Adjusting to Adjusting

Lots going on in the world these days.  Our President is inept.  That's been known and is a 'given' these days.  No words....I honestly have no words.

The stock market has been in a complete free fall this week - likely because their is a world wide outbreak of a Corona virus.  Cruise ships quarantined at ports.  The mortality rate is not incredibly high but it can be very serious - especially for those with pre-existing health concerns or those over 60.  Stores are running out of toilet paper and bottled water.  No one is urging people to stock up - nothing official - but it is possible that if a city has a huge outbreak, they will recommend people stay in their homes and venture out as little as possible.

We're going to shop a bit this weekend to get some more food on hand.  We've been doing a great job of just buying what we need - no huge pantry back stock.  But if we had to stay here for a couple weeks, it would be slim pickings at the end of the first week so I'd like to get a few long-term storage items on hand.  Pasta, things that are vacuum sealed so they have a long shelf life.  Madras Lentils from Costco comes to mind.  We're not going to spend a fortune or buy tons of food but we would like to have things on hand just in case.

I definitely got inside my head too much this week.  A friend went 'dark' on Facebook - deactivated their account - only I couldn't confirm/tell if they had blocked me?  Or were truly just taking a Facebook break.  Thankfully, an email inquiry - 'hey, how are you and did you deactivate your Facebook account' - got a speedy reply with a confirmation that they were taking a break from Facebook entirely.  Our newsy emails back and forth got us both caught up on recent family and work (for him) events.  A good reminder that it's easy to make something out of nothing and easy to convince yourself the sky is falling when in fact it is not.

Today, I went to Grand Sierra Resort to meet a work friend (from Tracy) who was here for a conference.  We chatted non-stop for a couple of hours - she was my assistant until she left to become a teacher at a neighboring school district.  It was wonderful to see her and hear the passion in her voice when she talks about her work.  She absolutely loves her job and is taking on more and more responsibility which is perfect for her - she's like an Energizer Bunny who's always busy.  What many people would describe as a state of overload is her zen state - she's amazing.  It was wonderful to catch up with her.

I have free play tomorrow (a swipe and win event) at Atlantis but there is snow in the forecast so I'll have to see how the weather is.  I told J. 'we can drive on Old 395' - going through the valley vs. using the freeway which is way higher, has a huge bridge and during windy conditions is pretty darn scary.  We'll see.  I'm a sucker for free play - but I'm not going to risk driving to Reno if it's horribly bad weather.

Did I mention that we've picked the color of our front door?  Sherwin Williams Mature Grape.  I think it's fitting - we're mature.  We like grapes.  Especially when they're fermented - for a long time.