Corona Diaries

Zoria

“I was expecting that the kids would be eligible [for their vaccine] around June to August…this week I got

an email saying the kids could get their vaccinations on Sat 27th, I just needed to register for a time slot.

What!!! The kids already? How is this possible?”

Background Information

Female, aged 45-54, Living in Michigan USA, Married to Karl, Two children Gabriella and Justin,

White, South African, fluent in English, Afrikaans and German.

14 March 2020

Looking back over the last few weeks. I am sure that my first memory of the Corona Virus was lying in bed

in an Airbnb that we rented in Mexico in late Dec 2019. It was a BBC article about some strange virus that

was doing the rounds in a wildlife market in Wuhan. It was not particularly of interest, because it was so far

away and I had no interest in wildlife markets. But as the infections rose, I seemed to have some sort of

morbid fascination. I read each article carefully every day. As the Chinese government wrangled with the

idea of whether to stop travel for Chinese New Year, it seemed so drastic for all those that were taking their

once a year pilgrimage back home. To cut them off from their families seemed so draconian. - but knowing

the masses of people on the move it seemed right. It was sad to know they would not be eating with their

families and would not be setting off firecrackers.

I put in an order for face masks on 27th of January. They were already out of stock on Amazon, but it said

my order would come in two weeks (not sure if I still have an order of if it was just pushed out all the time) I

still remember having a discussion with the kids where I said I thought there were 16 deaths and then had

to correct myself with facts saying - oh there are only 6 deaths.

On 3rd of February I started recording the deaths and infections in a spreadsheet because I felt that we

were not getting the full picture. It seemed strange that the Chinese government was now suddenly building

temporary hospitals. What a feat, to create something so quickly. One was tempted to just marvel at what

can be done under this government. But then I was saying to Karl, just calculate backwards - they started

building on this date, all the planning, organising and decision making that had to take place before that in

order to have land and materials to start building on a certain day, just showed that they were already

worried about it maybe 10 days before, worried enough to take this decision. I wondered if I should send

Gabriella to Boston in mid-February. Should we be travelling at all? But it was all quiet and under control.

All the time though, I started planning. Buying extra toilet paper here and there, so we would not be low.

Water purifying tablets, long life milk, flour, salt, tinned soups, ibuprofen and energy supplements in case

someone is too sick to eat. I had, had glandular fever in January so it was fresh in my mind what I needed

when I did not feel well. The media said wash your hands, use sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Somehow, I

have always ‘poo-pooed’ these wipes. So, I did not stock up.

At the beginning of March, I decided that I would only go grocery shopping once a week, so I went on

March 2nd and stocked up. But I still needed croissants and other things so went again on the 6th. I was

going to hold out for another week till Friday 13th, but when it was announced late Tuesday night the 10th

that there were 2 cases in Michigan I went to Kroger at midday the next day. Toilet paper shelves were

empty. Thank goodness we do not need it.

People were stocking up on water. My trolley was very full, but it was because I was doing a double shop,

so we don’t need to go often. From Thursday things moved at a hectic pace. First Gabriella’s school said

they would close Friday to prepare for online learning if it became necessary. Then later that day Justin’s

school said it would be closed for Friday and Monday for the same preparations. All after school activities

would be cancelled going forward. No more Model UN trip to Lansing for Justin. Driving school was on and

off and on again. Multicultural Celebration was on, then off. In the middle of all of this I modelled in a

fashion show for Refuge for Nations. I kept wondering if they would cancel, they didn’t, and I just thought

‘its for a good cause.’ Everything made me feel a little despondent, so it was actually good to get out that

day.

Friday we awoke to the news that schools were now all closed and only expected to resume in a month.

People are ‘shouting at each other’ on the Neighbourhood app, about people buying too much toilet paper.

Announcements keep coming on my phone about travel bans, states of emergency, and rising cases in

Michigan. A teacher is infected at a nearby school. A nearby bakery had a visit from an infected person. It

is absolutely exhausting. I said to Gabriella it is a miracle and gift from the heavens, for her to be able to try

to catch up on her maths. She needs to wake up early and get to grips with it. Plans are trickling in from the

schools as to how this will work. Justin now has new apps on Google classroom for chat rooms etc.

Gabriella knows from one teacher that she needs to alternate a and b days - business as usual. Our friends

in Bavaria also have school cancelled. I keep saying we should Skype with them and be entertained. My

friend Julie works at a library and she said her library is now closed to the public. Now I need to sleep.

14th March - Checked my Amazon facemask order - it has not been cancelled. They say it has been

shipped, but on the USPS website, it says I cannot track it yet. Bet its been stolen!!!

Now travellers from the UK and Ireland have also been banned - starting on Monday. President Trump has

tested negative for the Coronavirus. The Seychelles have some cases of the virus. Spain is going into lock-

down. Jayne says her and the girls are safely at home with enough supplies. Andi is in Munich. He has just

returned from New York and will be flying to Chicago on Tuesday. Just managed to set up a news app on

the TV because we do not have normal TV and have been living without news for years. Just watched it

and they were interviewing an expert. Seems New York’s cases are about to explode. Our local WXYZ app

is good at telling where people with Covid19 went shopping or eating, so you can see if you were near

them. Luckily so far, nowhere I have been. Not that I am scared of getting sick. I would actually welcome

getting it and getting over it. Gabriella’s maths lesson was cancelled because the Bloomfield Township

library is also closed. We will re-evaluate once we see Gabriella’s workload. The teacher is willing to come

here. But there is now all this debating in my mind. Should she be having these lessons, the teacher could

be coming into contact with lots of sick people? Also with Justin’s driving lessons, the driving instructors are

having contact with lots of people. I cancelled the ladies’ night planned for my house on the 18th of March.

It’s so frustrating, I had to cancel in February because of a snow storm and now cancelling in March

because of the virus. I would hate to be responsible for someone getting infected just because they came

to my house. Am feeling a little isolated right now. Kids want to do their own thing and watch their own

movies and games. I warned Karl that Trump is thinking of banning domestic travel - he should get back

here.

15 March 2020

I am not sure if I have ever really been scared in my life, and I am feeling that a little now. Not scared,

scared - just scared. In the financial crisis, I was worried about our financial future. Here I am scared that

things could get out of hand. What if everything as we know it collapses? People lose their jobs, banks go

under, people get desperate - here in country filled with weapons. South Africa has also declared a state of

emergency and closed all schools. I think they have banned people from infected countries including the

USA. What happens if something happens to my parents or Karl’s parents? How can we help them? I could

ask Gwen or Stacey to maybe help out with my parents and maybe Beth or Stephen to help out with Karl’s

parents.

Karl sent me an Australian 60 minute program which was really scary - all about the virus. OK, but

remember, most people will survive. But still worried about our parents. And if something happened to us,

what about our kids? I insisted that we took at walk this afternoon at 4pm. Gabriella was difficult and just

wanted to walk the old way. I had to insist on taking a walk to the lake - in the end it was the right decision.

She had her shoes off and was retrieving golf balls. It was great, somewhat cold, but a beautiful sunny day.

Afterwards, Justin and I played Monopoly. I hate Monopoly, but I really want us to spend time together and

want to get them out of their rooms and off the electronic devices. My luck actually went rather well for a

change in the beginning. It was funny, I probably diced more doubles than in my whole life. We eventually

stopped the game so that I could sort out supper. As usual Gabriella refused to be part of it, but she did say

she wanted to watch Frozen with me tomorrow night - I look forward to it.

It seems that Karl will try to come home this week. I realised that I had not catered for him, certainly as far

as milk is concerned. I thought I would just order him a pack of long life milk online, like I had organised my

lactose free long life milk on 5th February. Ha-ha - nothing to be had on Amazon - all sold out. And just as

an aside, there is no longer next day delivery on Amazon, they are only offering Thursday delivery. They

must be so overwhelmed.

A message flashed on my phone about a ship in the Caribbean being unable to dock because of Corona

Virus. I just hope it's not the ship that Gabriella’s therapist is on, we really need her back safe and sound!

16 March 2020

Yesterday the Fed cut interest rates in order to help the market, but the stock exchange fell more today

than it did in the 1929 crash apparently. Tried to get Gabriella to get ahead on her school work, but she

complained of not feeling well. I was a little impatient because she always seems to not be feeling well.

Took Justin to his driving school theory class and then Gabriella drove me to Birmingham to buy Boba tea.

She thought it was a great way to build up some hours. Said she was the only person in the shop. All chairs

had been stacked. As of 3pm today restaurants may not serve people on the premises - they can only do

take-away. Trump announced that there should not be meetings of more than 10 people, makes me

wonder if they will finally postpone the driving school.

Read more and more things that say if everyone just goes into a sort of quarantine then we can stop the

virus quickly. Fatima ’s mom texted last night to see if I am letting Justin meet with friends. I said not for the

next 10 days, just to see what the extent of the virus is.

The US messed up with testing kits and are so behind with testing so who knows what is out there. Thank

goodness they now have drive-through testing facilities here. Good to know that some things are getting on

stream. The work is slowly trickling through from teachers. Justin has maths and Spanish. English will

come on Wednesday. School said they may have to extend the school year. Karl phoned and said they

have a suspected case in their company. The person can’t get a test because there are no tests, but has

tested negative for flu. He has now booked a flight home and will arrive tomorrow. He says there is talk of

the military being brought in the prevent all sorts of movement in the country. That would be the end of the

airlines. All across the world the airlines are turning to their governments for a bail-out. I can’t imagine that

South African airways is going to last very long, and the government won’t be able to bail them out. Britain

is still refusing to institute draconian measures, say they want their people to have herd immunity. France

apparently had that approach and is now abandoning it saying that it's turning into a huge crisis.4

I am glad Karl is coming home. It just feels like getting all my little sheep under one roof, or tying up loose

ends. Justin and I finished our Monopoly game tonight. He wiped the floor with me of course. As usual very

proud of himself. Had an idea this morning that I should read books and film myself as entertainment for

kids stuck at home. Ah yes, almost forgot, I started planting my vegetables today. Little carrot seeds in

some starter soils and 10 Yukon Gold potatoes. Hopefully my planting bags are not delayed again and I

can plant everything else this weekend.

23 March 2020

It’s been almost a week since I last wrote. Karl flew in on Tuesday and is now working from home.

Yesterday the cases here in Michigan were over 1000 with about 8 deaths. New York is going to run out of

protective gear in 10 days for their medical staff. We are expecting a ‘stay-at-home’ order to be announced

for Michigan today. It makes no difference, that is what we have been doing anyway. I went shopping again

on Friday for the first time since the previous Wednesday. There was no toilet paper, bread, eggs, rice and

grains, frozen veggies or tinned goods, and they have closed down all the counters like bakery, salad and

cheese bars and fresh meat and fish counters. But the shelves were well stocked with fresh veggies.

Luckily I had stocked up on all the stuff they don’t have, so we are still OK. Interestingly there are nooks

and crannies in the shops where you can get things that people don’t think of. Like frozen bread, plenty of

gluten-free stuff on the shelves because everyone thinks its awful and in the kosher section you can still

buy things like split-peas etc which are completely cleared out of the normal shelves. The queues were

incredibly long and it took me about 2 hours to shop. I went in there with my China pollution face mask on -

felt a little silly until I saw some old people wearing masks. I am sure everyone would wear a mask if they

could. Anyhow, I didn’t feel that silly that I refused to wear it. Rather be safe than sorry.

Gabriella’s schoolwork is driving me nuts. It just keeps coming and even the weekends are not enough to

catch-up. I could just scream! We did manage to play Risk together as a family on Saturday night for 2

hours. Justin loves the game and we always refuse - but now there is time. It was actually quite fun.

Gabriella had too much work for us to continue on Sunday. I look forward to the next round. Karl worked in

the garden the whole of Saturday just clearing away brush - he is just so happy out there. I prepared 4 grow

bags (2 spare) so they are ready for planting. It is snowing today, but I believe it will be the last of the snow.

Tomorrow it will be 14 Celsius, so going forward I could transfer my veggies outside. The potatoes are

growing nicely. I have no idea what is happening with the carrots. Only planted the zucchini and lettuce this

weekend, so will have to see.

Amazon and Kroger are hiring like crazy and have increased their hourly rates to keep up with demand.

Great for people that have lost waitering jobs etc. Karl’s company has made no plans for a virus outbreak.

In my opinion they should have two shifts - one that stays at home for two weeks and the other that works

to get stuff out. They seem to have their heads in a hole.5

The stock market keeps falling and analysts say there is no precedent. Never before has there been a

supply and demand shock all at the same time. So it makes no difference what economic principles are

applied to help the economy, it cannot be helped because people cannot go out to shop and others cannot

go out to work. The IB Diploma exams have been cancelled. What a shock for those kids that have been

working all year towards this. Apparently they will just take the marks accumulated throughout the year.

26 March 2020

I told the kids today they have been home two weeks. Or at least we can say that Gabriella definitively does

not have Corona virus from school. Justin too. But only on Monday we can say all the forays into driving

school did not infect him. Next Tuesday Karl will have been home for two weeks and none of them have left

the house. I am the only one that has been out to go shopping. So the only infections would come from me

shopping or any parcels delivered by Amazon.

Apparently the virus can live on boxes for a few days, so when I open the box I immediately discard it and

wash my hands. As for the post, I leave it on the bar counter, wash my hands immediately and do not open

the post for two or three days. Today there are about 2800 infections in Michigan and about 60 deaths. The

Detroit police departments are taking a bashing. Some high ranking people have died and lots of policemen

are self-isolating. Our closest hospital was full to capacity yesterday. Justin was asking when he can go

and socialise with his friends. I am not worried about him getting sick, just the kids infecting us. I planted my

potatoes outside yesterday. They are coming along so nicely. And also happy to say that all my veggies

have sprouted. These tiny little fragile sprouts are popping out of each compartment.

Yesterday I went for a jog and ran the whole way around the block without stopping. There were so many

people out walking, jogging, walking their dogs or riding bicycles. It felt very crowded. Gabriella’s school

work is driving me nuts. Her teacher copied us on an email saying there are three assignments outstand ing

from before school was closed. I can only weep. I can just never get her ahead on anything. In fact, I was

so upset about this that I went to bed early. Before that, it was a nice evening. Karl chopped wood and

made a fire and we sat out on the deck enjoying a glass of wine. It really was a lovely evening. The little

shoots on the Maple Tree are coming out strongly and the little bulbs that I planted in autumn have all shot

out with lovely flowers. South Africa goes on lock-down tonight. They can’t even go out for a walk, run or

walk a dog and all alcohol stores are closed for three weeks. I am sure this is because of the townships.

Firstly it’s all so narrow in there that you do not want people out walking, they will be too close to each

other. Secondly, if everyone sits in those confined spaces abusing alcohol, there will be mayhem. What

decisions the politicians had to make to insist on this! Really tough!6

Our friends have had to close their hotel and now they can just concentrate on home schooling. I think the

last flights out were yesterday. They also sent their staff home to India on forced leave. Who could ever

have dreamt that countries would close borders to each other? Spoke to Carolyn the other day for the first

time in years. She is in lock-down in Italy. Luckily for her it's not so bad because they have a gorgeous

garden and as an artist she just sits and paints all day. She was her normal happy self.

Trump is now talking about opening things up around Easter because he cannot bear to see what is

happening to the economy. The governor of New York was very critical and said he did not want to see his

own mother die, nor did he want to see Trump’s mother die. New York is really turning into a disaster. They

say the curve will be higher and come sooner than previously predicted. These poor doctors and nurses

just have no protective gear, and there are not enough ventilators for sick people. The motor companies

are turning their attention to producing ventilators.

Beer brewers are making hand sanitiser. Volunteers are sewing masks Fabric stores, even though the

masks don’t really provide protection. But what some hospitals are doing is letting the staff wear these

masks over the real masks, then they can just dispose of the top layer. 3 million people applied for

unemployment here in the US last week. Beating the record of any other time in history for a surge in

unemployment.

Prince Charles is confirmed with the virus. I hope he recovers. On a more morbid note though, I keep

saying to Gabriella that all the old world leaders are going to die and the world will be left in the hands of

Jacinda Ardern the New Zealand Prime Minister who is young, in her thirties. Prince William will also finally

become king. What horrible thoughts I have. But no more Trumps, old US congress members or Putins of

this world. A different earth run by the young people.

My darling kitty is enjoying the garden for longer and longer each day. She has frightened off the

chipmunks sadly. She runs after squirrels and was even sitting at the opening of a ground hog today. She

is having the time of her life. I have been trying to make meal times enjoyable for the family by really putting

in an effort with food. We have been eating like kings. I am getting a little tired of it though. However, I have

more time than usual to cook so I should not complain.

27 March 2020

Spoke to Mom and Dad this morning and they are enjoying their quiet time. Have not seen a person in 5

days. All very quiet. Mom says people that are badly affected the by the virus have permanent lung

damage, fibrosis. Need to look into this. Apparently, the cat is bringing them so much joy and follows them

around like a dog. I had said before that this is the perfect time for lots of coups to take place. Well the

Hungarian leader has just made himself a dictator with sweeping powers. The leader of Brazil is carrying on

as if nothing has changed. No social distancing etc. I actually think he is doing the right thing for his

country. I think South Africa and India should do the same. You cannot lock all the poor people up in the

slums for a few weeks to stop the spread. It's going to spread like crazy there anyway. Should just let those

economies keep running and let the virus run its course. Of course there should be one strategy for the

whole world. Either all run the course or all go in lock-down. That is unless of course the countries that do

lock-down don’t open their borders to the countries that run the course until maybe a year after its run its

course. Oh, who knows what is right?

2 April 2020

I have been looking forward to today all week because the I knew the weather would be nicer. It is a lovely

day. Infections here in Michigan over 10 000 and school has officially been cancelled for the rest of the

academic year. Did German and US tax return stuff this morning and then decided today may be a good

day to go to Costco. Have just heard horrendous stories about Costco on social media all the time about

people queuing outside and all. So, I thought going there on a Thursday before 2pm might be a trick. I

arrived there and no problem. They have now parked all the trolleys outside and created a pathway that

snakes around for you to get into Costco - this is for people to queue to get in when it gets full. I walked

right in. What a surprise when I walked out again and the people were queuing right out into the parking lot.

Limit of one package of toilet paper per shopper and no more than 2 shoppers from one family allowed in.

They don’t seem to be doing meat that needs processing, like slicing pork strips and pork steak. Although I

was able to get lamb chops. No frozen veggies to be had except corn - haha, Karl will like that. I am always

scolding him for buying corn in Kansas and telling him he is not eating properly - and now that was all I

could buy. Heard an interesting interview on the radio while driving home with a doctor that volunteers to

work on war fronts. He was saying that 70 to 90 percent of the people that go onto ventilators do not come

off. This is similar to the other info we have been hearing. Also there now seems to be evidence that you

can get the virus just from speaking to an infected person because the droplets hang in the air if there is no

ventilation. So now they are thinking of maybe advising people to have face masks after all. Makes me feel

really glad that I have worn my face mask shopping every time even though I look rather silly. More and

more people are doing this anyway. Yesterday, I suddenly wondered how Rovos Rail is doing with no

passengers and I went onto their website. Sad to say, I did not look for the info I wanted because I was

distracted by a video on the site about their 30th Anniversary, which took place last year and so I

proceeded to watch it. I watched about half and then watched the whole thing with Karl last night. It was

nice to have a positive distraction. Did not see myself in the video but recognised a lot of faces, 11 some

that are still working there and photos of others from the old times. Oh how wonderful it was. We were just

saying we really should go on the train. Karl said maybe for my 50th.

I phoned Rachel this morning and she was really happy to hear from me. She said that Marly is driving her

nuts because he is so negative and is convinced that South Africa is going to descend in anarchy. He just

wants to jump on the next flight to Germany. Anyhow, he can’t stand being on lockdown so goes to the

shops every day to buy something just so he can get out. I was completely shocked to hear this. If anyon e

should be staying at home it is him and he is of course also going to infect Rachel if he gets it. She says

she is not sleeping at night because of the way he is behaving.

6th April 2020

Finally, school holidays - even though not much is changing. Gabriella still has so much work to catch up

and has worked the whole weekend and today. If she puts in a good effort she could be finished by

Thursday, but I think she is going to stretch it out the whole week. Boris Jamesson, British Prime Minister

went into intensive care today with Covid 19. No one could script a scenario like this where the world is in

lock-down, the leaders in intensive care (his wife is pregnant) - all so very bizarre.

7th April 2020

Got distracted yesterday and did not finish my entry. We chatted to Joan-Marie in Germany on Sunday,

finally two weeks after her birthday. Tina’s husband Roger tested positive for Covid 19 and had to go into

quarantine at home. Thank goodness he has been OK. He had to sleep in a different room and use a

different bathroom to the rest of the family. Tina and Lena have to be in quarantine until 17 April.

Apparently 12 empty parking lot at nearby strip mall) thought he had it, was tested and given the all the

clear. So he does not have to go into quarantine and is allowed to go back to work. But he is sleeping

upstairs in their home and goes to eat alone in the kitchen when the rest of the family are done. German

authorities are now saying that the virus does not hang around on surfaces, so there is no concern that he

will get the virus when eating in the kitchen. This is in marked contrast to what all the media says. I was

also reading that Germany plans to open up with business that contributes to the economy in a big way like

automotive and telecommunications. They also want kids to get back to school so that parents can work.

Restaurants will only be allowed a few patrons and things like concerts and night clubs and places where

people are close together will not be allowed to open for a longer time. We started playing Civilisation last

night - this was Justin’s game of choice which we purchased. He was so excited to have something

different to do. He spent a good part of the afternoon setting it up and he knew the rules and what needed

to be done as though he had been playing it for years. Very impressive I have to say. I am just easing into it

trying to understand how it all works.

Gabriella went for a walk for more than 2 hours yesterday. Oh my word - I was getting worried. But she

arrived home triumphant and very pleased with herself. Also exhausted because she had not planned on

going for such a long walk. I spent this morning writing cheques for various medical things and also doing

some tax stuff. Have also been reading some of Merv’s book. Oh, it's so wonderful, all the funny stories of

his youth. Really entertaining. Karl has asked me to help write an article on supply chain for his company

newsletter. It was quite interesting doing some research this afternoon and getting some notes together. I

am feeling very frustrated and agitated at the moment though. I just wish Gabriella would finish her

schoolwork so that I do not have to chase her. Because I feel this need to chase her. I just can’t settled

down to do my things. I just want to work on my story and the Wikipedia page. I also just want to clear

things off my desk, but feel that I am constantly on edge.

10 April 2020

I forgot to mention that I coloured my hair last weekend. I had been planning on going to the hairdresser the

week everything shut down. The grey hairs were making a very prominent display so it was time to tackle

the problem. Luckily Cheryl had told me how to do this about 2 to 3 years ago and I had bought everything.

So, with a little help from Wikihow, I did the roots with Tint and Hydrogen peroxide, I think. Anyhow, it came

out well and I was happy. We finished playing Civilisation last night with the kids. It took 3 nights for this to

happen and a game is only supposed to last 1 to 2 hours. Anyhow, I think Justin was super impatient inside

with all the questions we asked, but very patient on the outside. Of course, he won, because he spent 3

afternoons looking at the board strategising. It is a good game and I think now that we understand it, it will

go quicker next time.

I have been on a two day holiday the last two days. I have slept late, stayed in bed long with my tea and

done very little. I spent my afternoons lying on the floor in the lounge. I made myself a little nest next to the

window with cushions and blankets. So, I could look out of the window and see the garden as well as the

bird feeder hanging right next to me. I was reading ‘Ines, mein Herzens’ a book by Isabelle Alende which

was given to me for my birthday 10 years ago by one of the lovely German lady friends I had before we

moved to Dubai. It is hard work reading this book in German, but its good for me because I am out of

practice. The stay at home order has been extended here in Michigan until the end of April, and In South

Africa too. Here in Michigan shops that are open now need to block off areas that sell gardening stuff and

paint. There are also very specific instructions that you may not go on holiday or play golf.

The weather has unfortunately turned cold again, I was so looking forward to being outside more. It is

Easter Friday today and Passover also started this week, so people are all doing their religious stuff via

skype, zoom etc. Gabriella had a telemedicine appointment with the Knee doctor today just to hear the

results of her MRI. Luckily no damage, so we just need to wait it out and it will improve hopefully over time.

Horror of horrors, I have put on weight for the really the first time in my life. All this sitting around and eating

good stuff. Probably about 3kg. Wonder where that is going to lead?

13 April 2020

The world gets more and more bizarre. I had a phone call with my doctor today and she thinks I might have

had Covid 19 in January when I was so sick. Then it was diagnosed as glandular fever. I had such a low

white blood cell count that she got me in to see a specialist in 2 hours because she was so worried.

Apparently, the low white blood cell count is what is killing lots of people. Anyhow, there will be an antibody

test in about a months time and when she has the test she wants me to come in and have the test. If I do

have antibodies then they will want me to donate blood so that they can make plasma(?) for very sick

patients.

It is all very strange because I did not have any respiratory symptoms. But Justin was sick within two weeks

of me and I think he had all the symptoms. He had cough and high fever. I took him to the doctor because

the school had said their was whooping cough going around and so I asked the doctor to test him from

Mono and Whooping cough. Well, he had neither. Now isn’t that interesting? We had exactly the same

symptoms but I did not have the cough and we were both so exhausted for days afterwards. So it would be

the most extraordinary story if true. On the other hand, maybe it was just mono. If so, then I either picked it

up in Mexico, or maybe poor Bobby had it in December, and then that would really be interesting, because

she said they diagnosed her with some ‘vague respiratory illness.’ Anyhow, we had a nice weekend.

We did the Easter Egg hunt for the kids on Saturday and the weather was stunning (rain was expected on

Sunday). Then we just sat outside at our front door - something we would never normally do, in the sun

drinking our tea and coffee and enjoying the vitamin D. We had sundowners at the lake and Karl tried a bit

of fishing. On Sunday we roasted a duck on the Webber and had a long conversation with Britt in Germany

on Skype. She was so happy to chat, I think it must be rather lonely for her. It was interesting to hear that

the schools in Bavaria were so poorly prepared for a situation like this. In contrast to other German states

their kids have hardly anything online. So they suddenly had to create everything for the kids to get work at

home. In addition, the server then crashed because everyone was logging in. We were quite shocked to

hear this because Bavaria is supposed to have such a great school system.

28 February 2021

It is such a long time since I have written, but I feel the need to talk about a new development.

A few weeks ago I registered the kids and I with a different Health department to be on their list for

vaccinations. I was expecting that the kids would be eligible around June to August and me maybe in Sept/

Oct. This week I got an email saying the kids could get their vaccinations on Sat 27th, I just needed to

register for a time slot. What!!! The kids already? How is this possible?

Although I had read some obscure article that suggested that they would immunise kids before adults in

order to get them back to school. So, there was a grain of truth. I carefully checked the email address and

the website and all seemed in order. So, I registered for the 2:45 slot. Then the next day I got a phone call

saying that Justin is not eligible because he is too young. I did not take the call, it was just a voice

message, so I phoned them back to see if I need to put Justin on the list again. The lady was almost

aggressive asking why I had registered a slot for him when he was too young. I am thinking ‘hello? You

guys emailed me and had all his information, his birth date etc, so how can you accuse me of doing

something wrong?’ Anyhow, I did not mention that Gabriella also has an appointment - she is over 16 so it

is not a problem.

So, we went there yesterday, and I was pretty sure they would turn us away and again accuse us of doing

something wrong. Now we have been hiding in our house for weeks, not really seeing anyone and reading

statistics on low vaccination rates. So, it was almost like a culture shock to arrive at the Collection

Convention centre and find a car park filled with cars and queues and queues of people. It was a massive

undertaking, but incredibly well organised. We had to queue in a queue about 300 m long with social

distancing, but it kept moving forward smoothly.

There were military personal there to help with the flow. We got to a checkpoint where they scanned our

QR code that proved we had an appointment and Gabriella showed her ID. They had many tables set up

with teams of two for vaccinating. One person did admin, one person administered the vaccination. We

were directed to table 11. The ladies there also thought it was weird that we got an appointment and I could

almost see a hesitancy as in maybe they should turn us away. But then they just decided to vaccinate

Gabriella. We then had to go and sit in a waiting area for 15 minutes to be sure there were no strange side

effects. We got a little vaccine card showing that Gabriella got the Pfizer jab. She needs to go back in 3

weeks for the second dose. There is definitely a side of me that feels terrible that she has the vaccination

already and many old people are struggling to get it. But I am not going to start questioning the system. I

hope that it was done with purpose, maybe to see how some younger people react? I cannot see that it

was done by accident, if it was there is a glitch in their computer system looking at dates of birth. But I have

no doubt that the staff will flag it and comment that it is strange that some kids came for the vaccination.

There was another high school boy there as well, but they were the only younger people.

So, we are inching towards normality. In two weeks it will be a whole year since we went into lockdown. At

that time there was talk that things would be back to normal after the Spring break. In June last year I took

a long view and decided that this was going to go on for a whole year. I prepared myself to be locked in my

house for a year and to emerge in June 2021 ready to fly to South Africa to see my parents. Even that is in

doubt at this stage. There are so many unknowns: will we be able to get vaccinated before July, what if we

take the virus to SA, what if the US blocks us from coming back, what if there is a long quarantine period in

SA and the US making it unfeasible to go there and be back in time for the start of school mid-August?

So, what has been happening since I last wrote? The kids have been to school in person for a total of 6

days. They were able to go in person in October in a hybrid scheme with half the kids on Monday /Tuesday

and the other half on Thursday/ Friday. Justin just refused to go back after a few times saying it was

pointless. He did not have contact with a single friend throughout the school day and the teachers would

only teach half the lesson and then the kids had to work on their computers the rest of the time. He would

rather play computer games or flop on his bed than sit in that sterile environment.

School shut down in November and only opened again at the start of Feb because the case numbers were

so bad. But both the kids just want to stay at home. It would be better for Gabriella to go to school, I think

she would get more work done. But she had some panic attacks on the days she needed to return and so I

have relented. Rather have her functioning at home and getting the work done than high levels of anxiety. I

just don’t know if she is going to withdraw and get more and more afraid of contact. This is my greatest

fear. But one step at a time. At least she does occasionally drive off to get bubble tea or do something with

Charles or Katie, the makes me feel better that she is not a complete hermit. I was very uncomfortable with

the kids meeting friends again from November so we kind of shut down contact. But towards end of Jan,

Justin went skiing with his friends. Then for his one year anniversary dating Kelly they met up. It was so

sweet. Kelly’s sister drove them to Birmingham for take-aways and bubble tea. Then she drove them to a

nearby park and parked. Her mom then fetched her to leave Kelly and Justin alone in the car on a date

eating their take-ways and watching a movie on the iPad!!! Wow, is that not resourceful and romantic

during Covid? Joan invited us to join them on Christmas eve for dinner. Again, I was very reluctant to go,

but when I told Karl he was so excited. He really needs the contact. Anyhow, Joan is of Italian heritage and

here in the US there is an Italian Christmas tradition called the Seven Fishes Dinner. So she prepared us a

7 Fishes dinner. It was great to experience this. We had sushi starter, mussel soup and fish as the main

course. I must say I was on edge so much though. It is terrible. We had Joan and James over to watch the

Manhattan Shorts on the 14th of Feb. Normally we would all go to the library to watch this but the

organisers relented to allow it to be online this year.

I was nervous having people in my house and the shorts were very disappointing. In fact so were the

Sundance Festival shorts. I paid to watch those online too and I was so excited that I could be part of the

festival from afar. I watched 11 to 14 films and not one was good in my opinion. But you cannot judge the

year, who was able to make movies during Covid? Although, talking of which, I was in a movie during

Covid. In August my agent asked my availability for a small role and each time I never heard anything and

then he would ask again. So, in late October he asked again and I did not hear anything. Then one

Tuesday morning I switch on my phone at 6am and there is an email from him apologising for forgetting to

put me in the loop. But I was needed on set at 9am in Lansing and could I still make it? I was mad. How

can you do that to me? But luckily because of Covid I could get my kids to have school at home so it was

no big deal, didn’t have to organise lifts home for them.

So, I jumped in the car, raced out to the costume shop. It is a huge warehouse filled with costumes. The

lady got me all dressed up with wig and hat in early 1930’s style and then I had to drive to the location

dressed like that: what a laugh. We shot at a sort of open air museum that has a bunch of old houses

relocated to the place. It is the story of the Bath School Massacre and I played the role of the perpetrator’s

wife. No speaking, but many different scenes. I was filmed leaving my house, hanging up washing,

wandering in a pergola, wandering in the orchard, doing a puzzle and rocking in the rocking chair. The

producer was great, he stood there with my coat and glasses after each take so I could slip it back on

because it was so cold. It was nice to work with people that were as concerned with the virus as I am. But I

was again rather uncomfortable that another person was touching my glasses: I could have infected him, or

he could have infected me.

Anyhow, it was a super day, great to get out of the house and do something I love. Not clear whether the

film will be on Netflix or Amazon, but they said it would be ready in about 6 months. I also got my second

only ever flu vaccine in October. I had one as a teenager and vowed never to have one again. I was so sick

that winter that I missed two weeks of school. But I just thought this time that if I got sick I wanted to

eliminate all doubt that it could be flu, so we could go straight to establishing if it was Covid or not. We did a

lovely New Year's Eve at home with the kids. In the real world it would not have been like that. It turned out

to be a way nicer evening than expected. We made a nice meal and watched a movie together. Then just

before midnight we watched Dinner for One, then did the countdown and wished each other all happy new

year. The new year turned out to be terrible for Claire in Cape Town after just a few weeks. Her brother-in-

law contracted Covid on Christmas day and was in hospital for ages. He eventually passed away around

mid-February. It was terrible for the family. The doctor had warned them to expect the worst, but hope for

the best. Karl’s aunt and uncle both contracted the virus in December. Aged late 70 and early 80 they

quarantined at home. In the space of two weeks his Aunt J went from a perfectly functioning human being

to a person with full-blown dementia.

She did not know what any of the appliances in the house were for. Would put pots on the stove and forget

about them, regularly went gardening naked. Uncle Wesley was so sick and it was so hard for him to keep

an eye on her and he was terrified she would fall in the swimming pool and drown while he was sleeping.

What a disaster! They were able to quickly find a place in an old age home and within a month of

contracting Covid had moved into a tiny cottage there. One can only weep!

Mom and Dad have been driving me nuts because they are not taking it as seriously as they should -

especially with this new South African variant. They went on holiday and socialised and had meals with

stacks of people they have not seen in years. Each time I was hoping they would come to their senses and

cancel something. I was so relieved when they finally got home and thought they would keep a low profile.

Oh no! Book Club, braais, ladies’ lunches etc are the order of the day. I was giving them lectures, but now I

just keep quiet.

11 March 2021

Well, this is the week where everything changed a whole year ago. The first cases in Michigan, my fashion

show, schools closing down.

Then we thought it would be about 3 or so weeks. Astounding! Justin met with Kelly in a park yesterday for

two hours because the weather was unbelievable. It was around 18 celsius (yet there is still a pile of snow

in the driveway) So nice for them to hang out. Kelsey says she has heard of other teenagers being

vaccinated so I should not feel so bad. Virus numbers were nicely down about two weeks ago averaging

about 700 a day. Now they were back up to 2100 yesterday. Grrrr! We are so close to getting this under

control, why can’t people show some restraint? Marly and Rachel are in the final stages before their move

to Germany. I spoke to Rachel yesterday and she says that Marly is so stressed that he cannot see. Rachel

is working on the insurance which is a huge task.

The packers are coming on Monday and I am so afraid that something will happen to Marly and Rachel in

all of this stress. I heard from the executive producer of the movie I was in last year. He sent me a link to a

website with a trailer for the movie. It looks fabulous. The website is bathschooldisaster.com Unfortunately

he was also writing because a ring was not returned to props and they wanted to know when I last saw it. I

hate things like this hanging over me.

The costume lady decided that I should use my own wedding ring and just turn the stone into my palm so

that it looks like a wedding band when shooting. Hope they find it or the costume lady remembers that she

did not give it to me.

Last week a Japanese Billionaire announced a project to take 8 civilians to the moon with him in 2023. So,

they have called for applications. I submitted my details right away. Just looked this morning and saw that 6

days ago they had over 500k applicants. Now I had better start thinking about why they should take me

and not someone else. Everyone thinks I am nuts, but hey: life is an adventure. I spent most of February

looking into buying a Franchise which deals with estate sales. Boy, was I crunching numbers, running

around visiting estate sales, doing a competitive analysis and speaking to people. In the end I was afraid

that I would hate walking into a house and having to sort out all its contents. It sounds overwhelming. So I

have put it on ice... probably forever.

23 March 2021

Tuesday Gabriella had the second Covid Pfizer vaccination on Saturday and has been sick in bed since

Sunday. I was really hoping and expecting just one day of being sick and then back to business. Now she

is missing more work and more school in addition to all the other work that is outstanding. It is so

frustrating. Karl got his first vaccination (Modena) on Friday. So little steps, little by little. I went for my

annual medical check-up last week. Well, it is not really annual because I have only had one before about 5

years ago. I was quite shocked to have high blood pressure of 140, I always had low blood pressure. This

is really weird. It is probably too much wine and sitting around during Covid. The joke of it is that the Doc

said in order to bring it down I should lose weight. What!!!!! All my life I have been told I am too thin and I

must put on weight, now when I finally put on 4 kilos I am told to lose weight for my blood pressure.

I just heard an interview on the radio with two doctors in Brazil about the Covid situation there. It is a

disaster. If what they are saying is correct, Brazil has not ordered any vaccines. How can that be? Europe

is a shambles with not enough vaccine to go around and Brazil has not ordered any? Those poor people.

There is not an ICU bed to be had. They say it is because of the new variants and that it is predominantly

young people in ICU now, well over 50% under age 27.

I still can’t believe what a mess the EU vaccination program is. I am such a fan of the whole concept of EU

because they can do so much more together. But this Covid experience has just highlighted how bad

bureaucracy can be when swift action and decision making is needed. So many countries are in third

waves and more lock-downs it is just never ending.

It is still getting worse here in Michigan. We have more than 2000 cases per day now. The schools have

been given government/ state money to help them with the pandemic but the provisor was that the kids

have to be back in school this week for 20 hours of school a week and then they will give money for each

kid. The school had been planning on going back on 7 April anyway and then there was this ruling if they

want the money the kids need to back this week.

Can you imagine a decision any more ridiculous than this, in the middle of a pandemic with rising numb ers

to make the kids go back to school? I am always the first to help out and bend over backwards to try to get

the school the resources they need, but there is no way I am sending the kids in with such high numbers

before they are vaccinated. So we continue here at home. Early last week I received an email from the dear

Moon project with a link to complete the second part of my application to go the moon. I clicked on the link

and checked out all the questions, so that my brain could start working on it. Basically, we had about 5

days to complete the application. I saw that they wanted to know what social media accounts we have any

how many followers we have. I decided if the number of social media followers was going to be a deciding

factor on who gets to go to the moon then I had better get cracking. How do you build up a huge social

media following from zero to hero in less than 5 days? Especially when you are not familiar with social

media. Well, I set to work. I wanted to keep this all separate from my private persona but it has not quite

succeeded because I am not clued up enough. I created a Facebook business page called

Mich_tothemoon and the same on Instagram. I neglected Twitter because it was all just too much for me.

So, I created completely new accounts and had to learn a lot about instagram. Then I started posting

stacks of things. The response has been wonderful. So many friends have been so supportive, they are my

real cheerleaders. I am not by nature funny, so feel that whatever I do is cheesy. And it is rather

embarrassing to be cheesy in public in front of the whole world. But I have decided if this is the price to pay

to get to the moon then it will be a small price to pay.

So, while I am often cringing inside for sticking my head out like this, I have done it. I mean I had never

before posted anything on my personal account on the small roles I have had in movies over the years.

Now I have posted all these pictures about ‘I’ and ‘me’ and everything I have done. I fear that when this is

over, I may not be able to pull them all off the internet. They will be there forever. Help!! I have created the

concept ‘the Moon needs Moms’, which is a play on the movie Mars needs Moms. I want to appeal to all

older women, to show that women can still have families and still have dreams and do things.

This week I need to sit down and work out a comprehensive media strategy and 6 try to post things with

meaning and thought, rather than the helter-skelter approach of last week. The kids have been giving me

advice through Nicola on how to manage Instagram. On Friday morning I was feeling so overwhelmed, it

was like: stop the world, do I have to be part of this whole social media thing? It is exhausting and takes so

much time to create, cultivate, post. But boy, have I learned a lot. I put time aside on Saturday to work on

the two essays I had to write on what I am passionate about and how I can contribute to society if I get to

go to the moon.

I had seen on social media that a lot of people were really battling to upload their applications, so I was

nervous. I waited until India and Europe were sleeping. I am sure there has been a huge response from

India and that they were jamming the website. I uploaded at around 4pm US eastern time, with no problem.

A big youtuber called Mr. Beast has also applied. There were 1 million applicants. If I do get any further I

will have to be fit, so stopped drinking wine and need to start some exercise. Karl has been very supportive.

Poor guy, his weird wife. It is like ‘when the husband is away the wife goes looney.’ Reactions have ranged

from ‘is this a joke and can I use it for April Fools’ day.

I hope to inspire lots of people just to step out of their comfort zones a bit. Anyhow, so lots of ‘marketing

work’ to be done on myself and I need to get vaccinated in April. Then the future will definitely be looking

very bright!

30 March 2021

5177 new cases today in Michigan (733 000 total cases since the beginning/ 17 000 deaths) I recall that for

a long time the deaths were running at 10% of the cases. At least the number has improved. I phoned to

register for the vaccine centre yesterday as well. It is really frustrating, I am only 3 months shy of my 50th

birthday but do not qualify for the vaccine. Next week they are opening the vaccine up to anyone over 16,

so now I need to compete with everyone.

I really do hope that they manage to vaccinate 200 million people in the next month as promised, then I will

have a chance. Right now, we are still hiding in our house more than a year after the first lockdown. Not

that I am complaining, it has been a very productive time for me. But for the kid’s sake it is time to get on

with life. We have a week of school holidays and Karl has taken a week of leave. But we decided not to go

anywhere because of the bad case numbers. I did relent and allowed Justin to go to a sleep-over with

friends on Saturday night. He has been so wonderful about just quietly getting on with our self-imposed

lockdown. Karl has been saying for weeks that there are big price increases coming up in the coming

months. Things are going to get very expensive. Anything that has resin in like plastics could be jumping by

30%.7.

For weeks he has also been battling with the supply chain. Ever since Covid in China things have not gone

back to normal. There are empty containers sitting all over the world and they should all be in China, but no

one wants to transport empty containers. Producers in China have no containers to load their stuff into and

ship out. Their warehouses are so full that they need to slow down production. Ships are queuing at the

ports on the west coast of the US to unload their freight. The rail system here in the US is not coping with

getting everything spread out across the country - I don’t recall why. For weeks Karl has also been warning

about a chip shortage and this is slowly becoming a reality. A number of motor manufacturers in the US

have already shut down for three weeks over Easter because of the chip shortage.

Others have been building cars and then parking incomplete cars in the parking lots until the PCB boards

and electronic supply is online again. I heard that even the VW line could be shut down for a while. It is a

global problem. I think the stress levels for people in purchasing and supply chain must be horrendous.

Anyhow, just to add fuel to the fire last week a mammoth container ship was grounded in the Suez Canal

blocking it for a number of days. Well over 300 ships were waiting to get through. So that is just another

complication for the world supply chain. I am excited about the future, with the vaccine rollout - things are

going to get back to normal little by little. I am concerned about the cost of things in the future th ough and

also if universities are going to go up in price because of all the chaos of the last year. The kids don’t have

long to go until varsity, so it may be a different world we are living in now. Maybe a paradigm shift right

when it is time for them to move into a new phase of their lives?