035- Housesitting in the Time of Covid-19
Kelly Hayes-Raitt was expecting an extensive travel period over the next several months, but then Covid-19 happened. Stuck in London, on this episode she shares her experience of travel restrictions, quarantines, and her take on what’s happening.
Topics in the episode:
Kelly’s update
How has this impacted your house sitting journey?
How has this impacted International house sitting in general?
How do you think this will change the pet sitting/house sitting industry moving forward?
What lessons can we learn from this? Business and/or personal
About our guest:
Kelly Hayes-Raitt admits she sleeps around. Usually with animals.
As a full-time housesitter and traveler for the past decade, she’s learned a thing or two about housesitting and shares her knowledge and experience in her popular book How to Become a Housesitter: Insider Tips from the HouseSit Diva available in soft cover or Kindle at Amazon (http://amzn.to/2hlj7UP) or ebook on her web site (www.HouseSitDiva.com.
Before nomading, Kelly reported live from Iraq during the early weeks of the U.S.-led invasion. Her journalism has won several literary awards and has been widely published in anthologies.
Lately, she’s turned her energy toward helping other writers get their books jumpstarted. Her coaching clients call her “inspiring,” and students in her workshops rave about her unique teaching techniques. Learn more about working one-on-one with Kelly at www.JumpStartMyBook.org.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, travel, house, corona virus, homeowners, flu, stay, lockdown, sitting, globe, london, house sitters, plan, moving, isolate, happen, closer, canceled, takeaway, support
SPEAKERS
Kelly, Collin
Collin 00:17
I'm Collin and I'm Meghan. And this is pet sitter confessional, an open
00:21
and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter.
Collin 00:26
Welcome back to another special episode on this Friday. We are recording this March 22. So I'm sure a lot of things are going to change. A lot of pet sitters have been impacted globally. And another industry that has impacted has been travel housesitting, especially internationally. So Kelly Hayes rate has been so gracious and coming on today in the midst of all of this to talk about how this has changed the industry and some of her thoughts and what's going on globally, and hopefully giving us a different perspective on health. Things are changing and just the pace that things are happening. So, Kelly, thank you so much for coming on and I'm and we all hope that you're doing well and staying safe.
Kelly 01:09
Oh, Collin, thanks. It's a delight to be here. I'm self isolating. I'm bored to tears. I'm so glad. So the constructor to do thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
01:17
You're very welcome. We're trying to get to hear your voice.
Kelly 01:21
So I'm in London right now and I had been here before the coronavirus outbreak started in China with how sits that I was planning on doing and how sits around the Adriatic Sea that I was planning on doing so for the month of April, for example, I was going to be spending time in Montenegro, taking care of a cat and a dog while the homeowner who was a teacher was on break and she would be traveling. Spring Break is a really great time for house sitters because there are wonderful house sets are available all over the world. It's a really good time for people for newbies who want to try to Find a way to break in because there's a lot of outlets available when teachers are going on break. So I was very excited that I had set this up in this house in Montenegro if I had had it set up since December. I had it scheduled since then. So I was here in London and planning on flying from London, to Niagara, and Corona virus broke out. And when it hit Italy, the homeowner in Montenegro contacted me for travel plans had been to go to a family reunion in Milan, Italy. So that of course was cancelled. So yeah, she was scrambling trying to figure out what to do what she would be doing next. And she invited me to come she said, I could still come but her place is small, she she only has a one bedroom flat with a dog and the cat. So she said, You know, I, I don't know if you'll be able to stay here the whole time. And for me that was just a little too uncertain in terms of where I would be staying. So I decided to Not to go on to that there. And she's, she was fine with that. I mean, that was that was the conclusion that we both came to. So I decided to stay in London. Now the flip side of this is that homeowners in London who were planning on traveling in March and April, their house sitters are not able to arrive from other countries. Semi semi being here in London meant that I had a distinct advantage in getting those house sitting assignments. Because I was here locally and there wouldn't be that problem. So I picked up two other house sitting assignments for the month of March. So the beginning of March, for the first two weeks in March, I was house sitting in North London for a couple that was going to Japan to run the jet, the Tokyo marathon which got canceled the week before their trip. So that put that house in jeopardy, but they decided to go ahead and take the trip anyway because It was a trip of a lifetime that already paid for everything and they went. So, but what I did was I made sure I didn't schedule back to back houses I gave myself a couple of days of cushion after that house it in case they got stuck and couldn't make it back. So I wanted to, you know, provide that opportunity to just, you know, help them out if they needed it. But they went they they had an okay time they said everything was closed. It was like Japan was like a ghost town. But they they did get around and they came back on time. So then, it was going to be another two days before I started my next house set, which was also in northwest London. In the meantime, I spent two nights with my new British Beau and his two children blossoming relationship. JOHN had been feeling kind of a little rundown. So I spent two nights there figuring I could help with the kids and grocery shop and, you know, let him have his sleep and and recuperate. I hit a fever while he was getting over the fever, but we didn't believe he had coronavirus, hitting him any of the other symptoms. So, the day I was to go to my next house it he got a text from the school went out to all parents that said anyone experiencing a fever or a cough must self isolate, which is the term that's being used here in the UK must self isolate for 14 days from the beginning of the symptoms, and that included everybody else in the household.
Collin 05:31
Oh my goodness.
Kelly 05:34
Now, I was on lockdown for another six days with this man. I know I know, but not super Well, certainly not enough to live with. And his two kids who were quite angry at being stuck and not being able to go to school and not being given their electronics. They couldn't sit on their laptop and their phones all day long. That was a really interesting What's the Chinese term? We live in interesting times? Yeah. Okay. Yes. This was an interesting week, to say the least. It was one of the most challenging weeks I've ever had.
06:13
It ended yesterday.
06:15
Okay, so you were able so that, that that corner that quarantine period was was lifted and everybody's okay. And at this point,
Kelly 06:24
yeah. health wise, everybody's fine. I mean, we've, you know, john had Johnny had something we don't know what he had, but it wasn't Corona virus, but nevertheless, he stayed home and and, you know, it was helpful to have another adult there to help with the kids single dad. And, you know, I was glad I could help and that it was it was interesting because, you know, men everybody had to do a lot of readjusting.
Collin 06:45
Yeah, that's the probably the the biggest word for the month of March is is readjusting. Maybe just the first of 2020 of the whole year that is readjusting to what is very likely, you know, the new normal i don't i I hope not but there's so much in the air and and just hearing your story of this this domino effect of cancellations and and how you were thankfully able to find other opportunities in the area that you were and you know, kind of almost make the best the situation that you could that's what that's what we're in the same boat that everybody's in right now is just kind of making the best of the situation that we're in.
Kelly 07:27
I think so i think that i think adjustment that's a that is a great watchword to keep in mind and flexibility, of course, and just from watching out for each other, and there's been a lot of that. So we're where I am physically this moment, as we're doing this interview. And the couple that I was supposed to go into the house sit for a few days ago, had we had been in touch and they canceled their overseas plans because they, they saw the writing on the wall and they weren't going to be able to do that. But they said we'll probably traveled domestically, you know, somewhere within the UK. Come anyway. And they have a A third floor. loft is a self contained apartment. It's a single apartment, it's adorable. It's got a lot of light. And it's just it's a wonderful place to be. They said, Come anyway, and you can live in our loft. until things until we figure things out. And if we travel, then you can take care of the dog. And if not, you know, you're welcome to stay in the loft. And that's where I am now. That's where I moved into yesterday. And I'm just so grateful that these total strangers who I just met off the internet from a house sitting site, offered me this. And I think, I think that just shows the best side, the most glorious side of house sitting in the way people really pulled together as a community. And I'm just so lucky and excited to be here and a wonderful couple. We had dinner together last night and it was just a lovely conversation. So I'm I feel extremely lucky, but I know that there are other house sitters in other parts of the world who are stressed And having having trouble figuring out where to go and how to recruit
Collin 09:04
I you know I was was interested to hear kind of you know you're plugged into that community a lot more than I think that the average person so how are other house sitters dealing with this coping with this and you know what's the kind of the light at the end of the tunnel that everyone keeps looking for?
09:26
Other than for this to all just go away
09:31
he starts laughing I know.
Kelly 09:34
Okay, so how are other people coping with it and I think they're kind of doing what what I did which is scramble to try to find some sort of accommodation when you know, they've it you know, everybody's situation is unique, right. I mean, some people some house sitters had not left their home base to go travel so they're at home. If so when the house that canceled they stayed home. Others already were in the country. As I was, you know, I was already overseas. So you know, it's a matter of scrambling, then trying to find some sort of plan B, it's always a good idea as a house sitter to have a plan B anyway. But, but this one's tough because we we really don't know how long it's gonna last. And so yeah, I think that uncertainty and that creation of living in limbo, if you will, adds to the anxiety and the and the and the unease around all of this. So I don't have any magic words for it. But some people are staying in Airbnb or vacation rentals or hotels, others or are hunkering down with friends. And you know, people are just doing whatever they can so that they can continue to, to have a place to
Collin 10:46
sleep. Right. And I know and you touched on it of of just how wonderful it is amongst this, this chaos to this global pandemic how nice it is that People are reaching out that they are helping each other. That's been so wonderful to see when I know a lot of people are facing hopelessness and they're facing despair amongst changing plans and being stranded or being on lockdown, but just knowing that the community is there and the community is supporting each other and really doing their best to make sure that everybody is okay and taken care of.
Kelly 11:26
Yes, and there are a couple of housesitting Facebook groups, and I you know had a look at those before we jumped on the phone today. And you know, it's it, there really is this sense of community in the sense of of helping, so how sitters are posting where they are geographically and you know what their needs are and then homeowners are opening up extra bedrooms and or guest houses or in the case here, you know, the the upstairs loft in order to you know, to accommodate house Even though they don't need even though those homeowners don't need house sitting services at that moment. So it's it is really nice. I'm not sure what's going to happen in the future you asked us for my my magic ball here, my crystal ball days again, I don't know. Personally, I feel that there has been. So it's gonna be so controversial. I feel that some of the government reactions to this outbreak has been overblown. And I think it's not been handled very well. I would have targeted support and testing and medical support to the most vulnerable populations, elderly people, people with underlying health conditions, rather than trying to make these these blanket policies. I mean, I want to just put this in perspective. This is a flu last flu season in the United States. 34,000 people died. That's That's common are in people dot people die from the flu. It's one of the things that happens. And if you have an underlying health condition that makes you more vulnerable to the flu, then you're going to have more complications due to the flu. And that's, that's what's happening here. That's what we're seeing. The deaths that we're seeing are people who, who are discuss on campus and I don't mean to, but who would most likely die from the flu anyway. And I and I know I hate saying those words, because it does sound so callous. But it's, but I think we need to put this in perspective. And, you know, if I were in charge, I'd be putting resources toward finding the vaccine. You know, rather than making these large, large blanket statements, I'm very concerned about the hospitality and the travel industries and the long term impact the economic pandemic is going to have on those two industries. I mean, you know, we're seeing struggling airlines already. Talking about going under. And we've got a lot of minimum wage workers work in the hospitality and travel industry and there's no safety net for them. The Disneyland closes what happens to all of those thousands of minimum wage employees and how do they make the rent this month?
Collin 14:18
Yeah, it's not just directly those workers, but all of the businesses that have built up around all of these travel locations that helps support the travel industry. So as you mentioned, you know, not just the airlines, but the shops and the restaurants and the clothing outlets and all of those things that go in to support people being there while traveling. This ripple effect continuously moving through, and you know, the flatten the curve idea of you can flatten the curve as much as much as you want, but if you don't spend time raising the capacity of that line for medical capacity, you're You're not doing as much good as you think you're doing. And so, excellent point, you know, it rent radically ramping up production of ICU beds and ventilators and targeting the most vulnerable people. In the perspective that you gave of how many thousands of people die every year from the flu, it's, it's one thing to sit you know, that's, that's the familiar. That's what we've had. That's what we have, as a society and as a globe have adjusted to we that is baked into our psyche and how we relate to the world around us whether we realize it or not, the onset of something new, it's new and scary, and we don't have any defenses against it. And that really puts us up, puts us up, puts us on the backfoot and we as humans don't like being caught off guard. And that's where I think that this is really starting to where that panic comes from because it is unknown. We don't have a treatment. We don't have any protection against it. What do we do? You know, how do we as a species, as as a society, handle that and you're kind of you're really seeing people grapple with that it really is the unknown. And that's where all that fear comes from. That's why there are no toilet paper on the shelves anywhere across the globe, apparently, because we need to we're trying to latch on to things that we can control to help make ourselves feel better.
Kelly 16:28
Yes, I I agree with that. And, you know, but the only thing that I want to mention is that we do need to remember that this Corona virus flu First of all, Corona virus has been around since the 60s. I mean, it's a flu that it's been it's a strain that's been around for a long time. So it's, it's not something that's this, you know, new and scary thing, although it feels that way, because nobody's ever talked about it before. So, you know, it's new and scary to our experience, right? Right. And it also is one of the less Less deadly flus. And when we look at the more recent pandemics SARS in 2006, I think it was and Merce that was in 2012 2012. Merce was the Middle East Respiratory system SARS, I forgot what that even stood for. But star's death rate was something like, you know, 12 or 11% 11 or 12% verse was like 34%, right? And coronavirus is at 4%. And I'm I'm guessing that that 4% fatality rate figure is probably high, because I think there's a lot more people that have Corona virus that aren't that are just, it's just a flu and they're getting over the flu and so they're not getting tested, and they're not part of the statistics. So it's so it's creating, you know, I'm, you know, yes, we have this health scare. And it's also like, I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I'm gonna say it's almost, it's almost over. I mean, it's over in China. They're closing down The special hospitals they build the the rate is flattened out. In Japan, it's almost over. You know, so I think it's, you know, it is something it's a flu and so, you know, as people get it and they recover from it, they have the antibodies, they have the resistance to it. There's new scientific breakthroughs happening as we speak. I mean, it's just incredible. You know, they've isolated the genes they've, they've think they may have a vaccine and it's being tested now. I mean, there's there's all kinds of positive news coming out that the just can't filter through the onslaught of negative news. I googled coronavirus the other day there were 5 billion coronavirus stories on the internet. Wow. million. I mean, it's like you know, and no wonder we're all upset and and concerned about this because it's really hard to get away from the fearful headlines.
Collin 19:04
Right now, now on on that, you know, I listen to you and I love the attitude that you're approaching with this kind of this this cautious optimism or ease pure optimism at this point. That's fine. And I love that because because as you mentioned, like when the whole globe has basically bending its will to one singular focus. things are going to happen a lot faster. breakthroughs are going to happen a lot faster. Help is going to come a lot faster. When this is the singular. We've taken the eyes off of everything else we were worried about as a globe, and focused it on this one singular topic. That's good when humanity is working together. Good things happen.
Kelly 19:50
That's very true. And I think we'll see. I think we'll see more people doing, you know, virtual remote work and virtual meetings and things like that. I mean, we've already done that trend has been around for quite a while now. It's not a new trend. But I'm seeing older people doing it now, people who were kind of technology adverse. Mm hmm. You know, they're now figuring out how to do group zoom meetings on their cell phones. Yeah. And doing more virtual kinds of things. And I think there's an upside and a downside to that. I mean, the downside, of course, is that, you know, you don't have the human interaction as much, but I think we'll get that back. But the upside of that is that it's really an opportunity then to stay more connected with people and to be more interconnected with people who are in other parts of the world and in other cultures. And I think that's always a positive thing when we have an opportunity to expand those kinds of connections.
Collin 20:46
Yeah, the term that's being thrown around of social distancing. I, I really, that that term has started lately, kind of gnawing at my brain because what it really is, is it's physical distance. Now more than ever, we need socialization. And we're finding, as you mentioned those tools to allow us to do that we're finding, oh, wow, there are a lot of ways that I can still interact, connect, and talk and share ideas and collaborate with people around me without having them to sit right beside me. So the physical distancing, like right now, we should be socially close. Now more than ever, whenever we need it, but being physically apart, it just speaks exactly what you're saying.
Kelly 21:30
That's a great point calling you should do that is like an op ed article or an article to put up on medium calm or something, because that's a really important point.
Collin 21:39
Thank you. I just, I know so many people who are feeling absolutely alone, where they used to interact with a bunch of people or they were interacting with dogs or they were going out and traveling and seeing all these sites and things. And now they're being forced to sit in a room all by themselves. But yeah, last But that that last part's not true, because you're not really alone. There are so many opportunities and options to connect with people. It's new and different. And it's not the way we used to. But it still allows for you to, you know, talk with people and share your concerns, you know, and in you and I have talked about that before of using technology to continue to connect and socialize, that is a way of socializing. It's just different for a lot of people right now. And it can be uneasy.
Kelly 22:29
Yes, absolutely. And, you know, I mean, I think the challenge is going to be for people who are forced to live together who weren't intending to live together. You know, school aged children home full time, it's not weekends, it's not a vacation. It's, you know, you got to do school stuff and all of a sudden, parents are forced to be in a position where they're homeschooling, which means they can't get their own work done. I didn't get anything done last week when I was with my boyfriend and his kids, because I was, I was we split the kids up I took the younger son I was with him all day long one on one, doing activities and learning things with him. And, you know, it's It was great because we bonded a lot. And so on one hand, it was really an extraordinary experience for me, a single woman who's been single all her life never lived with anybody to suddenly be thrown in with a sick man in his kids. And, you know, like I said, it was an adjustment for everyone. But there you know, there were some positive things that came out of it. I mean, I'm certainly closer with that family now than I was. And so you know, it's in the kids had a different experience to I mean, they had to deal with their anger, their dad for getting sick, and they had to deal with their disappointment of not being with their friends and not being able to go to dance class and music class and all these other things. And that's a tough thing for kids. Very tough.
Collin 23:54
Yeah. Trying to explain to them what's going on and it's very confusing time for adults. Like alone, let alone kids that are in the house. But you know what you're that idea of, Oh, I can't go out. So I'm in. And I'm with somebody that say, you know, for that example, I have my family with me. No, thankfully you have family or friends around you. Let's start investing in each other then and in. Let's start. You know, really, we all used to talk about how busy we were and we couldn't spend time with anybody. Well, guess what? Now we have all the time to interact with people in our own house and and to talk with them about their fears and come together. You know, we mentioned a community coming together, wealthier people in your house. What a better way to get through this then by investing in each other that are there taking care of each other's needs, and maybe learning something about yourself and others along the way.
Kelly 24:50
Mm hmm. Exactly, exactly. So I hope I'll put my crystal ball back into into into work here. I hope that what happens in the future is that we go back to traveling, we recognize how really small This world is if a virus can travel that quickly we can travel to and we can still meet people and still experience new things and still help each other out. And I think you know, that the house sitting homeowners relationship, I think has just become much more important and and we recognize how critical that that codependency and in all the right ways is.
Collin 25:29
Yeah, and that's that moves into a topic that I was interested in hearing your take on is right now we're in the thick of it, and we're hopefully seeing a light where there may be more of a better normal, maybe back to a previous normalcy, but long term and moving forward. I'm curious how you how you'd mentioned that we will continue to travel. In what other ways do you think travel pet sitting and travel housesitting as an industry is going to change. Because of this,
Kelly 26:01
well, I think for a little while, we'll probably see people spending more time traveling domestically. Then instead of taking the chance on, you know, this, this both the health aspect and the economic aspect, so So right now, you know, countries are on lockdown, so you can't get in, but once that lockdown is raised, there's going to be a lot of struggling, you know, restaurants and hotels and vacation rentals and, and people that we want to support. But many travelers may say I, you know, I just don't want to chance that right now. And we don't know what's going to happen with the airlines. So you know, do I want to jump on a budget airline and fly somewhere, not knowing if I'm going to be able to return. So I think what we'll see is more internal kind of traveling where people get a chance to explore their own countries a little bit because it just reduces some of the unknown factors of what could happen. So we might see that happen initially. If prices really dropped, in order to try to attract people to come back to some of the major tourist areas, you know, we might just see a lot of travel happening. You know this at the end of the summer or the beginning of the fall, once this thing all blows over, and I'm gonna hope I'm not being too optimistic, they're thinking that it's going to blow over that quickly. But, but I do I think we're going to have I love science. And I think we're going to have an answer to this real quickly.
Collin 27:30
Yeah. One of the things I've been trying to wrap my head around is how this changes our social interactions as we travel. You know, right now, the entire globe is telling you, groups bad, isolation, good. And is that something that you think will will stick as a society as traveling house sitters have this this weird caution of Avoiding groups or do you think there'll be a pretty quick rebound from that that kind of mentality?
Kelly 28:04
I think that that people are the way they are. And that's that this is not going to change that. So introverted people who kind of self isolate anyway because that's just the way they are, will probably continue to be more loner types and people like me who are outgoing people and love to chat anyone up. You know, that's, that's not gonna stop me.
Collin 28:28
Right? I think that, again, there's that there's that. While this is, this is bad. This is this is unprecedent in our modern times, the the idea of, of it, actually breaking society. But you know, I just don't think that's going to happen. I think we're still going to emerge from this stronger and more united and not inherently different or more divisive or any of those things moving forward.
Kelly 29:00
I agree. I mean, I think this is, this is an opportunity. You know, we can do it. We can do 100 different things with what we've been given here we can go write King Lear the way Shakespeare did when he was under quarantine for the black plague. We could become closer to our families, we could sit around and become new zombies and lament what's happening in the world? I mean, we've got a lot of choices on how we respond to this. And, you know, I think, you know, people like you and me who are in the service business of house sitters who are in the relationship building. Business, that's that's really basically what we do is we build relationships with homeowners and with pets. I think we're going to continue to do that no matter what happens, it is how we do it may change slightly. It's certainly changing now. You know, but it may change a little bit going forward. But but we're gonna essentially be the same people and I think we're, you know, you and I, we're not going to stop building relationships with people because that's what we do you know, where That gets us that makes us excited.
Collin 30:02
Yeah. It does. It does. And so thinking of that, I'm wondering what kind of lessons you have taken from this entire thing you know that story, you know, you told of, of your backup, having a backup plan and watching things change at a rapid pace around you. What have you taken from that personally? And right now?
Kelly 30:26
That's a good question. You know, things are moving so fast. To be honest, I haven't really had a chance to stand back and reflect that's a really good question, Collin. I think, Well, certainly having a plan B. But I you know, I generally have my my plan B is a credit card, right? So if I'm, if I'm, and I've had a house, it's evaporate on me twice in the past few times in the past. And, you know, I just went and stayed a hotel. I mean, that that was what I sort of did for my plan B while I regrouped and tried to figure out what the next part was. Gonna be this time, it's not so simple because I don't know how long this is going to last. So do I really want to check into a hotel and be stuck in a hotel for six weeks or two months or something, I can't afford that. So this was a different kind of a plan B that just caught me by surprise. So let's see a takeaway from that. I, I, I am a social person. And I like to keep up my social networks, both online and in person. So one of the first things I did was was just start, you know, communicating with my friends here in London, to see what different options were available to me if I did get stuck. So So I guess one of the takeaways is to really, you know, keep up with your friends and the place where you're moving to, or where you're going to be house sitting. If you have them so that you've got some sort of support network if something happens, so that would be the first thing. Second thing is you know, make sure you've got that credit card because that's why God made them These kinds of situations. And the third thing I would say is just and I keep the communication flowing. So I am in constant contact right now with the homeowners that the house sits that I've already committed to for April, because I did get some new houses. And while the homeowners plans are all shifting, they haven't necessarily cancelled their plans at this point. So it's, you know, it's one of those sort of, they would be okay, if I cancelled they understand what the reality of this is. But I also am in a position where I can do those houses locally here in London, if they if they move forward with it. So the communication and keeping the communication open. I think it's really important being totally honest and upfront with what you can do what you're able to do, what's happening with you health wise from both sides, so for example, when I was on lockdown with my boyfriend and his kids and I was supposed to come to this house it. You know, I was really upfront with people and I said, Here's what's happening. JOHN has a fever. I don't, you know, we are in lockdown for the next six days. We have six days remaining in this lockdown. And, you know, what would you like me to do? And the couple thought about it, and they said, We want to wait until you're done to the lockdown. And then you can come here, but you know, we're all social distancing. And so we will we will keep our distance from you. And I said, that's fine. So I think honoring everybody's responses to this is important. And to try not to be judgmental about how they're responding to it, which can be tough because, you know, people get stranded and I'm just so grateful that this couple here even though you know they are nervous about Corona virus and concerned about it You know, they're still allowing me to be here. And we're just respecting each other's boundaries, I'm respecting their wishes on that,
Collin 34:07
above all else that comes, comes back to communication and communicating with people that you are going to, as you said, with, with homeowners, with friends with contact, so that so that you, you know, can so you can receive help so that you can help to that you keep people in the loop of how you're doing. And you stay connected through this time where we're being told to not physically Connect, and I just, I love that it comes it all comes back down to communication and in talking with people and checking in and all that's wrapped up into that.
Kelly 34:42
Exactly. I think that's really important.
34:44
Now, I'll tell you what would be a real pandemic for me is if the global Internet went down, you know,
Kelly 34:51
I know that would strike fear in my heart.
Collin 34:54
I know I know several countries, we're reaching out to all the streaming industries, you Netflix, Hulu, Disney and one others internationally of asking them to, to decrease the resolution of movies to take them from 4k or 1080 and move them drop them down so that there would be enough bandwidth for all these people. So, yeah, that was
35:18
Oh, interesting. That makes a lot of sense.
Collin 35:20
Yeah. Because you have millions. I just saw stat, as of yesterday, upwards of 1 billion people are now being told to stay in their homes, globally. And they are all on the internet. And that is quite a strain on that. So yeah, if that goes down, that'll be there'll be another story for now.
Kelly 35:40
So they'll either be on the internet or it will be someplace else and there is a little thing going around Facebook, a little meme that nine months from now, the new glut of babies that will be born will be will be called coronas. Yeah.
35:54
Yep. The colonial generation. It's
Collin 35:59
well Well, Kelly, I thank you for coming on and sharing your perspective on this and, and helping others understand the situation that others are in and giving us hope. And as always, encouraging us to, to communicate and stay connected and invest in those relationships. If people want to, you know, follow along and send updates and encouragement or just ask questions about how to do what you're doing, how can they best do that?
Kelly 36:33
Oh, thank you. My website is how CIT diva.com www dot house CIT diva calm and just send me a message through there. I would love to communicate with you. I'm
36:48
looking for ways to reach out to more people. So thank you.
Collin 36:51
Yeah, and we wish you all the best and health and safety and we'll definitely be be staying in touch moving forward. You know, see see how this comes out in shortly hopefully.
Kelly 37:05
Right thanks Collins so much. It was so good to talk to you again.
Collin 37:08
Yes. Likewise, since recording this interview with Kelly Britton has gone on a further level of lockdown where there are no more groups of two to be seen in public and several other things. India has also as a country gone on lockdown locking away over 1.2 billion people in their homes and hotspots of coronavirus and Cova. 19 are breaking out in multiple cities across the globe, especially in the United States as senators and Congress struggle to find ways to stop the bleeding. The one takeaway from Kelly is that there is hope out there that there are people working that there is work being done as a society as the globe to focus all of their energy, all of our technology and science to do something about This that should give us all hope. And as we all work together to encourage one another and help each other along the way, there will be a light at the end of this tunnel. But how are you doing? If you would like to share your story and tell everybody about how you are coping with this and ways that you are dealing with being under self isolation, quarantine or shelter in place or whatever term you want to use. Email us at feedback at pet sitter confessional.com. join our Facebook group set or confessionals and share your story there as well. Cool, I'll talk to you again soon.
