Tulips, Burrs That Look Like Viruses, and Stimulus Payment Frustrations
Journal days 26 and 27: Life in my little corner of NYC in the age of the Coronavirus, Thursday and Friday, April 16 and 17, 2020
Before the pandemic, I used to go for walks in different places, as far as I could reach on public transit. I always wanted to see something different. Now, almost every day, I take my walk within the same small area. It’s not just because it’s beautiful, but also because it’s the safest place nearby for social distancing, with the fewest people in the streets.
One unexpected benefit of walking repeatedly in the same area is that I have become more aware of the day-to-day changes. In the last few weeks, I have seen magnolias bloom and then fall off the trees. I’ve seen the cherry blossoms come and, mostly, go, and the green leaves start to open on the bushes and trees.
Today, I noticed the tulips were coming in:
I also saw this gorgeous bush:
… and this tree with delicate blossoms:
Then I saw something strange — burrs that looked like coronaviruses.
They had fallen from this tree:
They were about an inch in diameter. I included my foot in this picture so you can see the scale:
Here’s a close-up. To me, it looks a lot like the pictures we’ve been seeing of the virus. I guess nature has only so many patterns:
Yesterday, I applied for unemployment. I’m hoping I will get it under the special Covid-related provisions because I was supposed to be a Census taker, and that’s obviously not going to happen any time soon.
I also tried again to get the stimulus payment on the Get My Payment page, but I kept on seeing the same “Payment Status Not Available” message.
I also read the FAQ and found out they are depositing payments now to people who got refunds this year or last, but not to people, like me, who made direct payments, even though the IRS has the same bank account information as it does for refunds.
The FAQ also said there’s an option to enter your bank info at the Get My Payment page, though I can’t do that because that page keeps on saying it doesn’t know who I am.
So I guess I have to wait until Trump signs the paper checks.
Also today, Governor Cuomo let loose and told Trump what he really thought, people crowded onto the beaches in Florida, and Trump signaled his approval of the Darwin-award worthy anti-social-distancing protesters.
Good news is that I found out my most recent Amazon Pantry order is going to arrive this weekend, more than two weeks ahead of the scheduled time. Among other things, I ordered almond butter because they were out of peanut butter, so that will be a special treat.
