Depending on when you officially started, we’re either on day nine, eleven, or day eight hundred forty-nine of social distancing/quarantine. I know I’m not reinventing the wheel here when I say, it feels a lot longer than all the aforementioned day totals. Which on a mathematical scale doesn’t seem like it should be possible yet here we are living in a world where it feels like we’ve been isolating for nine, eleven, and eight hundred forty-nine days. How many years have passed since this all started? How are we still only in March?! I don’t know about you guys but dates, the actual date, has been one of the first things I’ve lost track of. If it wasn’t for work I probably wouldn’t know what day of the week it is… and despite working I oftentimes forget what day of the week it is.

Despite all that, I find myself in relatively good spirits. Although I have found that spending all my time at home, with no date awareness,  is a bit exhausting. I can’t really explain it but I feel more tired than usual. I wonder if Desmond felt this way in the Hatch…

As we approach the two-week mark of social distancing, I wanted to check in with everyone and see how moral was? I hope you’re all holding up well. I know this is a lot and it’s putting a strain on a lot of people. I know that not everyone is able to work from home and stress levels are high so I hope that I Am Geek has been providing some escapism for you. Mostly, I wanted to let you know that you’re not alone and your quarantine probably looks a lot like more quarantine.

Don’t believe me? Well, allow me to paint the picture of what life has been like here at I Am Geek Headquarters during these nine, eleven, or eight hundred forty-nine days.

• One great thing about the social distancing is it’s really cut down on my Dunkin Donuts habit. Once I discovered that I don’t like my tea straight, I found no one made a better cup of tea then Dunkin. What started as a once in a while thing quickly became a weekly habit. Now, well now I’m making tea at home and I’m only using creamer and no sugar so I’ve got that going for me. On top of that, each morning I’ve been using a fun mug and then posting said fun mug on Instagram for all to marvel at. You can find my “Working From Home A Series of Coffee Mugs” collection @iamgeek32 (Side Note- when I said that I’m making myself tea in the morning, I really meant my wife, Alyson is making me tea. She is also choosing all the fun mugs you see pictured on my Insta. Am I told to be saying Insta?)
• I stopped going to the gym right before the NBA season got canceled because it was feeling like a House of Icky. Since then, gyms have been closed and working out options have become limited. In order to get out of the house, I’ve been going for walks. And I’ve been walking… a lot. This week alone should be over twenty miles total. Usually, start the day with one and then Alyson and I take a post-work walk which is kind of like our commute home. It’s just nice to get outside. Rainy days seem to be the toughest as they feel the most end of the worldish.
• Yes, before you ask, we watched all of the Netflix series Tiger King. It took us about two days. What in the world was that?! So many thoughts. So thankful for my teeth. Need a follow-up series stat but Alyson pointed me in the direction of a podcast called Over My Dead Body which covers everything and even includes things the docuseries didn’t cover. Joe Exotic will be the face of social distancing… I guess in some ways he got his wish of being famous.
• I’ve worn real pants once during all of this. Most days I wear work out pants or sweats and then after the post-work walk, I change into my post-work comfy pants. Those tend to be plaid and made of pajama-like material. I even went as far as to order myself some new comfy pants this morning. I figure since this is all I’m wearing lately, I might as well stock up.
• Speaking of attire, I have this knit hat I’ve worn forever that I’ve turned into my Covid-19 hat. I wear it most days. With the exception of today. Today is a hood up kind of day. I forgot to get my hair cut before things went sideways so by the end of this I’m going to have quite the mane. I plan on growing a Covid-19 beard as well. Or enhancing my pre-Covid-19 beard to resemble a beard that was cut loose during social distancing.
• I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not but I’ve been on Twitter quite frequently. It has been my best source of news and updates while also being the best source of instilling a sense of dread an panic. I’m currently in a state where I pick and choose what days I’m going to look for news updates and what days I’m just going to talk about comics or pop culture. Doing it every day will cause me to go insane.
• While at work (in the office), I maintain a certain level of hydration. This means at home I’ve been giving our Britta filter quite the workout.
• Outside of the insanity of Tiger King, we’ve watched a number of other things under quarantine. There’s the daily episode or three of The Office (which just turned fifteen!). Besides that, I finished I’m Not Okay With This (Alyson fell off) and I’m here for a second season. Wasn’t perfect but I’m invested, and that ending. We watched the first season of I’m Sorry which I admittedly didn’t get into at first but now I love and wish Andrea Savage and Tom Everett Scott were married in real life. We also a watched a funky little zombie movie called Little Monsters that starred Josh Gad as an over the top kid’s television personality and Lupita Nyong’o as a school teacher who plays ukelele versions of Taylor Swift songs.
• This household is now an Animal Crossing household. Alyson and I both have homes on the island and are trying to work out a schedule where we both can have the same amount of time playing. We’ve only had the game for less than a day but I suspect if we’re to turn on each other it’ll be because of Animal Crossing playing time. Either that or we’ll end up buying another Switch.
• I’ve been doing a lot of dancing. That may sound weird but I’ve always enjoyed busting out a random dance. Now I’m either dancing to the new Donald Glover album or just randomly throughout the day to get Alyson to laugh. I might have discovered some sweet moves.
• I’ve been getting a lot of reading done too which has been awesome. I’m currently crushing my Good Reads yearly challenge. Last I checked I was like eight books ahead of pace. I just started the The Office: Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s by Andy Greene. As I mentioned earlier this week when were discussing lasers, I finished From A Certain Point of View the Star Wars short story collection. I finished Movies (And Other Things) by Shea Serrano, which is a fun look at all types of movies and asks some ridiculous questions. Graphic novel wise I’ve been plowing my way through Kelly Thompson’s Hawkeye series. Should actually finish that tonight, I think.
• With the lack of sports, I’ve really gotten into marble racing. Yes, I’m serious. Just look it up. It’ll be easier than me explaining but it’s exactly what you think it is. Also playing filler to sports is Guy Fieri’s Tournament of Champions on the Food Network. I mean, I was always going to be hyped for this but with the lack of sports, I’m extra hyped. Give me allllllllll the competitive cook-offs.
• Speaking of tournaments, I’ve been conducting the I Am Geek Super Hero Movie Championship over on our Facebook page. The turn out for voting has been tremendous and we’re currently in the finals. You should stop by and put a vote down. I’ll have a write up on the experience in the next day or two.
• Podcasts have been helpful throughout the workday. I’ve been slowing catching up on those. Check out The Untold Hour, The Rewatchables, The Stack, among others I’ve been listening to.
• Been to the food store quite a bit. We’ve done one stress shopping and then a number of pick up small items shopping. Just like everyone else, we’re trying to stay well-stocked but not overly stocked where we seem like monsters. You know, a fair balance. In good news, my mother gave me a tip the other morning and I was able to get some toilet paper. I got oddly emotional in the aisle.
• Lots of Facetiming.

Outside of all that, I’ve been trying to get new content up on the site as often as possible to give you guys something to look forward to. We’re all in this together and hopefully seeing how I’ve been spending my quarantine helps you in some way. Maybe you’ll even feel compelled to share what you’ve been doing over these days. You can leave those stories in the comments or throw me a line on Twitter @iamgeek32. We’re just going to take it one day at a time and before you know it, it’ll be April 1st and Community will be on Netflix. That’s when the real fun begins.