I’m finally eating food and am feeling better. I am exceedingly blessed to have people contacting me asking what I need. The answer for me is always wine. I have a decent pantry but way less wine than I wish I did. I also have have no cell phone/electronic leash. Did you read the stuff about how the government knows if you a staying home because they are monitoring your phones? That is exactly why I don’t want one. And I don’t want you calling me well ever, but while I am out in the world and shit.
Anyway, what do you need? what can we send you. I think we all want to help. My local friends are taking care of me because I am “high risk”. How can we help you. There are a lot of nice people here who will help you. Give us your wish list and someone here will fulfill it. Alcohol and cigarettes are find requests. Believe me. they are on my list. Cigarettes are the hardest to get. Someone will have to basically be in your town. We are LEGION though and we might can get to you. I get millions of views a month. Someone will know someone who can get to you.
If you need something and do not have money we can figure it out. If you are all alone like me and just need someone to talk to, email me at tamaratattles ON gmail. You are not alone and we care.
I have no idea who that is in the photo. I did a photo search for help and this came up.
I think that is Sophie Stanbury, Caroline Stanburys’ sister in law, from Ladies of London. Man I miss that show like crazy lately. Anyone able to cosign that?
Yes indeed !
I certainly can! I saw a few re-run episodes from season 1. I’l love to see the show come back.
Yep. That’s her. I loved that show.
Me.
Miss that show. Bravo had a Ladies of London marathon on last week, the 2014 season.
I loved that show. But my favorite, Annabelle, has died and my other favorite— the hot dog smile lady — is in the US now.
That is so incredibly kind of you to offer to help other people. I think your website alone is helping others – it’s giving people a connection and that matters so much these days. You’re providing a wonderful service to others by not only allowing them to read about their favorite shows but also by allowing them to check in with you and others. No other website is doing this, so thanks for doing what you’re doing!
I personally don’t need anything – I just enjoy taking a break during the day and knowing real humans are on the other side of what I’m reading.
I agree and there’s something about the open forums that is so real and comforting.
I always liked this site but right now I depend on it. I feel like we would be friends in real life miss Tamara. Seems we have a lot in common. Thank you so very much for doing this. I also love the commenters!
I had no idea you weren’t able to eat or stopped eating. Seems every blog post you like on an episode recap you talk about you were eating or talk about anxiety and a friend sent food.
Do they have to keep saying DEADLY TORNADOS? I mean wouldn’t just tornados be enough? I am so sick of this shit. And here is the April Is the cruelest month poem by T. S. Eliot some of y’all didn’t know.
POETRY MAGAZINE
BY T. S. ELIOT
FOR EZRA POUND
IL MIGLIOR FABBRO
I. The Burial of the Dead
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke’s,
My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
Frisch weht der Wind
Der Heimat zu
Mein Irisch Kind,
Wo weilest du?
“You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
“They called me the hyacinth girl.”
—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Oed’ und leer das Meer.
Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,
Had a bad cold, nevertheless
Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,
With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she,
Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor,
(Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!)
Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,
The lady of situations.
Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel,
And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card,
Which is blank, is something he carries on his back,
Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find
The Hanged Man. Fear death by water.
I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring.
Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone,
Tell her I bring the horoscope myself:
One must be so careful these days.
Unreal City,
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,
To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours
With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.
There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying: “Stetson!
“You who were with me in the ships at Mylae!
“That corpse you planted last year in your garden,
“Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?
“Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed?
“Oh keep the Dog far hence, that’s friend to men,
“Or with his nails he’ll dig it up again!
“You! hypocrite lecteur!—mon semblable,—mon frère!”
II. A Game of Chess
The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Glowed on the marble, where the glass
Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines
From which a golden Cupidon peeped out
(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)
Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra
Reflecting light upon the table as
The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,
From satin cases poured in rich profusion;
In vials of ivory and coloured glass
Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,
Unguent, powdered, or liquid—troubled, confused
And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air
That freshened from the window, these ascended
In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,
Flung their smoke into the laquearia,
Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling.
Huge sea-wood fed with copper
Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,
In which sad light a carvéd dolphin swam.
Above the antique mantel was displayed
As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
“Jug Jug” to dirty ears.
And other withered stumps of time
Were told upon the walls; staring forms
Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.
Footsteps shuffled on the stair.
Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair
Spread out in fiery points
Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.
“My nerves are bad tonight. Yes, bad. Stay with me.
“Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak.
“What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?
“I never know what you are thinking. Think.”
I think we are in rats’ alley
Where the dead men lost their bones.
“What is that noise?”
The wind under the door.
“What is that noise now? What is the wind doing?”
Nothing again nothing.
“Do
“You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember
“Nothing?”
I remember
Those are pearls that were his eyes.
“Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?”
But
O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag—
It’s so elegant
So intelligent
“What shall I do now? What shall I do?”
“I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street
“With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow?
“What shall we ever do?”
The hot water at ten.
And if it rains, a closed car at four.
And we shall play a game of chess,
Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.
When Lil’s husband got demobbed, I said—
I didn’t mince my words, I said to her myself,
HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
Now Albert’s coming back, make yourself a bit smart.
He’ll want to know what you done with that money he gave you
To get yourself some teeth. He did, I was there.
You have them all out, Lil, and get a nice set,
He said, I swear, I can’t bear to look at you.
And no more can’t I, I said, and think of poor Albert,
He’s been in the army four years, he wants a good time,
And if you don’t give it him, there’s others will, I said.
Oh is there, she said. Something o’ that, I said.
Then I’ll know who to thank, she said, and give me a straight look.
HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
If you don’t like it you can get on with it, I said.
Others can pick and choose if you can’t.
But if Albert makes off, it won’t be for lack of telling.
You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique.
(And her only thirty-one.)
I can’t help it, she said, pulling a long face,
It’s them pills I took, to bring it off, she said.
(She’s had five already, and nearly died of young George.)
The chemist said it would be all right, but I’ve never been the same.
You are a proper fool, I said.
Well, if Albert won’t leave you alone, there it is, I said,
What you get married for if you don’t want children?
HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
Well, that Sunday Albert was home, they had a hot gammon,
And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot—
HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight.
Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight.
Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.
III. The Fire Sermon
The river’s tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf
Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind
Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed.
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,
Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends
Or other testimony of summer nights. The nymphs are departed.
And their friends, the loitering heirs of city directors;
Departed, have left no addresses.
By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept . . .
Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song,
Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long.
But at my back in a cold blast I hear
The rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear.
A rat crept softly through the vegetation
Dragging its slimy belly on the bank
While I was fishing in the dull canal
On a winter evening round behind the gashouse
Musing upon the king my brother’s wreck
And on the king my father’s death before him.
White bodies naked on the low damp ground
And bones cast in a little low dry garret,
Rattled by the rat’s foot only, year to year.
But at my back from time to time I hear
The sound of horns and motors, which shall bring
Sweeney to Mrs. Porter in the spring.
O the moon shone bright on Mrs. Porter
And on her daughter
They wash their feet in soda water
Et O ces voix d’enfants, chantant dans la coupole!
Twit twit twit
Jug jug jug jug jug jug
So rudely forc’d.
Tereu
Unreal City
Under the brown fog of a winter noon
Mr. Eugenides, the Smyrna merchant
Unshaven, with a pocket full of currants
C.i.f. London: documents at sight,
Asked me in demotic French
To luncheon at the Cannon Street Hotel
Followed by a weekend at the Metropole.
At the violet hour, when the eyes and back
Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits
Like a taxi throbbing waiting,
I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives,
Old man with wrinkled female breasts, can see
At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives
Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea,
The typist home at teatime, clears her breakfast, lights
Her stove, and lays out food in tins.
Out of the window perilously spread
Her drying combinations touched by the sun’s last rays,
On the divan are piled (at night her bed)
Stockings, slippers, camisoles, and stays.
I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs
Perceived the scene, and foretold the rest—
I too awaited the expected guest.
He, the young man carbuncular, arrives,
A small house agent’s clerk, with one bold stare,
One of the low on whom assurance sits
As a silk hat on a Bradford millionaire.
The time is now propitious, as he guesses,
The meal is ended, she is bored and tired,
Endeavours to engage her in caresses
Which still are unreproved, if undesired.
Flushed and decided, he assaults at once;
Exploring hands encounter no defence;
His vanity requires no response,
And makes a welcome of indifference.
(And I Tiresias have foresuffered all
Enacted on this same divan or bed;
I who have sat by Thebes below the wall
And walked among the lowest of the dead.)
Bestows one final patronising kiss,
And gropes his way, finding the stairs unlit . . .
She turns and looks a moment in the glass,
Hardly aware of her departed lover;
Her brain allows one half-formed thought to pass:
“Well now that’s done: and I’m glad it’s over.”
When lovely woman stoops to folly and
Paces about her room again, alone,
She smoothes her hair with automatic hand,
And puts a record on the gramophone.
“This music crept by me upon the waters”
And along the Strand, up Queen Victoria Street.
O City city, I can sometimes hear
Beside a public bar in Lower Thames Street,
The pleasant whining of a mandoline
And a clatter and a chatter from within
Where fishmen lounge at noon: where the walls
Of Magnus Martyr hold
Inexplicable splendour of Ionian white and gold.
The river sweats
Oil and tar
The barges drift
With the turning tide
Red sails
Wide
To leeward, swing on the heavy spar.
The barges wash
Drifting logs
Down Greenwich reach
Past the Isle of Dogs.
Weialala leia
Wallala leialala
Elizabeth and Leicester
Beating oars
The stern was formed
A gilded shell
Red and gold
The brisk swell
Rippled both shores
Southwest wind
Carried down stream
The peal of bells
White towers
Weialala leia
Wallala leialala
“Trams and dusty trees.
Highbury bore me. Richmond and Kew
Undid me. By Richmond I raised my knees
Supine on the floor of a narrow canoe.”
“My feet are at Moorgate, and my heart
Under my feet. After the event
He wept. He promised a ‘new start.’
I made no comment. What should I resent?”
“On Margate Sands.
I can connect
Nothing with nothing.
The broken fingernails of dirty hands.
My people humble people who expect
Nothing.”
la la
To Carthage then I came
Burning burning burning burning
O Lord Thou pluckest me out
O Lord Thou pluckest
burning
IV. Death by Water
Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell
And the profit and loss.
A current under sea
Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool.
Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.
V. What the Thunder Said
After the torchlight red on sweaty faces
After the frosty silence in the gardens
After the agony in stony places
The shouting and the crying
Prison and palace and reverberation
Of thunder of spring over distant mountains
He who was living is now dead
We who were living are now dying
With a little patience
Here is no water but only rock
Rock and no water and the sandy road
The road winding above among the mountains
Which are mountains of rock without water
If there were water we should stop and drink
Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think
Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand
If there were only water amongst the rock
Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit
Here one can neither stand nor lie nor sit
There is not even silence in the mountains
But dry sterile thunder without rain
There is not even solitude in the mountains
But red sullen faces sneer and snarl
From doors of mudcracked houses
If there were water
And no rock
If there were rock
And also water
And water
A spring
A pool among the rock
If there were the sound of water only
Not the cicada
And dry grass singing
But sound of water over a rock
Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees
Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop
But there is no water
Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
—But who is that on the other side of you?
What is that sound high in the air
Murmur of maternal lamentation
Who are those hooded hordes swarming
Over endless plains, stumbling in cracked earth
Ringed by the flat horizon only
What is the city over the mountains
Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air
Falling towers
Jerusalem Athens Alexandria
Vienna London
Unreal
A woman drew her long black hair out tight
And fiddled whisper music on those strings
And bats with baby faces in the violet light
Whistled, and beat their wings
And crawled head downward down a blackened wall
And upside down in air were towers
Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours
And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.
In this decayed hole among the mountains
In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing
Over the tumbled graves, about the chapel
There is the empty chapel, only the wind’s home.
It has no windows, and the door swings,
Dry bones can harm no one.
Only a cock stood on the rooftree
Co co rico co co rico
In a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust
Bringing rain
Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves
Waited for rain, while the black clouds
Gathered far distant, over Himavant.
The jungle crouched, humped in silence.
Then spoke the thunder
DA
Datta: what have we given?
My friend, blood shaking my heart
The awful daring of a moment’s surrender
Which an age of prudence can never retract
By this, and this only, we have existed
Which is not to be found in our obituaries
Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider
Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor
In our empty rooms
DA
Dayadhvam: I have heard the key
Turn in the door once and turn once only
We think of the key, each in his prison
Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison
Only at nightfall, aethereal rumours
Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus
DA
Damyata: The boat responded
Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar
The sea was calm, your heart would have responded
Gaily, when invited, beating obedient
To controlling hands
I sat upon the shore
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
Shall I at least set my lands in order?
London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down
Poi s’ascose nel foco che gli affina
Quando fiam uti chelidon—O swallow swallow
Le Prince d’Aquitaine à la tour abolie
These fragments I have shored against my ruins
Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo’s mad againe.
Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.
Shantih shantih shantih
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never known more than the initial line:”April is the cruelest month.” Who knew there was abortion, teeth removal, Elizabeth and Leicester, German, nursery rhymes, and so much more? Thank you for this educational interlude.
Sorry. That was longer than thought.
I used to love TS Elliott when I used to read stuff that required brain cells. Thanks for this. xo
Oh, and I need a hug…. something we probably all need but can’t get. Sigh :/
I’m a former English teacher (majored in Education with an English Lit emphasis). In HS got a 5 on AP English Lit. I’ve lost my ability to read and appreciate poetry, especially these days. Makes me sad, actually.
I need a hug too.
Sending you a virtual hug, Kipper. Hang in there… you’re doing Gods work and I for one am thankful and have major respect for you! Hero hugs coming your way! ?
I would enjoy a real heart felt hug also.
I feel you so much with the weather. I’m in North Alabama. I’m dealing with this weather stuff 12-24 hours before you. I can’t anymore with the weeklong lead up and chatter about “enhanced severe weather risk” is sending my anxiety through the roof. The constant “looks very similar to our event in 2011” from local meteorologists is just overwhelming. 2011 basically flattened the entire state north of Birmingham and a nuclear power plant near me had damage.
It makes me wistful for the days back on the very rural family farm where our tornado sirens were when granny would say “time to head to the pit, sky’s gettin green” and weekend all hunker down in the storm pit (an underground block building built into an embankment) and play card games and board games until the storm passed.
Also I’m alone in this Covid crisis and constant tornado risk that is April. Every time they mention 2011 in the weather it twists the knife that I had a husband then; and now I’ve got an urn.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope you can conjure happy memories . I send you a hug across the internet.
Oh, BamaBelle. Your post tore through my heart. Sending you love and well wishes. May your memories of your beloved be a comfort to you.
I’m so sorry that you’re alone and I must say that your comment was pure poetry.
BamaBelle, I’m a Bama resident too. I am here for you. I’m sure it’s lonely and scary. Let me know how I can help. We’re from a state filled with friends who help each other.
You should see my texts when I”m pissed. They’re legend. That weren’t nothing.
Delighted your feeling so well ?
I am happy you are feeling better. I was concerned. For realz.
I don’t need anything- me and mine will be fine. But…
I wish my kids could hang with my mom. She generally does child care while I work. Bad Baby 1 is her 1st Boo, and they are so in love. Bad Baby 2 is only 2, so he is used to being w my parents all day Mon-Fri. BB1 gets it and is dealing (although she is still a dramatic 11 yr old), but BB2 is too young to get it. So we can’t even do that cute ‘visit the grandparents from the front yard’ stuff because BB2 will not understand why he can’t go in and jump in his Gigi’s arms. Husband is still essential and must work, and I refuse to be the reason my parents get sick.
I am not complaining and I am CERTAINLY not crying (I’m not crying, YOU are). Others have it much worse. We will be fine.
But the dirty joke in another thread by MizGrandma (deepest apologies if I spelled it wrong) gives me LIFE.
I watched my grandson from when he was 6 months old to when he was 21/2 5 days a week. He then went to preschool 5 days a week until he tossed a fit about not seeing me enough. Then I had him 3 days a week until covid- I miss him so much, everyday. I’ve heard he is not happy about not being here.
Finally she came by with him yesterday. No hugs no kisses, we visited in patio chairs outside. Once he came up behind me gave me a kiss on the cheek then ran away.
It is so hard.
Ugh! So sweet. It is hard. I’m so glad you were able to spend a little time together! And a sneaky little kisser? He sounds like a keeper…we’ve got this people!
Hi. I enjoyed the poem. I hope everyone is doing OK. I am doing OK in general. I live alone. I miss hugs and just being able to be out and about see people. I do not like that we cannot smile at each other out in public because of the masks.
I need practical things I have run out of. Dish soap, Brillo pads, cat litter, and hand sanitizer, paper towels. But what I really need is ideas.
I had emergency surgery on my back. I am home instead of rehab because of COVID-19. Because of many things that are too many and too painful to explain, I never got around to actually setting up my house or getting real furniture. So, I do not have any place to sit really that is good for a person who just had back surgery to sit.
Soooooo, I ordered a recliner online. (In retrospect doing this online in the middle of the night while on the GOOD pain killers was not too bright) It is on its way. I thought when I ordered it, it would come in a truck with store delivery guys who will bring it inside, put it together, and take away the packaging. Just like every other time I have bought furniture. Nope, it is 91 lbs total in 2 pkgs coming via a well known shipping service.
All that being said; How do I get it in my house from my porch and put it together? I am not able to bend, twist, or pick up anything heavier than a gallon of milk. Also, I have $7 total, to my name as money was tight anyway, but now I am not working at all. This makes everything kinda suck. I can’t hire anyone, Any ideas? Thank you!
I do not know where you are, and I understand not wanting to share here. If you were near me, I think I could figure something out.
Ideas no matter where you are. Social services at hospital that did your surgery. Local government social services. A local church. I see tons of people talking about Next Door, but I have never even logged on. Local board on Facebook. Do you live by any teenage or college age boys? Or strong girls?
I am so sorry you are having to rehab at home alone in pain. It isn’t fair. I wish I could hug you and all the other posters who wanted hugs. I need them, too.
Hi! Thank you, I will try calling the social services, that is a good idea, and also see if I can find a way to see if any churches can maybe help. I don’t “do” religion anymore, but do enjoy helping a few churches in my area, maybe they can help me this time.
The churches I like to help, one has a food pantry, one collects new and gently used clothing for a free “store” for people who need clothes, there are four churches who each host a weekly free dinner for folks who need it. And so much more. All different denominations. I miss being able to do these things too.
I was going to suggest a church as well they probably would be glad to help
Great idea about church, specifically youth groups! You don’t need to tip them, if you were concerned about that. Perhaps when you are healed and the world is allowed to be together you can bake some cookies, brownies , etc for them !!
Where do you live? What part of the country, I mean.
New England
So sorry for all you are going through. It’s a lot to handle alone. You’re strong!
As for the chair, ask the driver to place the boxes inside your house. Explain you have a bad back with no one to help, and hope (fingers crossed) that the driver has some compassion. Tell him you will back up 6 ft and wear a mask.
I was wondering, since you couldn’t go to rehab, does anyone come to your house to help you rehabilitate? The social service in your hospital should’ve made sure you were sent home with a plan and some help. Stories like yours are such a mess.
Do you need money? Seven dollars doesn’t go very far. Keep us updated, we care.
Yes, I have PT, OT, etc. Just no $ and not allowed to life more than a gallon of milk.
I’m wondering if your local firemen will assemble it and bring it inside for you. They are helping people in need in so many ways and many fire departments have men who volunteer to help people in the community.
If I was you, I’d call them and tell them you live alone and just had surgery – and explain the rest of your circumstances. I bet they’d help or put you in touch with someone who can.
Other than that, you could call a local church to see if they have volunteers who can help. I was going to suggest teenagers too. My neighbor who is in a wheelchair does that – he calls neighbors who have teenagers to see if they can help him. Usually they do.
Also, if you’re running out of money for groceries, call the Department for Aging or Department of Social Services as they have expanded meal delivery services to include people who are homebound regardless of age. I think you’d be eligible for that (home delivered Meals on Wheels or Meals for Seniors even if you’re not a senior because you’re homebound right now). They usually bring a sandwich for lunch and a frozen meal to heat up later or if you prefer a sandwich for both lunch and dinner.
Good luck and hope you feel better.
Do you have Next Door app? You can download and it’s a free app. Some kid will do it if you put your request in it.
Download NextDoor app on your phone. It’s free. Put your request on it and someone local will help.
If you are on Facebook, see if your town has a local group. I’ve been seeing people in several groups in my area (Southern NJ) offering assistance to those in need. Check for town groups and free groups.
Maybe the Elks Club woukd help. Boy Scouts? If you can get money, TaskRabbit is a good place to look for help carrying inside putting it together.
Thank you everyone for all the good ideas. I’m working on it!
If anyone needs a mask, let me know.
I need masks. I live with my “at risk” elderly parents.
Email TT with your address and I will send them out. How many?
Okay. I will. Only need 3. Thank you.
I sent her the email you use for this site. Let me know if that is not the right one. email me at tamaratattles on the gee mail and I will send her your address.
I make masks too. All day and give them away. I am waiting for more elastic but I have some tie ones also. Let TT know. She’ll send me email. Thanks Tamara for this site.
I am making masks for keeper at the bronx zoo (I am a volunteer) and ordered about 5 different elastics since they weren’t shipping to see which ones would come in. I now a bunch so can send you some if you tell me how to get you my email.
Also, a nifty trick I found is you can cut large elastic into smaller strips, you have to be careful about cutting in the channel and it isn’t always pretty, but hey it can work.
Be sure to pre-shrink any sewing elastic. My granddaughter is using ponytail hair-ties in her masks & they are holding up well in all the washings. I am sending her some of Fly Boy’s nifty old fish-print shirts to make masks for the guys. The fabric is really nice.
I make masks as well. I ran out of elastic too, so I bought a bunch of hair ties that look like ribbons, but are stretchy. They work great.
Forksme- my brothers girlfriend is making masks and I suggested she use thin elastic hair/ headbands . You can get packs of 10-20 in different colors at Dollar Tree. She said they work great and the fabric around the elastic makes it more comfortable behind the ears. She also uses pipe cleaners or large twist ties to mold over the bridge of the nose. I think she creates a pocket and slides the pipe cleaner or twist tie into it. She has been using bed sheets or donated clothing for the fabric. I can barely sew on a button so how she or anyone else can make them amazes me.
I was a hoarder of any type of sewing materials before the virus, so I have been able to make masks and give them away without making a dent in my fabric or thread hoard. Luckily, I ordered the hair tie things when I saw my small elastic getting low. I ran out of it the same day I got the hair ties in the mail.
Bless you all for doing that.
I could use masks, please. Not sure if you can help me as I would need one for my 4 kids and me: one adult, two teens and two preschoolers. I had masks, but gave them to my Dad who has Stage 4 cancer.
Lynn look online at photos, they are hilarious. Not for mask ideas just for a laugh. Moms are cutting bottoms out of plastic jugs and having young children wear them.
I like the tube type masks and cut an old black stretchy sweater sleeve, works great but I have a few N95? masks, were in my paint supply box
I would love some masks. I also live with my 80-something Mother and am so worried that I will bring something home to her. And she needs masks because, well…life goes on. Just recently she had a doctors appointment (I was really surprised they didn’t cancel it!) for eye treatments for macular degeneration. So she had to mask up, too. I can’t sew at all and have tried those “no sew” masks but they just didn’t come together like they did in the videos.
Would definitely appreciate 4-6 masks that we can use and wash regularly.
So happy you are feeling better, TT! <3
And what a beautiful and loving way to celebrate that you’re feeling better…by giving back! This is such a lovely and much needed thread right now.
I am teary eyed at how many amazing people are gathered here on your site. It is uplifting to visit your site and I find myself here multiple times throughout the day. So grateful for the internet interaction here. ,3
I’m so glad you’re feeling better! I think getting a phone or tablet would be good backup for you, even if you never use it. I’m able to get into all of my accounts with just my fingerprint.
I’m lucky as I don’t need anything, but I can help if anyone needs anything. I personally am not going in any stores as my Mom is high risk and I’m afraid of brining anything home to her. So Instacart has been helpful for groceries, even though they can get days behind. Target online is nice as you can get food, just not anything cold or fresh, and it usually arrives in two days. Drizly’s delivers alcohol within 1-2 hours usually. There are also a lot of good wine clubs that do not charge an insane amount for shipping and start you off with a fairly cheap starter pack. Chewy is great for pet food. I’m not sure about cigarettes as I don’t smoke, but these places have been a lifesaver for me so I thought I’d share in case people haven’t heard of them before.
I am really scared for my kids because I think that maybe the government as we know it is going to collapse and we are going to all start fighting each other and starving. Seriously, I know it sounds out there, but I just see that we are going to run out of money, and that is really the only power the government has to ease peoples burdens. I can fend for myself but my children are totally dependent on me, and what happens if society breaks down and I can’t support them?
I think all parents are scared for their kids right now. So much of what we feel as parents is worsened by the media. Our government won’t collapse and we won’t fight each other or starve because we all have state and local governments to help us. Our states have employees volunteering to live at their jobs in order to make products we all rely on. They are working 24/7. And doctors and nurses are volunteering to care for people in all states – some aren’t even getting paid. And our truckers are dedicated to keep delivering goods in every state and cross country – they are amazing heroes. Plus we have good citizens and volunteers. I think we will see a recession but society won’t break down. Our police, firemen, and military men and women are dedicated to protecting the vulnerable. And as far as looters or anarchists go, they are being watched even if we don’t know that. We will be protected from them. Also, remember each state has it’s own National Guard, State Disaster Preparedness Plan, State Troopers, their own division of Homeland Security, and some have the Coast Guard too.
If food becomes and issue, reach out to family, any church regardless of denomination, food pantries and so on. Also each county has resources listed on their county websites.
Perfect answer. It is hard not to get overly frightened by everything on the news, people pointing fingers at each other. Political parties blaming the govt, not blaming the govt and just scaring the public. Too many checks and balances in place for the country to collspse
Don’t worry about a societal collapse and encourage any rabid trumpers you know to settle down. The Bernie Bros, too. As long as big money controls the government, which it does, they need us to work and produce and consume. Just eat as healthily as you can, get fresh air, read to your children and be glad you HAVE them. I am thinking good thoughts your way 🙂
Perfect answer. Looked online for one of those people/places that deprogrammed people. We have a Trumper in our family.
TT California is using Blue Dot for our Covid plans. It tracks random cells phones for movement and where there is a large gathering of phones where they normally were not to break up gatherings. .
No identity of person or number is known. Had the Federal Govt done this our death total would had been much lower. Administration said no.
That is the crime,
If you think the government doesn’t have all your info before cell phones is silly. They are not interested in any of us. Privacy is a myth. Plus no one wants us, other to to supply workers and the military.
Hi, My name is Robin and live a little north of Charlotte, NC.(Raji is the nickname my niece gave me when learning to talk! Have always loved it!).
If there’s anyone nearby that is need, I’d be happy to help! [email protected]
(TT, that is not the email you have-can no longer get into that one-am technologically pathetic!)
Thanks for doing this… I hope you don’t mind but I am pretty blessed right now, my husband and I are both essential so we are working. I worry about those who aren’t working because of the shut down Or because of the need to really shelter in place and aren’t getting enough support financial. I worry about my two close friends who are worried about next month financially….
I am upset because my sister called me heartless and ignorant for thinking certain areas are okay to slowly open with still practicing safety measures so those who can and need to can go back to work. Sorry for that but I am constantly seen as heartless in my family when I will do anything for those I love and chosen a career I can give back in my community.
TT, I am you and you are me.
When I become upset, I overeat.
When I become distraught, I overdrink and cannot eat.
I was in a toxic relationship and lost the use of my legs.
At age 50!
I’m not blaming the guy…he has his own house of pain.
I’m becoming happier that I’m alone.
Having blurted all this out…
I would love to send you a succulent! ?
-Mesmerized in Memorial
You are a good egg TT, looking out for others during these insane times. Stay well, and thank you for continuing to post……always a highlight of my day 🙂
I adore this post…you are awesome. Other than some Clorox wipes, we have all we need. ???
Oh man we have been making our own… I had a bottle of Clorox stashed in the laundry room
Tamara- so glad your feeling better, Stay safe,
i need to blow off some steam. our beloved governor has extended our stay at home for another month and has declared garden centers off limits. i live to load the car up with weird, expensive, pretty annuals that i haven’t grown before. for those plants, i gotta have garden centers. grocery store and hardware store annual plants for sale typically are pretty tame, not well grown, and usually neglected. i’m spitting mad! i’ll get over it and become resigned to it but right now, i am mad!
What state are you?
never mind! this is what happens when you get a third hand source instead of reading a second hand source. he reclassified greenhouses, garden centers, nurseries as essential businesses. sorry for the rant.
Our dumbass governor is opening tattoo parlors, bowling alleys, hair salons, nail salons and massage places tomorrow. The mayors of all the major cities in Georgia are losing their minds and trying to figure out how to stop it. Georgia was hit pretty hard with the virus and we have not come close to flattening the curve. This is a deadly mistake.
Ours is slowly opening up things, and offices are first. Maybe as soon as Monday. My job told me probably June 1st, but who knows with these new rules. Are numbers are low, but still climbing. I love my job, but I don’t want to be part of the test run either.
out here, my sons offices as well as his friends jobs are doing office work by half staff on rotating days. Most have cut days but with medical insurance and no job cost it’s working out ok.
Florida has Home Rule which allows mayors to be tighter in restrictions than the state. Your local electeds need to pursue that and in the meantime they can refuse his order.
Tamara, your governor is just awful. I hope no one listens to him.Bowling alleys? Really? Norman on Wendy’s show said today I am not sticking my hands in those holes in the balls! Plus, doesn’t everyone share shoes, just no!
Jenn, if your office opens next week, it should be only for people who feel comfortable going. This is all ridiculous what some governors and employers are putting people through. June sounds safer, not April or May.
I’m nervous for you, and scared shitless for a friend of mine living in Atlanta. He’s battling liver cancer – stage 4 – and has been pretty steady in how his health is (he still struggles and isn’t well, but hasn’t declined and pain management is ok). But he HAS had times where he had to spend several days and up to a week at the hospital. I’m so scared that he’ll either have to go in alone or out of fear of going in, WON’T when he should go in.
And today my fucking UPS guy said it was a “hoax” because he has been working only with gloves on for 4 weeks and feels “fine”. I know he could be wearing a mask, etc., even a homemade one – I’m related to this fucking dumbass. (My cousin’s kid) I lectured him through the window 🙂
but we will be enjoying yet another month of quarantine. masks and social distancing in public until the end of may. no unnecessary travel. i can live with this since i can visit nurseries now.
This may sound selfish, my family is safe and healthy and we have housing and food and all we need, to hug my friends. I love them dearly, I just want to hug them.
It isn’t selfish at all. Financially, I’m ok for now. I’m sheltering in place with my parents and other than all of us being high risk and allergy sufferers, we’re ok. I’ve got other big worries, but there are times all I can dwell on is that I can’t find something that we all agree on to watch on TV or that my gray hair is apparently in VERY WEIRD PATTERNS on my head! (Above temples, very white. In between, so main portion of bangs, it has gotten BLACKER. I’m a reverse skunk!)
If you live in Sacramento, I can run errands.
If you are a restaurant that is using limited menus I can make some that go with your other, regular menu. Business card design if you need some for your temporary or changed job. Not printing. My printer is dead.
The love on this site is unbelievable. TT you should be proud of this community you created. Its a lifeline for many
What a lovely community this is! I live in a small town. Thankful international airports are 90 minutes from here. Huge elderly population in our town. And I have 10 and 12 year old girls. I call them the germ bags! We’d be the carriers and I’d be so upset if we gave to anyone. Getting food delivered is unlikely anytime soon for us. My kids haven’t been out of the neighborhood in weeks, we have elderly neighbors so the roads are unoccupied. Going to the grocery store is impossible for this single mom. Virtual schooling is going great tho! All they want to do is read unless schooling. They have teachers, I’m just a supervisor. I don’t understand the dread over homeschooling. I’m not their teacher. I do enjoy the dramatic and hilarious comments. My dad’s in the same town and is too busy with his girlfriend (doing what?) to bother to call and check on us. I had my girls homebound and they were posting pictures of an engagement party, nobody I knew. Safety first. I’m happy to hear so many people taking this seriously. I’m not happy to not be working but I’m glad I’m not! Prayers for health and safety of everyone!
Oh! And my boyfriend lives less than 2 miles from me and I don’t see him. His son joined the navy early March and just got sent home yesterday. His dad had emergency surgery today. Won’t be seeing him anytime soon! No reason for people to not stay home. Again, I have the germ bags! Healthy, younger people need to be very aware that we can be carriers. I sure could use some wine!
I need to be able to read again. Not sure if it’s from reading things mainly online or what but it’s scaring me that my lifelong love of reading has become a grind as I look longingly and lovingly at the stack of books I finally have time to read. It sounds like a dumb problem now that I typed it out but it’s really bothering me.
It’s NOT a dumb problem! It’s your problem and it’s real for you and it’s bothering you. So you should vent about it. This is all new and all of us are scrambling to figure out what to do every day. Reading brings you joy so it’s perfectly understandable that you don’t feel like doing something joyful during this terribly stressful time. I don’t know if this will help you but you could try it. I also love to read but I also don’t seem to be able to pick up a book so I have been doing puzzles and playing online games like spider solitaire and Woody 99. It works a different part of my brain and I find it relaxes me to move numbers and shapes around. I have slowly started doing word puzzle games to see if I can segue back into reading but I am finding more relaxation with numbers and shapes. I hope this works for you, too!
Aud, lately I’ve only been able to read stuff I’ve already read. Like tacky romances, not even some of my favorite, more serious stuff (thank God for my Kindle… I have everything I’ve bought in the last 11 years available). I haven’t even been able to concentrate on Harry Potter which is my usual comfort reread.
That book pile was for your “sneak in some ME time,” those happy times when you were able to sink in and forget your regular life. Now you need a COVID pile. I had the same exact problem. I’m now reading non-fiction — philosophy and crime. I never gave that stuff a look until I felt like I couldn’t read literature. Scary shit for me, too, Aud. It helps so much to be with a book, even if it isn’t from the pile I thought I was going to plow. Good luck!!!
Thanks so much for understanding and the tips LaLaFly! And yes Erica, I think a concentration thing is the best way to describe it. I love the idea of trying for a reread of old favorites tho’- haven’t tried that. My stack of books are comprised of mainly my trips to Costco in the last year so it’s warehouse chic? This last one that I finally made it through, Paper Towns, heavily featured Walt Whitmans Leaves of Grass/Song of Myself. Seeing TT’s T. S. Eliots post was like logging into a parallel universe.
Just another reason I love it here!
Hope everyone keeps staying safe and well.
Oh man… back in the day I LOVED Walt. I think since my thyroid conked out I don’t have the focus for poetry. Well, maybe Shel Silverstein!!!!
Hit up the easiest read of your old favs… and that may even mean childhood favorites. I’ve thought about rediscovering Little House books.
My thyroid “conked” about 30 years ago and concentration was extremely difficult for a long time. It’s still wonky when I’m stressed and/or don’t feel well.
I had the whole Little House set back in grade school. I am sure that set is still floating around somewhere in our family because the whole family hoards books. <3
I have always found it difficult to re-read a book. I retain most of what I read if it’s an interesting book so I see no reason to re-read the whole thing. But there is one glorious book that I can and do re-read often. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Try reading it if you haven’t already read it.
LOL @ “warehouse chic” reading material! Love that! <3
Right now my ability to wade through poetry is nothing more than the simplest of Robert Frost and reading the lyrics to Eminem’s angriest raps or watching the final rap battles from 8 Mile! Hahahahahaha!
Our minds are certainly giving us a workout right now.
I am a big re-reader. I couldn’t get into Confederacy when my bookclub picked it a number of years ago!
Im sure my set of LH is upstairs in my folks attic somewhere, if they didn’t fall apart with rereading! Another fave was the Anne of Green Gables series!
I just need Trump to not be president anymore!!
This made me laugh. Heart you.
I want to say Thank You to everyone here! You guys are super awesome. TT especially! I love in a adult facility so most of my needs are taken care of here. I’ve been having my best friends being me my Tequila and cigarette fix. Truth be told, I only have 0.19 cents in my bank account. Still hopeful I am going to get that stimulus check. The only thing I’m craving is fig newtons.
My play daughter is also making masks, she’s not charging anything, but if it’s a bulk order she may ask you to cover shipping and handling.
My cat is healthy, I’m doing ok physically but this isolation is really doing a number on me mentally. Can’t leave my room under any circumstances.
Bad news today, my great uncle passed away from Covid 19. He was 96 years old. He passed after 2 days of his diagnosis. I will miss him so very much.
TT, I did send you an email but never heard back from you.
Keep up the good vibes people. You’re helping just by being upbeat.
Love you all!!???
Good to hear from you Nadia! So sorry about your uncle. I’ve been thinking about you. My email folder is bulging at the seams. I keep losing emails from people.
I know how that can be. Thank you for your condolences. Just the knowledge that you’re thinking about me makes a world of difference. My email is [Edited]. If YOU ever feel the need to talk, shoot me an email and I’ll send you my number. We’re alike, 2 old fat ladies who smoke and drink way too much LOL ?.
Love you sweetums
Thanks! I edited out your email for your safety.
Hi Everyone! Tamara, thank you so very much. If anyone has any disinfectant other than bleach (Lysol or alcohol), they could spare, I would really appreciate it. My kids and I are high risk with asthma, and I cannot tolerate bleach as it suffocates me – but I cannot find alcohol or any other disinfectant anywhere, much less sanitizer. We are in Philadelphia, with over 11,000 cases, and it’s nuts.
Mix Dawn dish soap with water and spray it. Rinse with warm water. No need for the disinfectants for THE CORONA. Read some reliable sources, not government, scientific..
And if you were thinking of drinking that shit. Don’t. Stupid with a Trump chaser is the worst cocktail EVER.
I have half a can across the country; wish I had some! Can you get your hands on some hydrogen peroxide? It takes a bit to sterilize stuff, but it will do it. Find a bottle that does a fine mist (a pump hair spray bottle is best, also because it isn’t a clear bottle). This can sterilize your door handles, etc. YOu have to let it just sit and evaporate.
Also, soap and water works on surfaces. We couldn’t find some of our clorox spray or spic and span for our kitchen countertops…. I’ve used soap and water on our kitchen counters until we got some. Not as convenient, but probably most effective. It doesn’t even have to be hot water.