What did I buy on Saturday’s trip? Check out the ‘Notes’ section to find out.

(Sunday Paper, Year V, Issue 42)

I enjoy a good store walk-around.

In pre-pandemic times, if I needed a jolt of inspiration or a break from some kind of drudgery, I’d go to the mall, walk through some stores, do some people-watching.

I remember one particularly tough week in school back in 2012 when I just needed to cool down a bit, so after dinner on Friday I went to the bookstore to walk around.

It helped me feel better. (And when I came home the Mets were in the 3rd inning or so and Johan Santana finished the game by throwing the franchise’s first [and so far only] no-hitter.)

One of the challenges of the pandemic has been that, in its earliest stages, doing the ol’ walk-around was not an option….and nowadays it’s not exactly the wisest course of action.

So I’ve changed course a bit.

In the walk-around days, the goal wasn’t to spend money - it was just to get out of the house, find some new scenery.

Now that getting out of the house is happening on such a limited basis, I’m doing a little more money-spending.

I am finding comfort in buying things. (This applies to both in-person and on-line purchases.)

Sometimes that’s things for the family - like the fire pit, back in the spring, or the pool, in the early summer, or the desk I told you about a couple of weeks back.

Sometimes it’s just things for the girls - I will admit Kathy and I have spoiled them a bit with things they’ve asked for or shown that they wanted, but I think anything goes for the kids in a pandemic. (We’ve also been a little less stringent about them spending their own money on things we wouldn’t necessarily buy for them.)

Sometimes, though, it’s just something for my own enjoyment: A tchotchke for the office, say. Strat-O-Matic cards. A smaller TV that I could bring outside to watch baseball games this summer. Or video games. (There’s been a resurgence of interest in video games for me.)

I don’t quite know why there’s this sudden change in spending behavior for me. I’m lucky that work hasn’t dried up and I have the ability to buy something here and there.

But I think the big reason is I have nowhere to be. I hadn’t played video games in years because there was always something else - school events or kid events or, the past six years, comedy events.

Now, I’m just home and I have time on my hands. So a baseball video game here, a hockey video game there. Then maybe another baseball game because why not.

These are things that are bringing me joy in a difficult time…and I look forward to the days that I will have options other than video games in the evenings.

Notes

*Remember when I used to do “What I’ve Been Enjoying”? Well, the pandemic has busted up the Sunday Paper format, but every once in a while there’s something that I’ve been enjoying that I want to share with you. This week is one such week. I downloaded the new album by The Killers - ‘Imploding the Mirage.’ It’s very good. I really enjoyed the single I had been hearing, “My Own Soul’s Warning," and I had heard the album was good, so I got it. (Retail therapy!) Turns out on the album there was another single I had heard a while back, which I also enjoyed and was surprised to hear. (“Caution”) And there are a couple of songs that really sound like Keane, which obviously appeals to me.

*I can’t say I’m watching the baseball playoffs obsessively (on my second TV while I play video games!), but I love that there are no days off in each series. (The World Series, which starts Tuesday, will have the usual off days.)

*If you’re not already following me on Twitter or Liking my page on Facebook, I’d love it if you would do so. Last week’s #EveryWeekOnWednesday post was one of my favorite things to re-post every so often. And I have a bunch of fun ones lined up - I think they’ll be pretty entertaining through the end of the year.

*How psyched am I that I got to use the word tchotchke in this post? Very. And look at that, now I’ve used it twice.

*In case you’re wondering (or were only here to get the answer to the question posed above in the caption), Saturday’s purchase was some flannel PJ pants, a comfy shirt, and a video game controller. Or, as my oldest daughter put it, “the couch potato package.”