What did you do today? - 2020 version

[GalaxyBoy]

Brewed an IPA today. Spent the evening in front of the boob tube. It's been three years and I'm still not over the feeling on Sunday evening that "Gee, I don't have to go to work tomorrow!" And six other evenings during the week as well.

 

[W2R]

Called thr trip insurance co. early this AM. Found out i can transfer the insurance to our new cruise next year. We were scheduled to sail to Hawaii next Friday. We were concerned about the virus, but the tipping point was when the Royal Princess coming from Hawaii was not allowed to dock in San Francisco.
Fortunately Princess allowed us to cancel and rebook the same cruise next year, and threw in some more perks.

So glad that you cancelled, and that you got such good perks from Princess! I was concerned about your situation, but it looks like everything worked out for you and your wife.

 

[Freedom56]

I went to our local Guitar Center today to buy a pair of studio monitor speakers to replace ones that are damaged in my home recording studio. The place was desolate (okay it is Sunday) but worst is that they don't keep too much in inventory and the salesman said he can order the one's I wanted and have it here by the 17th of March. I decided to order it online myself. So much for the convenience of brick and mortar retail.

 

[Hermit]

After church, I headed down to the next city to see my friend at the alzheimer's unit. He recognizes me, wants to get stuff done and get out of there. Unfortunately, he has no clue either what to do or where to go. This is my first visit since we put him in there a couple of weeks ago. It is not a pleasant experience, but a trip I will be making every week or two for the foreseeable future. I talked to his wife about trips to the park as the weather warms up. She agreed that would be good.


On the way back I stopped at Home Depot, Costco and the grocery store. My freezer is now full and I have more than enough to do so I may not go back into town for a while. I am not really trying to isolate, just no real reason to go be around lots of people.

 

[MBAustin]

Today started off with a smile - a woman who was part of the last team I managed at w*rk (about 10 years ago) mentioned me on LinkedIn as a manager who had encouraged and challenged her in her career. I had the privilege of mentoring many talented men and women along the way, but she wasn't one I particularly remembered, which made this even more unexpected and special.

Today is replanning day. My trip to the Holy Land has been cancelled (actually delayed for a year) so I have things to cancel, things to schedule, and decisions to make about what DH and I might do now that we have the time open. We're considering getting out in our RV for a few days. Although next week is spring break and most places are booked far in advance, I suspect some of those will also cancel. Personally, I think being out in an RV is just about the safest place to be since we won't be closer than 6 feet to any other people once we check into a park! So I'll probably pick it up from the storage lot and de-winterize/deep clean it tomorrow and we'll see what's next.

 

[misshathaway]

Waiting for my management company to drop in to do their inspection. I now have a very clean bathroom and will soon have an immaculate kitchen. They can come any time until 6pm today or between 9am and 6pm tomorrow. Worse than cable installation.

Stir crazy after 1/2 a day. I would not like to self-quarantine for real.

 

[braumeister]

In January I had an errand up in Toronto and found myself trapped into using the 407ETR toll road. It has a reputation as being horribly expensive and so it proved to be, especially if you're from out of town. No toll booths, just overhead cameras. Finally got the bill in the mail and it was over $26 for a very short distance traveled!

But that was less than $20 for me, which shocked me greatly. Had no idea the Canadian dollar had dropped so much. Definitely sounds like time for a Canadian vacation!

 

[TromboneAl]

Experienced a 5.8 earthquake last night. Big enough to be fun but not big enough to be scary.

Hopped online to answer the usual question: Is it the big one far away (e.g. San Fran), or a small one close by. More like the second:

 

[ls99]

More trail clearing at the camp this morning. Warm afternoon 66F, for SW PA. Shorts and flip flops and a well deserved Blak And Tan in the afternoon. Got a good dose of Vitamin D manufactured as well.

 

[Gumby]

It was about 60 degrees and sunny today. It's not the first day of Spring, but it sure felt like it. The young wife and I took a long walk down by the water, spoke to one of our neighbors about the health of our respective cats, and got our porch rockers out from the shed. All the other walkers and runners in our neighborhood were happy and smiling, and we greeted each other with a cheerful "good morning". After lunch, I took down some interior doors that stick in the summer and hand-planed and sanded them so they wouldn't do that anymore. It is a chore I have meant to do for years. I rehung them and now they need a little paint.

I then went to the grocery and picked up some crab and a bottle of pinot grigio, and the young wife made us crab cakes and potato salad to celebrate the warm weather. This retirement thing is working out pretty well.

 

[Music Lover]

We're packing and getting ready to head home. It's our last day in Mazatlán...we've been here for a month, flying home tomorrow.

 

[harley]

Is it the big one far away (e.g. San Fran), or a small one close by. More like the second:

Too bad. Having my rentals in Reno become ocean front properties would help counter the market downturn.

 

[ckelly78z]

Finally had a 60* sunny day (after a long, wet Winter), so I was able to load up some junk/scrap steel into my truck, and make some space in my barn. I took a nice load to the scrapyard, but only got $56 for the whole load at $100 a NT.

Back 15 years ago, when China was buying all the scrap metal available, a friend, and I had a weekend side hustle of scrapping out farms. We would take both trucks, and trailers, I would have my loader tractor, he would have his torch, and saw, and usually leave after about 4-6 hours with two big loads of old farm equipment (all cut up, and manageable).

Even after sharing half of the proceeds ($250 a NT scrap price at that time) with the farmer, we were still making more on Saturday, than we did all week long in the factory.

 

[MBAustin]

Today is waiting for the appliance repair person and researching a replacement cooktop. Last night as I was bringing a pot of black bean soup to the boil, my (almost exactly) 10-year old induction cooktop made a sharp thud noise and stopped working. I reset the circuit breaker but no change - the timer works but all of the burners just flash "E". A little googling showed it could be the fuse, but I suspect it's something worse. Since it's 10 years old, I may replace it rather than repair if the cost is more than $500 or so.

I had planned to bring the RV over to de-winterize it and may still do that (I could use the stove in it to cook tonight if needed). Or I could cook using the side burner on the grill outside as it's supposed to be a nice day after the fog burns off. It's nice to have options. And to be retired and not to have to stress over things like this.

 

[Nemo2]

This afternoon I'm heading up to my Eye Surgeon's for the periodic review of my shingles affected cornea.......waiting room packed with old farts......all potential Covid carriers.

And when I walk in they'll all shudder and think "Here's a prime candidate".

 

[Accidental Retiree]

This morning we took our beagle pup to an audition to portray Snoopy at the 2020 Comic Con in San Diego. She was talent-scouted at a recent dog show.

They needed to see how trainable she is as she needs to learn to skateboard and surf.

They liked her, but competition is stiff. Right behind us was my friend’s beagle, a very sweet and handsome 7 year old stud with his own handler and a makeup regime to cover the gray.

He’s also been top 13” beagle at a recent Westminster KC competition.

My beagle has only earned points at Fresno and Pomona.

Well, Snoopy *is* a boy. But Snoopy has a sister, and Snoopy’s publicist says she may want to use both beagles.

At any rate, it was interesting. We made a few bucks for the dog show fund, I got a gift bag full of Snoopy swag, and I’ve gotten a few laughs out of the experience. I think it would be fun if she’s chosen to participate.

I grew up near Huntington Beach and never learned to surf, despite having surfer boyfriends—but my little beagle may do it.

 

[MBAustin]

Today is waiting for the appliance repair person and researching a replacement cooktop. Last night as I was bringing a pot of black bean soup to the boil, my (almost exactly) 10-year old induction cooktop made a sharp thud noise and stopped working. I reset the circuit breaker but no change - the timer works but all of the burners just flash "E". A little googling showed it could be the fuse, but I suspect it's something worse. Since it's 10 years old, I may replace it rather than repair if the cost is more than $500 or so.

I had planned to bring the RV over to de-winterize it and may still do that (I could use the stove in it to cook tonight if needed). Or I could cook using the side burner on the grill outside as it's supposed to be a nice day after the fog burns off. It's nice to have options. And to be retired and not to have to stress over things like this.

Update: Appliance repair tech said it needed a new control board for one of the burners. Unfortunately, GE Appliances (no longer owned by GE) only sells them a complete set of 4 control boards to the tune of $1200 and that doesn't include the labor to install. A brand new equivalent cooktop is $1439 installed from BestBuy. So I went down to BB and ordered the new one. It won't be in for 2 weeks, so I also ordered a one-burner tabletop induction unit from Amazon that will arrive tomorrow - figured that was $50 well-spent.

As I was headed that way, also got DH's car inspected and oil change. Too late to work on the RV now as I have a meeting at 6pm. Will grill a steak afterwards. Tomorrow is grocery shopping day so I'll adjust my menus to the temporary cooking reality - lots of sheet pan dinners and grilling in our future.

 

[Gumby]

Brewed 5 gallons of American pale ale. The kitchen is all cleaned up and I'm going to celebrate with one of my last batch.

 

[braumeister]

Moved up in the world! We get invitations to financial planning and investment education dinners all the time, but today's invitation was our first to a Ruth's Chris steakhouse. From the fine print, it was easy to see that it would be primarily an annuity sales pitch, so I passed, but at least it was nice to see that I'm getting junk invitations to a better class of restaurant.

 

[madsquopper]

Spread 5 cubic yards of leaf mulch in the garden. Have another 5 more for tomorrow.

 

[Walt34]

Had a follow-up visit with the oncologist, one more year to go and it'll be five years since being treated for melanoma. Then went to the gym, and stopped at the drugstore on the way home. Just on the off chance that they did, I asked if they had any Shingrix shots and they did! Whoohoo, so I got one of those. At about T+ five hours, no reactions whatsoever.

I didn't think of it at the time but this being my lucky day maybe I should've bought a lottery ticket but my luck has never been that good so I don't feel too bad about it.

 

[W2R]

[whine]
Today, like yesterday, I feel sick. To be more precise, I feel like dog poop. So, I have been looking up symptoms of sinus, cold, allergies, flu, and you-know-what. At least it's not the latter, since I have no cough or fever or difficulty breathing.

So, despite sleeping soundly all night, I have spent most of the day napping off and on. I felt crummy about not going to lunch with Frank, even though he is very understanding.

As bad as this is, it would be SO much worse if I had to work while sick. I really hated that, back in my working days. And, the bright side is that I haven't felt like eating so I lost two pounds (at least, for now).
[/whine]

 

[MRG]

W2R here's to speedy get well. I felt a scratchy throat and aching for 2 days last week and it went away. I hope it stays away.

I had an appointment with my PCP. I was repeatedly asked how I felt. My diet plan was a great hit with her for my cholesterol issues. I'd been chugging heavy cream for a while. I'm going to stop.[emoji4]

Due to my ever increasing hemoglobin and hematocrit numbers she suggested a phlebotomy. My first ever. The tech was funny and made it easy to tolerate. I'd mentioned I was a fainter for many years but she still trusted I would tell her first. I'm a little dizzy from the pint she removed but oddly I feel really good. Can't really put my finger on it but I'm very comfortable.

 

[pacergal]

Spending the day with dear GS, who is home from preschool with a cough (no, its not Covid19, he has allergies/asthma--but the school won't let him back without a drs note, so that was done)
He is such a joy to have around.

 

[misshathaway]

I met my new next-door neighbor and she is friendly! We have adjoining porches. She moved in about a week ago but has not been home much. I hear nothing from her apartment and she does not use her porch. She is just as wary of too much interaction at first as I am. You can't easily walk something back when you run in to each other briefly at least every couple of days. I think I lucked out AGAIN on a neighbor.

Drove to a social club in the next town geared to seniors. Went to a talk open to the public on "The Challenges of Aging". I learned that it is OK to admit you need diapers and you should keep track of your appointments in a book. Not what I expected. Speaker and one guy in the audience pitching their services.

Some people discreetly left. I want to meet those people. Instead I met a woman who told me that she will not catch the virus because she washes out her sinuses with a Netipot and that's why Japan has few cases.