Alive and well in Illinois….

It’s now mid June, and while the pandemic numbers in the state have been dropping (in fact we currently boast the best job in the country at bringing those numbers down) this sucker is FAR from over. That said, it’s amazing how fast time has passed doing lock down. I’ve played an infinite number of hours of World of Warcraft and watched a load of Netflix, Amazon prime, Hulu, etc. What I haven’t done much of is listen to books on tape/Audible. OR for that matter written up the backlog of 150 posts about my travels … just can’t bring myself to be that productive.

The most exciting events of the past three months are…

1. I am now the proud owner of my own apartment. I bought pretty much without really seeing it. Initially it was because I was in Florida (this was PRE Pandemic) and then it was because of the lock down. The walk through you’re supposed to do before finalizing the sale was my first time being physically in the space… it was all done remotely with the real estate agent walking through while I watched via FaceTime (we both own iPhones) and asked her to focus the camera on this or that. So all of that got done remotely. Its AN apartment but not THE apartment, the location rocks, and it was the most affordable I could find… but it’s sort of depressing little place — the intention when I first picked the place (pre pandemic) was to have someplace to retreat to in the neighborhood where my doctor and preferred hospital is (and one that was becoming increasingly difficult to find an Airbnb within), but to not really spend that much time there overall as I’d be traveling at least 7 months of the year if not more … HA HA HA HA HA
2. Once the purchasing process was over, moving in during a pandemic was “interesting.” I had assumed I could just go to Ikea and get what I needed,  HA HA HA HA… I can’t even get delivery, and even if I did they’d drop it off in the building garage and not help me get it upstairs to the apartment. That said, I did manage to get the professional movers to unload my storage locker and bring the contents to my place… so I have a mattress and box spring (about 20 years old, my old bed from my dad’s place — I vacuumed it well).
3. Over the course of the past few months there was a MASSIVE hail storm that took out my back window. Hail the size of golf balls.
   
   Getting the glass replaced and the car cleaned out of glass was also a challenge, because of the pandemic. Happily I was able to get it replaced by one of those companies that drive out to where are and do it. There was a bit of delay because they didn’t have my glass in stock, but it was done in a few days. HOWEVER… the rain wasn’t done between the damage and the repair, so we had to cover the car with a massive tarp the Airbnb owner lent me, and the fist time we closed a car door the back window IMPLODED (so glad the tarp was on by then and kept the glass from flying out and hitting me or the family members who were helping me out).
   
   Ultimately in order to get it cleaned out, I took it to the dealership and they helped me because car detailers were not considered necessary businesses. They cleaned it as well as they could, spent a good two hours doing it, and then I went in with the Airbnb owner’s hvac and we found places their guys had missed… and in spite of that I’m still finding bits of broken glass weeks later… I pick it out, and next time I drive, there’s more… especially in the trunk space.

All that said, I’m splitting my time between the Airbnb and the new apartment. I’ve extended my stay but am spending nights at the apartment. Sounds nutty I know, but I basically have a deal with the owner, if I get sick she’ll make sure I don’t starve to death during the high fever and hallucinations part of the illness (assuming I don’t get so sick as to need hospitalization … knock on wood!)