Day 2 - California Reopening Plan - Phase 2
7:30 - I head downstairs and the dog is still sleeping. I sit with her and rub her tummy until she wakes up, then take her outside. I water two of my plants while I’m outside with the dog. We come inside. Cheese. I go upstairs and drink my Hydroflask of lemon water while reading a Money Diary.
8:00 - 9:00 - Shower. Lotion. Alba Botanica sunscreen for my face. Minimal make-up. I get dressed in my Covid-19 uniform: tan shorts, black T-back sports bra, and Fila black tank top. I listen to The New Yorker - Political Comment.
9:00-9:30 - I heat up my coffee and read the news online.
9:45 - B. picks me up and we drive to Starbucks, where he buys me a coffee in honor of Mothers Day. We drive to a park that I picked because it has shaded picnic tables under a large gazebo. Although I picked the park for the tables, I realize, after we arrive, that I have been there before and that I liked it. The park was really nice - hardly anyone was there and we were the only people sitting in the picnic table area, just drinking our coffee and talking.
My community has 34 parks and 3 years ago, when L. and I purchased our dog, I thought it would be a great idea if we, and the dog, could hit each park on the weekends. It didn’t have to be every weekend, but I thought it would be a fun, free thing for the three of us to do on the occasional weekend. We made it to one park… I guess life just kind of got in the way. But after going to W. Park today, I’m thinking of re-visiting that goal. It is so nice being outside, in the fresh air, drinking my coffee. I have a small package of trail mix for breakfast. Not hungry today. A Dad and two little kids were playing soccer, but weren’t masked. Two parents pushing a stroller walked by on the cement path - they were masked. What exactly is the protocol?
Once home, B. gives me a bottle of champagne, chocolate, and a nice card. I was very touched.
12:15 - Home and L. arrives from visiting with a friend on her birthday. We need to put the bike in my car but we can’t figure out how to drop the back seat. L. calls her Dad and he tries to guide us through it, but we still don’t understand so we try to shove the bike in. Somehow, by the grace of God, we get the bike into the back seat with the handle bars hanging out the open window on the passenger side of the car. There are greasy tire tracks left on my upholstery that I still have to remove.
Although I’m a feminist, sometimes I think that it’s not fair that two girls (just us) are trying to navigate a PANDEMIC on our own, with no help. I had hopes that L.’s new boyfriend, R., was handy and could possibly help us when things are a f—king mess, like today, but she said he’s not “mechanically inclined.” Oh well - he sounds nice and that’s what’s important. We leave for our bike appointment.
1:00 - 1:30 - At the appointment and there is a long line outside the bike shop. As usual, there are no specific plans as to how to line up. There should be a sign that says “Appointments” and another sign that says “Walk-Ins.” Instead, there is one line for everyone. If we were to stand in the line, wait, and say nothing, we would be the 10th customer. An employee unlocks the door and lets one person in at a time. As soon as he does that, I yell, while masked, “We have an appointment - where do we go?” He tells us to come around to the back.
L. and I go back to the car and try to get the bike out. Parking is tight and horrible and I’m next to some asshole with his window down who is not wearing a mask. L. and I are both masked. He has shit piled in his car and I think he’s homeless…or maybe he’s just disgusting. He sits there, motionless, watching us. We can’t get the bike out because I cannot open my door all the way as his car is too close. I ask him if he can move his car forward just a little - he can still keep his parking space as he moves up and it will be just enough room for me to open my car door completely and pull the bike out. Instead, he “collapses” his mirror, which is something. But, why didn’t he do that immediately, as he sat there watching us struggle? Even so, with the collapsed mirror, I still can’t open my door fully, but we manage to pull the bike out of the back seat. It is extremely difficult.
His wife walks up with some kind of shopping cart piled with dirty blankets and starts telling him something in Chinese or Spanish, at which point he starts the car. I went ballistic, yelling, “Oh, you’re going to start the car now!? What the fuck!?” L. tells me to calm down, we got the bike out, lets just take it to the back of the store. We go in the store, but I am still highly pissed and I tell L. I’m going to go back outside and confront that guy. She reins me in and tells me to let it go. The staff is great and they fix her flat tire. We are out of there in 15 minutes and L. pays for the repair ($24). I find the entire interaction stressful and overwhelming and much prefer the park from this morning.
2:00-7:00 p.m. - I’m entitled to a free birthday burger from Red Robin so L. calls it in, and fries for her, and picks it up. I wanted the Artic Cod burger, but they are not making it anymore, so I settled for a turkey burger, instead, with fries. Surprisingly, I eat everything. Because it’s Mothers Day weekend, I “make” L. watch TV with me, in my room, while we eat lunch. Since McMillions ended, it’s time to pick another series and I cull the options and give her 5 choices. We settle on Married At First Sight - it’s so good, we watch two episodes and I then I take a nap.
7:30-10:00-A branch on one of my larger trees is dead, so I grab the ladder and saw it off. It takes some doing and was pretty big. I drag it to the trash can and break it down. Then, I create a makeshift trellis out of green wire and nails, for my jasmine vine, since it hasn’t been doing too well. Last week I discovered that when I planted it, with the trellis that came with it, the vine had actually been secured to the trellis in 4 places by WIRE. I hadn’t noticed this before and the poor thing must have felt like it was handcuffed. Once I cut the wires, the vine exploded and sent out several tendrils but they needed a platform to cling too as the wall is a flat surface. Making the green wire trellis was slow going, but I think it will do the trick and help the vine achieve suction. I move down to the other end of the yard, and “train” the second jasmine vine, as I discovered the same wire issue with this one. This vine has really taken off and I try to direct the tendrils accordingly. Then, I trim this entire section of wall, basically cleaning up the stray vines from some of my other plants. I listen to The Culture Gabfest and Vox’s The Weeds.
9:30-10:00 - L and I are out of masks so I order some online.
10:00 - 11:00 - I read my favorite blogger - Laura Vanderkamp - and have a glass of champagne. I scan the news briefly then ready another Money Diary. I go through the mail and straighten the kitchen.
11:45-12:15 - I pull down my treadmill and do a 30-minute power-walk app. I read a little bit of Leaving the Witness, , but it is super hard to read and walk at 4 miles per hour. That’s practically a small jog. Try it sometime.
12:15-1:15 - I work on my website and finish today’s blog.