Dear Readers,

Though I have made posts over the past six weeks, I have not done an actual journal entry, so I figured I would get everyone caught up on the goings on over the past month. My state, Texas, is in the middle of a major outbreak of The Rona, and my county, Harris, is the epicenter of it, so there’s no going outside and doing anything for me, so I have time to write a little. (Not that I was going out or doing much before that. You can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually been somewhere since March 6th).

When I made my last pandemic year post, you may recall that I said that we had secured the funds to re-wire the house. The job took seven days to do and the master electrician said that we had the toughest house he’s every worked in given its age and the thickness of the walls. Now, all of our wiring and our panel is up to code. Trying to work in the middle of having your house re-wired is challenging. We ended up having to go one night without a/c. I left and went to stay at my mother’s house since I have an auto-immune disease that makes me susceptible to rapid dehydration if I am not careful. Plus, I couldn’t lay on my ice packs either since we didn’t have power. But we survived it, which was the important part.

After the re-wire, we had to do some other work, mostly replacing some sheetrock that was taken down in the kitchen. As of today, July 4th, all major repairs have been completed. Now, we are just slowly getting everything put back where it belongs. The insurance denied our appeal for the roof damage, so we’ll have to get an attorney and file suit. I’m not looking forward to that. But it is what it is.

June passed very quickly, given all the “excitement” we’d had in April and May. I really got very little of value accomplished, which kind of sucks. I admit that I have not made the best use of the all the time at home. It’s been difficult to concentrate and I’ve also dealt with major flare ups in pain too. But now I am deep into edits to Molly’s Song and hope to be finished with the bulk of it in about a week or so. On that note, I have the perfect theme song for the Netflix/Amazon series about her, should she ever appear on screen. You can listen to it here.

I hope to have the next episode of my Civil War podcast out sometime next week. I just have to decide on a topic first. I’m also suffering through major withdrawal having recently given up the cigarettes. When I quit before, in 2012, it was a breeze. I stayed quit for about a year and a half. Now, it isn’t so easy. But it is what it is. I keep telling myself that if Molly can get through all the trials and tribulations that I put her through, then I can get through this.

My son graduated high school on June 1st and they actually had an in-person graduation, though there was at least an attempt at social distancing. My wife and I wore masks and stayed well away from everyone else. The Friday before that, I had an in person doctor appointment and that was my first time out of the house since all this began. I was nervous because it is in a medical office building and I knew there might be sick people there, but I escaped without getting infected. I don’t have another appointment until August, so I really don’t have to leave the house unless it is an emergency until then.

Until next time, friends, take care of yourselves, and each other.

L.H.