Good news from SF at least on the Covid front. The R-Nought number is down to 0.88 and dropping. Positive test rate is under 3%.

They still haven't opened salons or anything like that in the City, but lots of restaurants are doing the outdoor tables.

I didn't think there was any chance of onsite school classes in 2020, but if they keep this trend going up to October then they might. They have a series of guidelines markers that they need to maintain for two weeks, and I think they're going to hit those at some point by then.

Also, some things we thought lost in the fire were saved. One of the firefighters ran through the house while it was still on fire and saved a lot of the art including a large Dr. Seuss original. I think she also saved a bunch of the fine Greek vases.

And JZ had thought all of her father's correspondence with her mom had been lost, but her mom had taken those letters with her when she was last there.

The extendable table we had earmarked for our kitchen will be salvageable. (It's a $4,000 table that doubles in size and will just need to be cleaned and refinished.)

Also, all his vintage cars were safe though a bit smokey. But my B-i-L is driving the Tesla back to Portland right now.

It looks like we'll be able to get full value out of the place between the insurance and selling it to a contractor willing to rebuild it and flip it.

My B-i-L, Chris is intent on selling the house and business as soon as possible because it's a huge timesuck trying to maintain the business right now. But the laggard CPAs have finally turned in all their financials for last year and the business can be officially put up for bid and there are at least five interested buyers.

Shit could happen in a hurry is what I'm saying.

What a wonderful firefighter that is! And good news on the cars and interested buyers for the business. Fingers crossed for JZ and her brothers that things go smoothly and quickly.

That's good to read, Hec. I hope things go smoothly from here on out

That's good. Probably worth it to thank the firefighter(s) in particular, and maybe a donation to a fire house charity or something in their name(s). Small mercies, but so keenly felt.

That is a very encouraging update, Hec!

Jesus. 2020 can just stop already! So sorry to hear everything JZ and Cashmere and Teppy and everyone else are going through.

The term "Doomscrolling" is so appropriate for what following social media is like these days.

My wife has been on edge since Covid hit and the civil unrest the last few days has been particularly rough on her (we both jump everytime we get an emergency alert on our phones and we've been getting 2-4 a night ever since the shooting on Sunday.) Thankfully our son seems to be handling it well so far. (Also, I had a "How the hell is Matilda a high schooler already?" moment and then realized that yes, that's how the passage of time works since my son just turned 13 a couple months ago.)

It doesn't help that people are spreading outrageous nonsense online, making it really difficult to know what's actually going on. Today's latest nonsense is someone claiming that they arrested a bunch of people from Seattle "driving a can turned into a bomb" and they heard from an FBI guy working the protests that "more are coming" and it turns out it's fucking charity food service. [link]

My heart breaks for Jacob Blake's family (especially his poor kids that were in the car when he got shot) and the people who've lost their homes and businesses to the riots (some of the businesses that burned down had apartments on the second floor) and the people shot by that idiot vigilante kid and it's all just too much. And then I have friends telling me on Facebook the rioting is "necessary" because "peaceful protests don't work" and basically accusing me of being naive and/or racist just because I don't want the city I live in to be on fire. It's like "good job guys, way to play into the 'crazy anarchist left' stereotype that the GOP tries to paint us as." I'm all for serious police reform and I've made this clear but apparently I'm supposed to be cheering on everyone who is actively demonstrating against police brutality regardless of their words or tactics.

That's an awesome firefighter, Hec!

I have nothing but respect for the firefighters that were battling the blazes here. I think at one point we had units from as far as 80 miles away from both IL and WI working through the night on 50 separate fires.

I can't even imagine what it's like for all you folks out west where it seems like the whole damn world is on fire.

{{Kalshane}} It is really overwhelming.

I went through my FB feed and snoozed for 30 days everything but friends. None of the new or other various sources that I had been following. It helped. Some things I just unfollowed.

Thank you, Laura. I'm glad Skinner is okay (I somehow initially missed that in the flood of awful that seems to be hitting everyone.)

I've thought about it, but right now with the protests still actively happening (thank God last night was peaceful other than some idiot kids throwing rocks and fireworks at houses) it feels like I have to keep up just be safe. Nothing has gotten closer than a mile from our house at far, but I had to talk my wife down the other night about not packing up the car and fleeing to my grandmother's house because there were rumors on social media that a bunch of people were coming from out of town to set our schools on fire (we love 4 houses down from an elementary school). It's just exhausting. (Normally were great at being each other's voice of reason, but this year has been too much for her.)

THat must be very hard, Kalshane. Stay safe