My cat has been vomiting a lot, and I thought I felt a lump in his belly. So even though I am still self-isolating, I can't put it off any longer, and I called the vet. We've got an appointment Monday morning. When I arrive in the parking lot, I am to call the receptionist, and a technician will come out and take Jedda inside. The vet will then consult with me on the phone after examining him. Welcome to the New Age.

Our dog developed a lump as well - they did the same thing where my husband drove to the vet, called, and they came out and took Sheila in to check it out. Turns out it's just a fatty deposit and they don't need to do anything, so hopefully yours turns out the same!

dg_dave - Maryland is reopening except for the counties next to VA/DC.

I remember when Captain (my avatar) vomited recently...but we had to go to an emergency vet's office because it was after his regular vet's office closed. We had to call when we arrived there, then they had us fill out paperwork in the car and snapshot it to send to them via email. For his follow-up appointment with his regular vet, they did the same thing. He's feeling much better now.

Turns out for Virginia, four counties aren't reopening with the rest of the state...Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Arlington. I was wondering if Stafford county might have been on the list as well, but figured Fauquier wouldn't be.

The City of Alexandria has also requested a two-week delay. Not that it's going to change anything for us. Having to take hundreds of precautions to eat at a restaurant doesn't sound like my idea of fun. I'd rather cook myself, or get takeout if I need a change from my own cooking.

We've been doing takeout once a week for the last month. I've been making the rest of the meals so it's nice, except a pain in the butt trying to get all the takeout onto plates, washing hands and everything that's it's almost easier just to make my own dinners.

Yay We can go out!
After 18 weeks.....I am going to hairdresser s!
I asked for an estimate for perm,cut,colour,face lift,stomach tuck, manicure pedicure, brain transplant, polyfiller, plastic surgery..
massage, acupuncture, sauna.He said he'd try.Wish me luck, I may have forgotten how to get there...

Woohoo Ren, you'll be the belle of the ball!
Enjoy your pampering!

Brain Transplant? I'm quite sure you don't need it, you're as sharp as ever.

How sweet of you, Jan. But I am hoping the hairdressers scissors are as "sharp" as they need to be when he sees the state of my barnet!

Well our parks will be reopening (minus playgrounds) this weekend. We'd been going on hikes before everything shut down completely and I bought a new hiking backpack... that arrived the day after everything shut down. I'm looking forward to being able to finally use my new backpack, but the parks are going to be packed - they've been packed already with people just parking on the sides of roads and such then walking into the parks.

We're still not ready to enter Phase 1. And the counties in the neighboring state are almost maxed out of ICU beds.

My SIL and her boyfriend put in an offer on a house - they said you have to make appointments for during the open house and then only one family in at a time. I can't imagine buying a house and moving during all of this!

i just keep remembering that the second wave of the Spanish flu was the really deadly one....

I had a bizarre experience this morning.

My disabled permit is due to expire so I emailed my local authority who sent me an application form, then I needed new photos which my doctor will have to sign when he signs the form for me.

There is a photo machine in the arrivals hall at the airport so I decided to go there this morning as there are no flights at all today so I would be unlikely to come in contact with people. I drove to the airport, all the carpark barriers are up, no charges for parking. Masked and gloved up then headed for the entrance. A couple of people outside using phones then I entered the building. I didn't see a single person inside, absolutely empty, totally weird - really bizarre.

I got my photos done, they are the most ghastly photos I have ever seen, my hair is so overdue for a cut, it is ghastly, and the face on me! I am not going to pay another £5 for more, they will have to do. Fortunately it will be on the back of the permit, and there will be a copy kept in the town hall - the others won't be used.

Apart from the daily mail plane there is only one airline which is flying, and that is the lifeline route to England, mostly for medical appointments there. It only goes about three times a week. Emergency air ambulances are still flying, but they don't use the main terminal - we average one ambulance flight each day, things like heart attacks, brain injuries and some other emergencies.

My mother had that. The doctor didn't expect her to live and her father asked if he could give her brandy, the doctor said that it wouldn't do any harm, everyone was amazed that she pulled through.

I had Asian flu in the late 50s, that is the only time that I have had true flu, and I remember it well.

We were freed to travel within England on May 13th. As my hobby is taking photos all over Britain I was finally able to start 8 weeks after the annual season began when the clocks went forward. I have been around Cambridge and got the remaining old road signs I didn't have north of Bristol. It's still not possible to do my main planned trip to Wales as they are still locked down and doubt I can get to France at all this year either by train.

"I had Asian flu in the late 50s, that is the only time that I have had true flu, and I remember it well."

My mother had Asian flu in the late 50's when she was pregnant with me and it caused me to be born prematurely. She was extremely ill with it.

God thats ghastly Carole! Image not having you!!

In the last couple of weeks some of the restrictions have been lifted here, and so far so good, although it's a little too soon to tell, really.

City parks have been open all along in my city, though playground structures have been roped off, and the authorities have been shutting down large gatherings. But I think maybe a lot of people didn't know that you could still go to the park, and thought they were just opening now.

Because yesterday, I planned to go to a big local park to see if the goslings had hatched, and instead of the couple dozen vehicles I'm used to seeing there, there was a lineup even to get in! I decided not to go in, but driving by I could see the big parking lot was jam packed.

For far too many people, "it's open" seems to mean "freefall, no restrictions, back to normal!" rather than "start to do a few more things, see how it goes" which is what it should mean.

They reopened the parking lots at the county-owned parks. I think more so because people were just parking illegally at the entrances and not because it's safe again. The parks themselves never closed - just the fields and playgrounds. They wanted to encourage people to stay off the roads, but as you can see reading articles of this about anywhere in the USA, telling people what they should do doesn't work.

So Sunday we went on a hike and stayed mostly away from people. The only people we came into contact with were passing opposite direction from us, so it was quick and the path was probably 6 feet wide, so everyone stayed to their sides.

Monday my husband wanted to go take more bird pictures, so I gathered the kids, a blanket, and a picnic lunch for the three of us. It wasn't very crowded until about 3 or 3:30 - I had to yell at some younger kids to stay away because they kept running almost on our blanket. And then there were two families of Canada geese that people kept trying to feed because the babies were cute... which made the geese come closer to us But apparently my mom voice keeps the geese from coming too close.

Today it's so hot and all the pools will probably be closed so I'm trying to figure out what to do. We usually have season passes to the water park and go at least once a week... I'd like a little pool, but we also just paid a gras company to fix our lawn (it has never been so green and full!!) so we don't want to put something down for the summer on top of it... which leaves just the room on the edge fo the playground. I need to measure it and see what I can find that will be deeper than one of the plastic kiddie pools but not too big for the area. We also have a slip and slide and a sprinkler, but for us used to swimming so much (my daughter does swimming and diving classes), we really need something more. (I did sort of consider a hot tub ad keeping the temperature a little lower, but those are so expensive that I worry it wouldn't get used after this summer.)

I[m missing the pool so much. Not so much because it's hot - it's still far too early in th year to be very hot here - but just because I love it. And our summer is so short that if you don't make a point of doing summer things, you'll miss, so for me, swimming in the outdoor pools in the short season they are open is a huge part of summer.

Not this year, alas. Our outdoor pools will definitely not be open this year, and it looks like it might be a long wait even for the indoor ones. It's possible the city won't open the rec centres even once it's safe, just because they're broke, so I'll have to get a pass for the Y.

I noticed when I drove by one of the parks in Prince William County.



I didn't think it was that unbearable...even though my car showed a temperature of 87° on my way home.

I have noticed an increase in foot traffic at my store, but Loudoun County hasn't moved to Phase 1 yet.

Well, we are Phase 1 now which means retail at 50% capacity, outdoor seating at restaurants at 50% capacity, gym/exercise outdoor only, outdoor pools open but at lowered capacity and social distancing, etc. I think hair salons can reopen but nothing like beard trimming where someone is face-to-face and masks required.

My family are in another area which is starting Phase 1 but they have no indoor malls open, no outdoor seating, no gyms open at all... it's very annoying how each state or even county have different rules. I was watching a press conference for a county near me that is just starting Phase 1 and they were heckling the guy so much - and because they can't have manicures yet! Even my nine year-old was saying the hecklers weren't acting well.

Well, some of you may know I took up knitting during this. I got a 'learn to knit' kit from this one website after looking around for something all-inclusive. The site shut down for a month or two when this all started, but today when I get on the site they announce they're closing. So I just bought a bunch of additional kits (basically instructions and yarn, some have videos) and will be knitting well into 2021.

My son has been playing World of Warcraft on my computer - he's only 4, but figured out how to do quests (MUCH easier than in the old days when I started playing). But last night he spilled milk all over my laptop. It restarted this morning, but my arrow keys are sticking. Ugh.

Does anybody else feel like I do that partial easing of restrictions is actually more stressful than full-blown lockdown?

There's a bit of everything going on, some places are lenient with the rules, others too strict. Life is getting back to normal, but not really. At least under full lockdown everybody stayed home, and there was no ambiguity. Trying to go back to the office here is more of an encumbrance than a lightening of the load with all the hygiene measures to remember. On my one morning in, I spent more time disinfecting everything I touched than actually working. As for hitting the shops, every place seems to have slightly different rules, some have a one-way system in place in the store, in others wearing a mask is obligatory, in others the mask is obligatory but if you don't have one then you can enter if you take a trolley as a reminder of the safety distance. People tend to bunch up around the cash desks too, despite the floors being clearly marked. More than half the people wearing masks may as well not, as they have them down under their chin, or spend most of their time fiddling with them. I know it's been hot and they are uncomfortable, but I really feel they give a false sense of security to the wearers and are more trouble than benefit. By meddling with them constantly or not covering the nose AND mouth the wearer might actually be better off with nothing but being more careful not to contaminate themselves or others.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great relief to be able to get around more easily and not need a time-stamped paper for every outing, grocery stores are better stocked, etc. Let's just say that while I know we are in for the long haul before things get back to a pre-Covid19-normal, I am still looking forward to that day!

And if it's hard for us, it's also hard for the businesses.

This is probably different depending on where you are, but I'm hearing a lot about businesses that want to do the right thing, but are not really getting clear instructions from authorities, and no help in enforcing their rules. Can we really expect some low-earning shop clerk or waiter, their job already twice as hard as it used to be, to spend every minute fighting with customers who don't want to follow guidelines?

This week they have rushed through a law to make it easier to fine etc people breaking the rules about large gatherings. It is all the litter which is upsetting the law abiding people here. This weekend the police have warned that they will be targetting known trouble spots. Not content with littering, they are smashing bottles and already a child has required a number of stitches on his foot. You ought to be able to take your shoes off on the beach.

Oh, that's so sweet, Ren! Thank you.