Chalk Art

Here's some more driveway COVID-19 chalk art from the neighborhood. Funny artist.

John tells me that this first scene is from the Pixar movie Monsters, Inc. Mike Wazowski, the green opinionated, feisty little one-eyed monster is dressed up to look like the Coronavirus, while his girlfriend, Celia Mae says, "Not funny, Michael."

The second scene comes from Disney's Aladdin. Aladdin and Jasmine are looking at each other, wearing masks. One of them says, "It's a whole new world," alluding to the movie's theme song. The lyrics are ironic in this COVID-19 context:

A whole new world

A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us, "no" or where to go

Or say we're only dreaming

It rained off and on most of the day, so walking was out. We were able to make it to the causeway by car in between showers so we could walk Dee Dee. That's her favorite destination. Lots of smells and a nice breeze. We managed 4 miles for the day. Yesterday was about the same. I have summer courses to get ready, so there wasn't much outdoor activity, and no blog entry, alas. Still we're averaging 11.5 miles per day for the last month.

I took advantage of the stay-at-home time to do some chores. I fixed three sprinkler heads and re-stocked my sprinkler supplies from Ace and Home Depot. I got some spray paint to use on our new TV entertainment center that we picked up from the street. I have to wait for a sunny day to spread out a drop cloth on the lawn. John forbids me using the garage for that, which is probably a good idea. The last time I spray painted a harvest gold refrigerator an almond color in the house under a plastic tent, I ended up with almond colored boogers and eye lashes.

I scraped 10 stickers (bears with colored balloons, flower bouquets, etc.) from the sliding glass doors from the previous owner. That project was way harder than it should have been. It involved razor blades, goo gone, windex, and tons of paper towels. But they're all gone!

I'm researching garage door roller replacement, compost bins, and electric bikes. On windy days, I'm having trouble keeping up with John on the causeway and up Palm Boulevard. If it weren't for the wind, I wouldn't need any assistance, doggone it.

What do you think of this compost bin? It comes in 3 pieces, no metal parts to rust or break. And you can even roll it around the yard to dump the compost.

What do you think of this bike? It's a mid-drive which means the motor is connected to the pedals and senses your effort and kicks in accordingly. Normally, the mid-drive design is more expensive, but this one is from a lesser-known Chinese maker and is value-priced. The other design puts the motor in the hub of the wheel, so the motor and pedals are independent of one another. The mid-drive is smoother and more efficient, but puts a lot of strain on the chain and has more parts to wear out. The hub design is the most popular and is simpler, but can be a bit jerky since it is not directly linked to the rider's input.

We fixed tofu stir-fry for dinner.

• Rice
• Cubed tofu, coated in corn starch and fried on high heat with 1/8 cup of canola oil. Set aside.
• Stir fry carrots, broccoli, squash, onions, green onions on high heat with 1/8 cup of canola oil.
• Add sauce and tofu at the end. Sauce: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tsp each of ginger, turmeric, garlic powder, curry. 1 tbs of honey, splash of sriracha sauce, a few drops of liquid smoke