Covid-19 – Bingeworthy

As this is my 2nd or 3rd month of social isolation, I decided to throw start posting here some of the things I’ve binged on. I find that once I start, I don’t stop.

I’m sure I’ve seen so much more over the past few months that I suddenly realize.. I should do something more productive with my isolation time!

Netflix:

• Outer Banks – One season – Teenagers on a treasure hunt
• She – One Season – Indian Crime Drama – watched this with subtitles
• Money Heist – 4 Seasons – Spanish dubbed crime drama.. extremely addictive
• Extraction – Action – Really fast moving
• Spenser Confidential – Decent Action movie
• Schitts Creek – 5 Seasons – Comedy – Don’t miss this. Waiting for season 6
• Kim’s Convenience – 4 seasons -Comedy – Outstanding comedy.
• New Girl – 7 seasons- mindless comedy
• Wanted – 3 seasons – Australian chick flick with good action and comedy
• Brown Nation – 1 season – Indian Comedy
• Criminal Minds – 12 seasons – CBS show
• Cheers – All seasons – Can watch this over and over again
• Ozark
• Hasan Minaj – Patriot Games – Multiple episodes! – Parody on life and truly worth it.
• Angel Has Fallen – Movie – An absolutely loud and fast paced action movie – Don’t miss it.

Amazon – Most of my binging has been on Netflix so need to review why have I not binged here

• Amazing Mrs. Maisel – Still trying to get into this
• Sacred Games – Indian Crime drama (dubbed in english

I invite you to respond and share with me what you think is bingeworthy!

ok.. there

Covid-19 – Hitting the pause button

As I enter the second month of social isolation and distancing I was reflecting on all the things in my life that I’ve hit the pause button on. The list below is in no particular order.. or as I normally write… stream of consciousness.

Tennis – After my health issues at the end of the year, I had just started to get back into my tennis ritual and bam! Just like a body shot when you are standing at the net, that stopped at the end of February..

Having normal work hours – I no longer have normal 10 hour days, but my days now can be anwhere from 12 to 15 hours a day with weekend work as well. Bam! another pause button.

Entertainment – Instead of going to the movies or having dinner out , my routines consist of ordering curbside pickup and binging on Netflix, Amazon an Hulu! Just how much can you binge. Well apparently it’s endless binge and sleep deprivation when you just cannot stop binging on a series that you have to finish tonight! Bam! another pause button

Romance and personal relationships – As a divorced dad, I met someone that I’ve become very atttached to and with her getting Covid-19. She is recovering (thank Goodness!, but we have put a pause on the relationship for almost 2 months now.

So the question arises.. when we un-pause this social distancing, do we subtract out the time that we didn’t see each other from the total time of the relationship? This is a tough question to answer and if you have any insights, feel free to weigh in. When she reads this posting, I can almost guarantee that we will have an extensive discussion on this one.

Haircuts and Car maintenance – since the shut down of non-essential businesses in NJ, no haircuts! Yeah my check engine light will stay on for another month or so.. as I’m not risking going for auto repair.

Costco addiction – I used to go to Costco almost every weekend for the gas refills and food sampling.. that quickly was eliminated by Costco with social distancing rules. Can’t even get a cold frozen coffee! I do have a workaround for this though.. I now am hooked on the $2 Latte at Dunkin between 2 and 6 PM

I’m actually saving money with the reduction in going to Costcoand food shopping in general! Yay me for reduction of my credit card issues! You will be so surprised how many weeks you can survive just on what you have in the freezer and fridge, before you have to go out (with mask and glove) for replenishment of needed food items.

On a positive note: One thing I have to admit which I know is a positive thing, I’ve gotten closer to both my kids. One has moved back in with her mother, and the other is isolated in College in Pittsburgh!

So that’s just a few of the things I’ve paused, what have you paused?? I’d like to get your feedback

Covid-19 – Distance and entertain yourself!

It’s been over a month since I’ve been isolated/quarantined in my condo in Red Bank NJ. It’s been an interesting experience. Every day rolls into another and the hardest part of this is the isolation. Yeah, I take daily walks in my community to keep myself busy, but the social interaction with friends and family is just gone and I don’t know when it’s coming back!

At times, I feel we are living in a third world country. We can’t get tested, we don’t have a vaccine, and the only answer to this pandemic is social distancing?

Today, I’m going to list what I’ve been doing to keep my sanity or as many people might interpret my insanity.

Entertainment: When you are socially isolated, your entertainment is primarily streaming services. For me in my order of preference: Netflix, Hulu, You Tube (for foreign news) and Amazon.

Eating through my fridge: After a month, I’ve actually eaten through 1/3 of my freezer and my non-frozen foods. I actually now think about cooking new things. I have not gone to the supermarket or Costco in over 3 weeks!

Get masks and gloves. This is where I fell behind the eight ball. I didn’t have any masks, and didn’t really have gloves. Fortunately, after week 3, I finally got both! I’m still trying to master the art of wearing a mask and making sure my glasses don’t fog up!

Find your place of Zen: For me this place is by a lake that is in my community. I go here to watch the geese, doves and just sit by the lake.

New Addictions: Words with Friends and Candy Crush. I find that every day, I’m playing more and more of these games on my iPhone than I ever have.. Sometimes, not getting enough sleep due to these obsessions.

Daily Briefings from the White House: This is bad. It’s like watching a train wreck every day. Better yet, it’s like watching a reality show gone terribly wrong. Yet, I find myself hypnotized to listen to the misinformation being conveyed. The only person I believe in is Dr. Fauci who in my mind has become a national hero for the clarity he speaks. The rest is just political showmanship. Not my cup of tea. Many of my readers will disagree on what I say, but watching this daily briefing and Twitter have becoming parallel roads of news..

Social Distancing: This is my mantra for the future (for at least next month). See my tips below on how manage the perils of social distancing.

Here’s some of my social distancing techniques I live by:

• Be alert when you are walking in commonly used sidewalks ( I learned this the hard way)
• If you see someone approaching go to the middle of the road (watch out and don’t get hit by oncoming traffic. I’m adhering to the 6 foot rule literally
• Walk on the golf course (There you only have to worry about walking on deer and/or geese poop. If I do all 9 holes (Par 3), I can easily do 4500 steps!)
• Walk at odd hours of the day, when the community is not out.. Early morning’s and late evenings are best..

I don’t plan on leaving my isolation for at least another month. Only when when we are all able to get tested (w/o having to go gyrations for getting tested) will I venture outside my comfort zone.