I *highly* recommend going to Cuba. There's very limited internet so disconnecting is more or less mandatory. It's beautiful and the people are incredibly welcoming and friendly. And if you go now it will be in the 80s instead of in the 100s. (I don't recommend going in the summer, between the heat and the mosquitos and the hurricanes.) And if you want someone to recommend places to eat and see, I know a guy. (He can also exchange money for you under the table so you don't need to pay the exchange fee.)

Take it easy on yourself, Teppy! I sometimes think it is harder to watch the person you love going through stuff than going through it yourself. Very stressful and exhausting.

I have to look into going to Cuba more seriously. My DIL is Cuban and although she barely speaks the language her mother is fluent and she would go with us. Also, rum. Tate has expressed interest several times so we really just need to make it happen. Yes, winter is the only time to go!

eta: It is $205 round trip Jet Blue for me to go there. Seriously, why have I not done so yet.

Go, Laura, go! Before some stupid travel ban happens

Timelies all!

Mr. S is continuing to be Chaos Boy. I went to work today, and just got home, and I'm already tired of his antics.

Sheryl, it sounds truly relentless for you and Gary. And of course, Mr. S is pretty much in the Energizer Bunny age level when they go on forever til they fall asleep.

I am feeling very "msbelle dealing with shit and gtd" today

Adulting like a Boss!

Before some stupid travel ban happens

It's already in place, mostly. The "people visiting people" reason for going was taken away in I think 2017 or 2018? Nowadays most individuals can get away with checking "support for the Cuban people" but I think "family" is also a viable option.

Also, American debit and credit cards don't work there so you need to travel with enough cash for your entire trip.

ltc was up last night in bed "reading" loudly until 9:30. She better go right to sleep tonight both because she's exhausted and because it's Picard night.

Yeah, that corner is legendary as a danger spot for downtown Seattle. And it's in a heavy pedestrian traffic area AND a few blocks away from one of the major bus stop hubs.

Years ago when I worked at Harborview Hospital I had to walk through downtown and that area at the end of my my shift to catch a bus north. There were always lots of unsavory folks around--I think that was the MacDonalds that played obnoxious, repetitive music in their parking lot in the hopes of keeping people from congregating there--and when it was late I sometimes walked in the street just to give myself a little distance from the unruly groups on the sidewalk. After a long day of dealing with disordered people it was just too much.

The morning after one of those walks I went out to the waiting room of the Harborview Mental Health Center to retrieve a patient, and a different patient stood up and started screaming and gesticulating to everyone in the room: "That doctor is crazier than we are! He walks down the middle of the street!"

He had a point.

See, there are places I'd expect to be worse or as bad with similar situations, but NONE OF THEM have been such a lasting clusterfuck as the corner with that McDonald's.

It's so weird because it's so close to so many perfectly nice places to shop, eat, and hang out, and yet so persistently cursed.

Though speaking of Seattle crime, my office on the outskirts of the UW campus has been on lockdown twice in the past two weeks because of armed robberies in the immediate neighborhood...which is two times more than had ever happened before in the four years since we moved to that location.