Projects for the Weekend

Given that Jen and I have both had a couple of possible covid exposures over the last few days, I doubt we’re going to be going out on the town at all. What should I do to keep my locked down self occupied?

Music. The plan is to redo the four songs worth of guitar parts that were recorded with an amplifier simulator the other day. Yeah, I am a tube amp snob. I want to do that after dinner tonight. I want to use the same rig I used last night, but swap the Blooze Maker pedal with the Rat clone I got for the one heavy-ish song. Then I want to start writing lyrics so that I can have something do sing tomorrow morning when Car Music (2023 edition) kicks off. I probably won’t be able to finish 10 songs over two car music sessions this weekend, but I will do my best. That means I have to write a lot of lyrics in a short amount of time. I can do it. They are all going to suck, but I can get them done. Something is better than nothing, right?

Clean. The house is a mess after being neglected for a few weeks. I started cleaning a little yesterday. The big goal is the kitchen. It’s not good right now. I want to make it presentable again.

Television? I finished The Book of Boba Fett before work this morning so I can get back to Poker Face and Extraordinary (which I have been watching with Jen) and rewatching The Last of Us over and over again.

What else? I haven’t watched a hockey game in ages. The Bruins play on Saturday at 5:00pm. Does UMass Lowell play this weekend? I feel like I’ve been following along with both teams (not a lot with UMass Lowell, but some) but I haven’t been watching and I want to. The Bruins are having an absolutely legendary, epic season and I am missing it.

What else? You know what I need to not do this weekend? I need to not go on Facebook. Ever since my mother went back into the hospital I have been visiting Facebook a couple of times a day again. Mostly because I was sitting in the hospital just waiting for something to happen and I would go there to distract myself for a while. I’ve been spending a lot of time on Nikon Mirrorless groups, and a couple of bariatric surgery groups, and guitar gear groups… and I feel like a junky who fell off the wagon. I need to stop using Facebook again. Enough already.

What else? I don’t know. Spend time with the love of my life. Pet the two new kitties. Maybe watch Wakanda Forever as I haven’t seen it yet and as of today there are now two Marvel flicks I haven’t seen (Ant Man 3 is out today). That needs to stop. Maybe start rewatching Andor? I don’t know. Maybe just veg in front of youtube some more. I don’t know. Also, how about we cut down on the between meal snacking a little?

Okay. That’s a lot to think about. I am five hours and six minutes away from the start of the weekend. I’ll figure it all out as I go.

Road Trip

We’re about half a work day away from the weekend. Not just any weekend, but the first weekend where everyone in the house is fully vaccinated. Tonight there’s some new Marvel to watch. Will Sam take up the mantle of Captain America? I think so. If he doesn’t, will Bucky? Will the faux Cap become USAgent or will he end up taking a dirt nap? Part of me expects the latter.

Tomorrow there is a visit on the books as well as time for errands and hopefully a little music. Errands might include an oil change for one of the cars and maybe a stop at Best Buy? More likely I’ll order something from Best Buy. I don’t think I can deal with actually walking into a big box store yet.

Then there is Sunday. What to do about Sunday?

Well… both cars will have been serviced… we’re vaccinated… road trip? The first road trip in over a year? Bellana is just a few hours away in Vermont… might we head up for a visit?

I would not have had a problem with a long drive like that even at the worst of the Covid. I would just fill up the gas tank while wearing a mask and latex gloves, bring along a great big pile of snacks (via instacart), and go. If nature called I would pull off the road, find a tree, and take care of business. Jen, however, would not have had that nature calling luxury and there is no way we would go into a store or a gas station to do what needed to be done. That’s why long drives were off the table.

Now? I think we’d be okay going into a gas station to use a rest room. I don’t think we’d be happy about the situation, but if we’re masked up I think we can handle the weirdness.

Road trip to Vermont?

See Bellana for the first time in months?

There are still details to be worked out but… it could happen.

Am I actually making plans? I forgot what that felt like.