Covid Week 22 August  10-16     Mandatory Masks in Maryland

So I was back to work on Weds after COVID quarantine. I could have returned on Monday per the Md Dept of Health, but our facility requests a 16 day isolation from the day you test positive. Which is rather silly since I had already worked 5 days from the day I tested positive. I found out that not only did I test positive along with the Physical Therapist I worked with on our isolation unit, but the head nurse on that unit and two residents in the nursing home that were not on the isolation unit. Not sure if they had symptoms, but the PT and I did not have any symptoms they list.  However, the head nurse was rather sick. He had a high fever and lost his sense of taste and smell. We three returned to work on the same day and now belong to an elite club. I spoke to my doctor about getting tested for antibodies and she said antibodies can take several days to several weeks to build up enough in your system. So she recommended I wait 1 month from my onset date to check, so Aug 27th I will drop into the lab for the test. Tom and the kids all tested negative and so did our neighbor Dan. But his wife has not yet received her results, and they were tested at the same place on the same day. Not sure about that. I did hear that asymptomatic people don't spread the virus as easily as symptomatic. Makes sense to me if you're not coughing on people. Anyhow, no one believes I had it anyway. They all think the test was a false positive. But now I am not required to get retested for 90 days. Guess I will have to see if I pop up with any antibodies. 

So I was back to work. Oh joy! At least it was a short work week. I had to catch up with my laundry. I stayed away from domestic chores while I was on isolation/quarantine to make sure I wasn't spreading anything to the family. I got busy washing all the  sheets, pillows and blankets on the bed and sprayed the entire bedroom with Lysol! I also had to wash clothes and towels, and I decided to rewash my mom's lingerie. I did not want to risk spreading anything to her. I recently received an email from her facility letting me know she tested negative during a facility wide assessment. So far her building has pretty much stayed COVID free. But it is attached to a nursing home, and they have had a few positive tests which sets their schedule back, including coming out of the rooms for meals or activities in the dining room and visiting with family outside. So I rewashed her clothes and dropped off a bag which included some tangerines and a large print Reader's Digest. Then I stopped into her storage room to pick up some kitchen items for Allison that are not being used. Mom really does not utilize her kitchen space, although it is well stocked with dishes and glasses and a small fridge and sink if she or we ever need anything. I also picked up a few of her summer decorations to drop off including a wreath for the door and pillow for the rocking chair as well as some summer themed paintings she did. Just to change up her environment a bit.  I tried calling a few times while I was home on isolation, but only got a hold of her once. 

Allison spent her Saturday helping her boyfriend Gabe move into his new house. He was finally able to close on a place of his own, north west of Baltimore city, closer to the Bay. Looks like a very nice, settled neighborhood with  a decent sized yard and trees in the back. Which is what he was looking for-close to where he works at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds near the top of the Chesapeake Bay as well as his parent's house. It is a sizable house with 4 bedrooms. Also a finished basement so his sister is moving in with him on the lower level. It will be a big help with the mortgage payments I am sure. So  Allison helped Gabe and his sister move in along with his family, and afterwards they all stopped for pizza. This way Gabe can now feel obliged to help Allison move into her new apartment next weekend! We decided it would be good timing to move her when Scott was around as well. Lots of furniture to haul and we can use the extra muscle. She is really excited and looking forward to having her own space to work and invite over friends-especially when COVID is done.

Since Allison will be moving out, and Scott will be heading back to school soon(for now), we decided it would be nice to enjoy a family outing on Sunday before summer is over. Our weather has been very rainy this August and we are quite soggy with rainstorms and lots of mosquitoes almost every day. One of the wetest months for many years. Usually our grass is pretty burned out by now, but so far it has turned very green after the roasting temperatures in July. Good for me since I don't have to water everything. Although, the temperatures have begun to drop into the 80s which is actually a bit cooler. I  asked the kids to take me tubing since I wanted to get an actual idea of what that activity should be like. Not the jam packed, boulder riddled activity we participated in during our vacation to Pigeon Forge(although I actually thought that was fun!). Instead, the kids told me they have been tubing near Harper's Ferry with summer camp and through Girl Scouts. Harper's Ferry is an historic National town/park that meets at the merging of 2 rivers-The Potomac and Shenandoah and 3 different states-Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.  The town was heavily involved in the Civil War, including the historical figure, John Brown, an African American who led a small raid on a US Arsenal in town. He planned on using the weapons for a slave uprising, but was caught and hung for treason, murder and conspiring with slaves to rebel. The railroad also played a significant role in the area with an amazing train tunnel cutting through the mountain and several rail bridges criss crossing the rivers, and the Appalachian Trail cuts through the area, so lots of hiking available too.  I found a Rafting group that advertised very family friendly, relaxing float down the Potomac River and it was exactly that! A bit more pricey than Pigeon Forge, especially on the weekends. We decided Sunday afternoon looked best and plenty of reservations available. We stopped into a nearby town for lunch beforehand-Brunswick, MD. Allison had stopped into this town on her way home from camping and was familiar with a burger and ice cream place. However, the burger place was not open before noon, so we went around the corner to a small cafe to eat outside and ended up having the best Cuban sandwiches we have eaten in a long time. Then it was time to head to the river. Tom opted out of the activity, and set up a chair with his book on the river bank. We boarded a bus with only 2 other small groups that dropped us off upstream and hit the river in our tubes. We had plenty of spreading out room and could take off our masks if we wanted. The company did a great job with safety measures and asked everyone on the bus to sit apart in your own group and wear a mask, including staff. The float only took about 1 1/2 hrs, but it was extremely relaxing, the weather was perfect-no rain storms and just the right amount of sun. It was easy to relax and just let the river take you-only a few big boulders to move around and over. There were a few large tubing parties that hooked their tubes together and placed a cooler on it's own special tube for picnics and beer. They all seemed to be having a great time. And so were we. When we got to the end, I was able to get out and swim a bit, but not much since there are still plenty of boulders under the river that were hard to see. Not like swimming in a lake. And it had a pretty decent current pushing you along. They had changing rooms when we were done. We could also have paid a bit more to take out a canoe or kayak, or float again, but we had enough of sun and river. So we headed back to Allison's place for ice cream after a quick drive near Harper's Ferry downtown. Usually you have to leave your car in the National Park visitor center and take a shuttle bus into town since there is not much parking, but all that is closed due to COVID. So we just drove down one side street and along the river and headed back to Brunswick. I noticed when we were sitting in a local park eating our ice cream that this is the town I was checking out to jump on the C and O Tow path for bike riding. They have lots of free parking near their train station for loading and unloading your bikes Now that there are more places open(like bathrooms), it would be nice to take the bikes out for a ride along the flat gravel packed trail and the historic C and O canal. 

We also keep checking on Busch Gardens web page. Looks like they recently opened for weekends only in August, 4 hrs at a time with reservations for a Microbrew Festival. They also look to be planning on opening this fall, but no activities listed yet. That is usually when they host Hallow Scream, and then Christmas Town in the Winter. However, they never opened their water park. So many events, concerts, activities that mark our seasons that have been closed or cancelled. Allison and I attended a virtual Girl Scout event-The Distinguished Women's Fund Raiser. Allison is usually invited in person to this $100.00 ticket event held in the spring since she was chosen as a Shadow Girl back in high school. She also sits on the committee that interviews the girls for the 5 positions. In high school,  Allison spent the day with the CEO and owner of The Maryland Chemical company, Jeannette Partlow who is a big supporter of the Girl Scouts and just loves Allison. The event chooses 5 girls every year to shadow a local female CEO/Business Owner and then hosts a fundraiser event where the girls and women give a brief description of their work life. They usually host the event at a local country club with open bar and hors d'oevres, as well as a Silent Auction. This year it was online and they had the girls and their sponsors give their speeches. The Auction was all online as well. Allison and I sat and listened to the speeches and joined a small zoom chat group prior to the presentations. However, these online events are just not the same. Although I did pour myself a glass of wine during the presentations! I must say I cannot get into most of the online, virtual computer events. Thank goodness I am not going to school. The kids are better suited for it. 

Tom seems to be too. He just finished his last formal PhD class. He turned in his rough draft paper during the week and the prof told him not to bother finishing or changing anything since he had already earned an A in the class! He certainly had a lot of extra free time to work on his papers since he is transitioning to a new position at work. He and Tom seemed to click and the Prof set Tom up with another advisor that he thought would be a great fit for Tom's thesis work. You have to have several mentors on a committee to assist with the thesis so it looks like Tom is all set. He will still have to enroll in classes while he writes his thesis, so that means he has to continue to spread out the work in order to get reimbursed.  Northrop only pays for so many credit hours per year. Hopefully he can pull it off in 1 or 2 years! And then he will finally be Dr Tom!