Shelter-in-Place Part 4

Fourth weekend of shelter-in-place in the Bay Area.  

In global news, Wuhan is starting to loosen restrictions, and Boris Johnson is out of intensive care.  No big changes locally, things are setting into a pattern.

Monday to Wednesday last week were a psychological challenge.  Apathy kicked in, and the only stimulation was the dopamine hit from boredom eating.  Running is on pause to protect precipitous achilles tendons.  YouTube home workouts, while much better than nothing, do not provide the same kick.  Work stress on Thursday and Friday contributed to a feeling close to normalcy, then Saturday morning felt agonisingly empty - the lowest point yet.  An hour spent picking Japanese beetle grubs out the planter box one by one, ahead of the summer tomatoes.  The disgusting beasts keep coming back, unsubdued by vigorous application of milky spore and nematodes.

Saturday afternoon was radiantly sunny, and partner agreed to go on a bike ride.  The trail was pretty packed, so we hit the empty road for the return.  Although it was a long flat suburban ride, it was by far the most excitement all week and felt incredible.  On returning home, I fixed the LED light assembly in the lounge room ceiling, which involved both screwing and wiring.  Riding high on this accomplishment, I proceeded to fix the malfunctioning Roomba and bake bread.  The bread was a dense ball of plutonium, possibly due to the whole wheat flour.  The light and the Roomba work great.  The day culminated in a birthday party via Zoom.

Sunday, rabidly excited to drive to the hills and go biking.  Mounted the bike, filled the Civic with the necessary apparatus and turned the key.  The 12V battery was dead, which is particularly galling as it is only eighteen months old.  Positioned the Leaf to jump start the Civic, then a niggling doubt prompted a googling to verify that it EVs can be used to jump start other vehicles.  Apparently they cannot, despite having a 12V ancillary battery which seems like the necessary apparatus.  Roused our housemate to jump it with his Mazda.  It took a disturbingly long time, during which he commented that maybe the battery was not the problem and the car was more generally broken.  Fortunately he was mistaken.

Excellent bike ride.  Climbed Alpine, which had been a recommendation from the physical therapist for rehabbing injuries.  In good enough shape for that; perhaps something steeper next weekend. 

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