Dinner and mosquitos

Dinner tonight was chicken fingers I dredged in flour & cooked in the skillet along with a fresh salad of chopped vegetables and lettuce. 

Today the mosquitoes have officially arrived in the backyard here. 

still raining

It's still raining every day here in North Carolina. A lot of the mulch has washed away from the back yard. I knew we would be tired of this wet weather when I saw the storm map and the 10-day forecast last week but I also know we will miss some of this rain by the time everything is dried out in the Summer months. Nothing ever feels completely dry now and clear, sunny days seem distant.
I had a nice long conversation with Cindi, who called to check in about my condo in Atlanta. She's an old friend, former neighbor, and my real estate agent in charge of my condo now. So we talked about my renter and whether I would be willing to let his girlfriend and her dog move in with him and how much I should add to the rent to cover possible damage created by pets if that happens. I don't want to lose the tenant I have so if we can keep everyone happy while not sacrificing the space that still feels like home to me, I'll be happy.

She has a new cat now that an old cat does not seem to be adjusting to very well - or he could just be showing signs of his advanced years now because he is a 17-year-old cat. Their new cat is a young tortoiseshell who has a lot more energy than the old guy.
Her husband, like mine, is out of work now but he's quite tech-savvy so both of us believe he will find more work soon that he can do remotely.
Both of our households have been doing a lot of gardening while we are sheltering in place during this time of quarantine but while that's not much an option this week while the rain is coming down every day. I had purchased a new additional raised bed planter, a 4'x4' two-part stacking kit, but the Amazon seller only sent half of my order and refunded me for half the price. Now MonsterMustDie needs to make it work somehow. This, I swear, was the last thing I will spend my rapidly-disappearing money on for the yard.

MonsterMustDie went out grocery-shopping and treasure-hunting earlier today. He's been out treasure-hunting several times a week now that all the antique malls are open. He's even had a couple of small sales at the antique mall here, where he has a booth. Most of his sales are still online only. The antiques market is a very strange thing to me. So much of it seems to be like gambling on what collectors might want. It's all unnecessary spending for consumers so there is no judging things by necessity or usability. It's all trends. On top of that, a lot of it is dealers buying things from each other to resell. Total folly in my mind, hoping to score a wild prize. Still, he's now supporting our household with it.

I had a telephone job interview this afternoon for a position selling insurance, which feels like something I am completely unsuited for because I do not have a salesman personality. I might still try it if I can talk myself into it but the very thought of it is filling me with anxiety. It would be something I believe I would only have to do remotely, by phone, but there are classes to get licensed for it which I am totally unwilling to pay for if they expect me to do that and the job is commission-only with no benefits. It's just a step better than no prospects whatsoever, which is what I have now.

social creature in captivity

The Wettening

There is a tropical storm running up the east coast this week. It rained hard last night. Forecast is for rain all week, including harder rain and thunderstorms tonight. Power went out here for a few hours but everything in the fridge looks fine. Here's hoping we have no long power failures here. The thing about continuing wet weather and power outages combined means there are no alternative cooking methods like backyard grilling here at Casa WereMonster. So far, I am thankful that my food-making ability is still intact. Gotta cook that chicken and duck breast I have in the freezer before anything bad happens.
I got up and walked around the house to check things just long enough to poke myself in the left eye with a wood dowel propped up in the back mud room. Checking the damage when I got up this morning, I am pleased to say it's just a tiny scratch on the side of my nose and a slight bruising in the corner of that eye. I'm very glad I didn't do more damage to myself.
MonsterMustDie is about to go out on what has been daily errands to the antique mall and store. I suspect he does it for a bit of privacy and alone time that I can't blame him for. I nag him to wear a mask and please wash his hands coming back into the house every time. He has nearly abandoned wearing gloves at this point. It really bothered me yesterday when we ran to the grocery store together and the first thing he did outside the car, without gloves, was grab a shopping cart that had not yet been wiped down and brought it into the store to shop with. He's acting out his frustration a bit these days. I also have to beg him to place things on the floor as he brings them into the house rather than putting them up on the kitchen countertop - my food prep area - as soon as he walks in. I wipe the countertops down often but it's still a bad habit.

Last night, in prep for the power or internet possibly going out, I downloaded the 1st season of What We Do In The Darkness and some favorite old StarTrek episodes to my laptop just so we'd have some entertainment if either or both went out. I've still got a lot of iTunes  credit that transfers to purchases on Apple music, TV, and iBooks - another thing to be grateful for. Now, I just need to find a good rechargeable battery to add extra life to the laptop for long periods between charges. I am trying to find any "juice box" we might have laying around to charge. We don't have any good batteries but we have a few swag gifts laying around here.

a good night's sleep

In a moment of weakness, we agreed to a bit of risky behavior and met up with Karen and Bob at their house in Greensboro to hang out by their backyard fire and eat pizza. We ended up sitting inside to eat, which was a bit uncomfortably close for social distancing but we did our best. Then we sat outdoors for a long time talking about everything - politics, work, family, public behavior that Karen or MonsterMustDie had observed when they were out running errands. We tried to avoid stress-inducing topics of conversation like politics but they inevitably crept in for brief moments. MonsterMustDie scolded me afterwards for taking too big a risk by breaking rules on social distancing. I couldn't disagree with him but, for whatever reason, I slept better than I've slept for a long time last night. It was my first good solid sleep in a while. I really think it was from the stimulation of having other human beings to talk to and activities to participate in. I hope I don't end up regretting the trip outside but it made me happy.

We've been doing these small cheats on a regular basis and they have both tested negative for virus antibodies. We have been entirely to ourselves except for MonsterMustDie's regular trips to Phil's to work in the garage. He's also starting to go out treasure-hunting again and I can't prevent him from going out on a regular basis for those two activities.

life in the void

I've been lonely and crazy-bored ever since moving to North Carolina. Constant twittering existential angst is my normal mode and I have not grown to enjoy the silence. Most days, I mourn the dead brain cells and atrophed creative mind I used to have. I am lucky enough to have made friends with two very lovely people who live just 19 miles away in Greensboro. She is an artist and her husband is an engineer. They interface very well with us but now this quarantine life has stopped most of our contact with them. We've pushed the envelope a couple of times and, at a safe distance, gotten together with them in our backyard to hang out and chat by a fire and show them MonsterMustDie's latest home project, a Japanese garden.

Most people I know are in Atlanta, working remotely or in reduced hours. I am completely without work or activities now. All of the things I wanted to have time to do - ceramics and studio classes, repairs and renovations on the kitchen and bathrooms of this house, require places and services that are not available now. My brain is not made for online courses where I have no interaction with other human beings to keep me alert. Sleep is weird these days. Most nights I can't go to bed until after midnight and dreams are usually vivid collages of mundane things I do all day. Sometime I dream of people who are dead. Sometimes I dream of ideas for movies or other projects that I can't make alone. Cooking is frustrating when we don't eat the same things. I give MonsterMustDie has priority use of the TV to avoid conflict and we don't like the same shows usually. He spends his evenings watching nothing other than Japanese animation and old SciFi that he's seen dozens of times. I like some of that but I can't stand seeing the same thing all the time. He fills his days between the new garden project, selling antiques online (the only income in the house now), and far too much time on Facebook getting angrier at the world outside.

I spend most of my days cleaning house, making odd lists, shopping online, and trying to stay out of the way.

The highlight of today for me was lunch. I had a bit of salmon with a honey mustard sauce and a nice arrugula salad.

food friends holidays

Monday, May 4th, was the StarWars May the Fourth Be With You geek holiday. Because MonsterMustDie was busy with his online shops most of the day, we did not spend the entire day on a StarWars marathon. Instead, we ended our day by watching the final movie The Rise Of Skywalker.
I had tried to schedule an online conversation with a couple of friends for the early evening but no one showed up, explaining last minute errands or simply being in a very bad head-space.
For dinner, I made orzo + feta + spinach with sliced cherry tomatoes on top and a lemon juice & olive oil dressing. 

Tuesday, May 5th, I wanted to have the Atlanta tradition of dinner from an Irish Pub (we got to Mexican restaurants on Saint Patrick's Day) but the only local pub here did not have their act together for ordering pickup online. I could not even find a complete menu posted anywhere for them so I took a look at DoorDash and found the Mexican restaurant closest to us was taking orders for delivery.
While we waited for dinner, MonsterMustDie prepared a margarita for me and both of us joined in on a Zoom meetup for the Art+Tech group. This was the first of the formerly monthly meetings we had online and I'm happy with the small success of it. We can do better next time but we had enough people participating for a good conversation.

Tonight, we've scheduled a different conversation with friends in Atlanta online that I hope works out. Now, we always have the question of what format to choose, which depends on the length of the meeting, the technical ability of participants, and who aligns themselves with what services or platforms.