Barge Date:  12-08-2020

2020 is a Bust

Life’s a bitch.  To think I was a week from buying tickets to France. I had already paid for the waterways pass.  Paid for medical insurance the visa required. Yes, I already had my visa. And here I am in December, stuck at home, laying low, being safe.  Who could have predicted all of this?

I could continue to bitch but at this point it is a lost cause.  I am in line already to get the first vaccine offered.  Don’t get in my way. Being in the “at risk” group has its perks. So if there is a plan it is to get the vaccine, hope it works, hope that France thinks it works, and visas will be issued normally.  We will travel as soon as we can.

Good news about the vaccines; 95% effective.  Just hope that they can get them out and about soon.

The barge has been in Auxonne for 15 months, tied up in the marina.  Just floating there.  I check on it regularly; in the daylight hours to do a visual inspection and at night to make sure electric from shore is connected.  I can see the exterior is getting dirty but other than that it look OK.  What about the inside?  Through the DBA membership I am having a fellow bargee go onboard and take a look.  Hope to have his report soon.  Other than that it is what it is. Nothing I can do unless it begins to sink.

So on the home front life goes on.  LiQiong was in China during their lockdown.  She spent the better part of 2 months in her apartment.  She had food brought in - like room service, it seems. She is back home after first locking herself down for 14 days with a friend. Looking at graduate schools.

Jinglei has been in Columbus, GA for most of the time period, first working for the YMCA in a daycare/camp program they offered to families working in healthcare. At some point she caught the virus and after some early tears locked herself down.  Symptom were mild and she is back at work and school. She is doing the university mostly by computer.

The kids up north have been working at home and everyone seems to like this option.  Seem to be adhering to the rules.

Andrew, Christina and Anni came for a long visit at Christmas and then again this summer for 3 weeks. Couple this with our visit to them last Fall and we have been able to see the growth of Anni. Amazing. She is now on 2 legs and motoring about the home.  To date we have never seen her have an emotional meltdown.  Happy all the time. We think she has a good imprint of our faces so we are happy to do FaceTime with her.

Marianne and I made a road trip to visit them this summer, pulling a U-Haul to Pittsburgh to carry a large china hutch for Andrew and Christina. The hutch was my Fall, ’19 project. Spent a few days with them then drove on to NY to see Alienor, Trevor and old friends nearby.  Everyone had been following safe practices and all went well.  Delivered a small table to Alienor and Trevor.

So what does a guy do in a curtailed year?

Been catching up on all the work I have not done the past 3 summers we were in Europe. Cutting, trimming, raking, painting, woodworking, room conversions, etc.  Added a new garden shed and gazebo to the back side of the property; purchased, not built here. New gravel for the driveway. Hope to tackle more inside work on the house this winter; new trim and paint.  Happy with the outcome of a slab of wood I turned into a desk for Marianne’s new office.  Transformed a bedroom into an office.

Look for a post early in 2021.  Stay safe.