Lockdown in Czechia - Day Nineteen - Friday April 3rd 2020

Report by Trentin Quarantino

After getting home from work at a little before 8am I head to bed to get some sleep, already knowing that this is going to be a crap day but wanting to at least feel a little less tired before I have to start dealing with it.

I wake up in the early afternoon and, completely as expected, feel like shit. This is my birthday, and I have to spend it on lockdown. Part of me tries to rationalise things a little - if the last few years are an example I'd normally invite 50+ friends to join me to celebrate my birthday in a pub and spend the night depressed because almost all of them fail to show up.

At least this year I wont be taking the fact that none of my friends are there so personally.

But it still sucks. I can see right away that Harley is worried about me - as much as I want to pretend I'm feeling cheerful I really am not, and cannot even begin to try to hide it. 

I head to the store to buy some vodka, because fuck it, it's my birthday, and a few other things, while Harley re-heats the second turkey leg from yesterday. After eating we settle down with drinks to play Cards Against Humanity - which of course is always going to be better with more than two people but we have to make do with what we've got.

After a while Harley's friend wants to call her and so we abandon the game so they can have a chat, but not before I am instructed to check my phone where there's a video of Harley's friend and her partner singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas to me, because he apparently hates the 'Happy Birthday' song. As I hate Christmas we're about even, but I do really appreciate the gesture. 

Once they finish the phone call Harley shows me another video her friend has sent to her, this one is her friends sister and a few others doing a very silly exercise routine which is sped up. It's really funny, and reminds me of 1980's breakfast TV aerobics instructors, so I introduce Harley to Mr Motivator.

The rest of the evening is spent with the two of us talking, and it turns into a much more enjoyable night than I was honestly expecting to have, and I really appreciate Harley making so much effort to drag herself out of her own despair to try to make my birthday as enjoyable as possible.

Additional reporting to come later by Harley Quarantinova (maybe)