quarantine meme
1. Are you an essential worker?
Yes (as in, legally and also ethically).
I was also just furloughed. (That is a technical variant of a layoff; I am still employed but I am on forced leave-without-pay and thus eligible for unemployment.
2. How many drinks have you had since the quarantine started?
None. I don't drink.
3. If you have kids... Are they driving you nuts?
No. The dog has created new and exciting behaviors to liven up the resident monkeys. Today she excavated the back steps.
4. What new hobby have you taken up during this?
I'm hand-sewing a La Passacaglia quilt, but I began it shortly before this mess. I just have more time for it now.
5. How many grocery runs have you done?
No idea.
6. What are you spending your stimulus check on?
Necessities. Debt. Mortgage payments. Food. Medicine.
7. Do you have any special occasions that you will miss during this quarantine?
Yes.
8. Are you keeping your housework done?
My laundry keeps breeding. I should probably stop wearing nothing but my lucky HP tee shirts and mens pj pants. And yet. The mud in the garden plus the dog means I get much dirtier much more often.
9. What movie have you watched during this quarantine?
My Neighbor Totoro. Inside Out. Bailed way hard on The World of Arietty (HARD
DO NOT WANT in the middle). Lots and lots of BBC mysteries and gentle Netflix docuseries. The Repair Shop is very soothing, if you like watching old broken things get fixed.
10. What are you streaming?
Lots of everything. Music. Videos. Old TV shows. New TV shows. Audiobooks. Podfic. Live performances. Recorded-for-this performances. Etc.
11. Nine months from now is there any chance of your having a baby?
lol
12. What's your go-to quarantine meal?
Um, no? I grew up in a culture where you stock your pantry for emergencies that last a long time, and you eat with the assumption that you're in one. My food habits have not changed significantly since this began. In other words, I've always bought and eaten the giant bags of rice; my TP supply is stocked to two months as default and replenished each store run; I roast a chicken on Sunday, make casserole Monday, make chicken salad Tuesday, make soup Wednesday, that sort of thing. If I was grocery-store-less, I would be fine for a while, because it's not been unusual to not have money for groceries for a couple weeks. It's possible to plan a lifestyle for that. Maybe it's a generational poverty thing.
13. Is this whole situation making you paranoid?
No.
14. Has your internet gone out on you during this time?
Not so far.
15. What month do you predict this all ends?
Hard to say. My money is June at the earliest, for the states with more competent governors. I expect my governor will be opening things in late May but that my County (acting in concert with the other three closeby) will opt for early June and a track-and-trace model as followup. But there are many, many factors. I predict the real month this all ends will be August of 2021, ie, an early estimate for a vaccine.
16. First thing you’re gonna do when you get off quarantine?
I'll assume this means social distancing/lockdown/etc. Probably order some fabric or go out to lunch with someone or maybe go to a bookstore. Read at a cafe. Honestly, I have no idea.
17. Where do you wish you were right now?
Back porch. ....you know, I could go there, right now.
18. What free-from-quarantine activity are you missing the most?
Who wrote these? The grammar is dead weird. Oddly, work. I enjoy my job and my colleagues, but what I desperately want to do is HELP PEOPLE and right now so many people need help, the exact kind of help I used to provide. It's painful to not be giving it.
19. Have you run out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer?
No. We don't use hand sanitizer, by default, but bought two (still unused) bottles. We're much bigger on soap and hot water and singing long choruses.
20. Do you have enough food to last a month?
Ayup. One of my personal secret talents is being able to make delicious food from nearly any pantry in any state of depredation, so if you're down to some last weird ingredients, you're welcome to list them and I will come up with some recipe/food suggestions. It helps to have a cupboard with a couple of spices or canned tomatoes, but it's far from required.
TBH, a lot (even most) food can be made acceptably tasty by the application of salt or sugar or fat or a combination of those three, plus a bit of color or texture. This is why bacon is so delicious (salt plus fat plus crunch, that's all bacon is, really). Cookies? Sugar and fat, plus interesting chew profile. Chocolate? Sugar and fat, plus silky texture and a single flavor. Fried chicken? Salt and fat, plus crunch (bacon variant).
And so on.
It gets more complicated if you're trying to work with an already heavily-flavored or very-textured food. That's why broccoli isn't as easy an ingredient to cook as, say, spaghetti noodles. Broccoli is a brassica (a cabbage) and that flavor is loud, plus there's at least two or three textures going on (the little head bits, the tough stem, the softer stems). Noodles are quiet, nearly silent, and the texture is pretty damn quiet, too. Add a bunch of butter and salt and pepper and many, many people will happily eat them. (See also: ramen.)
Anyway, there's lots of ways to make food delicious, and in a time of long crisis, I'll tell you another secret--hunger is an excellent spice, and most people (not all, but MOST) will be VERY satisfied by reasonably okay hot food cooked by other people. New and inexperienced cooks: cut yourself some slack.
Yes (as in, legally and also ethically).
I was also just furloughed. (That is a technical variant of a layoff; I am still employed but I am on forced leave-without-pay and thus eligible for unemployment.
2. How many drinks have you had since the quarantine started?
None. I don't drink.
3. If you have kids... Are they driving you nuts?
No. The dog has created new and exciting behaviors to liven up the resident monkeys. Today she excavated the back steps.
4. What new hobby have you taken up during this?
I'm hand-sewing a La Passacaglia quilt, but I began it shortly before this mess. I just have more time for it now.
5. How many grocery runs have you done?
No idea.
6. What are you spending your stimulus check on?
Necessities. Debt. Mortgage payments. Food. Medicine.
7. Do you have any special occasions that you will miss during this quarantine?
Yes.
8. Are you keeping your housework done?
My laundry keeps breeding. I should probably stop wearing nothing but my lucky HP tee shirts and mens pj pants. And yet. The mud in the garden plus the dog means I get much dirtier much more often.
9. What movie have you watched during this quarantine?
My Neighbor Totoro. Inside Out. Bailed way hard on The World of Arietty (HARD
DO NOT WANT in the middle). Lots and lots of BBC mysteries and gentle Netflix docuseries. The Repair Shop is very soothing, if you like watching old broken things get fixed.
10. What are you streaming?
Lots of everything. Music. Videos. Old TV shows. New TV shows. Audiobooks. Podfic. Live performances. Recorded-for-this performances. Etc.
11. Nine months from now is there any chance of your having a baby?
lol
12. What's your go-to quarantine meal?
Um, no? I grew up in a culture where you stock your pantry for emergencies that last a long time, and you eat with the assumption that you're in one. My food habits have not changed significantly since this began. In other words, I've always bought and eaten the giant bags of rice; my TP supply is stocked to two months as default and replenished each store run; I roast a chicken on Sunday, make casserole Monday, make chicken salad Tuesday, make soup Wednesday, that sort of thing. If I was grocery-store-less, I would be fine for a while, because it's not been unusual to not have money for groceries for a couple weeks. It's possible to plan a lifestyle for that. Maybe it's a generational poverty thing.
13. Is this whole situation making you paranoid?
No.
14. Has your internet gone out on you during this time?
Not so far.
15. What month do you predict this all ends?
Hard to say. My money is June at the earliest, for the states with more competent governors. I expect my governor will be opening things in late May but that my County (acting in concert with the other three closeby) will opt for early June and a track-and-trace model as followup. But there are many, many factors. I predict the real month this all ends will be August of 2021, ie, an early estimate for a vaccine.
16. First thing you’re gonna do when you get off quarantine?
I'll assume this means social distancing/lockdown/etc. Probably order some fabric or go out to lunch with someone or maybe go to a bookstore. Read at a cafe. Honestly, I have no idea.
17. Where do you wish you were right now?
Back porch. ....you know, I could go there, right now.
18. What free-from-quarantine activity are you missing the most?
Who wrote these? The grammar is dead weird. Oddly, work. I enjoy my job and my colleagues, but what I desperately want to do is HELP PEOPLE and right now so many people need help, the exact kind of help I used to provide. It's painful to not be giving it.
19. Have you run out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer?
No. We don't use hand sanitizer, by default, but bought two (still unused) bottles. We're much bigger on soap and hot water and singing long choruses.
20. Do you have enough food to last a month?
Ayup. One of my personal secret talents is being able to make delicious food from nearly any pantry in any state of depredation, so if you're down to some last weird ingredients, you're welcome to list them and I will come up with some recipe/food suggestions. It helps to have a cupboard with a couple of spices or canned tomatoes, but it's far from required.
TBH, a lot (even most) food can be made acceptably tasty by the application of salt or sugar or fat or a combination of those three, plus a bit of color or texture. This is why bacon is so delicious (salt plus fat plus crunch, that's all bacon is, really). Cookies? Sugar and fat, plus interesting chew profile. Chocolate? Sugar and fat, plus silky texture and a single flavor. Fried chicken? Salt and fat, plus crunch (bacon variant).
And so on.
It gets more complicated if you're trying to work with an already heavily-flavored or very-textured food. That's why broccoli isn't as easy an ingredient to cook as, say, spaghetti noodles. Broccoli is a brassica (a cabbage) and that flavor is loud, plus there's at least two or three textures going on (the little head bits, the tough stem, the softer stems). Noodles are quiet, nearly silent, and the texture is pretty damn quiet, too. Add a bunch of butter and salt and pepper and many, many people will happily eat them. (See also: ramen.)
Anyway, there's lots of ways to make food delicious, and in a time of long crisis, I'll tell you another secret--hunger is an excellent spice, and most people (not all, but MOST) will be VERY satisfied by reasonably okay hot food cooked by other people. New and inexperienced cooks: cut yourself some slack.