Living in the Time of Corona

If Being a Mom were easy, Dad would do it

This is the headline from one of my favorite cards I have ever received from Peggy, and that is saying a lot because she is a good card giver.

I always remember as a kid my Grandma Burns would proudly hang all her holiday cards from friends and family on her dining room door, but Peggy’s had a special place. I would always know where to look, open the door, and just inside I would find the salacious card even if, admittedly, I did not yet understand the adult content. Peggy continued to push the envelope, unabashedly sending them to her mother, knowing full well that card would be dutifully hung with the others even if more discreetly.

This is one of my favorite Peggy attributes; she is 100% authentic and pushes boundaries every day. She is smart, persistent, passionate, and determined. Not only does she embody all of these qualities, but she also helps bring them out in others through her words and actions and love notes. While her emails leave so much to be decoded, there is a literal job category for that; she has a special knack for knowing exactly what to say at exactly the right time (as long as it’s in analog). Her wisdom is often sought after advice or sometimes offered as an unsolicited and much needed, swift kick in the A-S-S. The world is a better place because Peggy always knows right from wrong and isn’t afraid to speak up and charge forward regardless of imaginary lines or societal structures that may have otherwise hindered the timid. She goes boldly and doesn’t just bring you along but inspires you to find your voice along the way. After the path has been cleared, she is always there for mentorship, support, or a little note in the mail to lift you when you need it the most.

Her cards will always be my favorite (plus I can’t understand those fucking emails either).

-Erica

And Now A Few Words from The Peanut Gallery…

Good evening my Corona friends and I hope everyone is doing well, happy as one can be under the circumstances. In less than two months it will have been one full year since I first decided to chronicle this adventure of Covid-19. Holy shit! I just never saw it coming, figure lock down a few weeks or months, and it would all be in the rearview mirror, but this virus is really a mean bitch and just won’t go away. Now she is morphing into something new because she isn’t through messing with us, or just not ready to let it go. The whole world seems to be paying the price, and we must have done something horrible to have her mad at us this long. Apparently, Australia and New Zealand are not on the naughty list or maybe just getting teased about it.  I swear I often wonder if I am living in a different world when I watch the news or get a view into other parts of the country. There seems to be no stopping those Tampa Fans from celebrating their first Brady win Sunday night. I am not sure we could have kept these fans in lockdown if he was still in New England.  Of course, they would have been in the streets because unlike Florida, our bars are closed, locked up tight. Oh well, I have gotten used to my own pour and drinking alone because my roommate is a bit of a tea tootler. Now that the weather has turned and more snow is on the ground, my walks have gotten shorter. A few blocks to pick up my take out is all I am good for lately. Techie is still out there for his daily constitutional, and he is losing weight, and I am picking up his lbs. This just doesn’t seem to be fair, we have the same things for dinner, and Vodka is supposed to be calorie-free. I do admit I should have never have started back on the chardonnay but once you let that old friend back into your life hard to throw her out. My friend Eileen, once told Celia and me, on one of our travels that we were drinking dipshit juice. I should have listened to her. Lately, I feel like a woman on a verge of a nervous breakdown, as I am sick of Facetime, Zoom, and Instagram. Never tried Tik Tok, nor will I for everyone’s sake. Again living in another world when you see people posting while traveling and out to dinner, I just want to go somewhere, preferably a sunny beach.  Remember I live in one large room with my lover but after being closed up for almost a year, the walls can shrink like a Fellini movie.

Alright enough of the self-loathing and pity because I actually have it a pretty damn good, nice warm loft, beautifully furnished, stocked Fridge, liquor cabinet, so many restaurants for takeout within walking distance, and most importantly Techie reluctantly signed me up for a lot of streaming services that he never wanted, but anything to keep me quiet. He just puts on his headphones and goes to his blog sites, I am pretty sure it’s not porn but rational thinking sights, that’s what he says. If you know him, you can trust that they are just that.

Well, the latest crisis here is that our dishwasher broke and we have had to wash by hand for the last few weeks, oh the suffering…  But actually, it got us thinking that we can survive with just a few coffee mugs, plates, 1 set of utensils for each of us, a wine glass, and a drinking glass.  When we moved here from a place that had five bathrooms to one, we gave away a lot of towels, because you only really need one each, as you throw it in the wash every few days. So now we wash out our coffee mugs every morning and use the dishwasher as our drying stand with the evening plates. Sometimes we don’t use plates and just stand over the sink, crack some lettuce and pour a little dressing on and no need to dirty any dishes. Yes this minimalist lifestyle can grow on you, but I just don’t know how I keep accumulating more stuff, I just don’t know how it gets in here. The craziest thing is when you lose something that you just had your hands-on. There aren’t that many places it can be, it’s one room.  Last week my granddaughter Maisie couldn’t find her shmata, Blue, and we had just had it. Took us an hour to locate it and I swear I looked under the sheets several times but then on the last try there it was, mind-blowing.  Well, it was not like we had anything else to do being shut-ins we played hide and seek, where she hid in the same place every time it was her turn. She had a hard time grasping the concept, but fun, never the less.

This weekend coming up is Valentine’s Day and I am going on a vaccine hunt. I read about the vaccine hunters that show up at places and wait to see if there are any leftovers. Maybe Cupid’s little arrow will strike me with a dose of Moderna, so I can be set free.

Just saying………

Hello, my corona friends and I hope you are all happy and healthy and all snuggled up for a cold winter’s night. Yes, I daresay the temperature has definitely gone down around here and not just because it is January in New England but could have something to do with those snowbirds flying south to Florida. Oh, I can see clearly now the sky is blue and it sure has been so very blue, but more importantly crisp and clean this past week.  I might even say I have a little kick in my step, even with the news that double masking may be best at this crazy time. Seriously I just want to throw this dam mask off and never see it again and especially here in this cold damp weather, we go for a walk and that dam ting is soaking wet when we get home. This is especially relevant because we all know that the only enjoyment or visit with our friends is an outdoor stroll or a many mile walk as that is the only activity we can look forward to besides the fantasy of what is for dinner today?   Well, last week the Boston Globe published an article about supporting our Restaurants with take-out, and being the good citizen that I am I was happy to oblige. I told my roommate that it was our civic duty to do the research and support those small businesses that really needed the help and it was a culinary delight.  Of course, it did happen to coincide with me getting shut off from hello Fresh and there was no delivery box waiting for us at our door last Sunday. Imagine our surprise when upon entering our building last week there were three boxes for our floor and ours wasn’t one of them, for the record there are six units on our floor. After further investigation, it turned out that I had neglected to update my credit card on file, as I had to cancel mine and get a new one. This is something I do about 3 times a year and often wonder if they are thinking what is with this lady and why can’t she keep track of her cards?  Funny now they actually ask you do you want to put it on hold and see if you find it or just send a new one, pandemic changes everything, as they even ask if you want it to a new address? Now you know we live in one room so there are not that many places to look so pretty safe bet it is gone for good, but wouldn’t you know techie was looking for his shoes under the bed and found my card last week, how it got there I have no idea. But I can tell you that search led to throwing out a lot of stuff that had piled up in a very short time. My roommate came home from a dental procedure and looked in our medicine cabinet and found that all the Advil, Tylenol, etc. was years past the expiration date and I had to make a trip to CVS.  Well seriously we have only been here a little over 5 years so how bad can it be? I really don’t pay attention to the dates but he thought it was important so now all replaced. I will not replace them with any Costco versions of the super-size as we will never go through them fast enough, as I never get headaches I only apparently give them. Of course, this go-round led me to my kitchen cupboards and the expiration of some foods and if it was only two years past the expiration date it made the cutoff remain, hey it is still a pandemic. They hit the fridge ok there may have been a few salad dressings with a few years past but they had never been opened so they were deemed safe. The freezer was not too bad considering everything gets pile onto the old but maybe just tossed a few but I am drawing the line at my precious pierogis may have been a few years but I think it will only make them better.

This brings me to my conclusion tonight and must say with maybe a bit more abundance of joy that was necessary I was more than happy to throw out the Cheetos that have been living under my cushions and in my head for the last 4 years and yes that is one expiration date that I will wholeheartedly honor.

 Just saying………………………….

Of course, even if you don’t like Bernie he definitely stole the show this past week and I loved it.

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Good evening my Corona friends and I can only hope that you are happy and well during this most insane time of our lives.  I can’t believe I just put a 3 in front of the days since I started this blog and pretty soon we will be approaching a year, which never in my wildest dreams did I see that coming. Speaking of dreams are we all still having nightmares?  I swear some days I wake up and I have to yell at my roommate for what I was dreaming about last night. He was complicit in those nightmares! I can’t even blame it on the vodka or the chardonnay anymore, but the excellent thing is in a few days I won’t be able to blame it on Cheeto because he will be what I hope is a distant memory. Dam I hope we all wake up this weekend and find that this was all a bad dream, and there really is no virus and we didn’t have a reality tv star leading our country. Anyway moving forward I am not going to dwell on the coulda, shoulda, woulda but now it is a time for a change. There will be no more genuflecting to our fearless leader because that ship has clearly sailed.  As I write this the clock is ticking and let it be noted that it is 1 day, 13 hours, and 54 minutes and 48 seconds, now 39 but you get the picture clearly I am paying attention to the coming change. Hey, do I think there is going to be some miraculous change overnight to take us out of this nightmare?  No, but at least I won’t have to listen to a carnival barker telling us we turned the corner, and we will all be out of it soon.  Listen do you hear the quiet? Yes it has been eerily silent for more than a week, not to say my cable news stations haven’t been ad nauseum with all that has happened in the past ten days but can we move on to our new reality already. I mean when the heck this old lady is going to get that vaccine so I can get on a plane, dine inside and visit my baby, who is going to have a baby come June. I know it seems like it is all about me but right now it is all about my roommate and my kids, and grandkids. I remember a month ago watching early one morning with the whole country as the FedEx and ups trucks pulled out with those vaccines, the whole country felt hopeful but where the hell did they go?  Now they announce there is no backup, but I hear there is something called Vaccine tourism in Florida, could it be true?  How do I book a trip and does this include 7 nights and six days at a beachfront hotel?  Ok, I can’t believe I am going to say it but I may be willing to stay at a Holiday INN Express if it comes with a vaccine, no spa treatments included. Seriously we could breathe a bit easier if we had a date as to when this would be happening, I mean it would be something to look forward to and maybe even get dressed up for the occasion.

Techie and I got all dolled up a few nights ago for our company party and he even wore his tuxedo. We got a few weird looks leaving our building when I mentioned we were on our way to a big party.  I did let people know it was of course a ZOOM party because we are all responsible adults. Just heading to a secure location other than our one room.  I laugh when I think about it because every year I have to run around on the day of the party looking for something to wear and it drives me bananas, but this year I was happy to dress up and pretend we were somewhere else.  I am thinking that I may just have to plan one day of dress-up each week just to feel some kind of normalcy. But who am I kidding most days I have a coffee stain on my shirt, my hair doesn’t look combed in the back and I never wear any makeup. In fact just last week I was working with Brian on an early Saturday morning and after a few hours I realized my shirt was on inside out, I said why didn’t you tell me he said I thought you knew and maybe spilled something. I wish I could blame it on pandemic but this pattern was sealed long before covid, so add it to the list of things not happening after Covid.

Well, one thing techie and I don’t have to worry about is how to entertain kids and see that they follow along on remote learning. Today our daughter told us that she booked an adventure for Charlie, and no it wasn’t Disney world but for a small fee of 30 bucks, you could take a goat for a run. Yes, you heard right a GOAT. That’s what I have been saying this Pandemic has brought out the entrepreneurial spirit in some and if you can get people to come and walk your Goats you are a better man than I.

Just saying….

Now 1 day 13 hours , 23 minutes and 29 seconds

Good evening my Corona friends and I hope everyone is healthy and happy.  I really can’t believe what is going on out there in Covid world but it seems to have gotten much worse, and this after great news about a vaccine. I guess we never really did turn the corner and looks like a lot of sharp curves ahead till we get to the other side. I really don’t want to sound like the grim reaper but man oh man the world has gotten really freaking crazy. I mean it wasn’t enough that we are still going through life as the masked bandits but then we had an assault on our nation that really shook us all to the core. I am all for protesting, as one of the best points in this country that we can do it in a very public venue, but holy shit what happened?  I have never been a fan of the Orange one but this time he really was off his rocker. I mean if you looked at some of the get-ups on these people, you really could have some fun with a commentary, but the violence and death just knocked any joy of making fun of the “deplorables”.   Really we are approaching a year anniversary since we went into lockdown and every time I think of anything worse that can happen, it happens but this was the Topper of all. I have been to a lot of protests in my day, but none that turned so ugly and incited by the Dude who lives in the White House, WTF? can he exit fast enough?  I really found it very hard to stay away from the news channels this week and every day I saw a little more that I wished I hadn’t. Apparently, people found it convenient to defecate in the hallways and even my grandson Charlie who is a big fan of nature pee knows enough that it has to be outside. I have visited the capitol building a few times and if I ever get the chance to go back, I will be thinking about where I might step, not a good visual.  I hate to say it but I wonder how many Halloween costumes next year will be like that guy with the Rams head?  I wonder if he was in full regalia when he was arrested.  Apparently, he is some type of Shaman so I hope it works out for him in prison and he can start a new cult following. Anyway, I shouldn’t even joke about it but sometimes when it is so tragic you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

I was lucky on Wednesday as I was at work and could tune out what was happening until that is when everyone’s phone started pinging with news alerts and I couldn’t wait to get home to watch it on TV. Luckily that evening I was lucky enough to be invited to yet another Zoom cocktail party, but this time for a very fabulous occasion of my friend Lisa’s Birthday. I have to say I was thrilled to have such a pleasant distraction. She has a group of women friends that call themselves the Foxy ladies. They are a sassy group and when I became friends with her, through another fox, I managed to wiggle myself into an honorary Foxy position. There is nothing better than being part of a group of very supportive women who love each other and are there for each other. So thanks for allowing me to be a part of it and I love all the stories. Lisa, we promise there is an in person celebration brewing in the future. Well needless to say it was a rough week and I was at a real low come the weekend and what I really wanted was to go somewhere and not just a 5 mile walk around the city, where I peek in the windows of restaurants and see diners enjoying a night out and knowing that won’t be me anytime soon, I would go in but my roommate is a definite no so will have to wait for the vaccine. Techie decided Friday night that he would set a nice table and got some delicious take out with candles and all. We could have our own restaurant right at our kitchen counter and he even agreed to a dance party and we cranked up the music. What better way to end the night but smoke ’em if you got em and my son in law keeps us in good supply? The only problem is we couldn’t find a proper receptacle to use and MacGyver was thinking the old tampon and tin foil routine would work, but hey there are no tampons in this home any longer so he was improvising with the paper towel holder but anyway we worked it out. Finished the night with Junior Walker and dancing with my lover, ok I can do another day.  The world is going to be a better place because I have to believe for the sake of Charlie, Maisie, and Tilda that it will be.

 Just saying……………………..

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Good evening my Corona friends. I hope you are happy and healthy. First, let me wish you all the Happiest freaking New Year, and hope you are all in line for the vaccination. Who would have ever thought that in this day and age so many of us would be anxiously awaiting a shot. I usually would be hiding from a flu shot, only because the sight of a needle freaks me out. Let me just state that yes I am ready willing and able for my shot in the arm. Anti Vaxxers? Bring them on! More for the rest of us! Of course, I am thinking I am already of an age where I have over the years put a lot of untested and unknown things in my body that this vaccine is the least of my worries, bring it on ASAP.  Well, I know the news won’t be good after all the people who traveled over the holidays and are now back spreading the love, but we have to keep trying to put an end to it.

I know now when my roommate and I take our daily walks around the city and I look in a restaurant and see people enjoying dinner out I feel like crying because I want to be part of it. The worst thing was today I peeked in a place and people were sitting at a bar while dining, my favorite perch, and all this time I thought bar seating was off-limits.  I seriously wanted to break our family rules and just go for it, but alas I did not and settled for takeout with my own bottle of wine. Yes, I have read about sober January, but this is a Pandemic, and no need to be overzealous, ok maybe only on weekends, but that may be too harsh. Let’s just say one day less a week and there are eight days in a week, right? This New Year Eve was a different kind of celebration. It was one that surely made up for how bummed we were feeling for not being able to have our traditional New Year’s dinner with friends because we were lucky enough to have two important overnight guests.  That is right my friends we had a sleepover with Charlie and Maisie our grandchildren. Their parents went nowhere but just wanted a night off, and as a matter of fact, they forgot to pick them up the next day as they were in a bit of euphoria. I mean in today’s world who could really blame these parents that are working from home and while trying to keep the online learning going at the same time.  Heck, I had a full-time Nanny but there were still times when I really thought I might leave my son Max among the lettuce in the grocery store. Today they have many more worries and I can only imagine all those toddler heads in the produce aisles at the grocery store and what kind of picture that would be. Well, we were very lucky that the weather held and we were able to spend hours at the park outside our door because this one room can get exceptionally small when we break out all the Legos and trucks with two small people.  It was like a dam had opened on New Year’s Day with the sun out in a nice 35-degree weather everyone was at that park, slipping and sliding you could almost forget there was a plague except for all those little masked creatures on the slides. I really don’t want to pay it any mind because it makes me sad when I have to zip up their jackets, get their hats and mittens, and oh ya now we need a mask.  I think most of them are faring pretty well and I love them for it. The sad news is that their parents remembered they had two kids and came yesterday to reclaim them, so we reluctantly returned them and cleaned up all the debris from having two kids who you let do absolutely anything they want while under your roof.  Well after all the excitement and fine dining on mac and cheese and hot dogs I decided today was definitely going to be take out day and I had the perfect place in mind. My friend Sarah had told me about the most perfect chicken Parmigiana in Boston. We placed our order at Table in the North End with a pick up at 3:30, Techie misheard the closing time and a whole another story about getting a hearing aid, but we got to the place at about 3:15 and it closed at 3 but the door was open so I walked in and it was all dark. I yelled out and she called from downstairs what do you want? Just my take out, “go next door to the market and I will come up.” That was closed as well but the person opened the door and let us in. The chef came up to berate us that we were late as they closed at 3 and we should have picked up at 2:30.  I said no worries we placed it online and could we get it another day, we had it wrong. No, she was going to make it for us, but we were late and would have to wait outside, while she turned the oven back on and cooked it for us. She left to do her magic and I said to the woman in the shop, well if she was going to make it for us she should at least do it with a smile because right now we thought she was rather a bitch.  Well of course I was willing to wait because I had already anticipated the best chicken parm and since we skipped lunch we were going to have it for Lupper, as I hear the new dinner hour is 5 pm and we are giving it a shot, as now we just eat all the time and dinner is 7:30 so enough time for snacks. I was sitting on a bench outside waiting for this most anticipated dinner, I got to thinking about a most delicious sandwich Shoppe we used to frequent in Cambridge, High rise bakery it was fantastic and probably still is but they had the worst customer service and they were downright nasty at times.  I kept going back because the food was so dammed good that I could stand the abuse if I could just get that number 4 sandwich. Funny I am not a big yelper in fact probably have never posted just feel it is a place to complain but then one day looking for High Rise number the yelp reviews popped up and it was hilarious how bad they rated the service but how incredible the food was and for that we can overlook the rudeness. So that was what I was thinking on that bench waiting for my dinner tonight when she came out with my order and said that she gave me an extra helping as they were out of pasta, didn’t know it was included, her employee that chef was rough around the edges but really a good person inside.   Well, I can relate because sometimes I go on tirades and hope no one is listening.  The reason I am going to give her a pass is because that dinner tonight was beyond delicious. First, there was an amazing huge piece of Focaccia that was dripping in oil and rosemary that took the edge off the hunger till I could reheat the dinner, and all I have to say that I will be ready, willing, and able to take the abuse if you can deliver this scrumptious a dinner.  Funny how this shutdown all comes down to food and toilet paper.

Just saying……….

Good evening my Corona friends. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and didn’t add to the spread. Santa is going to remember those who didn’t abide and there will be a lot of coal next year. Sure didn’t seem like it was a holiday this year. Just another day in the life of living in the time of Corona, where every day is groundhogs day. This would have been the best year to enjoy a nice long weekend, with Christmas falling on a Friday, so can we please have a do-over.  Funny I was talking to my friend Cher today who had been looking forward to celebrating with her son and daughter-in-law since it was “their turn” when the other mother said what a bummer it was your year. I said for sure this has to be a do-over year and not count since no one was traveling. I guess we will have to see where we are next Christmas but I can tell you, I won’t be here in my ever-shrinking loft with Techie, lover, MacGyver, and roommate because one of us won’t survive, don’t forget we also work together……

Just enjoyed another dinner from a box and tonight we actually cooked it together, why should he have all the fun?  One problem I read the ingredients wrong and as a result, an extra half cup of water made it a bit soupy. Got to improve on those reading glasses or the Chardonnay fog. I was remarking to Techie tonight that they should really bring back Sandra lee and her Semi-Homemade show. It is the perfect time for it. It was kind of like cooking from the box, add a few prepared ingredients, and doctored up the chicken and good to go. We would probably skip the tablescapes. She loved to decorate the table and they were great, just didn’t know where to stop. Reminded me of my cousin Janice who just loved to decorate, for every occasion. The best part of Sandra Lee’s show of course she always had a special cocktail at every table and believe me she had a nice heavy hand with the pour. She was the Vanna White to any of these TV chefs and I vote we bring her back.

This year we won’t be celebrating New Year’s at our place, well at least not with a dozen of the people we love the most. I have been hosting New Year’s dinner for more than twenty years and I actually do cook an amazing dinner, or at least by the time we all sit down at 10 pm, it is scrumptious. Lots of apps and drinks before we can get to dinner. I love this evening just with close friends and not having to get dressed up. Although this year I would have called for formal attire just to wear clothes other than our sweats or elastic waist pants. I swear I am not going to do a zoom. I know I might have a bit of a breakdown if I have to usher in the New Year on a device, yes we have officially gone to Plaid.  Do you think it was a harbinger of what was to come when last year after most of the guests had left during clean up I dropped a knife on my foot that was spurting blood like Mt Vesuvius?  It was a tiny cut but my Lover thought it could be serious and at the advice of the nurse hotline called 911.  Well after a visit from a policeman in charge and his two officers they brought in the two young EMT women and after pulling the bandage off my foot, she smiled and said “I think you are going to live”.  I may have to call them back this year so I can feel like it is a bit of normalcy, now who’s crazy? I actually turned into my mother and asked the Policemen, who were very cute, if they were single and tried to fix them up with the EMT gals. Apparently, I was not the first.

I was hoping there would be Fireworks, which usually happen over the harbor at midnight, but no, Covid has taken those as well. I mean it’s outside and freaking freezing, so fifteen minutes of lighting up the sky to Say F U 2020 is mildly appropriate but that’s out as well. Well, we will just have to make our own Fireworks and get Sandra Lee to do our tablescape and there you go, Happy New Year!!!

I am not going to go into any New Year’s resolutions as I have had nine months to make some changes and the only thing I did was rearrange some of my furniture. I didn’t even do the deepest purge like so many people in the beginning with all the cleaning and reorganizing, no pretty much laid on my ass watching Law and Order for the 37^th time, but 2021 is going to be very different, just now sure how. See you all next year.

Just saying…………………..

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DAY 271

Good Evening my Corona friends and I hope everyone is healthy and enjoying the lockdown. I know it has only been three days since my last rant but we had a snow day today, so I find myself with a little extra time.  Not that we need a snow day when you spend the whole day in your pajamas watching Hallmark Christmas and cleaning out your closets, right now that just feels like groundhogs day, but I will take it. You know what really bugs me about these big storms, is the dang local TV stations and their nonstop coverage by reporters as we have to watch as each inch falls. They preempt all the morning programs so I missed Gayle, Anthony, and Tony this morning on CBS, to get the blow by blow of falling snow. I could just sit back and enjoy a second cup of coffee, instead of running around getting ready for work and catch up on the latest and greatest, but no only more news that yes we got a boatload of snow, and really don’t care what is like past 128, because no one is going anywhere. We did get all geared up to venture out around noon and take a trip to the post office, and it was wonderful as there were no lines today. It really is beautiful walking in a foot of fresh snow. It’s what happens later that can ruin it fast. Today it was going to take a while longer to get all dirty, as there were really no cars on the road, just a lot of snow blowers. Walking along the channel the tide was so high that there was a river between us and the Barking Crab, just another reminder that you can’t eat out today. I remarked to my roommate that when we moved here five years ago, one of the best things about snow days, other than we no longer had to shovel snow all day, but we could walk down the street to our favorite spot and sit at the bar and enjoy a leisurely lunch while chatting it up with all the other snowbound people enjoying the bonus day. Well, Covid changed all that and I am pretty sure not much was even open for takeout today. I remember at the beginning of this whole Pandemic my daughter asked me what my plan was for stocking up for a possible shutdown and I said I live right down the street from plenty of hotels and they are always open so no worries.  Boy was I wrong about that and darn good thing that trader Joe’s opened here last fall or we would be without a lot of the time. Well signing up for that subscription of food boxes was genius, thank you, Sarah, because Techie has become quite adept at cooking, just wish he was as good at the cleanup, but I will take it. Speaking of which, we are pretty sure we have started a trend in our building because there are about 5 Hello Fresh deliveries in the lobby when there used to be only two.  I was getting pretty tired of it and have pared it down, but I love it when techie says I am cooking tonight, so I can sit back and have a cocktail while I research air streams to be ready to make our escape, as soon as it is safe to hit the road.

Tonight I got to live stream Susan Rice who was part of the speaker series at Symphony Hall and like everything else was put on hold during this pandemic. Celia, one of my besties, introduced me to this speaker series a few years back when one of the ticket holders had to bow out and I took her place and stayed on for the renewal.  It was a few years back when I met up for the first one and I arrived a bit more dressed up than usual, I figured Symphony hall, only to be met by Celia in jeans, she said I should have mentioned no one dresses up.  Ok then, my kind of people definitely the NPR crowd, in their LL Bean gear carrying the NPR tote bags, you know what I am talking about, the Intelligentsia Cambridge types who have crossed the river for the speakers. We had been thoroughly enjoying these evenings as a chance to meet for dinner and catch up, as she is still out in the burbs, and I am just like all my friends that I used to get mad when they wouldn’t drive out to Suburbia on a Saturday night.  I only like to go to places I can walk to or take the “T” public transportation, yes have become a bit of a curmudgeon in my old age, I own it. Tonight I watched the live streaming from my couch and at least I have Techie to set it up on the big screen so as not to have to watch it on my IPad.  Well, I did enjoy listening and watching Ambassador Rice, I just couldn’t stop looking at her background and those annoying doors. She just wasn’t set up properly for Zoom, no one properly did a perfectly styled bookcase with just the right amount of fiction and nonfiction, photos, and treasured mementos in her bookcase. Just a piece of art and then those annoying doors and it wasn’t even centered. Jared on the other hand had it going on, a really nice brown tone on the wall and a perfectly styled bookcase/wall unit behind him. Since I am a curmudgeon I will add that I just don’t care for that look with those white pods in his ears, I see them every day on people live streaming and have to say it’s kind of Star Trekky. Of course, I was longing for the company of my friend Celia when we could have a nice dinner and a few glasses of chardonnay and then get to the Hall and squeeze in one more before the start.  It is always a good thing that it never lasted a bit more than an hour, as there were no potty breaks. Just not the same sitting here with my roomie because he just doesn’t enjoy a good glass of chardonnay and we can’t catch up on the latest gossip or talk about our grandchildren. Great news vaccines are here and we will be some of the early ones, age does have its’ privilege, and we will be out and about in no time. Please get the Chardonnay on Ice, as we sure have a lot of catching up to do, and Celia just had another new grandson, Neil. She got me beat by five.

Just saying……………

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Good evening my Corona friends. I am almost afraid to ask, but I hope you are all doing well. It took me about ten minutes to do the math here on how many days since my last post and I haven’t even had a cocktail yet, well maybe a small one. I finder harder and harder to process. I know we are under full siege right now and cases and deaths are rising faster than 9/11, but thankfully the vaccine is rolling out, and I am getting a fake ID so I can be one of the first in line. My roommate qualifies and I am thinking we can designate the loft to be an assisted living of sorts to get in on the first doses. I mean we are having meals delivered in a box, does that count?  Seriously whatever it takes. We are all looking forward to some reassurance that it is safe to go back in the water. Jaws has nothing on this pandemic. I watched the news yesterday and today as the first trucks rolled out and I said to Techie they are making a huge deal of the delivery of this vaccine, and he said Ya think?  Duh, yes it is the reason we are stuck inside and I can’t go to the gym, when I just making headway with my trainer Khalil, so embarrassing if I ever get back there now that I am a bundle of blubber. Oh, my first world problems.

Speaking of first-world problems have you been to the supermarket lately? Who are all these robot people running around the store with their I-phones and badges? It can be kind of creepy. I first noticed it around Thanksgiving when I made one of my reluctant trips to Whole Foods, but hey I live in the city and it’s one of the only places with parking. These guys were running around the store filling up their carts and they acted like they were on supermarket sweep, driving a Corvette or something. I was chill didn’t go off on them about hogging the space in front of the Bells’ Seasoning, doing whatever they do with their phone to be sure it is the right one, because it was crunch time for Thanksgiving, NAMASTE.  Now they have invaded all the markets and I really don’t like it. It is like a bumper car ride with my grocery cart.  They are probably rewarded for how Fast they can fill each cart but seriously stopping in front of all the tea bags and scanning so many till you get to the right herbal essence healing sexually satisfying tea for that client can be really annoying. I can wait a bit, maybe even a minute, but now I am going to accidentally bump you so move along. The sexually satisfying was just to see if you were paying attention, it wouldn’t be in the tea aisle but maybe the Astroglide one.  Anyway, you get the picture now these robots inspired by that evildoer Amazon have taken over even one of the only pleasures we can still do during Covid. Yes going to the grocery store is now officially an outing and we have to plan accordingly to have the most efficient and comfortable experiences, but these supermarket sweepers are really cramping my style. I am going to have to go back to senior hours, those little buggers better not be there at the same time. It’s funny that this whole conversation came up because I was telling my roommate how annoying it was for me with the robots, then my daughter who is a millennial remarked on it the other day, and then last night I read in one of my favorite blogs from the Retail Dr (shout out to Jill Biden) he’s not a real Dr., that it’s not a good thing for Whole Foods.

I vote we have designated Robot hours.

Just sayin…………..

Good evening my Corona friends and excuse me if my math is off but I believe it was eight days since my last confession and “forgive me father for I have sinned”.  OMG, how many of us would say this in a weekly confession?  I really don’t want to go down that path, but for those of us who lived it, Twenty Hail Mary’s, 15 Our Fathers, and 16 Rosaries before Midnight.

Well, Holy Shit we are in for a wild ride, apparently, it is even worse than last spring, so stock up on the TP and Clorox, and don’t forget the mac and cheese. We are going into hibernation and I don’t have enough room in my freezer for all the Nutty buddies that I am going to need to survive this one. Luckily I am walking distance to Trader Joe’s and I can go at off hours and be home in fifteen minutes.  I have been avoiding them for a while because let’s face it, they have the crappiest junk food. I really crave a good potato chip. I would prefer Cape Cod chips but they have their own and they are heavy and greasy. Seriously I do have standards in chips and French fries. Today Lola burger is killing it with those truffle fries and they sure don’t break the bank.

Enough about food! I want to talk about visiting the post office not just during the time of Covid but also add the Christmas packages to be delivered. A lot is going on so if you go don’t plan on running in and out. Pull out your patience card and just breathe because it is going to be a long wait.  First of all, I noticed that most of the people in line were elderly women. Mind you I still think I am 35 so I have to wonder about them.  Everyone is quite patient and we are all standing on our designated spot, six feet apart and all that. Fully compliant. we are in Concord, first place in the nation to ban the sale of water in single-use bottles, so don’t mess with these elders, polite but fierce, surely what is lacking today. I love it they wait in line and then get up to the counter and pull out several packages and have to discuss the shipping of each package. My son nailed it tonight when he mentioned it was like a line full of “Auntie Judy’s’, and believe me she would have to tell the story about each and every package. This one is going to the UK and no I don’t need to rush it, yes this one should go out in two days, and this one for my Canadian family and so on and so on…. You get the picture but what you have to admire is the incredible patience of the postal employees and actually the people in line you never shouted out, who cares?  Seriously I wasn’t thinking that at all, Patience is my middle name, but you get the picture.  I really did get a special chuckle, when at the end of the transaction do you need any stamps and then so many said well yes I could use some and proceeded to peruse the stamp book and pick out some nice “Christmas Ones’ and again they were so patient discussing which would convey the best Christmas cheer.  But here is the kicker there were a couple of Millennials or Gen z hard to tell which but when they pulled out their 14 different packages they just handed over to the clerk and said Merry Christmas. Apparently, they did all their work on stamps.com and just needed to hand in their packages.   Well not to be outdone I put the postage on some of my packages, well Ok JB did it, for me, and I went to the really big GMF facility in Boston tonight, and sure enough at least a half-hour or more line, but the difference is they had a receptacle for small packages, and I just dumped them in there. Score one for the OLDS…………..

Just saying………………..

P. S. not to just toot my own horn but I cooked a delicious dinner courtesy of my hero Ina Garten tonight without a box and pretty sure it was excellent.  My roommate really enjoyed it, yes he is still my roommate and I am going to need my techie if we go into serious lockdown.

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