Argh. I put my antidepressant in a day by day pill thing so I don’t forget it. But what I did forget was that I ran out. So I got to today as the last day of the week, picked up the bottle, and went “oh crap”. Ok, nbd, I can get it at the pharmacy tomorrow afternoon if I call it in now. Then I look and realize I have no refills left. Damnit!!!

Speaking of excellent dads, how's Brendan recovering from his surgery?

He is indeed a most excellent dad, as are you. Brendon's follow up visit with the surgeon went well. He gets stitches out the 28th. Of course he is doing way too much, but he has no relax mode.

So yesterday I went in to my local cafe and for the first time there were people in there not wearing masks. Which did not bother me since (a) I'm vaccinated and, (b) I know everybody who works there is vaccinated and (c) San Francisco as a city is highly vaccinated with very low transmissions rates.

And while it didn't make me stressed or offput, it did feel strange.

Then today I went over to Whole Foods and not only were there a number of unmasked customers, also almost half of the staff there were unmasked. Now, I'm sure the staff were all vaxxed as far back as February, but it's got to feel a little tricky for parents with kids under 12 who haven't been vaccinated yet.

The NYT did do a whole piece on the relative safety for kids under 12 this summer, but I think if I were in a less vaccinated community I might be wary about it.

And it has to be really tough on people with underlying conditions. My friend Alex (best man at my wedding) underwent a kidney transplant several years ago and the immunosuppressants that he takes also stifle his body's antibody response to the vaccination, so he's still vulnerable. JZ's brother, Lukas, who dealt with Multiple Myolema is in that same category where his immune response to the vax will be muted by the drugs he's taken.

What I'm saying is, we're back in a Wild West scenario where it's varying quite a bit from store to store and neighborhood to neighborhood. It's just going to take some months to sort out, and I don't think anything is going to feel particularly normal around here until Matilda goes back to school (in person).

we're back in a Wild West scenario where it's varying quite a bit from store to store and neighborhood to neighborhood.

Yep. The numbers here on the island are great; I don't know if we're going to be able to see Hazel in a couple of weeks, as they're in Island County, she's 5 and Katja's being especially careful. This is good! But I would very much like to hug them all, it's been a hard year: Brook's mom died in March and the Whidbey school board is dealing with a handful of particularly obnoxious community members going on about the comprehensive sex ed additions to the school curriculum.

More and more folks are unmasked here in Los Angeles. I've been fully vaxed for months now, so I'm comfortable with my own safety. My big thing is trying to make sure I respect the wishes of the business that I'm entering. My default is to wear a mask unless I see a sign specifically stating that no masks are required for vaccinated guests. If there is no indication for masking requirements I assume that it is best to wear a mask. A huge part of it for me is trying to respect the business owners and their employees.

A huge part of it for me is trying to respect the business owners and their employees.

That's definitely a guidance for me as well. I know my bookstore (which has been hypervigilant to a fault) will not be relaxing their mask guidelines for a bit.

(I don't even lecture them about "there is no Fomite transmission!" over their insistence on hand sanitizer. Whatever lowers your blood pressure in a service function during the pandemic is fine with me. Well, sort of. At Whole Foods they make you put on rubber gloves before you use their newly reopened Hot Bar of food, which is definitely unnecessary when they aren't enforcing masks. You won't get it from somebody touching a serving spoon, but you could get it from an unmasked person. Oh well, not everybody's read all the scientific journals I've read on the subject. Period of transition and all that.)

I'm amazed at the people who don't seem worried about their kids getting sick. Running around and playing in tight quarters, no masks.

A huge part of it for me is trying to respect the business owners and their employees.

Yeah, this is basically how I gauge it now. Seems like grocery stores are still mostly masking up here. We joined a Planet Fitness a few days ago - it's a huge one, so plenty of space, which is more a comfort- level thing for me, really - and it's no mask sif you're vaxxed.

Feels weird sometimes, being unmasked out there. I really clung to it as a literal lifeline so hard that it got imprinted! Well, me and the rest of the world.

I had hot pastrami for dinner. No regrets!

I do have regrets that for the second time in six months I have borked up my shoulder at the outer gate to our apartment building by trying to do Too Many Things At Once.

With my coffee in one hand and my neighbor's groceries in the other, I had a passing thought to prop the gate open for my neighbor and tried to reach back with my foot to nudge over the brick and prop it. And then just as I was thinking, "Nevermind, that's not a good idea..." my other foot slipped, I was out of balance, twisted my shoulder, banged my knee and spilled my coffee (just a little).

The previous incident I was trying to prop a paper grocery bag up on my foot on a rainy puddly day whilst trying to get the gate open with two other bags, and...that also went awry.

Just go through the damn gate, David, and bring your feet with you, else your shoulder will pay the price.

ION, I watched the first episode of Shadow and Bone last night. Anybody into it?

Pix, please continue to vent as needed. It is good to hear that you have "...a bunch of next steps already lined up...."