Living in the Time of Corona

Good evening for my fellow Corona friends and once again wishing you are all healthy, happy and sane. Today was an absolutely beautiful day and I hope everyone had some time to be outside and enjoy some sunshine. I hear it is very safe to be outside, just keep your distance and wear your mask. Things seem to be looking up but we can’t get to ahead of ourselves, one step forward two steps back.  I was on one of the many infamous Zoom meetings this afternoon and decided to go along the harbor and find a quiet spot, to be on the meeting. Now it is a regular occurrence to be around the courthouse with everyone having their own happy hour. All very civilized.  Walking back home later came upon quite a police presence with crime scene tape and all, lots of photographers and reporters. My first thought was it was about the College admission cheating scandal since the hallmark TV star settled her case today along with her husband. We have grown used to the Perp walks outside the courthouse, but I was puzzled by the tape.  As it turns out one of the reporters told me they found a body near the Barking Crab, big doings, as generally we only get to see the criminals walking in to court not anything actually happening here.  The speculation was maybe an overdose or Covid related. Well I quickly went home and showered and laundered my clothes, can’t be too careful and how wacky is that?  I mean the clothes were getting in the laundry for sure because I was sitting on a public bench and I guess that is the “new normal”. As it turns out the word up tonight was no foul play, so the Seaport can sleep easy tonight and they will be open for lobster rolls tomorrow. It’s funny how quickly the crowds will appear and the social distancing is forgotten when there are 12 police cars and the press out and about. I can report that all the policemen were wearing masks. Boston abides by the rules, sometime.

I was listening to NPR on my way home today and they were talking about reaching out if you need help for your own mental wellbeing. It is extremely stressful for couples, who are both working from home and trying to home school their kids at the same time. I can’t even imagine because I only have to share my space with one person, and most days he is well behaved and contributes to my wellbeing. I know he is dependent on me for all his meals, well that dinner in a box could be a game changer and maybe he will want to give me the boot.  Besides I need him to help with all my technology. Happy to report I did zoom on my own today. As it turns out they have been doing some surveys on who is doing what while quarantined at home and not surprising men feel that they are doing about 50%, and women feel they are doing 80%.  I am not surprised by this because they probably feel if they brought their dishes to the sink that is as good as doing the dishes. Dirty clothes make it to the laundry with all the colors mixed together, done. Doing the home schooling with the kids probably a game of Fortnight or some sports stats, lessons completed.  I know that they really are trying to do their share but let’s be honest rarely does it ever work out to be fifty/fifty. Now they are realizing there is really a lot more to it. What they were saying is when this stay at home work thing, started years ago, it was to accommodate working Moms more or less in the tech field. I am sure that they found that they could get the work done if it was flexible, and women got used to managing the home front and putting in the time. We can do it no sweat, but we aren’t used to having another person around as well and sometimes it may be like another kid. You know I am kidding right, today it is a lot different and the Dads are much more involved than ever before. I grew used to seeing the dad’s at the Children’s museum on Sunday mornings, must have been Mommy alone time, they loved celebrating the achievements in the bubble fountain or putting all the golf balls in a kind of skeet ball contraption. I wonder what everyone has been doing the last 8 weeks since the museum and the Aquarium have been closed. Apparently you can stream movies on Disney. I believe my grandson has watched Trolls three or four times. I hope they are tinkering with Dad or Mom, maybe some science experiments. MacGyver here used to tinker with Max when he was a kid. He was often blowing things up, albeit on a small scale. There were times when some of those bangs got pretty loud out in the backyard and we would have to shut all the lights off quick and pretend no one was home, while the police drove down the street, but thankfully never did any true damage.  I know much hasn’t changed for Max because I saw on his Instagram account today that he was gluing his wife’s coffee cup to the kitchen island. I am not sure if he was trying to make a point that she leaves these cups full of water around the house and it annoys him or if he was just being an Ahole. Knowing him I am going with the latter. I know my Maxi is definitely contributing more than 50%, as I often call when he is cooking, or cleaning or walking with Tilda, just doing it all. I am becoming like my mother when she used to tell my brothers when they were going on dates, don’t spend all your hard earned money on the girls, and then if the girls were going out she would say make sure the guys pay. She hung the moon on her boys and we were always expected to pick up after them and she would not have gone for this equal sharing or would she?

Just sayin

Good evening my Corona friends and hope everyone is doing well, and staying sane and healthy. A lot can happen in sixty days, but under lock down the most obvious is everyone is sporting longer hair, and a bigger pouch. Personally I always liked longer hair on guys, when I met by roommate back in college he had long hair and a big smile. Now he has hair growing out of a lot of different orifices, just not the top of his head. It wasn’t that long ago, maybe 40 years or so that I picked up this cute hippie boy hitchhiking to campus one day at UMASS, and the rest was history. Flash forward to today and we would never allow or encourage our kids to pick up a hitchhiker, but are we forsaken their future partner?  Let’s face it no one hitch hikes today, and why would you? We have Uber. We thought the world would be a scary place if we picked up hitchhikers, but nothing can compare to what we have today with this Corona virus. Who would have ever thought that going to a restaurant, bar or store would endanger your life?  Remember those D.A.R.E classes about the evils of marijuana?  True story, my cousin’s young daughter once caught them smoking pot, on the back deck years ago and she started packing her bag to go live with her grandparents because they were drug addicts.  They really had to calm her down, and promise to change their evil ways. I remember my cousin was so mad about those damn D.A.R.E classes. Well today I can tell you that the whole family will enjoy a bowl together now and then, after all it is legal in Massachusetts, and I hear the Pot stores can reopen for curbside pickup. Almost the same when I was back in college just meet up and do a quick curbside pickup. Now it is all so much more proper, and the sheer beauty of capitalism comes through. We can even get all kinds of little gummy treats to take care of all our little aches and pains, so much more civilized.

Speaking of Capitalism on my bike ride yesterday it occurred to me the people who are cleaning up on this pandemic are the sign makers. Everywhere we go there are signs posted about wearing a mask, keeping 6 feet apart, disinfect your hands, maintain cleaning of surfaces.

You need a lot of these signs and have to be posted all over places of business and even on the bike trail. Of course my favorite” OPEN FOR TAKE OUT” limit two to go drinks. We are all in this together and we may still be here tomorrow if you support us today. I really do applaud the people who the first few days of the shutdowns went right to work making masks, hand sanitizer stations, gloves etc. I purchased them right away and guess what? still waiting …………… I rarely purchased anything online before this whole shutdown, but I can tell you it really pisses me off when it says in stock, and you hit that button, here it is 6-8 weeks later and nada. It is a big thing for me to make a purchase online takes me a minimum of three times to put in CC because I always screw up the numbers or the zip code. I know I have set up accounts over these past months but I can’t remember the passwords and just sick of redoing the passwords.  I just want to go to a store that isn’t CVS or the supermarket, I want to talk to the person and not behind Plexiglas. I don’t want to do a live chat with the person at Flamingo face wax kit and tell them how much their product sucks. I still have chin hairs like a goat, and yes the packaging was nice but that doesn’t remove the hair. I am still working on my nonstick frying pan, last one didn’t work on induction stove. Atheleta has totally screwed up because they must have made changes without bothering to mention it, and the sizes just aren’t the same and all had to go back.  They really should warn people when they make changes on the sizes without telling you. I did order these cooling masks yesterday, I think they are like a gator that you put in the freezer and keeps you cool. I was in a panic as I already struggle with getting overheated. It hasn’t even been over 65” yet, so summer weather has me worried.  I can’t imagine what it will look like at the beach this summer, bringing tan lines to a whole new level. Memorial Day weekend coming up and I have no idea what that will look like, I guess I can watch it unfold on TV, because a lot of places seem to be unaware or unaffected. I don’t know if anyone saw it on the Fake news tonight but Mike Pence and the Governor of Florida were in a crowded restaurant in Florida today, sans masks, but they were filling their cups up at the soda dispenser. First of all that is a laugh in itself like they really fill their own soda cups but no way in hell I would drink from a public dispenser in today’s time, but wait it could have been mixed with Clorox bleach so I guess that makes it OK. I will stick with my Kettle One and I will do the pouring……..

Just sayin

Good evening my fellow corona partners and I hope you are doing well staying sane and healthy. Mental health seems to be teetering on the edge for me this evening, and I have to pause a moment, while I go make a cocktail, and don’t worry I will make it a double, better yet a triple. First thing I have to do tonight is apologize to my friend Rozzie, because she didn’t like her depiction of her as a cradle snatcher when she married her husband. No offense was meant and you must admit at the time it did seem to be a big spread, but as we aged and became more mature the difference disappeared. Besides we were all jealous of your cute, adorable and now very maturely handsome husband, enough said.

Well today find that we have another Birthday to celebrate in Jordan, one of my besties, Donna’s son and also one of my son Max’s bestie. I have always felt that Jordan and Julia were more like my niece and nephew, as we grew up very close, and I often referred to them that way. Let me just say to know Jordan is to love him, and I have often referred to him as Ferris Bueller and Julia, was his sister Jeannie. This kid could talk his way in and out of anything, and she often was just disgusted with his behavior.  Jordan is still stuck in The Big Lebowski, Office Space, Super Troopers and many more movie lines that he quotes religiously as his bible. I am not up on what lines he is quoting as he has moved to Seattle and we don’t get to see him as much on a daily basis.  When I think of this kid I can’t believe he is a father of two incredible kids, Sam and Kyla, and a gorgeous wife Elayna, Its funny I could never peg her for the type that could put up with his shenanigans, but it all works. I can remember once when he worked for us during college and we were driving around while he was crank calling people and offering them a special Dildo in an English accent and it was almost midnight when he called his mother. I was dying when he was going through his routine and then at the end she says Jordan is that you?  I mean who calls his mother’s number and offer her a dildo, and why was I in the car and techie was driving. We once took a trip to Spain over Thanksgiving with his Mom, Max, and myself to visit his sister who was studying abroad and we stayed in a family hostel. I actually was annoyed with Donna for months after this because I am pretty sure I picked up a Kennel cough from this Hostel, similar to a pet staying in a kennel. I mean I agreed to a budget trip but she really stretched the boundaries on the budget, I was freezing every night. These boys were on more of a trip that resembled The Hangover and we were fed up with their partying every night and not waking up for all the cultural excursions we had planned every day. I can assure you Jeannie was not happy with their behavior, and was more than a little bit annoyed that her friends wanted to hang out with Ferris. On what was probably our last night at the hostel, we were awoken in the middle of the night of all these police running up the cement stairs, tap, tap, tap making all that noise. I poked my head out and saw them, and when Donna woke up I said it was probably our two idiots that were in trouble and just locked the door.  Well lo and behold, wouldn’t you know Ferris once again talked his way out of that little incident and they just got sent off to bed and I am pretty sure they all parted as friends that night. My son got married a little over a year ago and I remember Jordan calling me  to say that he had found the perfect gift for Max, he was over the moon, and had scoured the internet for it a T-shirt that I can’t remember the significance and a ralphs card. Funny now when I think of Ralph’s and you’re most modestly priced receptacle, I will wonder how many of these recent backups in the morgue are going down in a Ralph’s coffee container. I know that is cruel and but trying to find the humor wherever we can in today’s environment. I love this kid like he is one of my own and want to wish him HAPPY FREAKING BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

Tonight my roommate prepared another meal out of the box and it was quite delicious and he also did the dishes. I am not speaking to him tonight and the temperature is very cool in this loft tonight. It can be wearing under any circumstances to be locked down in a one room loft, but add that to working together, and things start to get pretty ripe. I know I am pretty lucky to have him as he is very patient, can handle all my technology, greatest Dad, Grandpa and now we have to add cooking to his resume and he is just too incredible to be believed. My mother would be turning over in her grave right now if she knew I was having him cook and do the dishes.

Just sayin……….

Good evening my corona partners and hope everyone had a good day. It was a good day to be out and about, as much as possible and mask compliance was about 70% today.  Today I was delighted to find out this morning that it was Sunday and I could spend as much time as I wanted drinking coffee and mulling over my Boston Globe and New York Times, which only comes on Sunday. It used to be the first section I would pull out of the paper every Sunday was the travel section, as I loved to dream and learn about the places that I could aspire to one day visit. But how quickly the world has changed and they don’t even do a good job with this section any longer, I guess they are giving up as well. I believe it is a temporary setback and we will be back up and running again soon. I have had the wanderlust for the past few years, and just really wanted to visit as many places as possible before I was in diapers, and not able to move around as easy. This virus thing is cramping my style and I am not big on the armchair travel, so hopefully this time next year we will be on a trip, and could be anywhere. Today was a really great day as my roommate and I took a nice long bike ride but it was even more fun as our friends Howie and Lisa came by and we all rode off together. We took them on a nice long ride through different parts of the city, and because it was far less traffic, riding down Dorchester Ave was far less frightening than usual. Once we get to the bike trail it is all smooth sailing and honestly I almost felt normal like something you would do any Sunday, if it weren’t for that freaking mask, fogging up my glasses and I get so overheated. It can be very difficult to be compliant, but I will keep trying with different options. It was a really great afternoon and then it got incredibly better when we ended at the Barking Crab for lobster rolls. It turns out they just opened a takeout window during the day and there was a line, but we got our picnic packages and found a place along the Harbor walk to sit 6 feet apart and enjoy our picnic. I think you all may know that restaurants were granted the ability to offer take out drinks with the meals, and it occurred to me as we were sitting in front of the courthouse, that I guess public drinking has now also been granted. Everyone who was walking by was also carrying the lunch bag with a beer and it was all very civilized, no public intoxication, well they also limit you to two. It’s funny, if it wasn’t for the masks you could easily believe it was just another spring day in Boston. I am grateful that my friends suggested we do the ride as we are so used to being just the two of us, and you know what they say about to much togetherness? Well after that great afternoon we arrived home to find out new home delivery meal package from Hello Fresh had arrived, and what a thrill not to have to think of what to make for dinner. My friend Sarah recommended it and she doesn’t like to cook, Queen of take out, plus she and her husband may be the only ones I know who eat out more than we do. She warned me you do have to do some work but all the ingredients and measurements are all done ahead for you. Well lo and behold but Techie cooked dinner tonight, it comes with these big recipe boards, and he is very good at following directions. Also whenever he did by chance decide to cook something he generally made a super mess in the kitchen, so I kind of banished him to dishes.  Of course it is too soon to say this is going to be a game changer but we have two more meals for this week and ordered already for next week. I don’t know about anyone else but here we gauge the time passing, by meals and what we are going to look forward to helps the day go by a lot quicker. I wish I could be the Barefoot Contessa to my Techie and whip up these seemingly easy delicious dinners but lately it seems like another chore. This could be groundbreaking, and we could end up cooking this meals together but I don’t want the dishes back that stays in his column.  I guess the world has evolved to everything we need gets delivered to our door in a box, but at least this wasn’t an Amazon box.  I will probably find out later that they’re owned by Amazon.  Now if we could just put this virus in a box and send it off somewhere, guaranteed free shipping and no returns, final sale.

Just sayin…….

Good evening everyone and it is Saturday night. Hope we all had some big plans, even if it is movie night at home, and chances are that’s what most people are doing tonight.  Today was a beautiful day to be outside and it was also sad for us, as we saw our grandchildren off to Maine to the outlaws and not sure when they will be back. It was really hard as you can see that I get a lot of joy out of those kids, and now I don’t have much to look forward to, as I don’t know when I will see them again, but yes there is always Face time. Just not the same and because they are four hours away there will be no more Grandma drop offs of the junk food. Now they are back to eating Kale and Veggie chips. One thing I know for sure there is no cable where they are going, so it is a very safe place to escape the world as we know it today. I really wish I could go with them, but alas why didn’t I retire 2 years ago when I made it public, but damn I am still working. Well at least I am at the end of my career, and man oh man I do feel for this Class of 2020, and what the world has in store for you. I remember graduating from College back in the 70’s and we were in a recession and the prospects seemed dim, but at least it wasn’t life threatening.  I mean damn when you think of it, not just the economic damage, surely that is a big part of it, but the prospect of mingling in society could maybe cost your or a loved one their life is mind blowing. I have to say I have been very impressed with a lot of these young graduates for their positive attitudes for the future, once they got over Prom. I really had no idea that Prom was still a very big deal, but from all the reports I have seen it apparently still super important and we may see a lot of college kids having their own prom next year. I hope they can find a way and next spring Proms will be back in full swing.  These venues need to make up a lot of revenue, at least they had their dresses for the most part.

I did watch the Commencement of the Class of 2020 tonight and found it inspirational. I am not going to lie, but I literally starting crying when President Obama was speaking, finally a leader that can put sentences together, and asked them to do what they think is right. It wasn’t about him, but rather for these young people to go after their dreams and build a community that can work together.  The challenges are going to be difficult but honesty and hard work are going to see you through it.  If we had a leader in office today, that could inspire people and ask them to come together to win this fight against the virus, maybe we wouldn’t be in the place we are today. All I know is today we have an insane person, running the country. The latest deflection is Obamagate. Who dreams this shit up?  Must be the same writers who do Ozark or Goliath because I often wonder if these people are truly demented to come up with some of the scripts that they put out. I am sure there are even more that I haven’t seen. I stopped watching Criminal Minds because it gave me nightmares, now I just watch cable news to get my daily nightmare. It really was a very nice tribute to this graduating class and I even like LeBron James. I really didn’t know much about him, other than he is a very good basketball player. He has done so much to give back to his community.  He asked that the kids stay home or stay close to home, because they have never left home, and build their community. I hope these kids will rise to the occasion and recognize they have the power to make some changes and vote these old white men out of office.  I wish we didn’t have another old white man as the alternative. Here’s a quote on the topic from David Sedaris:

“On Undecided Voter​s: “To put them in perspective, I think​ of being​ on an airplane.​ The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat.​ “Can I interest you in the chicken” she asks.​ “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broke​n glass​in it?”
To be undecided in this elect​ion is to pause​ for a moment and then ask how the chick​en is cooked.”

I am going to end it right here tonight because I don’t want to get to riled up in a political rant, I will save that for tomorrow after I read all about OBAMAGATE and how he overstepped his bounds and spoke out about the President, well what is wrong with the rest of the retired presidents please speak out and save us, forget about protocol, this is a whole new ballgame, Stand up…

Just sayin …

Good Evening everyone and TGIF, hope everyone is doing well and has big weekend plans. I see here in my fair city Of Boston the curfew has now been extended to 9Pm from a previous 8Pm.  I personally don’t know if anyone is paying attention to these curfew mandates but I can tell you I can’t remember when I have been out of the house after 7pm, maybe yesterday when I walked down to Smoke Shop to pick up our BBQ for dinner, and I only saw one other person on the street. I mean where are you going to go?  The supermarkets all close by 7, the take out places are all done by 8pm, and God knows all the bars are closed, so home is where I will be with the rest of Bostonians. I am sure there are some out there that are hosting some house parties and breaking the rules, but I hope you are keeping 6 feet apart and wearing your masks. We are in a routine here, I do all the cooking and my roommate does all the dishes. Today I came home to a clean house, as Techie decide he would do a cleanup since I have been leaving the house to go to work, the last few weeks.  I know it is only one big room and one bathroom, but you really need to get at all those hard to reach spaces, under the tables with all the dust kitties, the dining table which now serves as both a spot for meals and the other half Techies computer and office. Good thing it is a nice big table, but some nights I want it cleared, so I don’t feel like we are eating at our desks at work. Roomie is really good he puts it all the bench or chair and tucks it under the table, almost like a roll top desk, all good. Today I got up and out of the house very early as I found that a Costco was having senior hours at 8am, and was much psyched to find out about this, as not all locations are doing this time frame. Honestly I felt like royalty when I strolled right in the door with no line, and greeted by a young man who asked if he could sanitize and wipe down my cart. Now here is the thing I know they are open for essentials, and the theory is that is what we should all be shopping for when we venture out but I immediately find myself drifting as I walk around the bins. They had all kinds of clothes stacked up for the browsing and Kirkland is my favorite designer label, I found myself distracted from my mission of Clorox wipes, hand sanitizers, Tp and paper towels. Kuddos to Costco as they had a nice big sign on the way in of what they were out of. TP, and limit on the chlorax wipes and meats, sounds a bit weird doesn’t it?  Makes you kind of wonder what are people doing with the Clorox and the meat?  Anyway I was shocked to see so many of the elderly out and about in a food warehouse and somewhere pushing their walkers. I haven’t been in one since February and quite frankly was a bit leery of even going in but was pleasantly surprised to find it very empty and as it turns out when I was in the parking lot the lady next to me asked me how I got in and out so fast, she was surprised they opened an hour earlier than she thought. I told her let it be our little secret.  It just wasn’t the same as I always like to go when they are giving out all those free samples and if you time it right that for sure is lunch or dinner, now it is doubtful we will ever see Chez Costco operating anytime soon, just another casualty of Corona.  They did however have their Pizza and hot dog counter open, not many takers at that hour of the morning. I did get one of my Clorox wipes taken away at check out as I didn’t pay attention to the limits on certain items. I do believe the young lady at checkout was chastising me in a very polite way, but seriously it’s not like I was trying to sneak some extra booze it is Clorox. But as we all know these paper goods and sanitizers are now the bitcoin of this pandemic and can be part of an underground trade. I seriously thought the TP thing was over, but I did hear sighs of disappointment today at Costco when they found there was no TP. Cheer up even the CVS has it now as well as Trader Joes, although I am sure I would rather not use theirs, I don’t know why just got a bad feeling about it. Well I provisioned my cart with all the main staples and delivered them out to World Headquarters, the shelves were bare as it has been almost three months since I restocked the Snack kitchen. We are not Google or Facebook but we do offer some of the best free snacks. We have plenty of Ramen noodles, Ritz crackers, Mini brownies, Mac and cheese, Doritos and string cheese. I do entertain requests and when the marketing team is in house I get almonds, and seaweed crackers. I noticed today that no one has broken into their stash and as I surprise I got them some ice cream bars and don’t know long that will be before someone opens the freezer. Usually all the good stuff disappears in a few days but we do have a lot smaller crew on site so I give it a week. Seriously it is hard to compete in today’s environment of the High tech companies providing all free meals, laundry pick up, happy hour with a stocked bar of beer and wine.  Luckily we love the Ramen noodles all year and sometimes some mini frozen pizzas. Doing our part to stay competitive, and now most of those other offices aren’t even seeing any people since they are all working from home, so I guess we could add this to a list of our benefits package? These people are essential as they have to stage for deliveries, and receive the goods just can’t be done from home and we appreciate them very much. This Corona Derby 2020 was sent by a friend tonight and I think it pretty much sums it up as to what is next.

Just sayin…

Good evening everyone and hope you all got to spend some time enjoying this glorious day. It seemed the weather did turn our way for a beautiful spring day. That is one of the most positive things about this outbreak or virus lock-down, how much a difference a good weather day can be.  Just the fact that we don’t need a down jacket or gloves. Now that I have been cooped up inside for so long, I guess I can understand how people want to be in a warmer climate. Just so much less of a hassle if you don’t need to layer yourself when you head out for your daily trek. I have had a nice little set up outside my apartment door for the past several months with a little bench that I could change my sneakers or bike shoes, and not bring them inside. I was even hanging my coat on one of the beams. Well as it turns out the condo rules don’t allow for anything outside your door. Even though I knew this, it still really pissed me off when I got busted for breaking the rules and threatened with a fine.  I know this younger yuppie couple were making a big deal about it a few years ago, didn’t like the floor mats or baby carriage outside  the door, but as soon as they were having a baby they moved out.  But not before they stuck us with this ridiculous new security system for guests to ring up to your apartment, or open the door with the app on your phone, half the time it is broken.  Apparently there was a move afoot to try and be a bit more upscale as we were the poor relation, in regard to all the new construction in the hood, but we sure have much more charm, and our fees are quite a bit lower.  I am sure there are plenty of you out there you have lived in a condo and understand the Board and the rules, but this is my first time. I am not much of a rule follower. As a matter of fact, it is surprising how little complaints I have had in the five years we have been here but all it takes is one asshole to get all hot and bothered.  You see we live on the second floor which is the only floor that has an open atrium so we have a big open hallway, the other floors are all closed up, hence not much outside your door space. I find it very helpful when late at night if I hadn’t finished the required steps for the day I would just do a quick 30 laps around my open hallway. Now there are two buildings, and the nasty bitch who called me out on my bench lives in the building across the courtyard.  I don’t even know who she is but she has to be a major A hole to get all bent out of shape over someone’s bench that has nothing to do with her, when today we have a lot more fish to fry than breaking a silly rule.  I miss my bench as I am one of the elderly, I do get to shop at preview hours at the market, and it is nice to have a place to change my shoes.  I am not going to dwell on it too much because only gets me super angry and that is not going to serve me well today. Besides I will just give it a while and just put it back when no one is looking, and stay out of our building Miss Busy Body. Techie is back to doing his meditation in a bigger way and tells me Patience and tolerance is the way to go. Ya let me think about it. No. Patience is never going to be my thing, and there is no way I can meditate my way there. I am trying to be more tolerant of people during this time of Corona, and most times people are being pretty reasonable, but not all are wearing their masks. I hate to say this but I am going to call out the Millennials. They don’t have full compliance and especially running or jogging around the city. We don’t want your spray so get with the program. They are pretty good about getting out of your way. I sometimes feel like Moses parting the sea when I come upon a group that just spread out till you pass. I kind of feel like I have some super power. Now if that could only translate to making that happen for those in the left lane who aren’t passing anyone, it would be awesome. I know we are all driving a little faster than usual since there is so little traffic on the highway, and I often get pissed off at the guy ahead of me and then I see I am going 80. I noticed today they have signs on the highway about keeping the proper distance from the cars in front of you, being clever about telling people don’t get on my tail. I noticed a lot more state troopers hidden on the side of the road today, so I must be more careful so as not to get a ticket adding to my frustrations with the lock down.  My roommate and I noticed on our daily trek today that almost all conversations we could over hear while we past them on the street were all virus related. When are we going to end the shutdown, he had no symptoms, he’s back in the hospital, when will I see my family. Today we were reminded that Covid is not the only game in town. Cancer can sneak right up on you. I may have mentioned that my whole family rides in the PMC, Pan Mass Challenge every year and we raise money for Dana Farber Cancer center. Well we ride on team Flames and we found out our little pedal partner Zachary is back in the hospital and his leukemia has come back. We all were stunned as he was doing so well and had been in remission, and what time to be admitted back into the hospital. Tonight we had a Zoom meeting with a lot of our team and shared our stories of why we ride and why we have to continue and raise money to find a cure. I wore my bike shirt from just two years ago tonight and I am in big trouble because I could barely squeeze into it, no more carbo loading.

Just sayin

Good evening everyone and hope you all had a very good Wednesday. Remember when this used to be referred to as hump day, and only two more days to the weekend?  Now most of the time it doesn’t matter, because there will be no activities on the weekend, it’s just another day. No soccer or baseball games, trips to the Museum or aquarium, and worst of all no brunch. Brunch was never a big thing when I lived in the suburbs, and maybe it was just me, but here in the city people love to brunch. Especially when the weather gets warm and you are able to sit outside. They love to dawdle over their eggs bennie or raspberry stuffed French toast and yes a Bloody Mary or Mimosa, or more.  So far no worries because this is New England, and we haven’t been told yet that it is May, and we had a frost today, but no problem that sun comes out in the afternoon and it can be 50-60” and we think it is beach weather. Besides it keeps the work from home crowd focused, because who wouldn’t want to go outside when it is a beautiful day, and it is not like anyone in your office would notice if you did. I did go to work again today and I love that I can blast the music so loud and dance like no one is watching, it is kind of liberating. I don’t know what that will be like when we actually get to open the doors.  I guess I will have to turn down the volume and maybe lose the moves. I really miss all my coworkers and interactions with other adults in person, besides my roommate everything else has been on Face time and Zoom.  But we are preparing for the “new normal” freaking hate that phrase and that includes a very stylish face mask, forget about those hospital paper ones.  I got a beautiful very stylish face mask today from one of my colleagues Cindy, and I love it. She was all tricked out in a very nice mask that seemed to match her outfit and I am betting she will be doing a very nice job coordinating a stylish wardrobe to compliment her masks. I do believe we are going to have to embrace this mask thing, for a very long time so we had better get on it and start getting them made to match our wardrobes, if it ever comes to actually getting out of our yoga pants and dressing a bit more professionally. I have to say I never thought I would go out in public in my yoga pants but yet I find myself leaving the house every day in them and I don’t even care about all the rolls and bulges, a I always told my daughter I am Rubenisque. I know from what I feel and what I read that we are all embracing comfort foods during this time of isolation and hibernation, and you know what that means a lot of Carbs. Screw the Atkins all that protein is not going to do it for most of us, we need to bake bread, eat lots of pasta and down a king size bag of Cape Cod chips in one seating to feel good. I am doing my best to drink the potato vodka and trying to cut down on the chardonnay. I don’t know about anyone else but wine seems to have a trigger for me to want to eat after drinking a bottle. Last night I said to Techie no snacks tonight, which have become a bad habit for late night, which we never did before lock down. I blame it on Trader Joes with those mini sandwiches and Nutty buddy cones. You don’t feel bad about having a mini but then you can’t stop at one and then becomes two then three and the beat goes on…  I stopped buying them but that doesn’t stop me from continuously looking in the freezer, for my best friend who seems to have left town with no forwarding address. I was in the store today and hesitated for a moment in front of the case but pushed my way through and you have to follow the arrows in the store so no going back, dodged that bullet. Tonight I prepared a spectacular Taco dinner once again from the yellow box, but I set a very nice table with all the ingredients in very attractive little bowls so it was a kind of build your own Taco. My roommate was easily impressed and not sure if he even noticed the attractive table setting but he seemed to enjoy it and the rule is he does the dishes so no complaints. I guess I will have to think of something really exciting for tomorrow night but doubt it will top this dinner that my lover served me the other night.

Just sayin….

Hello everyone and hope we are all doing well this evening. I know I am and there is nothing a nice bottle of chardonnay won’t solve, at least till tomorrow. I know I went off on a bit of what some may construe as a political rant and I make no apologies.  I can assure you all from my perspective it was tame.  For all intents and purposes let’s just put it out there Orange is my least favorite color and oddly enough red has always been my favorite.  What pains me most from someone who has embraced color so much in my world and design aesthetic that now Orange is dead to me, and that is all I am going to say about it. This from someone who embraced orange and pink in my own wedding years ago and then again when my daughter got married orange played a big part of her wedding party. Now one person has ruined it for me forever.  How could this happen? How could one idiot disrupt my whole color pallet to what I hold sacred and how do I allow this to happen? Well the truth is I don’t and I won’t. I am now reclaiming the true color pallet of orange and not the cheeto, brand of orange. I am reclaiming my orange and I hope the other one fades away, and the sooner the better.

Today I decided that I am on a path to relaxation and wellbeing, so will have to let the discord fall by the wayside. I am going to to wake up every morning and decide on the five things that really matter in my life, and then get out of bed and perform like they do really matter. Maybe we can’t do our jobs they way we used to do them but now we have a new opportunity to do something innovative. Let me just say the fact that I just wrote we can do something innovative is amazingly fucking innovative. You all know that I am something of a Luddite when it comes to computer lingo and for me it doesn’t much matter because hey, my techie, will fix it for me. Today one of my girlfriends confessed that  not all her secure rants and raves are completely private and I would love to share with you but the time is not right, but I can assure when the time is right it will be such a good read, you won’t be able to put it down. SO GOOD.

Today was a great day to be walking around the city and a lot of people were willing to share, so I hope you enjoy some of the first neighborhoods in the city to open up.  I think we are on the road to spring and it may be apparent to some but definitely not to all, and I was only looking for the bright spots today in my walk around the city that I love and adore.  I am sharing signs of coming to life in one form or another.

Just sayin…