Realistically, considering I came into this sick, it won't be over for me until there's a vaccine. Next summer? With luck. So, when not just I, but the whole population have been innoculated, I might consider going somewhere. Maybe to visit some people up north.

Before then, this summer, I really need to get some repairs done. Now that most people are getting used to the behaviors necessary, and more people have access to protective gear, I'm getting more willing.

Meantime, I've been cooking and baking. I need to do some housekeeping (Spring cleaning, box clearance, filing). Mostly, I'm trying to stay out of the way. Holidays have little appeal when everyone is so far flung. There was supposed to be a wedding, with all its attendant celebrations.

It would be nice to go to the beach...

We have a beautiful coastline here in Norther CA, but all of the beaches and parking lots are closed.

We've had just beautiful weather even at the coast, which is usually fogged in.

We have a portable fold up picnic table that we keep in the trunk of the convertible, and we'll find an abandoned parking area (NOT park property or any illegal parking area) and have a quick picnic while driving the coast!

I guess we're flaunting the "stay at home laws", but we're really staying away from others.

I think something I want to do is go to the movies!

Anything is better than sitting in the house all day! I'll be happy just to go out to eat again!

Sorry, I can't see two years down the road. I think it's going to take at least that long before anything returns to what we once saw as normal.

Advise me what to invest in in the meantime, John. *_*

Go see my two daughters that I haven't been able to hug since the beginning of March.

I think I will have a big family dinner, with both the girls and the all the grandkids and my Mother, just so we can all be together in one place again.

Annie

Something about this question made me realize I need to think about what I’m going to do during this pandemic. I’m definitely in a rut which I’m just now fully realizing.

Well for us, it's time to till the garden and start sowing corn and green beans. Then next week will be weeding the raised bed, transplanting the tomato plants and making the squash and melon hills. Then will be weeding and feeding - did I mention weeding?! We'll be busy for the next several months. But as soon as we all agree that it's safe enough I intend to go hug my grandkids!

After the pandemic? Not much different for me. But I will probably become more political about the environment and try to work for raising people's awareness of how the pandemic has slowed climate change and allowed some small healing the Earth. Encourage people to NOT selfishly fulfill their 'bucket' list if it means using fossil fuels to travel, for no reason but their entitled desires. I always am appalled by people racing to see the polar bears before they are extinct (thus contributing to their demise) or having to go to the Galapagos, affecting the delicate environment and balance of nature that humans disrupt. Women's reproductive rights has been my political focus for my whole life, but I'm going to become more radical about discouraging selfish eco-consumerism.

edie, you must be about a month ahead of me. I have asparagus just coming up, and my plants are growing under lights, but it's still too cold to have them outside.

My life really hasn't changed much. I'm Township Clerk and we're "essential", so we still hold our monthly meetings, pay the bills, we have an election on Tuesday. We go out to eat maybe once a year, probably less, and I can't sit still long enough to watch a movie in its entirety, I have to get a DVD or Netflix and watch in installments. I don't really care much about travelling, although Elery does like it.

So I'll be here, feeding cows and planting vegetables and cutting hay and mulching asparagus, just like every other year. Funny how cleaning a barn has always involved "social distancing", no one comes around when something like that needs to be done. (grin)

The cases in my county are increasing daily, though, so although I sound flippant, I'm not. We are very rural and it's still spreading, in spite of all the safety measures being taken, so I'm taking it much more seriously than I sound like I am.

I sure did miss having Easter Dinner with everyone though, and now Mother's Day. My oldest daughter works as a CNA at an assisted living facility, though, and we certainly cannot risk infecting her or sending anything along to her residents. So we are being vigilant about not getting together, and that's before we even think about my 84 year old Mother.

Annie

I am going to shop!!! Buy my own groceries....touch the avocado myself to see how ripe it is, spot a good buy on chicken wings ( I wish!).....and get someone to come in and climb a ladder to replace some light bulbs.
I don't see any harm in going out....as long as you go alone or with the people you live with. Daily about 6 I drive around town and deliver bread to friends.....and there are always people walking.....many more than I saw before this pandemic. I am not afraid to be out.....alone! I have a big yard.
Oh yes and going out for dinner! and getting actually together in person not virtually, with people.

I had plans to spend 3 weeks with my dear mother at the end of March/beginning of April. She is 88 and lives in Ohio, so a plane ride for me. I talk to her every day. That's the first thing I want to do is visit her when it's safe. I also miss going out to lunch - we're retired on Cape Cod and are used to eating lunch out 2-3 times a week. And, like Lindac says I want to do my own grocery shopping!!

John, check out Ecco La Cucina for a food/cooking tour of Italy. My sister and BIL took the Tuscany tour two years ago and enjoyed it so much that they signed up for the Piedmont tour this year, which unfortunately got canceled. The group is small; they had a blast and enjoyed every minute of it. DH and I wanted to go too, but it is too active for him.

I too believe that it will be 2021 before I get comfortable traveling again. And who knows what DH will be able to do by then. Viking River Cruises is going to be cruising the Mississippi River starting in 2022. I’d love to do that but Fall 2022 is a long time off for us.

I guess in the short term, I want to go help DD hang pictures in her new house. She moved in the day before SAH started. DSIL is still required to be in the office everyday. DH is vulnerable. I don’t know when I’m going to be comfortable going to her house.

We don't travel very much (we already live in paradise) and don't eat out much (because we both love to cook). For us, the debate is going to be when to drop the shopping services - I kind of like having someone shop for me. Our shoppers have been very conscientious and so I have no complaints there. It just makes me feel like a slug not to go to the store. The other debate is whether to drop Misfits. I love getting their boxes but there is always great produce here in Florida and so I am not sure it would be worth keeping it once we can get back to the store. I do want to visit my grandkids in NJ but that might have to wait until next year since NJ is one of those places it's better not to visit right now.

The first place I am going to visit is the Garden center. I can't wait.

I'm lucky because with the stay-at-home/work-from-home order my life is very little changed, except that I have more free time! I'm low maintenance and like the simple things in life. What I miss the most right now is being able to get together with my friends and play golf, darts, go out to eat, etc. It looks like there won't be any golf charity tournaments for us to play this year. :( OTOH, I learned that private golf courses can be open with strict rules, so I was able to play twice last week and plan to play again today. :)

ETA: the grass is just starting to grow here, so ask me this question again in a few weeks. lol!

I too think it will be next year before I can safely travel as a vacation. Maybe see some family before that, but not long distance stuff where we would be eating out or in and out of a lot of rest stops, etc. No travel to Great Britain which is on my bucket list, until an effective vaccine comes out. I get sick on that trip even before, every time.

After the pandemic I would like to go back to work. Ironically I had already planned to take a six month sabbatical before the pandemic hit. Two things have stymied my plans, one is having to take care of my Dad now full time, doing a lot of his cooking and cleaning. Second is I had planned on seeing some elderly relatives out of state. Now just praying they don't get the virus. :(

My job is teaching, so not sure I want to go back to it next fall. I might have to wait a year so really need to work to make the most out of my quarantine, as far as keeping my skills strong and maybe upping them if possible with online courses.

Annie, I read that part of your post about barn cleaning to DH, he got a good laugh out of it and totally agreed.

I hope everyone stays safe and well. Remember, just because you may doesn't necessarily mean you should. They have already started reopening some things here in AL with the rest scheduled for a couple of weeks out yet. But I will still be wearing a mask and carrying Lysol wipes when I go into a store which will still be only on a "really need it" basis.

Some things that have been on my mind.

Japan. I’ve only been once, and I really want to go again. Maybe the Tokyo Olympics will be held in 2021 and I can take the family.

Venice. SWMBO and I spent many months traveling around Italy when DD was a toddler, and there are so many places I’d like to us to revisit. The one that I’ve really been thinking about is Venice, with Cinque Terre a close second. Conceivably DS might even want to spend a year studying architecture in Italy or France.

Fishing. I used to live for fly fishing, but haven’t seen my rods in nearly twenty years. This feels criminal now. I’ve got the VW camper and live in Oregon.

Cycling. You’ve heard of the Pacific Crest Trail, that people backpack from Mexico to Canada. One of my friends retired and then spent the next two summers doing it twice. I’m not ready to retire, and can’t (and maybe don’t want to) spend several months hiking, but there is a cycling equivalent - at least three routes from Canada to Mexico, one on coastal roads, another inland, and another on dirt roads. I’m told the road routes can be done in 20 days, without pushing too hard.

House. There are a lot of projects here that I’ve never gotten to. I don’t want my post pandemic goals to be repainting - I’m too risk averse when it comes to ladders, and this is a three story house - but maybe I can finally rouse myself to have it done.

Well, since the other pandemics seem to last at least a year or two. I'm not making many plans.

We've already started booking travel. Most of it will be to support my first published novel - "The Blue Macaw," coming out October 1st. As a writer, very little has changed for me during this pandemic. The major upgrade to my life has been my girlfriend moving in with me, but that was already pre-planned.

Fortunately, we have not suffered the way many have. Our health is strong and we've been hiking almost every day to stay fit and deal with the extra food we've been eating. Our supermarkets have what we need and the only real change is that we can't sit down in our favorite sushi bar or barbecue joint for a meal.

All in all, once the restaurants are reopened, life for us will be back to the way it was before this pandemic began.

yeah, sushi sounds really good ...

Funny but that is what I am craving too. The only thing DH and I can't make!

Venice is going to be interesting to watch and see how they handle tourism. I don't know if you know but many European cities are really complaining about tourism as it is too disruptive to locals' lives. Natives who can't afford to live in their own cities etc....the main ones that come to mind are Barcelona, Prague and venice. The mayor was on TV recently saying who much the water has recovered its clarity, the streets are open and the locals can enjoy their home. Obviously they need a level of tourism, but they are apparently seriously thinking of ways to limit it.

Is there anywhere like that in the USA.?

I don’t think major US cities are anywhere near as dominated by tourism as are some of the tourist destination cities of Europe.

Locals may grumble about AirBnBs replacing housing but their main complaint will usually be redevelopment, gentrification, landlords, affluent/wealthy people, “techies”, and other “domestic” causes.

However, we should see what the New Yorkers here think. That’s the major US city that has the most tourism.

In some smaller resort towns in the US, tourism gets a lot more blamed for housing scarcity and locals being priced out. It’s not so much international tourists, but rather visitors from other states. In those communities. the local economy is overwhelmingly dependent on tourism.

I've worked and lived in NYC for 35 years. A tourist 'bucket list' of things to do and see are so different than those living here. One city where the residents never minded the tourism crowds. Easy to avoid. Businesses dependent on the tourist dollars will struggle/close. Mostly junk. Might free-up some spaces with more reasonable rents for real talent than could not afford before. Time will tell.

Lots of coastline miles. In the 60's 70's coastal communities were ghost towns all the winter months. (EastCoast) Near big cities...Boston, NYC, Washington DC, etc.

Where we vacationed as a family when I was a wee one.

80's 90's became a zoo of weekend traffic and overrun with tourism. Most if not all of those communities, at about the same time, attracted year round living. Not many of those residents are dependent on tourism. Of course all will suffer the effects of the lack of tourist dollars. The local economies.

The early 90's we saw an interest in the mountains North and West of the big East Coast cities. (when we purchased our farm in the Catskills). Many of our closest friends have mountain properties in the area. Very remote and not much tourism except for camping/state parks.

In San Francisco, another tourist magnet city in the US, the tourists are all over a few spots, but in daily life you wouldn’t much notice them.

In Los Angeles ditto, that city is so spread out that you could probably go about your daily life for a month without seeing someone who blatantly stands out as being a tourist.

I live in a town of about 23,000 people that sees 5,000,000 visitors per year, so I feel pretty confined from spring until Labor Day as traffic is extremely congested and local shopping is very crowded. Having a late start to tourist season has seemed like a silver lining in this time.

We want to do a major remodel. I hope to start choosing materials and putting together plans once resources are available again. We usually travel to visit family during the Christmas holiday and already have our airline tickets. I guess we will see if it is safe to travel in December.

I tore out some upper kitchen cabinets today and will go to the restaurant equipment shop to discuss vent hoods . . . plan is when the hood is ready, tear out the lowers on that wall, tile the wall, install hood and blower, then figure out next step. My kitchen is going to be a wreck for months . . .

It is SWMBO’s fault - she’s kind of going stir crazy. Wants to declutter and repaint our bedroom too. Curse that Marie Kondo.

Added photo. Imagine that wall tiled from ceiling to floor like a Paris Metro station, a 5 foot hood overhead, and some steel shelves, with most of that clutter gone. I’m fantasizing about a salamander too.

The interesting thing is that we’re not going to want to have contractors in here, so it’s mostly DIY whether I want to or not (the answer is not). When we have cabinets built, whoever does it will have to work from plans . . .

You're a brave man. I couldn't stand the chaos!

Fun2bhere, where do you live?

Oh my, John, you ARE a brave man to take that on yourself. So you are going to do the tile? I did my backsplash 5 years ago and was sure that it would all fall down, but it's still there, so I have faith that yours will be better than mine, I didn't have any idea at all what I was doing!

I do like stainless steel, although my daughters tell me it's too "industrial". Phooey on them.

Annie

I haven’t tiled anything for decades, but did my whole kitchen and a shower in our first house - it is not rocket science, just hard work.

The part I fear most is the floor. Someone laid slate tile (badly) over the existing floor (surmised from the 1” level change). I will have to tear off the slate and see what’s under there. If original floor no good, I haven’t figured out what to install. Kind of want hex tile with a floor drain but SWMBO wants something softer underfoot. I might actually hire ppl to do the floor.

I have no idea what the cabinetry will cost. I’m hoping covid/recession means cabinetmakers willing to price more gently than before. Trying to find a neighbor or other hyper local biz to do it.

I'm looking forward to dining out again (have not had even takeout since early March), getting started on garden and bath updates (my own contribution to the economic recovery program), and returning to France. We've seen some permanent closure of restaurants and businesses already. Certain restrictions are also starting to relax, as the infection, hospitalization and death rates are now among the lowest in the US.

I think many communities worldwide are seeing pretty dramatic shifts in pollution during this period. (I also find it interesting that some places are not, suggesting in those areas other factors are at work and/or it naturally does not get trapped there). Some smaller tourist-oriented towns, however, are already suffering from the loss of their main economic engine.

John, I'm with your wife on this one, make something softer. I laid porcelain tile on the kitchen floor, over a concrete slab. My knees and my back both complain loudly after a couple of hours and I've developed sciatica that I never had an issue with before. I really wanted cork, but Elery did not, he wanted tile. We're both sorry we did that, there is just no give at all.

Good luck with the sub-flooring, somehow there's always something wrong with that. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be perfect!

I don't live in a tourist area, but small businesses were already struggling to compete with the big chains who have access to more resources. It's had for a small BBQ place to compete with Buffalo Wild Wings or whatever. I'm afraid this is a death blow to some of them, sadly. We do have one person taking advantage of the situation wisely AND helping out local restaurants. For a 15% charge he will deliver from a list of 15 small local restaurants. He's planning to expand to include anywhere in my zip code, which means for the first time ever, I'd have restaurant food delivery available! Right now we don't even have pizza delivery, LOL.

Annie

I couldn't agree more with Annie about flooring with more give. We have hard wood flooring with a plywood subfloor. So much easier on the feet than tile. I"m unfamiliar with cork, but I've seen some bamboo floors that look nice! My laundry room was rebuilt during this quarantine-- basically because we had to repair it after the flood. The crew were respectful and kept their distance and I'm delighted with the result!

After this lifts I want SUSHI and a some personal care like hair and nails, especially nails! Then I want to trip to Georgia to see our DD and grands!

For those with tile floors and sore bodies: I added anti-fatigue mats to the two kitchen areas where I stand most of the time. It's commercial grade and doesn't look great. But it makes a huge difference when I'm in the kitchen a lot. That is worth more than looks to me at this point in my life.

John, you have quite the project going there. You are a brave man.

What do I want to do? Shop leisurely and look around a lot more. I shop once every two weeks or so. It is a quick walk through grabbing only what I really need. There is no stopping to look at new products, see the latest seasonal produce, or find the exact brand or size I would prefer. And I want a great cup of coffee from my favorite place. I can't see risking my health for a cup of coffee right now.

I have a friend with anti-fatigue mats in her kitchen. She said an interior decorator told her to buy the ones that most closely resembled her flooring so they wouldn’t be so obvious. I’ll admit, it takes a while to notice hers.

Re John’s comment
about not being bothered by tourists in SF, unfortunately we’re retired, so we
are visiting the same areas outside The City that tourists are! Namely, Napa,
Sonoma, Solano, and Monterey counties.

We normally do not
travel in the summer due to high temps in the Wine Country as well as endless
lines of tour buses, but we’ll see how it goes. We usually go on driving trips
in a regular route through the above-mentioned counties.

I’m an excellent cook,
but I’ve been doing it for 57 yrs. Going out is my hobby, and I’m anxious to
support the many excellent restaurants that have suffered under the lockdown. I
fear that a large number of them will never reopen.

Predictions are for
30% of restaurants nationally to shut down for good. I think that number will
be higher in the San Francisco Bay Area. There are too many seat-of-the-pants
eateries financed by personal credit cards and savings; they will not be able
to recover from the limited reopening guidelines that will come out to prevent
that dreaded “second wave”.

We have some
remodeling projects that our contractor will fit in as she can. We will also
probably refinance the house to get some larger projects done, such as
foundation work and repaving. All of these, unfortunately, are things we need
to do, not that we want to do, LOL!

FYI, the only hard
part about making sushi is having the rice vinegar in your pantry and already
owning the plastic molds. Prepping the fillings takes the most time, but once
you've got that done you can turn out dozens in an hour.

Now if you're talking sashimi,
that's a different story. Easy if you have access to a good quality fish market
or vendor, who can get you the frozen sushi-grade ahi, salmon, seabass, etc. It
will always be frozen or frozen/defrosted, due to the danger of parasitic
infection:

"....All living organisms, including fish, can have parasites...the fish must
be frozen to an internal temperature of -4°F for at least 7 days to kill any parasites that
may be present. Home freezers are usually between 0°F and 10°F and are not be
cold enough to kill the parasites." (from www.seafoodhealthfacts.org)

BTW, sushi-grade fish,
whether farmed or wild-caught, is extremely expensive retail. You won't save
any money over going to a restaurant, although you'll have a lot more sashimi
to enjoy! Best pieces have already been trimmed of skin and any white tendons
or silverskin. Use a sharp knife (NOT serrated, preferably) and
slice thick or thin, as you prefer.

I can’t quite envision the end of the pandemic yet. The combination of my limited understanding of pandemics (lasting years) of the past and the mix of rage and incompetence in our political leaders.

More immediately I think this is going to be a rough summer. Maine is heavily dependent on and deeply resentful of ‘out of staters’ and tourism. The local economy is fragile and many are marginal. The local school system is providing 10 meals a week by bus to anyone under 18. The speed with which this was organized and implemented is amazing.

Anti fatique mats are essential here. I have one in front of my sink and the other by the cooktop.

I also have them, one in front of the sink and one in front of my "baking station", but they aren't enough. And I can't put one in front of the cooktop because I have to stand on a small "bench" to be able to reach into tall pots without burning my arms, I'm 5 foot nothing and traditional counter heights are just a bit too much for my comfort. Sinks and counters are OK, but the burners are just a bit much, add a tall pot and it's ugly.

Anyway, I wish I had different floors, something softer, with more give and easier on the back and knees. I also wear Crocs in the kitchen, and that is some help, but again, not enough, especially on those days when I spend 7 or 8 hours in the kitchen on my feet, canning or making holiday dinners.

Annie

Annie, in my last house the gas was lowered so that I could reach pots as like you, I'm short. Can you do something like that?

I am looking forward to leisurely shopping, and getting my hair and nails done. You don't realize how much you miss these little things until they are gone.

Regarding sushi, we have made it twice during lock down as a treat. It is easy once you get the hang of it. We have three places nearby that sell sushi-grade fish. They aren't selling as much to restaurants, so the pricing right now is lower than normal (but still expensive). Sushi night at our house costs about the same as picking up takeout and we all work together to prepare it making it a fun family activity.

>>Sushi night at our house costs about the same as picking up takeout and we all work together to prepare it making it a fun family activity.>>

I used to throw sushi-making parties - people are always surprised how easy it is, once you have everything assembled. It would be a great theme to accompany a sake tasting, for example.

There's a fair amount of prep work involved if you're making several different kinds. But on the good side, you can do it in easy steps over several days.

I also make sushi, it's easy, the only problem I had here was getting the sheets of nori, I had to order those on line. I like sushi a lot but Elery has decided that rice has too many carbs and so he won't eat it.

Islay, my cooktop is on an "island" in the middle of the kitchen. One end has my baking center which is about 6 inches lower than the rest of the island and it's a perfect height for me, I use it for rolling pastry, frosting cookies and cupcakes, pretty much everything. I was teased endlessly about having that "short" piece of counter but now it's used for everything by everyone. The grandkids find it just the right height for them to make pizza, Elery is always putting the meat slicer or the grinder or something there, and the chopping board just stays there until I'm rolling pie dough or making cinnamon rolls. My flour and baking supplies are in the cabinet under that section, so it's all convenient.

However, the cooktop is on the other end of the island, which is traditional height. When we built that island we should have lowered it all, but we didn't. Now reducing it would mean tearing out the entire island, all the gas lines and electrical wiring (because we put plugs for appliances in the island itself), cutting the cabinets down and reinstalling everything. Instead, I bought one of those step benches that other people use for exercise and slapped it in front of the cooktop. It's actually more comfortable than that terrible floor!

Annie

Annie