Friday, February 28 2020

Dear Journal,

Good morning, and happy Friday. It's an especially happy Friday for the Recker family. This morning is checkout. Later today, we'll pack the car and return home, where we'll break out just enough furniture for Rodney to nap and for me to sit with my laptop until the workday ends.

I just returned from a fun little adventure. As I was fishing a clean outfit out of the dryer this morning, I could hear stirring in his air mattress. "Wanna come out, dude?" I said peaking into the room. Rodney readily jumped out of bed and joined me in the laundry room.

Ziggy too was on edge this morning. She was now 36 hours into a nervous poop strike. Last night, her paranoia around bikes, cars, and generally anything that moves was in full swing, and she just couldn't do the deed. But something about her body language told me that she was getting close to crossing the picket line if you know what I mean. So after getting Rodney into a new outfit, I suited up and headed out the door with dog leash and toddler in hand. Ziggy pooped on the way to the coffee shop just after we crossed the street, and without going into too much detail, it was a pretty magnificent specimen. For a thirty pound dog, one might thing it was deposited by a 100 pound German Shephard. I bagged up her gift and we continued on our way.

One thing I've noticed about this part of town is that anyone with kids and dogs gets special treatment. Even last night at dinner I noticed people will stop their conversation just to cast a smile at Rodney or our dogs. Entering the coffee shop, you would have thought I was the pope or something. A guy behind me starting showing Rodney old pinball machine parts, and left him with two metal balls as a souvenir. "Just wanted to let you know," he said grabbing my arm. "I gave him one metal ball, and he said he wanted another for his sister."

"Cool, dude, thanks," I said. I was tempted to break the news that he was just hustled by a three year old who has no sister, but the girl behind the counter called my attention asking to give Ziggy a treat. I nodded, and abandoning a line of people out the door, she came around to give Ziggy a slice of turkey. But the people behind me were in no rush either. They stood watching on with wide, content smiles, undoubtedly thinking to themselves Just look at that dog and young child. Take all the time you need, you magnificent American family.

The worst part about this is that on the way back to the house, I realized that I left Ziggy's poop sitting on their window sill. I must have been distracted by the bombardment of social interaction, and the reason that I'm here writing now is that I made a judgment call that I'm not proud of. There's worse things I could have left on their window sill, right? At least dog poop is compost friendly.

Now that I've gotten all that off my chest, like an Internet confessional, I can recap yesterday. I worked form home in the morning, then around lunch time, I threw some leftovers and a beer in my backpack and we made our way to canine sports zone. After setting up at a chilly picnic table beside the dog ring, I scavenged around the staff only break room for a bowl and fork, heating up my lunch. Marissa and Rodney joined me to enjoy their sandwiches. I worked through the afternoon at the table, but then had to relocate to the cold floor so I could charge my battery.

Would you entertain some light macbook griping? This new work computer I ordered is thus far a bit of a downgrade. Compared to my old computer, the battery is a sippie cup of electricity, and I seemingly need to charge it every hour. And I have to wonder how much battery power is already being squandered on this ridiculous touchbar, whose purpose is, I gather, to just flash suggested emoji's for things I'm typing and, of course, be available to summon the Siri setup wizard each time my pinky accidentally brushed it on the way to hitting the delete key. As always, I remain thoroughly impressed with Apple's innovation in finding new ways to disappoint me.

We returned home, and I worked the rest of the day from our couch while Marissa and Rodney napped. After Marissa awoke, we made plans to go out to dinner at an Indonesian food place within walking distance. As she was getting ready to leave, Marissa noticed that Rodney had locked the bathroom door from the inside while fiddling with the lock.

"He's probably not used to all these doorknobs," I joked, referring to the missing doorknobs in our house. Marissa laughed as she studied the lock. After scouring the house for picks and keys, we finally decided to take the doorknob off.

After finally using the bathroom, we put the dogs away and headed out. We were ushered to a small table in the back. I was excited to try restaurant style Nasi Goreng and compare it to my own. Their take on it was edible, but by no means life changing. My meal looked like a bowl of brown rice with some awkward cucumber slices wedged around it. But it didn't make me sick, I give them credit for that. Rodney picked at his Thai fried while we played with his dinosaurs and trains. I was still grateful we had time to sit in silence, and enjoy the luxury of people bringing food to us. And of course, bask in the loving stares from the Willie Street locals.

That's what I got today. Here's to Friday, and here's to returning home. Even though our house will be empty, I have a feeling that it will still feel amazing to walk in the door, smell our own air, and of course enjoy the sheen of our new wood floors.

Have a great Friday, everyone. Thanks for stopping by.