Is anyone else experiencing Coronavirus CLUTTER?

[Baltimike]

I first started taking this super seriously toward the end of the first week in March. I feverishly panic decontaminated the house. I scrubbed baseboards and windows sills. I washed *everything*.

Now, because every day is Blursday, I hardly make my bed anymore because I am probably going to crawl back in it at some point. My idea of "dressed" is having taken a "panic shower" (I am afraid of running out of hot water so I shower to make sure I've had one before that happens) and putting on fresh pajamas.

After the panic cleaning, the next thing I did was prepare my house for if I were to get the 'rona, what do I need? I live less than 10 minutes away from one of the best hospitals on planet earth, but there are still things you need in case they get overwhelmed. So real sugar gatorade is stacked in the corner. Extra cases of water, just in case, are also stacked with them...and the clutter continues...

Face shields, face masks, a full face respirator now need addressing, because this just accumulates.

Things could be way worse, and I am praying for everyone, but I feel a little overwhelmed with clutter, and it's kinda dragging me down

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. My house is a mess, but it was before, and now I have no excuse

for ignoring it and doing the decluttering I've been intending to do for ages.

I have developed a weird fear of cardboard. I get a lot of stuff delivered but I read that the virus can live on cardboard for 24 hours so I'm afraid to open the boxes until they've sat on the porch overnight. This is totally irrational but I'm all by myself in the house and that tends to contribute to madness. Today I finally got up the nerve to flatten the boxes and take them to the recycling bin and then I washed my hands like Lady Macbeth on crack.

People are going to get weird.

[ooky]

12. The cardboard boxes scare the hell out of me too.

Deliveries coming in big cardboard boxes and left on my front porch must be dealt with immediately. I put on my mask and gloves, then approach with my cardboard cutter, remove the contents and carry it to an isolation area in the garage where it will sit undisturbed for several days while hopefully any remaining coronavirus on it dies. The cardboard boxes are sliced down to size in the front yard and go straight into my outdoor trash receptacles to be hauled away. Mask and gloves then removed, and I head straight for the shower.

[Baltimike]

16. plastic freaks me out...it can live there for 3 days

If it doesn't need to be refrigerated, it can stay in my car for a few days. If it needs to be refrigerated, it gets wiped down with a lysol wipe.

[ooky]

26. All my plastic containers get washed with soap and water and moved to the

garage isolation area.

My clutter is growing, partly because I'm working myself to death disinfecting all my
incoming.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. Glad to know I'm not the only one with cardboardophobia.

It really isn't necessary, as this piece explains: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/26/dont-panic-about-shopping-getting-delivery-or-accepting-packages/ But I'm still washing my hands until they're raw and not bringing boxes into the house. They freak me out even though they shouldn't.

[Stuart G]

38. Oh MY.....new word....."cardboardophobia".....K and R your new word...is that similar to

boxophopia?............................................................
...I got shoe boxes, large boxes, small boxes, old boxes, & new boxes... all kind of boxes. You see they have been saved to put the stuff in them and organize all the stuff..But most are just ..."empty boxes."

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

39. You seem to have boxophilia, a love of boxes.

I have cardboardophobia, a fear of cardboard, which is what boxes that come in the mail are usually made of. Not all boxes are made of cardboard. I'm only afraid of the cardboard ones that come from outside. Indoors-originating boxes, cardboard or otherwise, don't frighten me.

[ooky]

42. Thanks for the article. Seems I'm doing the right things

but I will worry a little less after reading that.

[eleny]

43. We wipe them down with anti viral wipes before they come into the house

Then they sit on the enclosed porch for days before we open them.

But now I'm concerned about running out of wipes. We do have plenty of Dawn to make a soapy spray. So that's Plan B. But I don't like to see the wipes and gloves diminishing.

And lately this has made me angry more than afraid. This f'n sh*t has got to stop. We have plenty of food but I need the things that make their containers safe to handle.

When we pick up groceries we have them put all the bags in cardboard boxes in the bed of the truck. Hubby douses them with our Dawn and water spray solution. What pisses me off is that we're getting used to having to do that. We're patting ourselves on the back over how good we're getting it done efficiently.

And shopping online at King Soopers, Walmart, Amazon, Amazon Pantry, Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. Just to find basics?

I could spit I'm so angry. November is f'n coming Trump, you beyotch.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. I had a bathtub full of clothes that need mending.

That is, until today when I tackled the challenge.

It's half full now . . . . . .

[Baltimike]

24. that is inspiring! nt

[eleny]

44. I bow...

..... .....

[Stuart G]

3. What is "clutter"? I went to the bank to get some cash& returned home & sprayed the money.

Yes, I sprayed the bills with a home cleaner, and let them dry..Guess what? Those bills will be dry tomorrow, & I can wait to spend them.

[Nay]

30. You can wash cash just by throwing it in soapy water and agitating it for a couple of minutes.

[Baclava]

4. I have rooms of clutter and just can't find the motivation to....hey HBO & Cinemax has free weekend!

[Stuart G]

5. I have collected cartoons on video tape. I have at least 500 Bugs, Daffy, Road Runner, etc.

Also Tom & Jerry, all kinds..(I know that is old, but I am old) ..The player still works, and I watch and watch and watch some more. (also Animaniacs)

[Baclava]

7. I have 2 DVRs stuffed full of horror and sci-fi movies now, I'm too cheap to pay so I wait for free

[ooky]

28. I do this.

I'll never watch them all. I can DVR up to 9 channels at a time on my 3 DVRs.

[eleny]

47. And don't forget there's tons on YouTube

Not always the crispiest video. But good enough when it's something you don't have. And then they give you suggestions on the side panel and I've been introduced to animation I never heard about. I love cartoons.
..... .....

[Stuart G]

50. Thank YOU!!! and guess what is also available..it is closed now.."The Libary"

...Library has a lot of ..."stuff" & I don't need my stuff if it has it.. It has old movies, toons,
...pictures, lots of dvds and and music..It has it..OH MY?.....The problem is very simple:

OUr library is too far away...The local library is about a four minute drive from where I live. Yes...4minutes away.."
...Yes, I have a car, and it works.. I could get rid of lots of stuff, and use the libraries ..."stuff"
..It has old movies, books, magazines, music, old TV shows..etc..etc..

I met the librarian who collects the "stuff" that is old videos, & movies..I wanted to watch an old movie, (something about giant ants taking over Chicago from the 50s)...We didn't have that one, but she ordered it from another library & I had it in a couple of weeks. Then I had it for a week..But guess what?...''

.........It wasn't a particularly good movie..I don't recommend that one. Name, "The Beginning of The End"

[eleny]

54. When I discovered the video section of the library it was like going to heaven

We get Netflix and Acorn TV. Sometimes there's maybe one or two episodes missing in the lineup of a season. Wha? Strange, but it happens. The library always comes through to fill in the blanks. When Acorn lost the rights to air my favorite British cop series, Vera, the library had the next season. It's wonderful.

I never thought to look for cartoons. I can hardly wait till it's safe and we can visit the library. For now it's e-books and that's terrific fun.

[Stuart G]

57. Look in the "Childrens Section"" of toons, or young adults...

..I like an old cartoon show called, "Batman the Animated Series."
...the library had it in the Children's Section of Toons..You never know what is at the library....and

I have found something else:...Most librarians are very helpful.
..... That is what they do, and they like helping people.

[eleny]

58. Librarians are the salt of the earth - They get off on knowing stuff and passing it along - Aces!

Well, after nurses, doctors and emt's and everybody else in the hospitals these days!

[whathehell]

14. Sounds like me in my house..

[Croney]

6. Yes. Before lockdown, we were decluttering by giving things

to Goodwill and putting things out on the street for people to take. Now the piles are just sitting around the house. Also, we are still saving our bottles and cans even though the redemption machines are unavailable now; I mean, what's the alternative? We're not going to throw them away.

Now I feel bad. Tomorrow I should at least move some piles around.

[Grasswire2]

29. I put bottles that have deposit out every other week for someone to pick up who needs that $.

They are always gone in an hour.

[Croney]

36. Those people aren't coming around now,

because there is no place they can take the cans to be returned. I'm wondering how those poor people are doing.

[Grasswire2]

46. I think the bottle return at my Kroger must be open.

It's automated. Put the cans/bottles in the machine, get a credit slip to be used inside the store.

I don't know, really, but the bottles I put out do disappear.

[Nay]

34. I have a giveaway pile, too, that was to be picked up by AmVets. Their pickups are

canceled for the foreseeable future.

[alittlelark]

8. I'm rotating a 3 month pantry instead of a 1 month.

My closest grocery store is an hour away. I am adding 1/3 acre of gardens. My surplus weirdness is a hoarding of gf pasta - it's expensive and hard to find, but I love pasta and cannot tolerate wheat.

[Baltimike]

11. I can understand that. I am considering some raised beds too...

because I fear food might get scarce.

[femmedem]

9. My cats are ecstatic that the house is cluttered with cat food.

[Baltimike]

13. Oh, that too! Extra cat food and kitty liter!! nt

[Stuart G]

22. Great Picture....Thank You for posting...K and R that picture....

[femmedem]

74. The gray one made his DU debut on the day I found him and his littermates:

[Grasswire2]

33. my cat has plumped up a bit much

Too many treats.

She craves that treat mix that has catnip flavored bits.

[femmedem]

73. We're going through more treats and catnip around here, too.

More for my sake than the cats: I think I get at least as much joy out of it than they do. Although I don't roll around on my back like they do.

[Stuart G]

75. Cats are some of the nicest people around..A lot nicer than some people like Trump

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. I have an insane amount of cat food. I ordered a whole lot of it

because the cats simply can't go without. If worse comes to worst and I can't get human food I suppose I could eat it too.

[Meowmee]

67. 😻

[Ohiogal]

10. I have couch clutter.

Right now, on my couch as I look around me,

Tablet
Earjacks
Charger
(Latter two items tangled up)
Crossword puzzle book
Pencil
Blanket
Large Dog
Ball of yarn and half finished hat
Crochet hook probably went down in between the cushions somewhere
TV remote
3 pillows

[Stuart G]

15. I also have couch clutter, and bed clutter..(I have extra beds) table clutter..and are you ready????

............................................You need to be ready for this one.........................................


.........Yes, I have books and magazine articles on ....how to declutter........I need to read them,
and yes, those books are in a pile of ...".other.clutter"...

[Ohiogal]

18. Oh that's funny!

[KentuckyWoman]

17. I am not a hoarder.

A bit on the minimalist side really.

I am old, in the highest risk group, and live alone. Wonderful neighbors but no kids. On March 6 I shopped my regular items but assuming I would be house bound 4 weeks. The only thing I bought extra is 3 cans of evaporated milk for when regular milk runs out. I also went ahead and filled my prescriptions.

Going tomorrow to pick up a click list order at Kroger. I went 6 weeks and still have food, but meals are getting fairly weird. I forgot tea bags and despite reusing until the can give no more I have been out for 2 weeks. Getting mighty sick of plain water or canned milk.

[Stuart G]

20. Yes, the meals get "weird"..Oh, I am out of vitamins...But I got bagels..

Onion Bagels..?...I went and bought ice cream..all gone..(I never buy that..) back to work..

[nilesobek]

19. In Philip K. Dick's, " Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,"

the continuous and annoying buildup of needless clutter was called, "kipple."

The story then relates to an apartment manager in a titanic, unwinnable struggle against that mysterious force you describe. Kipple.

[emmaverybo]

21. Utterly without motivation and any excuse. House a shambles and yards too. Watching Homeland whose

main characters irritate me. I seem incapable of preparing to live or to die though I managed to send some vital info. to my daughter. Even my adorable dogs are in a perennial nap, rousing themselves now and again to eat their own food and of course readying to pounce on ours.

Wish it would rain or get stifling hot so I could pretend it’s the weather.

Clutter is but the half of it.

I’m on Season 2 of Homeland. It has eight. Can only hope the house survives.

[Stuart G]

23. OHI FORGOT...WOULD YOU LIKE SOME OLD LESSON PLANS?

...quite useful..history...all kinds of history...I used them last in 1997? I will send them to you ....
.........................................postage paid................................................

[marlakay]

25. Just like you I cleaned super in the beginning

Scrubbed the floors, wiped doorknobs and all other handles daily.

5-6 weeks later, I use the wipes on handles twice a week unless its a store run day. I have to force myself to get dressed. Luckily I have a few things I do on zoom that makes me dress better and fix hair.

Clutter I find myself every morning walking through the house picking things up muttering that there is only two of us! I still have piles in a few places I have no mental energy to organize.

Today I went on computer to check out a bill thing and ended up sitting there for hours doing nexts months budget early. It just felt good to do something.

[Stuart G]

31. You have just described ..."me and the computer".....and I play a game called.."solitare"

..The computer deals the cards, and sets them up..all I got to do is hit the mouse, and move the cards from here to there...my oh my....what a life...........

[eleny]

49. Shop Online...DU..Solitaire...Cook...Laundry....Shop Online....DU... Solitaire....Cook...Shop Online

[LisaL]

27. Nope. You are not the only one.

[DinahMoeHum]

37. No. If anything, I've got spring cleaning fever.

A little bit at a time, places that I've neglected for awhile get addressed and get scrubbed, vacuumed, etc.

The only real clutter I have is with used soda/beer cans and bottles that right now cannot be recycled because the redemption areas in supermarkets are closed.




#newrostrong

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

40. Oh, dear lord. Get a grip everyone.

Why someone is concerned about running out of hot water, unless your hot water heater is totally unreliable, is beyond me. Even if I'm wrong about everything else, I will go out on a limb and say this virus does not affect hot water.

As for being terrified of cardboard, really?

As for my house, there's always a certain amount of clutter, simply because I'm not the neatest or most organized person out there. Fortunately cleaning services are considered essential businesses, so my cleaning ladies are still showing up every other week.

[eleny]

51. You let cleaners in your house?!

What if they're carriers? Without testing there's no way to know.

Good luck to you. Really. I hope you stay healthy.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

62. Yes, I do. I don't assume every single person out there is a carrier.

For one thing, they are spending their day cleaning and wiping everything down. For another, we are doing the social distancing thing when I let them in, and when they're here in the house.

I refuse to live in fear. I am genuinely sorry for those who live in fear.

I trust the cleaning service (I use one of the national ones) to monitor their employees. And honestly, it's not like a nurse who gets off work and goes shopping in her scrubs, which I've seen reported, which is genuinely appalling.

While this is a serious disease, not every single thing you come into contact with, not every single person you see out there is infected.

I do stay home most of the time. I miss doing Geeks Who Drink. I miss going to the library. I miss going on my weekly drives with my friend Robert. But I stay home, try to limit my shopping expeditions, have recently acquired a home-made mask from a friend who sews, and will be using it when I go to the store.

Plus, without testing, every single person out there could be a carrier. At some point you have to understand there are some things you can't control. And the cleaners coming into my home don't strike me as a dangerous thing to do. Of course, if someone else says No Way to the cleaners, I'm not going to try to change their mind.

[mnhtnbb]

76. I have been leaving a check

at the front desk of my apartment building for my cleaner who comes every two weeks. Her mom was recently diagnosed with cancer and has started treatment. I am considered high risk due to age and asthma. I have to walk my dog several times a day.

So, there is risk I could infect her--which could put her mom at risk--and risk that I could be exposed by her. In order to avoid risk all around, I decided I could do my own cleaning for a couple of months and it was only fair to continue to pay her, which is not a hardship for me.

[eleny]

77. We were contemplating a cleaning service and then the virus came down like a hammer on the country

If my husband were to come down with it, it would take his life. So we're foregoing a cleaner until there's a vaccine. When it comes to "who" is stronger, us or the virus, there's no contest. The virus would win the fight. I'm okay with putting off anything that we can until the vaccine for his sake.

You walk the high road taking care of your service person.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

53. I never said cardboardophobia was rational.

I know it isn't, but I'm nervous around boxes anyhow. I get to have my one little phobia; I'm not afraid of spiders or snakes or flying. Just cardboard.

[Totally Tunsie]

41. Hilarious thread.

We're all going to be a mess by the time we see any normalcy.

Pajamas are your friend.

[eleny]

56. Just remember around 3 p.m. to change last night's jammies for tonight's

[Totally Tunsie]

59. LOL - I'm a nightowl.

I change my pjs at 3:00 A.m, but good advice no matter what the time.

[eleny]

60. Right, every 24 hours and you're golden

..... .....

[Totally Tunsie]

63. Exactly.

Love your emoji!

[Iggo]

66. Barbers are lickin' their chops right now.

I got an honest to god for real email from Supercuts today.

They want to send me a free baseball cap that says "I'm Waiting For Supercuts" on it.

[Totally Tunsie]

70. Some of these businesses are getting very creative b/c of COVID.

Are you going for the cap?
I wonder how many of their innovations will remain in the new normal.

Texted my manicurist (a buddy) and told her that she could come over and sit on my porch; I'd stick my hand out the window with a plastic glove on it with just the nails exposed, and she could work her magic. She wasn't buying it. I'm going to look like Catwoman pretty soon.

[greatauntoftriplets]

45. Clutter is my way of life.

[ARPad95]

48. My water company decided they must clean and reline the corroding 6" water main right now...

so they're installing a temporary line (above ground over yards and causing restricted access to our possibly dug-up driveways), will switch everyone over to it, repair the main line and then switch everyone back over to the main line. Both switch overs require the Health Department to certify the water is clean before the water is turned back on. (Gee, ya think the Health Department doesn't have enough to do already with COVID-19?) We already got our 1st shut-off notice today for Monday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. This repair project could take 1 - 3 months to finish.

[Demonaut]

52. I wish I didn't have carpet, can't really disinfect it and don't want to use the vacuum cleaner

as it expels downward

[FirstLight]

55. I was never that great at housecleaning,

Got worse over the past year as I was on & off disability...couldn't get my body to rally

two weeks before the SHTF my washer died

I literally am recycling clothes and leaving shoes outside in the snow to kill germs

got no cleaner/sanitizer...

Im hoping my crappy cleaning habits in the past have bolstered our immune systems for a bit

we're fucked

[tavernier]

61. Nope. I had a hysterical moment early on in the game

and then decided to keep myself alive. The only way I could do that was to organize my life for the coming weeks: food (I cook and freeze portions), exercise (outdoors twice daily to walk and breath in fresh air), daily housekeeping, weekly laundry, weekly change of bedding, daily grooming (showers etc.), diet (weekly weight), alcohol (two evenings per week). I also take vitamins, take my temp daily, and gave up social smoking the first day of isolation because of the respiratory considerations.

No, I haven’t been 100 %, but I have kept it up pretty well so far. It has helped me physically and mentally because there are rules and structure, and because I am the kind of person who can easily go bat shit crazy, I need the structure. On the flip side, I’m quite tenacious and I like the challenge.

Happy quarantine to all!

[Iggo]

64. The exercise goes a long way to my remaining sane.

Every lunch hour when it ain't raining I take a long walk around a huge block. When it's raining I hit the stationary bike.

(I swear, the more I hear myself talk about it, the more I sound like a privileged asshole...lol.)

[tavernier]

69. No. I live in the tropics with perfect weather right now.

It’s no strain to walk next to the ocean in shorts and tee.
I’m sure I sound like the privileged one. But I am in a tiny apartment with only a couple of windows, and if I don’t get out for at least 3 to 4 hours a day, someone will find me sitting on the couch with my tennis shoes tied to the top of my head, talking to the tea pot.

[Meowmee]

65. We were already cluttered and now it is worse

Try being isolated with the virus in your room, with all your extra needed med and other stuff and your new office desk and chair😳😹

[greenjar_01]

68. The opposite

House is cleaner than ever.

[smirkymonkey]

72. Not really. Nothing much coming in and the little that is goes right into the fridge or

cupboards. I am constantly wiping things down with bleach spray, but running out of paper towels. Things are pretty tidy, except I usually have a housecleaner come in once a month to do floors and the heavy duty cleaning. It's about due, but I don't think it's going to happen this month so I might have to do it myself.

The only reason I don't is because I have serious back problems and after about 10 minutes of housework I am in serious pain. It will be a very slow process.

However, I don't know if my cleaner would want to come in under the circumstances and I don't know where I would go for 2 or 3 hours while she was here. She works here in the building and I tip her very well. It's a pretty easy job since I'm not very messy, but I just like to have someone do the works about once a month.