flemmings | (no subject)

This May refuses to stick in the memory. This is what happens when the weather goes bouncing around the seasons, summer, autumn, spring, from 25 to 16 and back, from lows of 18 to lows of 9, from fans on all day to adding a wool blanket to the duvet at night. I go to the same cafes, walk the same blocks, see the same two or three people and none to talk to. There are days when nothing hurts much and I take a third of my usual meds. There are days when everything hurts and I take the heavy duty muscle relaxants all day and before bed. Every week without fail I think Thursday is Friday. I've run out of alcohol finally and hope to stay off, but I keep buying cookies and cake slices and chocolate because I can't get out of the sugar rut.

And more and more people in RL and online are coming down with covid and I feel doomed. I mean yes the cases are falling here but it feels like it's getting closer and all I have to protect me are my N95 masks. The armor in which he trusted, and we know how well *that* worked.

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I’ve been working from home for … is it two years now? And I know what you mean. Yes, so much quieter than open-plan office, so much less stress, fewer clothing/presentation worries, etc, but also less talking, and the days blending into each other, and the hours stream by and the tree outside the window goes in and out of leaf.

I begin to see why people recklessly ignore safety and go out to crowded restaurants and concerts just for a change and some human contact. Zen detachment gets you only so far. 'There is one thing that even I, who have no woldly entanglements, would be sorry to give up...'

We really need some good hangouts where we still-masking cautious types can hang out with well-spaced tables and plenty of ventilation.

It's called patios around here, but of course patios in summer get crowded and, outside or not, that's a lot of people spewing aerosols. Our libraries still require masks but of course you can't talk in a library. Must still practise patience. Gaman, gaman.

My favourite local cafe/tea-shop has some tables/seating outside; granted, it's in a covered arcade rather than actual open air, but the arcade is at least open at both ends, so I convince myself it's better than actually sitting inside...

Air flow is always good. That sounds pretty much ideal.