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A Reason To Get Out

Pokémon Go has been a useful obsession. It's helped me get out of the house and walk when I really didn't want to, and kept me out when I probably should have come back. Especially during these COVID times, I need to get out and walk to stay sane. So I go out.

Today it was 31F when I went out, so I was in extra layers. It was good and I caught so many that I decided to go ahead and try for the 200 in one day task for level 41. Yeah, I'm one of those players. I have over 11 million XP at this point, and while I had the 6 million needed for level 41, I still had to do the special tasks. One was already done. One was the 200 in a day. One is 30 raids won, which at a raid pass a day is 30 days, but I keep getting more remote passes than I should. *laughs*

My hands got pretty cold. And most of my stops are a fifteen minute walk from home, other than the gym that I can access from inside my house. Yes. I am the envy of some players. *laughs* But it's just one gym and while it attracts a few Pokémon, I have to walk over to the local recreation center, which has three gyms and seven stops in order to fully refill my items and get some research. And it's the only place large enough to attract enough Pokémon for me to be able to catch 200 in a reasonable amount of time.

My hands ached, and my neck does protest after a while of holding up my phone. It's not great for me, but it's better than just sitting the whole day. And today was a raid day, too, and my local raid folks were going all out because they all were determined to do their 30 raids as soon as possible. So during dinner and after I did a handful of legendary raids. 

Unfortunately, one of them happened while I was cooking dinner. *laughs* I was in the midst of pan-searing some chicken thighs and making a nice pan sauce from chicken broth and cream, and my screen went orange and... well, I helped fight and caught a Kyurem as the chicken finished simmering and the sauce thickened. That was pretty funny.

I'd seasoned the chicken with lemon pepper salt and served 'em with asparagus and a croissant from our morning adventure. I shut off my phone and sat and enjoyed the food and conversation with John. That was very pleasant.

I had woken up a bit after 9 am, and John popped into the room to ask me if I wanted to go to Costco at the opening bell with him. He asked me what he needed to do to help me get ready and I mumbled something about, "Coffeeeee..." and he obliged with both the prep for coffee and toasting me half a bagel. Yes, I am soooo happy I married him. My breakfast bundled up in my lap, we hopped into the car and drove over to the Costco on I-25. 

About a month ago, Costco and a developer started a proposal to build a Costco in the field that stand across the street from our new neighborhood. They're going through the town meetings to review the plans, and I am so excited. It would be amazing to be able to walk to Costco, and the whole development is going to be a buffer against a possible gravel pit that could be built on the same property. Luckily, that is going to become public park and walking areas after all the gravel is dug out, but... having just a bit more of a distance buffer should mitigate both noise and dust.

But for now... we have to drive to Costco. 

It was relatively empty. 10 am on a weekday isn't the time for people who work to go, but with snow coming, possibly, it seems that some wanted to stock up. John had a List, and we ran through getting the things on it, and I was really happy to see that they had plenty of toilet paper. Bales and bales of the stuff. I also impulse bought salad, blueberries, and brussels sprouts. I know, not the usual impulse buys. *laughs* But they were good looking and we can always do with more of them. We also stocked up on some staples to last us for a while, like ground beef, smoked salmon, and frozen Ling Ling potstickers. The croissants I often get, as they freeze well, and they're so good in the morning with one of the farm-fresh eggs from Sky Pilot Farms. 

It was nice to have a reason to get out of the house and feel like we'd stocked up enough to just stay at home safely for a while.

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