Quarantine #3

The year 2020 has been a dud for nearly everyone I think. For me it’s been a lot of time in quarantine or stuck on a ship. While I hate to do the math, here it is:

I’m Stuck on a Boat: 100 days
Quarantine #1: 10 days (got tested on day 8 and got results on day 10)
Quarantine #2: 14 days
Quarantine #3: Hopefully only 10 days… getting tested on day 7 so we shall see
And, oh wait, when we go back to Scotland there will be Quarantine #4: 11-14 days (depending on if I get tested or not)

Anyone out there doing the math? Before you add in the next quarantine in Scotland that is already 135 days. And, why yes, it is getting old.

On the ship there was plenty to get frustrated about, but you would only let yourself get so frustrated because you knew there wasn’t really much you could do about it. We were all “stuck in the same boat” so to say.

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On land is a different story though. I’ve had my drivers license since I was 16. Nearly half of my life I have been able to hop in a car and go to the store to grab what I need – pretty much whenever I needed it. Needless to say it gives me a much greater respect for my grandma when she doesn’t have quite enough energy to go shopping but needs something to finish off a chicken pie or red flannel hash or whatever other thing she was fixing. Going from being able to go out and get whatever you need to not is a change I am still not quite used to. Luckily in today’s day and age delivery services are available as are curbside pickup (click and collect), but still, there is a lack of independence that goes with not being able to just go get what you need. Right now we are nearly out of milk and I am out of Ovaltine so I finally caved and bought some online, and yes, I ended up doing the free trial of Amazon Prime to get free two day shipping.

So, aside from lamenting the Ovaltine shortage what have we been doing in our quarantine? Well, home improvement projects, of course! Quarantine might be pretty lame in a lot of ways, but it is a great time to get things done that you otherwise wouldn’t have made time to do.

I have now installed a toilet on two continents. #lifegoals

In Scotland we painted our fence and back shed, fixed our bathroom light/bath fan situation, tiled our master bath, and installed a new toilet. This has all meant that now we have a fully functioning bathroom! You know how the things you get excited about change as you get older? Well, adulting excitement is definitely when you DIY your bathroom and win. And, for anyone out there looking for a great couple bonding experience I highly recommend installing a toilet together, it provides unique trust opportunities.

In Vermont we spent a few days refinishing the floor in our bedroom – starting with taking the carpet out, then sanding down the hardwood floors, polyurethaning, and then eventually, moving back into our bedroom. Probably a bit more yard work is in our future in the next day or two and we might paint our shed – the things I might not take time for normally but when you’re stuck in quarantine you might as well get it done!

Why yes, we used the belt sander that my mom had because I was too cheap to pay $40 to rent the actual full size one from the hardware store. This was a mistake I shalt not make again. And, for those concerned, I did wear ear and eye protection as well.

We’ve still got one more quarantine to go when we go back to Scotland. I’m sure plenty of people out there are thinking, “is it actually worth it?”. Well, right now Stuart is off the ship, when he goes back I will most likely not be able to go with him, so we are doing our best to value our time together. And, in spite of the frustrations of quarantine and the additional challenges of travel right now, how do you put a value, how do you decide if getting an extra few weeks to hang out with your grandma or help your mom or see your brother or your cousins or your friends, is “worth it”? We have the means and the time right now to be able to do this, so… as long as we’re following all the health precautions and doing our part to not spread the virus, why wouldn’t it be worth it?

Alright. Enough writing. Time to go sort out why our water pressure hasn’t been great lately… to the basement!