Day 153



Day 153 self quarantine:

Friday, August 14, 2020

Hell yeah, I’m off from work on yet another day of thunderstorms.  

I’m really wondering what the dog used to do when we weren’t home on such occasions.  I never installed a video camera because I would have watched it all day and not done anything else.

Kinda like I do on the weekends now with the birds.

Omg, they’re finally using the bird bath!

“Rob! Rob!  What are you doing!” Gary hissed at me when I leapt off the sofa to see where the racket in the yard was coming from.

“The birds are here!”

“I know!  Georgette is taking a bath!  Give her some privacy!”

Wut?

I thought he was joking.

He wasn’t.

I felt it best to back off and not say a word.

So yesterday I took a shower and couldn’t find any clean pajamas.  I looked over at the hamper and saw that it was overflowing.

I couldn’t remember the last time Gary or I did the wash.

I’m not kidding.  It literally had to be a month ago.  Maybe more.

I mean, it’s not like we go anywhere.

So Gary did wash while I banged away on my laptop and he appeared in my office a few hours later.

“Here’s your work clothes,” he said, handing me about ten pair of clean, warm folded pajamas.

I dunno, it cracked me up.

Maybe you had to be there.

It’s my new life.

In other news, Eric’s record is officially out today and I just bought the insanely cool t-shirt for Gary and me so now we’ll both have something else clean to wear.

Yep, even Mom has to pay :)

https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/ericslick

If you think that’s funny, you should see some of the big ass lines we’ve had to stand in, in freezing cold or monsoon like weather, just to see our kids perform.

We don’t always get star treatment but the times we do more than make up for it.

A personal tour of Pixar Studios with the founders and a private movie screening in their personal theater, a trip to NYC to see my son live on the Jimmy Fallon show followed by a band party in my penthouse hotel room, and a tour bus hang with Greg Lake and Keith Emerson comes to mind but there’s much, much more and I’m very, very grateful.

These days I divide my time between Julie’s former bedroom and the sofa.

Five months of it and no end in sight.

At least for me.

I’m up at dawn today even on my day off because it’s my zen time and also because WXPN is still doing Woodstock week and at 6:00 a.m. they’re broadcasting the Jefferson Airplane segment.

Hey, I gotta listen to Cousin Grace.

https://xpn.org/

Also in honor of my four day birthday celebration, Gary is making hand cut french fries and Jersey tomato sandwiches for dinner tonight, which we’re gonna eat while watching the Flyers decimate the Canadiens on their way to the Stanley Cup.

Yeah, you know the Flyers are winning the cup this year.

Why?

Because we won’t be able to celebrate in bars or with a parade and we’re all gonna implode.

How Philadelphia is that?

Haha, you think putting Crisco on poles and trying to climb them was bad, the mind boggles at what we’ll do but I am so here for it.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/21/sports/philadelphia-eagles-grease-poles.html

I’m here for it from my sofa, that is.

Okay, that’s enough out of me.  I’m gonna pour another cup of coffee and get ready for some Airplane.

Rock on!

Day 152

Day 152, self quarantine:

Thursday, August 13, 2020

For those of us still in quarantine, today is our five month anniversary.

Yay, us.

Happy like a Friday to me, after today I have four days off and I could not be happier.

I’m still basking in the glow of Kamala and Joe.

Omg their speeches yesterday.

https://youtu.be/wYzPw3T99i8

They came out to the music of Curtis Mayfield.  My eyes started filling with tears at that!

They brought hope, they brought kindness, they brought reality and truth.

They also shined with intelligence and class.

Following along with the press and scholars on Twitter, I read glowing reviews.

For the first time in almost four years, I didn’t feel scared or embarrassed.

But then, an hour later, while Americans were still basking in their said glow, a severely mentally ill morbidly obese nitwit with likely dementia, wearing clown makeup and a yak wig, took to the podium and started slurring and farting and drooling.

He criticized Democratic governors for not lifting pandemic restrictions, saying they want to keep people in their houses, then describes houses differently: "In their prisons! They call 'em prisons."

“You always talk about Russia, Russia, Russia, China and Iran when it comes to the election, but your biggest problem is gonna be with the Democrats."

What does that even mean?  

Who’s the one destroying the Post Office, Donald?

On children: “So few fatalities are among people under age 24. For this reason, it could be safer for them to live at school rather than live with their older parents or grandparents."

Yes, Donald, everyone should send their kids away to boarding school.

What the actual fuck?

Trump said he didn't watch the Biden-Harris event, just a moment, but it was enough, and he watched her tank in the primary and then "she left angry. She left mad."  

Donald didn’t give any evidence of this but he loves to bring up the supposed anger of women, especially women of color.

That wasn’t even the worst of it.

Anyway, he bombed.  He looked like a clueless imbecile on drugs, floundering and humiliating.  

An old, defeated man, completely out of touch.

It was like being on a warm sunny beach with Biden and Harris when suddenly dark, insidious clouds rolled in, the sky opened up, and the day was ruined.

I don’t really care for the expression, but buckle up. The next five months are going to be INSANE.

Unless he resigns first.

Look for him to do it for medical reasons.  When he realizes that he’s going to lose in a crushing landslide and all the cheating in the world won’t help him win, he’s going to try and save himself from disgrace and  prison.

So who is CottonTop Mike’s running mate?

Smart money says Nikki Haley.

God forbid it could also be Ivanka or Junior.

You might think I’m crazy and no way, and you may be right, but nothing would be a more fitting twist ending in this goddamn reality gameshow we’ve  been forced into.

You heard it here first.

Oy, enough of that.

How about those storms yesterday?

Haha, it was the first time I had to pull the “Hey, I’m working, you’re not” card with Gary.

I’ve been super conscious of not doing that.  I would never want to make him feel bad, especially since I’m the one who made him retire.

Anyway, my paralegal assistant Jake gets nuts in thunderstorms and I had a buttload of work yesterday.  

At the first sound of thunder, Jake jumped off of Julie’s bed and tried to jam himself under the desk where I was working, while shaking like a leaf.

He got caught up in the electrical cords to the printer and laptop and I was trying to keep him calm while holding the computer still so Jake didn’t send it crashing to the floor.

As I’m doing this I’m watching with horror as I got like 17 emails at once and then my cell phone rang and it was my least favorite client in the world.  I hit “remind me later” on the phone and shrieked, “Gary! Gary! Help!”

So I guess this was around 3:00, Gary sheepishly appeared in the doorway, looking vaguely pissed because I interrupted him during Password.

“What’s up?”

“What’s up?!  Do you not see the dog?”

I pointed to Jake, who was now trying to climb into the bottom drawer of Julie’s dresser, knocking down everything in his path while lightning and thunder cracked so loudly it sounded like it hit our house.

“C’mon, Gary, I have a shit ton to do.  Please take him downstairs.”

Gary knew I wasn’t joking so he actually lifted Jake up and took him out.

But they didn’t go downstairs.

When I finally finished working two hours later, I found them both sound asleep and snoring in our bed.

It must be nice. 😜

So here’s something kinda funny.  Dunkin’ is rolling out all of their pumpkin latte crap next Wednesday.

And all the stores will also be stocked with Halloween candy.

Apparently businesses all got together to make the fall season “longer” due to pandemic concerns.

I’m not really sure what that means, except to me, they’re cutting my summer short!

I haven’t even been to the beach yet this year and they want me to buy Halloween candy?

Okay.

I can do that.

Anyway, I still have a lot to do before embarking on my four day birthday celebration tonight, so I better head upstairs.

Talk to you on the flip side.

Day 151

Day 151, self quarantine:

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Well, this week sure got significantly better.

I didn’t expect to cry but I did.  

Then I texted Julie, Natalie and Eric.  I think Natalie and I had the closest emotional reaction but we were all joyously  celebrating.

Kamala in Sanskrit means “lotus,” a flower that in many Eastern religions is a symbol of enlightenment, overcoming obstacles, and rebirth.

I’m so ready.

Listen, I know neither candidate is perfect.  But they’re not pathological lying sociopathic fake Christian imbecile criminals so they’re a vast improvement over Donald Dildobrain and CottonTop Mike.

Yes, the bar is low in American politics but I woke up hopeful and happy this morning for the first time in a long time.

A woman.  A woman of color.  

A woman with a Jewish husband and mother-in-law!

https://youtu.be/jtAPOKDV-nY

My sister!

For those keeping track of my predictions, I’m two out of four and all we need now is an extension of federal unemployment benefits and Donald PotusVirus to resign.

Donald isn’t looking or sounding real healthy these days.  Don’t count me and my voodoo doll out 😂.

Seriously.  He looks like he’s wasted in these ridiculous Nazi rallies he’s been doing daily falsely labeled as “coronavirus briefing.”  He’s mumbling and slurring words, and spouting nonsense.

After the Harris announcement, he raced to the Hannity shitshow for comfort and immediately began bleating this out of nowhere:

"If you see a windmill and you hear a windmill, your home goes down by half, or less than half. It kills all the birds.”

Then he said Harris was nasty and angry.

Think about that.  The guy who mocks the disabled and puts babies in cages and doesn’t care if you die of coronavirus is accusing someone of being angry and nasty.

His fresh attacks on Kamala are going to make him look even more pathetic and really, we should all just laugh at him from now until November 3, when we beat his dementia ridden, morbidly obese ass in a humiliating landslide.

Just like the cheap and deadly pans, the teflon is peeling off Don.

It’s gonna be ugly and scary between now and November 3, but hey, we’re five months into a pandemic, we’re clearly stronger than we think.

Of course he could resign sooner if I have my way 😜

Oy.

I need to add a few more strategic pins to my Donald voodoo doll.

So just two more days of work this week and then we’re going to dog beach with Jake.

I keep saying that, but the truth is, my garden gives me the same exact vibe and Gary’s pizza rocks my world so why would I want to go anywhere with, you know, other people?

Meh, it’s my birthday in a few days, and it’s a monumental one.  I should break out and celebrate.  It’s not every day a gal can officially retire and go to work for the Biden campaign 😜

Like how I slipped that in there?

I’m stoked.

Is it Friday yet?

Day 150

Day 150, self quarantine:

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Yesterday was strange.  The day started out miserable but ended up fun.

Just as I finished writing my post yesterday morning and said I didn’t feel like working, woo, I better be careful what I wish for.  I had such a wave of nausea out of nowhere I barely made it to the bathroom.

The entire morning was like that, into the afternoon.  Gary kept making me drink ginger ale, which I held down for about two seconds.

“Do I have Covid-19?” I asked him hysterically.

“How?  You never leave the house.  And I feel fine.  Wouldn’t I be throwing up, too?”

“Then why am I soooo sick,” I moaned.

“I dunno, Rob. Do you think it’s something you ate?  What did you have yesterday?”

Hmmm.  What didn’t I eat.

The day began with pancake bread and sort of spiraled out of control after that.

In the world according to Robin, if you begin the day with cake, the entire day is a wash-up and there’s no sense in dieting, it’s an all you can eat event until bedtime.

I am Exhibit A why diets don’t work.  That’s why most of the time, I eat healthy.

Anyway, yeah, I had a bad day with food on Sunday and my body isn’t used to it anymore.

At one point I had a hunk of chocolate in one hand and pretzels in the other hand and I was alternating bites.

Anyway, I was miserably sick yesterday, and then I read on Facebook that a girl I grew up with, the slightly younger sister of a childhood friend, died suddenly which completely freaked me out. 

I felt so beaten down and sad, and I still couldn’t shake the nausea or depression by mid afternoon.

But then Gary made me some plain white rice which he insisted I eat and I started to feel better, and then I learned he had a zoom meeting with his musician pals from the music camp he should have been at this week with Julie just like every second week in August since 2011 (sob)...so since Gary had no clue how to work zoom, I had to get off the sofa and out of my own head to help him.

It was hilarious.

Gary was an SNL skit.

But he finally got the hang of it, and it was a lot of fun for me to sit here and listen.

I still don’t feel 100% this morning, though I do feel much better.  I never understand why I do this to myself but luckily it doesn’t happen often.

Most mornings I have a smoothie for breakfast made with fresh fruit and raw cashews and I’m good.

Ugh, so now I’m a day behind at work again and I’m not really sure why I’m doing that to myself, either.

But on the plus side, now it’s a three day week and I’m so busy it’s going to go fast.

That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

Happy Tuesday.

Day 149

Day 149, self quarantine:

Monday, August 10, 2020

Check out my early birthday present from Eric!  He made me a sign for our garden!

Gary hung it yesterday and I can’t even begin to tell you how happy it makes me.  The sun hits it differently throughout the day and at one point it lit up and all I can say is, that sign is everything.

I am either out in the yard or looking out there all day long.   The house has a vacation home vibe to it now with light flowing in and birds chirping.

I’m geeking out big time.

Which is good because Donald has me really depressed. He’s just so horrible and the fact that he has a platform and reporters try to normalize him both blows my mind and makes me incredibly sad.

I keep thinking it can’t possibly get any worse and yet every day, it does.

I just hate him and his supporters so fucking much.

I can tell I’m depressed because work is the last thing I feel like this morning.

I’m dragging and feel heavy hearted and am having a hard time focusing.  I wish I could just hang with Gary today and every day, watching the birds.

Technically after next Monday, I could.

I know, I know.

Anyway, whatever, in other news, it’s Woodstock week on Xpn radio so if nothing else, the music is going to be awesome because they’re broadcasting the entire festival, as it happened, but only between the hours of 6:00 am and 10:00 pm this entire week so lunatic boomers like me who will be glued to the radio can get some sleep and not miss anything.

Here’s the info:

https://thekey.xpn.org/2020/08/05/xpnstock-woodstock-week/

Also good, Gary is making vegetable fried rice for dinner.

Ooh, I just remembered and how the hell could I forget I’m off from work for a four day weekend this week?!  I took off this Friday-Mondayfor my birthday and some time at the beach.

I can’t believe that wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning.  Woo, I must be more depressed than I realized.

Not anymore!  Hell yeah four day week four days off!  Hell yeah birthday boardwalk pizza!

Okay, then.  Today just got considerably better.

Rock on!

Day 148

Day 148, self quarantine:

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Okay, I don’t understand it, either.

Yesterday, there was concrete proof Russia is helping Trump win the election and the GOP is accepting it.

There was also more undisputed proof that Trump is destroying the United States Post Office.

And then, for the cherry on top, he illegally gutted the funding for Social Security and Medicare...and issued his own version of federal unemployment, cutting it in half to $300...and here’s the kicker they’re not talking about...you’ll only get it if your state also kicks in $100 a week.  Since many states are almost bankrupt, they’re not going to be able to come up with the money.

It doesn’t matter, this is all illegal, anyway.

Trump can’t bypass Congress.

Only a dictator can do that.

But there’s thirty million Americans who have zero way to eat without any federal money and at this point, they’re so terrified they’ll probably accept anything.

Donald knows this.  He is evil beyond belief.

So the next few days are going to be interesting.

Or very, very depressing.

Where are the loud and angry Democrats?

Is everyone just going to let this happen?

Okay, I’ll stop.

I’m gonna shift gears.

Yesterday, we had a radiance of cardinals in our backyard and Gary and I were mesmerized.

A “radiance” is what you call a group of cardinals.  Isn’t that the coolest name ever?

Damn, if bands were still a thing, The Radiance is a great band name.

Anyway, not only did they finally use the bird bath, we watched Lou feed baby Lou, Jr. and I even googled it because Gary and I were completely freaked out.

But yeah, the bright red dad feeds the baby while the beige with red tips mom already begins preparing a nest for her next baby.

I couldn’t get any pictures of all the activity in my yard yesterday but Eric got a great pic of Steve, who plants himself in that picnic table all freaking day and stares at us.

Omg I love nature.

I really think I am just going to sit outside and read today and avoid all news.

I’m so over that evil bastard.

If he dies, please text me.

I gotta tell you, I’m at a point where I’m done with anyone and anything that makes me unhappy.

I’m talking back now, and not suffering any fools.

I have nothing to lose at this point, I’m old and almost retired.

Yay quarantine.

Oy.

Okay, I’m outta here.  

Happy Sunday!

Day 147

Day 147, self quarantine:

Saturday, August 8, 2020

Eric spent all day yesterday with us and it was glorious.

And now it’s 7:30 a.m. and we just hugged him goodbye and I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to look at this picture without sobbing.

When Eric regaled us with stories of being a new home owner, I laughed and commiserated and swallowed the lump of sadness that Gary and I are not a part of anything in his new life and how crazy it is he’s been living there since May 1 and we haven’t even seen his new house yet.

Okay, I’m being a drama queen, I know Gary and I will always be a part of Eric’s life - he is cursed with our DNA.

But as Eric told me last night, “I see my parents more than any of my friends!  Before the pandemic, I used to see you guys once a month or at least every couple of months!”

Oy.

Once again I relayed the story of families and Philadelphia neighborhoods to Eric, telling him how generations of families would live in say, South Philadelphia.  Your parents lived down the street, your grandparents around the corner.  Every Friday nightyou all had dinner together.

Eric gets it but didn’t say what he was also thinking - The world has changed, mom.

I know, but instead of crying on the spot like I felt like doing, I retreated back to my comfort zone of fantasizing that Eric and Natalie raise their family in a town that we’ll all, Julie and Katie, too, want to relocate to.

Eric’s visit was incredible because he’s incredible and does it make me a terrible clinging person if I want him in my life every day?

Or at least weekly...bimonthly... I don’t care, anything is better than this.

Anyway, I’m not going to be all sad or depressed today.  I’m determined to go back to living a day at a time and not squandering precious minutes being miserable over something I can’t fix today.

But I gotta start working on Gary again to part with possessions with an eye toward the future and we both have to lose our very strong attachment to this house or we’re going to end up being iPad grandparents and that’s just unacceptable.

We’ve been quarantined so long we’re living in a loop right now and Gary and I don’t really think about much these days beyond What should we have for dinner but America is a scary place right now and there are terrible things happening.

Donald is gutting the post office.

Getting mail on time is something we took for granted.

Those days are over and if you don’t think that’s a problem, then I guess you don’t know anyone who gets their medication or checks in the mail.

Or votes via mail in ballot.

Got it now?

On Friday, the Republican Senate left town without passing a stimulus bill.

Forty million Americans are now starting their second week being totally cut off from $600 Federal weekly unemployment in the middle of a raging pandemic.

Donald went golfing...but wait!  He called a press conference for 7:00 p.m. last night!  Was he going to ride in on his white horse and sign an (illegal) Executive Order extending federal unemployment?

No.

What followed was a bizarre appearance at his country club with his $300,000 annual dues paying members in attendance, not wearing masks or being socially distant, holding glasses filled with expensive wine, cheering him on while he made bizarre promises, a speech so unhinged Fox News cut away from him.

He said he’s going to sign an Executive order requiring health insurance companies to provide coverage for preexisting conditions for all Americans.

Except dude, that’s Obamacare, the very thing you’re trying to overturn in court.

Anyway, to those paying attention, it was Donald’s Let Them Eat Cake Moment combined with the Mad fucking Hatter.

All he wanted last night was applause and the wealthy drunken imbeciles in attendance gave him what he desired.

So I guess he knows he can cheat and steal this election no matter what?

I hope I’m wrong but it’s not looking good.

The election is three months away and the Republicans aren’t even trying to rein him in.  

They’re actually going to abandon forty million unemployed Americans?

I still don’t believe it.

Maybe seeing what happened last night will have everyone so appalled they will reach a deal Monday.

Fingers crossed.

Oy, sorry, I went from talking about Eric to Donald.

But this is the apocalypse diary so I gotta write exactly what I’m thinking.

Anyway, I’m gonna regroup and salvage the day.

Happy Saturday!