Shelter-in-Place Journal, Day 154

We followed our usual Monday morning routine today – go to the JCC for personal training outside, then go to Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things. Monday morning seems to be the best time to go to Trader Joe’s – we arrive around 9:15, during “Senior Hour,” when the store is uncrowded (today, we didn’t have to wait at all to get in or to pay) and well-stocked, and we can get in and out quickly.

PG&E was warning everyone that they might have to institute rolling blackouts again today – I got a call, two emails, and two texts before lunch. They suggested pre-cooling the house to 72 and then turning the A/C up to 78 at 2pm when the peak load period was expected to begin (I wonder if the pandemic has changed the timing of peak load) – so we did. The house stayed fairly cool during the afternoon; when we got home from our post-dinner walk, we decided to open up and use the fan in hopes that it’ll get a bit cooler overnight.

Dinner was another experiment – Miso-Glazed Fish from the New York Times. We’d bought a tub of miso paste early in the lockdown; I’m not sure what I had in mind when I bought it, but this was a good way to use some of it. The recipe was easy to put together, but the actual cooking was slightly more exciting than I wanted – I used our small broiler/convection oven, and with the shelf in “broil” position, we started seeing small explosions. So I moved the shelf down and then had to bake the fish for a few minutes to finish cooking it. Next time, I’ll use the “real” oven – but it was too hot for that tonight.

Stay cool!