Enter Week 2

It’s been a week since the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was declared which forced many of us to stay home. Days began to blur that I didn’t even realize that yesterday was Sunday — typically my laundry day. As the self-service laundry place I go to is closed indefinitely, I have to start tackling the pile of dirty clothes in my hamper (Silver lining: Laundry is mostly house clothes and underwear).

I don’t think everything’s going back to normal anytime soon.

Never before has the call to stay home been so strongly encouraged. As of now, we have 380 confirmed cases — that is, if there are no cover-ups or if we haven’t lost count yet with the continuing surge. The bad news is how some of the fatalities were doctors. Three to be exact.

Barangays issued quarantine passes, one per household. Since I’m always the one going out buying food and necessities since the lockdown, I was given one last Saturday. It says that I can only go out between 8AM-10AM and again between 2PM-4PM. These days, the streets and roads around us are almost deserted you’d not even recognize that it was once a very busy, crowded area.

Antonio Arnaiz Avenue 

I’ve always said this — we are very fortunate to be living in a location that is accessible to everything. Even while most establishments are closed, we have supermarkets, drugstores, fast food chains (that only accept take-out) and convenience stores within walking distance that are still open. You just have to bear with the long lines to get inside though, since they only allow a few at a time to observe social distancing.

The queue in order to get inside the mini-mart

Not everything is available in groceries so we can’t really stock that much (aside from the fact that payday is still a couple of days away). Our everyday ulam is a usual conundrum because even while the public wet market is nearby, I hardly go there even on a regular day. Now that we’re on lockdown, the queue to get inside is terrible it’ll probably take you more than an hour just waiting to get in.

Mom wasn’t cooking as often as she used to that, for days, we have been having corned beef, fried egg, tuna, hotdog, instant noodles on repeat. It’s good that there are still some who’d sell cooked ulam and it’s only then we’d get to have a decent meal. Yesterday I had Bicol Express and it was great.

It’s also a bit concerning that my routine is changing. An early-riser before all of this, now I sleep late and get off bed late. My upper back pains returned with a vengeance and I’m sure the lack of movement is to blame. I don’t want to wait for my body to waste away so I get my exercise by cleaning the house (mopping the floors is my favorite because when it’s done right it’s as good as a workout) and doing stretches to wake my bones. You can only do so much of that – so after a while, I’m back to the couch or to the bed wasting the day away.

Unless cable features Marvel or Star Wars movies, old rom-coms, true crime stories, etc. there’s nothing on TV worth my while. Local TV is now showing reruns of old series and shows since the quarantine has stopped the tapings as well. Not that I miss the local teleseryes or variety shows because I don’t watch them anyway.

Social media can be very toxic; you’d wonder why even while in a worldwide crisis like this when we’re not even sure if we can survive through summer, that there’s still a lot of shit going on there (no wonder there’s a shortage of toilet paper). While I try so hard not to react to the absurdity of some of the issues, I can’t help it. You’d read about how some mayors are doing so well in such a difficult time while on the other side you’d also read about the incompetence of other public officials. The government, instead of pushing for mass-testing and a better treatment/support for our frontliners, is now asking the Congress to give the president special powers. Goodness, talk about priorities.

The situation hasn’t prevented the further divide (DDS vs. Dilawan) and if for anything it even worsens it. We’re not learning from the lessons a crisis like this is trying to teach us all. I don’t know what else is it that Mother Nature can shove up our a**es to open our minds and set aside personal agenda and just work for the good of many.

On the lighter side of social media is the flood of TikTok videos. I’m not against it (I’d rather have that than fake news and toxicity on my newsfeed), but I’m pretty sure you won’t see me posting one. I can’t even bring myself to take a selfie these days because I feel fugly. 

I don’t want to talk shop but yes, since work is suspended and no word yet from the higher-ups on how we’d go about working remotely, we have somehow accepted that we’re not getting paid. Yours truly will be very poor in the coming days and I don’t think my savings can get me anywhere if this situation turns for the worst. In a true Forrest Gump fashion, that’s all I have to say about that, only because I don’t want to fall into the pit of depression because of it.

Enough about me. How are you?