Captain's Log, Star Date Sometime...
Older son arrived this morning and reported that the governor of California had put the state in lock-down. He opined that he would not be surprised if, late this afternoon after the stock markets close, a similar lock-down would be put into effect nationwide. He told me to be thinking of grocery items that won't go bad and to think in terms of months, not days. We thought that were a national lock-down put in place, it would not start until Monday. That said, if a national lock-down were to be declared, last weekend would be nothing compared to how crowded stores would be this weekend.
I admit that, in response to that thought, I got on chewy.com to order extra pet food and amazon.com to order some extra female-hygiene items. I did not check to see if amazon had toilet paper or disinfectant wipes for sale; I did not want to be tempted to buy some. We have enough toilet paper for quite a while and, well, TMI on the other measures I'd be willing to take.
My nail lady texted to ask me if I planned to keep my appointment next week. I told her I was leaning against it. She texted back in a few minutes to make it a moot point. The owner was closing the salon after today. It would be interesting--and, no, I don't plan on doing this--to drive around and see just what places are still open. Many eating establishments are take-out or delivery only given the limit of 10 people in one space. A couple of restaurants near the university and its hospital were staying open so that hospital employees had somewhere other than the hospital cafeteria at which they could obtain food. Those places were forced to shut down because too many college-age people were trying to get in or were crowding the outdoor seating. Older son said that he had heard that violating the 10-person rule (is that anything like the 5-second rule of dropped food?) could result in the loss of a business license.
Buying gift cards to use later has been suggested as one way to help restaurants stay afloat during these trying times. When I mentioned that to the husband, he somewhat snorted that what if the restaurant had closed by the time the pandemic ended and we would again be able to go out to eat. At one point, I was the cynic in this marriage, but things change over time. I have not purchased any gift cards largely because most of the restaurants on the list were places to which we had no interest in going or returning. So far, cooking all our meals has not been a burden. Given the lack of errands to run, there's not really any time pressure to use as an excuse not to cook.
One thing I do miss is getting decent workouts. I can't run thanks to a knee replacement, and walking takes a longer time to get a good sweat on, especially if the resident dog accompanies. I may resort to pulling out the three-decades-old Nordic Track ski machine and see if it still works. I've been working on strength training with a trainer. We have a nice assortment of hand weights here, but I don't want to do something wrong and end up injured. That's why I wanted to work with a trainer in the first place. I've been doing push-ups and abs (crunches, atomic sit-ups, and the like), but it's hard for me to push myself when doing calisthenics.
And that's about it for this star date.
Captain Jean
Friday, March 20, 2020
Thursday, March 19, 2020
The View from the Hermitage, Day 4
The Washington Post's sports section was all of three pages this morning, one of which was filled with Tom Brady. The husband commented that at least for once, they had scores of every sporting event, not just the popular ones. There is one article on the Post's front page not directly linked to the coronavirus; that would be an Election 2020 article, "Sanders may be open to dropping out, team signals." In the 28-page section A, there is one page with no report related to the coronavirus while three of the pages are full-page ads. The pandemic has become our life.
Time is distorted. I look at my watch to see what day of the week it is. There is no "I did this weekly thing yesterday, so today is Thursday." I can't connect one day to another by personal events. The totals of confirmed infected and those who have died rise so quickly that I think several days must have passed. The data analyst I once was tries to repress what the sharp rise really means. The best description of time may be something I saw on Facebook (sorry, but I don't remember the source): What a year this week has been.
And it's going to last a lot longer, I fear, having seen the photos of the Florida beaches during Spring Break. I read a local report of crowded fraternity parties and a large number of students massing and mingling on one of the university's playing fields. Having heard that the number of young people hospitalized with covid-19 is rising, these gatherings could be the breeding ground for the next viral wave. Let's hope that it isn't a tsunami.
It occurred to me that the constant co-existing with the husband could be a harbinger of his retirement. I am used to spending full days in the company of a dog and a cat; having another human in the house 24-7 is something new. So far, so good. That said, he's spending most daytime hours in what passes for his home office, with the door closed to protect the yarn that is also in the room from the wool-crazy cat. I remember a senior woman telling me the story of what happened when her husband retired. She worked part-time from home. When passing through the dining room to get to the kitchen, she found her husband sitting at the table patiently waiting. The punchline to the story was what she said next: "I married him for life, not for lunch." He learned that fairly quickly as I recall.
The White House has issued a document, "15 Days to Slow the Spread." Fifteen days should slow the spread, but if everyone immediately goes back to living their pre-coronavirus lives, we won't have crossed the finish line. Our lives in the age of coronavirus are not normal, and they may never be again. Fifty is the new 30? Abnormality is the new normal. I do not expect to jump back into action when we reach the 15-day mark. Distancing socially for 15 days means we don't have it or catch it during those 15 days. It's not as if the 15 days gives us the immunity to jump right back into the world. Social distancing protects us while we are doing it, but once we stop, all bets are off.
What a year this week has been. And next week's year may be no different.
Time is distorted. I look at my watch to see what day of the week it is. There is no "I did this weekly thing yesterday, so today is Thursday." I can't connect one day to another by personal events. The totals of confirmed infected and those who have died rise so quickly that I think several days must have passed. The data analyst I once was tries to repress what the sharp rise really means. The best description of time may be something I saw on Facebook (sorry, but I don't remember the source): What a year this week has been.
And it's going to last a lot longer, I fear, having seen the photos of the Florida beaches during Spring Break. I read a local report of crowded fraternity parties and a large number of students massing and mingling on one of the university's playing fields. Having heard that the number of young people hospitalized with covid-19 is rising, these gatherings could be the breeding ground for the next viral wave. Let's hope that it isn't a tsunami.
It occurred to me that the constant co-existing with the husband could be a harbinger of his retirement. I am used to spending full days in the company of a dog and a cat; having another human in the house 24-7 is something new. So far, so good. That said, he's spending most daytime hours in what passes for his home office, with the door closed to protect the yarn that is also in the room from the wool-crazy cat. I remember a senior woman telling me the story of what happened when her husband retired. She worked part-time from home. When passing through the dining room to get to the kitchen, she found her husband sitting at the table patiently waiting. The punchline to the story was what she said next: "I married him for life, not for lunch." He learned that fairly quickly as I recall.
The White House has issued a document, "15 Days to Slow the Spread." Fifteen days should slow the spread, but if everyone immediately goes back to living their pre-coronavirus lives, we won't have crossed the finish line. Our lives in the age of coronavirus are not normal, and they may never be again. Fifty is the new 30? Abnormality is the new normal. I do not expect to jump back into action when we reach the 15-day mark. Distancing socially for 15 days means we don't have it or catch it during those 15 days. It's not as if the 15 days gives us the immunity to jump right back into the world. Social distancing protects us while we are doing it, but once we stop, all bets are off.
What a year this week has been. And next week's year may be no different.
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
The View from the Hermitage, Day 3
The University of Virginia has effectively shut down for now. Were I still working there, I would not have been affected given that I already worked from home. Now, though,
To be clear, those who must report for work will have to do so. Those who can work remotely will have to do so.
It appears I was ahead of the times.
Previously, students were encouraged to go home but had the option of staying on Grounds (UVA does not have a "campus;" it has "Grounds." Now, though, students
must make plans to leave by Friday, March 20, unless they meet one of the following criteria: 1) international students who are unable to secure travel to return home; 2) persons for whom their on-Grounds residence is their only home (including graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff for whom their on-Grounds residence is their permanent address); or 3) students for whom traveling home would present a severe health or safety risk.
Graduation has also been cancelled, which will please some students and parents and likely displease more. Younger son "walked the Lawn" (or went through the formal graduation bit), while older son did not. I must admit that going to see younger son walk (and we did not actually see him until later, at the departmental ceremony at which he received his diploma) was enough for me. I went through the formal graduation ceremony at the undergraduate level (not at UVA) but passed on it at for my master's and doctorate. My doctoral supervisor left UVA a week after my orals; he had told me that had he stayed here, I would have been walking.
Because I have not been out much at all, I have not seen directly how local life has changed. There was less traffic yesterday when I went for my mammogram, but that could also have been due to UVA students moving home and K-12 schools not operating. My neighbors appear still to be working. I have seen a grocery store clerk and the owner of a computer services firm heading out to their respective jobs. The owner of a construction firm has also been out and about. We actually have several houses here with family member(s) who already worked from home.
I'm not sure how many eating establishments are still open and how many are closed or only serving take-out. We live several miles outside town so I don't know if any of the meal delivery services would come here. I'm not craving restaurant food, though. I'm instead enjoying making meals here and being able to eat them with the husband who has no gym to visit on his way home from work. Normally, I'm hungry for dinner before he gets home, so we eat separately.
I checked the various news sources on my phone first thing this morning. "First thing" was earlier than hoped for thanks to not sleeping at all well. I've looked at some updates as they appear on my phone. I may turn on CNN as I'm getting dinner out. The angel on one shoulder wants to be informed while the devil on the other insists that no news is good news. It is good, I suppose, that the news is so easily obtained should I want to pursue it. In the days of the Spanish flu pandemic, news did not come quickly. If I want to know how a family member or friend is, all I need to do is phone. Total aside here, but I just realized that there have been far fewer junk mail calls yesterday and today than last week or the week before. Maybe the spam-callers aren't filling the cheek-to-jowl phone banks, but keeping a social distance from each other and giving all of us a break.
Boredom? Not for me, anyway. I have enough fiber supplies to last for more that=n a few months. I think I'll go back to my studio and work on the bag below.
To be clear, those who must report for work will have to do so. Those who can work remotely will have to do so.
It appears I was ahead of the times.
Previously, students were encouraged to go home but had the option of staying on Grounds (UVA does not have a "campus;" it has "Grounds." Now, though, students
must make plans to leave by Friday, March 20, unless they meet one of the following criteria: 1) international students who are unable to secure travel to return home; 2) persons for whom their on-Grounds residence is their only home (including graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff for whom their on-Grounds residence is their permanent address); or 3) students for whom traveling home would present a severe health or safety risk.
Graduation has also been cancelled, which will please some students and parents and likely displease more. Younger son "walked the Lawn" (or went through the formal graduation bit), while older son did not. I must admit that going to see younger son walk (and we did not actually see him until later, at the departmental ceremony at which he received his diploma) was enough for me. I went through the formal graduation ceremony at the undergraduate level (not at UVA) but passed on it at for my master's and doctorate. My doctoral supervisor left UVA a week after my orals; he had told me that had he stayed here, I would have been walking.
Because I have not been out much at all, I have not seen directly how local life has changed. There was less traffic yesterday when I went for my mammogram, but that could also have been due to UVA students moving home and K-12 schools not operating. My neighbors appear still to be working. I have seen a grocery store clerk and the owner of a computer services firm heading out to their respective jobs. The owner of a construction firm has also been out and about. We actually have several houses here with family member(s) who already worked from home.
I'm not sure how many eating establishments are still open and how many are closed or only serving take-out. We live several miles outside town so I don't know if any of the meal delivery services would come here. I'm not craving restaurant food, though. I'm instead enjoying making meals here and being able to eat them with the husband who has no gym to visit on his way home from work. Normally, I'm hungry for dinner before he gets home, so we eat separately.
I checked the various news sources on my phone first thing this morning. "First thing" was earlier than hoped for thanks to not sleeping at all well. I've looked at some updates as they appear on my phone. I may turn on CNN as I'm getting dinner out. The angel on one shoulder wants to be informed while the devil on the other insists that no news is good news. It is good, I suppose, that the news is so easily obtained should I want to pursue it. In the days of the Spanish flu pandemic, news did not come quickly. If I want to know how a family member or friend is, all I need to do is phone. Total aside here, but I just realized that there have been far fewer junk mail calls yesterday and today than last week or the week before. Maybe the spam-callers aren't filling the cheek-to-jowl phone banks, but keeping a social distance from each other and giving all of us a break.
Boredom? Not for me, anyway. I have enough fiber supplies to last for more that=n a few months. I think I'll go back to my studio and work on the bag below.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
The View from the Hermitage, Day 2
I ventured out for my annual breast-squishing today, and that's it until the husband and I take my car to the shop tomorrow night for its annual physical. We'll leave her there tomorrow evening, and see about getting her the next day. She seems to be running well, so I'm hoping it's just topping off various fluids and checking various other things.
Older son has been keeping a close eye on us. He insists that he will bring us anything we need from the grocery store, drug store, and so on. This morning, he took my mother's laundry back to her assisted living facility so that I would not have to. When he heard we would be dropping my car off tomorrow evening after the shop had closed (social distancing), he said that he would go by the next afternoon to pay and pick up the key so that we could go get it after the shop had closed.
It's a bit hard to get used to a kid, even an adult kid, offering to do so much. I guess that if he were doing something because he thought we were not able do it, it would be different. While emailing him a recipe (for rice, corn, and cheese casserole), I thanked him for all he was doing or offering to do. He noted that we were important to him, and that knowing we were "squared away" helped take away any worries he might have. We raised a good adult.
We heard today from the company with whom we had booked a May 14 trip to part of the Silk Road, in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. Needless to say, the trip has been canceled due to covid-19. The company said we could defer the trip until a later date or take a full refund. I told them that with the husband's being a university professor, it was tricky to find a tour that meshed with his teaching schedule. I asked for the full refund but noted that if a rescheduled, later tour did fit with the husband's teaching schedule we would re-book with them.
I must admit that while I had my fingers crossed that we would get a full refund, I wasn't 100 percent sure that we would. I know that hotels and flights are often booked in advance, and that money might not be recoverable. We had purchased trip insurance from the tour company, and I figured that if it was the insurance handling the reimbursement we would not see the money we'd paid for the two policies. Not so. We are getting the full cost, including what we paid for the trip insurance, back. In case you're wondering, the tour company is Odysseys Unlimited, and we think they're a pretty class act.
And so we have survived Day 2 in the hermitage. I haven't gotten bored yet even if I might be boring anyone reading this. I checked the news feeds less today than I did yesterday. I hope that doesn't mean that life in the hermitage is becoming the norm.
Older son has been keeping a close eye on us. He insists that he will bring us anything we need from the grocery store, drug store, and so on. This morning, he took my mother's laundry back to her assisted living facility so that I would not have to. When he heard we would be dropping my car off tomorrow evening after the shop had closed (social distancing), he said that he would go by the next afternoon to pay and pick up the key so that we could go get it after the shop had closed.
It's a bit hard to get used to a kid, even an adult kid, offering to do so much. I guess that if he were doing something because he thought we were not able do it, it would be different. While emailing him a recipe (for rice, corn, and cheese casserole), I thanked him for all he was doing or offering to do. He noted that we were important to him, and that knowing we were "squared away" helped take away any worries he might have. We raised a good adult.
We heard today from the company with whom we had booked a May 14 trip to part of the Silk Road, in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. Needless to say, the trip has been canceled due to covid-19. The company said we could defer the trip until a later date or take a full refund. I told them that with the husband's being a university professor, it was tricky to find a tour that meshed with his teaching schedule. I asked for the full refund but noted that if a rescheduled, later tour did fit with the husband's teaching schedule we would re-book with them.
I must admit that while I had my fingers crossed that we would get a full refund, I wasn't 100 percent sure that we would. I know that hotels and flights are often booked in advance, and that money might not be recoverable. We had purchased trip insurance from the tour company, and I figured that if it was the insurance handling the reimbursement we would not see the money we'd paid for the two policies. Not so. We are getting the full cost, including what we paid for the trip insurance, back. In case you're wondering, the tour company is Odysseys Unlimited, and we think they're a pretty class act.
And so we have survived Day 2 in the hermitage. I haven't gotten bored yet even if I might be boring anyone reading this. I checked the news feeds less today than I did yesterday. I hope that doesn't mean that life in the hermitage is becoming the norm.
Monday, March 16, 2020
The View from the Hermitage, Day 1
And by "hermitage," I don't mean the palace now museum in Leningrad. I told people last week that, being an over-60 asthmatic who had had pneumonia less than a year ago, I would be hermitting. This week, the practice has been termed "social distancing" and everyone is encouraged to practice it. Welcome to a pandemic!
I try to refrain from thinking of all the post-apocalyptic books I read in a past life or analogous movies I saw. I keep recalling the contemporary take on The Planet of the Apes that ended with the ominous drop of blood falling from the nose of a character about to go fly a plane full of passengers. The seed of a pandemic. It makes me wonder just what was the seed of this one.
There seems to be no news other than the covid-19 pandemic. Even the Democratic presidential primary race is being pushed aside, though part of that may be that the race has really narrowed to just two candidates. Not for the first day, The Washington Post's front page is all pandemic all over. There is one article on last night's primary debate, the first with only two candidates, but even that article led with a mention of the "growing coronavirus pandemic."
Hermitting is coming easily to me, as I suspected it would. Being an introvert does have its very good points. Thanks to social media (is e-mail considered social media?), I can keep in touch with faraway friends. Thanks to the telephone, I can keep in touch with my mother who is in an assisted living facility on lockdown. Interestingly, when I thanked them--two different people, one today and one yesterday--for restricting access to all but staff or essential medical personnel, they thanked me. It seems that not all family members think isolating the most vulnerable is a good idea.
The sports pages are shrinking daily. The NFL draft looms in April and will offer some distraction. There is no March Madness, leading The Washington Post to run the story "Sports' hiatus leaves vasectomy patients deflated." Evidently, vasectomy appointments nearly double in March compared to other months. It seems men who will be snipped look forward to spending the suggested two days of bed rest in a recliner in front of day-long-into-the-night college basketball games.
Were I still working my former job, nothing about work would have changed. I only worked from home. The current situation at the university is that faculty and students can exchange knowledge electronically while staff are expected to be on-site to maintain the normal workings of the U. Is anything normal right now? Especially with public schools closed (most of the private ones are closed as well), parents need the option of being at home. That said, I've seen several posts on a local newsgroup from teenagers ready to take on child care; they might as well earn some cash while they can. At least here, online instruction for K-12 will take a while to get going.
These thoughts have been random, put down now and then as I have been updating the local quilt guild's website (caqg.weebly.com if you're interested) and doing random things around the house. So much for all the thoughts that come to me when I am not at a keyboard. Perhaps I shall be more cogent tomorrow.
I try to refrain from thinking of all the post-apocalyptic books I read in a past life or analogous movies I saw. I keep recalling the contemporary take on The Planet of the Apes that ended with the ominous drop of blood falling from the nose of a character about to go fly a plane full of passengers. The seed of a pandemic. It makes me wonder just what was the seed of this one.
There seems to be no news other than the covid-19 pandemic. Even the Democratic presidential primary race is being pushed aside, though part of that may be that the race has really narrowed to just two candidates. Not for the first day, The Washington Post's front page is all pandemic all over. There is one article on last night's primary debate, the first with only two candidates, but even that article led with a mention of the "growing coronavirus pandemic."
Hermitting is coming easily to me, as I suspected it would. Being an introvert does have its very good points. Thanks to social media (is e-mail considered social media?), I can keep in touch with faraway friends. Thanks to the telephone, I can keep in touch with my mother who is in an assisted living facility on lockdown. Interestingly, when I thanked them--two different people, one today and one yesterday--for restricting access to all but staff or essential medical personnel, they thanked me. It seems that not all family members think isolating the most vulnerable is a good idea.
The sports pages are shrinking daily. The NFL draft looms in April and will offer some distraction. There is no March Madness, leading The Washington Post to run the story "Sports' hiatus leaves vasectomy patients deflated." Evidently, vasectomy appointments nearly double in March compared to other months. It seems men who will be snipped look forward to spending the suggested two days of bed rest in a recliner in front of day-long-into-the-night college basketball games.
Were I still working my former job, nothing about work would have changed. I only worked from home. The current situation at the university is that faculty and students can exchange knowledge electronically while staff are expected to be on-site to maintain the normal workings of the U. Is anything normal right now? Especially with public schools closed (most of the private ones are closed as well), parents need the option of being at home. That said, I've seen several posts on a local newsgroup from teenagers ready to take on child care; they might as well earn some cash while they can. At least here, online instruction for K-12 will take a while to get going.
These thoughts have been random, put down now and then as I have been updating the local quilt guild's website (caqg.weebly.com if you're interested) and doing random things around the house. So much for all the thoughts that come to me when I am not at a keyboard. Perhaps I shall be more cogent tomorrow.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Inferior Interior?
I know people for whom their house is their canvas. The picture they show with their decorating stuns. A couple of those friends have listened to my lamenting about not being talented in terms of interior decorating and said that can't be the case. They've seen my quilts and other works and say I am creative and talented. My response is always that a room or even a wall in a room is too large a scale for me to handle. I'm more comfortable on a much smaller scale.
We're having the interior of our house repainted save for the room holding younger son's worldly goods from his younger days. The painter has suggested an accent wall, and I have surprised myself be being intrigued. An online search took me to a site at which I can play with colors. I have acutally used this site. I have looked at various shades and pondered what they might look like on our house's walls. I find myself thinking of colors followed by thinking about needing new drapes followed by thinking about needing a new rug. Bluish green or greenish blue are the colors to which I most gravitate when I think of our walls.
It does not help (me, anyway) that our main floor is a very open floor plan. I've seen several articles online that note an accent wall can be a very good thing in an open floor plan. However, the open floor plan makes me worry more about just how everything will fit together. Here's what I'm looking at.
The wall in question is in our dining area. Here's a photo. The current curtains are blue and the rug under the table is greens and blues.
I apologize for the bad lighting; I could not get the it right with the pocket point-and-shoot camera I was using. The wall in question is the one around the window--the part around the window plus the two walls on each side. I would like to get rid of the bookcases on the sides and a low bookcase that sits underneath the window. To show how this fits in, here's the kitchen, which is to the left looking at the first shot.
Yes, I know there is more than a possibly acceptable amount of clutter. I am actually looking forward to having all our hardwood floors sanded and stained because that will mean totally emptying the house. My plan is to use that as a mechanism for uncluttering as much as possible.
But back to the accent wall. Here's the view in the other direction, into the living room.
And, finally, here is the view looking into the foyer, directly across from what would be the accent wall. I look at this view and wonder if the white knee walls should also be painted the accent color. Would that help define the dining area? Why am I asking that question? Me decorate? The mere fact that I am considering such things is worrisome.
The painter has also suggested doing the open walls above the foyer in the accent color. I couldn't get all three surfaces in the same photo, and the lighting sucked, but here's a photo taken from the stairs. You can also see a bit of this area in the above photo of the foyer.
I'm blogging about this because I am open to comments and suggestions. I promise not to hold anything against you if you suggest something that I do and then don't like. I keep reminding myself that "it's just paint," but the fact that I am even considering this is somewhat worrisome. Does this mean I'm adulting?
We're having the interior of our house repainted save for the room holding younger son's worldly goods from his younger days. The painter has suggested an accent wall, and I have surprised myself be being intrigued. An online search took me to a site at which I can play with colors. I have acutally used this site. I have looked at various shades and pondered what they might look like on our house's walls. I find myself thinking of colors followed by thinking about needing new drapes followed by thinking about needing a new rug. Bluish green or greenish blue are the colors to which I most gravitate when I think of our walls.
It does not help (me, anyway) that our main floor is a very open floor plan. I've seen several articles online that note an accent wall can be a very good thing in an open floor plan. However, the open floor plan makes me worry more about just how everything will fit together. Here's what I'm looking at.
The wall in question is in our dining area. Here's a photo. The current curtains are blue and the rug under the table is greens and blues.
I apologize for the bad lighting; I could not get the it right with the pocket point-and-shoot camera I was using. The wall in question is the one around the window--the part around the window plus the two walls on each side. I would like to get rid of the bookcases on the sides and a low bookcase that sits underneath the window. To show how this fits in, here's the kitchen, which is to the left looking at the first shot.
Yes, I know there is more than a possibly acceptable amount of clutter. I am actually looking forward to having all our hardwood floors sanded and stained because that will mean totally emptying the house. My plan is to use that as a mechanism for uncluttering as much as possible.
But back to the accent wall. Here's the view in the other direction, into the living room.
And, finally, here is the view looking into the foyer, directly across from what would be the accent wall. I look at this view and wonder if the white knee walls should also be painted the accent color. Would that help define the dining area? Why am I asking that question? Me decorate? The mere fact that I am considering such things is worrisome.
The painter has also suggested doing the open walls above the foyer in the accent color. I couldn't get all three surfaces in the same photo, and the lighting sucked, but here's a photo taken from the stairs. You can also see a bit of this area in the above photo of the foyer.
I'm blogging about this because I am open to comments and suggestions. I promise not to hold anything against you if you suggest something that I do and then don't like. I keep reminding myself that "it's just paint," but the fact that I am even considering this is somewhat worrisome. Does this mean I'm adulting?
Thursday, January 2, 2020
A Day Late and a Dollar Short?
I somehow got in the habit of posting my New Years resolutions here, thinking perhaps that it would give me more incentive to keep them. I do a half-year report on my birthday, which just happens to be six months opposite New Years Day.
I was not at all sad to see 2019 end. While the start of the year was particularly bright with fireworks in Tromso, Norway on New Years Eve, I'd just as soon forget May through August and am still struggling to stay on something resembling an even keel. I did manage to be successful on my 2019 resolutions to finish crafty-artsy projects and to earn the monetary award in my employer's annual wellness challenge. Get into good shape? I'm not sure I'm in any better shape than I was a year ago, but I am in no way in worse shape. I'm not sure I ever figured out how to slow myself down, though a month of pneumonia definitely helped. Finally, wasting less time evaporated after May. I know that my depression is drifting downward by how much time I can waste, usually on social media or computer games. While it is not one of my 2020 resolutions, I am going to continue the fight on this one.
So, just what have I resolved to do or not do in 2020? I started from the idea of centering myself, both physically and emotionally. I was doodling geometrically (think grid paper) and came up with a design that pleased me (photo below). Since that design lent itself to four things each containing two things, that's what I worked toward. The four ended up being Health and Fitness, Carbon Footprint, Emotional, and General. You can probably tell which one was added because I couldn't come up with another specific category.
I did not want to put "get in shape" or "lose weight" or anything like those under Health and Fitness. I've failed at those in too many years. I've been saying lately that I should drink more water, so that's what I'm resolving to do. Younger son has been a lacto-ovo vegetarian since Grade 5, and I've been thinking about this having read too many articles lately on the awareness or intelligence of certain animals. I thought about resolving to only eating meat only when eating away from home, but to be honest, that seemed as if it would be difficult on a daily basis. I fell back on resolving simply to eat less meat.
Carbon Footprint made the list because it's something I've been thinking and worrying about. Do not get me started on what the current administration is or is not doing. I've been carrying metal straws with me for over a year, and do not use any straws brought wrapped in paper or plastic. If I need a straw, I use one of my metal ones. There are plenty of times, though, when the drink I ordered is brought with a straw already in the glass. I will do my best in 2020 to ask servers to hold the straws. While many locations have banned single-use plastic such as shopping bags, where I live has not. I pretty much always remember to take my own bag(s) into grocery stores, but need to remember not to enter another type of store without a bag. I hope it helps to resolve to use as few single-use plastic items as possible.
I had to put Emotional as a category because that's where I've really been struggling. Something that is not at all important in the course of my life happens, and if I am alone in the house or car, I yell my response which typically is less than polite. I over-react and/or react too quickly. And, yes, the over-reaction often removes the possibility of dealing with the matter appropriately. I'm calling this resolution mind before mouth, and really hope it works even a little. Of course, the shouting mentioned just now disturbs the natural silence of the day, so my second emotional resolution is to seek serenity in silence. I need to calm myself and enjoy the sound of nothing happening.
Finally, there is the General category where I somewhat extended two of last year's resolutions. First, I want to work at remembering that slow is smooth. Most of life can happen without split-second responses being needed. This obviously relates using my mind before I open my mouth. Finally, to take the advice of Neil Gaiman, I would like to make good art. I would like to extend what I now do comfortably and risk that someone's reaction to what I make might not be positive. One can learn a lot from failure, whether that failure be real or perceived.
It's now January 2, meaning it's time to get working on these. I wish I could promise that my next blog post will not be the one in six months in which I discuss how well I might or might not be doing with or learning from these goals. After all, quality aside, writing is definitely making art.
I was not at all sad to see 2019 end. While the start of the year was particularly bright with fireworks in Tromso, Norway on New Years Eve, I'd just as soon forget May through August and am still struggling to stay on something resembling an even keel. I did manage to be successful on my 2019 resolutions to finish crafty-artsy projects and to earn the monetary award in my employer's annual wellness challenge. Get into good shape? I'm not sure I'm in any better shape than I was a year ago, but I am in no way in worse shape. I'm not sure I ever figured out how to slow myself down, though a month of pneumonia definitely helped. Finally, wasting less time evaporated after May. I know that my depression is drifting downward by how much time I can waste, usually on social media or computer games. While it is not one of my 2020 resolutions, I am going to continue the fight on this one.
So, just what have I resolved to do or not do in 2020? I started from the idea of centering myself, both physically and emotionally. I was doodling geometrically (think grid paper) and came up with a design that pleased me (photo below). Since that design lent itself to four things each containing two things, that's what I worked toward. The four ended up being Health and Fitness, Carbon Footprint, Emotional, and General. You can probably tell which one was added because I couldn't come up with another specific category.
I did not want to put "get in shape" or "lose weight" or anything like those under Health and Fitness. I've failed at those in too many years. I've been saying lately that I should drink more water, so that's what I'm resolving to do. Younger son has been a lacto-ovo vegetarian since Grade 5, and I've been thinking about this having read too many articles lately on the awareness or intelligence of certain animals. I thought about resolving to only eating meat only when eating away from home, but to be honest, that seemed as if it would be difficult on a daily basis. I fell back on resolving simply to eat less meat.
Carbon Footprint made the list because it's something I've been thinking and worrying about. Do not get me started on what the current administration is or is not doing. I've been carrying metal straws with me for over a year, and do not use any straws brought wrapped in paper or plastic. If I need a straw, I use one of my metal ones. There are plenty of times, though, when the drink I ordered is brought with a straw already in the glass. I will do my best in 2020 to ask servers to hold the straws. While many locations have banned single-use plastic such as shopping bags, where I live has not. I pretty much always remember to take my own bag(s) into grocery stores, but need to remember not to enter another type of store without a bag. I hope it helps to resolve to use as few single-use plastic items as possible.
I had to put Emotional as a category because that's where I've really been struggling. Something that is not at all important in the course of my life happens, and if I am alone in the house or car, I yell my response which typically is less than polite. I over-react and/or react too quickly. And, yes, the over-reaction often removes the possibility of dealing with the matter appropriately. I'm calling this resolution mind before mouth, and really hope it works even a little. Of course, the shouting mentioned just now disturbs the natural silence of the day, so my second emotional resolution is to seek serenity in silence. I need to calm myself and enjoy the sound of nothing happening.
Finally, there is the General category where I somewhat extended two of last year's resolutions. First, I want to work at remembering that slow is smooth. Most of life can happen without split-second responses being needed. This obviously relates using my mind before I open my mouth. Finally, to take the advice of Neil Gaiman, I would like to make good art. I would like to extend what I now do comfortably and risk that someone's reaction to what I make might not be positive. One can learn a lot from failure, whether that failure be real or perceived.
It's now January 2, meaning it's time to get working on these. I wish I could promise that my next blog post will not be the one in six months in which I discuss how well I might or might not be doing with or learning from these goals. After all, quality aside, writing is definitely making art.
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