Bookending the Pandemic

In March of 2020, I had the oil changed in my car. I was a little uneasy about COVID-19 at the time, but it was a vague feeling, nothing concrete. I had the week off from work and the idea was to write a lot of words. That wasn't what happened.

As I remember things, it was the same day the NBA shut down their season. It was like the atmosphere turned on a dime. Suddenly, people were very worried. Including myself.

I have anxiety, so I worry about a lot of things most people don't think about, but this was a case of I was late to the worry party. I hadn't stocked up on things like hand sanitizer or toilet paper or Clorox wipes.

So maybe it's kind of fitting that as the pandemic more or less draws to a close in the US with over 40% of the people vaccinated, that I had my car serviced again. It felt (to use a writing term) like a grace note. A bookend on the pandemic if you will.

My day job is forcing us back into the office starting this month, so I guess for me this does officially end the pandemic portion of my life.

And yes, it really was more than a year between oil changes. I have 5000 miles allowed between changes and I only used 3000 of them in 15 months. It's a good thing I went in, though. My battery was critical and I had a transmission leak. Lots of money later, I'm set to drive back to the office. (DAMN IT!)