I Went Outside!!!

Today I left the house.

I wore sneakers and socks, jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie. And I had a scarf to wrap around my face when humans approached too closely.

First I dropped off my laundry, using proper social distancing. The hours have been reduced to nine-to-five, and everyone in there seemed healthy. I wished them well and continued on.

To the ATM. I had a chunk of paper towel in my pocket, and I used a twist of it to wrap around my finger so I could hit buttons without contaminating myself. I got some cash for food deliveries, although most of them go by a middleman company that charges their own delivery fee.

To the drugstore! Where I was lucky enough to score a 12-pack of toilet paper. I also got some alcohol moistened glasses-cleaning cloths that come in little foil envelopes. I love these things for cleaning glasses, but I've also been using them to disinfect phones and money.

Diet Pepsi was on sale, plus I got some low-sodium taterchips because my blood pressure has been a little high lately. My doctor wanted me to get a blood pressure gauge to confirm that, so I did, but I haven't unpacked it yet. Also some Snickers bars, which I am hoarding, because if I do get sick, they're a nice digestible way to get calories down my throat. And ... some butter! It was sitting inexplicably in the dairy case so I snagged it.

I have a good supply of butter, because butter makes everything edible. Pasta, bread, frozen waffles, potatoes. I have a ton of pasta and lots of cheese and alfredo sauce. Lots of soup and Dinty Moore and Beefaroni. And Chunky Jazzy Jambalaya, which I practically lived on at my previous job, because I could nuke it in 3 minutes and have 27 minutes of lunch break left. I have lots of frozen piroshkis, and some BBQ ribs and pulled pork, and plain beef and chicken. A dozen frozen entrees and some chicken pot pies. Bread and bacon and cheese, and lots of juice concentrate. Massive amounts of La Croix and diet soda. Lots of Pop Tarts, another good energy source for the sick and feeble.

Once I pick up my laundry tomorrow I'm not coming out for a while.

After Walgreens I passed by World Wrapps. Back in the '90s World Wrapps on Chestnut Street was one of my favorite places. Originator of the Thai Chicken Wrapp, which became ubiquitous. Chicken, cucumbers, carrots, jasmine rice, peanut sauce and a spinach green tortilla, all rolled up burrito style. It faded away like many other good restaurants. Don't even get me started.

During the beginning of 2020, when everything was magical and I had a shiny new job and marvelous restaurants were opening all around me and I thought life was going to be just peachy for a while, I was walking down Chestnut Street and -- OMG! -- the place that used to be all rustic in decor where they sold tiny cheeseburgers and elaborate salads was being replaced by a new incarnation of World Wrapps!! With a new and improved menu! As in, I can get Indian, Korean, Thai and Japanese style wrapps in there now. Which I did, with very little encouragement. Plus they have Mexican style. And even Hawaiian style, although I can't handle the onions and garlic in that one.

I still remember the night I was walking down Chestnut where I happened to walk in when they were having a dry run, and serving everything on the menu -- free. And I had my first Thai Chicken Wrapp in 20 years. And then suddenly ... bang, pandemic. What a great time to open a new restaurant. They are still serving takeout, and I ordered some from them last week.

I'm trying to get delivery from the restaurants while they're offering it, because they're hurting a lot. My job's okay, but a lot of people are on shaky ground and I feel terrible about it. Planning to spend my stimulus check on art from my artist friends.

So anyway, I walked past World Wrapps ... and past all the retail shops that were shuttered. Some boarded up. I decided to get a burger at the new place up the street, and everyone was socially distancing, with tape Xs on the ground for us to stand on as we waited. It was weird seeing other human beings.

San Francisco is doing very well in the "staying at home" competition, or so I've heard. It felt like a ghost town out there, with nobody loitering or lingering.

Once I got home I took off my clothes and put them in Contamination Corner. I unbagged the groceries and put the bags, and the new toiletpaper, in another Contamination area. I put the butter in its own isolated region in the fridge; won't be touching it for a while. The new alcohol wipes and blood pressure thingy and candybars went into a pile where they will sit for a few days. I took a shower, washing my hands and face with lots of soap. I could improve this routine by removing my shoes at the door, wearing a mask and so on, and I expect I will be doing all of that in the future.