That sounds absolutely lovely, JenP. Now I need to get to the beach! And yes, the sandpipers are ridiculously cute.

Today is the birthday of brenda m! Happy birthday to Brenda! Also, while I was offline traveling I missed yesterday's birthday for Kate P. I hope that it was a wonderful day. May you both have a wonderful year filled with love and joy.

Got in last night. Have to clear a zillion emails, unpack, and so forth. I jumped to the end to post, but I will read the recent posts, which are open in another tab. Weekend posting is so light that won't take long. I'm sure you are anxious to hear the travel adventures, so those are forthcoming too!

Glad you made it in safely, Laura!

Happy Birthday, Brenda! Happy Birthday +1, Kate!

Sitting by the window doing some work -- you know that thing where you have your laptop and keyboard in a new place, and you see the actual state of them, which you usually ignore? Yeah. Yuck. Time for some procrasticleaning.

Happy birthday, Brenda!

Happy belated, Kate!

After it dumped four inches of rain on us yesterday, I was expecting more this week, but apparently that's it for now. Blue skies, baby.

The COVID-19 numbers in SF are down to almost the place they were in late June when the mask mandates were briefly eased. Because the vax rates are so high, and they're rolling out both boosters and young kid vaccinations, I expect they'll ease the mask mandates again soon.

I'm hopeful we won't get another surge after Thanksgiving when people travel. We should be getting closer to the point where most people have either been vaccinated or had the disease. I think if they just rolled out the quick, at-home tests (as they've done in Europe) we should be at a place where it's all more manageable. Knock wood.

Y'all have inspired me to schedule my flu shot!

I don't think I'm eligible for a Covid booster yet. Still have to figure out the shingles one...

That’s so wild david! Numbers are still high here despite high vaccination rates (though the numbers are going down and are lower than a lot of places, they’re nowhere near what they were in June!) but today we do start requiring vaccine cards to dine in and go to bars (some places were already requiring) so maybe that will help?

Happy birthday, brenda!

I need to find out when I can get a booster.

I need to get my flu shot. When I get back I guess.

askye, all adults who received J&J as their original shot can get a booster two months after that original shot. J&J recipients do not need an underlying condition to get a booster. The doctors I've paid attention to all seeem to recommend that people who originally received J&J get a booster from either Pfizer or Moderna, if available, but boosting with J&J is better than no boost at all.

People 65+ who received Pfizer or Moderna for their original vaccine series can get the booster six months from the date of their second shot.

People under 65 who received Pfizer or Moderna for their first series can get a booster six months from the date of their second shot, [link] if they qualify [underlying conditions etc., which is a pretty broad category that includes overweight (not just obese), former smokers etc] : [link] ).

Also, you can get your flu shot on the same day you get your Covid booster. I chose to get my flu shot first (this past Friday), and am going to book my Covid booster appointment ASAP.

Edit: My Moderna booster is booked for Friday. I've seen some indications that people who had Moderna might see a gain in antibodies if they boost with Pfizer (and vice versa), but it's not yet peer reviewed, and I've seen other doctors say if you got Moderna, stick with it. Between finding and booking an appointment close to me, it just seemed simpler to go with Moderna again.

Saturday was a busy but fun day, spent in Memphis for a young cousin's birthday party. I ended up mostly acting as my namesake for two playful dogs' wrestling matches, and narc'd on the visiting one when she grabbed a plastic toy to chew on. I also took Mom to what was supposed to be one of the city's best BBQ joints for take-out, but I no longer trust the taste of the people recommending it. I've had better pulled pork sandwiches from gas station food counters.

I woke up to a text message from my neighbor that he was in the hospital after coughing up blood all over our back deck, but it turned out to be an excessively bloody cut on his tongue rather than something more serious.

Oh thank goodness, Matt. How scary (I meant the blood, but realize this also applies to pulled pork sandwiches from gas station food counters).

I'm sorry for your loss, askye. It still hurts, but it is wonderful that you had her as a part of your life for so long. It is good that you were able to get to see her again before she passed.

Yeah. Yuck. Time for some procrasticleaning.

Yes, I cleaned mine when I unpacked them figuring that when it was all powered off was a good time. Ick!

Travel was a freak show the first day and smooth the second. I wasn't even a mile out of Otter Lake when I came inches away from clipping a deer. Big buck dashed in front of me and was across my car in a blink. So close to hitting his tail. Yikes. There was a truck coming the other way and I hope he didn't get him. The first few hours I couldn't use my cruise control because my front cameras were obstructed. When I looked at it there was fog under my headlamps and fog light lenses. I think it was from the overnight frost maybe. When I have time I'll ask about it since maybe after 3 years the seals aren't tight? After Binghamton, I got my cruise and auto drive back, but it started raining and didn't stop until halfway through Maryland. Then I had the Baltimore-DC corridor hideous traffic. By the time I got into Virginia, it was dark. I stopped for the night after 13 hours of driving in North Carolina. Got the cats into the hotel room, cleaned the poop out of one of the carriers, fed them, and got in bed. Read for a bit to unwind and then sleep.

I woke around 4:30 in the morning and there was no getting back to sleep because my brain was on overdrive so I took care of the cats and got them back in their carriers and we were on the road at 5:15. Smooth sailing the whole way until I arrived home at 8:30 last night. No, I haven't totally unpacked the car yet because work has been Mondaying. I did manage to get my computer and phone hooked up before 7 this morning at least.

I bought two cat carriers to use instead of the one big one I used in the past. It was a lot easier for me to handle by myself, but one cat meowed much of the trip and when they were together they didn't. In the future I may go with a 3-day trip because it is a really long day for them to be entrapped. DH left at the same time as me, but he went via NYC to visit his sister and I went straight down. He just arrived a short time ago.

Well it’s finally happened today, an employee wrote into the vax email and inferred that we were the Gestapo by starting the email with May I have your papers please in German.. Oh because we are asking people to register and supply us with their verification number. Good times