October 30: My First COVID Nightmare!
Less a nightmare than the usual anxiety dream. I think (in the dream) I walked into a room, someone took their mask off, and I freaked out. Thennnnn I was flying to Germany, without letting them know, and Tante Heidi was happy to see me. That was good.
Marsha had a great idea for local Christmas Markets in the backyard, #BeMerryAndBeSafe, which Jorj and I will test run Halloween night with friends from Jakob's school. Because Jakob and M are in classes in person three days a week, the school families are in a de facto pod. Back yard, fire pit, pizza, s'mores (Jakob and M's idea), a hot drink, social distance and masks.
October 17: Seven months, three days
We went for a walk with Kris and his retriever Goldie this afternoon. Just to the artificial pond and back. The light was golden and slanted, as befits mid-Autumn.
The bootleg trouser prototype is finished, with alterations for a better fit and pockets. I learned a lot. I got a couple things wrong. The zipper needs to be ripped out. Making the prototype calmed my nerves a lot, and it was fun to sew in the living room at the coffee table with Jorj. Today I tested washing the fabric to see how it would shrink, how it would fray (baaaaaadly, must zig-zag stich the seam edges), and whether the final wool and wool/nylon pants will be washable (probably not). One of the advantages of sewing is being able to examine similar projects and how they were put together (a bit like HTML). I might pull out my too-small work pants to see how their pockets were sewn in.
Speaking of too small, my clothes are fitting better, about as well as they did when we went to Mexico for Sarah and Javier's wedding. Running continues; distance hasn't increased, as I am fighting to run in the mornings with no light and a 7 a.m. work start time to get off at 3 to get Jakob from school at 3:30 and and and and and and and.
But I ran thrice last week, and have a plan for increasing mileage even while running only twice a week. The blood pressure dropped down into the merely concerning range for a bit. Morning movement involves less creaking, but nothing near the teen's flexibility. I am feeling ever more mortal. But no anxiety waves! Progress! I did promise my therapist to make an appointment if another happened.
Our ballots finally showed up! MontCo totally dropped the ball; I say this as someone who has managed multiple projects, from wedding cakes to kitchen demo and reno to small software builds. First, American and Pennsy voting laws are completely fuct: Pennsylvania counties do their own elections, even for state and national races. (Oh, yeah, former President Jimmy Carter who works as an election observer has said US elections wouldn't pass muster because of shit like this. So much for #1.) The state handled requesting a mail-in ballot and built the web site for voters to check their ballot status. But it's the counties doing the outbound mailings, and collection and tabulating of ballots. To put this into a business IT perspective: central built a system for employees to request time off, but every department is still tracking everything in Excel and has different rules and approval processes. On September 21, everyone was told their ballots had mailed and should arrive within 10 to 14 days. Seventeen days after that (October 7), one MontCo commissioner tweeted that ballots had started mailing the week before (so, we assume Friday, otherwise he would have given an actual date). Nothing on the web page. No e-mail. No mention of how much headway they were making of the total. MontCo, BTW, at 800,000+ residents, is the third most populous county in the state, after Philly (1.5 Mil+) and Allegheny (Pittsburgh, 1.2 Mil). (Source: https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/pennsylvania/population.)
October 9: Tobi's Birthday and Bake Off Friday
A few of us watched Bake Off together last week, and doing so again tonight. Ironically, only with everyone quarantined could we have had a watch party of any size. Now all we've got is time and no one needs to worry about family schedules or driving after a cocktail. We've got a Discord server and would love to have you snark with us.
I've been doing a lot of ignoring reality and focusing on what I can control — running twice a week, Peloton, Fall baking, moar books, sewing again (which seems to mostly be "buying more fabric, patterns, and now equipment on eBay"). Writing about everything requires too much focus on the shit show. My BP is high enough the phone health app asks me if I'm mistaken when entering a reading. I know what a wave of anxiety feels like, and how to breathe my way out of it. I'm buying stuff left right and center; trying to hold off until I pay off the credit card before buying again. I've bought on eBay and must remind myself that not buying one item doesn't mean a similar item won't appear.
Last weekend we visited Robb and Pauline in their redecorated terrace. Pauline refreshed her murals and started a new one; Robb built a little bar area. With lots of plants (flowering and herbs) it's the kind of back yard the Inquirer would feature in its Sunday magazine. Okay, the company was fantastic and they made salmon and beans and rice. It was truly an oasis.