72 Hours
My boss wants me to come back to work, but I haven’t been allowed to because no one can with any cold or flu symptoms. I’ve had a sore throat and a runny nose every morning. Maybe I always do and I have never really thought about much it. So my boss talked to the COO, and he told me he got a waiver yesterday for me to come back to work as long as my primary care provider doesn’t think I shouldn’t. Since I don’t know what my PCP thinks, I called my doctor’s office, but the phones were down until 4 p.m. I finally got through and talked to an RN, who said I should just get tested for COVID-19. She said she could put in for an order, but it would probably just be faster if I went to a local testing center.
Teller County offers testing to residents, but not until Wednesday. So I drove down to Memorial Central this morning and waited in a line of cars until it was my turn. One person took down my name, birth date, and info on my insurance card. At Memorial, testing is free even if you don’t have insurance. Another person told me to pull forward into a tent erected in an extra parking lot. Then Grace, wearing full protective gear, came up to my open car window and told me to take off my mask. I had heard that getting tested is pretty terrible, that it feels like someone is jabbing a Q-tip up your nose all the way to your brain. But Grace was very gentle. She slowly stuck a swab up one nostril, stopping right before it ran into anything. She swirled it around for ten seconds, then pulled it out and did the other nostril with the same precision, stopping right before it jabbed into anything. It did make my eyes water and make me feel like I was about to uncontrollably sneeze. But I didn’t, and then she was finished. She stuck my swab in a tube and told me I was all done.
They say I should get my results within 72 hours. Of course, the results will just say if I currently have COVID-19. It won’t tell me if I had it.
Thunder on the Arkansas
I spent this weekend working as a corner marshal. That meant I wore a long sleeve white shirt, tan pants (I need to get some white ones), and stood all day in 99° heat in La Junta waving flags at cars.
In exchange for my service, I get to camp in a parking lot. We were awoken at 6 a.m. on Thursday by the sound of bulldozing concrete.
At one point a car’s engine blew up on the track, leaving a giant track of oil. We had to go out and pour floor-dry on the oil and sweep it off the track. No one wants to race on a track slick with oil. Then another car’s engine blew up on the track. I was watching it happen. A Volkswagen Beetle in full Herbie colors started smoking profusely and pulled off into the paddock. He left behind another giant trail of oil. As we were sweeping, I mentioned that the situation reminded me of that scene in Cool Hand Luke. Someone laughed and said, “Calling it your job don’t make it right, Boss.”
We ate at a restaurant on Friday and Saturday night, which is the first time we’ve been in a restaurant since March 11. The restaurants have every other table without chairs, and I think you’re supposed to wear masks until you’re seated. The first night we went to Boss Hog’gs, which has a $14.99 steak special but, more importantly, ice cold AmberBock on tap. The second night we went to the Mexico City Cafe. All the dishes there come with beans and vermicelli. The vermicelli tasted like spaghetti with Rotel. Is this a Mexican thing?
Berck came in second to last in all his races, but he completed them all, and didn’t run off the track! Well, in the last race, his fellow Formula Vee drivers Andy and Eric let him get in front of them, even though they’re faster. Eric tried to pull in front of Berck right before the checked flag, but Berck said he took his last corner so well that he finished in front of Eric anyway.
On Saturday, some clouds mercifully rolled in, but right after the racing had ended for the day and I’d cracked open a beer, we were hit by an intense haboob. The wind was so intense that the only thing keeping the porto-potties flying away was the cable holding them to the ground, but that didn’t keep them from becoming airborne and turning sideways in the air.
Our tent and sheets were full of dirt. Then it started raining. Berck got on the phone and got us a motel room for our last night. Also we had showers. There wasn’t any hot water, but I wanted a cold shower anyway because I was so hot.
This race wasn’t supposed to happen. The first Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing race of the year scheduled for May got cancelled. The second one was supposed to be in Pueblo last weekend, but the city of Pueblo hadn’t allowed the racetrack there to open yet. But at the last minutes this race in La Junta got scheduled. Unfortunately, even though we got three inches of snow at our house in Divide on Tuesday, it is already full-on summer in La Junta.
The organizers cut all the races for today short, and I didn’t hear anyone complaining. We were glad to finally get out of the heat. Berck’s run group was first, so he was almost done packing everything up by the time I was done for the day. We had time to stop by Lucy’s Tacos one more time before leaving town, and I got a giant ice filled horchata for the ride home.
I tried to wear a mask and stay apart from people in the volunteer meetings. But it was really nice to do something fun after being at our house for so long. More photos here.
What I hope remains
We stop shaking hands. (This was always a huge disease spreader for things like the common cold.)
We work from home more.
We go on fewer business trips.
We treat medical professionals, grocery store workers, delivery drivers, and truckers like heroes.
We make more home cooked meals.
We garden more.
We do things that are inconvenient for ourselves to try to protect the most vulnerable among us.
We reach out to our friends and loved ones more, even if we can’t do it in person.
There are more science stories on social media.
Dogs get to go on more walks.
Parents are more involved in their children’s education.
There are fewer people in movie theaters and more people reading books.
There are fewer people watching sports and more people playing board games together.
“Stay safe” replaces “Have a good one”.
No paywalls for important news.
The feeling that we’re all in this together.
Delivery cocktails.
Potato Leek Soup
More with the recipes…
Use a lot more leeks than you can usually convince Jonah to buy. 8-12 leeks is a good start. I prefer to use only the white and white-green parts. If you move on to green-white it’s okay, but don’t use the green parts. They just tastes like grass. Slice the leeks thinly, and wash them. Wash them another several times. Wash them again, unless you like gritty soup.
Sautee them in butter and olive oil. I tend to measure butter in units of sticks. One stick is fine for this. You want some oil so the butter won’t burn/brown. I cook them on high heat for 10-15 minutes.
Peel and chop the desired amount of potatoes. Don’t over-potato your leeks. One large potato per leek, maybe? I prefer for the potatoes to be large bite-sized, which should still leave some big chunks after it disintegrates. I cook the potatoes with the leeks in the butter for awhile.
I like to add sliced garlic. It’s not necessary, but everything’s better with garlic. Toss it in when you’re basically done with the leeks and potatoes and cook until the garlic starts browning.
With the heat on high, add some vermouth, cheap white wine, or the alcohol of your choice. Let it bubble for a bit then add enough chicken stock until the potatoes are just covered in liquid.
Cook at a low simmer for an hour, with the lid covered. Longer is even better. When you’re about half an hour away from being ready to serve it, remove the cover, turn up the heat and reduce the liquid.
You want to boil down the liquid and you want the potatoes to mostly fall apart. I like it when there are still chunks of potatoes, but it’s also acceptable to run the whole thing through a ricer at this point if you want your soup to be smoooooth.
It’s important that you have a pretty thick thing going on, because then you need to add a bunch of milk and cream (or half and half). Add some milk/cream, stir, taste, correct for salt, repeat. Keep going until you get it where you want it. Boil briefly, reduce heat to low. Add freshly ground pepper. I usually add some pepper in the beginning and more just before I serve it. Potatoes are one of those things that really need more pepper than most people are willing to use.
Serve with crumbled bacon, plenty of high-quality cheese and sliced green onions.