{"id":15809,"date":"2020-05-26T13:44:53","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T17:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=15809"},"modified":"2020-05-28T07:01:32","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T11:01:32","slug":"the-boot-pile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=15809","title":{"rendered":"The Boot Pile"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since Spouse and I returned home to Maryland on March 25 from our visit to Hawaii, I have been out of the house a total of 21 times, mostly to “forage” for groceries, pick up prescriptions, work six shifts as a medic for my local fire department, and twice, to ride my Harley and go skydiving.<\/p>\n

How do I know the number of times between March 25 and May 26 that I have been out of the house?
\n
\n…Easy — examine this photo:\"\"After looking at it, some astute readers will say, “wait! I count only 14 pairs of boots. You said you’ve been out 21 times!”<\/p>\n

Yeah, one pair of boots remains in my garage next to my Harley. These are my back-up pair of Chippewa Harness boots that I wore for a ride on 10 May.<\/p>\n

\"\"My smooth-soled Chippewa Firefighter Boots that I wore when on duty as a medic remain in the garage as well. I pull them on before I leave, and take them off when I get back home off shift. I wipe them thoroughly before I leave the firehouse, as we are required to do. But I keep them separate from the boots in the “boot pile.”<\/p>\n

All of the other boots I have worn since the end of March are in a pile in my basement boot room, which is adjacent to my “decon station” — i.e., the basement bathroom. <\/p>\n

Every time I go out, I park the truck in the garage, then walk out of the garage and go to the back door of my house. That back door is under a deck and rather private. I strip off my clothes outside<\/em> and put them in a bag. I enter the house, put the bag by the stairs, and drop the boots in the pile as noted above. <\/p>\n

Then I take a hot, soapy shower.<\/p>\n

By end of my shower, Spouse has cleaned\/wiped the containers of perishable groceries and put them away. He leaves non-perishables in the truck to remove days later as there is no hurry and the virus, if any, on the containers of non-perishable food will be rendered harmless over time.<\/p>\n

Spouse brings me a change of clothes and leaves them in the bathroom while I am showering. He takes the bag of clothes I left by the stairs to the laundry and dumps them in the washer. Shirt, pants, socks, underwear… all get washed immediately.<\/p>\n

I get dressed in sweats or shorts, with socks (sorry, inside the house — no boots!) and feel “less creepy” by going through this extensive “decon” procedure each time I go out.<\/p>\n

This “decon” procedure has become a regular routine and probably will remain what I will do for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

Upside of this — I wear more of my vast collection of boots!<\/p>\n

Note for historical record (as of May 27, 2020)<\/p>\n