US Day 76 – COVID-19 – My reflection of this past week. Sadly the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide is now 1,226,644. The U.S. accounts for 312,481 of the confirmed cases. New York, my adopted home state where I lived for over 25 years and have many friends, has 122,031 confirmed cases. The highest numbers of cases are in NYC. I took this haunting Earthcam image of 5th Avenue on March 31, 2020, at 4:25 pm, in the pre-COVID-19 day 5th Avenue should be busy with people and traffic.
My zip code in Florida has 25 cases. Posting the number of deaths is too overwhelming for me.
My heart goes out to all who are suffering from this terrible situation, those that are ill and isolated, families who lost loved ones, those that are helping us including healthcare workers, grocery and store staff, public service officials – this is not an easy task – stay strong, healthy and be well. I can see from the numbers, that social distancing is helping.
Changes in my personal behavior. I am now doing 99.1% of shopping online. Transitioning online is easy for me, but I truly enjoyed grocery shopping – it was never a chore. Given the current situation thrust upon us, I don’t want to be the cause of spreading, getting or giving COVID-19 to anyone including my family. Ordering online for delivery lowers the risk.
Successful e-commerce:
I give deep praise and appreciation for deliveries from:
- Fresh Market [Ponte Vedra Beach], Tatania did a fabulous job of putting our order together.
- Publix [Nocatee], Dominique did a great job of getting alternative items for ones that were not available.
- Ace Hardware had my order ready for pick up.
Need work e-commerce:
Deliveries from Walmart were not successful. The items sent came damaged and crushed. Walmart took back the crushed cans.
I never got my delivery of cat food for Luke from Pet Supermarket. They had a glitch in their system and my order never went through. I called the Pet Supermarket [Ponte Vedra Beach] spoke to Jacob, who set aside Luke’s food and grass. When I arrived, Pet Supermarket had the entire store walled off only allowing two people at a time. I gave my name and my order was waiting at the register. Luke and I appreciate Jacob for taking my order and having it available.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 7:11 pm ET a tornado alert went off on my phone to take cover now. My mother, Luke and I huddled in my mother’s closet for about 30 minutes.
Friday, April 3, 2020, 1:39 pm ET large water main broke in my community. We are on a water boil advisory until 8 pm on April 5th. There was confusion in my neighborhood about whether to boil the water or not. I called JEA and the rep said to boil water until notified. I could not take any chances because of my mother’s health. I boiled water regardless of the water filter.
Nice moments this past week:
Zoom Toastmasters is working out. Zoom meetings with friends help to keep connections. I am are going to try to have a Zoom Easter with my family.
This past week was a giving week, I enjoyed teaching non-tech friends how to use Zoom. It’s so important to stay connected to family and friends.
Over the past two weeks, I helped Laura Berland and Evan Harrell from the Center for Compassionate Leadership with their survey. My friend, Maryam Afshar, Ph.D., from Venus, needed help with a consumer survey. This is an unprecedented time, but also an incredible opportunity to understand human resiliency.
Thoroughly, enjoyed Tech Trend reports by the Future Today Institute. Amy Webb and her team provided many insights, solutions, and ideas for recovery planning.
I ordered dinner from Yianni’s Kitchen for Friday evening. Yianni’s system worked. I texted my order and paid him using PayPal.
I gave a cocktail party on Zoom with my neighbors.
Joanne, my sister needed to borrow something from us, yesterday. My mother left it outside the house for her to pick up. Mom and I spoke to her through the screened window.
Folks are learning how to create their own masks. The instructions are available at the CDC use cloth face coverings to slow COVID-19 spread. My client, Nite Ize helping by providing materials for nose bridges and ear bands.
COVID-19 Sources I rely on:
Florida Department of Health Dashboard
Kathy E Gill – Flatten the Curve
Coronavirus Live – created by Avi Schiffmann, high schooler from Washington State, USA and engineering collaboration with Jensen (@jensechu). The sources are pulled from BNO News, CDC, WHO.
Stay strong & healthy. Be well.