, it's not an unlimited commodity.

So I Stopped

I know many people who are into needlework and sewing. I've tried my hand at most of it, but it's not something I do much of these days.

I did some sewing in my teens and twenties because I wanted more clothes than I could afford to buy. There was a point where it became more cost effective to buy them than to make them and so I stopped.

I wanted to learn to knit when I was in my early 20s. Someone gave me a book. It looked easy enough. But there must have been a flaw in the directions because instead of having a scarf, I had a trapezoid. My neighbor told me I'd dropped a stitch every time I tried to turn. I was successful at changing colors and making a stripe, but I couldn't manage a rectangle. So I stopped.

I learned to crochet when I was little. I had two aunts who excelled at it. But let me be clear - all I learned to crochet was a chain. Not particularly useful or decorative. And by the time I was in my teens I didn't even remember how to do that. When I was in my 20s my mother took up crocheting and was making afghans for everyone. (I still have one or two of them.) I wanted to be able to make them, too. She tried to teach me a basic stitch she used, but it turned out about the same as knitting - I was dropping stitches and heading in the direction of a trapezoid. Then one day she called to tell me that she'd learned a new stitch - "and it's so simple, even you can do it!" It didn't help my self esteem when it turned out that I couldn't actually do it. So I stopped.

 I also did a bit of needlepoint years ago when I was trying to stop smoking. It kept my hands busy. There are three pieces I did that are framed and hanging on a wall in my home. I have one more that I did (over 20 years ago, mind you) that I have not yet had framed. I was thinking of making it into a pillow because I recognize that there is a limit to the number of framed needlepoint pieces one should have in one's house. I had enough. So I stopped.

I decided to do embroidery instead. I'd learned basic embroidery as a child so it wasn't really a problem. I knew I couldn't do counted cross-stitch so I tried stamped cross stitch. You still have to count it and I lose count. I may never finish that piece. Next, I started a set of pillowcases that are just regular embroidery and they still aren't finished. In the box of things that I inherited from my mother there was a very ambitious piece to embroider - looks like a bedspread. She started it and didn't get very far. So far I haven't added anything to it. I hope one of my granddaughters is learning embroidery. I haven't technically stopped - I just haven't picked it up in several years.

I also started a quilt when my first husband and I split up about 45 years ago, I cut up a bunch of fabric scraps into 2-inch pieces and then started sewing them by hand. It kept me occupied for a while. I have a large diamond shape made out of those 2-inch pieces. I haven't picked that up in decades.

I actually completed a latch-hook rug. They make great wall hangings but not very good rugs. I never made another one because no one needs more than one latch hook piece hanging in their home. The one I made had a sailboat design in earth tones. The last time it  was used was when I had a lake house on Lake Texoma some 25 or more years ago. I still have it though, just in case.

Weaving and tatting are not even on the radar. Looks like needlework is not destined to be my hobby. But we'll see how things progress with the lock down..

What Do You Like to Do?

What do you like to do? It's a question I've been asked a lot in the last six months.  Most of my life I've been asked "What do you do?" - in the context of a career or employment. Since moving to an over-55 community, aka "retirement community" the question has changed because the assumption is that you're retired.

This is a question I'm totally unprepared for. I like to sleep but I know that's not the answer anyone is looking for. My personal belief is that sleep is completely underrated.

But seriously, I like a variety of things and I've done a variety of things, some of which I liked better than others. Some I'm willing to do again, others not so much.

For example, I like to read. I've liked reading my entire life - even before I could do it myself. But I don't really want to join a book club because I like to choose what I want to read, when I want to read it and I don't like to be on a schedule.

Then there is needlework. A seemingly infinite variety of needlework - knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, embroidery, needlepoint, weaving and tatting. Have I missed any? Oh yeah, latch hook. We'll talk about those tomorrow, but for now let's just say maybe.

I like to play golf but I don't want to play every day. And around here, I'm told that if you're not going to play at least three times a week, joining the club is not fiscally responsible. So I'm not going to join the club, which means that I can't join the official 18 hole group, but I can play with the official 9 hole group.  Or I can play with an unofficial group that likes to play on the same day every week and Mark and I can play 9 or 18 any time we want to. But now that we're in the middle of a stay at home order, it looks like I won't be playing at all.

As for other sports, I don't care much. My knees will no longer allow me to play tennis or ski. I suspect pickle ball is something else my knees wouldn't like. Once the pandemic is over, we may try bocce except that they play so early in the morning. I don't follow any pro or college teams and Mark doesn't care very much, either.

Then there's crafting and painting. I go to craft fairs from time to time and look at things and say to myself  "I could make that!". Yes, I could but chances are good that I won't. Unless it's a holiday decoration and then I might. In the "not a holiday decoration" category, I made a macrame plant hanger once - a long time ago back in the 70s when it was something of a pandemic. (I don't know where it is now.) As far as painting goes, I'm not talented but I can make something that's good enough to fill the space if I need to. But doing things out of necessity isn't the same as a hobby.

I loved gardening when I was in Texas. Although in recent years I had to pay someone to do the weeding. Now I'll be doing most all my gardening in pots. I'm still learning what plants will do well in my new climate, but right now I have no spare pots and no way to buy plants.

Then there's cooking - because I like eating, and I don't like eating the same thing over and over. I never saw my mother use a recipe for anything other than baking cookies. She had a few cookbooks. I know because I have them now. And while I didn't know the day of the week based on what was on the table, I did know that if she was making pork chops, she would be making them the same way she'd made them the week before. She made the food her mother taught her to make (and the food my father liked) - fried chicken, fried pork chops, and pot roast, mostly seasoned with salt and pepper. Don't know how Sloppy Joes got into the mix - it wasn't something Grandma made. And by the way, pasta was NOT a staple in our house when I was growing up. I'm on the opposite end of that spectrum. I like trying new recipes. Recipes often don't get back into the rotation for months if not years. I have just about every spice known to man. But because I'm usually following a new recipe, I do very few things from memory. Although I have a few basic recipes in my head in the event I fail to plan ahead. Fortunately, Mark likes to cook every now and then, (mostly because if he didn't, he would not get his shepherd's pie, spaghetti Bolognese, and some other dishes he considers comfort food on a regular basis. It also seems that baking is considered a hobby, but cooking is not.

Several times I've been asked if I play cards or games. I like them -  in a casual way. It's been fun to spend an evening playing dominoes, cards, and/or board games with friends. It's something to do while you socialize. On the other hand, I know people who play bridge several times a week and others who have a weekly poker game. I just can't see myself doing that.

Maybe this makes me a Jack of all trades and master of none. And that's okay, I do like variety and I'm willing to try most things - except sky diving and car racing - although there was a time...but I've closed that window.