Musings of a marginally sane feline-appreciating female.

It’s a lovely day out there, sunny and not too hot, perfect farmers market morning. Got all the salad stuffs and more of the amazing sea salt chocolate chip shortbread, so my day got off to a good start.

I was reading a thread on Twitter the other day, the tl;dr is that Covid causes brain damage and health practitioners are seeing a LOT of it.* Then it dawned on me that this plus six years of barely acknowledged, much less treated, collective trauma is probably why so many folks out there seem more than a bit feral these days. Even today at the farmers market, I saw a guy get whiffy in the parking lot over a lady who apparently wasn’t walking fast enough to get out of his way. So many folks are short-tempered, oblivious, or both.

Some of it is the fact that you can’t help it if you’re cognitively impaired – if you even truly realize it. Think about how many asymptomatic cases there have been or mild cases that folks may not have even realized was Covid that resulted in their brain getting fucked up and they don’t even know it.

And some of it is just that people are fucking assholes and have been forever.

I’m so freakishly grateful that I can do anything even semi-normal. Like, probably to the point where it kinda weirds people out. I still seriously miss being able to have a sit down meal at a restaurant without it being a whole mess of risk assessment and stress – but I am still very happy for the things I can do. Farmers market, street fairs, even masking up and dashing in & out of Starbucks.

Just try your best to be kind, folks.

* I know it’s not really new information, but it just kinda brought it back into focus.

Showed up a touch early this year – no doubt because we’ve had a break in the heat and you can just sense the season just barely starting to change – little cooler at night, little darker when the alarm goes off, and the air just smells a little different.

Combine this with this unending plague, and vague feeling of being stuck that I can’t quite put my finger on, and you’ve got a gentle wave of melancholy that showed up over the course of the afternoon.

But, I’m gonna just lean into it and let it come and go, and remember that spring will come again, it always does.

First and foremost, if you have Apple products, update them NOW. There are two zero day exploits out there you don’t want any part of that.

I’ve got today off, yay! (I know what you’re thinking – does she ever work a full 5 day workweek? Yes, occasionally, and it’s so depressing.) But, the reality is just that my PTO kicked up this year, and then with essentially 13 extra days off with our half-day Fridays every other week – I have PTO to burn. It’s very weird.

After a post-baseball followup negative Covid test yesterday, outdoor concert last night! I really just got the tickets for Los Straitjackets, cause they’re awesome and I’ve never seen/heard them live. Sadly, they were the backing band for Nick Lowe, and only played two songs on their own. But they were still fantastic and Lowe seemed to truly appreciate that he had a banger of a band backing him up. Elvis Costello was the big act – and he’s still a legend. Though, in my minds eye, he’ll always be in his mid-to-late 30s and it was a bit jarring to see a 67 year old man up there. Couldn’t help but think “when the hell did he get old?” – and realized it was probably around the same time I turned 50. He probably looks out at the audience wondering, “Why are there so many olds out there?”

Wolf Trap: Where you see your favorite bands and wonder how the hell they got grey hair. I will say Los Straitjackets has avoided this whole problem by performing in luchadora masks.

Also got myself a ridiculously overpriced hoodie, cause despite wearing mid-weight summer pants and a long sleeve shirt, as soon as the sun went down, I was freaking cold. But, hey, supporting the arts and parks! And it’s a good mid-weight hoodie. My brother said he was totally sure I was gonna roast when he saw what I was wearing before we left, ROFL.

Now it’s time to hermit up again until mid-September when our little arts & crafts fair comes back around again – that will be so fun after being canceled for 2 years! Then the Del Ray art festival at the start of October, and then it’s a biiiiig dry spell of outdoor stuff until next year, *sob*.

I’ve tried hard this year to embrace as many outdoor activities as I can, cause while I am a really good hermit, I also like going places other than Starbucks and the grocery store.

Our case counts are dropping nicely and theoretically at this rate, we’d be back to “moderate” transmission by mid-September. That being said, school starts Monday with zero structural mitigation so I am not particularly confident that the trend will hold.

Still incredibly annoyed that through all of 2022, our case counts have been higher than in 20-freaking-20. It’s like structural mitigation actually works or something, but freedom or some shit.

Someday I’ll be able to eat in a restaurant whenever I want and not have to do a risk assessment beforehand, but I suspect 2022 is not going to be that year.

But regardless, you have a great Friday, stay safe and get your Apple stuff updated!

Yeah, it’s going to be one of those “what day is it?” weeks, LOL. But a short one at least.

My weekend was so successful that I have absolutely ZERO idea what I have to do when I log on today. Solid work-life boundaries FTW here.

Of course, this is apparently now known as “Quiet Quitting” – aka, doing the job you’re getting paid for and not killing yourself. Love how it’s not really getting framed as “employees deciding to push back against employer exploitation” which is exactly what it is.

Have I “quiet quit”? Maybe. I’m not working late, I’m taking all my PTO, I’m not looking for extra work that I don’t have time for, I keep Teams turned off when I’m not working – I’m just trying to not have my job kill or disable me before I retire. And I don’t think that is unreasonable at all.

I don’t hate my job by any means – but it’s not worth my sanity or health.

You have a great Tuesday, and don’t let your job try and snuff you out.

I am very grateful that at no point in my life did I have to survive on ramen, and as such, I can still enjoy it anytime.

Technically it was yesterday, but I was at the ballgame most of the day, and since I have today off…the “Observed” portion of the event. We have already slept in and had belly rubs and bunny kicks and the plan for the rest of the day is to do whatever she wants.

In the time since I left the stadium yesterday, a front has come through and I’ve gone from melting to needing jeans and a hoodie. I LOVE summer with all my heart, but hoodie weather is great, too. If we could just skip winter without it meaning that the planet was dying, I’d be happy.

I’m still knackered from ALL THE BASEBALL THINGS this weekend, but it’s a good knackered. It’s nice to be tired from actually doing something versus being tired from existing. Walked near 12 miles when all was said and done. I have also reached an age where I think those little seat cushions you can get for stadium seats are awesome and I should buy one. (After 3 days in very hard seats, I am realizing my butt is VERY DAMN BONY.)

Well, time to go spoil the kitty – you have a great day!

We won two of three games this weekend!

I ate more half smokes than is probably healthy. (But it’s only once a year and they’re soooooo good!)

Dave Winfield was sent a picture of me in my Padres jersey that has his name & number on it. I know he’s far past the need for fan validation, but I hope seeing it gave him a smile.

I survived driving in & out of the city!

Excellent weekend, and I am very glad I took tomorrow off, cause I am happily EXHAUSTED.

The game was great, the Padres won, and I got my half smoke from Ben’s Chili Bowl!

And right before the game, Fernando Tatis Jr started a fucking 80 game suspension for a banned substance.

Best case scenario, he’s an idiot who didn’t clear a prescription through the team doctor. Worst case scenario, he cheated. I hate both options – it’s bad for him, the team, and the game.

And whoever has been advising him through this didn’t do anyone any favors – he popped the positive in March – if he’d just taken the L at the start of the season, the suspension would have been over and done already, but by dragging it out, it messes up two seasons. (Also don’t understand why appealing has taken near 5 months.)

And management is all concerned about his maturity. Newsflash, people in their early 20s are generally idiots, even if they’re exceptionally good at sports. (Also, if this was a white player – would it just be an unfortunate lapse in judgement vs a maturity issue? IDK.)

But it seriously sucks.

And it’s slightly bonkers. Haircut. Three baseball games. And last week at the 4H Fair, I bid in a silent auction for some art, and I won! So, gotta get over to the farm park to boot. Really, REALLY glad I took Monday off to recover, LOL.

And all of this right as the CDC says, “Eh, do whatever, right next to each other if you want.” Yikes.

I do envy people who can just decide at the last minute they’re gonna go to a ballgame – or really just do anything last minute, LOL. My levels of prep would make Tenzing Norgay say, “You are overthinking this.” But the fact remains – I *am* crossing the Potomac Ocean.

Parking is sorted. Jersey is clean. Pants with ALL THE POCKETS are all clean. T-shirts to go under jersey are all chosen. (All baseball related, of course.) Windbreaker has been located, as I know it’s going to be *just* cool enough at the end of the night games that it will feel good. Tiny umbrella coming along in windbreaker pocket to ward off any summer storm delays. Ice packs in the freezer, so I can have a cold Coke waiting in my little lunch bag in the car. (Sometimes folks are selling drinks outside the stadium after games, sometimes not.) Wristlet has been converted to crossbody by rigging up some matching lanyards. Scorecard notebook found. Anything even remotely interesting has been removed from the car. (I don’t think it would get broken into, but I’m also not gonna tempt fate.) Couple straws from my Starbucks stash in jacket pocket – cause last time I was there, no straws and no sip tops on the cups.

I hate the new bag policy at the park, but it is what it is. Technically my wristlet is “too thick” by like 1/4 inch. But – you don’t have to take things out of your pockets anymore, so I could just shove it in my inside jacket pocket or pants pocket and that problem solves itself. Can’t measure what you never see. And yes, I did just double check to be sure it fits in my pants & jacket pockets, LOL.

But I am so flipping excited to have 4 days off and see my Padres and have multiple half smokes from Ben’s Chili Bowl. YAY!

You got here quick… But, 4 day week and payday on Thursday, so not all bad.

So, my plans to spread out watching The Sandman…LOL, I ended up watching it all over the course of the weekend – half Friday, half yesterday. It was so very well done. And I had very weird dreams last night, but I am sure that is just a coincidence. Right?

Extra bonus of Sandman was using it for self-bribery to get my to-do list knocked out yesterday. Whatever works, right?

Well, time to take my bleary eyed ass upstairs to get a jump on the workday, so I can get done that much sooner.

You get yourself through today in one piece.