Called this morning to cheeck on the status of mhy truck and it's not going to be ready until Monday due to them having to order some parts that will not be in until then. Figured DH and I would at least run into the smaller town since we had a walmart order to pick up anyways and get the tags for the plates. Which worked out because my mom called asking if we weren't by chance going into town. When I told her we were but just to the place that we can get plates at and to pick up our grocery order she asked if we coud mail a couple of letters for her.
We stopped mailing stuff from out here back when I was still in either late grade school or early middle school because surprisingly things ntever got to where it was going and that met we got late fees and disconnect notices on utilities. We also had a problem with mail being stolen out of the boxes by kids so it's just easier to mail stuff in town especieally where someone if making a trip in at least 6 days a week with everyone;'s different schedules. If your individual household is not going in and there is something important that can;t wait chances are someone else is making a trip. We currently have 8 licensed drivers on the overall property out of 8 of us, and 2 more who are at the age of learning, Chances are high that due to her mental and physical disabilities 12 year olf will never actually learn to drive.
We stopped by the post office and dropped the letters my mom had at the drive up box then went to get the plates. Since we were not getting there before they opened after the noon hour I figured I would have to wait a bit but DH was back sooner than I expected. The satelite office is temporarily closed and everything needs to be done at the main office. Right now they are not taking walk ups at the main vehicle licensing office so it is by appointment only if you can't renew online. Because we did not renew the tags on the truck in June 19 as it was not running we are not able to do that so I made an appointment for DH to get the tags on Monday. Because the appointments can be for both tags and title work and they don't have seperate ones for those who just need to get tags it is a 15 minute time slot.
Pickup time slot for the grocery order was 2-3 PM. Normally I get the notification 20-40 minutes before my selected time slot begins. Not today I did not get the notificatin until 2:25. Since we were just down the road at the McDonald's drive thru after DH missed the turn into Subway down the road which was one of the two places I suggested that we go grab some food to go (meaning I tell DH what I want or he talks to me on his phone to place the order while I wait in the car) and just eat in the car. I am not comfortable going into places yet even though we are in phase 1 of reopening. We have had 458 cases total here in MT. 83 cases in my county of 161, 300 which is the largest in MT. We have 4 activecases as of the update this morning (May 8) in my county with a total of 22 across the state
I think my uncomfort is that people here have had a history of going places when sick and coughing everywhere without even attempting to cover their cough and then seeing one female enter McDonalds with a mask positioned from the space between the nose and the upper lip. DH had followed the arrows that say drive thru the ones that take you right between the row of parking right in front of the building and across the way. The ones that because there is space between McDonalds and the business next door no one follows. He had backed into a parking spot to turn around after learning that going that way resulted in being blocked and not able to get in the line. That is when I saw the customer with a bad mask. OK I am not wearing a mask and I respect those who choose not to wear masks though I will respect for a limited amount of time places that require them in order to do business there.
Considering that I feel like I am suffocating with anything over my face it doesn't matter if it's a blanket, a ski mask or a scarf (I can handle a bandana if it is loose on the bottom so I get some air) it feels like I can't get air and I go into panic mode which effects my breathing and then I want nothing more than to fight what ever is on my face off and to flee the heck out of there. Here in MT face coverings are recommended but not required unless an establishment requires them. The only store that we have requiring them for customers is Costco. Since they don't have the driving shopping carts for me to use with my fibromyelgia I don't go in there anymore. I stick with smaller places or go to stores that have the driving shopping carts. Even then I can only handle 1 maybe 2 stores that I have to walk in before I am worn out depending how long I am in each store and how much time between them. If I push it too much I am then out of comission for 2-3 days afterwards.
I basically go to Walmart, the grocery store, Tractor Supply, and occasionally a thrift shop, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Ross. I like their prices and styles for getting 15 year old clothes. The deal is I sit on one of the chairs outside the changing room area and she tries on pieces and comes out and shows me each one I give my approval or disapproval. I am sure some people think we are weird with my going it looks fine but when you raise you hands up you have some skin showing. They must be thinking goodness gracious lady it is less than one inch of skin and she is a teenager give her a break. Nope we are laxed on a number of things with our girls like strict bed times but dressing modest is not one of them. They are allowed to wear the outfits that show their stomachs a bit or are shorter than finger tip length shorts on the property only but that is it. The craft stores for the most part we just pick up things and we generally know where stuff is, if need be there I can send 15 year old in to find stuff and it I don't have enough cash on me I can have her call me when she is ready to check out and just go in and pay.
Tractor Supply is generally getting liter and food for the cats so I find an employee let them know I need to get a big bag of each and they follow me to the aisle where it is, load it on one of the flatbed style carts, I push that to the front where the cashier scans my items and puts any smaller items that I got such as some treats or toys for the cats in a small bag. I pay for my purchases and the cashier calls for a carry out in the front. The nice employees at TSC load my items in my vehicle for me. Really the only time I have to go in is in the summer months when DH is working so many hours he doesn't have much time to make that run which we do every 2.5-3 months. He brings the bag of food in the house and dumps it in the feed bin for me and he puts the bucket of liter where we can get to it for use with a small hand scoop.
The thrift store I generally can find places to sit down if I need to when I go in there looking for things the girls need for their projects. One that 12 year old does is Table Setting where they choose a theme, make a menu and set a table with 2 settings. They can use paper products where approprate. 15 year old has done them as well in the past and she is the one who I usually have to take to hunt for items at the thrift shops. I am not paying new prices for she needs since most of her themes do not work well with stuff you can pick up in the party supplies aisle or at a party store like 12 year old's what is she doing with Minnie Mouse theme this year. We get a set of 8 of everything and some coordinating plasticware which then works out good because the 4 of us and 2 sets of grandparents at her birthday parties works out quite nicely to use the items in a few months. Sneaky of me to get the table cloth and if she goes with it a small center piece. Last year she did slap braclets for decorating on the table because there is not a whole lot you can do with a 2ft x 2ft space once you put down plates, drink cup, napkin, and silverware and still have room for your menu card.
We are still on phase 1 though it was announced recently that additional phase one openings will start on the May 15. You do not hear a lot about the reopening of the Big Sky on the news other than the colored in on the map they show that says these are the states that are at least partially reopened as of date. Here is my theory why. 1) we never got a huge number of cases in the first place and we have had a low death rate of 16. 2) we don't have a governor who is going on youtube or even on local media for that matter. We get a nice the governors office released this today read on the tv and radio news along with being able to read it in print news. If you have ever emailed this particular administration about anything in the past 8 years since it is a two term governor here you get an email of some of the major announcements that apply to everyone in the state sent to your email.
If anyone would like to read about MT response to the whole covid 19 here is the link to the state pages
https://covid19.mt.gov/joint-information-center
I think some of what kept our numbers down included steps taken on the following dates
March 12 State of Emergency Declared (part time resident of MT and MD tested positve this resident had not been in MT since Nov 2019
March 13 First actual positive cases in MT
March 15 closures announced for all public schools for what was originally supposed to be until March 30th but was extended to eventually schools could reopen as long as they can maintain 6 ft of social distancing, as much as possible keep students in groups having the teachers change rooms rather than the group of students so there is less travel in halls, tempature checks in place prior to getting on school transportationand all students remain in their own vehicles at bus stops until an aid checks them and says they can get on, tempature checks at the schools for any students transported by personal vehicle or who are close enough to walk to school, can not require students to return to school and must continue to offer distance learning either online or by packets or work that are sent home. Also it is encouraged to have meals in the classroom and not in a cafeteria. The earliest reopening date was May 7 and only a handful of schools are taking advantage none of which have over 60 students in K-12 grade so they have just had to space the desks out and use the entire floor space in classrooms.
March 19 Montana Residents who traveled internationally or to hot spots around the country strongly requested to self quarantine for 14 days upon their return.
March 20 all sit down dine in resturants and all bars closed as of 8 PM that day originally scheduled until March 28 for the purpose of implimenting stricter guidelines on spacing and cleanliness
March 26 announcement of stay at home order to start on March 28 at 12:01 AM except for essential items and socially distancing away from those not in your household outdoor recreation minus any activities that could be considered high risk. Please no snowmobiling in avalance prone areas as doing so may take resources to search for and rescue your hind end.
March 30 all visitors who are not here for essentail job purposes 14 day quarantine upon entering the state. This will be lifterd when we get to phase 3 whichi is basically everything is open though vulnerable individuals are suggested to limit time in croweded situations and to use face coverings. Basically if we cant go visit relatives in the nursing home if you come visit plan on a 14 day quarantine. We are not even being selective like some places are and saying only those traveling from a list of states must do so it is everyone.
April 1 National Guard and Air National Guard deployed to airports and passenger train stations to do tempature checks of those coming into the state. They did not deploy to bus stations because the general rule is avoid at all costs unless there is no alternative (you dfon't have a car, are unable to drive, can not rent a vehicle if you have a license, and can't afford a plane or train ticket and need to come see a dying) because it is slow and takes forever.
April 24 announcement that churches and other places of worship can start to open on April 26 provided that if 6 ft of space can not be maintained that groups are restricted to 10 members that are not residing in the same household. Non essential retail can open up starting April 27 but must restict the number of people including staff in the establishment at a time and maintain 6ft of social distancing along with using masks if that is not able to be done (salons, tatoo shops, getting a massage type places)
May 4 Resturants, Casinos, and Bars can open provided that they are at no more than 25% of capacity, no more than 6 people at a table and those must be from the same household (if you have 2 parents and 5 kids sorry you can't dine out at this time please order a curbside, delivery, or send one person in to get your order as takeout), all tables must be 6 ft apart and if tables and chairs can not be moved any tables less than 6 ft apart must be blocked off (since we know people won't read or at least adhear to the sign that says this table closed on a booth taping a paper that says just that is not enough it must be roped off in some way. Also hand sanitizer must be provided to customers at the tables. All customers must be out of all of the above listed establishments by 11:30 PM so no walking in and getting a table at 11: 20 or 11: 25 PM when a place closes at 11:30 so be sure and allow plenty of time if you want to eat a sit down meal actually in the resturant or even dine in at a fast food place. Zoos can also start to open but I don't know if this was by state order or by the zoos choosing it was restricted to members only until May 11th.
May 7 schools can reopen announcement that gyms, non drive in movie theaters (they were already allowed to reopen since customers stay in their cars with the exception of using restroom and snack bar facilities and thus they just had to put up social distancing markers for those. Since at least the one near me is port-a-potties or other single occupancy restrooms there is no need to make sure it is only one person at a time in there because with the exception of a child not old enough to use without supervision it is going to be that way), and museums can open at reduced capacity statting May 15. These were originally supposed to be in phase 2 but got moved to phase 1.
. I really need to work, but today we were supposed to be in our DD2's college town getting ready to celebrate her graduation tomorrow, so I'm kind of sulking at my desk today.
The snow was north of me, but the wind is like late February wind escorting in March. Since our furnace is broken, and I won't let anyone in the house, I'm so thankful for the space heaters and vaporizers, not to mention extra layers of clothing. 
