Roni 2

Such a unique time in world. My day to day has not been affected too much because I still go into work. I watch the infection numbers go up and up. The economy seems to be on the edge of collapse. Cheyenne is stuck inside because her school has shut down. Shes been off for 2 weeks, and has at least another 4 weeks before school resumes. I dont know if society will be recovered by then, I hope so. But I wont be surprised if this shutdown society is our new normal until mid summer.

Chey is going a little crazy. Her job seems to be pretty pointless and doesnt take up much time while she is working remotely, but thats just my impression. Been watching a ton of TV because there is literally not much more to besides reading, cleaning and hanging out inside.

I watch the numbers go up daily, and its kind of consumed everything. Everyone's thoughts and conversations at work are about it. After work Chey and I talk about it. Its hard when its the only thing on the internet and everyone in real life is talking about it. Its obviously very historical because nothing like this has happened in any living person's lifespan. Pullman is not hit with it very hard yet. Only 8 cases in the county as of this time. I expect that number to get very big very quickly.

This past weekend we went out and camped. Social distancing? Staying indoors? I dont think we had any impact because we didnt even get out of the car to interact with anyone and there was no one out in the woods.

Work people are getting a little anxious. I am not as worried as others. Maybe I should be. I can really only control what I can control. 

Not much to add outside of this. Work is weird, the world is weird. 

Stay livin

Roni

It’s crazy how fast your state of mind can change. How the world can being going one way and totally change direction in a matter of moments. One week you’re  putting the textile industry at risk with the inane amount of ripping that is occurring, the next you’re being told to hide insane away from other people. Yes, life has been awesome, I’ve got it dialed in, at least it feels like it. Ive got a smokin wife, good job, great hobbies, good friends and family. I’ve got  great goals and aspirations.

Most the stuff we worry about will never happen, that’s why so many people who speak professionally say that fear is just between our ears. The greatest fears are things that never cross our worried minds. The things that hit us on some idle Tuesday. That’s how it’s sort of been with the corona virus.

A week ago, Dalton and I were talking about it. I felt everything being done, all the media coverage, it was an overreaction. The flu kills a lot of people. Gun violence kills a lot of people. It seems that every year there is a sickness that scares people. I was obviously naive. I was shocked when they postponed NBA . The following day it was  the MLB, then it was the NHL, then it was all NCAA sports, they canceled the tournament, what was next?

As it turned out, a lot more was next. Next was schools. Cheyenne doesn’t have school until  April 27th—as of this posting. Every couple days, her return for planning is postponed. She is stuck at home, wondering what the heck the plan is. I could see the entire year being canceled at this point. Costa Rica closed its borders, there goes our vacation in a couple weeks. Grocery stores, pharmacies, and the essential stores are still operating. Toilet paper is sold out, oddly. A sense of uncertainty, unlike anything anything I’ve ever felt in my life, has taken over most everyone and everywhere. Seems like everyone is out of answers at this point. I was foolish and didn’t it was a big issue. Now life is being affected unlike anything I’ve seen before. This is unprecedented. It’s wildly interesting, and I can see my own work shutting down within a matter of days. That being said, I’m not living my personal life much differently. Outside of the social interactions:

Some quick panic buying some wine, everyone losing their minds:

Left to isolation

Continuing to avoid people and we rode our bikes around town and enjoying the spring air:

Hanging with Paisley at Rachel’s house:

Some snow late in spring, also we got our WSU plates which means we are unofficially- officially alumni.

It feels like every 48 hours the world gets a little crazier with this virus information, maybe that’s me being too tuned into the news. Hard to say what’s gonna happen. But I feel like lots of people are going to die, the response is too little to late, and it’s going to get really wild here in the next couple weeks. God only knows.

Keep destroying them textile factories and keep life ripping

Textile Factory Nightmares

Since my last post life has been ripping, and it’s all because attitude my babies. Life’s so good—both sides of the pillow are cool. I had my final week of swing shift and now I am working an 8-4:30 schedule. So much nicer and I’m only two days through it. It’s feels like I’m cheating almost because I get to see people and do stuff I want to, like a mini weekend.

But first let’s retrace a little bit:

Went snowboarding for the first time in two years with Sarah, Kayla, and Alyssa. I was super excited and couldn’t fall asleep the night before and only ended up getting like 4 hours of sleep. Sarah showed up in my room to convince me to go because I said I wasn’t feeling up to it since I got limited sleep. I was not a hard sell once she said if I didn’t go, I’d regret it. She was right, and we drove down to Bluewood which is around Walla Walla. It was my first time boarding outside of Snoqualmie pass in over a decade. Snoqualmie is very posh and I feel like Bluewood is what skiing/boarding was like in decades past. No extra posh stuff— just slopes and ropes. It was super fun, I sent it over every jump I could. Rode through tree coverage with Alyssa. Drank beer on the lift. Went home exhausted and woke up sore. Couldn’t have asked for more out of a day.

While I was boarding, Cheyenne was living her Roller Derby dreams and she was down in Oregon watching the Palouse Team and being their coach/moral booster. At least I think that’s what she was doing, derby is a mystery to me. She got to do some sight seeing and saw likely the most famous waterfall in the Northwest.

The day spent at Bluewood was a total bluebird day, until it wasn’t. A storm rolled in at lunch and we were pelted by the biggest hail I’ve ever seen, just under dice sized. It was brutal, but 20 minutes away we were back into the Palouse and the sky broke away into a classic scene:

Biking to work should’ve been problem free. I have been riding bicycles for my whole life and have never had a chain link snap on me mid ride. But it happened this past week.

I guess it was an excuse to break out the road bike and see how quickly I could get to work:

If you guessed 8 minutes door to door you’re on the money. It nearly killed me to cycle that hard but it was something to do. Rode the blue bike all week until Friday, when I skipped work and Chey and I took off for Tacoma. We chased the sunset for a couple hours as we headed west through the Palouse and back to the 253.

I know for a fact we have waited too long to go back to Tacoma, it was apparent immediately when we showed up Friday night. It is so nice to go back to a familiar place like my parents condo, it just feels safe there. This is pretty ironic, because for the longest time, the condo felt like a hotel room. Not home. It was foreign, but I think enough memories and time has allowed it to feel so homey. We spent time with Colin Williams and looked at a van with him. Colin always jumps into things head first and with a smile. I didn’t see him getting a van like Dalton, but here he is. Colins one of my oldest friends. Maybe it’s the closeness that surprises me, given the number of years we were apart in college, that we still remain good friends. Of course we are friends, it’s hard to explain but I’m sure some of you readers will understand what I’m trying to describe. It’s simple friendship, it doesn’t dwindle with time— like most relationships do— so to have it pick up seamlessly, surprises me. 

I’m sure it’s not unlike this for Cheyenne and one of her oldest friends Audrey, who we also saw this weekend. I have always like Audrey because she has been there for Chey and I many times. She is likely the most unique and confident people I know. You don’t have to guess what she is thinking, because she’ll tell you. I like that in a person. 

Rosa and the twins also came to the condo. Of course Hannah Banana, and my parents were there. It was a very nice evening. The wine was flowing, the tacos were cooking, the whole place had a warm glow about it. You could feel the good times in the air. It’s those day you live for. The ones you know are “the good old days”while you’re in them. Effortless conversation, with the people you love. I dont know what else there is. 

Sunday: Chey and I made a purchase 

This is Berty. She is a Volkswagen Vanagon. She’s been all over North America, she’s been to the east coast, she’s been to Nova Scotia, she’s been to California, she’s served time going up the 101 to Hood Canal. We were skeptical but decided she was a solid adventuremobile to bring home.

She ran up Hwy 18 perfectly, and up Snoqualmie pass without any problem. We stopped at the pass to use the restroom and show Jonathan, who was up there skiing. Berty got too hot when we took off again and we were left on the side of I-90 with a high coolant temperature. I guess I should’ve checked the coolant levels before we left, luckily we did buy coolant and oil for this exact scenario. And with smiles on our faces we made it to the next exit to have some lunch and check the other fluids.

Here is our lunch spot as I check oil levels, and coolant levels. With no real options, we set off again for the next 250–problem free— miles.

After nearly having the pop top come off on I-90, I latched that puppy down as hard as I could and we made a Pit stop in Ellensburg:

Had to stop at the Coug Barn for a picture:

Well, now we are caught up. Again, I’m working 8-4pm. Feel free to call me. I am horrible at reaching out but great at holding conversation. 

By the way, Chey and I made a pretty good +1 Family member announcement earlier this evening:

It’s about to be Friday again. This week has ripped. The previous week ripped. It’s like a nightmare in a textile factory out here. I’m sure Chey and I will get into something cool this weekend as wel

Stay livin’