Rainy, random updates

[flexagon]

Today was the kind of rainy, overcast day that... well... what would I have said in the Before Times, that it made me stay sleepy in the morning and then wear my rain jacket? These days, it's "the kind of overcast day that makes my webcam even more likely than usual to wash out my face."

I'm done with all promotion-related shenanigans at work, now, after having to leap in and run a committee because the original committee chair had a sudden family tragedy. I hope we promoted the right people, but you never really know. I think it's plausible that we actually should promote more of the folks who put themselves up for promotion - possibly all, if they come in with a strong enough streak of performance scores? But as a company we seem to pride ourselves on not trusting anyone. Out of nine candidates for this promotion we had one woman candidate, and we promoted her, at least.

The state my dad lives in has sneakily become a covid hot spot, and has more than doubled its daily case counts in the last two weeks. Bad, bad. My dad says that most people there aren't taking it seriously and will only wear a mask when a store requires it, which fits infuriatingly with the culture of that place. I read a lot about people getting tired of pandemic precautions and I don't get it; I just keep getting more used to things. It's much easier to get on with life now than it was in March/April when everyone was ultra worried about surface transmission.

I do feel sad. Is life easier but sadder that it was in the spring? It doesn't feel like anything is progressing much. I had such a frustrating handstand class on Sunday that I seriously considered quitting the whole damn endeavor.

At least I went to the doctor today (in person, after virtual told us nothing) and got some stuff prescribed for my rash that is both anti-fungal AND steroidal. That seems pretty likely to create a hostile environment for whatever it is.

Comments

[jadia]

I'm getting tired of pandemic precautions...still doing them, but feeling quite worn down and knowing I'm gonna have to relax some of my strict rules to make it to next year. :-(

[flexagon]

Seems reasonable. Sanity's important, and our hospitals are not at capacity now. What do you think you'll relax?

Since the beginning of the pandemic I've already relaxed a few things that were based on worries about surface transmission, and started seeing Norwood again, and relaxed my following of the rules regarding travel between MA and RI. Which is really the same thing since he's my only reason to go to RI, and the only person I see there. Looking at it that way, it seems like a lot, and like I'm quite the foolhardy creature compared to how I was at the end of March. But now I think it's sustainable.

[jadia]

I'm not sure yet. But I've already relaxed some rules.

The biggest one is going into work more and talking to people there in person.

Being willing to eat outside without masks on at some distance from people

Being willing to go into stores (not often but sometimes)

[triesticity]

I do feel like things are easier now that we're not as worried about surface transmission, yes! But I am pretty tired of mask-wearing - I mean, I always wear one when I go out, but I wish I had access to a private outdoor space like a patio/yard/deck so I could just sit outside without a mask. We do sit outside without masks sometimes - the park near us has circles marked on the ground for people to sit in that are more than six feet apart, so we've done that on days when it hasn't been super-crowded - and there's a Whole Foods with an uncrowded patio area where I've had a few outdoor lattes - but mostly when we're out we're walking in semi-crowded places so our masks stay on. We did go to the beach today, which was great: we kept our masks on when we were on the boardwalk, but took them off when we were on the sand, and that felt really good.

[flexagon]

Yeah... our last place had a porch that was private just to us, and this summer I would really, really have liked to have that porch.

I suspect that when it's colder I'll like the warmth of a mask. I'm not sure why we didn't have them in the first place, for winter... warm fluffy ones with mesh or a much more porous mouth area. Balaclavas don't seem quite the same.