COVID-19 Diary – week 9

Ramblings and incoherent thought bubbles from a middle-aged geek who didn’t realize he would have to keep doing this blog series for this long.


I’m in a sarcastic-angry mood today, so watch out. I’ve already posted two snarky posts to social media this morning. Which means I should stay off of social media the rest of the day.


My poor puppies hair is getting so long. The wife brushes them daily and has to cut mats out of them almost daily too. On the bright side, they’re still adorable and bring me so much joy.


We ordered new harnesses for the dogs because the baby is outgrowing hers and the other girl has a cheap one. So we ordered matching harnesses. One arrived within a day of ordering, the other took all week. We got the box this morning and it was filled with a bag of food we never ordered (or a brand we ever order). So now I’m dealing with Chewy customer service to see what they’ll do. Annoyance, but not earth shattering.


My rear bike tire is flat. I just spend hundreds getting four bicycles tuned up and my bike got new tires and a tube. I don’t see any visible holes or nails/rocks/etc. So now I’m dealing with the repair shop to see what they’ll do. Annoyance, but not earth shattering.


I found out the new (to us) donut shop we discovered in Arlington is an amazing place. Not only are the donuts our new favorite, but the shop gives hungry/low income children a free meal every day until the Arlington County schools open back up. Guess I have to keep buying donuts to show my support. The sacrifices I make to help the hungry …


I unfriended my first person on Facebook in a while. She was always different ideologically from me, which I usually don’t have a problem with. But lately she’s been posting memes and “articles” that were clear conspiracy theory shit. The final straw was a meme that was alleging COVID was a government control concept and likened it to the Nazis checking Jewish people’s papers. I just … I was flabbergasted and said “nope.” Sad.


My espresso machine is amazing. I’ve turned it into my “dessert” routine. I’ve always had coffee at the end of the night while we decompress and watch TV. I used to do pour-overs, but now I do an Americano and they’re so much better! The espresso elevates the flavor so much. Yummers.


In case you’re wondering, caffeine doesn’t really affect me. My superpower is that I can fall asleep anywhere, so no issues drinking caffeine before bed. Sometimes I do decaf coffee/espresso, sometimes regular anyway because I try not to have TOO much caffeine in a day. I will get withdrawal headaches if I don’t have any caffeine … but the “stay awake” component of caffeine doesn’t do anything to me.


I bought a little wood-pellet smoker tube for my grill a week or so ago. I smoked some cheese and nuts last week and they were delicious. I’m going to attempt smoking salmon this week. It brined in a salt/sugar mixture yesterday. Now it’s drying out. I’ll probably have to wait to put it on the smoker until tomorrow because it has to smoke for a long time … like 12 hours according to some of the recipes I’ve found. Wish me luck.


Having fun with my fountain pens. I washed out the shimmering ink from my TWSBI Eco and am trying out a Rouge Opera red sample that I picked up. Not my favorite color on the page, but still fun to test different ones. I need to setup an ink catalog or something so I can keep track. The more I look online, the more I realize how little I know. Jinkies.

New ink, new doodle

Also trying to use some of the other pens I have lying around; like my Tombow brush pens. I’ve started following a YouTube channel that draws little doodles with the same type of pens. So I’m trying to incorporate that now too. Unfortunately, I found that some of my Tombow pens are drying out and now I want more colors because the video drawings always turn out amazing with umpteen million pens at hand. *sigh*


I guess I have a lot to say, or a lot that I’ve been thinking about. Not only did I have a lot for this post, but my morning journals have started taking up two pages of my notebook. I used to struggle to get one page. More inner-reflection will do that I guess.


I’ve bored you enough. Be good humans. Stay home. Stay safe. Wash your hands.

One comment

  1. Yes. I loved reading this and am so happy you’re our son. Yes, you are kooky, but I have to admit that’s my favorite thing about you.

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