#13 Saturday: Nomad Diary January 29, 2021 It's Friday and I have a Story for this week in Vancouver, Washington

 

Months ago I decided to visit my newest grandson.  A big problem came up that made this visit more difficult than just flying across the country and showing up for a visit, the Pandemic.  I came up with a plan for my visit to include time without a facemask.  I would block out a month to fly out to Vancouver, WA and quarantine for several days and get a clear covid test so I could be a guest in my son’s home and get my hands on that baby.

This required a huge amount of planning between everyone involved, agreeing to schedules, and finding a suitable place for my quarantine.   

I did it, and there I was, dropped off by Uber to my Airbnb.  Once I was unpacked, I decided to entertain myself with practicing improving my humor.  My first assignment I gave myself was to write a story about my quarantine with surprising and humorous details.  And this is where I bring you into my quarantine story.

I’m making the most of my alone time.  I’m liking myself to a monk in a monastic isolation.  Or as cabin-fever sets in, I wonder, is this a result of my fever de Cabin?

First, Why did I choose to practice improving my humor?  Well, I’m in a house for like 10 days and I need things to do.  Of course improving my humor is top on my list of things to do. How did I get to this thought? That I can practice improving my humor?  I’ll be completely honest with you here, I got this idea from Noom.  Yeah, you probably didn’t hear me:  Noom.  That weight loss app.  You’ve probably heard of it.  They make you read articles everyday/ as much as they can make you read these articles everyday/ it’s like a homework assignment with indoctrination to learn better ways of thinking that can cause weight loss and kick old dieting habits to the curb.  So, this humor issue or lack of mine, well, it was Noom that convicted me to think about this.  And yes, this is supposed to get me to connect dots in my thinking that will keep me from obesity in my lifetime.  Basically from overeating and getting fatter and fatter.  Ok.  So now you know my real objective was brought on by Noom’s articles and new knowledge that the more I can laugh, the more stress and calories I can burn off.  I think I got the gist of those articles on being funny.  I knew I needed more.  That is: humor.

I have been feeling a bit stoic about this whole quarantine imposition.  Stoic seems like the correct word, and I googled it to check the definition.  The definition of stoic is:  a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining.  Yes!  That’s the word I wanted.  I don’t like to be a complainer, or seen as a complainer, because I don’t like complainers…I don’t want to be one!  I gotta like myself!  I learned that from Noom articles too!  So being stoic is my option to complaining…I like myself better when I put up and shut up!  I think I’ve done a great service for others when I don’t complain or show how I’m feeling.  Stoicism helps me diet.

This not showing my feelings is really about me liking myself.  Well, and getting you to like me too.

Now I also needed to know:

Was this ‘humor improvement’ even possible? How much fat can I actually lose by making myself more humorous.  It didn’t work for some of my favorite fat comedians.  Although, I don’t think they were using their humor to lose weight.  Especially for me, the stoic, I needed to know if I could be funnier. 

So, I googled my question, and there was an answer.  I listened to a convincing speech of a man who’s message was, I can learn to be more humorous and improve my humor with practice.  There you have it! 

So here I was, living on my own for almost 2 weeks, waiting to clear a covid test in Vancouver, Washington!  Let me repeat that I was in Vancouver, Washington….not in Vancouver, Canada.  My humor was challenged when one of my Noomies, as I call the assigned group of non-dieting dieters online, saw my post about taking a walk in downtown Vancouver, Washington.  She private messaged me through our Noom group, to let me know that I should not be flaunting my disregard for the Vancouver Covid restrictions by telling my group about my walk outside during my covid travel quarentine.  She sent me a very long text with a link to Vancouver, Canada’s current covid restrictions.

I thanked her and told her that my rules in the US are different than her rules in Canada.  She then sent me another long text telling me I was unkind and disrespectful of laws, and possibly spreading covid in her town. 

I again texted her to kindly respond again, that I was in the US, in Vancouver, Washington.  The rules here allow me to walk alone outside, and I’m not breaking any laws here. 

Later on, as I was walking outside to pick up my pre-ordered lunch, I happen to think about how the group on Noom is supposed to be safe, non-judgemental, and encouraging through stress.  This woman somehow couldn’t see that I was not in her town or in her country, and she was letting me have it!  She told me that she hadn’t seen her grandkids in 13 months.  I think she was putting all of her pent up stress and blame on me. 

Dare I post my scones and waffles from the local restaurants on my diet group and get private messaged about breaking the prescribed Noom food rules!  Going way beyond my red foods allowable portions.

I am suddenly one of the lucky ones who can not follow the rules as prescribed and still maintain my weight.  People like this used to make me crazy!  Skinny people who eat whatever, and are still skinny!  That wasn’t me 40 years ago.  I was the angry one who thought everyone had to live by the same rules and then we’d be equal.  Skinny people aren’t allowed to eat whatever they want and stay skinny!!

US people cannot have different covid rules and open borders than Canada or England, and have the same outcomes.  Just stop flaunting your freedom to do what I cannot do where I am. 

I didn’t know that I was flaunting.  Sorry to touch your sensitivity. From now on, I’ll keep my waffles and my scones to myself.