Saturday 28 March 2020

Life This Week

So, how's Coronavirus treating you?

I woke up Monday morning with a slightly sore throat. At any other time, I would have thought maybe I'm getting a cold, and then forgotten about it and gone on with my day.

Not now.

I had to call my boss, say I have a minor sore throat (doesn't hurt to swallow), and I didn't know what I should do. Long story short, I had to call the 811 number, which led to me staying home for 10 days on short term disability.

I felt perfectly fine by the end of day two with no more twinges in my throat. It's going to be a long 10 days.



Thankfully I had stocked up my freezer. That's not how I normally shop for groceries - I'm much more of the buy enough for only two days type of shopper. I was trying to eliminate the amount of shopping trips I was making so I bought extra. Not crazy hoarding extra, just enough for a week or so. I guess I'll find out this week if I bought enough!

I hadn't gone out to the barn much the previous week. Both horses were ridden on Tuesday, then I didn't get back out until Saturday evening. It was partly because of my work hours, which are going to be a sucky 11-7 a few days a week (but hey, I'm still working! Well, not this week, but I'm getting paid), and also because I feel kind of guilty for heading out.

My province hasn't locked everything down as of yet, though I fully anticipate it happening shortly. The national and provincial equestrian federations, as well as the major insurance companies, have recommended that equestrian facilities close down to everyone but essential workers.

Locally, there is a bit of a mix as to how barns are handling this. I think that the majority have stopped lessons with the non-horse owning students. Some barns are open to boarders, some have to schedule times so that there are no more than two people out at a time, and some are completely closed to everyone but workers. Should we end up in a lockdown situation this will likely change.

My barn is still open. I think that some lessons are still happening, though there is a very small lesson program. It tends to be fairly quiet except on two lesson nights. The majority of the horses live outside 24/7 so they are always able to move around, although we still have lots of snow and frozen poop everywhere.

I don't know what the right option is. I think everyone has a duty to do their part and sacrifice some activities that bring them joy. We all know what horse people are like - do I trust that everyone at the barn would stay away for 10 - 14 days if they just have a sore throat or a sniffly nose? Nope. Nor do I trust that commonly touched items are getting sanitized properly. A bit of spray on a paper towel is probably not enough to kill any virus that may have been transmitted to a surface.



My fellow Canadians will understand why this is so fantastic.

Once I get out of my self-isolation next week, I'll see what I decide to do. I'm pretty sure that I'll be limiting my time at the barn to maybe two or three days a week, which may end up just being days of letting the ponies going for a run in the arena. Of course, there is a very good chance that my decision will be made for me by that time and I'll be stuck at home.

As for the next week of my exile - I'm trying to do a beginner yoga Youtube video every day. I have more than enough things in the house to keep me busy - if I feel like doing them. I've been enjoying having the time to cook for once (I don't think I've ever made my meals for a full week before). I've spent far too much time on the computer/tablet/phone and watching Youtube/Netflix/Acorn/Amazon.

Tomorrow I might just go for a drive-by and look at my ponies from the road. I want to get out of the house, but can't go anywhere where there are people, so might as well go look at the kids from a distance like a creeper.

6 comments:

  1. I’m glad you didn’t have the virus. Our province is shut down. I’ve been working from home since last Tuesday. We need to be careful to stop it in its tracks.

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    1. They reduced our group amounts to 15 people yesterday and closed non-essential businesses, but still allowing curbside pickup for retailers. So far we're not legally locked into our houses, but that may still come.
      I'm definitely getting antsy about staying in the house but I totally understand the need. The weather is going to be crappy for the next few days so that may make having to stay in easier to swallow.

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  2. My barn is still open, but on a schedule of only 2( sometimes 3 ) people at a time.
    Some people are booking 2 hr times every single day which doesn't give anyone else a chance to get out if they can only come out in the evenings. Its frustrating. I have a hurt horse, stop booking all the god damn time!

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    1. We haven't gone to that yet. I'll be back to work once I'm able to leave the house so mostly able to go out in the evenings - there aren't usually many people about in the evenings (except one lady but she and her daughter moved to your barn last weekend). I just have to avoid Wed and maybe Thurs nights and should have the place mostly to myself.

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  3. I had a cold maybe three weeks ago and have been working at home ever since! I'm not riding and only going to the barn to feed dinner and a quick mucking out (about 15 minutes. I have my own space and wheelbarrow/tools) every day. Not seeing the horses as much is the hardest part (that and eating questionably 'aged' mystery food from the freezer ;)

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    1. I went through my upright freezer and garbaged a bunch of dubious items that I will never eat. Still have to do my fridge freezer, then tackle the fridge.
      Our weather got cold and crappy and I would have liked to have gone out and added blankets to the ponies. But they changed things yesterday and you are not allowed to leave your property if you are under self-isolation due to symptoms. The ponies will survive!

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