I know many people are zoomed out from work, but I miss people and would like to have you all over for a Holiday Tree Trimming party today at 4pm ET, so...

Link to Zoom "party" [link]

Copying to Buffistas group on FB.

2 - There is not enough Febreeze in the WORLD for the fumigation I'm going to need to do after these kids leave. I went down to tell them lunch was ready and dear lord, teenage boys do not smell good.

They're stank!

When Emmett was 14 the only way I could afford to keep him fed was to buy Trader Joe's bananas in bulk. A banana will stave off a proto-teen between Second Breakfast and Elevenses.

Tippy I'm so sorry about Tim's dad . I hope he has the best care he can get.

msbelle that really sucks about Mac.

Dad is coming up here Dec 23 and will be here through 26th and then going up to my brother's to have Christmas there.

I found out that Grandma left $1000 to each of the grandchildren. There is an issue with Merrilll Lynch right now that I don't understand but Dad said he would write me a check when I needed it. It made me cry a little just because...

I have been limiting my screen time and I have my phone and monitor and everything else turned to low or vision friendly settings. I've been using my Kindle more so that helped. Altogeth getting fanfic on it is a tedious process.

I thought there was more I was going to say but I forgot.

Oh I've read a few things about how anti vax daily members are giving nurses etc hell over limiting visitors and acting like they are being persecuted.

Also I saw something where a lady on FB has been advertising for people to help her with her fraud vaccine cards. Someone answered her to find out and she was looking for people who worked at Walgreens or Cvs. So they could input info of real people who paid her for authentic Vaccine Cards with real lot numbers.

So I guess we can't even tell who has been vaccinated based on if their info is in a system.

I have managed to watch School of Chocolate in bits and pieces. It's really good.

At this point avoiding spoil4ers for Spiderman is easier than the Witcher so I'm going to see if I can watch it in small bits. Although I'm pretty sure I won't be able to.

Covid is EXPLODING here in NYC. It’s gonna get real bad.

Rₜ is already at 1.5, but I think it’s going to be recalculated to be 2 in the next couple of days.

Now I have to tell my family that I’m not coming home for Christmas. That’s going to be fun.

I hope your FiL recovers quickly, Steph.

Mac, dude. Get it together.

It is a chilly, rainy day here. I’m trying to be as careful as possible before heading to MI on Friday (which is very much a COVID hotspot at the moment—yay).

Tom, I'm sorry. I hope the family takes the news better than you're expecting, and I hope you stay safe and healthy.

Also I saw something where a lady on FB has been advertising for people to help her with her fraud vaccine cards. Someone answered her to find out and she was looking for people who worked at Walgreens or Cvs. So they could input info of real people who paid her for authentic Vaccine Cards with real lot numbers.

So I guess we can't even tell who has been vaccinated based on if their info is in a system.

askye, I'm furious at all this stuff, but at some point, I do think God, the Universe, karma, natural selection, or plain old depletion of luck, will get these people better and more fully than we (as a society, or a country with a criminal justice system) ever could.

Also, except in select cities, vaccine passports don't exist. You might need proof to fly here or eat there, but mostly, our government(s) has/have done jack-all to end this thing, so the relatively few people who buy these cards and don't get caught are not our biggest problem.

Our biggest problem is, or soon will be again, our hospitals. Omicron is going to take a lot of healthcare providers off the board for a while.

We're fucked.

Also, except in select cities, vaccine passports don't exist.

Very glad I'm in one of those cities! You can't sit inside at a restaurant or bar, or attend a movie or play without proof of vax.

Timelies all!

Mr. S has been a pain all day. He ended up with a giant Lego kit because the couple who won it in a raffle didn't want it/couldn't take it home with them. He insisted on starting on it as soon as we got home, even though we're exhausted. Now he's been yelling at us to help him with it for the last 10 minutes. (It's actually for kids 10 and up, but that's not stopping him.)

Nilly is on the Zoom if you want to come say hi!

Elizabeth Warren has Covid. [link] *shaky fist*

Very glad I'm in one of those cities! You can't sit inside at a restaurant or bar, or attend a movie or play without proof of vax.

I envy you. We just don't eat out anymore. We only took advantage a few times from May through July.

Massachusetts should and could have been a world leader in Covid testing, contract tracing, sequencing, vaccination, mitigation, etc., but for Charlie Baker. We're up to our ears in medical infrastructure.

Sheryl, I'm sorry. I know it can't be easy. I can't even imagine taking any of my kids to a convention at his age. Even when we took them to places designed for them, to which they wanted to/chose to go, they had a limited shelf-life.