Life in the time of Corona – Captain’s log: Day 340

Some days are just harder than others. Today was such a day.

I was feeling homesick all day. Its been over a year since I’ve seen my family and I miss them. I have made peace with the fact that I will be able to travel when it is time, but even so, I still wish I could have a cup of tea with my mom and dad on their verandah.

At the end of a long afternoon of meetings, I took Rufus for a quick walk to clear my head, and for him to do his business. My plan was to have my guitar lesson and then get some more work done.

But alas! Returning to my front door, I realised that I left without taking my house keys. The door of my apartment and the building automatically locks as it closes, so I expected this to happen at some point or another. So I had to cancel my lesson and activate plan b: I left a spare key with Marinus for this precise reason.

It might be worth mentioning that it was drizzling when I went for my walk, so while he was being an absolute hero and biked over with the key, I was taking shelter on the little awning at the front door. I could probably have asked a neighbour to let me into the hall, but I didn’t think of that. Perhaps I subconsciously felt that being stuck in rain mirrors my mood.

I have seen people say many things about Dutch guys, but I can now truthfully say my boyfriend opens doors for me. Even if it’s my own door because I locked my key inside.

He has other skills too! I had arranged to have the stripped out laminate removed to make a bit of space, so I had to put the “grofvuil” out for collection by the municipality. There’s some very prescriptive instructions: you need to take it out within a specific time period so it doesn’t mess up the pavement for other users.

So after bundling to the old laminate for easy handling, we stacked the first lot in the lift, only to find that the lift isn’t working!! So we had to carry everything downstairs. At least the stairs in my building is wide and of a normal height, and not those narrow steep Amsterdam stairs from my previous apartment!