Covidlessness

Since the initial break of cases beginning in December of 2019 and continuing on for 3 years right on into January of 2023, I haven't contracted a lick of Covid-19.

I personally know and have been around friends and family and associates and passers by and more, more, more, more, more who have contracted the illness, so the likelihood of having, too, "caught the bug" seems pretty high.  Still, it's not like I work in a medical industry that caters to the general public like a hospital or in industries necessarily conducive or more apt to the prevalence of transmission.  It's just that when you look at that stretch of time it appears an unusually long period without having contracted anything.

From the initial outbreak, then into the isolations and the obligatory staying away from work, into the mask wearing when the needs necessitated venturing out to grocery shop, etc., right on into the thick of the pandemic when just about everything social was shut down, with a year going by where hospitalizations blossomed and serious illnesses leading oft times to Covid deaths and more, with news reports saturated in the whys and wherefores of the illness culminating in industry shutdowns and supply chain stoppages and into the series of inoculations ... well, you really have to wonder (or at least I did): With all this going on around us, am I in fact immune to Covid-19?  Because that exact thought really did cross my mind several times.

How come virtually everyone I know and commune with, near, far or virtual, has been plagued with some form of coronavirus - be it a mild case or otherwise - and I've gotten off Scot-free to this point?  Luck of the draw?  Am I breathing upwind of anyone who may have symptoms and I've simply been that fortunate? 

 

 Or ... is there the possibility I'm actually immune, unlikely as that may be?

Let's face it:  Entering three+ years of Covidlessness is a tidy little feather in one's cap if I do say so myself.  A seeming damned fine achievement in the grand scheme of things, so to speak.

But it truly is a small world.  A very small world, indeed.  7.8+ billion (BILLION!) people in the world and I have yet to catch a whiff of coronavirus.

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That is ... until this past weekend ...

 

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

 

The NorCal6: Misadventures In Monthly Get-Togethers

We've been getting together in the neighborhood of 7 years running, the lot of us.  

We call ourselves The NorCal6.

Three couples, 6 friends, who decided instead of planting our asses on the couch in front of the television on a Saturday night, we were going to damned well get out into the world and do something.

It started out simply: We picked out a restaurant to explore, some new, different place none of us had been previously.  Converse.  Eat.  Solve a few world problems.  

And we agreed we'd do this monthly. Make it "a thing."

After a year, it morphed into hitting up events (i.e. The Asparagus Festival) and destinations (i.e. Mendicino), but the basis of the idea was still intact: To get off our asses and socialize instead of being lumps, if only for a couple hours.

More than half a decade and we're still at it.  

Hey ... who are The NorCal6 anyway? Why don't we take a moment to get to know them ...

• Grant - Big dude, relatively quiet.  Loves his beers.  Usually the first one to ask the question where our next month's outing will be
  
• Kelly - Grant's wife, The Designated Driver of the couple and lover of charcuterie and anything on the coast (her happy place, she says)
• Laurie - The infamous question asker: "How much is that?"  "Is it good?"  "How big is the portion?" ad nauseum ...
• Pete - Laurie's husband.  Along for the ride and pretty much happy no matter what we do
• Melissa - Michael's better half, "the picky eater" and often the DD in her own right (which I greatly appreciate)
• Michael - I'm the loud one, usually game for anything.  Instigator.  Non-conformist.  I'll talk to anyone anywhere we go.  Oh ... I'm loud, too.  I may have forgotten to mention that.

Funny thing: In all the years we've been doing this, I don't know why we've never properly documented our little get-togethers.  Oh, we've bantered about it, that we should put together some kind photo album of our outings or some such.  But we've rarely shot photos (of us or the locales we've visited) at our soirees, we've barely kept track of the different restaurants we've been to ... blah, blah, blah.  And at this last meeting it was suggested - for the umpteenth time - we get our shit together and document our comings and goings somehow.

This time?  I took it to heart.

So ... here goes. 

 

Saturday, the 14th, we ventured out into the rainy late, late afternoon to Out Of Bounds Brewery in Folsom, a locale one of our group had been to previously for a company-hosted event.  An early dinner was in order (along with brews we hadn't tried for the beer drinkers of the clan).  Needless to say a bevy of selections was commandeered.

Hangry Chicken Wings, Buffalo Cauliflower, onion rings and fried pickle spears were the appetizers shared all around. All were great ... but the "Ring Of Fire" sauce for the wings had a funky tang to it, the only real downside to the lot.

Beers? Yes! A delicious Milk Stout and a Blood Orange Wheat (2 of these, as a matter of fact) were quaffed.

Drunken and Craft Burgers, Smoked Mac & Cheese, Tri-Tip Arugula Salads and a Margherita Flatbread were on tap for the main courses.

My Drunken Burger was a huge, terrific mess and even came with a fried jalapeno speared garnish-like through the top of the bun, which I added to the innards of the burger.  The fries accompanying the thing were the kind you couldn't stop popping into your mouth ... and there appeared to be better than a double serving of them. Half came home with us. The wives assured us that the Smoked Mac & Cheese was top notch.

Of course, the dinner wasn't the only thing.  

The conversation flowed.  It was catch up time with everyone, what new things came up or were noteworthy since the last day of the old year, the last time all 6 of us were together.  I spilled Kelly's water moving dishes and almost tagged her with a wet lap.  And I dripped sauces from the appetizers and my burger all down the front of me.  (You can't take me anywhere sometimes.)  Plus, our waitress was top notch, noting and accommodating all our trivial (probably annoying) little requests.  (Yes, she was tipped well.)

 

So messy ...

Dessert?  Nope.  We were all too full to hit up one last course.

By the time we left Out Of Bounds Brewery, the rain had stopped and it was clear driving all the way home.  Another successful congregation.

Next up:  Soriano's Restaurant in Diamond Springs for Salvadoran / Mexican food come February ...

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )