WTF - 2021

Who made a 2021 disaster bingo card?  And then, who the eff had "the national association of manufacturers" as the voice of reason?  I straight up do not understand.  (In unrelated news, I think Larry King is still in the hospital.)

I did hand write some journal notes, which will show up when I scan them.  It's after 10:30pm.  Apparently I will not sleep, so I'mma keep writing.

In the morning, I woke up and we're all worried about the senate race in Georgia.  One of the two races had been called already.  One was technically a forgone conclusion but not yet called.

Just before 2pm my time, I turned on the TV expecting to see my governor and holy shit.  That was not what I expected. 

I have been to DC and to the Capitol multiple times in my life including the traditional 8th grade trip, a high school trip as part of presidential classroom, and some adult times with Mom and Dad.  In related news, I have traveled to multiple dictatorships (China, Vietnam, Cuba).   So I have the comparison for security. 

The Capitol building is a fucking fortress.  There's no way 'the proud boys' or any other random "militia" should've been able to breach the defenses.  Law enforcement straight up missed the boat. I am grateful for the multiple reps and news agencies who were all "remember BLM and the law enforcement then?  Because we didn't have that today." 

I have CNN on.  It's 10:45pm my time.  VP Pence and Speaker Pelosi are standing next to each other looking at everyone like "wtf people, get this shit done".  Also, people, I have CNN on.  

Bad person me is all "I wish Pence didn't have to preside over this shit so he could go invoke 25".  Y'all.  What a freaking day.  Even Dad was like "no, Pence needs to get him out of there".   Just so we're clear, Dad tells this story of a colleague who was all "when I'm mad, I can't go around you because you're so calm, I just can't be mad". 

Ok now we're on Georgia. Amy Klobuchar is reading the results.  Go Amy!  (Am I allowed to say that?  I think I am.)  74 Republicans are objecting saying that the republican sec of state made the election unlawful. Ooooh.  Y'all the senators have withdrawn their objections.  Who are these people?  Now we're on Hawaii.  So Georgia is good?

My respect for VP Pence has grown from zero to 1.  Also they're calling 45 "from FLorida" vs from NY.  Is that right? 

Yo.  Amy gets to read the certificate for Indiana.  VP Pence got a small clap for the IN vote.  I'm okay with that.  What a fucking day.

45 won Iowa?  For serious?

10:57p my time; now reports are saying 4 people died?!?  I knew there was one fatality.  From about 6 hours ago, I'd heard that.  One person died from gunefire (which I knew) and 3 died from "medical emergencies".  Also multiple pipe bombs were recovered. 

10:59pm - we're objecting to Michigan?!?  Really?  I thought PA was the only one left. Oh.  "the objection cannot be entertained".  My respect for VP Pence is rising.  

11:00pm - MN votes are being counted.  Amy gets to read it.  You go girl!

Everyone: Literally have never watched the electoral college votes be certified.  Me: same. 

We're still on M.  Apparently there will be a debate with Pennsylvania.  Fuckers.  Why? 

Ooooh.  Nevada.  Who's gonna piss on this?  Fucking Alabama. Y'all.  Pence is getting tired of your bullshit. Oh.  No senators have joined.  Ok; we're good. 

This is me being a bad person but not.  Does Sen Roy Blunt have Parkinsons?  He has a twitch that looks familiar based on some family twitches.  Sorry if this is the wrong thing today.

Yo.  I haven't seen VP Elect Harris (AKA Sen Harris) on tv.  Is she in a bunker?  VP Pence is like the only one not in a mask btw. It's fine.  This has to be a shit day for him. Maybe he can invoke 25 so he can be president for a hot second? 

Fucking Ohio. Y'all let me down.  You were blue in 2008.  

11:13pm.  Pennsylvania.  Let the chaos resume?  Penn = 244 votes for Biden? Holy shit.  Lots and lots of people are standing up.  80 members of congress and 1 senator.  Here we go.  "An objection complies with the law...." Seriously?  They're having a black lady ready this?  (Y'all; I'm sorry; it's late and it is what it is.)  Senate is retiring to its chamber.  I mean for serious people. It's after midnight in DC.  Ooooh.  Anderson Cooper is talking now.  He's going to summarize. Apparently the senators are going to sit, vote and come back.  

11:18 Former Sen Loeffler said she would no longer object to the GA votes.  Seriously.  She's 1 point less insane than I thought.  

"Fox news is state run media" I love CNN

"Black lives matter protesters were there for a real issue".  I love Don Lemon too. 

"It is not a forum for adjudication".  CNN just used the phrase "Retrumplicans". 

"President who uses fear and anger as weapons... that's why we're in this moment right now'.  Don Lemon, let's talk.

Per Batman "I forgot that you even had hair".  Yeah.   

COVID Diaries - January 6, 2021. Insurrection.

 

COVID Diaries - January 5, 2021

 

COVID Diaries - January 4, 2021

 

COVID Diaries - Jan 3

 Funny; I had running streak day 3,000 a few days ago.

Pretty sure this here is blog post 3,000.  Live it up!

COVID Diaries - Jan 2

 

COVID Diaries - Happy New Year (or whatever)

 

COVID Diaries - NYE

 

COVID Diaires - Dec 30

 

COVID Diaries - Dec 28

 

COVID Diaries - Dec 27

 

2020 So Far - in pics

 I'd like to describe the shit storm that has been COVID 19 in pictures.

Last dinner date before lock down.

Last time having friends in my house before lock down.  This was a day before my first (and worst) COVID scare.  (That one turned out to be not risky at all, but the lack of information in the beginning....)

First quarantine visit outside.

First time sorting masks for work.  This was when they still had disposable masks for us to wear.  There was a point where that stopped.

First time "masked" at the grocery store. 

Next time sorting masks for work.  This time they did not have disposable masks for us, so I got to wear one of the donation masks. 

Captain Smiley did a lot of casual clothes shopping. 

I practically lived out here from June to September.

I don't even know what's happening here.

My chef for the summer.

I did get to have an outdoor, limited attendance birthday party.

Olive got a bike that she could ride along side my slow ass while I ran.

I found the biggest fish in Minnesota. 

Got to test all kinds of masks.

I got attacked by a fucking owl while I was running.  

And there was the day I had to wait 30 minutes for a train to get out of my way.

We had a blizzard in October.

And then shit got so real that Dungeon Master had to drive over and check on me in December, in the freezing cold.  

"Shit got real" also means that old pics were dug up. This one is classic me.  If Aunt Barb was around, that's probably where I was.

Dec 8 - COVID Diaries

 Y'all - I have spent the day learning about COVID vaccines.

Phase 1 = 3 waves within the phase. I am potentially the 3rd wave of phase 1.  I have acute/chronic patient contact but not in a hospital or LTC facility. However, there's a lot of, um, distrust, of the vaccine.  And since it's an emergency use authorization, there's no mandate to actually get the vaccine.  So, who knows? 

Also, apparently cheese and cheese wheel distribution is at risk?  (Dry ice is important people.)

Overall message: the people running the state of Minnesota are absolute nerds led by a football coach.  We could not be in better hands.

Meanwhile, I'm over here ignoring the realities of winter.  Since we don't have snow on the ground and it's supposed to be 50* outside tomorrow.  Not sure if I'll go on a 'long run'.  I'm just going to live in my bliss.

Dec 6 - COVID Updates

I haven't really said anything about who has and has not gotten COVID in my life on here.  I'll try to be vague but precise here.

Self: so far so good.  Though there was definitely a moment I thought I had it.  For now, fingers crossed.

Minnesota peeps: I definitely know people who have tested positive and recovered.  (I walked with one of these people last week.  She was all "I knew you wouldn't be scared to walk with me.)  I know people who are still sick but expected to recover.  I don't "know" people who have died from COVID, except I do through friends up here.  

Family: One family member has tested positive and is isolating but currently has no symptoms.  None of us can believe this person has no symptoms yet, btw.  We are all just crossing our fingers so hard over here. 

Health care workers: Some family members and several friends also work in health care.  Isolation precautions in health care are, like, weird.  "Oh, you had a super low risk exposure in the community, no symptoms and a negative test within 14 days.  Get yourself to work." Because, if they didn't the hospitals and nursing homes would be closed.  Apparently in Minnesota the MN National Guard has already been assisting in some facilities.

Vaccine: I am told the first shipment of vaccines is like, imminent.  For my company, staff who have patient facing jobs get the vaccine first.  But, within that, I'm not sure who is prioritized.  Like, hopefully hospital workers are high on that list? 

I was thinking about the difference between rounds 1 and 2 of quarantine. 

COVID Snacks: So much talk in round 1; not so much in round 2.  Round 1 was like "I accidentally ate all my COVID snacks by day 3."  Second time around with this nonsense, it's like 'no, potato chips and cookies are not allowed in my house.'

Toilet paper: Yes in round 1; yes and why, wtf? in round 2   Same apparently goes for paper towels because no one uses rags anymore?  One of the bright spots of round 2 was when a dear friend (who is out of town for a long time) texts me and says "if you need toilet paper just let yourself into my house and take some; I have plenty".

Rice: Yes in round 1.  No one cares in round 2. Which is how I bought 25lbs of rice for $10.00 at Costco.  Now I see why they have all those big tupperware tubs at my Asian supermarket. 

Exercise: Yo, I was so much better in round 1.  Round 2 is like "how little can I get away with and keep my streak alive".  There's no such thing as weight lifting or anything.  It's been rough.

Dec 1 - COVID Diaries

 I cannot even believe it's December.

I saw one of my most favorite nurses today and she asked how I'd been.  "every day is the same" I replied.  It's kind of true.  There's parts I like about working from home, like parts I hope I can keep after lock down ends.  And there's parts I'm like "let me out; I can see humans again".

In running life, my foot is soooo much better.  And I'm getting stronger in running in general.  This year has been a real shit show for running, so feeling a bit stronger is lovely.

In 'what'd I sign up for now' life, I am doing a walking challenge for December, 30 miles on the month, so roughly a mile a day.  I tried some inside miles tonight after the sun went down. That was not ideal, so maybe I'll walk a mile in the morning and run in the afternoon? It's a thought.

In pandemic life... it's just EVERYWHERE right now.  Every time I turn around, someone I know or someone I work with or... someone's getting sick.  And it's such a crap shoot.  It's such a range of "I have no symptoms" to "I felt lousy for a couple of days" to "in the hospital and having breathing assistance" to death.  Young healthy people get nailed.  Frail old people skate through.  And vice versa.  For 80% or so, it's mild.  But yo, do you feel lucky?  Do you want to see if you're in that other 20%. 

Minnesota is a hot spot, but also expected to have a vaccine for front line health care workers in a couple of weeks?  Weeks?!?  I can't believe I'm writing that.

This is one of those things, when I look back on it, I'm really going to remember the uncertainty. Who's sick?  Who's exposed?  If we get sick, how bad will it be?   Will the vaccine really work? Will I get to see Grandma again?  So much uncertainty.

Happy Turkey. Turkey.

11/26/2020: This marks the first Thanksgiving since 2001 that I was not with family for Turkey Day.  This brings my total of non-family Thanksgivings to 2.  In normal years I'd be in Indiana with Dad's side of the family having part American food and part Italian feast!  This year, I got a care package from a dear friend/awesome chef and had Mom and Dad on Facetime. The three of us realized we don't have "our" Thanksgiving tradition. So, I decided we say the Prayer for Protection. That's us. 

11/27/2020: First Friday after Thanksgiving that I've worked as a social worker.  Ever. Y'all.  I'm so happy to report it was super boring.  No one wants to talk to social work on the day after Thanksgiving.

11/28/2002: A friend texted me: "I wanted to walk, so I'm by your house" and I ran outside like "hang on, I'll grab my mask".  This friend actually had COVID and has recovered.  She was all "I knew you'd be okay walking with me".  (Meaning 'I knew you'd understand science and that I'm not contagious').  It was LOVELY.  Since we're in lockdown, I can't walk with Dungeon Master, nor Olive.  And I can't play with Pooky Bear and Baby Pooky at the playground.  Want to know my main social contacts? So, I'm so happy for the limited options.

COVID Diaries - Lockdown 2.0

 Today is Thursday.

Wednesday night the Governor announced a new lock down.  This one will be similar but not exactly the same as the original show.  Churches are going to remain open (which I think is kind of ridiculous but no one asked me).  Restaurants, bars, gyms, schools, youth sports, all shutting down.  Restaurants do get to keep carry out and delivery service.  All retail is staying open. 

The one that hurts the most, and is the same, is the "no social gatherings of any size, inside or outside".  Which means, if I don't live with you I can't visit you.  Y'all, I live alone.  My pandemic partner, Captain Smiley, is actually unavailable for the foreseeable future so I am legit all by my lonesome up here.

I am continuing my avocado farm.  I planted 1 yesterday and 2 more today.  I need to go to Costco soon for more. 

My foot is feeling significantly improved from the day I stepped on the horse, so I am running a bit more.  I got back up to 3 miles today. That was nice.  Plus it was the best weather ever.

I have perfected my Salmon Poke bowl.  I follow this recipe almost exactly. The siracha sauce is super important in the marinade.  Absolutely makes the dish as far as I'm concerned.  I've been practicing making the Japanese pickled veggies, so I've been using those a lot in this bowl.  

I am planning a passion fruit farm, but have not made the leap yet.

I will be alone for Thanksgiving, for those doing the math.  I'm hopeful for a Facetime or Zoom call with lots and lots of family members.  And a friend (who is an even more excellent chef than I) said she'd make me a care package.  I may also get a visit from Dungeon Master where she stays in her car and I sit on my porch with the heated blanket plugged in.

I was surprised at how exhausted and bummed I was last night.  Even though, yo, we should've been locking down two weeks ago.

Also, apparently we're going back into toilet paper hoarding mode?

COVID Diaries - I guess I finally got sick of writing every day?

 I'll just do a little catch up here.  Apparently half my movements are now tracked with my credit card, btw.

Monday: I must not've gone anywhere, because I didn't buy anything other than a lid for a pot on Amazon.  Side note here, it's good I looked at my credit card because I thought I'd set up payment for this month's statement and I had not. (I'm still a week or two before due date, so all is well.) 

Tuesday: My foot still hurts, but I'm like "I may, at some point, recover from this".  Also, snow day? 

Wednesday: Foot is slowly improving.  I am running so freaking slow.  But, I have not given up the streak.  So, there's that.  Also, more snow?

Thursday: I had to actually leave my house, so I legit made the most of it. I had to go to one of my satellite office locations, which is on a hospital campus (though nowhere near the main building.)  The work I needed to do lasted a full two minutes.  And then I switched into running gear and ran my mile on campus where the plowing is absolutely legit. 

Then, I went to the main attraction of the day, which is the Asian grocery store. (I'm okay calling it that right?)  There's also a lot of African imported food and Mexican/south American food, but it's mostly targeted at South East Asian immigrants.  I got my passion fruits (always my main motivator).  I got a few new kinds of mushrooms to try.  (Yum!)  I picked out oyster sauce, fish sauce, and what I later learned was not the right kind of soy sauce but not the worst guess in the world either. 

Also, you know, I worked all of these days.  Even a little bit on Monday.

Friday: I don't know what my issue was.  

Let's start with the true COVID dream I had. "Work" was a place I actually went to and our COVID tests in dream Liz world looked suspiciously liked a breathalyzer or something in awake-land. (You blew into it to get a reading.)  Somehow I came up positive.  But y'all, I didn't leave work.  Or I did but I lived upstairs?  And then it's like "I'll go to the grocery store".  That's not allowed. So I went back downstairs to work. To help with dishes?  Or clean my dishes?  And one of the supervisors (who is a real life person I know) was like "can we at least keep the COVID+ people out of this one space?"  But, yo, I kept forgetting I had COVID. So they tested me the next day and poor Supervisor was like "this is worse than before, go away". And I went back into the room where I wasn't allowed, to help with dishes or whatever, before trying to get groceries again.  And I wasn't the only work person that kept trying to come in, and forgetting we were sick.  We were all asymptomatic.  I told real life supervisor what Dream Liz put Dream Supervisor through and she thought it was hilarious.

I had a Teams training from 8am-10am.  And it's actually a training I enjoy and a subject I love. I ended it 20 minutes early.  (That part I'm okay with.  I will force role plays in person, but I won't over teams.)  A colleague was on just watching, and gave great feedback.  I told her it felt like I had backup for the training!

Next up I had to work for a while.  I was like a freaking zombie.  I don't know what my problem was.  I liked the training.  The work calls I made were positive and I felt relatively helpful.

Around noon I told my colleague I needed to take a break and was that okay with her.  Mercifully she was like "I get it.  Go."  I ran my mile and did some clean up grocery shopping including yeast and bread flour.  How did I not know that was a thing? 

I came back feeling refreshed and started the weekend on a relatively high note.

Saturday: (That's today y'all.) I woke up for reals a little before 10am.  And had junk food.  And then napped.  Not gonna lie.  

Somehow around 2pm, I got off my ass and did all the things.  I ran my mile.  I took out the garbage.  I legit cleaned my kitchen.  I rode my exercise bike.  I made bread.  All the things.

For supper, I had much better luck with a new Naan recipe (and improved ingredients on my end).  And I had better mushroom luck than one other night this week that we don't need to talk about. 

And now my kitchen is clean again, so, there's that.

 

COVID Diaries - Nov 8

 From COVID world:

Today Pooky Bear, Pooky Baby and (I'm sorry, I can't call him Pooky Dad, can we have another name for him?) came up my way and we walked to a new playground.  In COVID world, I was like "Pooky Bear is standing too close to me".  For everyone's information, Pooky Bear has NEVER been accused of invading personal space.  Ever.  

Next up <a href="https://www.axios.com/george-w-bush-biden-election-599b0ce7-5278-438c-8b68-e5d1052e9e6d.html">I'm over here agreeing with Former Pres G.W. Bush</a> and watching <a href="https://ijr.org/romney-trump-losing-election-dont-expect-him-go-quietly-night/">Mitt Romney quote Hamilton</a>.  

So, yeah, we're still in the COVID time and reality warp over here.

COVID Diaries - November 7. #46

 So, I  took a long time off the COVID diaries, because, I was so over... everything.

I'll also point out I totally slept through my eight year running streak anniversary.  Next big milestone is 3,000 days, so maybe I celebrate more then, if I make it? 

Election night, I had a small but might contigent of friends on Zoom who did Taiji or Qigong every hour on the hour that the polls closed across the mainland US.  (Sorry, Hawaii and Alaska, but I was legit toast by the west coast.) The next day, Dad called to tell me how much he enjoyed the exercises.  Dad.  Who is not a gusher.

Wednesday morning, I did finally get the nerve to turn on my phone and look at the results. At that point things were slightly leaning towards Biden but in no way certain. 

The calling of Wisconsin and Michigan for Biden are a blur.  Was that Wednesday?  Thursday? I can't remember.  And why is Arizona light blue? Also, Nevada had been light blue by like 6,000 votes at that point, which had me super nervous.  Until I understood all the outstanding votes were in Las Vegas. 

Friday morning, I woke up to the headlines that Biden had somehow pulled ahead in Georgia by 900 votes.  (And then several articles about Stacy Abrams roll in the election.)  Sometime on Friday they also seemed to turn the state of Pennsylvania blue. And it was like "is this real?"  and "can I trust it?"

Today is Saturday.  I woke up and looked at CNN.  The headline was roughly "Biden's really close".  Shortly after that I was talking to Dungeon Master on the telephone and it was she who told me they'd called the election.  She also told me all of downtown was boarded up and many stores in south were boarded up as well. And she then clarified, these are new boards.  These are not related to the George Floyd murder.  One of my neighbors up here confirmed.  I'm unclear if things were boarded up in case the election was called, or in case it was not.

I talked to Mom and Dad for a while.  Neither of them are real gushers about this kind of thing, but they were obviously touched by the celebrations in the streets. I was too. Some of my friends are getting together in person later to celebrate. I am too COVID aware (5400 new cases in the state yesterday?!?!) to go.  I'm celebrating from here.

2020 has been a real shit show, from wild fires to COVID to the economy to the state of my own mental health (and waste line?)   I feel like I'm taking a break from reality over here.  Sitting in my backyard on a record warm day, celebrating 46!