Day 16 - California Reopening Plan - Phase 2
Four new tires today…
Today, my Wine.com order is arriving and someone 21 years or older, which means ME, has to be home to receive the order. I have no idea when the shipment will be delivered.
8:30 – the dog is barking so I go downstairs and let her out. Cheese. Hydroflask. I go back upstairs and use Windex to wipe down my bathroom counters and mirror, then do a swish-and-swipe of my toilet.
Yesterday, I noticed that my front left tire is low. American Tire Depot is having a sale – buy 3 tires, get one free – and L. said she will follow behind me, today at 10:00 a.m., as she has plans with R. at 11:00, so I can drop off my car. My current tires are Michelin and B. bought them for me around 5 years ago – it’s time to replace them. In the past, I’ve replaced my tires with used tires – many used tires are perfectly good – but I’ve had so much success with this brand, I’m just going to go for it and buy four new. I get dressed – no shower, no time – and have my standard breakfast of coffee and a Crispy Crème. The box is almost empty, thank goodness.
10:00 – 11:00 - L. is up and we leave at 10:10. As we enter Phase 2, stores have the same signs ordering all customers to mask. You can’t enter an establishment unless you are wearing a mask. There are no other customers in the store and yet the employees take. forever. I learn that I can also get an oil change here, which is good because I don’t want to go to Jiffy Lube, too. The car will be ready in 3 to 4 hours.
***Recall that there are a lot of moving parts here, but EVERYTHING revolves around my Wine.com shipment. Based on my previous posts and the snafus I’m constantly experiencing, do you think my champagne shipment will arrive today? Will I be here when it arrives? Stay tuned for the outcome…
There is a bit of a problem regarding the time frame for the car. L. will be with R. at H-Park until 5:00 and I have a champagne shipment coming. I assess the situation and think I can walk from my house to the tire store when my car is done. L. estimates it will be a 40-minute walk (I later clock the distance at 2 miles). I feel this is very doable, but L. is worried that being a lone female, on foot, could be dangerous. In the afternoon? I think I’ll be fine. Why don’t men have to worry about these issues?
I leave the car and L. drives me home and departs.
11:00-12:00 – I read All You Can Ever Know.
12:00-2:00 – I prepare for my Better Homes and Garden photo shoot. Just kidding – yesterday, my Mom suggested I film my yard and send it to her. I thought this was a great idea so I’m pretending that Better Homes and Garden magazine is actually filming my yard so I will feel more motivated to create a pristine landscape. Hey, I do whatever I can, mentally, to make it through the pandemic. Don’t judge me.
I “walk the property” and note everything that needs to be done for the “photo shoot” and then, by god, I do it. I prune, trim, rake, sweep, clean all the beds, pull any discolored leaves, clean the fountain, spray the Astroturf, train the vines…every. thing.
2:30 – I’m in the backyard when I hear the sound of a delivery truck. I run to the front door…and receive the shipment!!! Yay!!! For once, something goes right.
2:45 – American Tire calls and asks me if I want an alignment. It will be an extra $100, but I feel it’s necessary with 4 new tires – if the tires aren’t aligned, they will wear-and-tear faster. He says it will be another hour, but will call and let me know. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t.
2:45-4:00 – I finish the yard and eat my remaining pork tapas from Solitas, one of our favorite restaurants, that L. and I ordered a few nights ago.
4:15 – Realizing the tire store still hasn’t called, I call them and ask if my car is ready. They say it is, but they close at 5:00 p.m. Oh no! I grab my backpack and bolt.
4:30-5:15 – I power-walk and make it to the tire store in 25 minutes. I’m super proud of my pace, but it was kind of creepy walking alone, as there were no other people on foot. A van could have driven up beside me, slid the doors opened, and pulled me in without anyone noticing as there were no ‘wits.’ The employee says the tires didn’t need to be aligned after all, so it’s a savings of $100. Good news! This place is right next to Home Depot so I drive by to see if I can walk in and buy the three plants I need. As usual, the parking lot is packed and there is a line to get into the store, so I keep driving.
5:15-5:30 – Gas is only $2.65 a gallon! I can’t believe it. 7-11 has a hand-written sign on the door: “No mask, no service.” In California, you have to mask. In Arizona, you don’t. Political pundits are calling this a “patchwork pandemic.” I wish we would all do the same thing, namely mask, in ALL states…
5:30-6:00 – I return home and R. and L. are in my garage as R. wanted to meet the dog - I’m not sure why. I’m her owner and I can tell you that she’s a bit much. Plus, she smells and hasn’t been groomed in 2 months due to the fact that LA County arbitrarily shut off the water to our groomer’s establishment, in March, with just a 2-day notice, because she was deemed “non-essential.” Note that LA County shut off her water when she works in NEWHALL - it was ridiculous. Just like that, she was out of business. I didn’t think this was fair as you can’t catch Covid-19 from animals…
I meet R. for the first time and he is handsome and seems very nice - I’m happy for L. I’m a hot mess, having just power-walked an hour earlier, so I excuse myself and return to the yard where I clean the patio table and another small table-stand in preparation for the video.
6:00- 6:30 - R. leaves for work and L. films my yard for my Mom. We both provide verbal commentary.
6:30-7:30 – I have a glass of champagne on the patio and admire my handiwork as there is truly, finally, nothing left to do in my backyard. I read All You Can Ever Know. I have another glass of champagne to celebrate.
7:30-9:00 – I report to my office, track attendance, and post semester grades for my International Relations class. This goes much more quickly then the previous class as there are only 12 students in the course. I prepare copies of everything to mail out to Admissions and Records. Another class down. I listen to PBS News Hour segments, Global News, and Market Place.
9:00-10:00 – I update my April expenses for my personal budget. Then, I place an order at Walmart.com for non-perishables to include super glue and kitty litter. The kitty litter is needed for the half-empty paint cans that my ex left behind when he moved to the Carolinas. Waste Management will pick them up, curbside, as long as they are filled with sand. In the age of Covid 19, asking our trash company for curbside pickup seems to be the only way to get rid of hazardous materials as community Hazmat collections have not been running of late.
10:00 – 10:30 - I go upstairs and touch-up a few areas of paint in L.’s bathroom. Done. Then, I start a load of laundry.
10:30 – 11:30 - I clean the kitchen and go through the refrigerator, packaging items for the freezer, before they turn, and throwing away expired food items. I typically do this every week. I empty the trash and fix my flower arrangements. A word about this:
L. gave me 3 dozen roses for my birthday, then R. gave her flowers, which she jammed into the same container a few days ago, when she arrived home, late one night from a date. It was complete overcrowding and R.’s flowers were suffering, so I made two flower arrangements and put them in different locations in the kitchen. Now, however, some of the roses have to be purged. L. and I love fresh flowers and will go to great lengths to prolong the life of a bouquet to get the most out of having fresh flowers in the house as it so rarely happens. Sometimes, we will even buy flowers for ourselves. I make another bouquet out of what is left – R.’s flowers have held up remarkably well and are still going strong – and place the viable flowers in ONE vase. It’s as if we received a new bouquet – looks great! It’s the little things…
11:30-1:00 – I take a shower- “spa day”, tonight – then braid my wet hair (it takes forever). I listen to several episodes of Criminal Conduct.
1:00 -2:30 a.m. – L. and I watch Married at First Sight – Season 8. At the end, Kate says, off camera, that Luke said he was both “repulsed and dead inside” when he kissed her for the first time. Uh oh.