Lockdown: Late-night bondage; early-morning submission

A couple of weekends ago, I requested a couple of hours off Wednesday morning, hoping for a trip to the beach. I couldn’t have known then that it would rain like crazy all day Monday, and it was still kind of rainy Tuesday night, so no way was I going swimming Wednesday.

Which is fine, since I was up until 2:00 Tuesday night and still super exhausted from only three and a half hours of sleep Monday night. I slept in. Woke up not wanting to waste my vacation hours on sleep (which, why not, right? I should totally waste vacation hours on sleep if I’m mega-uber-maxi-super-sleep-deprived).

There’s this tonkatsu spot in the Ohana Hale Marketplace I’ve been meaning to try, but that place is really scary in pandemic days. I braved it for a few terrifying minutes for Christmas shopping; I didn’t think I’d go back until I had a couple of needles in my arm.

However, I thought if I got there soon enough after opening, maybe it wouldn’t be too scary, and it wasn’t. But the tonkatsu spot couldn’t give me my order until 11:40 (it was approaching 11 when I ordered) and I just couldn’t wait. It’s very popular, and people phone in their orders for pickup, which of course I didn’t do.

So I grabbed a KC Waffle Dog, a pork taco, and a carne asada burrito from different spots in the marketplace. Ate the taco and dog on the trunk of my car, then took the burrito home to munch on while I worked on that UH Hilo story.

The taco was great. Highly recommended if you’re in there. It’s the taco stand on the far makai end, by the side entrance. The burrito was fine, but it was super ricey. Granted it was Mexican rice, but still. If I get it again I’m going to ask for just a little bit of rice. Or maybe rice on the side. Now I’m wondering what the difference is between the shredded pork in a pork taco and the different shredded pork dishes I’ve prepared. Might have to look it up, because if it’s as easy to make as, say, shredded Carolina-style barbecue, tacos could be super fun.

I really strugged to get work done when I finally checked in. Sat in front of the computer all day and all evening before I finally got that darned UH Hilo story submitted at about 1:45 in the morning. Then I had to do edits to the employee handbook, which I promised I’d submit before our handbook re-writer got to her desk Thursday morning. I submitted it at 6:00 Thursday morning, taking about three and a half hours to get through the last twenty pages. It was difficult, and I wasn’t slacking either. Really worked my brain off on the handbook stuff, unlike the UH Hilo story, which I mostly just stared at until I finally wrote it.

Seriously: words simply cannot describe how much I hate myself when I go through this.

Went to bed pretty much right after submission. I skipped all my usual getting-ready-for-bed stuff (including brushing my teeth) and just crashed.

Breakfast-slash-lunch was the stuff from Ohana Marketplace. Dinner was kimchi stew again. Delightful.

Texting Wednesday. Some texts with Reid about online, shared whiteboard services. A late happy birthday to Grace and some chitchat about BTS and tea. JB and I shared thoughts on the stupid Baseball Hall of Fame election announcement. I texted Sylvia to thank her for some cool snacks she gave me for Christmas. I just opened them Wednesday because I like to space out my gift-opening. This led to some conversation about Trader Joe’s snacks. I texted Faye with a screenshot of my conversation with Grace, because they’re both learning Hangul for the same reason. I also sent Crush Girl some photos of Tuesday’s burger, because I’d mentioned to her that I’d wanted to try that spot for some time.

I’ve mostly had the new Soen album on repeat all day, but now I’m spinning the new Accept album, which is pretty good. Also, exactly what you expect from Accept. Catchy, aggressive, melodic, riff-driven traditional metal with somewhat silly lyrics.

That’s it. The long, drawn-out self-scripted drama of the UH Hilo story is (likely) done, and I have a weekend with nothing pressing, so I plan to get some rest, do some reading, and try a new recipe or two. Maybe the beach if the weather’s nice. It’s approaching midnight Friday night, and I’m going to get ready for bed and try to do a little reading.

Reach out if you need some contact. Don’t go pandemic-solo if you don’t want to.

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