The Shutdown Journal:Random Progress Notes

At first, we thought this was going to be, maybe, a couple weeks. As we see the horizon a little farther away, thought I'd share some random notes I've been taking in the early stages of "shelter in place". 

The Prep

• Stocked up on all the normal stuff. Should be able to make it. Did the “project your toilet paper use” on-line test, excellent position on that front.

• Somehow ended up with 28 different versions of Chicken Soup…Roasted Chicken Noodle with Country Vegetables, Hearty Chicken Noodle, Pub-Style Chicken Pot Pie Soup, Classic Chicken with white meat, Organic Chicken w/wild rice. Just noticed the organic expired 2 years ago…. Do these “use by” dates really expire on canned soup?

• Addressing the “Sell by Date” issue on every item in the kitchen has become a problem. I’m suspecting canned stuff is likely ok, what about an old unopened bag of Oreos or chips? That gets me thinking about the “lost items” in the freezer. Gotta be different rules there.

• Plenty of the usual suspects stocked for Happy Hour. No problem on that front, just something casual as I talk on the phone or catch up with friends at the end of the day.

What’s Happening

• Noticing that Happy Hour is extending to Happy Evenings. Supplies dwindling…hmmm.

• No walk on a rain day. Decided going up/down the stairs would work. Did 1,800 stairs…next morning realized how bad of an idea that was.

• Thought about taking an on-line yoga class. Thought about it a lot. Does visualizing the activity burn calories?

What I’m Learning

• A customer wrote saying they saw our Castaway Shirt on Nick Nolte in the movie “Head Full of Honey”. Hmmm….damn, he was right! It’s in the opening scene, and a few other scenes, and old Nick is looking pretty darn comfy. Sweet movie.

• Learned a lesson…if there is a beverage in each hand, can’t touch your face.

• Learned how to “zoom”. I like that little feature where you can create “virtual Backgrounds”. You can play “Where am I” with friends. Just get a few backgrounds lined up and take turns. This can actually be a lot fun during a virtual "Happy Hour".

• Decided my “self-improvement” would be to wiki a new country each day. Went smallest to largest looking for off-beat places to explore. Interestingly, 24 of the 30 smallest are island nations…just in case you ever need that data point. No reported cases in Nauru. (3^rd smallest)

TBD

• Anybody thought about the non-essential haircut thing? Buzzcut myself or hold out for the manbun…can’t decide.

• Anyone else finding the whole process of taking clothes out of the dryer, folding, neatly stacking, then using again getting tedious? You know what I mean. (Yes, you do.)

• Cocktail inventions…you have to stick with what you’ve got immediately available. Here you go: peanut butter, chocolate syrup, rum, ice and push the “whomp it up” button on the blender. The more rum, the better…just saying. (maybe some vanilla extract and milk might help)

• Hoping that “Apple-a-Day” thing becomes hard science. Same with limes in beverages…

• Hey, experimenting with these tension bands in lieu of a gym. Very versatile, kind like bungee cords. Many other, post-corona, uses also.

• Interesting “coping” suggestion that came in: If you put a bottle in each room, get dressed up, you can go bar hopping. Hmmmm…maybe this situation is starting to get to us. ;-)

Plenty of how-to’s, work-outs, new streaming content out there. What’s important is…do something.

Stay active in whatever way that you can. Be kind to the people around you, “ain’t” nobody out there not feeling a little shaken by this, no matter who they are.

Sorta feels like the movie “Groundhog Day”. Some mornings I swear I hear Sonny & Cher singing.

Stay Vigilant.