Morning Hike

All this pandemicking is exhausting with the endless days inside. Steve and I went to Malibu Creek State Park this morning for an LA rite-of-passage hike to the site of the M*A*S*H set.

Outsmarted

There’s wind and rain in Burbank, and my internet went out almost immediately once the inclement weather kicked in. 

“Maybe I’ll sit under a blanket and watch TV,” I thought before realizing the TV I have is connected solely via its little streaming gizmo.

“No problem,” I thought. “I’ll go upstairs and read a book.”

Upstairs, I was cold so I reached for my phone to turn on the heat via Nest.

And that is how I realized I am way too dependent on my internet connection.

Book and blanket it is for tonight. 

Big Purchase

Jan 23

I bought a new mattress for my Burbank condo because that IKEA foam thing was just a lump. I tried pretty much every mattress in the United States last year and then I did nothing for a while because well, the IKEA one was okay, just not great.

So finally I got a mattress and it's pretty comfy and then I remembered how there is this thing where mattress stores try to sell you a mattress protector and I thought that's ridiculous, that's what sheets are for, and then I searched "do I need a mattress protector" and wow, I did not need to go down that internet rabbit hole.

It does kind of feel like a scam but you know, maybe I'll sublet to someone who drinks red wine in bed or something. Or one day I'll dog-sit and the dog will hate me and poop on my bed. And it'll void the warranty because the dog poop will leave a stain. That's so stupid, like if I send the mattress back, the mattress company actually sells it to someone else, but okay, fine, it'll void the warranty. I guess I have to buy a damn mattress protector.

Jan 27

Good news. I signed an executive order to buy a mattress protector, so now the world is saved from the perilous threat of stray dog poop.

In Good Company

I'm not sure I quite understood the level of superstar happening at this particular conference when we recorded the panel.

DIY

I fixed a cracked cord with some shrink tubing and a hairdryer. My gently used Apple monitor is in good shape, but the power cord had seen better days. 

That was fun.

Right Around the Corner

I was digging around on Google Maps looking for a way to trespass onto the private lake in Toluca Lake and found these things I didn't know we had. 

It was time for a bit of Monday afternoon sightseeing!

Amelia Earhart's House

Frank Sinatra's House

Learn Something New Every Day

Pandemic Day 341.

I come from the land of the cheap mani/pedi, plus in non-pandemic times, I travel a lot and find value in being a part of a small community of women at local spas.

What I'm saying is my entire adult life, I'd paid people to pamper my feet.

Today is the first day of my life I've used what can be best described as the mild side of a cheese grater on my own heels.

The results (once I added the pumice and fine emery board that came with the grater) were spa-level, especially when followed up with foot cream, and have given me that same satisfaction you get when you google how to fix your own plumbing problems, and the results are not a disaster. Hooray for smooth heels.

Pandemic Illusion

I went out for my evening constitutional. The world feels so normal in ways we would have found bizarre a year ago. Queues of people six feet apart in line outside the supermarket. Masked couriers hanging out outside restaurants.

I look for clues of crisis, but it all feels like a warm Saturday night in Southern California.

January Sunset

Day Six since flying from Newark to Los Angeles.

Supposedly 1 in 3 Angelenos have or have had the 'rona, so quarantine isn't the worst thing.

No symptoms and it's 86 degrees out. I'll take it.

Maybe I Could Start Smaller

I clicked on "Beginner Tabs" and OH SURE.

Migrating

Nearly a year ago, I bought a ticket from Newark to Los Angeles for January 2. I always fly back right after New Year's, then I don't make any trips East until late April.

But this time around, January 2 turned out to be the busiest travel day of the pandemic thus far.

So I waited, and checked seating charts. Should I fly to Burbank? That way I would only be in a Lyft home for ten minutes. But the last (and only pandemic) time I flew in the little plane on the connecting flight from San Francisco to Burbank, it was small and packed and intimidating. The benefit of flying to LAX is I can fly direct on a Dreamliner, a newish plane with top-of-the-line air filtration. But the down side of LAX is getting from the airport to Burbank. I can go in a ride share with one driver but that means taking the shuttle bus to the ride share lot, take the Flyaway to Van Nuys or Union Station and then switch to a brief ride in a ride share, or I guess I could walk but that might take...let's see...7 hours. And I don't have the right shoes. I'm not sure I even OWN the right shoes for that, but I kind of like the idea of trying it one day. Who says you can't walk to LAX?

Under the Influence

I put some catnip in the feral cat house last night. 

Hey kids, don't do drugs.

That's Not A Raccoon House!

I smellz colitas rising up thru the air.

oh, no, just catnip. Carry on.

He's Just a Baby

Studio City Copper came to visit today! He's never met a cat before but fortunately when we went out back, none of the community cats were hanging around.   

Field Trip to Moynihan Station

What better way to celebrate the advent of a new year of lockdown than visiting the new train lobby at Manhattan's Penn Station? 

I was surprised at how many people had the same idea I had, but then, there's a pandemic on. What else is there to do?

Gotta Catch 'Em All

Today we learned the black cat is a bully.

I had a discussion with him about how he's going to have to go to the vet if he can't be nice to his neighbors, but he chased Jay Garrick anyway. 

He'll never catch Jay (who is a fast cat, obviously), but he doesn't know that yet.

Happy New Year

 The only social interaction this new year was happening in the backyard.