A Day in My Life During the COVID-19 Quarantine (Shelter-in-Place) Orders

So here I am, a little over 6 weeks away from my 64th birthday.  I'm short and built like a fireplug, like my Aunt Betty, my maternal grandfather, and his father. - What can I say?  We're not your commercial-looking Swedish-type people - we're short and stout.  Period.  I have a lot more English blood in my veins (and genes) than Swedish, and a lot of the women in old photos were also short and round - I just follow the family norm.
   Unfortunately, I also have high blood pressure, which I keep under control with medication and little salt intake.  Both of my parents were chain-smoker, so I have nasty lungs.  I've been prone to bronchitis all my life, and was diagnosed with asthma caused by smoke more than 35 years ago.  I have COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  Thanks to the blood pressure problem, my COPD, and my age, I am classified as a highly susceptible person for infection from COVID-19.
   My 38-year-old nephew has recovered from his infection, which he apparently picked up while visiting a friend with leukemia in Seattle, Washington.  My cousin, Captain Neil E. Barnes, retired from the Wichita, Kansas Fire Department, was not as lucky.  He started to feel achy on Saturday, April 11; on the 12th he lost his sense of smell; he died Tuesday night, April 14, from COVID-19. We, his family are grieving - and angry that our federal government did not respond in any way to the World Health Organization's warning on January 30, and is still, essentially, sitting on its thumbs. 
   All nations of the world were notified by WHO, on 30 January 2020, that they were announcing the highest level of health alert possible - a public health emergency of international concern.  As of last night, around 8 pm Mountain Daylight Time, there were 923,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States and its territories, and there had been 52,234 deaths confirmed from COVID-19 infections.  At that same time, 4,692,797 United States citizens had been tested for the disease - out of over 331 million people.  That's only 1.55 percent of the population of the US.  And WHO announced today that people  have recovered from COVID-19 may become re-infected - there have been many cases of this reported in other countries.
   What do I do with my days, now?  I used to walk multiple dogs on an almost daily basis.  No more. I stay inside the apartment (980 square feet - 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, a laundry closet which contains the water heater, a combined kitchen and dining room and living room; with a sliding glass door to a second-floor balcony that is 15 feet long and 6 1/2 feet wide and is trapezoidal) except to go to the trash or recycle dumpsters in the parking, or to go to the grocery store.  Anytime I am outside the apartment, other than on the balcony, I wear a face mask.
   I have a morning routine - get up, feed the cats, clean the litter boxes, get dressed, eat, wash the dishes and brush my teeth.  Then I turn on my PC - check e-mail, post on Facebook and check birthdays and comments, read 4 news sites, then re-check e-mail and Facebook. - Lovey, my oldest cat, gets brunch about 11 am.  I have lunch between noon and 2, usually.
   Once a week, I get my list written and head for the grocery store, with my little 4-wheel "granny shopping cart" in tow.  I always check first for toilet tissue, facial tissue, and paper towels, as we're running low.  I also always check for Lysol spray, alcohol, bleach, hand soap, disinfectant wipes, and laundry detergent that we can use. Then, finally, on to the actual food items.  So far, we've always had plenty of meat available at our local store.  Brand name snacks are also there - other than Planter's nuts and Orville Reddenbacher popcorn.  But canned goods, pasta and rice are sometimes hard to find.  However, there are plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit.  So shopping is a 50-50 shot.
  Beatrice put a huge shopping list up for King Soopers/Kroger here, and it was delivered yesterday.  Four of 50 items arrived, and one of them was nothing like what was ordered.  But she paid the shopper $20, anyway.  (The item ordered was a can of Lysol disinfectant spray, any fragrance; what was delivered was Frebreeze fabric odor control spray - of which we have multiple bottles.)
  Sometimes I read and nap after lunch, with both cats as companions.  If the weather is nice, I'll sit on the balcony and read while the cats sprawl in the sun.
   In the late afternoon and evening, I work on my blog - the one you're reading now.  Actually, I work on the daily update regarding COVID-19, checking news stories and sources, which can take awhile.
  I'm the one who cooks supper, usually every other night, since I'm the one with all the food allergies.  If I cook, Beatrice, my roommate, washes the dishes.  Then it's more internet time, a shower, and reading before bed.  One of the things I'm doing right now, on my Facebook page, is posting 3 times a day, a photo of a different celebrity and letting people guess who it is.  That's entertaining...
   Today was kitty water fountain day - I took the electric cat water fountain apart for cleaning.  I do this every four weeks.   Two large plastic parts go in the dishwasher on "Sanitize" mode, while the 4 parts of the motor that send the water through the system system soak in hot water and vinegar for 4 hours.  Then I get to "brush" the parts with a pipe cleaner, reassemble the motor, put a new charcoal water filter back inside the two plastic parts, fill it up, plug it in...  and voila!  A three level water fountain with two water slides for the cats to drink from.  They love it.   -  Today I also opened up the top of the electric range, disconnected the heating elements and put the drip collars into the dishwasher to "Sanitize" along with the cat fountain parts...
  A friend gave us a huge London Broil steak a few weeks ago and I finally thawed it and put it in the crockpot with potato chunks, carrots and half-ears of corn.  Coked it for 4 1/2 hours, then made gravy from beef broth and corn starch....  I think there is enough left for 2 meals in the large pot I transferred it to last night. 
   Our "Economic Impact Checks" arrived in the mail yesterday.  We had thought that since we both receive Social Security payments by direct deposit, we would receive our $1200 government checks the same way.  But the President insisted on printing checks, using envelopes, and sending through the US mail, checks that could easily have been placed into our accounts via the usual method - direct deposit.  This also means that to deposit the check, we have to go to the bank and deposit the check.  We don't have a car, so we can't go through the drive through ATMs, we can only get inside the bank Monday through Friday between 8:30 and 9:30 by showing a photo ID showing that we're over 62 years old...  Seems like another way to thwart the old and poor people of our nation...
   Anyway - it's time for a late lunch, and then reading.  Can't clean the cat fountain motor for another two hours; then I'll put it back together and get it going for Lovey and Nedi.  Beatrice says she might order delivery for supper tonight.  That'd be a nice change...
   Enjoy your day or night - where ever you are!