Luckily for me, Photo Tech was open today. They were able to remove my lens filter for a small fee. One funny thing that I noticed when I entered the repair shop: they had a big sign on the counter, stating that no one should put any wet, sandy, or dirty items on the counter.

“Does that really need to be said?” I said to the person helping me, half laughing. “It seems kind of rude to do something like that.”

“You’d be surprised,” he said, smiling. “People feel like they can just unload everything on us, all their dirt, sand, and all. You’d be surprised: the majority of camera accidents seem to happen at the beach, so the beach ends up coming to us whether we like it or not.”

It’s always comforting to hear how considerate others are, especially when they are in need of help and repair.

While attempting to record myself making a dried chili harissa paste last night, I had a bit of an accident when I turned off my camera, resulting in my tripod becoming unstable, and the camera falling down on the counter. When I went to turn it upright, I immediately panicked and thought I had cracked my actual lens. The glass on the outside had two cracks all the way across the circle. It took a while for me to calm down, but Chris mentioned if I could remove the UV filter on the lens… which suddenly made me remember that what I originally perceived to be cracked glass was actually the $6 UV lens filter and NOT the actual lens. It’s funny when the UV filter stays on your lens full time, and then you forget that these two things are actually separate.

We tried everything we could to get the lens filter off, from putting it in the freezer and turning it with a rubber band to tapping the sides of it for 10 minutes straight. Nothing worked. After having it inspected at B&H Photo today, they told me that the angle at which the lens fell resulted it the filter threads getting pushed in further, so the only way to get this removed would be to break the glass and have someone with the proper tools remove it at Photo Tech.

So the good news is that I did not ruin my lens and just broke a $6 lens filter. The bad news is that I’m not sure if Photo Tech will be open tomorrow given all the COVID-19 madness… and, we just received a message that B&H Photo would be closing for the remainder of the month in light of Coronavirus.

I need to be able to film cooking videos during this period to stay sane, otherwise I will feel like this period is a total waste indoors.

All Broadway theater has been suspended. The show we were supposed to see at the Lincoln Center last night stopped two nights early on Wednesday night in light of the Coronavirus outbreak. A life without theater, nightlife, and social activity keeps New York City so special – it’s like New York City is no longer New York City anymore.

“This is what it’s like when New York City becomes like a suburb,” Chris commented while walking quieter than usual streets this late afternoon.

Yep, that’s Chris’s worst fear: living in a suburb. 😀

Somehow, as far as I could see, people were still going out to restaurants and bars tonight. But that number is likely to drop and drop, until the city eventually bans us from even leaving our homes to flatten the curve.

Coronavirus is officially a pandemic. The U.S. has officially declared a national emergency. And this morning, all the shelves at Whole Foods, Costco, and Trader Joe’s around the city were wiped clean. In my work Slack, on text, and in Facebook and Instagram, endless people were posting photos of all the empty grocery store shelves in their local neighborhoods. Toilet paper was nowhere to be found. Packaged instant ramen, clearly a hot commodity in times of crisis like this, are sold out everywhere.

We walked into Whole Foods in Columbus Circle today just to see what it looked like. Almost all the beef and poultry were gone. Dried pastas, rice, oats, and cereal were about 90 percent wiped clean. Yet… we still saw plenty of dairy (not much oat milk left, though!), yogurt, and the usual full supply of fruits and vegetables. The frozen fruit and vegetables were gone, though. And the eggs…… completely sold out. Those shelves have been replaced with more juice.

What, people don’t want juice in times of disease?

Today was the first day this week that I had no access to our lounge, gym, or pool in our building. It felt incredibly depressing. I did a half hour yoga session on my yoga mat in my bedroom. I realized I hadn’t used my own yoga mat in ages… since prior to moving into this apartment. I’ve been so spoiled having a spacious gym right downstairs that I never even use my own workout stuff anymore.

The work-from-home mandate was initially bearable since all the stores around us seemed to be operating just fine. The restaurants I’ve frequented and get daily work delivery from have all been operating and happy to serve me. Having access to the gym and lounge was giving me additional space and a place to exercise and relax my mind and body. And now, all of that is gone. We’re basically under house arrest because we have no where else to go. Restaurants are being forced to operate at 50 percent capacity. Broadway has officially cancelled all its shows. Even the NBA is on a Coronavirus shutdown. March Madness is not happening. Kids are being told that they need to stay home, as classes are cancelled. Even Wellesley sent out a message today, stating that they would be moving all classes after spring break to “online only.” All students who live on campus need to evacuate and fully move out by the end of March. This is complete insanity.

Even walking outside, I feel a little uncomfortable, wondering if at any second, if I end up sneezing or have a dry throat to cough… what if someone lashes out at me randomly? Should I have a come-back prepared, especially since I am not quick on my feet at all?

This afternoon, our building management sent an official letter stating that under the direction of our state governor, all building public areas such as the lounge, children’s room, locker rooms/showers, pool, and gym would be closed until further notice due to COVID-19. Working from home was fine until the moment I read this notice. WHAT? I CAN’T GO TO THE GYM ANYMORE NOW?

This just felt dystopian to me. We have no line of sight into how long this will last and when any semblance of normalcy will come back. And in the meantime, I cannot work out at the gym? We can’t even use the bathrooms in the lounge.

The novelty of the work-from-home mandate completely just ended at this moment. This is a dystopia. Or, if I were a Jehovah’s Witness, this is a sign that Armageddon could be coming…. like NOW?

Even though I’m on a work-from-home mandate, it still doesn’t feel like anything is really different. I have a feeling that I will be forced to work from home for longer than just a week as was originally noted, as it was a moving target, but it’s unclear when all of this will end. We are still going about our usual lives. The show we saw tonight was still on, and it was a decent crowd, as well. I’m still cooking and doing the usual things I would normally do at home. Our freezer is particularly well stocked with everything from frozen fruit and vegetables to meat and seafood. In fact, we’ve unearthed things that we completely forgot we had (I had completely forgotten about my frozen banana leaves… plus, who knows how long these Trader Joe’s hash browns have been sitting in here…?!).

Our country feels really unprepared in general. We have existed under an administration that doesn’t believe in science, so I suppose it’s no surprise that they also think all of this is a hoax. None of this is surprising, but it’s just extremely depressing.

Effective tomorrow at our company, all employees who are customer facing (that includes me) are required to work from home. We learned today that one of our Austin-based colleagues was exposed to someone who had recently returned from a Level 3 country (according to the CDC), and so this employee will be quarantined and working from home for the next two weeks. The Austin office will be closed for the next two weeks, as well.

The idea behind this is to preserve all Go-To-Market employees from any germs we could potentially pick up while commuting, whether that’s on the subway, on buses, or even in shared rides or on the street. I realize that they are doing this to be extra cautious, but part of me is wondering if we are going too over the top with this. On the other hand, I have heard other employees complain that the company is not doing enough to take care of employees and our health. Another person suggested we just halt all business operations until the end of the month. Ummmm…. NO? How could you even think of that?