Living in the Time of Corona

Good Evening my Corona Friends and wish I had some good news to report this evening, but my heart is heavy to see what is happening tonight in my city, and it makes me so sad.  I certainly can understand the anger and frustration that has brought us to this boiling point I surely don’t understand the destruction, and how does that solve anything?  I mean think about it. We have been living under a Pandemic for the past several weeks, where life as we know it has ended, you can’t leave how without a mask for fear of spreading or dying.  Where are we going along with all this, so we could come to a point where we would not be recognized as we took to terrorizing and vandalizing? I surely don’t believe this was what we thought was going to happen. Just a few years ago Colin Kaepernick started taking a knee at NFL games and do you think anyone took the time to understand why he was doing it, no they would rather rant and rave that he was disrespecting our flag.  I am not saying that is 100% the fault of having a “carnival barker’ as the leader of what some used to consider the greatest nation in the world, but he sure gave voice to a platform of hate, and still continues to do so every day, along with that evil brood of his that he spawned. Right now today we have looked evil in the eye and it is bright orange, we need to temper down that color and it cannot come quick enough, pantone might help with a new color of the year for 2020 is Classic blue, a color that anticipates what is going to happen next and it is a calming color. Please I hope it is true and we can all find some solace, and surely hope we can make it to November when we can vote the mother right out of here.  Namaste Mother Fucker!!! I am trying to calm myself as I know I can get into a rant and a rave that will just not lead to a good place and still wake up in the same nightmare. It is the end of the world as we know it and I DON”T feel fine. Looting and trashing places are not going to bring any justice and only makes it worse for any sympathy.

We drove back from Philadelphia today and we were as happy and excited as we hijacked our granddaughter, and came home with her.  Ok so her parents came a few hours behind us in a separate car but it was a great road trip, I had the salt and vinegar chips and Tilda ate that Styrofoam air pop fake popcorn. She was a treasure the long ride home sleeping, eating and singing. They decided that maybe taking a break from Philly was a good idea and I guess we aren’t going to run away from this so easily, because we find it is following us until we deal with what is wrong with the world.  As I am watching the events unfold on the news tonight I can’t help but notice all these people with their cell phones filming themselves vandalizing and vocalizing hate. I don’t think that is how we are going to change the world and I am truly sad for our city, our children, and our country and for all those worried about how we are ever going to return to normal. I wished I hitched a ride on Space X yesterday…….

Just sayin

Good evening my Corona friends and what a crazy day it is to be alive today. Today was one of the most exciting and promising days we have seen in a very long time.  SpaceX had a very successful launch and the two astronauts are on their way to the international space station. That is the good news. They got to blast off and leave this earth, as I would say they are the lucky ones.  I mean seriously after a weekend like we have been having all over this country who wouldn’t want to hitch a ride right out of this world? I have been getting warnings on my phone for the past hour about a curfew in Philadelphia and I can hear the sirens from my room.  This coming after we had a really nice day taking in the sounds and sights of South Philly for the day. The weather was perfect and I took Tilda on a stroll for an hour or two this morning, just cruising up and down the streets and looking for signs of vitality in the city. You have to dig deep but you can find it in the neighborhoods, with a lot of signs that people post in the windows, with messages of fighting the corona virus and some day we will all be back. What I am always very curious about when I walk these neighborhoods is the amount of wrought iron for people’s stoops or entry ways.  I swear there must have been a contract that people had to sign when they came to the neighborhood and they had to get their railings at one of just a few places. Some of these are pretty ornate, some simple. Occasionally they share between two houses but never anything but wrought iron. I did find one that appeared to be more of a chrome finish and I wonder how that one got through the committee that approves these railings. Although not as many but there are still a lot of these metal awnings and I am sure that supply is somehow related to the wrought iron dealer. It’s funny how it is really a street by street determination of what people can put on their sidewalk.  Some blocks have a lot of big pots full of leafy green plants to really give a garden feel.  They do take a lot of pride in planting some beautiful flowers. The next block can be barren and buttoned up and just begging for someone to pay them some attention. Something we have noticed from out last few visits on our walks is that there are a lot of independent or family owned businesses on every block. You really don’t see much in the way of a chain or national brand in South Philly. I am very worried about them making it through this crisis and I hope they have enough support in their community. What has grown tremendously in this neighborhood the past several years have been restaurants and they had become a dining destination. One of the best things I have loved about the dining scene is a lot of BYOB, which I don’t see a lot of in Boston, if any. Here in Philly it is much more common. I wouldn’t have to worry about those amateur pours when they reopen, as I would be pouring my own.  Tonight we were trying to order take out and we had been off our devices most of the day so unaware of what was happening in this fair city, and a lot were closing early as a concern for their safety.  Now it is just not covid but looting and rioting that can turn you inside out. I support the cause but please don’t take it out on innocent businesses.

Today I want to give a shout out to my second favorite nephew Mike JR.  Yes I have a lot of nephews but Michael is celebrating his Birthday and he is in the fifty something zone. I just want you all to know that I think I was just a wee one when he was born. I did do a lot of babysitting for him or he might say it was the opposite. He might imply that there were many times that he had to babysit Auntie Peggy but from the mouths of babes they can exaggerate. He is very lucky as he has two pretty cool kids in Delaney and Jackson, and his wife Jill, who apparently are able to go shopping today in North Carolina as they reopen with a lot of pent up demand. This guy travels a lot for his work and is often gone 25 days out of every month. I asked him today how he was handling it and if he was disturbing the routine of his family, and typical guy answer he said no not all. I am sure he is wonderful husband and Dad but like most men totally clueless. Happy Birthday…………..

Just sayin

Well good evening my Corona friends and foes. I hope everyone is having a great evening and thank goodness for the weekend. Friday just kind of sneaks up on you now a days, and it is definitely not the same heartfelt meaning as it used to have. Back in the time when you picked up the kids from school; or day care and threw those backpacks to the corner till Sunday night. Now every day is groundhogs day and you just have to figure out how to get through it. I am pretty sure I have established that I will get through it with Kettel One, on the rocks, with a splash of soda and a little lime. Works like a charm. So techie and I find ourselves in South Philly for the next few days and after fits and starts, we find ourselves getting in to the groove of the city culture, a bit different than Boston but hey we are among the Eagles fans. Their idea of steak and cheese is with Cheez whiz, seriously I challenge most any sub shop in Boston to put out a steak and cheese that would put these all to shame. What I did find in Philly today to my great surprise was an Urban Refuge right in the city. John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge is right in the city and a few million people live within 10 miles of the refuge. It has become the go to place for my granddaughter Tilda. She loves chasing all the birds and looking after the turtles. I guess it is more about this Pandemic, and the fact that we really can’t stop anywhere on our walks, but this city is so much more congested than the city where I live. Granted it could be the neighborhood. It is a bit gritty and worn. It kind of colors it, when you have to stroll with a mask on all the time. But at the same time the neighborhood has more flavor than most. A lot of small family owned businesses and I hope they will survive. My ride down here yesterday from Boston was remarkable in some ways as we saw so many tractor trailer trucks with the big amazon smile on the side.  I can tell you they are not on their way to fill up the empty stores on Passyunk Ave and if people don’t start giving a shit about it, the most popular small business on a busy commercial avenue is going to be all going to FOR RENT. We are all waiting for a reopening of so many businesses. Lets just all hope that someday we can return to life as we knew it, before Corona.  Sitting in my son’s backyard patio this evening, patio might be generous, we could hear the neighbors laughing and talking but we were separated by a high wall.  I was reminded that my own neighborhood has gone eerily silent, without any of the loud drunks late on weekend nights, in the alley behind out building. Just the same old lady sitting out there smoking every day clearly ignoring the no smoking signs. At least she doesn’t have to fear for her life for breaking a few rules. What is noticeably different is we don’t hear any airplanes, and that is something we got used to after moving to the city. We loved to travel and I always loved that I lived 7 minutes to Logan and now I could skirt the timing of getting to the airport, even more dangerously close than usual. Now we sail by the airport in the harbor and see or hear almost nothing. Well glad to see and hear that there is life still happening in South Philly, even if it is a stir from a neighbor about the trash, or you parked a bit too close to my car. I will take it as a sign that life can go on , just with a mask. We also went to another park later in the day, again right near the stadium, where the Philly teams play, and we found a lone swing. Now I know parks are closed and before anyone gets a bit crazy about putting Tilda in the swing, just know this grandma travels with her own Clorox wipes and we cleaned it pretty darned good. Of course maybe it was because she has been cooped up in the house with no one but her Mom and dad for the past 9 weeks but she would not get out of that swing. We pushed her for over an hour and then we had to pry her little hands lose to get her out of there. I mean seriously it was after cocktail hour.  We had planned to go back for a dinner picnic but didn’t make it so looking forward to tomorrow’s adventure.  The world has changed and I know we have been living it for some time now, but you really even notice it more when you visit a place you have become so familiar with and you have to learn to love it all over again. Max has been here a long time and it did take some getting used to, and I finally learned to embrace what I perceived as flaws and absorb the culture. It is just that today I want to just stuff Alana, Max and Tilda in the car and take them away. They really never became Philly fans anyway.

 Just sayin

Hello my Corona friends and I hope everyone is sane and healthy. Tonight I am coming to you from a remote location. As you all may have surmised from my previous rants, technology is not my thing and every night techie has been setting up my computer so I can sit down and rant for an hour, or so then he comes in and does whatever he does to link me and also post my pictures, so let’s be perfectly clear he is the brains behind it all, so if you don’t agree or like something it is all on techie. If you like something it is all me. Today we took a big leap and drove to Philadelphia to see my son Max, Alana and our beautiful almost two year old granddaughter Tilda. You can only last so long without being able to see or hug you kids in person. I have to say both my kids were a bit concerned about the travel. That is why I put it off so long, they were worried about their Dad and that was mentioned a lot. I guess I am chopped liver, but we made it and so happy to be here. First this was a very big day as my roommate allowed me to drive, which is rare, but he wanted to be on calls and Zooms, so he reluctantly surrendered. Well I don’t know if anyone has been doing any serious driving but it was very easy to drive at 80 most of the way and I was just trying to keep up with the cars in front of me. Max called once to see where we were and I mentioned how hard it was to keep the speed low and he suggested speed control, as if I know how to turn that on while driving. I was a bit concerned because as you may have remembered I can’t find my driver’s license since yesterday and fingers were crossed that I wouldn’t get pulled over. I am not that worried as I learned a long time ago turn on the waterworks, and they usually let you go, local cops more than staties. But I will give it a try. Well we were making excellent time and only one gas stop and restroom. Everyone was mask compliant.  Big problem at the first stop they didn’t have the salt and vinegar chips! I asked and sold out. They did have all the required ring dings and Twinkies, but like peanut butter and jelly, it wasn’t going to work. Back on the road I was surprised that Techie still wanted to let me drive because I am pretty sure I was scaring him, but we were making such good time he was willing to close his eyes and keep on working. Well we arrived in South Philly more than three hours earlier than planned and I really had to pee. Only one rest stop all day. You have to really understand and appreciate the culture of South Philly.  It takes a lot of getting used to.  I have been doing fairly well but now I haven’t been here in five months so need to reorient myself.  No problem I get out of the car double parked in front of my son’s house and run in to relieve myself.  I toss a coffee cup and some napkins in the recycling box in front of this house. All the trash is lined up down the street for pick up later today. I come back out to empty the car, that techy has parked a few doors down and his the neighbor comes out and asks me what I threw in his trash?  Seriously dude I literally threw trash in your trash can and yes it was recyclable, is that a problem? Well apparently he is very particular what goes in his recycling bin and has had words about it in the past. He doesn’t even like you to place your bins over a line in the sidewalk which he considers his turf. Ok I promptly removed my trash and placed it in the next box, don’t want to start a turf war on my first day of the visit. You have to be able to roll with the local rules here and try not to stir the pot, like when people double park in the street for a half hour just be patient or back down the street, just don’t lean on the horn. The end of the street is a restaurant and even though they are only open for takeout during coronavirus, they still feel it is ok to block the street with their big ass SUV like they were in the secret service, or something. I am sure it is a secret something. I am a visitor here for a few days so I will try and play by their rules and I certainly don’t want to cause any problems in the neighborhood or do I?

Just sayin..

I can’t believe it but has it really been sixty seven days since I put pen to paper for a few weeks maybe 30 days?  OK so I exaggerate as I am hitting the keyboard but you get the gist, a lot longer than expected. I really don’t know if anyone is paying attention to my nightly rants but I told Techie I am going to write something every night until we can say it is over and done. Now I am really worried. Is there an end in sight? Will I run out of things to talk about when I am really not engaging with anyone except yelling at the cable news station?

Let me start over Good evening my Corona friends and hope everyone is happy and healthy, it is almost like a list they post after an exam and we don’t want to see our names on it, yes we are not there, we get to see another day. I had an even weirder experience today as I was picking up the weekly supply of booze, plus some extra as we are taking a road trip.  A woman I had never encountered before asked for my license. I said no one here has ever asked this of me before, and apparently she is taking this job way to seriously because she wanted ID. Well no problem I go digging around in my purse and check  may wallet but I can’t come up with a license, I don’t remember the last time I had it out.  Now I am getting a bit frustrated, and even though it has nothing to do with it, it seems to me that this mask is impeding my ability to produce my license. There is a waiting line behind me but I am going to keep digging until I can find it. I pull out my senior pass for the MBTA, it has my picture and name. She is not going for it, as I tell her it is not like they are going to give a senior pass to someone under twenty one, but she was adamant.  Well this made me dig in even more, I was going to keep digging until I found it but alas I finally caved, and said I guess you can put it back on the shelf I don’t have it.  Well she was not totally without sympathy and lectured me about the next time I would definitely need that ID. Let me just say this old lady doesn’t appreciate a young woman giving me shit about not having an ID and threatening my purchase. I will be sure to avoid that pink petal masked woman next time. Car is locked and loaded for road trip tomorrow and I have downloaded that app about clean restrooms. This will be an absolute first for me as I pack lunches and snacks and actually plan ahead for the ride, we usually just overload the car since we are driving plenty of room and just grab a bite on the road. My favorite snack for long car rides is definitely salt and vinegar chips. I eat a huge bag and those lips just pucker up no matter how much water. I don’t know what it is but I only have these when on a road trip. There is definitely some attraction about that vinegar that keeps us awake on the road. My son always loved those slim Jims which even I thought were gross. If you brought that up to Max today, he would certainly shun them as now he needs to know where all his food comes from. He may need to have relationship with the chickens on the farm and appreciates knowing the farmers as well.  They are all such healthy organic eaters I guess I shouldn’t bring up all those rings dings and devil dogs they ate over the years. We all have evolving tastes but I guess my evolution was stunted because I am going to binge on ring dings and salt and vinegar chips for the long ride ahead. I hope there won’t be a lot of pit stops but no worries I have stocked up on depends. I figured if that astronaut could drive for like 36 hours in adult diapers I can do 8 hours. I will let you all know how successful the ride goes I am sure everyone wants to hear about my pee pee pads.

Well we had some good news today in the neighborhood one of our ice cream places reopened after a few months’ hiatus. This place is called Taiyaki and I really don’t get it but it seems they like to really drees up their cones as that is part of the lore. I personally prefer just the straight up ice cream but this place involves a cone with all kinds of part dress up clothes, but hey beggars can’t be choosers. Until Ben and Jerry’s reopens with my Cherries Garcia or the mini nutty buddies from Trader Joes, I will have to suck it up with these dressed up cones.

Just sayin….

Good evening my corona friends and hope we are all happy, healthy and sane. Obviously I was in a bit of a fog last night and wouldn’t you know it when I woke up this morning, the city was draped in a very heavy fog. As I was driving off to work this morning I was grateful to see that yes it was a real fog, not just Vodka goggles. I think our taking the bold new moves on the walktails got the best of us and we may have enjoyed our flouting of the law a bit too much. According the article on Sunday it was about day drinking, or anytime drinking, so as not to consume to much all at one seating, so going to have to practice social spreading of cocktail hours. I did notice last night as we were perched on a stone wall facing the harbor that we passed by a lot of little gatherings of people, spreading out with their glasses of wine, and it is all right out in the open, so score one of the positives of the pandemic. Open containers are not just for Mardi Gras or Texas any longer. Since we aren’t travelling for a while, we can at least give a shout out to our friends, as we are all in this together. Before I get too crazy about all this drinking in public all the time, I would also like to add that there are lot more benefits of this pandemic.  We grew to realize that importance of always having at least a months’ worth of toilet paper in storage ,as most stores were totally wiped out in a matter of days. I am warning you all out there never turn down an opportunity to buy the TP when you find it, showing up more and more in stores, second wave could be coming and you don’t want to be caught off-guard again. I am sure everyone has figured out the hand sanitizer recipe by now and didn’t realize you are all budding chemist. Now don’t go Breaking Bad and try to become Mr. White with all this free time, and thinking you could bank some cash. We are all headed to becoming vegetarians with the meat shortages and price increases, so hone up on those kale recipes. I notice at Trader Joes there are all kinds of meatless products that are supposed to look and taste like meat, but haven’t been brave enough to try them yet. Maybe phase two. I bet that a lot of us are doing a lot more of the housekeeping than we ever did before and I hope it is getting shared equally. My roommate has done more than he ever did, although he really isn’t very good at it, but I give him an A for trying. Cooking is one thing I know that everyone has been doing a lot more of than they ever thought possible, and I think they are enjoying it. I know for myself it is just me and techie, but if I had to plan for other family members or kids it probably would grow old very quickly. Our new Hello Fresh in a box delivery, has inspired Techie to cook and not just hot dogs. He used to say the only appliance he needed in a kitchen was a telephone to call for takeout. Now he is in there chopping and dicing and using more than one pan at a time, but still makes a mess. I have the feeling this box thing is not going to last but we can enjoy it while it does. I know a lot of people are doing puzzles of all shapes and sizes, and there is even a puzzle exchange in our neighborhood digest. I never really tried puzzles and it’s a good thing as I would have no place in here to keep one going and we need that table to eat and work at so can’t fit anything else.

Who can forget about Zoom and how important this tool has become for everyone’s life, work, school, happy hours, yoga, fundraisers you name it and it is happening on Zoom. Today I heard from someone that she was on a zoom of 1400 people, and all I could imagine is how do you get the gallery view to work on that one?  I prefer the smaller ones with more of the Brady Bunch type of gallery. Of course we cannot forget the many budding fashion designers that have sprung with all the mask making and designs. I wish I could say I did something productive during my time in lockdown but I am already regretting the things that I should have accomplished. One thing I can say is I haven’t watched as much Law and Order as I thought I would, but that is mostly due to program changes and it is not on as much in middle of the night, really have to surf to find it. I recently learned now that I can speak into the clicker and it pulls up the show, way too easy. I was going to call it an early night but I just thought of it I didn’t see this week’s episode of Billions will go talk to my buddy the clicker.

Just sayin,

Good evening my Corona friends and hope we are are doing well as I may be under the influence of a bit much. I have to say the day did not start out on a good note as some relatives that often depend on us for support were not in a good way, but alas all is well and all they needed for me was some groceries. They know they can depend in Peggy to be sure to include some junk food.  I brought them what I thought was good amount of groceries with the right sodium content. I mean really I am a salt junky and used to the food network shows always claiming not enough salt.  I did the best I could with groceries that they could easily cook and then some dishes that just had to be reheated. The only problem is these girls can’t determine what they should eat now and what is ok a few days later and I hope it will all work out. I am really not that anxious to enter their abode and reasons not to go into tonight but trust me on this venture. This afternoon Donna and Jon came into the city for a socially distant visit. I was beginning to think our suburban friends were holding off for a visit. We went to the barking crab and we got Lobster rolls, which is growing rather tiresome. True story in the beginning of settling the cape years ago they had it in the contract that the workers, could not be served lobster more than 3 or four times a week.  Well times have changed and I am pretty sure that is not on the dinner menu and wonder where else we can get lobster rolls?  It shouldn’t be too difficult as lobster rolls at the crab are only a few feet away and I am sure a few rules have been broken as we were publicly drinking on the waterfront and because it was too cold to eat outside tonight we just let them inside and broke bread right at our dining table.  It was just a nice way to celebrate the end of a nice Memorial Day and makes it almost feel normal, great company and food, and WERS has been playing on all the music we may have seen and heard all weekend at Boston Calling had that happened .

Apparently I fell asleep at the keyboard for maybe an hour and my roommate just came in and said maybe  just pictures tonight so I guess let’s call it an end to today.

Happy Memorial Day and for all those who have served past and present we appreciate and honor your service.

Just sayin..

Hello my corona friends and I hope everyone enjoyed this glorious Sunday.  I thought it was going to be a bust. It didn’t quite get to 60 today and it was windy but alas it was very sunny. Even though I was up half the night first finishing the movie I slept through, and then a few episodes of Law and Order. I was not going to sleep late and kicked myself out at 7:30.  Watched a little bit of Sunday morning and then got right down to business on my Sunday papers, along with a really nice breakfast I made for my roommate and myself. Some very interesting reads today on the new norm of social drinking, “walktailing” is apparently the new thing and is enjoying a big following all over the country. I guess in the beginning people used to walk their neighborhoods with kids and dogs and then after three weeks into quarantine they just started carrying their cocktails and making no effort to hide or disguise them.  I wish I had known as I thought I was very stealth on my harbor walks in the evening with my “yeti”, no need to make any effort to hide it. Police are saying they want to limit their contact with people and if it appears they are not harming anyone they are willing to look the other way. You know what this means, they may have been willing to overlook it for a few weeks, but since this is looking more and more like months on end, they are never going to be able to take away that freedom, once back to normal. Apparently someone has even invented a mask with a straw holes, to make drinking more civilized.  I guess the “packies” as we affectionately refer to liquor stores in Massachusetts are experiencing the day before Thanksgiving every day, similar to Groundhog’s day. The word is if you pace you’re drinking out during the day kind of like breakfast, lunch and dinner, you won’t feel the slam of having them all in the evening.  Well that just doesn’t work for me because if I drink a glass of wine during the day that calls for an immediate nap and I would rather enjoy my cocktails at the end of the day, for a day well served. Another thing that is happening is people are drinking less sugary drinks, which could often lead to hangovers. I never went in for those cosmos, they just go down way to fast and feels like a sweet juice, before you know it you have downed more than a few few. Sad to read recently that Cuchi Cuchi in Cambridge is not going to survive the Pandemic and I can recall quite a few blueberry or watermelon martinis over the years, R.I.P.  Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, I switched years ago to my Ketel One or Grey Goose on ice and a splash of soda, no hangovers.  I pretty much have given up my beloved Chardonnay, my friend Celia and I could easily down a bottle or two, and shout how to our friend Linda who always insisted to the waiter just bring us one more glass we are going to split it and of course I can’t even recall how many we were splitting. Our Sorella Eileen and her husband John affectionately call it dipshit juice but hey what do they know? The same section of the Times also had a story of a young woman quarantining with her boyfriend after a sober January and how well they are doing and I say good for you just wait a few kids in, mortgage, and no me time, you will be right there with the rest of us, keep hiking and exploring young sober love.  Now that is not nice on my part and I wish the happy couple all the best and if you can get through this without the help of a little booze, you are a better man than I.

We went on a nice bike ride today and we were very happy that our friends Howie and Lisa called to suggest a bike ride, they are our quarantine buddies as it is just the two of them in the city, and I kind of feel that my suburban friends are more leery of us, but it could be just me. We went on a glorious bike ride maybe thirty miles, no hills, and ice cream break in between so don’t sign us up for a triathlon yet. We are in Lexington center and we spot people with ice cream so of course we want some. Lisa and I leave our bikes and go in search of ice cream. We find it and we walk in but turns out not allowed. Go back outside and order online, and anyone reading my blog knows that is not my forte but for ice cream I can do this and I get out my phone and with Lisa’s help enter the cc correctly and they say 45 minutes and of course I want to open the door of Rancatores ice cream and say what but I remember the incident at the Cape a few weeks ago so I wait patiently. We find out form other ladies outside later looking to order ice cream that the sign says if you are over 60 you can call on the phone and order it, finally a vendor I can relate to even if I can’t understand the sign. The ice cream came soon enough and I did manage to place the order wrong but no matter we all go a treat and our day is made. Funny how these little things in life are now the ones that bring you so much joy, my friend Donna gets so excited about Kelly’s Ice cream or a hot fudge Sunday , she wants for nothing else after this she will die happy.

Our hello Fresh box arrived tonight and my lover cooked a delicious tilapia dinner, following all the instructions and if this keeps up he may be onto something, what do I need her for?

Just sayin…

Hello my Corona friends and hope once again everyone is happy and healthy. Boy what a difference a day makes, and I am talking about the weather of course as it was a good twenty five degrees cooler than yesterday, so that was just a tease of summer. Today I did a Facebook live event, and was teamed up with Gary, a person who is just as inept at technology as I am, and together we flubbed it up pretty well. It took a few times of losing the internet coverage before Techie texted that we should connect to the Wi-Fi, and then we had it down. I actually have to give points to Gary, as I don’t think I would know how to start in the beginning, let alone keep going for an hour. I wish I could report that we were a booming success but we think we can practice a bit and will do better next time, since we are on curbside pickup for the next few weeks. Retail may be opening on June 8^th so we are keeping our fingers crossed. For those who work in retail, it has to be kind of weird that you find yourself not working on Memorial Day weekend and of course the real bummer is that you can’t really enjoy it in the same way. I came home tonight feeling a bit blue as here it is a nice long holiday weekend, and I wouldn’t see my kids or grandkids.  I made a nice big salad for dinner and really missed that I didn’t have a place to grille outside. I know it is a first world problem but that is one of the things I miss the most from the suburbs. I had grilled fish the other night and I swear I can still smell it whenever I walk in the loft. I am glad I still have my sense of smell because when I stop smelling what I cooked for dinner the night before, I might have to get tested as losing your sense of smell is one of the first things to go, so I guess I can be thankful for the fish smell. Tonight Techie and I sat down to watch our first movie at home during this time of quarantine, that’s right after all this time we never watched one movie. I have to say we have always been ones that prefer seeing movies at the theater, and after tonight I can confirm I slept through the whole thing and woke up at the credits, and that is why I like the movie theater, as I usually stay awake. Now I can tell you, techie is going to go to sleep and I am going to start the movie and be up for all hours.  Totally OK as tomorrow is Sunday, and I have nowhere to be, just a date in the morning with my Sunday papers. Watching the news this evening I wonder if I am living in another universe, as I saw people waiting on line for a water park to open, Myrtle Beach was packed, as well as other beaches around the country. I know I live in a state that likes to say we lead the country is so many regards but frankly I would like to give up this lead, in a heartbeat. This of course would have been a time that there would have been so many celebrations going on around the city, with so many schools and universities. What a difference it makes when the vitality of so many young adults are absent from the city. Many a weekend I would hear the remains of the late night partying outside my window, not to mention the sweet smell of a now legal substance, and now we wish hard for those little celebrations to return. I hope I can remember that when things return to normal, whenever that may be and I may go back to bitching about the wake up noise. Please bring it…

This would have been the weekend that we were to have a celebration dinner for friends who were making the trek cross country, and start their retirement in Palm Springs. We can’t let our friends move without the proper send off and for now that is delayed, as well as the move. Funny at this age the biggest worry about the week long drive is what about the rest stops?  Will there be a safe place to stop along the way and until they are assured there are they will wait. I think this could be a new service of triple A, where they plan out one of those triptik maps with guaranteed clean and safe rest stops. I believe depends can only go so far, so knowledge is key.

I did have a bright spot in my day when my friend Pam, who was watching on FB live texted that she could meet up for short visit. I have not seen her since this all started as she is a full hour away and I have to get out more often, probably 45 minutes with no traffic. Anyway a nice treat and she brought me flowers, it’s the little things that matter.

Just sayin…..

Hello all my Corona friends and hope everyone is feeling well and safe at home. We were actually out late tonight and didn’t get home till almost 10 pm, I am pretty sure we broke curfew as it was after 9.  I am not sure if it is still in place but I think so. Never mattered before we were always home well before 9 pm. Today was a good day as after work we decided it would be a beautiful way to end the day and take Charisma 3 out for a sail. First we had to get the sails on after a winter of repair and that was a feat in itself, as I a first mate I am kind of useless, more of a rail meat kind of position on the boat. Luckily our friend Howie has a boat nearby and he was able to assist, socially distancing, as you cannot bring anyone other than immediate household members in the marina. We had some fits and starts but now we get moving out onto the water and what happens, alarms ringing and engine is overheating. Anyone who owns a boat knows the drill, something always goes wrong at some point. Luckily there was a beautiful and steady wind and we could sail around the harbor with our jib and it was just wonderful, except we had no beer or water. We hadn’t planned on going out so definitely not prepared, that is another thing about boats people just like to sit on them. In our case it is a nice half hour walk over, has a place to pee, so we can hang a while and walk back. It just reminded tonight of years ago even before techie and I were married , on Sundays he liked to go fishing with his Dad, who lived on the North shore.  He would say to me on a Sunday morning, do you want to go out on the boat today, and I always said yes but knew there would be no boat ride, just went along and sat on fisherman’s beach. I knew there would be no boating as they always seemed to be tinkering with it, something always was broken, and every once in a while we got a ride. They claimed to go fishing but I am pretty sure they were the worst at it, hardly ever came back with anything. I even remember one day something weird was going on in the harbor and the fish were literally jumping up out of the water and people were just going out with nets and scooping up so much fish, this crew maybe got one or two, but no matter they all loved it. Since it is looking bleak for his crew this summer I am going to have to brush up on my skills and practice my knots if we are going to get away at all this summer. I realize how fortunate we are to have this escape and I wish we could share with a lot more people.  Someday when it is safe you all invited for a sail and my roommate loves nothing more but to be a tour guide of our beautiful city from the water. Today was the unofficial start to summer and I am not sure when the official start is, but since they all blend into one, we can say that is officially unofficial. I hope everyone has some plans to garden, hike, beach, boat or work and it looks like the weather will be somewhat cooperative.  I can’t imagine how we are going to be masked up at the beach but the good news is they are not required to wear them while we are in the water swimming. I am sure that right now as we speak someone is inventing some kind of aqualung face mask, that is going to start showing up on my Instagram feed and I will probably buy it. I have ordered all kinds of cooling masks, suitable for beach or biking but have yet to receive them, sucker.

Well I am signing off early tonight because I am beat and after a great bit of time on the water, tradition has to be Pizza at  Regina’s and those carbs are sitting heavy right about now.  Tomorrow is my son-in laws Hugh’s Birthday so want to send him early wishes and also share a video his wife, my daughter, sent to me this morning and wonder if she is speaking about you, Hugh.

Just sayin..