one brave day outside of spaceship jnet

Even Big Boy Bob wore a mask!

For my first time outside my home since March, I finally have something to share for my SoCal community for the #mycalifornia share. Yay.

I had to breakout sometime. Quarantine life and studying online tutorials emboldened me to play beauty salon on myself. Scissors and bleach was becoming my new friend.

California enjoyed a tiny window of opening up bars and restaurants. My best friend collected me to take me out for a drive to survey my covid-era neighborhood and perhaps slow me down from going nuclear on myself and chopping my hair off.

Some businesses were boarded up. Some were sadly gone altogether. The traffic was light but people were milling around. I felt like Rip Van Winkle or Captain America looking at the world after a long sleep. Bewildered.

It was shocking to see bars full of people and restaurant row lively just around the corner from me. It looked like a typical summer fun night.

Some people wore masks. Many didn’t. I had mine on and was getting dizzy while talking to J during the drive. The traditional Friday night classic car show at Bob’s Big Boy was lean in vintage cars yet heavily attended. We parked a block away, walked up, and for a tiny bit; felt life was normal. A handful of people wore masks.

Everyone had to have a mask on to enter the restaurant. It wasn’t wall to wall people like usual. The restaurant was observing social distancing protocols. Employees works masks and face shields. The closest group of diners were at least 10 feet away and the counter space was not used for dining.

I was nervous. If I was at a less cheerful place, I might’ve started crying from the anxiety. J was comforting. It was also her first time to dine at a restaurant since the lockdown. She had been working throughout the pandemic and was more accustomed to the masked world. We enjoyed our burgers and catching up.

It was a fun brief venture outside of spaceship JNET. But leaving my bubble didn’t do me well. My face reacted to wearing a mask and got red and blotchy. It is still inflamed after several days. I feel like I have fire ants on my face. Unfortunately, I have hypersensitive skin where I can’t wear makeup or put lotion on without reacting.

I guess I will stay home til my skin calms down or til I can find a silk mask. I’m in no rush to join a dystopian world.

I expect the social tension will only get worst this season. Fourth of July will be interesting. My favorite and most unifying holiday among neighbors of the year will be spent in solitude. The protests continue and the news never fails at bringing new doom and gloom material. Incidentally, the bars got shut down and put back into lockdown by weekend’s end due to a spike in covid cases. The spike doesn’t worry me. I’m watching the numbers of deaths. If deaths don’t skyrocket, I hope that the state opens up and without masks. California is a Covid roller coaster.

Until then, I’ll be in spaceship JNET, writing, playing the piano, and checking in with my Ground Control team. And I promise to not chop off my hair or do anything too crazy.

JNET