Rodney M Bliss

Quarantine – Week 1

You wouldn’t think that quarantine would be that different from your typical work from home schedule. Maybe it was a trick of the schedule. Maybe it was coincidence. But, our week was unlike previous weeks.

First, of course, was my daughter’s Jesica’s wedding. She married Julian Sanchez last Friday at 5:00pm in Payson, Utah. Payson is about 20 minutes from Pleasant Grove. We didn’t go.

Of course we had a few pictures.

And it was a small wedding anyway. But, we won’t be in those pictures. I love my kids. And I love my sons-in-law. And especially the new one. But, Quarantine took some of our memories.

My lovely wife got tested early. She was feeling poorly and went to get tested after only a few days. Her and my son who drove her. On the way back, she passed out. We had to help her into the house. She retreated to her room, quarantined inside our quarantine. Seventy-two hours for results.

Fortunately both she and my son tested negative. But, of course, she was still sick.

The rest of the kids are doing okay. They are trying to not fall over one another. It’s a big house, nearly 4,000 square feet. And the weather has been beautiful. Just the way you expect in the Fall. We’ve been limited to our own property.

I spent part of my free time last week working on my son’s car. I replaced the power steering pump. During a test drive (still quarantined if we never get out of the car!) we realized it needed a new serpentine belt. I ordered one from the O’Reilley’s web site. They had it at the store. My friend offered to pick it up and leave it on the hood of the car it was intended for.

Touch-less.

Sunday marked the 7th day. . .since we had been exposed. The virus is most contagious at 7 days. So, the kids and I loaded up the car and headed for American Fork Hospital and their testing center.

There were over 18 cars in line. The kids managed to spit into a test tube enough. Me? Nope. Couldn’t even spit correctly. I got the brain scrape. Now we wait. We should know the results in 72 hours. Wednesday or so.

And that was it for the week, or so we thought.

Sunday morning I got a call just before 3:00AM from my daughter at college. She is COVID positive. And she was miserable. In severed discomfort.

Do you have any Benadryl?

No.

How about hydrocortisone cream?

No, I don’t have that either.

What about oatmeal?

Why?

Well, you can dump some into a bath and it helps relieve itching.

No, I don’t have any oatmeal either. What am I going to do?

Don’t worry. I’ll bring you some.

And that’s how I ended up driving through deserted streets of Provo at three o’clock in the morning.

I felt like a drug dealer. I left a grocery bag full of drugs hanging on fire hydrant in front of her apartment complex.

And that’s how we spent our first week of quarantine. One down. One more to go.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

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(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

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