welcome to the organic green doctor blog

i am a family physician who was diagnosed with
early mild cognitive impairment(mci) amnestic type on december 21, 2010
this is a precursor to alzheimers disease
because of this diagnosis i have opted to stop practicing medicine
this blog will be about my journey with this disease
please feel free to follow me along this path
i will continue blogging on organic gardening, green living,
solar power, rainwater collection, and healthy living
i will blog on these plus other things noted to be interesting

Thursday, April 23, 2020

how i plan to shop for groceries

HOW I PLAN TO SHOP FOR GROCERIES

this was the week when i was going to venture out to shop for groceries
i was going to go to our trader joes since they
space you out around 6 ft or so i like over 10 ft better
limit how many folks can go inside
have a wiped down buggy for you to use
no bring your own bags allowed
the aisles are one way
the check out lanes are open every other one
you dont get close to the check out area until you pay for your groceries
your groceries are sacked into paper sacks
i dont know if they require a mask to get into the store
but
they should

if you are going grocery shopping you should wear a mask
why
see below in this photo circulating on social media
now i dont know how accurate those numbers are but my guess is they are close
if you wear a mask and those around you wear a mask
well your chance of infecting or getting infected is greatly reduced
i say
no mask
no groceries

i read this article linked here 
then
planned my strategy

i would plan on going on the early senior hours
i would wear my n95 mask
i wouldnt wear gloves
gloves can give you a false sense of security
i cringe as i watch folks contaminate things when they wear gloves
if you are barehanded and wash your hands before and after you may be better off

i will scrub my hands before i leave
i will make a grocery list and move fast as i shop so i limit the amount of time i am in the store
i will keep my billfold and my phone in my back pockets leaving one front pocket for my credit card and the other front pocket for my car keys
i wont touch my phone or billfold at all
i will bring my disinfectant sprays and or wipes in the car
i will try to buy only perishable things i can wash with soap and water
eg
packaged turkey and packaged sliced cheeses and packaged cheeses and packaged fruits and yogurt and packaged veggies etc
i wash them like they were my hands 20 secs with soap and water

so i will go early and try to keep 10 ft if not more away from other shoppers
i will grab and pick my stuff as fast as i can
i will check out and go to my car
usually i walk to the grocery store but this time i will drive due to the amount of groceries i buy and the fact that i have lost endurance so i might not be able to make it there and back

after i pay with my credit card i will put the card back in my front pocket
when i get home it will be quarantined for 3 days or will be wiped with the wipes
ill probably do both

i will open my car door and my trunk
i will place my bags in the trunk
i will wipe down my keys before i insert them into the car ignition
i will wipe down my hands well so they are well soaked
i will wipe down the door handle and the latch on my trunk
i will wipe down my steering wheel and gear shift
then
i will sit down and start the car
im clean ive debugged any area i my have touched
then
i drive home
park in my garage
lift the trunk
set out my bags on the driveway
my hands are now contaminated
i use my knuckles to push the keypad for the garage
my wife has left the front door open for me

i have to touch the screen door to reach our hallway
i push the door to our condo open with my elbow
i walk out to our condo front porch and set down all the groceries in our contaminated zone
i wash my hands real good
i wipe down an area on our counter well so its disinfected
after 5 minutes
i take out one item at a time of perishables
i wash the packaging well with soap and water for yes you guessed i go longer than 20 seconds
i want all those germs dead
then i put them in our clean zone on the counter
the frozen pizza i open the carton and slide the pizza onto the counter then later place it into the freezer
the pizza box is put in the quarantined zone on the porch for 3 days then its put back with the frozen pizza so we have all the directions

i take the egg carton out of the grocery bag open the lid and set it on the quarantine area floor
after washing my hands well i then take a clean empty egg carton and pick up each egg from the carton on the floor and put it into the new clean egg carton
then
i put the clean egg carton with eggs in the refrigerator
if i am lucky to get fresh off the farm eggs then we just set them out to quarantine for 3 days then put them on our counter

then
when i have done all my grocery unloading i wash my hands real well with soap and water
then
clean my car keys well
i also wipe down our screen door handle we have to share with neighbors

the bags of groceries now sit along with our mail and packages for the full 72 hours before we access them
yes i leave my nonperishable veggies and fruit out there like tomatoes potatoes oranges avos bananans nuts etc

so thats how i plan to do it
why all this work
my wife she and i are presuming we dont have immunity since we cant be 100% sure for now
we are in the high risk profile along with 3 other people in our family circle
we dont wont to get infected
we dont want to get others infected
i used up one of my nine lives so i have only 8 left
i want to save them for now

after a lot of thought this week i decided after all my planning that i wouldnt go grocery shopping
i dont have to

we can order our groceries via instacart deliveries
we can afford to do that
we tip 20% like you should a waiter
we are helping to keep a group of folks with employment
i do notice some of the delivery folks wear gloves but most dont have masks
i hope they look at that picture above and realize how important the masks are

this virus is not the flu
it is highly contagious way much more than the flu
it kills more often than the flu does
it especially kills the vulnerable in our families and circles
there will be other waves
the next wave may be worse than the last one if we arent safe in what we do

i remember working long hours during the h1n1 outbreak
i wasnt ever worried about catching it
this one
its diferent
as i told two of my former partners recently as i listened to their stories
i am glad i am retired and not having to be working in this environment

so
be safe
if you go outside wear a mask to protect yourself and others see the picture above for possible %
wash your hands
dont touch your face
keep over 10 ft sorry 6 ft isnt good enough

protect yourself and protect those vulnerable folks you love

the organicgreen doctor

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