#607

#607 ask / submit

[iamthecornteen]

welcome to corn teen.

if you’re here to know tl;dr logistics — go to https://www1.nyc.gov/site/helpnownyc/get-help/covid-19-hotel-program.page to sign up for the free isolation covid hotel program for nyc residents.

here are my notes based off of a stay in laguardia plaza hotel stay in early november 2021:

free hotel stay, there are only covid patients at the hotel

free transport to and from hotel

they give you a free oximeter/pulse-o-meter finger thingy during your stay and to keep

you should stay for 10 days from the first day you show symptoms; if you decide to leave, they can't stop you but you can't come back

free wifi, laundry, tv, meals, 25 dollars for uber eats

do bring your own tylenol/advil, they don't have that for some reason

yes you can bring weed but you have to leave it with the nurses downstairs and can only smoke it on fresh air break

no they never test you, but you should be more than safe to go about daily life after you leave is what all the nurses there (and on nyc covid hotline) say; it’s weird but i believe the professionals

yes you can get mail

you cannot leave your room without supervision

i highly rec it 

schedule:

two temperature/pulse checks: 9am, 9pm

breakfast, lunch, and dinner: 7-8am, 12-1pm, 6-7pm

fresh air breaks: 11am, 4pm, 11pm

night checks to see that you’re still alive: 1am, 4am

if you’re here for storytime n wanna go from the start n read consecutively, click here and then go ‘next’ (on browser not app). otherwise here are all the posts:

03-Nov-2021; 12:43pm — beginnings

03-Nov-2021; 02:51pm — arrival

03-Nov-2021; 03:11pm — the bed

03-Nov-2021; 03:14pm — getting settled

03-Nov-2021; 03:30pm — readership feedback

03-Nov-2021; 03:31pm — readership feedback, pt ii

03-Nov-2021; 03:54pm — staring update

nineeyedruby asks

03-Nov-2021; 04:22pm — readership feedback, pt iii

03-Nov-2021; 05:03pm — the first fresh air break

03-Nov-2021; 05:03pm — readership feedback, pt iv

ghaoyuxin asks

submitted by blake

03-Nov-2021; 07:14pm — letdowns

03-Nov-2021; 07:19pm — available networks nearby

03-Nov-2021; 09:44pm — tonight’s progress

03-Nov-2021; 11:46pm — rach n my pulse

03-Nov-2021; 11:49pm — PROGRESS REPORT — END OF DAY 1

04-Nov-2021; 10:51am — fever

04-Nov-2021; 11:38am — fever, pt ii

04-Nov-2021; 11:39am — fever, pt iii

04-Nov-2021; 11:51am — fever, pt iv

mosilion asks

04-Nov-2021; 11:57am — staring update, pt ii

04-Nov-2021; 05:48pm — fever, pt vi

04-Nov-2021; 06:05pm — staring update, pt iii

04-Nov-2021; 06:55pm — food report

mosilion asks

04-Nov-2021; 08:45pm — ophelia on the tv

04-Nov-2021; 08:57pm — ophelia on the tv, enhanced

04-Nov-2021; 09:20pm — articles

04-Nov-2021; 09:40pm — night falls

04-Nov-2021; 09:49pm — vs. parasite eve

05-Nov-2021; 12:06am — PROGRESS REPORT — END OF DAY 2

05-Nov-2021; 01:25pm — morning schedule

05-Nov-2021; 01:28pm — ophelia in the a.m.

05-Nov-2021; 01:29pm — reaching out

05-Nov-2021; 01:36pm — fresh air break

05-Nov-2021; 01:48pm — neighborhood updates

05-Nov-2021; 05:31pm — government phone calls

05-Nov-2021; 05:36pm — snack inventory

05-Nov-2021; 06:50pm — ice cream truck

05-Nov-2021; 08:03pm — rating my heartrate

05-Nov-2021; 09:47pm — more heartrate thoughts

05-Nov-2021; 09:50pm — hacks for baths

05-Nov-2021; 11:33pm — PROGRESS REPORT — END OF DAY 3

06-Nov-2021; 11:57am — heartrates again

06-Nov-2021; 12:16pm — the elevators and lobby

06-Nov-2021; 02:30pm — mom & ‘vibes’

06-Nov-2021; 05:24pm — dreams on the field

06-Nov-2021; 05:26pm — pranks

06-Nov-2021; 06:22pm — #650

06-Nov-2021; 10:07pm — bathing again

06-Nov-2021; 10:11pm — END OF DAY 4 — PROGRESS REPORT

07-Nov-2021; 09:57am — dreams series

07-Nov-2021; 10:00am — bland food and festivals

07-Nov-2021; 11:48am — 11/7 fresh air break, pt i

07-Nov-2021; 11:49am — 11/7 fresh air break, pt ii

07-Nov-2021; 11:50am — 11/7 fresh air break, pt iii

07-Nov-2021; 11:51am — 11/7 fresh air break, pt iv

07-Nov-2021; 12:04pm — 11/7 fresh air break, pt v

07-Nov-2021; 01:01pm — the soylent blog

07-Nov-2021; 01:28pm —  ice cream truck, pt ii

07-Nov-2021; 04:55pm — staring update iv

07-Nov-2021; 06:48pm —  ice cream truck, pt iii

07-Nov-2021; 08:52pm — beginnings of a song

07-Nov-2021; 10:23pm — thoughts & END OF DAY 5 — PROGRESS REPORT

08-Nov-2021; 08:43am — the blessing of ophelia

08-Nov-2021; 09:01am — drinking water

08-Nov-2021; 11:40am — fresh air break, stretches edition

08-Nov-2021; 04:40pm — the birds have been noticed

08-Nov-2021; 05:51pm — food deliberations

08-Nov-2021; 11:14pm — evening & END OF DAY 6 — PROGRESS REPORT

09-Nov-2021; 10:18am — getting back to normal

09-Nov-2021; 10:50am — weird side effect

09-Nov-2021; 11:50am — personal routine

09-Nov-2021; 12:03pm — mom

09-Nov-2021; 12:29pm — some practical covid info

09-Nov-2021; 01:28pm — more weird side effects

09-Nov-2021; 04:43pm — freedom’s coming

09-Nov-2021; 04:48pm — the birds have been caught on camera

09-Nov-2021; 04:54pm — song updates

09-Nov-2021; 11:32pm — spotted in pelagiad

09-Nov-2021; 11:36pm — more about the bed & END OF DAY 7 — PROGRESS REPORT

10-Nov-2021; 11:06am — guest post

10-Nov-2021; 12:55pm — the 1928 olympics

10-Nov-2021; 12:56pm — on the matters of taste

10-Nov-2021; 12:57pm — moving around

10-Nov-2021; 01:14pm — a clarification on the guest post

10-Nov-2021; 04:55pm — bird hour again

10-Nov-2021; 05:00pm — dramatis personnae

10-Nov-2021; 05:01pm — tips and hacks of the lagaurdia plaza hotel stay

10-Nov-2021; 05:59pm — coming to an end

10-Nov-2021; 06:12pm — hotel telephones

10-Nov-2021; 06:16pm — a resolution to try something new

10-Nov-2021; 06:18pm — the last of the ice cream truck

10-Nov-2021; 06:21pm — comments on blog death

10-Nov-2021; 06:27pm — things i wish to taste

10-Nov-2021; 09:34pm — song developments

10-Nov-2021; 11:50pm — niagara falls thoughts

10-Nov-2021; 11:51pm — the only night fresh air break & END OF DAY 8 — PROGRESS REPORT

11-Nov-2021; 11:00am — evaluation of the stay

11-Nov-2021; 12:15pm — END OF STAY — PROGRESS REPORT & the ‘treasure reveal’

11-Nov-2021; 04:15pm — corn man

13-Nov-2021; 06:17pm  — ‘sixth floor’, a song by #607 and #650

[iamthecornteen]

Visit Original Link

Sixth Floor by #607 and #650

[iamthecornteen]

tags: submission submitted by: mosilion

[iamthecornteen]

END OF STAY — PROGRESS REPORT

+ average bedtime: 11pm + average pulse: 100 + days with fever: 1.5 + days without taste: 4 (and counting) + times i turned on the tv: 0 + covid friends added on ig: 3 + meals gotten as take out: 1.5 + nights spent working on music: 3 + days spent at work: 3 + posts on blog: 104 + pounds of vegetables eaten: 0.25 + times i heard an ice cream truck: 3 + times i saw an unbelievable sunset: 2 + times i saw the 4:44 birds: 4 + times i facetimed mom: 8

and now that you’ve made it to the end of this blog you get to know the dazzling treasure rewarded to those who make it to the end of the stay . . .

. . . which is a coach purse lol!

they have a random assortment of like eight bags at all times and i decided i was going to pick the bag for my mom (if you’re reading this make sure you don’t tell my mom or tell someone who will tell my mom) . . . n when i got there kind of panicked . . . though i know she’s into this shape, idk how she’ll feel about mickey mouse . . . if she doesn’t want it she can resell it or i’ll do it years from now . . . great collab, ny state gov x coach.

#650 is almost done with the song. once it gets done, i’ll edit it into this post: see here.

bye bye! stay safe and healthy! xoxo

[iamthecornteen]

would i recommend going to a covid isolation hotel provided and funded by the ny state? 100% yes.

+ if you have roommates, you can put them at ease and avoid them and know that you’re not going to spread it to them or the common spaces or the people that they are dealing with. + here you don’t have to worry about imposing on anyone about bringing/making you food. all the meals here are free and they bring it to you. it’s not the best food . . . it could be healthier/tastier, but also, it’s better that it’s bland and unexciting because it would just be bad if they gave you delicious burgers and pizzas and fries everyday. they also give you a voucher so you can get your treats once in a while.  + the nurses really do check up on you very frequently, and while sometimes this is annoying in the earlier half in the day, it’s better to be annoyed, than in your room with no structure. it’s better to be given many opportunities in a day to ask questions if they happen to come to you, rather than you put it off. the power of having another person(s) around is really important for more reasons than you know. in work, life, and covid hotel. + the chores are done for you. being away from your home space prevents you from just piddling and doing random shit when you’re supposed to be resting. you don’t have to clean anything, maintain anything. the staff come often for hygiene and cleaning purposes.  + being in this space also helps you STOP WORKING. if you’re at home it’s easy to just work on the computer for your employer because the boundaries are all blurry and eh you COULD work today. it’s better to just take off earlier right away and being in a separate space from home really helps reinforce that work/life balance. + honestly morale is s u p e r b. i can’t say this enough. even if you live alone, it’s better to be out here. the nurses are funny and good-natured and look you in the eyeballs and care. all the patients come from different walks of life and have been open and friendly and kind and really lovely to talk to. everyone (staff and patients) are immediately accepting and stabilizing. it’s normal for people to become anxious and stressed out about having covid, and if i were home alone or mostly alone in my room i think i would be much more anxious and depressed. coming here alleviated that a shitton in ways i didn’t expect. it’s really safe and chill and everyone is positive and it’s like . . . just fucking pleasant.

+ oh and also the city has so many resources for you even when you’re at the covid hotel. they have numbers for: if you want to talk to a nurse, if you want a medical appointment, if you don’t feel safe in the hotel, if you feel anxious/depressed and need someone to talk to, if you need a letter protecting you from employers who don’t want you to take off. i’ve talked to many nurses about a lot of covid questions. every time i’ve called, i’ve not waited more than 5 SECONDS on this hotline: 212-COVID-19.

the usa and the city are so weird and fucked up in a lot of ways but i feel like i was caught off guard with the way that covid testing/vaccines (yes, they are made here though)/isolation hotel was pretty organized and expedient. (my cousins in canada who are well off could only get a vaccine months after me, and there, if you wanna get tested at all its $40 — it’s only free if you have symptoms. meanwhile in nyc i have been getting PCR/rapids like candy so often for free.) i got tested, i immediately got rapid and PCR tests, i could immediately count on people in close proximity getting tested within an *hour*, immediately was out the door to a hotel within like *four hours* of knowing that i had it . . . obviously i am just one person out of many experiences . . . but i appreciate our essential workers and all the people who have put this shit in place a ton. i have tried to express this to everyone i come across who had a part in it but i also just want everyone else to know i feel really grateful . . . so in general, just THANK YOU and

SOCIALIZE HEALTHCARE!

[iamthecornteen]

i got VERY into watching this frank lantz-looking asmr artist poking around their beautiful fake apothecary and NEARLY got too sleepy to carry out my promise to myself — to take the night fresh air break tonight since it’ll be my last.

tonight i spoke to one of the health care workers who is a certified nurse assistant. they were very funny and pleasant and i told them i liked their sweater. i asked them questions. they currently have the 8:30pm - 8:30am shift three days a week. on other days they work another job. they said they work around 67 hours a week. it can be very difficult, they said — they have to take a lot of the work with a grain of salt (one patient threw at apple at them, another spit on them (yes, with covid)), but for every bad person there are hundred of good people. i asked if they ever got covid. they said no.

i asked them more questions. they told me they started working at isolation hotels since the start of the pandemic. they said that our entire hotel had been at full capacity at one point — 70 people a floor. #650 and another joined our conversation. the certified nurse assistant told us the worst of it was when there were 315 patients and only 9 health care workers staffed. in the winter there was once a snow storm and they ended up working 20 hour shifts because no one could make it to the hotel.

they said they did have off this weekend however. they said this saturday they had to go to a funeral. they said this year they have endured five funerals — a brother, aunt, uncle, cousin, and someone else that i couldn’t remember. three were from covid and one was a murder and another person was shot in the face. they said they didn’t have very much time to grieve properly given all their work and because it was difficult or impossible to have funerals. they said they were tired, in many many ways, but kept their chin up and always tried to find the means to make it through. they said all of this with very matter-of-fact lightness.

for example, one thing they like to do when they go home is put on headphones, turn the music up very loudly, and write in their journal. they mentioned they were also a singer and they used to perform until covid shut down all the shows. they sung us a little song they came up with recently when they liked how their hair looked in the morning.

as the break wrapped up, #650 said they had something for me if i wanted to take it now or get it mailed later. i said i was okay taking it now. they told me to look at it after i got to my room. it seemed like a small group of papers that i took and put into my pocket.

i am now in my room and am looking at the token. it’s a stack of post-it note papers with ‘birds of laguardia 11/10/21′ written in the upper left corner. then, there are little dots on the top post-it and the ones thereafter. it’s a flip book. when you flip through the pages, the swarm of dots flies around on the paper.

the best part of it is, the post-it stack has wisps of jacket fluff stuck to the corners of it.

END OF DAY 8 — PROGRESS REPORT + SYMPTOMS: i am fine, my voice is a little nasally, i think my taste is coming back but i won’t hold my breath + MOOD: i feel fine, i am alive, i’m getting better, grateful more than ever, and headed home tomorrow morning + REMAINING DAYS: 1 (less than one at this point, really)

[iamthecornteen]

in looking up pictures of us as children at niagara falls (as i requested) my mom made a sad discovery today and i tried to talk her through it tonight as we had our catchup call. she was teary in the homegoods over facetime.

[iamthecornteen]

#650 has added some vital beeps and boops and angry organs to the end of the song so far

[iamthecornteen]

things i wish to taste: mushroom risotto; a hi-quality croissant with butter and sour cherry jam; soup dumplings; a small salad with sugar snap peas, watermelon radish, and shavings of fennel in an lightly acidic and slightly creamy dressing; mcdonald’s chicken nuggets (from the 00s); a thick grilled cheese dipped in creamy tomato soup; sour straws; tres leches cake; spaghetti and meatballs and a chocolate milkshake; key lime pie and a latte; wintermelon and pork spine soup; danny’s bean burgers with the chipotle mayo; a whole wheat flat bread with spread with a little bit of goat cheese with beets and sprouts dressed in lemon and olive oil sprinkled on top; an entire white fish battered and fried in sweet sauce and dressed with fresh small scallions with a side of piping fragrant jasmine rice; thick soft oxtail stew with soft soupy beans; a beef burrito from the truck near wonderville; a dish of scalloped kiwis and strawberries like xenia and i had prepared for our outing with mother cecilia . . .

[iamthecornteen]

[iamthecornteen]

the ice cream truck hasn’t returned to its spot for days

[iamthecornteen]

because tonight is the last night, i plan on taking the night fresh air break, which usually does not start until 11pm

[iamthecornteen]

my departure time is set for tomorrow: 11am.

they called on the hotel room’s telephone. which, i have to say . . . is so goddamn nice of a . . . tacile and aural experience. have you done it recently? the button clicks on the number pad are soft and the lil hang-up receiver does such a nice un-click as you pull the phone off of its resting imprint. though . . .

mostly it’s the hearing of your own voice that is so precisely melty, because you can hear 1.) your own voice in front of you with your own ears, but it also 2.) seems to go through the receiver and then come out the hearing end of the phone as well . . . so you can hear [your actual voice] + [this slightly telephone filtered version of it through the ear] — at the same time. when your sentences start or stop, or when you swallow or you pause, the static filter mushing onto your phone-filtered voice (this is weird but i imagine the audio filter as like a clear sausage skin casing, and your voice as the ground sausage meat) comes to a nice, rounded aural end. breaths are a lil texturey, everything’s all warm.

[iamthecornteen]

i have added my new covid friends on instagram since tomorrow is goodbye

[iamthecornteen]

some general tipz for future patients of the laguardia plaza covid isolation hotel (info we patients talk about amongst ourselves during fresh air breaks): + the hot water from the tub is hot enough to brew your own tea + shower water does take a while to heat up sometimes — try showering at different times of day, it might have to do with when everyone else is showering + you can receive up to one more blanket if you ask for it + you can receive up to one more pillow if you ask for it + make sure you get the $25 dollar uber eats voucher — if they don’t give it to you, just say you didn’t get one + doesn’t seem like everyone gets the weekly food menu — ask around at fresh air breaks, someone will have it and can probably give you a photo + you can receive mail + make sure you stay til the end for the grand treasure, which, this information i will disclose to you tomorrow

[iamthecornteen]

today’s 4pm fresh air break: me, #607 and #625 stood in a circle with some others and we went around asking our occupations: + environmental scientist consultant + video game producer + construction worker + software engineer + community manager at squarespace + actor + nyu data scientist grad student

the child that collected berries for their jello cup is still here. they have continued to do this and also spend a lot of time stabbing sticks into the mulch by the bushes and pushing their hands in to the dirt.

#650′s jacket continues to leak fluff from new locations. the jacket is from uniqlo. buyers beware!

[iamthecornteen]

the active bird hour has arrived but i didn’t catch it on tape this time around