Pandemic Diary VII

When one day is pretty much the same as the previous day and the day before that, it's hard to come up with anything much to write about in a diary. Hence the long gap between the previous post and this one.

My days are becoming somewhat routine. Wake up around 6:00, get out of the house by 6:30 for a walk on the malecon, back by 8:00. Shower and get dressed. Do my daily puzzles, which consist of the following:

• The New York Times Crossword
• Other NYT games: Vertex and Letter Boxed
• Various puzzles on BrainBashers
• Enigma Device easier and harder puzzles
• If it's Friday, various puzzles on Conceptis

Then post my #randomtravelphotooftheday on Instagram and Facebook, and read posts by my friends. By then I'm pretty hungry, so eat some breakfast and browse the latest news about the new coronavirus (because that's pretty much all the news there is). 

That takes me to 11:30 or so.

Most afternoons I have an online bridge game. Registration is at 1:00, and the game runs from 3:00 to a little past 5:00. I might have a snack or small bit of lunch somewhere in between.

Some days there's a little work to do for POP. But mostly not.

Some days I get a nap in. And most days there's a little Netflix or Amazon Prime.

After the bridge game I start thinking of where to order dinner.

Evenings is reading or TV or a combination thereof. But I have to make a confession: I'm doing very little reading right now. It's really hard to stay focused.

A few diversions over the last few days have included some phone and video chats with friends and family. I'd like to do more of those.

And even though there's a moratorium on non-essential work activities, my kitchen designer promises me he will get my kitchen done by Saturday. There was a delay because while they were putting the last coat of paint on the cabinet doors, the government came and shut them down. So they brought the cabinets from Guadalajara to Ajijic and finished painting yesterday. This afternoon they should deliver them, and then the install should start tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I have no kitchen.

My contractor is having trouble finding tile to match. I may have to settle for something "close enough..."

I also sold my old dining set (which came with the house and which I never liked). I bought a new one which is supposed to be ready to deliver this week, but I'm still waiting to hear from them when it will be done.

It's been stressful dealing with this right now. Remodel projects are always stressful I think, but on top of the risk of work shutdowns, it's especially nerve-wracking. 

At least my morning walk gives me scenes like this:

I think the pelicans will very soon be returning to Canada. And this weekend we go on Daylight Saving Time, so either my walk will start an hour later, or I'll spend the first hour walking in the dark.

This morning I ordered an electric razor from Amazon, because I don't know when I will be able to get a haircut, so at some point I'm going to need to do this to myself.

I also ordered a Bona spray mop, because I'm going to have to start cleaning my floors by myself, and I'm not going to use the rag mop my housekeeper uses!

I know if I am going to succeed in sustaining this isolation for many weeks, maybe many months, I'm going to have to find other activities to engage myself in. I'll share what those are when I figure that out.

But for now I'm still doing fine, emotionally and physically. I am afraid though. I'm afraid about what's going to happen to me, to my friends and family, to my community, to the world. There's nothing I can do about it (other than what I'm already doing), so I don't know how to process the fear or to make it go away. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," said FDR. But those words offer little solace.

I hope you're all hanging in there.