Sunday, May 31, 2020

Quarantine projects, Part One.

Decreased work hours, locked out of the gym, no travel, no eating out, social distancing, what to do? Well, first off more opportunity for recreational reading.  My IRL book club was one of the first losses to the pandemic. Towards the end of March I read about #TolstoyTogether. The prospect of a "virtual" bookclub seemed a pale substitute for IRL group give and take seemed kinda shaky- to boot, it was going to be on Twitter which I had avoided for, among other reasons, it being Trump's favorite media outlet. It's format, though- 15-20 pp/day and my newly expanded available time made it a- if not now, when- decision to start War and Peace.
My copy arrived (ironically?) on April 1st. By then #TT was on day 15, but thanks to the relaxed assignments was caught up by April 5th. I'm a creature of habits and the daily dose of W&P readily became part of my schedule, such as it was.
By the time the gym had to close up, the weather and longer daylight hours thankfully were making outdoor exercise not a hardship at all. We do miss the social aspects of the gym as it's our version of the pub. DW relented on having a bike trainer in the house as the newer ones don't spew out tire fragments, are compact and have a pedal feel much like a good stationary bike.

If it's raining, it's pleasant to pedal indoors with the TV on or listening to an Audible book.
Our library ladder rails serve double purpose as pull-up bars.

DW drew the limit on in-house gym equipment with the dip bars, thus that is done in the shop.

Speaking of the shop, that initially would seem as the best use of expanded non-work time. Early on the course of the pandemic, it seemed important to avoid any respiratory irritants. In that mindset I limited shop time to small projects such as this iPad handlebar holder and a waste basket to replace one the little round one I'd been using for 20-odd years; impractical now that I'm generating more paper waste as a bookbinder.


As the epidemic progressed, respiratory conditions appeared to be less of a factor for severe infection than other parameters. Since age and to some extent my profession were bigger risk factors, it seemed reasonable to increase my time in the shop. Thus yet another kitchen revision- the fourth in 25 years.