Pandemic life

 Geez!

At least the election is mostly over so we don't have to be stressed out about that anymore.

And, what happened to BLM? It seems like you heard something about racial injustice every day, for weeks and weeks. But now? Did it go away? I'm confused. There's still a lot of hate out there but it seems more general now. Like people just hate everything right now! 

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I'm pretty sure most of the country isn't going to abide by all the recommended restrictions. Especially since they announced this week that there's an effective vaccine soon to be available. Yeah, the rest of the year is going to be weird.

Also, I saw some headline that said Fauci said things could "start" to return to normal next April. What? I don't understand. How can he possible know that? I mean, why not February? Or July? Why did he pick April?  I also saw something last week that some entertainment venues are considering requiring proof that you've been vaccinated before they let you in. Pretty sure that can't work on any level! I see crazy headlines all the time. 

Some days, Montana seems like a fantastic idea! But then I remember Hobby Lobby is right up the street and I throw that thought out :-)

Pandemic life

Good grief! Is it EVER going to end??? Honestly, don't you think the toll on mental health is immeasurable by now?! There are days at a time when I always feel like crying. I still think it's weird in the grocery store. No flavored Coke products. Sometimes there are cleaning supplies, sometimes there aren't. Some frozen foods are still hard to find. Some frozen fish is hard to find. And expensive when you do. We went to Costco last weekend and there's still a "limit 1" on paper towels, TP and water. which is fine but why do they still need to say that? Thankfully there's no limit on bottles of margaritas!! 

Last month, just for something to do, my guy and I went to Michigan. Our destination was Mackinaw Island. It was so nice to get away, even for a few days. We went to the beach! Us Hoosiers don't have a lot of experience with the beach. The weather was wonderful too. Michigan is weird though. Anyway, Mackinaw Island was fantastic! There were A LOT more people there than I expected. For the most part, everyone had a mask on. Even outdoors, by themselves. When we wanted to have lunch, there were long lines and wait times everywhere because nothing was completely open. It was really kind of strange. You would think we'd be used to that by now, but we aren't. We took a tour of a Coast Guard ice cutter and we drove over the bridge to the UP. Now we've been to every Great Lake except Superior. On the way back, we stopped in Frankenmuth to go to Bronner's Christmas store. OMG!!!! It was AWESOME!!! Seriously, 7 acres of Christmas decorations! Ahhhhhhh. I think if you couldn't find an ornament for anything specific, then it just isn't made. Hey, want an ornament of a giraffe in a tutu? Yep. How about a casket? Or a jack-o-lantern? How about Santa on a rocket ship? Or a chili cheese dog? What about a 20 foot artificial Christmas tree? It was astounding! And also cram packed with tourists. Crazy! They even have a shuttle for the parking lot! Oh yeah, definitely my kind of place. Thanks honey :-) 

Also, the lack of news for a few days was a nice relief. Because how could the pandemic be any worse? Oh, there's an election tomorrow! It's just exhausting, all the bullshit. And this morning on my way in to work...businesses already have their store fronts boarded up. It's disgusting, all the hate and negativity. It made me cry. So I'm going to work from home the rest of the week. I'm not coming downtown, just in case. It's just too overwhelming.

(remember, you can click on the picture to enlarge it)

Yep, this is the Grand Hotel! 

                                       They just don't make things like this anymore

a natural spring

           Along our walk, we saw this slab of rock. That was funny.

In case you didn't know, cars are not allowed on the island. Just horses and bicycles.

this bridge is 5 MILES long!

                                                               Ship's innards 

Officer's mess

Pandemic life...still

 Well, it's the backside of October and here we are...still...trying to decide how not to die from COVID-19. Now they want us to know that small gatherings indoor for Thanksgiving are a bad idea. That was right after telling everyone that Halloween should be canceled. Screw you guys..

How much more do you think people can suffer? I hate this year. 

But...there have been some really great memes. In case you need the laugh, here are some of my favorites;

 

Pandemic life

Well, it's September. Yep. Uh huh. Hell.

Traffic has certainly picked up though. Schools are still closed. I'm still parking on the 1st level in the parking garage at work. That's nice. It's still taking less time to get to work and go home, also nice. Out of 1100 people in our office, I would say that about 15% are working here. Everyone else is still working from home. I guess it will probably remain that way until next year some time. Ho hum. I'm still trying to work from home on Thursdays and Fridays. For the most part, it's working. I like my schedule. Other pros and cons as far as office life goes; Pros = the bathrooms are always clean - there's always coffee in the coffee maker - it's quiet - there's never any waiting for the microwaves at lunch. Cons = the vending machine are empty, no place to go for lunch, the snack shop is still closed, it doesn't feel safe to walk around downtown anymore, (I actually carry pepper spray with me!) and masks masks masks. Is it possible for grouchy people to get grouchier? If you're already sad, can you get sadder?

In our regular lives, we've started trying to return to our tradition of going out to eat every other Friday. It's weird. There's no salt and pepper shakers on the tables anymore. You have to ask and then they bring you little paper packets. Every other table is tapped off so you can maintain social distancing. Most stores seem to be busier but I don't think people browse anymore. Just get in and get out. And so much is still not fully open. We've taken a few drives for the day. But we don't really stop anywhere. Still, it's nice to get out of the house. I have 28 days of vacation stacked up. I guess because I was already home for a couple months, it didn't seem necessary to take vacation time?  I guess I just need to start taking a day here and a day there. I don't want to be one of those people that end up 6 months of vacation on the book when they retire!!

My annual Thanksgiving email is going to be a lot different this year. Maybe I'll skip it.

Did I mention that I applied to participate in a Holiday craft fair this year?!?!? It was a big step for me. Last week I found out I was accepted!!!! I was pretty excited about that. But they had to let us know that they will be holding it online this year and we can participate if we want. Regardless though, we're automatically invited to be in next years show. I'm still trying to decide about the online thing. But for sure next year, I'll be there, in my very own booth/space!

Pandemic life

 This is frightening to me on so many levels;

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/08/26/coronavirus-vaccine-mandates-covid-19/3346210001/

traveling magnets

I love refrigerator magnets. I love looking at them in funny boutiques and airport gift shops. I love getting them when we travel anywhere. It's an inexpensive and small trip memento. I like coffee mugs too, but you can't have 100 of those!

I use to put my magnets on the side of the fridge. Then my fella said, stop it! But, but, but....

Then I saw this FANTASTIC idea on Pinterest!! An oil pan!!! A BIG one! Voila! A place to put all my magnets that I can lean behind the door in my craft room. So awesome. 

There used to be a man at work who would travel every chance he got. I asked him once when he was going to Idaho for a meeting, if he would get a magnet for me. It was the start of something so great at work! Pretty soon, whenever somebody had to travel, they came back with a magnet for me! It's the best. I'm going to run out of room one day. Thanks to my niece, I have one from Hawaii. Thanks to my daughter in law, I have one from Alaska. From vacationers, I have magnets from Belize and Jamaica! So fun. :-)

Pandemic life

 5 months later and here we are. Still. Still wearing masks. Businesses still not open. Schools still not open. Millions of people still unemployed. Still no live entertainment. Still no movie theaters open. Shortages still apparent in grocery stores. Still no sporting events. Still. It's August!!!

OMG! I can take a lot but I'm sure FED UP now! I'm so tired of all the unhappiness, drama and anger. And I hate to admit it but I'm tired of all the inconvenience. I'm tired of forgetting my mask. I'm tired of wearing my mask at work when I have to walk down the hall to the bathroom! I'm tired of feeling uneasy walking around downtown. I'm tired of everybody bitching about everything!

I miss smiles. I miss having lunch with a friend and dinners out on Friday nights. I miss my dogs. I miss Friday morning breakfasts in the cafeteria at work (thanks honey, for filling in!!) I miss just casually walking around the store, any store. I miss live entertainment. I miss expectations and I miss planning.

I guess I woke up in a sad mood today. Sigh.

Looove

 I found a new channel on SiriusXM. It's channel 289, the Love channel. Oh yeah, it's awesome. Nothing but love songs all day. Yep, mm hmm, love, love, love!!

Be My Baby, Something in the way she moves, How deep is your love, When a man loves a woman, I will always love you, You make my dreams, Wild thing, Best of my love, Can't help falling in love, The first time ever I saw your face, Unchained melody, Make you feel my love, Faithfully, Endless love (or anything else by Lionel Richie!), I only have eyes for you, My girl, To love somebody, I want to know what love is, I think I love you, Love will keep us together, Don't it make my brown eyes blue, Best of my love, Love me tender, I honestly love you, I got you babe, Unforgettable, Crash into me, How sweet it is, Just the way you are...

YES! Every time I listen to this channel it makes me smile. 

Life continues...

We have bird brain babies!!! Peep peep peep peep! Google tells me that they'll only be in the nest for 12 to 18 days and that there are 5 to 8 babies in there! I'm DYING to look in there! I just can't imagine how they fit in there! They're about a week old now so I don't think it would be too disturbing if I tried to see in there. I might wait a couple more days. I'm still just so impressed at how strong and determined those little suckers are. They crammed a lot of sticks in there and they're tiny little things! Secretly, we must be bird geeks. :-)

******UPDATE******

I looked. I had to!! I carefully held my phone over the hole on the top and....click.

Look!!! babies!!!

Loyalty

Brand loyalty and/or company loyalty is such a funny thing.

I don't think I've ever used anything except Crest for toothpaste. Different flavors maybe but always Crest.

If I have to purchase boxed Mc and Cheese, it's always Kraft.

I would choose Costco over Sams Club any day. Given the choice, Target would always win over Walmart.

90% of the time, it's a matter of service. If your service is great and your product is meh, you'd still stick with them. Their product and pricing could be great but if their service stinks, you'd ditch them if you could. I've shopped at other more expensive stores just because of their great service. I stick with my expensive dentist because he's so kind to me and I really need that.

Treat your customers right.

A   L*O*N*G  time ago, we used AT&T for our telephone service. I hated them. Worst customer service. I was never so happy to ditch a company when I canceled my land line, 14 years ago. Shortly after that, they started sending me all these great promotional deals and come back and you'll save $$. All I could think was, if you cared about my business when you had it, I might not have left! Boneheads. Anyway, I'll never, and I mean never, use AT&T again.

When we switched our cell phone service from Sprint to Verizon, they never asked why or if there was anything they could do to keep me as a customer. After 10 years you'd think they would be curious why they were losing me? Nope. That's fine. I'll never go back to them. Worst customer service.

Last February we ditched cable TV. Now we just stream everything. Netflix, Hulu, Disney. We've been with that cable company for 20 years. We kept our internet service though. Last month we started getting weekly junk mail from them. We miss you! Come back! Look at this great deal! Blah, blah, blah. This really irritates me. I was a customer of yours for 20 years and you never once offered me a great deal. New customers get all the great deals and free phones. But your loyal customers don't get squat. That doesn't seem like good business. Maybe you wouldn't need so many new customers if you just treated the ones you have, better. Hmmmm.

The past

This was so interesting and tragic and sad;

https://www.smh.com.au/world/suitcases-tell-stories-of-lives-lived-at-the-margins-20150617-ghpu6l.html

Sometimes, when I see old photographs in a box at an antique shop, it makes me feel so sad. I know people love to go antiquing but I wonder if they ever think about the story behind those items. 

Asparagus

I love asparagus. I could eat a lot of asparagus. Mmmmmmm. But asparagus makes your pee smell. It does, really. But it turns out that that's not true of everyone who eats asparagus! Isn't that weird?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-asparagus-makes-your-urine-smell-49961252/

I'm really not crazy! Whew!

getting organized

Last week, my fella took another tote bin plus some other things, to Good-Will for me.  He said donations were piled up outside! That doesn't usually happen at our Good-Will store. It made total sense to me. So many people at home, cleaning up, throwing crap out. Yep. I'm doing it too!
Coincidentally, I saw this list (you know how much I love these) today;

Things is your house that a professional organizer would throw out!
* Flimsy kitchen utensils -that's good one. I need to do that
* Writing implements - I'm in trouble
* Reference material - I don't think that's entirely true. Like how to books. I'm keeping those until I know how to do it.
* Trip memorabilia - you know, old maps and travel brochures
* Expired things - food, medicine, vitamins...when was the last time you looked in the back of your cupboards????
* Storage 'solutions' - like containers that don't have a lid anymore, even Tupperware!
* Hobby supplies - oh, hell no!!!!!
* Outdated technology - probably. But if you had kept your old Apple PC, 
you'd have a lot of $$ right now!
* The "to-be-fixed" pile - maybe, after a year or so, just to be sure
* Parts for discarded items - accessories and manuals to things you don't have anymore! (mom)
* Secret stash - this one cracked me up because rinsed out jars was on the list! Ugh
* Swag and freebies - like all those pens you pick up and should throw out now!
* Unmatched things - socks, gloves...but I know the second I do, the other one will turn up!
* Awards and trophies - that's just sad
* Cookbooks - Noooooooo
* Clothes hangers - you have unused clothes hangers? I say, buy more clothes!
* Vases - I'm cool with this one. You really only need a couple.
* Refrigerator magnets - hahahahahahaha, when hell freezes over! It's my thing man!

Crisis Fatigue

Have you heard of Crisis Fatigue. It's a real thing. It's sounds pretty self explanatory.

Here's a pretty good article about Crisis Fatigue. It explains what is actually happening to your body.

https://www.wired.com/story/crisis-fatigue/

It's interesting. I suspect that there are A LOT of people in the world suffering from it. On different levels but still. I am. And it's exhausting. Also, there's something called the 'quarantine 15!' It's about weight gain during the pandemic. 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-right-mindset/202003/what-is-quarantine-15

That seems pretty normal to me. If you can't go anywhere or do anything, what else is there? Eating or drinking. Or both! I've definitely been drinking more. I know I'm doing it too...and I don't care. HA!

Bird brains!

Oh, not literally, like real brains, just the term. Sheesh.

Last year when we were on our fabulous 30th anniversary road trip, we bought a bison skull. I always wanted one. We got it in Deadwood SD. It's awesome...and big. We finally hung it up a few months ago. It's awesome...and big!

(I can see a good use for Christmas lights, can't you?!?!?)

I use to have this little, fake cow skull on the wall. My fella hung it outside on the front porch. It works, it's rustic. Anyway, a couple weeks ago we came home and found all these little twigs on the porch,

What the heck?! So we're looking all around. I thought maybe a bird thought it wanted to build a nest in the wreath. Nope that wasn't it. Hmmmmm,

Then my fella spots it...

Do you see it???

Here's a close up,

 A tiny bird is building it's nest inside the fake skull!!!! It's called a House Wren, a little smaller than a chickadee. Also, it has a pretty song, a pretty loud song! Aaaaaaand, it's July! Isn't it kind of late to be nesting?? I guess we're going to try and use the garage door more right now so we don't disturb them so much. What funny birds.