And it was as if the iron gates of Hades had swung open, releasing the nightmare hordes; fists upraised, lips glittering with foam, united in one primal cry.
“Beach!”
Ahem. Why yes, the traffic was incredibly jammed Saturday. Not unusual for Memorial Day weekend, but compared to the past two months? I’d gotten out of the habit of planning my trips around the flow of the traffic jams. Yikes.
I’m crossing my fingers that it’s enough. The local area has some industry and other sources of income, but tourism is big money. And we’ve missed most of the Spring Break crowds, into the start of the summer. That is a lot of cash out of the till, a lot of layoffs, and a lot of businesses going under, possibly never to come back.
Also, given tourism, local business depends on a lot of people in other places having spare cash to spend to feel white sand between their toes. That’s going to be a lot thinner on the ground this year.
But at least people are going to be out in the sun and fresh air, which should take some mental pressure off. Thank goodness.
Things are still tense. The local library is only open by appointment, and you have to schedule computer time something like a week in advance. That… does not work with my schedule, which is not the same from week to week and may change without warning. Grrr.
Local employees in a lot of stores are stuck wearing masks all day, and it wears on them. I’m getting regaled with tales of people abruptly calling out ’cause they can’t take another day in a row of masks and obsessive cleaning, of quiet and well-mannered types breaking down in profanity, and of many more than usual seriously considering quitting despite the horrible odds of getting another job. Can’t blame them. You try pushing carts over hot asphalt in 100% humidity with a mask on.
Meat costs more, and there are still odd gaps in the shelves. But if you’re flexible about what’s going to be for dinner, you can always find something. Though it is pinching the budget.
But the beaches are open, and cherries are in season. Fingers crossed.
…And a little praying wouldn’t hurt.
Crossover Queen's Creative Chaos 
…And a little praying wouldn’t hurt.
Always.
Figure there’s a reason so many prayers can be chanted– St. Patrick’s Breastplate (“I bind unto myself this day/ the proud name of the Trinity/ by invocation of the same/ the Three in One and One in Three/ Christ before me/Christ behind me/Christ beside me/ Christ within me/ Christ to send me/ Christ to comfort and guard me” – best “I am scared of the dark– or what’s in it” prayer ever.)
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Local employees in a lot of stores are stuck wearing masks all day, and it wears on them.
Yeah. I can remember trying to breath the Pensacola air just by itself– adding a mask on that?
Oh, dear Lord.
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Indeed. I may have been informed that while inside is inside and you do it for the customers, outside people are saying Bad Words about management and surreptitiously not wearing said masks while they are out of sight of the doors, because what the heck, in the parking lot it’s fairly easy to social distance.
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If it’s in the back, or in the inner fastnesses of food preparation departments, probably no masks. The outside guys do some amusing hood/hoodie use that pretty much isn’t a mask, but I don’t know if it would help in Pensacola. Didn’t help our guys much yesterday. There’s some kind of sports gaiter that the other guys are using, which frankly doesn’t seem to me like it blocks anything but looks good.
Still, it’s amazing how much mild hypoxia trouble people are having, including myself, with even minimal masks. Allergies are making life very difficult.
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I heard somewhere that they were recommending that businesses not run their AC during the summer, to stop the virus from circulating
Okay, I don’t live in Florida, I live in New Jersey. Not the sort of place where you’d think summers would be unbearably hot, correct? Hahahahaha, no. What kills us is the humidity. No AC during the summer? Prepare to be miserable as the air turns to soup, and that 85% humidity makes the 80-90 degree weather feel like a steam cooker. I can’t imagine living someplace like Florida or New Mexico where, y’know, it actually gets hot and having people decide that maybe they should try out this suggestion. Who comes up with these rules and what kind of bubble do they live in?
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I don’t know, and maybe it’s better if I never find out.
No A/C? The only months that are bearable without A/C here are, approximately, December to March. If you’re lucky. And then you’d darn well better have heat at a moment’s notice for the cold snaps.
No A/C. Sheesh, was tossing Covid patients into nursing homes not killing elderly people fast enough for them?
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*facepalm*
Not just that, but you can tell someone doesn’t clean their own AC. There’s been stuff for catching/filtering bacteria and viruses for YEARS.
Not popular, because it makes the system work very hard, but it’s there.
Now contrast with the paperless dryers in the bathroom…..
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And this, yes.
…Forgive me, I’m looking at the current numbers on suicides due to lockdown/economic disaster, and trying hard not to rail at all and sundry who say “masks don’t cost you anything!”
…This may be a post tomorrow. Argh.
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*sympathy*
I’d guess the bullying has a lot to do with it– is there another word for how anybody against the health theater, defined as “not accepting anything the attacker says is Science!”, is an acceptable target for abuse that would be bad behavior in a middle schooler?– but the lack of faces is there, too.
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And not being able to work, and finances drained, and, and, etc.
One of the things that gets me is the education departments asking for more money so they can space the kids 6′ apart in the classroom. School-age kids are the safest group of all of us.
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Did that even come up in consideration, or was it just about the heat? After all, if the virus does more poorly in hot conditions, then obviously more heat is better, right? :p Still a bad bit of reasoning, but at least somewhat more understandable.
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No, this sounds like the “A/C is against nature!” crowd trying to take advantage of fear. Because central heat in the winter is no different than A/C, in circulation.
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True.
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You know, I was wondering why you were so enraged about the masks. I apologize for that. I was not taking your local climate into account. Having to wear a mask in 100% humidity + heat is more than an annoyance, it is a health hazard.
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Partly it is also growing up around a bunch of narcissists.
Narcissists are not the only category of ill that combines annoying behavior with boundary issues.
I’m glad that the folks I’ve dealt with are apparently not narcissists. However, if you don’t grow up around a bunch of people all having similar flavors of broken decision making, it seems likely it is hard to understand how it shapes you. You either get trapped in imitating the thinking and behavior, or you wind up determined to make your own decisions, and with a very sharp eye for the characteristic mistakes.
Someone when there is little apparent reason for me having an extremely angry reaction to someone, it turns out that it is because something reminded of the people I grew up around. Someone making a mistake in conversation that betrays thinking that maybe most people don’t care enough about to strictly avoid.
Because mental illness is a tendency to make a specific sort of mistake; ordinary people who don’t pay careful attention will normally make mistakes of the given sort some of the time.
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Narcissists are not the only category of ill that combines annoying behavior with boundary issues.
Add in “rules apply to other people” and that’s the basics of the classes they have you sit through to recognize child predators.
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I hope they also cover “look for the one everyone calls the pillar of the community with the kids who are Always Trouble”.
And, post on the Crazy tomorrow. I wanted to sit on the RRRrrrrrgh and re-read it… and now I have the CDC craziness on childcare to add to it. Oy.
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More of a constant hammering on how good predators will not look like predators. They’ll be helpful, and often have great reputations, etc.
The VIRTUS program the Catholic Church uses has a lot of interviews with victims, guardians, and predators.
They do specifically mention kids who are only trouble around specific folks, or after being around specific adults, is a warning sign.
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Good. We need more people like that!
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How do we evaluate other people?
We aren’t mind readers, at most we only think we are.
So someone of reasonable competence who is profoundly driven to prey on others is going to work out at least the basics to camouflage predatory behavior as something that looks okay to most inspections. So if, like most people, you are cueing on a few details, and those details driven by group consensus, you will be fooled.
You want to be looking for details that most do not naturally look for, and details that do not depend on other people coming to correct conclusions, if you really, really, really do not want to be fooled by predators. This can have a huge cost in cognitive overhead, and in stress.
Anyway, I’m hopeful that the behavior I’ve personally experienced and find obnoxious is not simply a mask for predatory behavior.
There’s a model that does not fit predation. There are some relatives with a trace of the behavior who are definitely predatory or criminal in nature. Others have missed a lot of opportunities for bad behavior if their primary motivation is hurting people.
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Yes. Yes it is. Not to mention breathing in lint all day. Not good for anyone’s lungs.
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The cherries are in season, and they are delicious!
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Who needs sugar? Dessert!
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Honestly, given a choice between chocolate and ripe fruit…I think I’d go for the fruit ~80% of the time, which of course means the best combination is fresh fruit dipped in chocolate 😉
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Masks suck, but, by all that’s precious, please keep the distance.
At work. we had a mini outbreak at the end of April because nurses decided to eat together. One hour, one carrier, seven infected, one intubated in ICU.
Nasal swab tests are not pleasant. It’s not a simple prod – they insert and then TWIST once they hit the wall. *grumbles* Mine went for ten rotations.
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People are actually being pretty good about keeping social distance out here on local beaches. Helps that there’s a lot of beach!
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Well, if the beeches are open, people can use their brand new Trikinis!
A matching bikini with facemask.
I can’t help but feel like swimming in a facemask is a bad idea…
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Heh. Just a bit, yes.
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I dunno, it isn’t like being waterboarded is ever traumatic or stressful, so there can’t possibly be any reason to want to avoid that experience.
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*Wry G* Yep. Exactly.
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