What SIP means to me.

[b2bailey]

Before we begin, let's agree to disagree.
Also, let's apply a rule called "No Crosstalk".
For those not familiar with that term, it means each person who participates will simply state their truth. You may not comment on another person's post.
If easier, use the scale 1 to 10 to rate yourself,
1 -- being I ain't doing anything more than washing my hands after I'm done in the bathroom.
10 -- I'm pretending I am under house arrest.

Also, include # of days you have practiced those measures.

 

[Luanne]

I tend to stay home a lot anyway, so much of this hasn't affected me. What has changed:
1. I wash my hands much more, and much more thoroughly
2. I tend to spend more time on the phone when I do talk to people
3. I miss being able to go out "just because"

 

[jackio]

I am staying home almost all the time (give myself a 9). I have been to the store once since 3/16, and went to see my mother once because she needed help with some paperwork. I take a daily walk with my husband and stay clear of other walkers in the neighborhood. We exchange pleasantries from afar.
Yesterday I did a drive by to my grandchildren because I was missing them so much. One pair waved at us through the window; the other 2 ran out and we stayed about 10 feet away.
I don't wash my hands any more often than usual because I am a nurse and a frequent handwasher anyway.
I am on the internet a lot more than when I was working. I am looking to going back to work.

 

[Passepartout]

1) I am sticking close to home- though have gone to grocery/drug stores w/mask. I walk the dog around the neighborhood, and visit with neighbors never closer than 6-10 feet.
2) I am washing hands more and longer than before, but not 'obsessively'.

3) the internet is my companion. I listen to radio (NPR) during the day- TV both bores me, and the constant drone of CV 'news' in the evenings depresses me.

DW is going to her office most days and (I think) she is having very limited client 'in person' meetings.

 

[b2bailey]

On 3/15, Here in CA, Gov Newsom recommended home isolation for all seniors. My reaction, a "1" with the thinking 'this guy is nuts'.
On 3/19 -- everyone stay home except for essential business. Referred to as 'lockdown' and businesses were closed. I'm thinking more about loss of jobs than catching virus. But I start using hand sanitizer and washing hands more.
From 03/20 until 03/28 I continued with my 2 times weekly volunteer position at Hospital (happy to have a legitimate reason to get out of the house.
Made weekly trips to grocery shop and pick up food to go -- consciously leaving significant tips. At this point I would undress in front of washing machine after returning from volunteer shift before jumping in the shower. I could have continued this course indefinitely.
And then, on April 2 received email telling me all hospital volunteers are suspended until further notice. Went to grocery shop on 04/04, wearing a bandana as a scarf.
April 5, my home isolation truly begins. I haven't been out of my apartment, except to empty trash and pick up mail. A friend mailed me a nice hand sewn mask, so I will be ready for next trip out. (If I had a plot of dirt, I would for sure buy something to plant while out shopping.) I was already an online grocery shopper, so can do that also.I
I have not purchased so much as a single roll of TP since this all started. Call me a rebel.
As of today, I rate myself a "7" .
I have a timeshare week in San Francisco reserved starting June 5 and I'm hoping to go.
I'm also hoping S.F. is using this time to use fire hoses to clean the sidewalks .

 

[VacationForever]

I would give ourselves a 9.

The last time we went out to Costco was on 3/10 and the last time to any store was on 3/14. Since then we did 2 curbside pickups at our golf course restaurant just to support their business. We did leave for golf at the country club in our own golf cart and not have other playing partners, except once on 3/19. Golf courses were closed by the governor yesterday on 4/9.

We have had a ton of online deliveries - Costco, Stockyards, Amazon, Walmart, Target, CVS, Butcherbox and produce online stores. We glove up, mask up and spray / wipe the outside and inside packaging with sanitizer and wash produce really well. Boxes with non-perishables stay by the front door by for least a day for cardboard material, and 3 days for plastic packaging. For perishables, I open the box after an hour of letting the box soak and dry in the disinfectant.

We have not taken any drives or anywhere other what I have listed above.

 

[bluehende]

I am at a 9. Have been out once in 3 1/2 weeks to get gas at 6am on a sunday morning. Grass had gotten high enough to bail but I waited until no one would be out to go the 1/2 mile. We are on day 31 which started about a week before the request to stay at home and 10 days from some form of actual order.

 

[davidvel]

I go to the office 3 days a week instead of 5, spending about 50% of the time there.

No in person meetings with clients and other parties. No going to court per orders.

Personally, no real change in going to stores or take out (obviously not eating in restaurants, per orders, but might if we could.) Would not go to giant gatherings if were allowed, such as amusement, etc. Still go to grocery/ Costco 2-3x a week and similar for home depot (same as before.)

I don't wear a mask as I'm not sick and don't believe made at home or non N95 types will help you unleas someone sneezes directly on your face. (Even then not approved to protect you.) Most if not all people are not trained in using masks and gloves and mis use them. This leads to a misperception of protection and causes more spread than otherwise. Checkers using gloves should use sanitizer between every customer!

I have gel sanitizer, but also a small spray bottle of straight (80%) isopropyl that I use on carts and my hands, before and after touching anything the public could have touched. I lightly spray what I buy as I leave the checkout and put in my car. I wash hands, then face as soon as able to.

I'm convinced (and hope) that I had covid in early March but so do 90% of people who test negative. (Looking forward to the antibody test.)

I think blanket restrictions on going out, even if maintaining social distancing such as walking or relaxing at the beach or park (away from others) are blatantly unconstitutional, and in fact forces people into more tight spaces for longer periods causing more risk of infection. (Power has gone to the heads of too many leaders, and this is a step too far from what we hold near and dear in this country.) It seems some people just can't stand seeing other people out and about enjoying life (safely), while they hide in their basements. Someone called the cops in our neighborhood on a woman going around taking family photos of people on their porches (from her car in the street.)

We're planning on going up to orange county this weekend so my son can surf.

This is what the lockdown means to me.

Feel free to reply or comment on my post as I believe that interaction and respectful commentary is the point of this board, and lack thereof is not helpful to stimulating ideas and new perspectives.

 

[DaveNV]

Not sure how to quantify this for my household. We are three - my spouse is the youngest, who will be 60 in a few months, who has a compromised immune system, is diabetic, and who is genetically predisposed to serious issues if catching the virus. My sister is eldest, in her 70s, with COPD, and would be very compromised if she catches it. I'm in the middle, and am the healthiest of our little herd. If something is needed, I'm the one who ventures out, with gloves, mask, hand sanitizer and wipes. I am extremely careful, wipe everything down before bringing it indoors, and I am as cautious as I can be. I think in the last three+ weeks, I've left home four times, and each was a grocery or "essential buy" errand. So other than that, we've all been here. What does that add up to - maybe an 8 or 9? Not perfect, but trying to do the right thing.

Dave

 

[Lydlady]

I’m probably a 5 or 6. It’s because I probably go out more than I should but I have cut way back. I’m blessed to be able to work at home but I do go in 1 or 2 days a week, every other week. Part of my going out is to take care of things for my elderly mom who lives with us so that she doesn’t have to go out. But also because she lives with us, I’m very diligent with the hand-washing, etc.

 

[am1]

We stay at home other then going to the grocery store once a week. Everything is closed other then grocery, gas, hospital, insurance, banks, super markets and a few deliver places. We can go out 3 days a week for a 2 hour window based on sex and last digit of ID card. Cannot go between areas unless you have permission to go there. No visiting other then the next door neighbours to play with our sons or dinner. I come in to contact with a few people working on my farm but distance is kept.

 

[TravelTime]

Have not gone out since March 8th except for groceries, medicine and medical appointments. Have practiced social distancing since before then. Wash hands thoroughly when we get home. Have reduced grocery store visits to one every 10-12 days for essentials only. No lingering to shop for non essentials. No online shopping for non-essentials. No take out food. Wear a mask when we go out. Have a weekly delivery of Hello Fresh (Started before the pandemic). Last time we saw human beings, we practiced elbow bumps instead of hand shakes. Now we probably would not even do that. Not washing groceries or packages before bringing them into the house. Cleaning ladies were here this week. So not perfect but trying.

 

[slip]

I still have to work everyday. We don’t have person to person meetings anymore. I do share an office with one other person but we are about 10 feet apart. I do wash my hands more often and more thoroughly. We always shopped once a week and we continue to do that.

We do get some takeout on the weekends but don’t venture out otherwise. It has been easier for us since my wife is still nursing her back. Don’t know how that would be scored, 5 maybe.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I would rate our house at a around 7 or 8.

I do still go to the grocery store, as i have been unable to find a delivery option with available delivery slots. I try top pick the stores with what i expect are fewest other shoppers.

I have been using a mask in public for the last two weeks.

My work team started working from home on Feb 28th, and our company shifted to a work from home if you want as of March 5th. I think sometime around the 14th or 15 we went to full global lockdown with every office worldwide secured and employees prevent from entering.

My wife shifted to working from home once our county issued the shelter in place order.

 

[Rjbeach2003]

We began March 14, didn't go to dinner for granddaughter's birthday, but did play basketball with son and grandson on 15. Since then we have stayed mostly at home. Try daily walks, not too many people out as it was rainy. We live in Oregon. Now that it's in the 70's lots of people out. I went to Costco a couple of days in, but it was so crowded that I left. They were letting a limited number in at a time, but no distancing while waiting outside. I went back once when it wasn't as crowded. We have done take out about 5 times. I ride my bike and we walk now, but stay a long ways for others.

When we see children, grandchildren and in-laws we stay much further than six feet apart. I work from home and I am able to get people on the phone, since no one is going out, nor do they have customers coming in. Lots of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Reading.

So we are probably an 8.

 

[Luanne]

Just to add. I go out of the house to pick up the mail from our gang mailboxes. I also have gone out to drop mail in the drive by mailboxes at the post office. And I am going out twice a week to meet with my trainer at a local park. We distance ourselves and use gloves. If I don't get regular exercise and movement by back starts to really bother me. I can already feel it starting.

We started our stay home (as much as possible) when we came home from Maui and San Francisco on March 14. At that time restaurants were still open, by by the next weekend they were closed down. Dh still goes out to do grocery shopping, but has cut down to every two weeks instead of once a week. Delivery service and curbside pick up for groceries does not seem to be working well here. I was trying to place an order from CVS so that I wouldn't need to go out and between the evening when I put things in my cart and the next morning several items were unavailable. So we're trying to limit our trips out for shopping.

On the vacation front we have cancelled our trip to Seattle at the end of May. My sister and bil rescheduled their trip here to visit us that was supposed to be in April to September. Dh and I will most likely cancel our trip to RI and NYC in October. I should just say we're going to cancel, but can't quite say that yet. We are planning no additional travel this year, not even in state. Both he and I are over 65.

 

[Panina]

I myself have not ventured to stores since March 15. I do go outside for fresh air. I have most groceries delivered to my door and am careful and wipe everything down before it enters the house. If I lived alone , I would be a 9, as there is still minimal risk walking outside and getting deliveries. I will add grocery pickup next week where I drive up and they put the groceries in my car as I need things that the other stores that deliver do not offer.

My other half finally stopped going out to stores one week ago. Prior he went to groceries, home depot, lowes and starbucks. He also went hiking but the state parks he went to closed so he now walks at a rookery within our development and goes to the next town where we use to live where it is beautiful to walk too. Unfortunately the cases are higher there but there are few walking. Also the last week, he is also much more aware of washing up , I don’t have to follow him disinfecting, and he asks me to handle all mail and packages as I have the patience he does not. So the last week he is an 8, prior a 5 at best. He has finally adjusted.

 

[rhonda]

To me, SIP = Session Initiation Protocol ... and I'm using it quite a bit these days as I remain at home. It is the signaling protocol used by the virtual meeting sessions (and many other forms of real-time digital communications) that are now so common. Whee! I used to give tech talks on SIP in the early days of desktop instant messaging apps such as ICQ, Sametime, etc. Such fun times.

As for Shelter at Home (SaH?), I'd give myself an 8 beginning roughly March 12th, just before Disneyland closed, and a week before CA's governor made it so.

1. I wash my hands more thoroughly, thanks to posts here on TUG detailing the process. Cool beans, the "extra sticky" method is visibly pulling more dirt. I like it and will continue!
2. I'm mostly home anyway as I live out in the backcountry. I get plenty of exercise caring for our horses.
3. I have made a weekly run for essentials, mostly horse feeds. This week's run included covering my face with a homemade mask using bandana, coffee filter, and rubber bands. I don't think I would have covered my face except that the county I was visiting for this trip had declared the face mask as a requirement.
4. I'm using virtual meetings, chat and phone calls a great deal! I used these heavily (more than most) in the workplace but not much since then other than FaceTime. Now, lots of SIP including our tiny, country church services and Bible Studies.

 

[pittle]

I am home most of the time anyway, so not too much change.

Every Monday morning I go to a friend's house for a couple of hours to help her with church stuff on the computer. (She took over my job doing this as a volunteer and I promised not to let her fail.) The last 2 Monday's we just visited a bit as she did not have much that we needed to do. She is single and so likes to have a visit.

I have only been to the grocery twice. I tend to have a bit of a food stash anyway, so have been using it.

I did have cataract surgery one one eye on March 17th, so have been to the doctor twice since. Very few folks are in the office and sit far apart. They had to postpone the 2nd eye so I am in a holding pattern with one awesome "bionic" eye and one old one. At least the one not done is the one I could see distance with, but reading is the pits with it. I can hardly wait for that phone call that we can get that one done too! I chose the lasik multi-focal option and once it is done they will work well together and I can read again! I finally took an old pair that had progressive lens and took a lens out of one side.

Hubs has an essential part-time job and has worked 3 days each week. He does not interact with many people with that - just delivers new (empty) caskets to funeral homes. He backs his van in, opens the doors and puts them on the funeral home carts and leaves. He seldom sees anyone.

So, I'm about a 4. If both eyes had been done, I would have been a 2.

 

[b2bailey]

I would give ourselves a 9.

The last time we went out to Costco was on 3/10 and the last time to any store was on 3/14. Since then we did 2 curbside pickups at our golf course restaurant just to support their business. We did leave for golf at the country club in our own golf cart and not have other playing partners, except once on 3/19. Golf courses were closed by the governor yesterday on 4/9.

We have had a ton of online deliveries - Costco, Stockyards, Amazon, Walmart, Target, CVS, Butcherbox and produce online stores. We glove up, mask up and spray / wipe the outside and inside packaging with sanitizer and wash produce really well. Boxes with non-perishables stay by the front door by for least a day for cardboard material, and 3 days for plastic packaging. For perishables, I open the box after an hour of letting the box soak and dry in the disinfectant.

We have not taken any drives or anywhere other what I have listed above.

I'm breaking my own rule against 'cross talk' but I think you are 9.5

 

[moonstone]

We arrived back in Canada on March 23rd and immediately went into "house arrest" for 18 days. We did go out on our deck a few times to 'talk' to neighbours walking down the street. Our deck is about 50 feet from the road so I don't think if we had picked up anything in our travels we could have passed it on to any of them. Our DD had our fridge and pantry stocked up before our arrival and our freezers were already stocked with months worth of meat, prepared (by me) frozen dinners and soup as well as frozen vegetables and fruit. She has shopped for fresh fruit and vegies twice more for us since then. We have prepared and eaten in every meal but 1 at home since we arrived back and will continue to do so. We only ate out once a week previous to this when we had lunch at Costco on shopping day. We are unable to get any food delivered (even by grocery stores) where we live and the nearest little town which is 15 mins away has very limited food take out options.

DH had to go out to his fire dept. HQ Wednesday to pickup his new pager and afterwards we continued on to my dad's house so I could have a look at his arm and put a bandage on it after he had a fall earlier in the day. Much to his dismay I wore a mask and only stayed long enough to bandage him up and DH stayed in the car. I washed my hands when I entered and before I left his house and used hand sanitizer when I got back to the car. We picked up a pizza (our first in nearly 4 mos) to bring home for our dinner after we left Dad's. We detoured past the nursing home where my mom lives and, by prearrangement with a phone call, the staff positioned her wheelchair at her bedroom window so we could see her through the glass. Thankfully she lives on the ground floor since I hadn't seen her, except in photos, since just after Christmas before we went away.

I would rate us at a 9. I will likely need to make another few trips to change the bandage on my dad's arm but we wont be doing much else. We are always good with hand hygiene and I am wiping down or washing anything that comes into the house. As the weather gets nicer we will probably start walking outside instead of on the treadmill and may even get our bicycles out. We live in quite a rural area so crowding on the streets wont be a problem.

I am so thankful for the technology to be able to video chat with friends and family. Can you imagine if this pandemic had happened 30 or more years ago? I do miss being able to hug our grandchildren, it just isn't the same seeing them on video chat. Our little 2yo granddaughter thinks every time our DS opens his laptop that Nana & Papa will be on the screen and calls to us!


~Diane

 

[mdurette]

I am a 9 (I went to a pharmacy and grocer once this week) after 18 days of being home.
My daughter (14) is a 10.
My husband - I will give him a 8, he would be a 9 if he didn't have to leave the house for work.
All food (other than above) has been delivered to our house and that either sites in the garage for 3 days if it can or gets wiped down with disinfectant before it comes into the house. I purposely do not perishables that cannot be wiped down. (example: Cheese - no longer from the deli, has to be prepackaged from the manufacturer)

My parents on the other hand (in their 70s) one with asthma, one with cancer, heart history and no spleen still go out for take out, to the corner store, whatever. I have tried everything in my power to get them to stay put, they just won't. I have given up as I just don't know what else to do. I give them a 3.

 

[TravelTime]

I wonder if older folks are more accepting of getting sick and dying. I know that every year I get older, I am more accepting. I am 54 now and I hope by the time I am 70+ that I am even more accepting of reality.

 

[presley]

I think I'm 8-9 and have been since the first day we were told to SIP. I walk my dogs, but I now wear a mask whenever I am off of my property. If I have to go to the grocery store or the credit union, I'll do it, but I wear gloves and do my business and get out of there as soon as I can. I will go out to get food every few days, but my husband is still going to work, so usually I let him do that if he's up for it. I used to fill my gas tank a couple times per week. I haven't filled it since before California's SIP, so that should give you a good idea about how much I am going places.

 

[TravelTime]

Just got an email than the golf course is closed until May 1st at least. For many people in my community, this will mean jail in place.