Have I said on here lately how grateful I am to have a job and an office to go to? Seriously. My job may be really high-stress and not much fun sometimes, but I am so appreciative that I have a job. I can't put it into words properly.

These are such deeply unsettling times. No one knows how long the virus will run unchecked or how many lives will be lost. Our govt. seems more interested in spreading propaganda and downright lies than it is in trying to figure out the best way to handle this and protect people. Did you see that Mitch is saying the govt. was distracted by the impeachment and that's why it didn't focus on the virus? Are you fucking kidding me? How dare he? I swear, I am going to learn how to, then dance a jig WHEN (not if) that asshole loses his re-election. In fact, MY CAT will join in and dance a jig himself when it happens, because even though he's an asshole himself, he won't tolerate that level of assholedness! I just hope that GOP doesn't try and use the current crisis to delay the election in November. That. Can't. Happen.

Unemployment is skyrocketing and, let's be honest, there really aren't any jobs out there for me should I lose the one I have. Apart from delivery services and the like, everything else has dried-up. While I would do any job, what chance do I actually have at getting one of those jobs? The job market is flooded with better qualified people than this middle-aged woman with no experience.

At home, I only have the news on when I'm getting ready for work at 4am, but at work it's on all day. You can't escape it. It's only when I get home in the afternoon that I have some peace... but after a day filled with bad news, it's hard to turn it all off mentally. Even when I try and distract myself.

It's a scary time. My parents are an 8-hour drive away and are considered vulnerable. Even if I were to go to where they are, I'd have to be quarantined for two weeks before I could see them for fear of getting them sick in case I somehow get it and turn into a carrier. I only have one other semi-close family member near me and I haven't heard from them once. I sent a text today, we'll see if I hear back.

I always try really hard to be positive and not let all of this horror (or any other bad stuff) get to me, but sometimes, like today, it does. It really does.

Things WILL get better they have to.

Sooooo, this weekend was kind of a waste. I got very little done. I mean, I got SOME stuff done... cleaned the bathroom and kitchen and finally broke down the carboard boxes I had in the hallway and took then out to the trash, but I didn't get anywhere near as much done as I'd hoped. Other than that, I slept a lot, watched Forensic Files, Cold Case Files (on Pluto) and the last few episodes of Nora from Queens (on Sling) that I hadn't watched yet, re-watched some old Real Housewives episodes and What We Do in the Shadows.

Man, I also snacked WAY too much. Seriously, I was cramming pretzels and kettle corn into my face whenever I could. I wasn't even hungry! I'm a lazy snacker!

Surprisingly, I was able to get a delivery from the local supermarket scheduled for later this week. Luckily, I don't need anything that you have to actually go into the store for (yet). I was shocked I was able to get it done, as I'd been checking for a friend for the past 10 days and no time slots were open. Forget about Amazon Fresh and Amazon/Whole Foods though, there are no deliveries in my neighborhood at all! I guess I could go to the store, but I'm sure everybody involved (including me) would rather have one less person who doesn't need to be there taking-up valuable space.

Stupid thing - Thinking about it, I think I was in pajamas all weekend, even though I changed out of PJ's and into lounge clothes each morning. To be honest though, that felt kinda like going from nighttime pajamas into daytime pajamas. I wish I could go to work in daytime pajamas!

It's Sunday afternoon and since I've been home since mid-day Friday, I managed to complete most of my usual weekly Sunday "Me Time" routine a bit early. Now all I need to do get the last few things together to take in to work with me tomorrow, fix dinner and maybe read for a while.

My cat can't wait to have his apartment back to himself!

This is probably going to be a really long and boring post. We ARE in a pandemic after all. What else am I going to do on a Friday afternoon while stuck at home?

We're over a week into the pandemic "lockdown" here in California. As I've mentioned before, I'm considered to work in an "essential business", so I continue to drive into work each day. Our home office even gave us two memos to print out and keep with us in case we get stopped and questioned about why we are out and not isolating in our homes. I guess they don't realize that law enforcement here has WAY better things to do than stop cars driving into downtown before 5am..... at least that's how it is right now.

I'm worried that people aren't taking this seriously. Freeway traffic is markedly lighter, but street traffic on my way home is the same as it was before and I see loads of people out and about. Looking out the window right now, I see heavier traffic than usual driving up and down the street, as well as four people walking in a tight group down my street. It looks like a normal day.

You might be asking "well, what about you? You're out and doing your regular routine!". Fortunately, my regular routine entails very little contact with people close-up. I leave for work very early, before most are even awake. I get to my building and wave good morning to the parking garage attendant without rolling down my window. I don't see anyone as I take the elevator up to the buildings' lobby to take the next elevator up to our floor. Once in my office, I go to my desk. Currently, the occupants of the two offices closest to me are working from home and the person working at the desk closest to me (10 feet away) works from home a couple days a week and we are faced in the opposite direction to each other. There are only about 6 or 7 of us in the office and we are very spread out. The closest I come to anyone is my boss. Unfortunately, he's on crutches right now, so I help him from his car up to the office (and back again) and if he has to go to the restroom I walk him down and wait to walk him back (kinda hard to open doors when you're on crutches). Don't project anything dirty into it! It's the human thing to do! I'll admit, it IS kinda weird to stand outside a restroom door and wait to hear someone wash their hands before opening the door (facing the hallway) and holding it open with my foot extended backward. HA!

Other than that, I'm at home. I've already mentioned that I bought a new laptop and stuff and am now able to access most essential work programs from home if I have to, but it hasn't come to that. Our company has said that if we don't feel comfortable, we can work from home, but at this point, I'm more productive at the office.

I feel for everyone that's struggling right now. My hairdresser isn't allowed to work, so I offered to pre-pay her for my next appointment. I was supposed to go in tomorrow, so I was prepared to pay her then anyway. I've made a couple of local donations as well, but I know it's not enough. I hope people who need assistance get it quickly. The bill that the government just passed today is nowhere near good enough, but at least it's something to start with. I'm worried. Really worried. We just started this journey and things got bad so fast!

I'll repeat this to my friends and acquaintances, if you need anything, let me know. As long as I know you, the offer is open. I may not have what you need (I'll try to get it!) or I may not have a lot, but what I DO have, I will gladly share with you.

I really hope this situation is giving people pause and showing them that little issues and problems don't mean anything. We need to come together and help support each other. I've reached out to people I haven't spoken to in a while to make sure they are okay. I've heard back from most of them. Hopefully, I'll hear back from the one or two that haven't emailed me back, if anything to let me know they're okay. Unless they really hate me, then I guess they won't. One friend I reached out to was one I'd been slowly backing away from for over a year.... she said was low on toilet paper and I offered her what I could and went in search of packages for her (she lives out by the beach, where there aren't a lot of supermarkets). She's good now. A co-worker in another office that's medically vulnerable and has small children needed a couple of sundry items. A friend and co-worker in Little Rock was worried about being able to get needed items for her 92 year-old mother in-law... You gotta ask people, sometimes they don't want to ask you or mention it. I can't tell you how many text messages I've sent that ended with "Are you okay for toilet paper?". I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't have a huge hoard of it or anything, but I can get-up early and stand in a line and I'm happy to do it! No toilet paper at the store, and I have to get you wipes? Then that's what I'll do!

You know, thinking on it, I can honestly say that there are only two people I personally know on this planet I would refuse to help, and they are old horribly abusive bosses I had that are multi-millionaire assholes.

Other than those two, you are in my heart and I'm here to help however I can.

I'll probably write more later this weekend since I'm stuck at home. I promise it will be more upbeat! Maybe I'll binge-watch Parks and Rec or Community or something.

Oh yeah, if you have kids or like listening to young adult books, Audible has made a ton of audiobooks free to listen to as long as schools are closed at:

stories.audible.com

I think they have books available in 6 different languages.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Happy birthday CBLMW, I know I already wished you an early Happy Birthday in an email, but I wanted to do it here as well. This next year is going hold many good things for you. You are a good person who does a lot of good things, so you deserve it.

The state of the world is grim right now and I hope everyone is safe and healthy. My job/industry fall under the umbrella of “essential business”, so I’m going into the office as usual during the day, and just hanging around at home the rest of the time. Traffic has been nonexistent, which is really nice. One of the few nice things that’s happened lately!

For those of you that know them, my parents are doing okay. The area they live in isn’t experiencing the same level of shortages we are here when it comes to food and some other essentials. They’ll be good!

For now, I’m conserving my food supplies by getting take-out for dinner every couple of days. Hopefully, if enough people do this, it will help keep those business afloat!

I was walking home from getting a pizza the other day (again you gotta support your local small restaurants!!!) and saw a CA for Biden sign” affixed to the inside of an office window (facing out). That made me feel good. There are a lot of conservatives here, so it gives me a little hope for November.

I hope everyone out there is safe and healthy. If you’re a friend of mine and need anything, please reach out to me and I’ll share whatever I can or I’ll try and find what you need. I don’t have a huge store of anything, but I will help my friends! As of now, Gotham and I are okay and should have what we need. As a precaution, we’ve got an order of his prescription food due to be delivered within the next week.

Please be safe and PLEASE check on any older or vulnerable people around you!!!

Talk soon,

Robin

I’m glad it’s the weekend. What a terrible week. The Keane concert was fun, but didn’t have much of an effect on how the week unfolded. It was an historically bad week at work. The industry needs a break, so it’s good we’re at a weekend. Hopefully POTUS will stop making things worse by talking and tweeting. Because that’s what he does, makes it worse.

I went to the super market this morning to do my usual shopping. Holy crap! I’d read news stories about lines and shortages, but I didn’t think it would be bad before 6:30am! Was I wrong!!! If you wanted pasta, sauce, beans, water, pork, anything other than chicken thighs or really expensive cuts of beef, you were out of luck! Not to mention paper products!

The produce and freezer sections were sparse as well. I was lucky to get a four pack of russet potatoes!

Snack foods seemed well-stocked though. Same with ice cream and frozen pizza. I had to search for frozen broccoli, but not junk food, lol! I guess that’s a good sign that people are stocking-up on good food and not crap.

Odd thing, I couldn’t find Havarti cheese anywhere. So random! It’s the only cheese I buy regularly and I’ve never really had an issue finding it. Not today! Maybe Trader Joe’s will have it tomorrow? I’m thinking about heading over before they open so I can buy my favorite sourdough bread anyway. I might as well see if they have my cheese.

One thing I don’t get is the run on bottled water. It’s not like people are preparing for an earthquake, where water supplies can become unsafe or pipes might break and service is interrupted. We still have working faucets! Plus, I am fortunate enough to live in an area where our tap water is very safe. I mean, sure, I prefer bottled water, but tap water is fine. I drank from a hose throughout my childhood and survived!

I get that people are buying-up hand sanitizer and soap. In fact, I can even understand buying a little more toilet paper than usual, but the rest of this is just crazy.

So I got my few things (I keep a pretty well-stocked home, so I didn’t have to buy a ton of stuff) and stood in the long line to check-out / pay for my groceries. Seriously, it was looooong! It took around 40 minutes to get to the checker! I chatted with her for the few moments I was checking out. I feel bad, people were being so rude and nasty to her. She actually thanked me for being nice! Come on people, we’re all just trying to do our best! Be nice!

I’m hopeful that once folks have two weeks worth of supplies stocked that things will get back to normal. Things can’t continue like this, right? RIGHT??

Fingers-crossed Trader’s is a better experience tomorrow!

It’s pouring rain today, so I think I’m going to stay inside. If it clears up, I might go to Bev Mo or Total Wine and More....surely, their lines will be short. HA! Riiiiight.

Be safe out there and please be kind to service workers. You should be nice to them anyway, but especially now!

After having such a nice, relaxing weekend, my work week has been crummy (to put it mildly). I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday! It feels like it’s been an entire week already. I feel beaten, battered, baked and fried! Plus, I got a comment from someone at work (but not about work) that has really thrown me into a funk/blue mood. I’m supposed to go to a show tonight, but I really don’t want to.

The drive home was exhausting. I haven’t driven in rain that hard since I was driving around Ft. Lauderdale Florida in November 1994. Today was equally as bad! I couldn’t see anything through the windshield. I figured I’d probably die in a car crash to finish my shitty day. It just doesn’t rain like that here! It was like hail. I am relieved to be at home. Not really excited about going back out in this. I paid a lot for the ticket though and my friend is expecting to pick me up.

I hope tomorrow is a better day. Maybe something good will happen? Hope springs eternal with me....

Man, I love Sundays. I especially love them when the weather is nice like it is today. Bright blue sky with big clouds (both bright white and ominously dark), a nice breeze and temperatures in the 60’s. You can feel that it’s going to rain, but not quite yet.

I got up early, set all the clocks ahead an hour and did a little tidying up around the apartment. I started re-listening to an audio book I really like. After a while, I decided that I’d walk to go pick-up an order I’d placed online. The store opened at 11:00am, so I had plenty of time.

I left the apartment at 11:00am and walked over. I live in a really walkable area. There are tons of shops and restaurants with plenty of new businesses to discover every time I decide to walk around. I was only gone about 50 minutes, but it was a good walk.

Being that it’s Sunday, I still have clothes for work to get together for the week and I’ve got trash to take out, along with a bathroom to clean... I know it sounds boring, but I enjoy it.

The best part of a good Sunday is that quiet time around 5pm, with chores done, nice music playing and dinner cooking, when you can sit down with a cocktail and think about the week that just finished and what the week ahead holds.

Yep, today is a good Sunday.

Election Day! Super Tuesday!

I had a crummy day at work, but I had voting to look forward to!

I got to the polling place around 2:15pm and, wow, was it different to what I’m used to! Instead of checking-in, having my name crossed-off, getting my long ballot, slipping it into the ink/punch machine, it was all tablet computers and stuff. One thing I didn’t care for was the fact that when I got to the bit where I voted for my Democrat candidate, all of the candidates, even those who dropped out a while ago were still on the list (Booker?). I really had to scroll through to find my person. I wonder how many folks had issues with finding theirs?

Other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing. The polling place was crowded (YAY!), but moving smoothly. I really hope we have a great turn out and good people score the delegates!!

My folks were in town this past weekend and actually told me ahead of time! I took a half days vacation on Friday as I had an appointment with Gotham’s new vet at 10:30am, so I told my dad I could hang out with him if he was around while my mom was busy. We had a really fun time and then I took him to dinner at a little Mexican stand I love. He said he enjoyed it, which makes me happy.

On Saturday, Before I met up with both of them, I splurged and bought a Roomba. Not the really fancy one that emptied itself, but the model under it. OMG! I love my Roomba!! No more cat litter tracked out of the bathroom! Plus, it’s mesmerizing to watch. I tried scheduling it to clean while I’m at work, but it got stuck and ran its battery down. It doesn’t seem to do that if I’m here watching it, and trust me, if I’m here and it’s running, I’m probably watching it, lol! I can’t help it! Gotham doesn’t know what to make of it yet, so he will sit with me and watch it. We’re weirdos! It will probably stop being interesting in a few days, but for now, it’s cool!

Work was nothing but challenges today, but I made it through okay. Time for dinner, maybe an audio book and then some Roomba watching....