Yesterday got away from me and there was no entry. That is the first break since this whole thing started.
Today we deal with a storm that is heading our direction. We have warnings about what is heading our direction. If it moved a little east or west, what we will get will change drastically. I think I will walk the property and get the trash cans into the garage.
The quality of light keeps changing as the clouds pass by.
I did figure out it is Friday, but it took a bit to do so. Feels like a Saturday.
So this is the beginning of a new streak of entries. Let’s see how far I get this time.
Day 42 of the Reopening Epic Wednesday July 8th, 2020
Yesterday my friends Karen and Laura came out to my neck of the woods and we had lunch together following all the guidelines. It was wonderful to meet up with them and talk face to face about all kinds of subjects. It felt normal.
This morning I awoke with Phoebe wrapped around my leg. It was comforting.
I feel scatterbrained today. It took me a number of tries to just get coffee. I set it up and forgot to turn it on. I got my cup set up but didn’t pour the coffee. I poured my coffee and then forgot to bring it into the living room.
Today we enter Phase four of the reopening. There are a number of places that are still closed, and we don’t have the timetable for them.
Apparently, a lot of the new cases on Long Island can be traced to people who left the area and then came back or came into the area from outside Long Island. So, we did the right thing, but others are possibly screwing up it up for us. Which seems to be the new normal. Selfish people are making this so much harder.
We finally got around to watching Doom Patrol which is very heavily based on Grant Morrison’s version of the characters. We have almost finished the first season and they are keeping to the main story that Grant wrote. I am sad that Alan Tudyk was not nominated for an Emmy because his performance of Mr. Nobody was a worthy performance. I loved that they brought Danny the Street into the mix.
Today is already hot with very little breeze and a lot of cloud cover and high humidity. It feels like summer but that part of summer I really don’t like.
Dragon Con is postponed until next year. I am sad but I do understand that it needs to be done to keep people safe. Peter had made the decision not to go due to his high-risk factors. Caroline and I toyed with the idea but decided that it would not be prudent.
So, the next convention on our possible list is NYCC in October with Anime NYC another possibly in November. GalaxyCon in December is another we are slated to attended. It might be the year without conventions for us along with the first year since Peter and I got together that we are not going to a Disney property.
But slowly we are getting back to the new normal which is good.
Tuesday June 7, 2020 aka Day 41 of the Reopening Epic
Tomorrow, if all goes well, we enter phase 4 on Long Island. We will still not have malls, gyms or movie theaters to go to.
Today is my youngest brother’s birthday.
Patrick rounded out what we called the Genius Company or the GC. With his birth we evened out our girl/boy numbers. Sheila got a playmate. I got experience in changing dippers and taking care of an infant which helped me as a babysitter. Sean got a little brother, so he was not the only boy in at dinner.
We all got an amazing child who is smart and kind in our lives.
Who grew up to be even more awesome.
He is a wonderful father to his two daughters and a devoted husband to his wife.
We used to call him the brain that walks on legs because he is very smart. He has excelled in his field and still loves to figure out problems.
He is very good at video games. I remember watching him play the first Star Wars game on the Apple along with Tomb Raider. He has great hand/eye coordination with lighting fast reflexes which is something I lack.
That same set of skills has made him an amazing painter of miniature figures.
We have the same taste in books. I love that I could share books I loved with him and he would do the same for me.
He is my little brother and I love him so much.
Happy Birthday Patrick.
I am grateful for Patrick and his family in my life.
Day 40 of the Reopening Epic and there is no end in sight.
When I am out in public, I wear my mask over my nose so that I can keep others safe. We know this brings down the numbers of infected people in a population. I am so very tired of people deciding that they are above everyone else and that they have the right to put others in harms way.
I guess I am angry right now at the idiocy of others.
This is going to drag on until part of the population gets some sense knocking into their heads or die.
Caroline and I have been ridiculed for wearing masks by others that are not wearing them and tell us how stupid we are for doing so.
I am scared we are going to go backwards and find ourselves trapped in our houses again and it will be a minority of idiots that will put us there.
When we walk, we have been avoiding the docks where the ferries depart. Too many people not practicing social distancing and proper mask wearing. There are signs at the docks with all the platitudes of what they should do but it also tell them that the ferry takes no responsibility if they get sick.
This past weekend it has come to light that out on Fire Island there was a COVID positive person who is symptomatic decided wearing his new speedo and partying was more important than people’s health. No, he did not wear a mask or socially distance himself. There were also pictures of packed bars with no masks and packed to the gills. You would think after dealing with AIDs that they would be a little more careful.
There are also pictures from the Hamptons of packed parties in bars with no masks.
This is what is going to shut down New York again.
And it makes me furious that I am doing the right thing, but it won’t matter because others will screw it up for me.
I worry about my friends who are in hot spots and my family especially my parents who are in their 80s.
I worry about Peter and Caroline. What if I get it? Am I going to kill the man I love or my beloved daughter?
I hate that I am playing Russian Rolette every time I step out the door even with all the precautions I take.
I am grateful for those who are taking this seriously and are doing what needs to be done.
Sunday July 5, 2020 aka Day 39 of the Reopening Epic
Last night was noisy as fireworks were launched. A majority of them were not legal. This went on for over 4 hours. Some were close enough that I was worried about the house. I expect when I go out, I will find some firework debris. I had a headache by hour two which got progressively worse as the evening went on.
I woke up this morning with Phoebe sleeping on top of me. She likes it when I am on my left side. She curls up on me and goes to sleep purring. It is not the first morning I have woken up to this. It is comforting.
Yesterday we watched Captain America First Avenger, 1176, Captain America Winter Soldier, and Wonder Woman. Caroline and I got two walks in and I did a lot of sorting of boxes of stuff I said I would sort later. Overall a very productive day.
Today I plan to continue what I started yesterday.
Back in 2018 Weird Al did a piece entitled “The Hamilton Polka” which he performed with Lin Manuel Miranda and Jimmy Fallon. I loved it then but now they upped their game. The Hamilton crew took Al’s song and used the movie to create a video that is brilliant.
Hamilton in 5 minutes kinda sorta.
Mewlan is doing her disappearing into a box trick. I swear she is entering her pocket dimension.
Focus is important in getting things done. There are days that I am laser focused and there are other days that I cannot get my brain to keep two thoughts in line. There are things I do to refocus myself but there are days that I throw up my hands and let my squirrel brain take over in hopes that it will bring me back to where I need to be. I also call this the ‘oooo shiny’ syndrome.
It can be very frustrating.
There is also looking at a mess and feel defeated before I even start. I cannot see the beginning that will lead to the end. It is then I find myself avoiding that which I need to do. If I can get myself started, then I can get into the groove and work my way through it. I find my focus.
Part of what I need to do when dealing with overwhelming stuff is to take a step back and let my brain work through how I am going to tackle the task. I break it down into smaller pieces until I have a plan of attack. At that point I can usually get started. It is the same with puppets and writing.
