Like most everyone I know, the pandemic isolation is starting to get to me.
I’ve avoided contact with people as much as possible. I could do more, but I still go out grocery shopping every ten days or so. I could order delivery, but a) it seems super complicated – how to avoid substitutions, and what to do about not getting the items I need, not to mention issues with delivery to our place, which even Fed Ex and UPS, who deliver to our complex regularly, can’t get right more than one time in three – and b) I would lose the remaining outside contact I have now, which could send me around the bend. Even so, going out for groceries seems like playing Russian Roulette; I’ve been lucky so far, but eventually my luck will run out, even being careful about wearing a mask and washing my hands as soon as I get home. It’s a challenging time to be alive, even for someone as fortunate and with as much privilege as I.
Rush Limbaugh has died.
The temptation to dance on the grave of a man who made a career out of spewing bile and hatred is overwhelming; let it suffice to say that the world is a better place without him in it. The list of those I hope will soon follow is too long to catalogue here; instead, I hope that Americans learn about empathy, and learn how to have it for others.
T and I have been bitten by the travel bug.
Having not left the state in more than a year, we’re getting pretty antsy about doing some traveling. We’d booked an Alaska cruise for August of 2020, and thankfully we saw what was coming and stood pat with only our initial downpayment on the line. The cruise was cancelled of course, so now we have a credit to use on a future Alaska cruise with that same cruise line. I don’t know how long that credit will last before our chance to use it expires, but it’s a relatively small sum and one we can afford to lose right now.
I found our dream trip online, and showed it to T, who immediately seized it with both hands and starting planning. If all goes well, we’ll be traveling to Australia and New Zealand on a cruise in early 2022. Mind you, a LOT depends on how smart or stupid we are at containing the pandemic by then. My concern is that we’ve fucked things up so badly in this country that we’ve actually encouraged the virus to mutate, perhaps making the current salvation of a vaccine ineffective. We’ll see how things go; for now our fingers are still crossed.
The pandemic has been horrible for many. We’re getting by, but I can feel my brain itching in ways that I can’t successfully scratch. My best wishes to you all: stay safe, stay warm, and practice the little things that give you joy.
Woo, Australia and New Zealand on a CRUISE? I assume that’s flying to somewhere in the Land of Oz and cruising up and down the coasts. Who are you booking it through?
Holland America is the cruise line, I believe. Cruise is 14 days, with multiple ports in NZ, 1 in Tasmania, and two in Oz proper. We fly to Auckland first, then fly home from Sydney.
About Rush Limbaugh, I heard about his death just today and it’s confounding to me. I have loathed Limbaugh for years. His cynical, warped version of reality has inflamed right-wing outrage and worse about anything that might possibly be progressive, or even liberal. He lied, as they say, like a rug. And he was never bothered by facts that contradicted his foul, twisted logic.
So I should be thrilled he’s dead. But I’m not. I’m relieved, but I can’t bring myself to, as you said, dance on his grave. Returning his bile with my own would just make me feel soiled. I’ve probably said too much already.