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We are about 5 days in to an order from the Governor to stay at home. More and more states are making the same declaration. The Congress has passed and the President has signed a $6 trillion stimulus package. I think that may be the most damaging thing to us once this pandemic is over.
Susan and I are still working and we have savings we can use to keep going if this goes on for months. Plus, we have a freezer full of food. Most of it, we can't eat because of a diet we are on for Lent. Once Easter arrives, watch out!
So we are not feeling the pressure that many other people must be feeling. This looks like it could be May or June before things return to normal. The problem with that is nobody knows what normal is going to look like.
Toilet paper has become a major commodity. If you have some, you have some bargaining power. We just figured out a way to extend our toilet paper supply. We purchased an attachment for the toilet that turns it into a bidet. It was astonishingly less expensive than I have seen in the past. So we got two. Does that count as hoarding?
It did occur to us that even with the bidet, we are going to use toilet paper. How else to you dry your ass? A Hair Dryer perhaps.
We are going to try and be productive today. There's no reason to be stuck here and not accomplish anything.
I'm also going to take some squirrel pictures today. Stand by for that.
Later: It's been a few hours now and we have done well with the day.
First, here are the squirrel pictures:
We moved the couch out of the TV Room in order to make room for "The Return to Remodeling".
I discovered a mouse trap under the couch that I had forgotten about. However, the trap had not forgotten how to work. We got one. It did not appear he had been there long.
Susan continued stripping the front window and I set about to measuring the room to see how much wood I need. I need to buy trim for the three doors, trim for the two windows and baseboard for the one floor. I'll need a corresponding amount of base shoe for the floor as well.
We are all set to go out for a walk but suddenly the skies opened up. We're waiting, rethinking. In this peculiar time, you have to be fast on your feet.
Even Later: Nope! No walk. It was coming down pretty good and now the sun is coming out. I will not be baited. It will turn to rain as soon as we get out there.
Better to enjoy a glass of wine on the porch.
With all the excitement and worry over the Covid 19 Virus and how it has shut down life in America as we know it, Spring snuck in without any fanfare.
Winter is like Lent. When it's over, you really have something to celebrate. Today we are having a really great Spring day. I was out driving around earlier and saw a bank sign that flashed 64 degrees.
Susan and I have just returned from a bike ride. My stamina still sucks. We did three laps around the park, taking the one mile route and my bike speedometer said 3.34 miles. Perhaps the park got stretched out over the winter. That's close enough to accurate for me.
I'm going to go out on the porch when I finish this and enjoy a glass of wine. I would like to enjoy a glass of beer, but that's still a couple of weeks away. In the meantime, I've lost 12 pounds.
We are talking about getting back on the job of finishing up the TV Room. We haven't worked on it since last Fall. We even moved the couch back in there to accommodate the Christmas tree in the living room.
Now that we are home more, we might as well get that going.
Now, it's time for some wine followed by some grilled asparagus.
Things are starting to get serious with this CoronaVirus.
Today the Governor shut down all bars and restaurants for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, they will reassess. Restaurants with delivery or drive up windows can still operate. Pharmacies and Grocery stores are open as well but they may be limiting the number of people in the place at any one time.
Nothing like this has happened since the Spanish Flu epidemic back in 1918. There's a column in the paper where they look back at the news 100 years ago. There was lots of stuff about the flu and how they closed down all kinds of gathering and events.
Social media and round the clock news cycles haven't helped. It seems like they feed the panic. I wish they would ban the Interweb. Of course, that would shut down this ever so interesting blog. I'd have to write this on paper...with a pen...or one of those pencil thingys.
People are hoarding. Toilet paper is never in stock. Now the stores are out of pasta, pasta sauce, and canned goods.
So far, I still have a job. I went in today for a few hours even though I'm supposed to be off on Mondays. We have a lot of work and I'm falling behind on some of it.
We are experiencing a really lazy Sunday. We slept in until 9:30. For me, that's really decadent. For Susan, it's Heaven.
It's now about 11:30 and we are watching the squirrels eat bungy corn and just getting around to having breakfast for ourselves. Susan is planning on some sort of no carb muffin in a cup. Okay...I can eat that.
The muffin has been eaten. It's pretty dry but palatable with the addition of some sugar free Cool Whip.
Well, I just accomplished my first productive item for the day. I went on line and filled out our 2020 Census form. We shall now be counted. I'm not one who prescribes to conspiracy theory's regarding the Census and have no problem filling it out.
Next I'm going to shower and groom. Even on a Sunday with nothing to do, it is important to keep yourself up.
1:18PM: I am refreshed. I'm not sure what is next on my agenda but I can assure you it is too mundane to discuss here.
3:21PM: We have just returned from a brisk walk around the park. We took the mile route and it took us 21:16 to get around. We can improve that substantially if I could get my shoes tied properly.
4:42PM: This is turning out to be one unexciting post so I'm going to stop wasting your time and shut it down.
Our burgeoning Spring has suffered a set back with the return of Winter. There was a Winter Weather Advisory issued yesterday. The snow started to fall about 2:00 PM and continued through the night and just let up about half an hour ago.
I'm going to make a hearty breakfast of Cheese Eggs and then get out there with the snow blower.
Other than that, it looks like we are avoiding contact with all other human persons because of the declaration of a national emergency due to the Covid-19 CoronaVirus currently spreading the land.
11:50AM: I have completed my snow blowing duties but it looks as though I may be back out there. Right after I started blowing, it began snowing again and it continues as I write.
Here's how it looked.
Here is a nice photo of the house.
Yup! It really is that blurry out there.
I have just built a nice fire and I did it in the fire place, which seemed to make the most sense.
Here's something I have not run across in the 15 years we've lived here.
I've never had the whole front porch covered with snow. I broke out the shovel since it was going to take a whole lot of effort to lift the snow blower up there. It must have been snowing sideways from the north to do that.
So now, we are hunkering in for a snow-corona day. Snowrona!
9:15PM: Today is the day that most people and bars are celebrating St Patrick's Day. We went over to the Hub to enjoy a couple of glasses of wine and St. Paddy's festivities. Susan won a pair of wine glasses by hanging around so long into the evening that they were the only door prizes left.
The evening is now winding down and we are back home to watch a movie or something before bed.
It's been a good day.
I have not been shut out for the 2019-2020 ski season. We skied on Saturday at Lookout Pass. It started out as a lovely semi-warm day that turned to snow just as we ran out of gas.
We got on the chair lift for our first run at 11:00 AM. We skied until 2. We skied a total of 5 runs. That comes out to about $7.40 a run.
I would like to say that the intense snowfall coming down was the reason we decided to quit for the day. But that would be false. We were both totally spent. My stamina has crashed and I need to get it back.
Susan felt the same even though she has been out running and working out.
Having skied this year, I have added to my continuing unbroken ski legacy of 53 years. I hope to get again before everything shuts down. We'll see.
It's great to be in shape. At least, that's what I've heard.
Here is an update on the Squirrel Bungy Cord.
It appears to be very popular with the local squirrels. Well, at least two them. Here are some shots.
The one big problem with this thing is the mess it makes. The squirrels don't eat the whole corn kernel. They just go for the meaty white stuff at the base and drop the rest...for me to clean up. I guess the torture of furry urban park dwellers comes with a price.
We have a new toy designed to torture squirrels for our amusement.
It's a Squirrel Bungy Cord. You attach a corn cob to it and then watch the fun as they jump up on it in order to get a little food.
It's hilarious! Well, I think it will be hilarious. We just got it and they don't seem too interested in it so far.
Yesterday I rented a log splitter to take care of the numerous stumps and branches left over from last year's downing of the tree. (Refer to August 30th, 2019)
I had it for four hours and was not able to complete all the splitting in time. Oh sure, I could have optimized my time by having some gas on hand to fill the tank when the splitter ran dry. I could have organized myself a little better and not spent a chunk of the rental time stacking the wood.
But to be fair, there was a lot of wood out there. I was never going to get it all in four hours.
Today, Susan and I went out in a husband/wife team and did some stacking. I'm happy to say that we got a good pile close to the house that is ready for burning...once it's had the summer to dry out.
I'm working on another stack that will have to be covered with an tarp. ( I know that is an improper use of grammar and yet, I'm leavin' it) I laid down a couple of 4x4 posts I've had rotting in the wood pile to use as a base for this new stack.
Stacking wood is a lot like putting together a puzzle. You have to find the right pieces to go on the ends and then fill in with assorted chunks as you go. The more stable I make the ends, the higher I can go with the stack.
Susan is not particularly happy with the stack we did. She thinks it is too high and a bit unstable. I will give her that but I don't think it is going to go over. I told her she can give me a good "I told you so!" when it does.
