brainsplotch

It seems the upshot of our first indoor concert since October 2019 was that L. and I both got sick. She tested positive for Covid (but is doing fine), while I somehow have not tested positive, though all the symptoms over the last few days seem like Covid. I have been congested and pretty much lost my ability to taste or smell for about three days. Thankfully, the taste/smell combo seems to be returning today. The congestion isn't as bad, but is now replaced with a nasty, periodic cough. This will not stop us from seeing Sloan at Saint Andrew's Hall in June, though I think I will mask up through the entire show. Perhaps our risk of Covid will be less in a crowd of good-natured Canadians as opposed to wild animal DBT fans? I have no idea. When I wasn't feeling cruddy this weekend, I was watching the NCAA basketball tournament and listening to music. For awhile on Saturday, I got to do what I'd do in my younger bachelor days and mute the sound on the TV with music playing...

How many times during this pandemic did we think we were "over the hump"? How many times did it feel like life was getting better? At this point, I've lost count. I remember going to SuburbsFest in early October--which now feels like a long time ago--and seeing a flicker of light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. We were almost entirely maskless, while we listened to and/or performed music, recorded podcast episodes, and traipsed around D.C., and life actually felt pretty normal. Now it's late December and it seems we are in the midst of the worst spike in Covid since this pandemic began two years ago. (Two years already! Can you believe that?).  Between the never-ending Covid situation and our precarious political climate, am I the only one who feels like I'm living in a fututistic dystopian novel? So in this big Covid spike, we are headed to Germany to visit our older son and his girlfriend's family. It should be an adventure. This will be my first ever tri...

It has been to long since a blog post. Today is the first day of school for our younger son (who is starting 11th grade), so there is a good deal of anxiety and trying to get used to the change of routine. And then there is that Covid thing that just lingers like a moxious and unwanted dinner guest.  Our son feels anxious and I know that both his parents do. It doesn't help that younger son is on the autism spectrum, so changes in routine and ventures ("adventures?") into the unknown are twice as hard as they are for "neurotypical" folks. Like almost every other kid in America, he spent the entire school year of 2020-21 in virtual learning. It did not go well for him, and I suspect it did not go particularly well for the majority of students out there. Kids really need to learn in person, which has made this pandemic doubly terrible in how it has made conventional school so hard to sustain. I just hope for a healthy year with little (or how about NO) incidents o...

 It's been almost two months since I wrote here. Much to catch up with. So how about that year-and-a-half we just went through? How are you all doing? Wasn't that crazy, disturbing, and just a bit scary? I hope you made it through. It's still unfathomable how many people we lost from Covid since early 2020. I am thankful that I and my family made it through relatively unscathed. I know all too well that there are plenty who did not. We are slowly returning to "normal," or whatever "normal" is. At work, we no longer have to wear masks and, beginning yesterday, we are done with filling out our morning health screenings. (This began on June 11, 2020 and lasted until June 28, 2021). Every morning for well over a year, we all had to officially let work know--one hour prior to arriving on site--that we were not sick (or at least did not "feel" sick).  By the way, I am still trying to get used to the idea of not wearing a mask. I still bring one with ...

I am in one of those periodic stages I have been throughout the pandemic in which I feel like the world is closing in on me. I'm stressed out and the only way I can get through is by taking life day by day, which I suppose is what everyone is doing. We had someone test positive for Covid at my workplace, and that has me feeling anxiety. I think it has most of us feeling some degree of anxiety. I feel that I'm constantly monitoring my health: "Is that a sore throat I feel coming on? No, I guess not. Good. Can I still smell things? Yes? Good. Uh-oh, I just coughed. Is that just a normal cough? I guess so. Good." And on and on. I mean, I tend to be a bit neurotic anyway, but combine that with a pandemic and one positive test at work--the first one we have had to the best of my knowledge--and I am even more on edge than usual.  Before I make this too much about me , I must say that I hope my co-worker who tested positive makes a full recovery. By the way, yesterday marke...

Well, we're into December and it's looking increasingly like Trump will have to be dragged out of the White House by the Secret Service. He's in denial about the election and has convinced his cult that his "victory" was stolen. I will give Trump credit in one area: he is a master of manipulation. His followers will believe anything he says.  Otherwise, Trump is like a shit stain in a pair of underwear. The worst aspect of this whole election denial is what it says about the current state of our country: One reality doesn't exist anymore. People feel free to create their own "realities" based on their own skewed worldviews. I blame a lot of this on social media and the world wide web. "News sources" are created to cater to whatever political view one has. These "news sources" are of varying degrees of legitimacy, with the majority being illegitimate. This extends to social media, where people live in their own bubbles and shout i...

The world continues to be a crazy place. Here are some musings I have had recently:   If you think that the whole ridiculous politicization of masks is bad, just wait until the day we (I hope) have a vaccine for COVID-19. There will be plenty of people who will not want to get it, and they will largely be the same people who refuse to wear a mask. And think of how crazy the battle has been over opening schools in the fall. How will we deal with vaccinating kids for the virus? Will children not be allowed in public schools unless they are vaccinated. (I limit this to public schools because presumably private schools will be able to do as they wish). Considering how terrible our health insurance is in the United States, what happens with coverage of a vaccine? I hope that children will be able obtain a vaccine either free of charge or for a limited cost.   I feel particularly bad for my older son, who was hoping to attend college in Germany beginning in the 2020-21 sch...

Hi folks, thought I'd take some time to check in. I am still at home and doing the "shelter-in-place/stay-at-home" thing, and I have to be honest with you, I am in no hurry to get back to "normal" (whatever that even IS anymore). It's not that I don't want coronavirus to end (of course I do), but with over 100,000 Americans dead--and the rate of infection only slowing slightly--I am still not quite chomping at the bit to return to my physical work space. The news is almost constantly depressing, but even more so lately with yet more black people being murdered by cops, our idiot president acting like, well, an idiot every single day (and offering no leadership during this pandemic). When the news isn't about the ever increasing death toll and unemployment tally, it is racist bullshit occurring and our "president" behaving like a racist asshole. It is exasperating, exhausting, and nerve-wracking, but I at least feel that I am in a somewhat ...

I feel as if I've settled into a routine now. The "new normal" is just "normal." With the pandemic still continuing with no end it sight, this normal will also continue with no definite end in sight. I say no "definite" end in sight because my workplace's tentative plan is to slowly open back up after Governor Whitmer's stay-at-home order expires on May 28. Of course, if she extends it, then that goes out the window. I am in no hurry to go back into the public. As long as there is no effective treatment or vaccine for this horrible Covid-19 disease (and whenever I read about it, Covid-19 sounds like a disease out of a horror movie), I would much rather stay at home and limit my outdoor adventures to the bare essential trips. I will work and stay at home for as long as necessary. I do not want to put myself or my family in any unnecessary risk. I have been spending my time editing and correcting ebook and eaudio records for the library, whic...

I thought it was about time to write an update to my last blog post. It has been one month since my last post and one month since I/we have been in quarantine/shelter-in-place. The day that I wrote that March post was the last day I was actually AT work. I have somewhat settled into life in our current dystopia. Instead of feeling panicky and paranoid, I'm just slightly nervous. Sort of a perpetual sense of unease under the surface. Not panic, not fear, but just a bit on edge. Now, I am trying to find pleasure in the little things, and take life one day at a time. I know "find pleasure in little things" and "one day at a time" are cliches, but how else can we live our lives right now? There's not much to "look forward to," since any semblance of normalcy is likely many months away in a best case scenario. I just try to live in the moment as much as possible and not be bothered by stupid annoyances. I get up in the morning--every day feeling...

I am trying hard not to live in a state of constant anxiety, but Coronavirus is here and it's terrifying. The entire nation is in complete upheaval. There are many horrible and frightening aspects of this pandemic, but the worst might be not knowing how this plays out. How bad will it get? When is the endgame? How many people die? Naturally, I fear for my family and friends (more than myself, truly). But I also don't wish this disease on anyone. The only way I can deal with it right now is by writing about it in this blog. I am already a person prone to depression and morose thoughts, so this is a particularly bad time. Just the last few nights, as COVID-19 has hit reality in a big way (it never should have taken us this long to take it seriously) I have not been able to sleep the last few days. Maybe now that this is our "new reality," we will simply learn to cope with it and the panic will subside to some degree. I also hope that in lieu of a vaccine (whic...