The Happiest Day (in 155 days)

Yesterday, we woke up and just like any other Sunday, I hopped onto the trainer. I completed a race in Zwift and then walked to the grocery store to pick up food for the week. 

When I returned home, the lobby to our condo was flooded.  A valve was leaking/in need of emergency repair and consequently, we were now without running water as of 9am with no estimate on when it would return. 

We decided that after working out that we would ride our bikes to go get brunch- something we have spoken about for a while but had not done yet. 

We decided to go to Marz. At only 4 miles from us, it was a good test ride to see how cycling in the city would work.  

They have a huge spaced out patio. I was able to wash my hands with water and it felt so great. I knew I washed my hands a lot, but now that I couldn’t at home, I realized I wash my hands more than I thought. 

Ordering is contactless- pay through the app, and when your food/drinks are ready, they call your name to come pick up your order. Must wear a mask while not at your table. Safety is king here. 

We ordered spam musubi to share. Always so so good. 


I got Kitsune Dreamer to drink. It had a fox on it which reminded me of CB. 


We both got Loco Moco for lunch. It was so out of this world good. 


I even bought a plant from inflorescence. I had bought a plant from them 6 months ago and it was thriving, and I felt it needed a friend. I couldn’t resist the pothos planted in the newly released “Talking To Plants” ipa can. 


We checked our emails for updates on the water, and since nothing had changed, we decided to cycle to Whiner beer. 



We got Monsieur Monster and Bleu Tub. Both very good and refreshing while outside. 


Eventually it was time to return home. Our return trip was just as uneventful as the trip to the breweries. 

12 miles of cycling for the day (and first ride outside in a long long time. Felt nice to be able to coast since that’s not an option in Zwift 🙃)

We got home to no water and took Ze for a walk. 

Around 4:30 the water returned and we quickly got cleaned off. Hot water. Water in general never felt so good. 

With the return of the water, I started meal prepping. 

First was a white bean, tomato, cucumber salad for lunch at work. 


Next up was dinner- purple smashed potatoes with lemon and parsley. 


And one pot chicken with red onions, apples, garlic, thyme, dill, and apple cider vinegar.  (Potato And chicken  recipes from “Eat Race Win.”)


Cycling to the breweries and  cooking at home made me feel so happy. This was the happiest I’ve felt in a long long time.  Or more precisely, 155 days- since shelter in place/covid phases started. 

Life 3.14.2020- 3.22.2020

Life

The last day I worked in the office was Friday the 13th. Appropriate. I took my laptop, keyboard and mouse home- I’m so glad I took those because laptop keyboards are awful. 

After 1 week of WFH, I feel ok about it. I had originally anticipated getting a lot done due to less distractions- but due to the changing landscape we are in, I had to make many new reports and analytics which took the bulk of my time. I am hoping things settle into a new “normal” soon. 

On March 15, restaurants and bars had to close to dine in patrons. Luckily they are able to sell carry out. Breweries can sell beer to go and some deliver. 

On March 20, the shelter in place mandate went into effect. We can still get carry out, go grocery shopping but all non essential services are closed like salons. I feel terrible for people and small businesses right now. 

Zé Pequeno didn’t even interact with me last week while at work. 

Food

We had a good mix of cooking at home + supplementing with carry out. We have felt it is important to support our local businesses - they are the cultural fabric that make our neighborhoods great. 

I made 2 small red fife loaves- one had roasted potatoes, cheese and rosemary in it. That was a huge hit.  For lunch I would eat roasted sweet potatoes with various proteins- sweet earth teriyaki burger or ikea veggie balls. 

On Friday L went to 18th street and brought me back their chicken sando.  

To celebrate our anniversary, we walked to Acadia to get carry out- a wedge salad and burgers. Sunday we got food from antique taco.


Sunday we made pizza in the snow. I made sourdough from scratch which came out great- didn’t rise much as this was the first time using no yeast and only using a starter. (It was perfect!)  We used spicy tomato sauce, pepperoni, mushroom and black olives.

Workouts

I decided I wanted to hit 100 miles a week on Zwift. I cycled every day- and with the exception of Monday where I cycled 7 miles, I averaged over 20 miles a day. 

Nailed it!

Since that was too easy, I’ll shoot for 150 miles this week. 

I haven’t felt compelled to run outside yet. It’s been cold and and I’ve been enjoying cycling a lot. 

Shamrock shuffle got cancelled- we were supposed to run on the 3/22. I didn’t feel in shape anyways so I wasn’t too sad to miss it. I was bummed we couldn’t hang out with our run club though. 

Thoughts

I don’t think many people took this threat seriously for a while. There was/is conflicting news about what to do/plus the severity of it is/ was downplayed. holding or not holding your breath for 10 seconds has nothing to do if you have Covid or not. (That was actually discussed on a major TV network who routinely spreads false information)  I still don’t think people are taking it seriously enough as evidenced by spring breakers in the south. 

While people were out thinking Covid wasn’t a huge threat “because I’m young and it won’t affect me!” (Spoiler alert: flattening the curve is for the benefit of everyone, not just yourself!) Politicians were busy dumping millions in stocks to avoid the anticipated loss because they were briefed on the severity of the situation and waited weeks to notify the public.   Celebrities and athletes are able to get tested at the drop of a hat while “regular” citizens are unable to get tested without many hoops to jump through. When asked about this, the “POTUS” said that’s just life.

Remember that.  

Also remember that our Covid cases/deaths related are relatively low because we do not have adequate testing.  But what about those “beautiful tests?”

Ok that got dark- but it’s necessary to remember how “elected officials” are not acting in the best interest of the people. 

Here’s Ze demanding to speak to the manager about his food. I had given him roasted butternut squash on his food for a few days, and when I didn’t put it on his food he would stand at his bowl and bark. 

Life in the time of Covid 19 is making us evolve.  With social distancing and being no longer able to meet in groups, we are getting creative so we don’t lose our minds. Sunday night our run club had a virtual happy hour. It was nice to see some familiar faces and chat for a few hours. 

At 8pm each night folks in our neighborhood stand on their balconies and sing/ flash lights. Tonight’s song selection is “let it be.”

I’m hopeful that when we look back it’s that we “over reacted” because that means we did exactly what we needed to do to flatten the curve and not overwhelm our resources- like what happened in Italy.