The COVID experience

Yesterday morning, my husband went in for a scope on his stomach. He hasnt been feeling good for quite a while so after ruling everything else out, they believe he has an ulcer. Welcome to my world dear husband. 

We got up and going before the butt-crack of dawn after I got off at midnight the night before and had to "sleep" on the couch because my youngest pup had babies a few days ago and I wont make her spend a whole night alone. Since I had to get up at 5am, it just made sense. And it didnt help that a small snowstorm had blown through so the roads sucked a little bit. Both going home from work and a few hours later going to the hospital.

Hubby gets checked in, gets labs taken, rapid COVID swab and we are escorted to a room where he gets changed out and ready to find some answers. We chat about the nice socks, sexy gown and cool cap he gets to wear. Of course Im jealous! I havent had my share of those things in the past year and a half! Yeah, right!!

*Knock knock* the nurse opens the door a crack and looks at my husband, "Guess what?" He looks at her and kinda laughs and says "You're fucking with me." At this point I was oblivious to just what was going on. I felt like I was watching a tennis match. Back and forth until SOMEONE makes the point. 

He is COVID positive. 

No, no, no, no, no. 

He feels fine. 

He didnt even have a fever when we came in. 

No cough; not one symptom. 

He is pissed about having to miss work.

Oh God, he has to tell his boss.

This is going to go over like a lead balloon.

While he is getting dressed and testing out every cuss word he has ever heard, my mind was going a million miles a minute. 

I cant have this.

I dont want to find out I took this to work.

I cant miss work.

Oh Lord. I. Can. NOT. Miss. Work. 

No.

My boss is going to have a breakdown.

I bet my eyes were as wide as they could be. "I need a test. I work at the Sheriffs Office. Lets not get me in trouble with the Sheriff." She tells us where to go so I can get a test done and off we go.

I get the test and we head home to wait for the news. I started cleaning the kitchen to keep my mind busy while barking orders at my husband that just because he has COVID, he isnt sick so this isnt going to be a vacation. He kept saying that he felt fine. I kept saying I felt terrible. He had results. I didnt. I was mentally preparing for the worst.

After a while, I hadnt heard anything so I called the hospital who transferred me to public health. "You are negative but you need to wear a mask everywhere outside your house for 2 weeks. You can not go into any public buildings for 2 weeks so find someone to grocery shop for you." Not one mention of work. Hello??? "Follow your employers protocol." Here's the funny part. Our freaking protocol is to go by public health advice. I felt like I had just got sucked into a vacuum. 

The boss would figure it out. Told me to plan on having the day off (yep, I was scheduled to work that day) and he would get back to me. When he did, he told me to plan for 2 weeks off. My heart sank. 

I'm that girl that struggles with more than 2 days off in a row unless I am out of town. I love my job and I do not like to miss. I hate using sick time. I know; that's what it's for BUT the way my life changed at year 49, I need all that sick time. 

Just. In. Case. 

Be prepared for anything.

Oh, did I mention that hubby's supervisor tested positive as well??  I told the hubs that it is pretty sad he is more intimate with his supervisor than he is with me. He didnt like that but I sure got a good laugh out of it. 

Working opposite shifts has probably helped me but I have thought from the beginning of this stupid mess that I already had it. Me and a few others at the office. 

So now, we have had two days together, stuck in this house. TWO. He has eight to go. I have twelve. Remember when this pandemic first started and people were forced to stay home? I was envious for about a minute but thought there would be no way we would make it through.

Well, here we are!!! One of hubs co-workers told me not to kill him in the next 2 weeks. I said fine but after that, all bets are off.

Please dont send cards or messages hoping he (or we) get to feeling better. We both feel great but our sleep schedules are really going to suck when life goes back to normal. We are good on everyday groceries and toilet paper and yeast and peanut butter. Thanks to my bestie for getting us some drinks from the c-store today. God Bless You. That is probably tge only thing we will ever need someone to get for us, luckily.

If we get to feeling bad, I will update everyone. I know lots of people are entrigued about how people feel as they gothrough this. I feel trapped. Does that help? Our report should be pretty boring as long as we dont develop any symptoms.

We were able to go into town today and vote from our car. I felt like a lepper but those gals in the Guthrie County Courthouse are and always have been amazing to work with. So that's done.

For those of you that say "At least you have puppies to play with while you are stuck at home," their eyes arent even open yet so they arent that much fun. And momma is pretty proud of them and very much all about them NOT being around the sperm donor or that old bitch that growls at night. Not me, but Eva. So if we want to hold them now, we have to go sit in her 4x4 welping box and that is not comfortable!! 

Well, it took a quarantine, but I finally got hubs to sit down and work on this crazy ass puzzle. We are making pretty good progress on it. Who knows, we may finish it tomorrow. We better pace ourselves. I dont want to run out of stuff to do. Sure cant bake anything because I couldnt share it with anyone in good conscious. 

Stay tuned. We will see how this goes.

Have love in your heart

Well, hello there!  Fancy meeting you here.  It's been a little while so thought I would pop in and tell you a story.  The purpose of the story is at the end.  I mean the main purpose of the story.  Sometimes I surprise myself at what comes out of my own mouth.  It's usually bad...or embarrassing...or dumb....usually sarcastic.  Sometimes though, it is so right on, it makes me think someone is speaking for me!

Recently, on my way home from work around midnight forty, I came across a car that had obviously hit a deer.  Well, let's be fair; I saw the deer blood all over the road and then some car parts on the left side of the interstate and then the car itself was on the shoulder on the right side with both back hazard lights clearly turned on for the world to see. California plates so they aren't local by any means.  It didn't take much to deduce what had happened.   

I pulled over to the right, in front of the damaged car, turned on my flashers and got out after making sure no vehicles were coming up behind us.  I walked to the car and approached the driver's door and asked if they were ok.  The female in the drivers seat tried to open the door but it was too heavily damaged but she could crack it just enough to say they were ok but getting cold.  I told her that I am a 911 dispatcher and where I worked and I would gladly give them a ride into the next town so they could get a motel room.  She thanked me and I could see that three young ladies were in the car with her.  I told her not to try to open the door and everybody needs to exit the car from the passenger side due to traffic not getting over.

DUE TO TRAFFIC NOT GETTING OVER.  FOR TWO CARS WITH HAZARD LIGHTS ON.  UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE!  IF YOU DON'T GET OVER FOR ANY VEHICLE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, AT THE VERY LEAST SLOW DOWN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN OR SURRENDER YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE.  HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF THAT WAS SOMEONE YOU LOVED AND YOUR CARELESSNESS GOT THEM HURT OR KILLED?

So the woman and her three daughters (this info was confirmed) started grabbing things around them.  The youngest of the group, possibly around 8 years old, got out and took her blankets and pillow and put them in the back of my car.  She looked at me and said "What do you want me to do with these?"  I looked down and she had either a small tablet or a large cell phone.  "You keep hold of that."  She started to cry and I asked her if she was ok.  She shook her head yes and I asked if she was scared.  She said yes and then started crying.  "Keep that in your coat pocket and get in the car and get warm.  Your tears are going to freeze to your face.  I am here to help and I have the heater going for you."  I opened up the back door and she crawled in.  

I went back and helped them get their belongings and put them in my car.  We took everything they could fit in there.  Backpacks of clothes, shoes, blankets, pillows, sacks of snacks and food.  I think they only thing we left in that car was their trash and a notebook.  They thanked me about a hundred times if they thanked me once.  I turned on my flashlight at one point to look at the extensive damage to her car and of course, blood and hair everywhere.  They may have gasped a couple of times and I said it's just part of the animal so it's ok.  We got the car loaded and the driver asked if she could go back and take pictures of her car.  Of course you can!  

While she was taking pictures, the middle (in age, maybe 12) gal said to me, "So you are a 911 dispatcher?"  I turned to her and said "Yep!"  She smiled at me and was very curious and I think if we would have had much of a car ride, there would have been a whole conversation about my job and she said "How did you become a 911 dispatcher?  Do you need to go to school for it?"  I explained to her that there is training involved with the job but there isn't a college course that can prepare anyone for the things a dispatcher does or hears and a lot of it is about multi-tasking.  She took in every single word I spoke and then said "I want to be a 911 dispatcher so I can help people like you do."  If that just doesn't melt your heart and make you feel proud of yourself, what would?  I looked her right in the eye and said these words to her.....

"That is great but remember, you don't have to be a 911 dispatcher to help people.  You just have to have love in your heart."  Her mom then got in the car and we went to town.  The whole way I wondered where that came from.  I got them safely to a motel and helped them unload their belongings into the room.  I wrote down all the location information of her accident (for her insurance and the tow truck) and wrote down the number to the sheriff's office if she needed us for anything else and I was on my way home.

I slept so good knowing they were off the road, warm and safe.   

I did not write this for any accolades.  I wrote this because that little girl made me believe in myself again; not only as a dispatcher but as a human being who cares about others.  We need to reach out more and give people a hand up and if they need a hand out, give that to them too.  There will always be someone out there worse off than you.  Always.  If you need my help, let me know.  I will try my best.  I hope you will too.