OMG guys, we are back to sitting at the BAR on a Friday night!!!
Oh, how much I have missed this!! Sure, I have enjoyed outdoor dining on Friday nights, the big white tents set up in parking lots have made me feel like I was vacationing on Cape Cod. It was a treat and I enjoyed every minute of it.
But it’s now almost mid-October and it’s getting damn cold out there after the sun goes down. (Don’t even get me started about how early the sun sets here during the fall, I’m seriously ready to pack all my shit and move to Florida, I just can’t take the dark and this chilly weather.) So I’m thrilled to be able to sit inside, and not at a little table next to the bar, but at the actually bar! My husband thinks the plexiglass barrier is odd, but I’d surround myself in plexiglass if it meant that I can go out and do something normal on a Friday night!!
I was so happy to be at our local Irish pub on a Friday night, just like back in “normal” times! Sure it wasn’t packed like it used to be, and we didn’t see all of our Friday night friends (we did see two!!), but it was as close to normal as we’ve gotten in a long time.
Until my husband started nagging me to finish my beer and get our check — there was a baseball game that he just had to rush back home so he could see the last 3 innings. Because we haven’t been stuck at home enough in the past 7 months…
But I guess him wanting to head back home just made the night feel even more like normal…
Yesterday afternoon, we had a quick thunderstorm blow through our area. It was definitely in the weather forecast, but the timing and severity kept changing. I’m not a huge fan of driving in bad storms, especially storms that make the roads slick with fallen leaves. But I’ve been trying to get to Target for almost a week now — it was pretty much go to Target now or start using computer paper in the bathroom. So I headed to Target after work and the sun was shining!
Now Target can always be a black hole sucking me in for hours at a time, but within 20 minutes of shopping, the sky turned black, the winds picked up and it started pouring. Where did this storm even come from?? By the time I paid for my purchases and headed to my car, the wind had calmed down and it was only drizzling, thank goodness. I made it home in one piece.
But I can’t say that about one of the trees in our neighborhood!
There was a police officer next door to our house with his lights flashing when I turned onto our street. At first I thought he was at our neighbor’s house, until I noticed the huge tree branch sitting in the street across from our driveway. I couldn’t get a good photo of it because it was so dark (at 6:45 p.m.!!!), but believe me, it was a good sized tree branch. And the branch was leaning on the power lines. My husband and I were able to pull into our driveway, the police officer was sitting at the other end of our street blocking folks from entering from that direction. And we still had electricity!
The electric company arrived around 10 p.m. (the police officer had been sitting at the end of our street for that long!), and they quickly turned off the power to our street so they could cut down the hanging tree branch. It was so cool to watch the electric company use a chain saw to cut the damaged tree down from a bucket truck in the dark!
The power came back on (yippee!) and we went to bed. It wasn’t until this morning that we realized that we didn’t have any cable, phone or internet service. Now for two people stuck inside working from home, you kind of need internet service to be productive. My husband called Verizon from his cell phone and waited on hold for over two hours!
In the meantime, we were entertained by this:
Look at this tree!
After waiting on hold for over 2 hours, Verizon told my husband that they could send someone out on Friday at 2 p.m. to look at the problem. He obviously wasn’t too happy. And it’s not like we are having problems with service in our actual house, there’s an actual fallen cable out on the street! (Again, too dark for good photos!)
So today I worked from home with no internet access. I created a hot spot with my company-issued cell phone and plugged it into my desk top computer so I could dial in remotely and access both my e-mails and my files. It was my husband’s suggestion and honestly, something that I would have never thought of doing. Good job, husband!
And please don’t judge me, but I am using that same hot spot tonight to write this blog post. My husband went to Home Depot earlier to purchase an HD antenna, so at least we can turn on the TV this evening. (I thought his head was going to start spinning around this afternoon because he couldn’t watch TV!) I’m really missing my internet radio. And now I am wondering how I’m going to do my morning workout tomorrow…
Hopefully Verizon will be here in the afternoon to fix the problem. It’s kind of crazy that losing access to internet and cable can just throw you into a complete tailspin. But maybe that’s just how this year is going. We see you, 2020, we are waving that white flag, we are calling uncle. Now bring back the damn internet!
Seriously — it makes every single office task SO much easier! Why retype something over and over again if you can just use the copy and paste function?? I must use the copy and paste function 100s of times a day! At least that’s what it feels like some days. I guess that I really do repeat myself constantly…maybe folks should just start listening to me!
I read the other day that the guy who invented the copy and paste function for the computer passed away recently. I don’t remember what his name was or really anything about him. (Maybe this pandemic is really hurting my reading comprehension!)
But from now on, I will always refer to him as “Mr. Copy and Paste”. And you, sir, just might be my hero. You make my life so much easier and my work so much faster. So here’s to you, Mr. Copy and Paste, I raise my beer tonight in your memory.
Oddly, I didn’t use copy and paste once in writing this blog post. But the sentiment is still there, I promise!
I thought my husband was going to have a meltdown today. He turns the TV on in our living room pretty much the minute that he gets up and it stays on all day while he works in our kitchen. I like background sounds too, but for me it’s the radio, my husband likes 90s sitcoms as his white noise.
This morning he got up and turned on the morning news. The picture came on just fine, but there was no sound. I’m assuming that he tried turning off the TV multiple times, he probably used every single remote we have (why do we have SO many remotes?!?). But the sound just didn’t come on.
And I will give him credit — I had no idea that the TV wasn’t working for a couple hours. I was shut in my home “office” working away. If there was any bad words or ugly crying, I didn’t notice a thing.
After a few hours of repeatedly disconnecting the cable box, re-plugging in wires and trying to reboot the system with no success, my husband finally decided to call Verizon. Well, they must have been getting a ton of calls today, because their automated system said the wait time was much longer than normal – like hours. He tried to schedule an appointment for them to call back when there was a rep available, but he couldn’t get a time slot until tomorrow.
But my husband must have really wanted his TV back, because he waited on hold with Verizon for 3 hours! And I’m not exaggerating. He left our house phone (yes, we still have one of those, can you imagine??) on speaker and continued to work at his computer while he waited for them to answer his call. The hold music was definitely annoying, but at least I could close my door and turn up my music.
And he waited on hold that whole time! And when his call finally came up in the queue, they were able to identify the problem within 20 minutes. The solution entailed my husband heading over to Home Depot to purchase a new wire to connect from the cable box to one of the speakers, but he got it done and our living room TV has sound again! It’s a technology miracle!
And my husband is happy, or at least his version of happy. He’s not smiling, but he has sound back on his TV.
But please don’t tell anyone! Back in July, I signed up for a 40 days yoga and meditation program and one of the requirements was a 45 minute Zoom check in every Monday night.
And I will admit — I was not looking forward to this part. I attend plenty of Zoom meetings for my day job, there was no way that I wanted to hang out on Zoom after hours. And with people I have never met in person before!
But I have been attending the weekly classes these past 5 weeks and I’ve actually enjoyed it! And I have been looking forward to seeing the group every week. How did that even happen??
Sure I’m usually pretty tired by the time the 8 p.m. class rolls around, and that means Monday night dinner is even later for us — we typically eat at 8:30 p.m., so that means we’re sitting down at 9 p.m.-ish after the class ends. And honestly, who wants to sit on their computer for another hour after they’ve been stuck at the same computer, in the same room, for the entire work day, but I’ve just poured myself a beer (probably not the most yogi thing to do, but no one has commented, and it’s my time to relax!) and I’ve attended every class.
And I’ve gotten stuff out of the sessions — it’s a great group of women, all different ages, and they all have personal stories their willing to share, it’s been fun to participate in the class.
Tonight was actually the 6th and final class — this is the last week of the program. Too bad we don’t have a final wrap up class next Monday. I’m actually going to miss these Monday night Zoom classes! Now if I could just remember to do the daily yoga and meditation practices after the class is over…Zoom might have been the thing that was keeping me accountable!
I signed up for a series of virtual painting classes at the beginning of August, and big surprise — I have yet to do a single class. I’m an expert at overcommitting myself, that is for sure!
Today the instructor did a little pop up class — she purchased a ceramic truck from the craft store Michael’s and and painted it live so we could see her thought process behind her brushes and paint choices.
And I thought — what a nice, simple project for me to work on! I can totally commit to painting a ceramic piece. So I made sure that I drove over to Michael’s this afternoon to get a ceramic piece. But I didn’t want to paint a fall-themed truck, I wanted to paint something pretty, like a sunflower. And I found a sunflower! I was so excited.
I logged on to watch the class and paint along (I almost joined the class live if you can believe that!!). I had my yellow and orange paint, my brushes and I was ready to paint this pretty sunflower. The instructor went through the tutorial — she was really informative about color choices and blending paint to get the color and texture you want. But I realized that if I was really going to learn anything from this class, I should be painting the damn truck. The truck that I saw, but didn’t buy, when I was just at Michael’s. Sigh.
I did one coat of yellow on my ceramic sunflower and then turned off the video. I only lasted 20 minutes. Half a class down, probably 20 more to go!
I went to the 4 p.m. service at our local church this afternoon. I’ve been trying to go every weekend since they were allowed to re-open in June. It’s brought a little bit on normalcy back to my weekends. You remember weekends, right? Those two days in between the work week where you could stay at home and not leave the house if you didn’t want to? Yeah, I don’t remember them either.
Tonight’s mass was the most crowded I’ve seen it since they reopened. The church has every other pew roped off for social distancing and typically I sit at the end of one pew and there’s another person sitting at the opposite end. Every so often someone will be sitting in the middle, but there’s usually plenty of room to spread out and feel safe. And you have to keep your mask on the whole time you are in the church. Most people do, some decide that their nose is an exception. The pastor must have seen someone making that mistake from the altar, because he made an reminder during the middle of mass.
Well, I was a little late for today’s mass, as usual I got there right at 4 p.m., but they had already started. As I was walking down the aisle searching for a seat, I realized that all the rows towards the back of the church were full. I had to ask an older gentleman sitting at the end of the pew if I could squeeze in. He got out to let me in, but them I noticed that there was already someone in the middle, and someone at the other end. The four of us all had enough space to keep 6 feet between us, but this was the most crowded I have ever seen it. And I did think if there was ever a situation that I would get COVID-19, this was it. It took a few minutes, but my anxiety levels did go down. I used a little bit more hand sanitizer and I felt better.
At the end of the mass, when we were waiting to file out of our pews to head up the side aisles to receive communion before exiting the church (this is new COVID-19 protocol), the gentleman that let me scoot in starting inching toward me. He wanted to chat about how crowded it was and if I had watched the video recordings of mass. And I felt myself trying to inch way from him, but then I would be closer to the woman on the other side of me and I’m sure she wasn’t looking forward to that!
Now I always love to chat with strangers, but this pandemic has made me wary of that close contact when you chat with other people. And that makes me sad. Now I wasn’t going to rip my mask off and talk to this guy, but I also didn’t need to back away from him. He was just being friendly. I got over it and committed to having the conversation with him. And yes, if I do end up getting COVID-19, I’ll be able to pinpoint the exact date for the contract tracing, thank goodness!
Seriously, why am I so tired? Is there a full moon? I shouldn’t be this tired — it’s been a beautiful sunny week in August. I’ve been loving the hot temperatures, my tomatoes are finally ripening, it’s been gorgeous. Sure, I’ve been stuck working at home all week, but I’ve been doing that since mid-March. Why am I so tired this week?
Is it because I know it’s almost Labor Day and that summer is quickly coming to an end? I always get a little sad this time of year with the changing of the seasons. It’s because I know that the snow will be here much sooner than I want it to be. And it doesn’t help that everyone is talking about the return of pumpkin spice (gag!) to every single store — could we actually celebrate Labor Day before we start talking about Halloween??!?
And work has been really busy the past few weeks, like really, annoyingly busy. Now I’m not complaining really, I am grateful that I still have a job, especially now during this pandemic. But is it too much to ask to have a day with a little less stress?? A day where I’m not on the phone constantly? Please, I would like that, I really would.
And maybe all these things combined is the reason why I am feeling so tired on this Friday evening. But I better rally — it’s Friday night and that means we go out for outdoor dining! And I definitely don’t want to fall asleep in my beer…
On Thursday afternoons, I answer my company’s COVID-19 Hotline phone number. Basically you can call the Hotline with pretty much any question from where can you get a COVID-19 test to how can you access your office if you’re currently remote, and the answering staff member will walk you through your situation and try to help answer your questions. Like any job, some days are better than others — there are some shifts where the phone just doesn’t stop ringing and then others when I pretty much cheer when the phone finally rings.
The one good thing about having this shift every Thursday is that it forces me to take an early “lunch” break and get out of my home office. I’ve been going out for a run every Thursday around 11 a.m. And it feels so good to get outside and get some exercise in what would normally be before the middle of my work day. Typically I shove food in my mouth while sitting in front of my computer checking work e-mails, so Thursday is just a nice change of pace.
And the weather has been pretty nice every Thursday. Until today.
When I woke up, the forecast called for rain right smack in the middle of my normal Thursday run. And I just hate running in the rain — it’s absolutely miserable. I kept checking the weather while I was working and the rain was still there for 11 a.m. And it was really dark and cloudy out already, it totally looked like it could pour at any minute.
So I decided to skip my run for the first time in months. One day of shitty weather on a Thursday isn’t too bad, right? And I could do a workout inside at home just as easily, so instead I did a cardio workout on my iPad in the spare room.
I was only 10 minutes into the workout when all the damn clouds disappeared and the sun came out. And it was bright and beautiful for the rest of the afternoon while I was stuck inside answering the phone.
It’s beautiful and such a good size — I am so proud of it! (hmmm…that sounds a little dirty…)
But now, what do I do with it? Do I slice it up and try grilling it? Or should I do a little sautéing with some olive oil on the stove top? It’s the only zucchini that I was able to grow this season (got a ton of flowers, but no other fruits), so I have to do something cool with it.
My husband keeps talking about the delicious zucchini bread that his grandmother used to make when he was a kid. I’ve never made zucchini bread before, but I’m sure I can figure it out. But he always does this to me — talks about these childhood memories of yummy baked goods, so I find a recipe, bake the yummy childhood memory, and then he has one piece, says it’s delicious and then can’t be bothered to have seconds. Then I am stuck eating the rest if it, because I am not going to let my hard work go in the trash!
So what do I do with this damn zucchini?? If I make the bread for him, I’m going to load it with things that I like, because I’m going to be the only one eating it…
Notes from a Self Quarantine 