MAGICAL MALLORCA!!: CoronaVirus - One Person's Perspective

Howdy y'all...

I thought I'd jot a few notes down (no, not Bb or F#) about what it's like, living with the CoronaVirus boogie man lurking over our shoulders, here in Mallorca.

Starting Sunday, March 15th, Spain (which has 46 million people) was 'locked down' for a minimum of 2 weeks. This means:

No leisure activities. No jogging, no parties, no sunbathing, no motorbiking, etc.
Schools, restaurants (except for delivery only), gyms, bars, theaters, public events, shops, museums, tourist venues, pools, parks, beaches are all closed. No home depot.
Those open: banks, groceries, gas, medical, farmacies
You are allowed to go out only if going to work, to the bank, to a medical appt, get groceries, or walk the dog.
Only 1 person per car. Hmmm....so how does that work for taxis?
Busses will be running less than 50% of schedue and they cannot be more than 1/3 full.
Stay at home.
Social distancing....keep 1 meter (about a yard) from others.

What I saw on Tuesday, March 17th, at 3pm:

Cases in Spain = 6,000
Cases in Balearic Islands = 120
Light traffic on the street but by no means void
At least one person walking on every block
Saw only one police van roaming about
Plenty of busses running and each had maybe 5-6 people aboard
Many more people wearing masks but still maybe only 5%

Same day, I went grocery shopping. Would there be lines, hoarding, panic? Here's what I observed:

No eggs
The meat section was pretty picked over but still plenty of chicken, pork
Fruits/vegetables seemed normal
But, boy howdy, no chips, no pizza, no popcorn! (PRIORITIES!!)
Wine very picked over (again, PRIORITIES!! If we gotta stay in, we need to be buzzed!)
Check-out stations had lines on the floor to indicate 1 meter separation but only 1 or 2 people were in line anyway.
Each store has a security guard in case of disruption.
No bakery breads
Some TP still left
plenty of milk and juice

I napped a lot on this day.

Thursday, March 19th:

I went to my neighborhood mom/pop tienda for a few small things.
All 3 of the Chinese family who run it were wearing masks and gloves.

Friday, March 20th:

Cases in Spain leaps to 20,000
Cases in Balearic Islands = 189
Had no problems walking Gracie. Almost everyone else on the sidewalks was with their dog. Great excuse to get outside. I wonder if people borrow other people's dogs?
Went to a large grocery store. Shelves weren't as picked over as before. This time there were eggs, lots of TP, full wine shelves, but still no popcorn !!! DAMMIT!!!
There was an employee wiping down all carts.
Upon entering, a security guard instructed me to use hand santizer at the entrance + paper towels and to use on the cart.
Maybe 20 people in the store.
Busses still running and I saw maybe 5 people per.
Idiot list (from local news)

Woman arrested for refusing to shelter in place. She was laying in the sun and said she wanted to get a sun tan
A man was out surfing
A man, who'd already been arrested 3 times...arrested for the 4th time

I napped a lot on this day.

Saturday, March 21:

Cases in Spain = 25,000 (third most in the world)
Cases in Balearic islands = 203
Using the time to get caught up on my blog backlog.
So many people have no space outside of their apt...not even a balcony. At least I have my patio to enjoy some sunshine and stare at my plants.
People getting creative by playing music on their balcony to entertain neighbors, making silly videos (ie; it opens with a beautiful beach scene with crashing waves and blue, sunny skies...pans back...and it's a guy in his living room wearing a speedo and sunglasses on a lounge chair in front of his TV (where the beach scene is playing) and rubbing lotion on his body).

Here's some ideas that you might find useful to relieve boredom while under lockdown:

Touch up the paint in your home (ie; dings in walls)
Watch You Tube. Easy to lose hours and hours doing this (called going down the rabbit hole)

I Love Lucy episodes
Carol Burnett show
Randy Rainbow
Funny pet videos
Saturday Night Live

Wash everything including bedspreads and mattress covers that haven't been washed in eons.
Iron all your clothes.
If you have a bathtub, go soak in it with the lights low and maybe some candles (applicable to both guys and gals).
Wash windows (this is probably already on Cherry's honey-do list for Reg).
Take everything out of your cupboards and wipe down the shelves. When is the last time you did that? 1997??
Work in your yard/garden. Clean up the mess. Prune-n-Pluck. Pick up the dog poop.
Speaking of 'pluck', cut the forest of hair in your nose and on your ears. Are your eyebrows like Brezhnev's?
Go through your closets and toss out things you don't need and haven't used/worn in the past year. Do you really need all 100 tee-shirts? 45 pairs of socks? Now, go through all those vanity products you have. Do you really need 20 facial creams? When's the last time you used that tiny bottle of whatever you got as a guest from the Sheraton Hotel in Hawaii? Put them in plastic bags and when you're released from lockdown, take them to charity or the dump. If you MUST (due to Louis's loud whining), reward partner (and/or yourself)....for every item they agree to let go of, give them a monetary credit which they can use to buy NEW stuff!! Better than buying new stuff to add to the burgeoning old stuff, right?

A long time ago, before I moved to Ecuador, I was facing the decision of taking everything with me, getting rid of it all, or shipping it. I read someone's perspective where she found it to be very libertating and 'freeing' to get rid of most of her belongings when she moved. I, too, had the same experience.
Clutter in your home causes clutter in your mind which causes stress. Free yourself of clutter!!

Do the things you always find you don't have time for but wished you did. You have it now!! Seize the opportunity before the door of opportunity closes.
If you have a partner, paint each others toenails (applicable to both men and women). Best if done with wine or tequila.
Take a look at your subscriptions. Do you REALLY need all those magazines? Do you REALLY read them all? Isn't all that content on the internet anyway? Cancel them. Use your savings to buy some stock that's plummeted to historical lows. Or, paydown your credit card.
Clean out your fridge. Do you know what's in the back hidden by all the things in the front? Toss out those things you haven't used in eons. Maybe you'll find Jimmy Hoffa in there!
Apply these same thoughts to your garage and attic!!
Brush your dog and/or kitty kat. They love the massage!!
Have you posted to Instagram lately? Maybe post an update?
Scan paper photos that you don't ever want to lose....especially those from the olden days. In case of fire or other event, you'll have an electronic version preserved forever. Create file folders based on category (ie; family, trips, home, etc) so you can easily find them when you want to.

Along the same lines, does your family (ie; parents/grandparents) have an old paper photo album that you only get to see when you visit them? Maybe volunteer to scan those photos and when you're done, send a copy to those who might like to have them, too (ie; brothers/sisters/cousins). It's also fun to document WHO is in the photo and WHEN it was taken (ie; 1945 when Grandma was arrested).
Fun story. I had a photo of my Dad and his sisters in some sort of park back in the early 1940's. No one remembered where the photo was taken. I did some sleuthing using Google maps and satellite images and putting together 2+2 on my own and ultimately found the location where they posed for the photo......which is still in existence today!!

Go through your hard-drive and do a cleanup. Delete files you don't need anymore (ie; your resume when you applied for a job at the Arctic Circle fast food chain in 1995).
Ditto with paper files. Go through your file cabinet and toss (shred/recycle) paper files that no longer have any pertinence (ie; the house you sold 12 years ago, tax filings prior to 2010, electricity bills more than a year old, purchase receipts of things that are out of their warranty now anyway, car service records for a car you don't own anymore!!).
Ever thought of doing some digging into your family history? Lots of unknowns on your family tree? Why not do some hunting on the interwebnets?
Update your Contacts List. Do you even know who some of those people are (in your list) anymore?
When is the last time you backed up your computer files and things like favorites, email, shortcuts, contacts, desktop, etc?

Whatever you do, don't weigh yourself. You KNOW we're all going to gain weight during this ordeal!!!!

Continuing with Saturday, March 21st:

I napped a lot on this day.
I wiped down (with bleach) all doorknobs, cabinet knobs/faces, appliance doors and handles, faucet handles, toilet seat, laptop keyboard, mouse, electrical switchplates, countertops, cellphone case, buttons on TV remote, roomba vacuum, Alexis and Siri (who'll probably sue me for inappropriate touching), microwave, toaster oven, and replaced vacuum cleaner filters/bags.
I went to grocery again, as an excuse just to get out of the house....I didn't NEED anything. Pretty quiet and orderly. But, DAMMIT, still no popcorn!!!
Streets were deader than a doornail.
Odd, I don't see people in large apt buildings, not even on their balconies. It's as if the big apartment complexes are empty.
Cops pulled over a car with 2 people. Only 1 person per car is allowed, but what about couples who live together? Taxis?

Sunday, March 22nd:

Cases in Spain = 25,500
Cases in Balearic Islands = 246
Got up about 7:30am (my usual), coffee, read the depressing news, went back to bed until noon'ish.
I made seafood paella today. First time.
Called old friends in Cuenca, Ecuador. Chatted and compared war stories of what it's like there versus here versus Trumplandia.
I received several emails from 'old' friends (former Airbnb guests) staying in Cuenca, Ecuador (but from the ccccccold NE of Trumplandia). They sent me images of Cuenca during their lockdown....desserted streets.