Are You Allowing Others Into Your Home

[simple girl]

We had visitors last weekend who flew in out of town and a new set of visitors this weekend. They were DH's friends, and he was not willing to cancel their visit. It was such an awkward situation to be in.

Nobody seemed concerned like me; I felt like the paranoid one of the group. We did the whole elbow bump thing and I refused to go out and about with the ones that came this weekend, but still...they went out and about and came back to my house.

Visitors left today and I am DONE. Recluse time.

Have to say last night I developed a slight tickle in my chest and am coughing occasionally. No fever, thankfully. Let's hope it's allergies. The pollen is indeed pretty bad right now.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Mine refuses to dust or clean toilets.

My robot won't do that either. Remember Rosie from the Jetsons? I thought they'd have those by the time I grew up, but apparently not...

Yes our cleaning lady is still coming. I'm terrible at keeping the house clean and she loves bleach, so she's disinfecting.

 

[Sanstar]

DH and I are self-isolating as we are over 60. This includes no other family member contact. Family members include toddlers, commercial airline pilot, volunteer coordinator (still working). All, IMHO could be vectors. Lots of FaceTime, texts, videos and calls. But, no one comes into our home; we don’t visit theirs.

We’ll reevaluate in 14 days when there is more data and experience with this bug.

We do walk 3-5 miles/day and are thinking of taking a 2 hour drive for picnic on the coast this Sat to get out of here. Should be manageable w/o any close human contact.

When the dust settles I want to know we did our part for our community and bad outcomes will be in spite of our best efforts; not because of a lack of effort.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Our cleaning lady came today while we were out at lunch. She normally does us and the next door neighbors on the same day. However, they are about ten years older than us and more vulnerable, so they asked her not to clean today. They paid her anyway, which is very nice. She is due back in two weeks. We'll reevaluate closer to that time, but if we cancel, we'll also still pay her.

Our next day is this Friday, and I'm about to text her to tell her not to come, we'll pay her anyway. We did that when she had back surgery, too. But we've known her for almost 20 years, though.

 

[JoeWras]

We've decided nobody comes in for a few weeks.

Nice neighbor is getting a few groceries for us tomorrow, but per his suggestion, he wants to stay away from us and will just deliver them to our porch.

 

[Live And Learn]

We had planned a spring break party for this Friday. We had 10 people coming over. We just canceled the party in the interest of keeping everyone safe and maintaining the sanctuary status of our house. Between the virus and it's impact on society, and the markets and it's impact on my portfolio I feel pretty melancholy.

 

[harllee]

Trying to decide what to do about the housekeeper (she does an excellent job by the way and I am sure needs the money). I hate to clean so I really want her to come if I can figure this out. We are in our late 60s and DH has some a chronic health problem (psoriatic arthritis) so we are high risk but otherwise pretty healthy. We always leave when she comes so I was thinking of asking the housekeeper to wear disposable gloves (we have some we can give her). Then we would stay gone (maybe a picnic at the park) and stay away from the house 2-3 hours after she is gone. What do you think? If we tell her not to come we would probably pay here anyway and then I would have to clean the house myself--oh no!

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Trying to decide what to do about the housekeeper (she does an excellent job by the way and I am sure needs the money). I hate to clean so I really want her to come if I can figure this out. We are in our late 60s and DH has some a chronic health problem (psoriatic arthritis) so we are high risk but otherwise pretty healthy. We always leave when she comes so I was thinking of asking the housekeeper to wear disposable gloves (we have some we can give her). Then we would stay gone (maybe a picnic at the park) and stay away from the house 2-3 hours after she is gone. What do you think? If we tell her not to come we would probably pay here anyway and then I would have to clean the house myself--oh no!

If you're worried about your own health, ask her to wear a surgical mask. If she is an asymptomatic carrier, that will greatly reduce the risk to you and your husband. Personally, we're healthy and we don't want to risk it, more for the general good than for our own health, but we're all involved in health care or public health in our household.

 

[Aerides]

I would clean myself, and pay her anyway, and if I have enough masks laying around to consider giving to a housekeeper I'd donate them to the nearest hospital instead.

 

[Bamaman]

We're really staying away from others. To take the granddaughter for allergy shots, we call in from the parking lot and she goes in alone for 30 seconds. Then we leave--watching for any allergic marks on the injection point.

We do go to Walmart every couple of days, but there's so few people there that we don't get close to anyone. And for once we're glad to do self-checkout not touching anything.

I went 200 miles yesterday for business and saw my niece, nephew and brother in law from 10' away. I'm sorry I couldn't see my sister who was at home, but I'm not breaking our family rules.

Next week we're going to our RV. No corovirus will be coming from nature, and I'm sure all the card playing and shooting pool is cancelled in the game rooms. The kids will be playing their electronic games and tablets anyway.

 

[Teacher Terry]

BM, why not stock up on groceries and then not have to risk it? We bought a month’s worth.

 

[harley]

BM, why not stock up on groceries and then not have to risk it? We bought a month’s worth.

Same here. My trip this morning was the last time I intend to go out for at least two weeks. And we're good for meat and other supplies for at least a month We'll probably need to restock fresh vegetables after the two weeks, as well as other things. But we've planted lettuce, beans, zucchini, strawberries, and cucumbers, and our tomatoes are pretty close to turning red. And I've got hit peppers and basil coming out of my ears. There are advantages to being in FL. In 30-45 days we should have access to some fresh veggies without having to go out.

I will probably make another trip out to Ace Hardware to pick up a couple items I need for the irrigation system I'm putting in. I looked into ordering them from Amazon, but the delivery dates are pretty far out.

But nobody is coming into the house. We'll talk to the neighbor over the fence, and that's about it. Facetime for family, and other than that it's just lucky we like each other so much.

 

[Katsmeow]

No, not letting anyone in. When Walmart delivers DH meets the person outside the front door and takes the food there without the person coming in the house. Last person other than us in the house was 2 weeks ago when the mobile notary came to our house to complete our refinance. We were going to order some window coverings that have a 4 week time line but we are deferring since I don't know if we will want to have anyone come in the house at that point.

DH wants to have someone mow the yard. I think that is OK so long as he doesn't have contact with anyone on the mowing crew....

 

[Starsky]

I think we had our last visitor to the house. We gave our weekly housekeeper notice today, but we will continue to pay her even if she doesn't come. Although we leave the house when she's here, it's still too much to risk and not part of the 'new normal'. She has been with us a long time and has four kids, so we will help them get thru this until it's all over.

We are trying to have a small wood deck constructed in the backyard in April, and might go-ahead since the carpenters can do all the work outside while we stay inside. I don't know how, or if, that will work out. I'm waiting to hear back from my contractor.

 

[Calico]

I have activated a force field around my house - no one gets in but me. It will remain this way for as long as I feel it is necessary. Fortunately I am an extreme introvert.

 

[Rianne]

As of today, no. Sad, not family, friends or neighbors.

 

[cooch96]

Cleaning lady comes this week, just like every month. I will not be home when she’s here.

 

[harllee]

We told our housecleaner not to come for a while. We are mailing her a check.

 

[SeattleRocks]

Zero people have come into my home since this started and zero people will come in in the future.

I am however maintaining my landscape service and am looking at getting the house painted, my septic tank pumped and all the other things that can be done outside with zero contact with me or my family.

We got supplies very early into this and am all set and are planning on hunkering down for the next 2-3 weeks if not longer. Only trip I took was to get milkshakes for everybody last night to help our local takeout place.

 

[statsman]

Going to be a challenge. We last saw our DD about 2.5 weeks ago. Fortunately, in more ways than one, she started a new job on March 9. So, she has been too busy to visit us, and we all feel this should be held off for as long as possible. She's in a semi-critical group with her new company, but they finally sent everyone home yesterday. Most are furloughed, but DD and co-worker will be working from home on a management plan for this group (the reason she was hired). New job and gets paid. Very fortunate indeed.

This does come with a few disappointments. DD and I have birthdays the end of March, beginning of April, so we will likely miss out getting together to celebrate. Beyond that, there's Easter on April 12, where we were planning a dinner for the three of us and a friend of DD's. But now I wonder about that too.

Other than DD, we have no visitors to worry about. The planned visit from my BIL and his wife from California 10 days from now has been cancelled. My wife had to force her brother to back down earlier this week. It was not fun for her. Left to his own devices, they would have flown out from California the end of the month, assuming the flight(s) weren't cancelled and California didn't have people under house arrest at that time.

 

[Dtail]

We told our housecleaner not to come for a while. We are mailing her a check.

Actually that is the only person we are allowing in.

 

[statsman]

Actually that is the only person (housecleaner) we are allowing in.

While they *may* be bringing flu viruses with them, they are also bringing disinfectants and cleaners. Might be a worthwhile trade-off.

 

[Golden sunsets]

OP here. It is interesting to see the different responses. I think I detect a trend in the most recent days toward more protection of the home. I could be wrong and it obviously matters where one lives. We have a senior living facility within a half mile of us that now has 5 confirmed cases. As much as I would love to have our cleaning crew come in, perhaps with gloves and we vacate for several hours, DH doesn't want to take the chance, soooooo.

 

[Montecfo]

No one in. Call and text friends and family. Workout gear in basement. Good bit of food. Only go out to replenish that.

May have a virtual happy hour with a buddy this week.

 

[CardsFan]

I am amazed at how many LBYM people have cleaning persons (most said lady, but that is not appropriate)

We have not had the problem. All of our friends understand, and several are spending time taking care of grandkids. Actually, it is rare for us to have anyone in unless we are having a gathering of friends.