The Calm Before the Apex
Journal Day 14: Life in my little corner of NYC during the age of the coronavirus
I was talking on the phone again while I walked, so I only took one picture:
The rest of the pictures are from earlier this week.
It was a non-eventful day, though with a faint undercurrent of dread as we are getting closer to the much-discussed apex of the virus curve.
After my excursion yesterday, I didn’t need to do any more in-person shopping. And my first (ever) Amazon Pantry package arrived today — three cans of soup, two boxes of crackers, two boxes of pasta, two flavored tuna cups, a box of cereal, hand soap, and toothpaste. I was happy to get it, but I don’t think it’s going to last very long. I have to get used to the idea of making 21 meals per week at home and start placing bigger orders.
I have to apply for Medicare very soon and pick a plan and also decide if I want to get early Social Security at the same time, which I’m leaning towards doing. These feel like big and complicated decisions, and I don’t feel up to comparing a zillion variables right now. Maybe I should just make a “good enough” decision, and then if it doesn’t work out, I can change plans later.
I think I may have to give Social Security my estimated income for this year, and that seems impossible to figure out. I have no idea what is going to happen with my freelance work. I was also supposed to be a Census taker, and I don’t know when or if that is ever going to happen. A Census person called me last week and left a message saying that the field operations were “temporarily suspended,” but that I was still hired and they hoped I was still “excited” to be part of the “team.” LOL. Plus, I work the elections, and who knows what will happen with those.
There’s a tiny chance I might be able to claim unemployment for some or all of the above under the new emergency rules, but it seems like a long shot — and another bureaucratic headache I’d like to avoid.
Meanwhile, virtual life is gradually starting to simulate more aspects of my former real life. Coming up this week, I have video meetings for a trivia game, a philosophy discussion, and a get-together for people in a food group. I even had my first video-chat time conflict, with two groups meeting at the same time, so I got to experience fear of virtually missing out.
