VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.0) updated 21 June 2023





Condolences to both Jen and Cindy. It's tough to lose loved ones anytime, but given today's current happenings, I think it makes it tougher. One of our ladies at church passed away 2 weeks ago. There were no services for her because of the current pandemic. I pray that this passes quicker than they think it will.

It looks like Disney is now closed all of April. I'm not surprised, but I wonder if May will be any different? This week is our scheduled spring break from school, so no online lessons this week. Trying to focus on yard work and projects that needed to be worked on. I told DH since I'm stuck here, I needed to redo parts of yard that have needed attention for a couple of years really. He rented an excavator this weekend and dug up some large plants that I hated in our backyard. I need some dirt in order to proceed to the next project. Our yard tends to be very sandy, and it's tough to keep grass growing well. Hopefully we can get that in the next few days. Our family owns paint and body shops in our area, DH is considered essential, but business is slowing. I can tell he is stressed. We have about 30 employees and that really worries him. I know many people are losing their jobs, so we are blessed that we have our jobs. DD23 is doing most of her therapy sessions online, but the business is forcing them to go into peoples homes if they don't agree to teletherapy. Not really thrilled with how she is being treated at her job, but I'm thankful she still has one at the moment. DD20 is done with the 14 day self quarantine, and is healthy and well. DD17 still thinks I'm the world's meanest mom for not letting her be with her friends. She just doesn't get it.

I'm so grateful that DH had that 1/2 marathon trip in February. I'm clinging to those happy memories for the next little while.
 
I think May is a No-Go for Disney but maybe June will see resorts reopen. I’m keeping our May 9-17 reservation just in case but I no expectation we’ll get to go
 
It looks like Disney is now closed all of April. I'm not surprised, but I wonder if May will be any different?

I think May is a No-Go for Disney but maybe June will see resorts reopen. I’m keeping our May 9-17 reservation just in case but I no expectation we’ll get to go

I agree that it is doubtful that WDW will re-open in May....my guess is something closer to July or August. Keep in mind that when we come out of this, they will be very careful about how things are "ramped up" again. My guess is that someplace like WDW will be about the last place to open up due to the huge crowds. But all of this is just my speculation, and not meant to be depressing. I just think that we need to be mentally prepared for this to be a long siege. We cancelled our May reservation and re-booked for September. If September falls through, then we will have a bunch of points expire unless Disney is still letting people "unborrow" points.
 
We rebooked. We were planning on going the end of May. Now we are now checking in on June 30th for one night at POR then moving to Boulder Ridge (waitlisted for Copper Creek) on July 1st.

The thought of not going was making us all very very sad. We thought July was probably a better option than the end of May, beginning of June. We did lose the Vero part of our trip - but hoping the week at WDW still happens.
 
Hello Groupies!

First off, deepest condolences to Jen & Cindy. Very sad for both of you. Tough not being able to have a service with the virus.

Both my jobs are designated “essential”. Like Jimmy, I'm not sure how to feel about that. I feel blessed that I am working, but I also have moments when I feel like a red shirt guy in a Star Trek landing party. Things are slowing down at my day job (warehouse, shipping & receiving). We had to let 8 temps go but that should allow us to keep our folks busy. At Dominos things are busy. We have reduced hours on the weekend, closing at midnight instead of 4:00 AM. Even so, sales are almost flat. We do contactless delivery, so that is good. And, tip average is up from $5 / stop to $8/ stop. I saw a $23 tip on a $49 order last Friday so people are being generous. I count my blessings as I think I may get a windfall from Uncle Sam if I can keep working.

As lake season approaches us Minnesotans are nervous about being told to stay away from lake country. The locals up north don’t want us city folks bring them the virus which I totally understand. But, then there is the $6k in property taxes which I want to justify by using the lake place. But, it could be a bust depending on how this virus thing progresses.

Granny, you are right to be cautious in your optimism with the parks reopening. I can’t see it until we see stadiums opening for baseball and concerts (or football?). This virus will peak, then taper. Restaurants will reopen 4-6 weeks after peak (every other table seating) would be my guess. Depending on treatments & vaccine progression I don’t see MLB baseball until July at best. So, I guess that’s my guess on DW too. I’m very concerned about he business model for restaurants, movie theaters, major league sports, concerts, etc. I don’t know what this looks like down the road. But the math of a restaurant turning only 50-70% of the tables makes me wonder how the math works for them to be viable.

And, if you all could say a prayer for my 86 year old father-in-law who will leave Orange Beach, Alabama on Friday (he stayed an extra 2 weeks, but now wants to come home). He will travel about 5-6 hours per day and arrive back in MN on Monday. I need to go stock his refrigerator with groceries over the weekend. But, pretty scary for an old timer with a walker to make this trip with the virus out there (well, he doesn’t think so).

Meanwhile, DW & DD are muddling through working and schooling from home. And, I bought a new PS4 gaming system as a make it through Corona Palooza gift. Spyro the Dragon has been the first hit distraction (but I have about 8 games, so I will load a new one as necessary to keep the distraction fresh..)

Anyways, I hope you all stay safe & healthy.
 
Both my jobs are designated “essential”. Like Jimmy, I'm not sure how to feel about that. I feel blessed that I am working, but I also have moments when I feel like a red shirt guy in a Star Trek landing party.
I too am thankful to have the work, I feel blessed beyond measure. But these times are making me feel uneasy as each day I approach with caution to the workplace. I have to keep going, as once this passes, I will still need the retirement community for the steady income for our business. Therefore, I go. I could stay home, yes. But the option to do so limits me from doing anything else, except to build a few cabinets. That might put food on my family plate, but would not help our employees. So I go.

Not to be a downer, but I feel the need to share. My parents to a degree still feel this isn't as serious as media is making it to be, and I fault the media to a degree as so much leading up to this time in our lives you could only take the media with a grain of salt, so to speak. My share is this, our DD told us last night about a lady she works with who knows 5 thirty something ladies from her church from Greensboro, NC, the next big town close to us, who went out 2 weeks ago to eat. All 5 now have Corona Virus, 2 are at home recovering, 1 still in hospital, 2 will not make it their families were told. All were considered healthy. I only share this if anyone, like my parents are teetering on the fence. I am sharing this with them today in hopes they will awake to the seriousness of this disease. Please pray that my talk will be productive and they will take heed and precautions more seriously.
 
And, if you all could say a prayer for my 86 year old father-in-law who will leave Orange Beach, Alabama on Friday (he stayed an extra 2 weeks, but now wants to come home). He will travel about 5-6 hours per day and arrive back in MN on Monday. I need to go stock his refrigerator with groceries over the weekend. But, pretty scary for an old timer with a walker to make this trip with the virus out there (well, he doesn’t think so).

Ron, we live very close (20 miles) to Orange Beach. I hate the thought of him leaving and headed back for that many miles. If I can help take something to him, please let me know. My parents are being pretty good. I grocery shop for them. DH's parents are not doing the social distancing thing well. My 17 year old thinks I'm the meanest mother alive. She is not handling the quarantine thing well. In other spring break news, we would have been at Disneyland Paris yesterday and today. Instead, I'm waiting on a new grinder pump to arrive. Total cost $3000. Disneyland Paris would have been cheaper. :crazy2:
 
Hey Everyone - checking back in. I for one will be SO happy when this month is over. Even more happy when this ordeal is over and we can get back to a new normal.

It happened - just like we expected. Emily was laid off from her job as a barista. We were supposed to go down to Austin to see her next weekend, but cancelled a few weeks ago. So she was going to come home and see us instead. She told us she is not going to do that now because of how much she has been around people - with her job. She said she wouldn't be able to live with it if she made us sick. She also told us she was putting a new "Emily ordinance" into effect. We are not allowed out of the house anymore. :lmao:Not that we are venturing out anyway. Dallas county is under the shelter at home mandate. Quick pick up trips to the grocery and walking the dogs is all we are doing. I'm not even going to the post office to mail orders anymore. I am scheduling pick ups instead. Em has filed for unemployment and is looking into working for a delivery app called Favor again. It is kind of like Grub Hub or Door Dash, but not limited to just food pick up and delivery. Not thrilled with the idea of her doing this - but I'm also not sure what else she will be able to find that would limit her exposure. We will help her out financially as much as we can - but can't for an extended period of time.

Ian and Kylie are both working from home now. Kylie is a special education teacher has google classroom going. Ian works for a defense contractor and surprisingly was told to work from home. He has to log into the secure server and just make sure things are secure on our end. Everyone is getting a bit stir crazy. Me probably the least because I am used to working from home - but I do miss my trips to the post office and running errands.

To top all of that off I had a very sad and difficult situation with my etsy shop. I had an elderly lady contact me wanting to know where her order was. She ordered from me in September of 2018. Apparently she just "found" or rediscovered the thank you note and my business card that I send with every order. She was convinced she had placed the order in December and I never sent her baby blanket. It didn't matter what I said to her or how many times I showed her a screen shot of the order she did place, she didn't believe me. Eventually she started to contradict herself. It became very apparent she was suffering from some type of memory issue. This went on over the course of a week. I finally had to just ask her to stop contacting me. There wasn't anything more I could say or do to get her to understand or believe it. It broke my heart and I felt so guilty. Ian's Mom died of vascular dementia and his sister suffering from Alzheimers right now, so I do understand the situation.

Then I found out one of my sisters was diagnosed with terminal cancer last summer. No one bothered to let me know until she went into hospice. (family dynamics are not great) That really really really hurt. She passed away on Monday.

We haven't cancelled our trip yet. I guess I am holding onto hope - but I also realize the reality of the situation is leaning towards us not being able to go. It is what it is. Trying to remember how fortunate we are that Ian and Kylie still have their jobs. We are able to help Emily out for a while. So far we are all healthy. Nothing else matters.
DVC JEN & CINDY
I am so very sorry on the loss. Sending my sincere condolences. And a HUG
 
We are totally taking it seriously as is everyone in my immediate family. I for one am not taking any chances since I feel that Clay's health is so delicate, I do not think he could beat that. He barely lived from the problems in 2017, and he has not 100% recovered. My county only has 4 cases to date, but we are only 50 miles from Dallas which has I think over 700 cases.
I pray all groupies stay safe and healthy.
 
Ron, we live very close (20 miles) to Orange Beach. I hate the thought of him leaving and headed back for that many miles. If I can help take something to him, please let me know. My parents are being pretty good. I grocery shop for them. DH's parents are not doing the social distancing thing well. My 17 year old thinks I'm the meanest mother alive. She is not handling the quarantine thing well. In other spring break news, we would have been at Disneyland Paris yesterday and today. Instead, I'm waiting on a new grinder pump to arrive. Total cost $3000. Disneyland Paris would have been cheaper.
Thanks much for the offer! He is used to this routine and has done it many times before. He has been all packed for two weeks (he extended his stay) and is ready to go. He calls me everyday so I’m up to speed on his progress. I agree with the teenager thing. My daughter will be 14 in two weeks and can’t hardly deal with this shelter in place stuff..
 

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