New member sucky subject
Hey all, new member here! Sorry my first post is this topic but as you all know we are living in unusual times.
I am currently 50 and sitting near the end of my working career so thoughts of "retirement" brought me to this board. I won't make this an introduction post as I tend to get wordy and long winded, but I have been lurking here for some time and many of the regulars almost feel like friends. Its like those people we watch on TV we feel close to even if those actors have no idea we exist. So, with that said, I put the following out with faith, hope, and heart, that my good intentions are understood.
Big picture: humans will survive this! In centuries past our ancestors faced plagues, wars, natural disasters, and more than a few self-inflicted disasters that "should" have done us in a long time ago, but the human race has a special kind of "too stupid to die off" gene in our DNA. So there's that.
Small picture: we are all going to have challenges and many of us already do. I have had moderate cold symptoms for a week now and I have gone thru the dry cough-sneezing-runny nose cycle part of that time. Nothing is getting worse as of yet so hopefully it runs it course and I get back to normal. Bigger personal issue: my significant other has COPD and she worries me a lot more than I worry about myself. Prescription inhalers usually moderate her symptoms so she gets thru troubled breathing flare-ups. We are both ex-military and the VA has got to be the worst medical organization to have to turn to in an emergency, they are not crisis management at all. Nurses have called my SO a few times over the last week because her cough (cold?) issue is known to them, however their medical recommendations can come straight out of the "Listen Attentively, Recommend Something Dumb" playbook. One nurse called at 930pm a few days ago and advised us to head to the emergency room during one of her episodes. That is our Last Resort because the things going on at ERs all over the country are much worse than what we bring in the door. Does anyone remember a few months ago when that sickness was going around that everybody had? Sort of a mild flu? Yep we got that from her last visit. So we called the VA back the next day, talked to a more level-headed Day Shift nurse, and we have the pre-approval to visit our local Urgent Care clinic if needed. That nurse understood our desire to avoid the ER as she admitted she herself would probably do.
Meanwhile, my work has called off operations while we are sent home to hunker down. I am lucky I work for a very large organization that can absorb a lengthy interruption in our workflow and I am in a pretty good place to be doing this. We live in a small town many miles away from the long lines at COSTCO and WALMART stores. I have a few dollars in the bank that should see us thru a reasonable shutdown period - hey, that's why I am here, if I was loaded I would just write a check for my dream Toterhome! But, here I am at Skoolie! :wink1:
So keep the faith people, and when the Crazy feels overwhelming, take life 1 day, 1 hour, or just 1 minute at a time and the darkness will pass, it always does. Do what you must but keep your humanity and be good to each other. Listen to the good advice your longtime friends here have imparted, and we will get thru this. Maybe one day we can meet IRL without this digital "safe separation"!
