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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

I returned from a trip to Texas on Monday the 10th. New Jersey suggests (because they cannot require) that you quarantine for 14 days after a trip like that. As such, I am have been locked in my bedroom for 5 days now, never leaving. I am fortunate enough to have a bathroom attached to my bedroom, one that I do not share with my flatmate. I am also fortunate enough to possess a variety of electric cooking appliances suitable for cooking for one. I have a small counter, a "dressing table" between my bedroom and my bathroom, which I am currently using as a makeshift kitchen. I have a coffeemaker, a miniature crockpot, and a wafflemaker, all electric. I have one set of utensils, a chef's knife, a wooden spoon, and a whisk. I have a mixing bowl, an eating bowl, a plate, a mug, a cup, and a cutting board. I have two dish towels which serve as drying mats after I wash my dishes in my bathroom sink. I use the toilet as a garbage disposal, scraping uneaten food into it - I can't put it in a trash bag, and it won't keep as I have no refrigeration. My flatmate brings any food I order for delivery to my bedroom door; I take it after he has walked away. Under the dressing table I have all manner of nonperishable food: canned fish, canned vegetables, ramen noodles, pasta, tortillas, pita (the latter two will perish, but don't need to be kept cold). I have some produce that can be kept at room temperature: a yellow and a red onion, some red delicious apples, and a bunch of bananas. Oh, and two avocados (which must be eaten today) and a bulb of garlic. I am a teacher, and I have been receiving guidance on how the new school year will go once it begins. They are planning on splitting the population into 3 cohorts and sending them to school for half-days at a time, with one group at a time in the building, to allow for social distancing. I predict that we will close back down and go to full virtual learning sometime at the beginning of October. The pandemic has mostly left me bored. It is summer - my time off, my time to accomplish the things that I couldn't do the rest of the year: play video games, study something new, do large projects, travel. But video games and studying are boring now, since it has become all I can do. Projects are difficult, since getting supplies requires going out. And while Jersey is relatively safe, it is only so because we avoid going out. I want to spend time with people - but that's simply not logistically possible. And now, in the last few weeks before my school year begins again, I am trapped in quarantine. I plan on getting a COVID test today or tomorrow. a negative result will free me from quarantine, but I don't know that it will come quickly enough for it to matter. Which is frustrating.

August 15, 2020

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