AndyO Blog

By Friday, Drew had convinced me that we should be wearing masks in all the common areas in the quarantine zone. I didn't want to, but his logic made sense: If he was positive (after being exposed to Faith on Tuesday), then he'd be spreading it to me. We both put on masks. 

I have to say, this reminded me of the scene in Close Encounters when Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) and Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon) are driving through Wyoming and seeing "dead" animals. After some hesitation, their fear compels them to put on gas masks.

While we're at it: Another family "gas mask" joke from Close Encounters, one that took on greater relevance during the pandemic, was the guy selling the gas masks to people in Gillette, Wyoming (filmed in Bay Minette, Alabama). He utters the immortal words: "And now, you're gonna be real disappointed and sorry if you don't have an early-warning system, such as a bird, a gas mask. Why, even my dog has a gas mask. And any of you folks are worth more than a dog." (Below is the best screenshot I could find of this scene--note how the other guy is holding his hand over his mouth and nose, because the dog has the gas mask.)

Back to my house situation: I started thinking about whether there were other ways to reduce trips to our lone bathroom. A few times since I instituted quarantine, I'd used a small, plastic garbage can when I couldn't wait or didn't want to go in the bathroom right after one of the "infected." But I always felt weird doing this -- even if it seemed necessary. This got me thinking: there had to be portable options.

As I browsed Amazon, I saw every kind of portable potty or urine collection device ever created. I was astonished by the selection, which always makes choosing more difficult. I ended up buying some "hospital style" urine collection bottles, including one that women and men could use. 

As it turned out, on Friday Cameron finally tested positive for COVID and developed fever and chills. By the time night came around, I heard him going to the bathroom all night. When I told him later about the portable potties coming on Saturday, he texted back, "Sounds amazing." There's nothing worse than having to walk up a flight of stairs to use the bathroom when you're in a fever state.

Labels: covid-19