The COVID Chronicle, June 1-15, 2021

 

June 1 [Tuesday]

[My sister, her son] and Ellie the dog are visiting the Safehouse from Orinda, so we dropped by this evening. Fun times. No masks because we’re all vaccinated. Talks of reestablishing Sunday night Safehouse dinners were broached. As a bonus [my brother and his wife] dropped by unexpectedly while on their evening walk.

 

June 2 [Wednesday]

My quotidian Covid email to Mom ended today. This started during early Shelter In Place last year intending to issue Covid-related encouraging words and to keep her updated on the grandpiglets. I wanted her to be aware of my Covid precautions of mask wearing and the decreasing frequency of my going out for mercantile forays. She was resisting precautions and I thought the likelihood of her abiding would increase with messages of examples rather than lectures. But the Covid-restricted family visits are nearly spent and normalcy is on the horizon. So I purposely ended it and will institute a bi-daily email replacement.

[Note: I reverted back to the daily emails within a few days because she enjoys the daily updates. Turns out I’m the one doing the abiding. Look, she’s my mom so I comply.]

 

June 3 [Thursday]

We’ve taken on an overnight visitor for the first time since 2019. [Wife Klem’s] Cousin Roger is visiting from Grand Junction, Colorado. Good guy. He’s a pleasant break from the everyday routine of our four-person pod. He’s in the spare bedroom, which had been employed as my work room for Skype-related meetings and phone calls. In the interim I take those tasks to the master bedroom.

 

June 4 [Friday]

I went for a walk this morning without a mask or bandana. Another winding back of Covid precautions. I’m done with bandanas on my walks unless I have a mercantile stop like Vons or the pharmacy / post office to mail my Ebay sales.

 

June 8 [Tuesday]

I got fuel for the company car today. First time in more than a year! I’ve been strictly virtual since late March last year and the car sits in the driveway except for it’s weekly spin. I only bought four gallons so the fuel doesn’t just sit in there aging. That should hold for many months at the current rate of consumption.

 

June 9 [Wednesday]

“This is the first time I’ve shaken someone’s hand in a year!” said a bookstore owner to Roger in Torrance. Another Covid wind-down

 

June 10 [Thursday]

Interesting news brewing at work. Office employees are slated to commence with incremental returning to the office in the coming weeks. My colleagues and I are field employees and await the go-ahead to return to our field duties. That ‘return to field’ date has not yet been proposed, so strictly virtual work continues. My pre-Covid work clothes, pullover polo shirts and trousers, are still hibernating in plastic hanging in the closet.

 

June 11 [Friday]

A Getty Center Museum visit today for the four of us and Roger. Security busted me when I demasked to selfie with Van Gough’s Irises. Was told in no uncertain terms that ‘We stay masked at all times.’ 

Really super visit, the Getty, with its beautiful premises and views. [Wife Klem] made reservations online, so when we showed up it was really only sparsely occupied with patrons of the art. A vey good experience with low density. Interior pedestrian foot traffic flow was directed to be only one way, and a few areas were staved off but not really inconvenienced. After all, how much art can you really ingest in one day anyway? 

 

June 12 [Saturday]

Lunch with Andy, my friend from high school. We got reacquainted two months ago when GW passed away, a classmate of ours. We ate inside! Felt unusual dining inside across the table from someone outside my pod. A good afternoon.

 

June 13 [Sunday]

The four of us visit the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum today. This was [the boy’s] choice to close out his birthday week. Fond memories of his years as a youngster and his obsession with dinosaurs.

Another good sparsely populated public outing. [Wife Klem] made online reservations, then we arrived for our morning appointment. The place was not crowded. It was thick on our departure in the parking area with a line of vehicles waiting to get in to the parking area, but not noticeable from the inside as we’d wound through the whole place. This making of reservations for public venues is a positive Covid development guaranteeing the place won’t by overloaded with patrons.

 

[afternoon]

Five Guys for dinner this evening. [Wife Klem] ordered online and I retrieved the tasty burgers. All through the Covid months this restaurant’s tables and chairs have been vacated or pushed to the perimeter making it clear there is no inside dining. The place is gearing up for California’s June 15 re-opening. Tables and chairs have been returned to pre-Covid positioning with ‘no dining’ signs on them, but they’re getting ready. The excitement mounts.

 

June 15 [Tuesday]

California has attained our arbitrary date of Covid obsolescence as announced by Governor Newsom. Masks are now optional for fully vaccinated people with exceptions [i.e., public transportation, health care facilities, schools]. Businesses reopen with optional masking policies chosen by the business owner. I’m anxious to see what kind of experience my next Vons outing yields.

 

The COVID Chronicle, May 16-31, 2021

 

May 16 [Saturday]

A Safehouse visit this morning, my parents, our first since we’ve all been vaccinated! Physical contact and hugs have been restored, but still dining outside due to Covid habit, plus it’s a nice day. Mom received her second vaccination Tuesday, so she’s not fully charged up yet, but we hugged it out.

 

May 20 [Thursday]

Thrift shops had been closed to donations since the early Covid days. Many were not taking property donations, or limited donations, due to pandemic-spread uncertainty. Well, it’s game on again, they’re accepting donations. [Wife Klem] boxed up a bunch of stuff from the garage and closets for giveaways. Tomorrow she and [the boy] make the drop off.

 

May 21 [Friday]

[The boy] returns to live action Dungeons & Dragons with his pals this evening. His friends had been getting together on the weekends, but he had held back due to study load. Plus he’d been waiting for his second vaccination to get fully charged. Well, with the virtual college semester almost done he’s back to gaming. Good. I want him comfortable engaging the world, even in a D&D capacity.

 

May 23 [Sunday]

The necessity of mask wearing is receiving some scrutiny. Personally, this has been brought on by the wide rolling out of vaccinations amongst my friends, family and a strong showing locally in the community. Mask wearing. I’ll continue if required, like when I’m at Vons bulking up on Yoplait if it’s on sale. Otherwise, I’m ready to abstain. People in some quarters, however, are strongly in favor of its continuance, the required mask wearing. To which I ask, “For how long? Until the governor or the president give the all clear?” At what point are we authorized to stop with the masks? If it’s simply “We’re going to keep wearing masks. No end date yet on the horizon.” Well, there’ll be disagreement. Others may choose their own arbitrary date. I’ve reached mine. By all means, I’ll wear as required. Plus, others are free to continue, but don’t mandate it. No mandated continuation.

 

May 25 [Tuesday]

I had court arbitration for work. Pre-Covid these would take place in a courtroom or some other judicial setting. But in the Covid-era, today’s episode was supposed to be by Zoom, but I had technical difficulties. The link provided by my employer’s attorney wouldn’t open, possibly due to the firewall on my company-issued computer. Anyway, embarrassing. I was dressed in a collared shirt, tie, sport coat, and short pants prepared for a favorable Zoom showing. As an alternative to my IT issues, I called in and was able to conduct my duties as witness over the cell phone. 

 

May 26 [Wednesday]

I continue taking the company car out for its weekly spin for maintenance purposes. The traffic is getting incrementally worse. Maybe not quite pre-Covid levels, but the light-traffic early Covid honeymoon ended many months ago.

 

May 27 [Thursday]

We’re vacationing in Arizona this weekend visiting [Wife Klem]’s mom and step-pop. Prescott. Is lovely, this place. This is our first overnighter away from home since the advent of Shelter In Place! No joke. It’s been so long since we’ve been away that I’m almost giddy with anticipation. Good people and delicious grub await.

The six-hour drive commenced with [my daughter] completing her afternoon virtual high school class from the backseat. She had internet access by means of our mobile wi-fi tool. It held up impeccably along the eastbound 10 freeway.

 

May 30 [Sunday]

We went to a pizza place in Prescott, Arizona this evening. Phoned it in, then picked it up. This experience was a throw back to pre-Covid times. Masks were optional and none, in fact, were donned by any of the employees. The only Covid precaution was that the phone orders were requested to wait outside and the pies would be brought to them. This was explained to us after we’d paid and taken seats indoors to wait. Since we were already seated waiting for the pies, we were OK’d to sit inside instead of being redirected to the outdoors. I have no beef with the lack of precautions. Coming from California I’d been conditioned to businesses being coerced into abiding. And hey, I get it, the heavy Covid months were definitely worthy of precautionary measures. Anyway, I hope the non-vaccinated make arrangements to get it done for themselves.