Settling in
Sunday was a balance of relaxing as much as I wanted but not more than I wanted — always a bit of a challenge when I have nowhere to go and nothing pressing. I indulged myself with a few crossword puzzles, my usual NYT puzzles for Sunday and Monday and then a few unfinished puzzles from when I wasn’t as good as I am now. Like a year ago.
Consumption
So far in the stay-home period, I’ve mostly had podcasts running a consistent stream of information and amusement in my ears, because I’ve really fallen behind on the daily consumption this past year. I’m current on the Tony Kornheiser Show, my favorite daily, and most of my weeklies, but the other dailies have really piled up.
Sunday I thought I needed a break from the audio, but the quietude of the house is kind of oppressive these days, like putting my forced solitude in italic type, so I put a movie on while I did a few busy-but-not-actually-busy tasks. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which I watched a couple of months ago, after seeing its sequel. It is such a well-written movie, the kind of thing that surprises me in an action flick because I never expect it. Yes, the movie is carried on the broad shoulders of Dwayne Johnson and the broad comic chops of Jack Black, but it never forgets that it’s a movie about people, not action or one-liners. I swear I teared up a couple of times.
Breakfast was a couple of hot dogs with mustard, ketchup, and sauerkraut. Lunch was a large bowl of steamed broccoli. Dinner was leftover beef stew (made in the Instant Pot some friends gave me for Christmas last month) with brown rice. So food was pretty great Sunday. In between I snacked a bit on wasabi roasted peas.
To the motion be true
I thought I might try the supermarket in my hood, but I picked up a bad vibe when I pulled into the parking lot. Instead, I left my car in the lot (in front of McD’s again) and went for a long walk. Banged out 15K steps, and yeah it took me two and a half hours to go 6.8 miles, but I’ll take it. A lot of it was uphill, I should say.
And then I kind of undid it with two sausage burritos at McD’s and a large Diet Coke with extra ice. Man, that was a pleasurable snack though.
Mayoral edict; not giving up on the ocean yet
Sunday the mayor announced stay-home policies until the end of April. I knew it was coming (although I admit my sources had me thinking it was coming from the governor). There are a lot of excepted activities, though, among them outdoor activities for exercise, which on this island seems to be what everyone’s doing all the time. It means if I can find a beach where swimming is allowed (or at least not barred), I can get some ocean time with some good planning. A friend’s IG stories showed Sandy Beach completely deserted Sunday, as in nobody there but the person who shared the video.
I need to find something that’s not such a long drive away, though. Plus, you can’t really swim at Sandy’s. Also, I’m one of the rare local boys who loves the ocean who’s never actually been in the water at Sandy’s. They’re always rescuing people there from the killer (I use that word literally) shorebreak and its resulting undertow.
So Sandy’s is out, but there’s got to be an accessible strip near Waikiki that could work. I actually have something in mind but I don’t want to share it publicly yet.
Coming clean in Manoa
It’s 3:35 Monday morning and I’m typing this in the open-all-night laundry in Manoa. It’s probably my favorite laundromat for early-morning washes because it’s very clean and usually very quiet, not to mention the pretty safe neighborhood.
Last week I came in at 4:00 and had the place to myself until 5:00. It was glorious and lovely and just about perfect. My clothes were still in the dryer at five, though, when a couple of others came in to do wash, and they were chatty (with each other). My solitude was ruined along with my social distancing.
So this morning I got here at 3:00 and there were people here! Ugh. Two of them had come together and were very chatty. The other asked me if I had change for a 20 (I didn’t) but while we were brainstorming solutions, the guy kept stepping up to me. I really wanted to help him out, but I wished he would step off. Ugggggh. Anyway he didn’t get what he needed and took off.
I wish now I had just put $10 on his card (it’s one of those places where you load up a plastic card with funds and use the card on the machines), but I was so distracted by wishing he wouldn’t get so close to me that I didn’t think of it until he was gone.
Sorry, guy. I’ll take care of you next time.
With 10 minutes to go for the washer, the two ladies have gone but two guys have come in, including (just now) the guy who needed change. This is not working out at all the way I wanted.
Making contact
Texted Chuck about possibly hitting the beach together (going in separate cars) once I figure something out. Texted Grace to verify that she’s on the mayor’s okay-to-work-at-the-office list (she does IT support at a care facility). Texted Penny to ask whether she’s finished reading a book I need to talk to someone about. She hasn’t started it yet and it’s overdue at the library. Traded a few emails with Reid who had questions about a crossword puzzle answer he didn’t understand. Plus the usual Twitter and FB back-and-forth.
If you’re reading this and you’re feeling as if you’re going through this weirdness alone, please reach out. I’m lousy company most of the time because I like to keep to myself, but I’ll trade texts or emails with you. Nobody needs to go through this by him- or herself.