If you didn’t pick up on it, “QT” stands for that “Q” word affecting us all. I don’t know how to spell it, and this whole situation has rendered me too lazy to look it up, so I’ll just throw a made-up abbreviation out there and hope for the best. Once again, predictably, I have no material to work with. I could review the 47 movies I watched over the weekend, but everyone probably saw them years ago. I don’t recall any of them being particularly notable either. (One exception might be “The Assignment.” You may not have seen that one. If not, don’t.) On the big house selling front, we do have some big news! No, no we don’t. Nothing. Total silence. No offers, no showings, no nothing. Bah. We’re just about to pull it off the market and accept our fate in the hellish ‘burbs of El Dorado Hills. Could be worse. I’m not sure how, but that seems to be a popular phrase.

Really about our only “event” over the weekend was a “virtual wine tasting.” And as a matter of fact, it wasn’t even on the weekend, it was last Thursday. The drill here is, you go to a nearby winery (or, liquor store in this case,) buy a set couple of bottles, and then at some predetermined time there is a video call where you taste the wines with other dorks. This has become rather popular around here lately for obvious reasons, and I’ve been wanting to participate in one of them for a while. And now I suppose I have. Check that one off. It was “OK.” The winemaker was actually online with us and he was quite interesting to listen to, so that was a bonus. Interesting for about 20 minutes anyway… Unfortunately it went on for 1.5 hours. Well past my rather stunted attention span. I guess you could always just drop off, but I didn’t want to be rude. Oh well, it was something to do, passed the time for one evening anyway. I can say, in all honesty, I had nothing better to do.

What can I say; I got nothin’. Guess I’ll throw up a few pictures and call it good. OK, in all honesty I had a barbecue for Easter and invited a few people over. Shhhhhh. Other than that, all quiet on the western front.

Well ain’t this just a fine situation. I spend the majority of my days pretty bored anyway, but this has hit a new level. I don’t think I’ve watched so much television in the past year as I have in the last week. Luckily I do have a variety of programing to choose from, or at least plenty to keep me entertained. We have a Netflix account, Hulu, Amazon, and also a Plex + account. I spent this past weekend wearing out the Plex option. They recently started including movies with my account, and I really hadn’t been inclined to even look at them. Well, the recent events have certainly provided ample opportunity to check out some programming diversity, so I took a look. After browsing around a while, I decided to focus on the Zombie genre. I feel with the current virus spreading rapidly around the globe, I might be able to gain some valuable tips on how to react when it invariably mutates. (And, rest assured, it will; this is but one of the insights I was able to glean from these documentaries.) I also thought it may provide use to others if I was to list some tips here, in order to share some of the key defense methods. Keep in mind, there are many, many different strains of Zombie out there, so I tried to cover a cross-section that will keep everyone safe in any situation.

1. Should you have to deal with a zombie of demonic origin, fear not. They always wear black robes with hoods, and as such are easily identifiable and dealt with. Standard weapons will suffice for defense.
2. That said, should you be dealing with demonic zombies, and you happen to have been given the Key To The Gates Of Hell as a child, do NOT toss the key down a portal in an effort to end the outbreak. It will end very poorly. Unfortunately this was the conclusion of the movie, so I am not sure what the proper response would have been. But, definitely not throwing it down a portal.
3. If you have the misfortune to encounter ninja zombies, your best bet is flight. Run, and run fast. Granted, you don’t really stand a chance, so you may also consider throwing up your hands and accepting your imminent demise. On the upside, once they get you, you’re done for. You aren’t reanimated as some horrible creature causing more mayhem, so don’t worry about that added indignity.
4. Should your buddy/spouse/domestic partner/etc fall victim to a zombie, you should always disarm them before covering the body. That way they cannot use the weapons against you when they come back. ** Does not apply to ninja zombie victims. They’re just done.
5. With the notable exception of zombies resulting from demonic possession, voodoo, or similar black magic, zombies can reliably be traced back to scientists. Usually scientists with the best intentions, but that doesn’t really matter after it’s too late. I am starting a go-fund-me page in an effort to ban science. (But it might be too late.)
6. Zombies come in a wide variety of athletic ability. Some can jump, some are very quick, and some just bumble along. However, much like snakes, if you are close enough to identify them, it’s too late. Appropriate measures should be taken from a safe distance.
7. Aim for the head. Duh.

List of sources cited:

1. Zombie 4: After Death
2. Zombie Ninjas vs Black Ops
3. For a Few Zombies More ***
4. The Zombie King
5. Zombieland: Doubletap
6. Dead Rising: Endgame

*** Footnote: The zombie outbreak in this movie, while viral in nature, ended up being sourced by extraterrestrials. I found it a fairly entertaining film, however I just do not believe there to be any factual basis for aliens causing these situations. Hence, I omitted them from the list of eradication tips.

I anticipate gathering many more tips over the coming days, and will update this list as available. Another go-to pastime has been cooking, of course. That hobby pretty much provided the weekly pics.

We took a quick trip out of town this past weekend, if not very far. I don’t know if this was following “the rules,” but we went and got the motor home and rolled about an hour down the road to nearby Lake Minden. As far as the lockdown… Well here is my reasoning: We got our motor home, we drove to the lake. We did our little camp thing for two nights, interacted with nobody, and drove back home. Seemed the same as staying at home to me. Anyway, we had a good time. We hadn’t been to this campsite before, and I’d say it earned a B-. Nice enough, but probably not worth the extra drive from our go-to spot in Coloma. And the mosquitoes…. WOW. With my luck I’ll escape the big virus scare but get malaria from that place. They actually drove us into the motor home in the evenings, which sort of stunk. I wanna sit outside! Eh, we made do. Saturday was our “full day.” We fired up a smoker and cooked a 6 lb. pork butt for entertainment. Came out good! Put it on about 8:30 in the morning, sat around watching it cook for 10 hours, and had a nice dinner. Day well spent in my book.

OK so in reality, we haven’t been even semi-quarantined. For better or worse, we have been effectively carrying on our normal routine, such as it is. Being in the state of CA, that could change very soon though. State motto, “There is nothing that can be done, that can’t be overdone.” If all our usual haunts get shut down, I guess we’ll just stay home. We’ve got a few dozen eggs and a nice variety of dried beans, should be good to go.

As for the weekend, it was pretty much on par with any other. Friday we had some friends over and grilled chicken sandwiches. I think after dinner we must have watched a movie or played cards or some similarly wholesome activity, but the details elude me at the moment.

Saturday I headed out with a few other couples on an impromptu “support the local economy” tour. I must say, I am a bit confused on all the new “rules.” Half the directions are to stay home and occasionally mist yourself with Lysol, the other half are to get out and support the suffering businesses. So, at least this weekend, I opted for the latter. We had a great time, although I doubt my $4.95 contributed much their cause. Meanwhile, Donette was spending her time volunteering at a local animal shelter. Admittedly probably better time spent than mine, but we can’t all save the world. She has been spending some time at Foothill Dog Rescue, better known locally as “Home of Quinn & Nacho.” (I fully expect them to update their signage any day now.) It was a rainy cold day, and we sort of anticipated them shutting down early so she could join our crowd. Matter of fact they were crazy busy and adopted out 15 dogs!

Sunday was rainy and cold too. Not much to work with here. We went out for dinner mostly out of sheer boredom, and that pretty much covers the day.