Tag: Kids

Dutch Quarantine

If you were super curious about how The Netherlands is handling the quarantining of visitors from other countries, here’s what I know.

Bellana entered the country on Thursday morning, January 13th. She was allotted some time to get from the plane to her final destination, which was something like three hours by train, and then once she was where she was going her quarantine began. On Monday she will take a Covid test. The results will take 48-72 hours to return but once they do (assuming a negative result) she’s free to move about the country.

So worst case scenario (that doesn’t involve a positive test) is that her quarantine starts on 1/13 and ends on 1/20. Note that in The Netherlands they would say her quarantine starts on 13/1 and ends on 20/1, but that’s neither here nor there.

One funny note from our FaceTime. She has changed her weather settings on her phone to Celsius. She said it was currently 2 degrees. Jen laughed and said it was 2 degrees here too. Doing the math, our 2 degrees is -16.7 degrees for her. Brrrr, babie.

So now you’re up to date on the Dutch quarantine process for international travel. I hope you all enjoyed this little lesson.

Planning for Tomorrow

  • Car music. I didn’t do it today because I over slept a little.
  • Re-pot the plants in the bedroom.
  • Does Harry need help packing?
  • Watch Eternals.
  • Play the Harry Potter version of Munchkin.
  • Maybe play the new Star Wars version of Monopoly again.

Mostly the plan is to hang out with Harry on the last day before he goes back to school.

It’s Friday

Friday. Lunch break. My Covid hair is so long right now that it’s actually giving me a headache. Is that even possible? I’m looking at Wednesday as the day I get it cut. I am going to look and feel like a different person. It’s going to be weird.

Wednesday is also the first step in the weight loss surgery process. I’m just going in to have my vitals taken. Safe to assume I will crush the scale when they weigh me. My back has become such a problem that I can’t really exercise at the moment. It is going to be a really tough time for me but if I don’t do it I am going to die of fat. It’s that simple.

Bellana and her roommate just posted a video to YouTube detailing their journey to The Netherlands and their first couple of days in quarantine. I really want to post it here but I don’t know if I should. I want to though.

Harry just came home. He’s been working for one of the gig-economy internets services. Two customers stiffed him on tips. They both suck. Actually, I don’t know that for sure, they could just be going through tough financial times, but they did stiff my kid so I am mad at them. At least he’s home. He’s planning on going out again at dinner and we will miss him. He’s going back to school on Sunday and I don’t want him to go, but I do want him to go, but I don’t want him to go. Aw, crud.

Bellana and Kenny’s YouTube post is giving a tour of their apartment. The views of the city are amazing. I want to just watch it over and over but I have to go back to work. Blah. Three hours and nine minutes to go.

Lunch Break

I started my lunch break a little late today. It’s now almost over. I need to dump the brain droppings so that I can get through the afternoon.

Eternals is out on Disney+. Hopefully we’ll get to watch it with Harry before he goes back to school. Did I mention that Harry’s going back to school? With all the drama over Bellana going to The Netherlands, I feel like we’ve been giving Harry the short end of the stick. We are driving him back to school on Sunday. Another drive to Vermont and back. I really enjoy that drive. I just wish he was coming with us for the return drive.

He did well in his first semester, obviously. He’s spent the last few weeks working for an internet based delivery company who shall remain nameless as he tries to build up his bank account while he still can. I remember those days. There was never enough money. I also remember trying to stretch $5.00 worth of gas across a full week so that I could stay on my budget. Ah, college life.

I am going to miss him, of course, but unlike his sister he is still close enough to us that if we need to get to him for whatever reason we can. It’ll take 3-4 hours, but we’ll get there. The Atlantic Ocean and the circumference of the Earth make that really tough in Bellana’s case.

What else is going on? I mentioned Jen going crazy in her office and in the living room by re-doing all of the plugs and extension chords and stuff. Basically she rewired half the house. It was amazing. This weekend… maybe… I will do the same to my office nook in the bed room. I have a big power strip that will replace all of the little once I have daisy chained in here. I’m going to have to take down the whole desk and start from scratch. Unlike Jen, I don’t mind working at a cluttered desk, but even I have my limits. I won’t say it will be neat when I am done, but maybe it will be a little more logical, and electrically safer. All of that because the love of my life inspired me.

What else? Car music tomorrow? Maybe. Depends on the weather. I would take a minute to check the forecast, but I have to get back to work instead.

May your afternoon be happy and productive and free of fascism and shit like that.

She Made It

We got up around 6:30am today, about an hour and a half ago, and saw a text from Bellana saying she was on the ground. The flight tracker I was watching last night had the plane on the ground in Amsterdam right on time. There’s a six hour time difference so I asked her if she caught her train out of Amsterdam to her final destination and she said yes. They are in their rented apartment and starting their border-crossing-covid-quarantine. I am not sure how long. 10 days, I think. Maybe less with negative tests? I’m not sure.

The important thing is, she made it to where she needed to be. Sigh of relief. Now I have to find a way to talk her into coming home for a quick visit. Heh Heh. Kidding.

In the immortal words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, “another happy landing.”

In the Air

Bellana’s plane is in the air. She’s going to be crossing the US/Canadian border shortly, somewhere West of Saint John, New Brunswick.

We got some texts through just before she boarded. We wished her a safe flight and told her that we love her. Next stop is Amsterdam, around 1:30am or so our time. I will watch the flight tracker for as long as I can, but if I am still awake when she lands it’s going to mean a really crappy day at work for me tomorrow. Old people like me need all the beauty rest they can get.

Harry’s here. We thought he wouldn’t get here until after 9:00pm, but he walked in around 7:00. Bonus. We watched episode three of The Book of Boba Fett and all is well. Go ahead and talk about it. You can’t spoil me anymore.

It’s just a distraction as we wait for happy landing news from The Netherlands. That’s the kind of good news I need in my life.

Day Off

It’s 8:53am. Time to punch into work, so I think I’ll go over to Netflix and pop on a show.

HA!

I’m off today!

Some music, some TV, some cleaning, some stressing over Bellana flying to The Netherlands, some cat stress due to needing to take her to the vet.

I have a full day ahead, he said sarcastically. I think I’ll go get some breakfast.

Note: While I am being all gloaty and stuff today. Rest assured I’ll be paying for it with stress tomorrow. What goes around comes around and all that.

Lunch Time Brain Dead

I feel like I should be posting something as my Tuesday lunch break comes to an end. I can’t come up with anything though. There are a few little things. Today hasn’t been the painful day I was fearing it would be. There have been a couple of annoying things at work, but nothing we can’t handle. Bellana left us yesterday and won’t be back until Summer. We still have Harry around for a few days, but we’re driving him back to school on Sunday and then we’re kidless for a couple of months.

I have avoided using retail therapy to cheer myself up, but junk food is another story. We had ice cream last night. I’ve had a lot of chocolate today. I need to stop this crap and start being more careful. The first weight loss surgery appointment is next week, but it’s only to drop off paperwork. The real first appointment is next month. Sigh.

I am off work tomorrow. That’s nice. I took the day off just in case Bellana ended up needing a ride to the airport. She doesn’t, so I am free. Patches has a vet appointment and I still have to get two Christmas presents for two of my nephews over to my sister’s house. I am trying to stay as Covid safe as humanly possible until Harry is back at school. I think the vet appointment is a curbside thing but I am not sure. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow, huh?

Okay. I guess I came up with something to talk about after all. Time to get back to work. That bug ain’t gonna fix itself.