Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part Eight

A lone seagull keeps watch over my backyard on a sunny Thursday.

That sunshine today feels amazing, doesn't it?

Of course, I've only experienced it from my backyard. This is the age of isolation, and it is getting a little frustrating. I've been fortunate that I have shown no symptoms of anything but my annual spring allergies (and it is pretty cool to see the grass greening and the willows budding and blooming, even if they all make me sneeze), and that I can reach out to friends via the podcast, but I still want to talk to something animate and in person instead of just yelling at the TV screen every time I see one of those White House pandemic updates.

It's gotten so that my longest non-podcast conversations take place with the seagulls that claim my pond as their temporary home until it's time for them to head back to the coastline. Now, I understand that there will be those that will berate me for this admission, but every now and then I venture out into the backyard with some old bread -- and the second these gulls see the door close and the big man walking toward the fence, they take flight -- first a scout or two to make sure it's legit, then the whole flock races to meet me, knowing there's a meal awaiting them.

I know, I know, don't feed them, blah blah blah. The way I see it, they've been foraging for crap through the harshest of months, and it isn't going to bring society to its knees if I drop a few morsels of slightly-crunchy honey wheat bread at them. Besides, the squirrels, bunnies and my lone woodchuck enjoy it as well, as long as the seagulls don't eat it all.

They fly over, they chirp or squawk quietly as opposed to the screeches you may hear at the beach, and I remind them from time to time that they should refrain from pooping on me during their flyovers. So far, so good in that respect. Then, once they feel I'm a safe distance away, they start their touch-and-go landings to pick up the morsels of bread. It's fun to watch.

Yep, life in the new reality. And now they're closing my coffee shop. I will probably be bat-shit crazy by the time this all ends.

Now, other thoughts from the side of the road to the apocalypse:

The iRig 2 is a popular interface device.

** One bit of good news came from the Amazon van on Wednesday, when a little piece of equipment was delivered that may allow me to expand my podcasts to even more potential guests.

It's called the "iRig 2" and it's used by musicians to hook up their guitars to smartphones and recording devices. It's also good to use with a mixing board so you can record a podcast directly through the board, which makes for pretty good sound quality -- not as good as Skype, which I have used for several podcasts, but some people think Skype is too complicated. And if nothing else, I want to be accommodating.

I almost have it figured out -- a friend called me and I could record his conversation, but he couldn't hear me through the mixing board. I've tried to watch tutorials on YouTube to figure out what I'm doing wrong, but they all seen to whip through all this stuff so fast, even stopping the video doesn't help all that much. But I'm close. And it's helpful to have something to do every day other than sitting in front of the TV binge-watching "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

** I don't know how much longer they're going to let us drive in this state, so in just a few hours, I'm going to be picking up a couple of orders of beef bolognese from Mansfield native Jen Royle's restaurant in the North End of Boston, TABLE by Jen Royle, and those should last me for a couple of days.

You can find the details of what Jen is offering on her takeout menu by going to the lecft-hand side of the web version of my blog site, and scrolling down to where it says, "Dining Fearlessly." Click on the photo and it will take you directly to the restaurant's web page, which has all you need to know about ordering any of her Italian delicacies.

Plenty of restaurants are offering takeout during these difficult times, and I certainly hope they will be allowed to continue. It's their only way of staying in business right now.

** Want to feel like you're at a game? Watch the Dow Jones ticker on TV and you'll either stand and cheer as the numbers go up, or shout and boo when they start to dip. By the way, as I type this, the Dow is back over 22,000. Maybe I won't have to become a male prostitute after all.

** I was going to do my taxes this week. Then I had a lot of work to do on podcasts and the like. then they extended the deadline ... but I think I'll still try to beat the original April 15 deadline. I just need to focus.

** That's all for today, folks. Stay safe and wash your hands. Every day I hear we have more cases of the coronavirus around here, but I'm not one of them, and I don't want you to be one, either.