1. I got a new car!
I know. You’re wondering how in the hell I did that while in lockdown. Well, my car lease was coming up on expiration and when I initially contacted the dealership about what I was supposed to do about that in the middle of everything being closed, they told me I would need to call corporate leasing and get my lease extended. Okie dokie, no biggie. But that was more than a month before my lease expired. So I waited several weeks and then I called again and said “Hey, anything change or do I need to extend?” Lo and behold, just days before, the Governor had said that car sales could open again with changes in process at the state level to facilitate online transaction thereof.
I used the dealer website to find the car I wanted and reserve it. I filled out a bunch of paperwork online to apply for the new lease and have them do a credit check. They shunted all that over to finance who ran through things and approved me. Then, I did a video chat with one of the finance guys to take care of stuff that had to be signed in front of a notary. The next day they delivered my car TO MY HOUSE. They showed up, I signed a bunch of stuff, they handed over my new keys, and they drove my old lease away.
I now drive a pretty blue Hyundai Santa Fe.
Interestingly, the sales guy told me that in the 6 weeks sales were closed they had over 100 customers call who had completely totaled their cars and needed new vehicles. Since sales were completely shut down across the state the dealership couldn’t help. The best they could offer was to send people to West Virginia to buy a car there. The only problem with that is you only have 30 days to register that new vehicle with the state and THAT was all shut down, too. So these poor people were renting cars long term because they had no other choice. It’s stuff like this that I didn’t even think about when the shut down orders went into effect. Things ripple out in a thousand ways.
2. On a side note, I still need to renew my driver’s license. All the centers are closed, I’m due to get a RealID so I have to physically go to the DMV, and my license expired April 30th. They’ve issued blanket extensions on that so I’m OK to drive but it’s sort of that last little chore I still need to do that’s itching at me. I need to spend some time gathering all the appropriate documents for RealID so that I have them all together and can grab and go when things open up again.
3. I’m not one of those people who are barking about how you’re lazy if you don’t come out of isolation with a new skill. Oh, a new skill, you say? How about I LEARNED HOW TO STAY ALIVE IN A PANDEMIC. Ahem. Anyway, that said, I picked up Duolingo again. I started trying to learn Swedish a couple of years ago but then things started getting crazy with the divorce heating up, working two jobs, having a relationship, and raising kids. I just didn’t have the bandwidth. But we’re sitting around a lot lately so I opened it back up again and I’m spending maybe 10-15 min a day on it. I can now successfully communicate to a Swedish speaker that I do not eat turtles and that spiders don’t drink beer. Handy phrases, those.
4. The Governor finally got wise on the liquor issue. A couple of weeks after opening up the website that no one could actually get on to, they finally figured out that wasn’t cutting the mustard. They began by designating 100 state stores across the state as curbside pick up locations. You had to call the store, order from whatever stock they had in store, your limit was 6 bottles, and then they’d give you a pick up window – usually the next day.
That lasted all of about a week because those 100 stores got slammed (of COURSE they did). The state then expanded curbside pick up at state stores to most locations across the state. So the website is still open and the stores have curbside pick up. Your limit is still six bottles and they’re only selling 750 ml bottles as far as I’ve been able to tell but liquor is finally back on the menu in Pennsylvania. Skål!
5. I still hate homeschooling. I know, I see your shocked face. We’ve got about 4 weeks to go with this and I’m increasingly hitting “FUCK IT” levels of not caring. Jamie is crying over band lesson? Fuck it. I don’t care. Log off the lesson. Their version of “concert” is voluntary during this time and we’re not volunteering. Liam has another ridiculous assignment from the gym teacher? Fuck it. Here’s my signature that he did it. Get a grip, teacher. We have yet another useless Zoom call for Jamie in which no instruction is occurring and he’s not interested in socializing over a screen for 45 minutes at lunch time? Fuck it. Skip it.
I honestly do not know how I am going to handle this if we don’t go back to the buildings in the fall. I’m barely keeping it together right now.
6. All of my people remain healthy. My job is still finding work for me to do. We have enough food, TP, and other essentials for the time being. Gas is cheap. I successfully gave Jamie a haircut without butchering it too badly. The days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer. May the 4th Be With You!
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