Coping with Covid

Some helpful suggestions and humorous reflections on the pandemic.

First of all, my personality and lifestyle is already conducive for social distancing and quarantines

• I have never have taken a cruise and probably never will, not for fear of illness but because of lack of money
• My cruising consists of commuting to work (M-F) from Bridgeport to Stamford CT
• Have not taken a vacation for over 20 years, not because I’m allergic to fun, I just don’t have funds
• Weekends consist of working 2 additional jobs. Therefore, socializing in bars or going to movies are not something I’m giving up.
• I never really enjoyed team sports, maybe because I’m an only child. Too much arguing on team sports and rules that must be followed. My favorite sports are solitary events like running, swimming and weight lifting.  
• I rarely shop and when I do, it’s only for essentials like milk, bread, and peanut butter (of which I probably eat too much)
• I have never been incarcerated but if I was put in jail, I would opt for solitary confinement over having a cell mate. Who needs that drama.
• Being almost bald, I shave my head so it’s not like I’m missing trips to the barbershop. My shadow has not darkened the doorstop of the barbershop in over 20 years.  
• Last, but not least, being of Irish descent, I am not predisposed to hugs and overly demonstrative physical expressions. It takes an Irish wake to get a hug out of me.

So how am I coping and what are some of my recommendations?

• Work out in the driveway lifting weights, shadow boxing and doing plyometric exercises  ( jumping jacks, burpees, planks, etc.).
• Wearing all black (sweats and t-shirt) and listening to Eminem rapping before doing the above described driveway workout. Imagining during the work out that you are in the prison yard. If Eminem is not your thing, try listening to Jonny Cash singing “I walk the line” from Folsom Prison.
• Wearing all white (sweats and t-shirt) and listening to Loggins & Messina’s “Highway to the Danger Zone” before doing the above described driveway workout. Imagine during your workout that you are Tom Cruise in the movie Top Gun or Richard Gere in the movie “An Officer & a Gentleman”.  Ironically, I have been told that I look just like these guys (now that’s some seriously fake news!)
• Wearing my torn sweats and ratty sweatshirt (of which I have plenty) and jog down the street while shadow boxing. Listen to the song “Eye of the Tiger” and watch a clip of any of the Rocky films (the first couple are my favorites) and yell “Yo Adrian” to passerbys (from a safe social distance).
• Learning a new skill. My kids have been teaching me sign language.  While doing the aforementioned workouts, they make me show them every letter of the alphabet.  If I do not remember it or get it wrong, I need to do an extra sit up. I have been doing LOTS of extra sit-ups. At this rate, if the quarantine lasts a long time,  I hope to get a set of abs like “The Situation” on the old show “Jersey Shore”.
• Catching up on my writing. Revising my novel entitled “Mall Child” which I am planning to release early in 2021. Participating in any and all writing webinars to further hone my writing skills. Everybody should take this quarantine time to pursue whatever avocation they always wanted to launch. I’m a late bloomer to writing and I absolutely love the exercise.
• Catching up on my blogging and networking with family, friends and outreaching to advance my writing career.
• Last, but not least, a huge beneficiary of this pandemic is my lawn. Working 3 jobs I have never had the luxury of working on it this early in the season. I usually postpone lawn work until getting a notice from the health department urging me to cut the lawn. By the way, I’m big on multi-tasking so I use an old fashioned push mower (old school version) so I’m getting my work out while cutting the lawn. My goal is to keep it low early in the season so I can continue to use the hand held push mower