Yer not from around these parts, are you, Pardner?
The mayor has given us until Monday to begin wearing masks when we’re out in public. It’s not a huge deal since I’m mostly only out to get exercise, and you don’t have to wear a mask for that. However, some stores have already begun requiring masks in order to enter, and I still have to get groceries once in a while.
I ordered some masks online about ten days ago and they haven’t arrived yet. I had a small inkling the moment I made the purchase that I wasn’t dealing with a reputable merchant, but I made the payment through PayPal, which means my purchase is protected, so I’m not going to worry about it yet. The website, company name, and PayPal merchant name were all different — three names! Yikes. I trust PayPal to take care of me or I might freak out a little.
So I did the no-sew t-shirt mask suggested by the CDC itself. Pretty easy, but I have to say the t-shirt material doesn’t instill a lot of confidence that I’m keeping my viruses to myself. On the other hand, I’ve seen other tutorials that look a bit more reliable, and now that I’ve seen how to do this one, I have ideas of my own to try.
I wore it out on my walk anyway, at least until my midway stop at 7-Eleven for a Diet Pepsi. It wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t unbearable. The breathing wasn’t as much an issue as I thought. I found the breathing easier if I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth for some reason. It was pretty dang warm tonight, and the mask did not help. Still, not unbearable. Certainly bearable enough to wear when I have to step into a grocery store or convenience store.
Writin’ with the homies
A work recap would be boring, so I’ll just say it was a semi-productive day with some disagreement with team members about how to approach the wording of an email we’re sending out to 500 emergency fund recipients. I may have gotten someone angry with my input, and I can’t say I wasn’t sorta aggressive about one specific point about which I am sure I was right.
I’ve been thinking a lot these past couple of weeks about how I feel I’m always the person who yields. I don’t mean just at work — actually, this was prompted by my having to go far out of my way to avoid people when we pass each other on the sidewalks during my late-night roaming. but it’s always been true at work too.
When I taught ninth-grade English, the ninth-grade history teacher was famous for being really, really strict with her students. I don’t mind that at all — students need one teacher like that every year or so, and I don’t have it in me to be that teacher. This teacher wasn’t just strict; she was demanding, giving way too much homework, not accepting late work on most assignments, and not listening to excuses very often.
We used to try to coordinate with other teachers not to schedule big tests or big assignments at the same time, and whenever there was a conflict between ninth-grade English and ninth-grade history, I was always the one who yielded. Mostly because I didn’t really mind.
So I’m a yielder. There’s not much I can is wrong with that, especially since I don’t mind being the flexible one. What’s bugging me lately is that I shouldn’t have to be the yielder all the time, yet my willingness makes me be the one. Thisis starting to bug me a little. I don’t mind yielding, but maybe I mind always yielding.
Which is why I may have been a leeeettle too insistent on taking out one small phrase. And perhaps it wasn’t received well.
I also tried to interview a donor by phone but had to leave a voicemail.
Text is natural; text is good. Not everybody does it, but everybody should.
It was Antony’s birthday so I sent him a happy birthday. I’ve been a little concerned because he’s a bus rider and I do not want people I care about riding buses nowadays. Traded some IMs with Crush Girl about places we each can’t wait to dine at, once we’re allowed again to dine out. She’s a good food friend, the kind of person likes cooking and dining out and talking about both. Traded a few work-related IMs with Sylvia too.
That was about it. I was kind of in leave-me-alone mode most of my day.
Breakfast was overnight oats. Lunch was last night’s marinara over penne, with some of that blue cheese mixed in. Delicious enough that I had it for dinner too. I had a late snack of an egg salad sandwich.
I hit 15,900 steps for Wednesday and got home before midnight. The plan was to go to bed early-ish and wake up to hit the beach, but I remembered moments ago the full moon was April 7, which means Thursday the 16th is the first day of the monthly jellyfish influx, and the soonest I’ll be able to get wet again is Sunday morning. I mind sharing the beach with the jellyfish a lot less when I’m in the water several times a week. When I’m down to once a week, I’d appreciate it if those guys would just stay out there. They have a whole ocean.
During breaks in the action Wednesday, I watched Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, a movie I heard nothing about when it was in theaters last fall. I have about half an hour left; maybe I’ll finish it before hitting the hay, since I don’t have to be up early anymore.
If you’re lacking someone with whom to share whatever you’re doing to get through the lockdown, please reach out. Tell me about Tiger King or the cinnamon swirl mug cake you made today. You don’t have to go through any of this alone!