Items

• 2021-10-06

  Pandemic Reflection

  Last year as we all know was the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. Funny enough, I had actually started an Epidemiology class in January 2020 of last year. It was interesting timing. For me, it was cool to learn about Covid 19 in real time, however it was also scary to learn about how much it would impact us in the incoming months. I remember telling all of my friends and family about how we should be prepared and how it might affect us. A lot of them brushed me off, but a few took my advice seriously and started to prepare for the worst. My mom, who is always the most prepared for everything, started to buy canned foods and toilet paper for our family before the toilet paper craze started. Then as the months passed, and the pandemic grew worse and worse, we started to see how everyone was reacting differently. Leaders of the old church that my family and I used to attend, started to tell the church members that they should not get the vaccine as it was only there to ‘control the masses’. Watching news on T.V. meant that there would be political fights over science. Or social media would be divided often leading to people disowning those with opposing views. Now here we are, over a year later and the divide is stronger than ever. Some religious affiliations advocating for vaccine exemption or workers going on strikes because of vaccine mandates. We are now able to look at world data and see how different countries have responded to the pandemic and how their cultural beliefs have either hindered them or helped them. As for me, life has been hard. I started the pandemic off working at Starbucks and being an essential worker, we really took the brunt of it. We were over worked and spread thin meanwhile the customers were demanding and impatient (to say the least). Out of the many reasons I left Starbucks, this was one of the main ones. Home life became almost toxic because of disagreements regarding the covid virus. Lost some friends as well. Lost some faith in religion. Preaching about loving your neighbor while also putting them in danger. Lost some faith in humanity. My distrust in the political field grew even more. Through all of this, I am grateful. Although its been hard, there are others who suffered way more than I. They suffered the loss of their loved ones or they lost their only source of income. I hope that this next coming year bring us all the relief that we have been needing. But only time will tell.
• 
  2021-01-31

  COVID-19 Gardening in 2021

  The gardening industry saw a jump in the number of home gardeners in 2020 unlike ever seen before. People, with time on their hands and nowhere to go, jumped into the home gardening world. As a home gardener myself, I think that this is a great thing. I have been trying to convince friends of mine for many years now how easy and enjoyable growing some of your own food is. During Covid, many people picked up the hobby. I hope that people stick with it as there are so many benefits. However, I saw last year what panic buying and the uptick in home gardeners did to the industry. At times, it was nearly impossible to find seeds or gardening supplies. For this reason, I have already purchased all of the seeds that I will be using in my garden (a full 2 months before I would have normally even thought about buying them). The photograph is of a couple of the new seeds and varieties that I can't wait to start in the Spring.
• 
  2020-04-12

  Labelling

  During Covid-19, I tend to buy many food at once, so I need to label food to prevent them from going bad.
• 
  03/18/2020

  Order take out food, get free toilet paper

  As it became increasingly clear the coronavirus was going to effect the United States people began stockpiling food and other supplies, especially toilet paper. It quickly resulted in no store, online or brick and mortar, had toilet paper in stock. As restaurants tried to quickly shift to pick up and deliver as their only options for remaining open many got inventive with how to attract customers. This restaurant, on the square in Georgetown, Texas, like many others, offered customers a free roll of toilet paper with their take out order.
• 
  2020-03-13

  Empty Bread Shelves

  The State of Ohio had just announce d the shutting down of schools and some businesses and recommended social distancing. People responded by stockpiling food. Bread was one of the first to be exhausted