Time Flies When You’re Off

Everybody else may be an asshole, but I'm not.
        — Harlan Ellison

My first week of vacation is behind me, and I'm already halfway through Monday of this second week. The break has been a much-needed opportunity to relax and read books in the park. I'm studying various web development techniques and technologies, which may not sound like big vacation fun, but the Plague is back in town, every town, so there isn't all that much else worthwhile to do. Sure, many folks imagine they can go back to acting like everything is normal(ish), but they are as mistaken about that as they are about refusing to get vaccinated. If civilization collapses on our watch, it will be because we're exactly the kind of people who would let civilization collapse. We're not great.

Fortunately for me, I'm at an age and of a disposition where avoiding gatherings such as parties, restaurants, theaters, concerts, old friends, and shopping centers doesn't put me out much. Better still, I currently work from home and make enough money that I can (sort of) afford to have people run moderate-risk errands, like grocery shopping, for me. Those people who do that are some of the unsung heroes of these awful times. I think they should be paid more, but that's not going to happen because capitalism is a skinflint.

If we all invested the minimal personal effort required to wear masks indoors and get vaccinated, that would make things a lot safer for all of us and much safer for people who have to work directly with We the Public. We could do those things, but we won't. Because said, "Because."

That said, vacation has been lovely. Thanks for asking.