CoronaVirus Self-Isolation Week 10

First, an update on my dilemma:  nothing new.  I did find out that should I choose to put one or both dogs in the hold of the plane, I’ll have to fly on a different airline than Delta, which is the airline that issued my original ticket.  Delta has an embargo right now on dogs in the hold and there is no clue as to when that will be lifted.  I can probably fly Iberia, but it may cost me.  I’m still waiting on a lead on a possible “dog mule”… but until then, I’m just going to forget about it for a couple of weeks and see if anything changes.  It seems like things are changing rapidly.  You never know…

At the moment, my immediate concern is that the babies are back!  Damnit.  Besides my lovely friends who live in the complex, there is a family directly across from me.  The adults are very nice.  The man owns a fiber optics company, so he is very helpful with computer/wi-fi issues.  The woman is very friendly.  But the children are screamers!  I think they’re like two and four.  The four-year-old squeals a fair amount, but the baby cries so loud so often, it’s unnerving.  I was thinking of starting a log to keep track of how often/how long he screams.  I think as an adult he may suffer a loss of range or strength in his vocal cords from overuse.  I know it’s been a long time since I’ve had a baby in the house, but I honestly don’t believe either of mine put up near this much fuss.  The other neighbors agree – we talk about it all the time.  I thought maybe there was something wrong with him.  But, there’s not.  My other neighbors and I commiserate and console ourselves by saying  the crying is at least reassuring that there is life outside our doors.

I don’t know if it’s a cultural issue that I have not observed, but I don’t think they pick him up when he’s crying.  They seem to ignore him.  I don’t hear them trying to calm him or placate him in any way.  He’s just a baby.  Why don’t they give him a pacifier for God’s sakes?  I really can’t overstate how much crying there is.  And because they’re Spanish, the kids don’t go to bed until after dinner, which is like 11:00 p.m. or so.

Last week, they disappeared.  They went back to their first home because the dad still has a lot of business and now that the virus has calmed down a bit here, it’s more convenient for them.  I was ecstatic.  It was so quiet here.  But they came back.  I hope it’s only going to be weekend torture from here on out.