By: Revanche

Living in the time of pandemic: COVID-19 (291)

December 29, 2025

Year 4 of COVID in the Bay Area

Year 6, Day 245: Because I’m a giant sucker, I’ve written to the city asking about next year’s holiday craft fair for details so we can discuss whether JB might want to table there. They were prompt in supplying the information from this year for my reference. The table fee is $70 for a six hour event and they had nearly 700 attendees last year. I think we’d need at least 10% of the attendees to buy one thing for it to be worthwhile. Still, it’s worth having them learn to do the math to see how much they’d have to sell just to break even. I shared the information with them and they very enthusiastically said they want to do it.

Related: I’m very annoyed with myself for looking at a sticker printing service the other day that seemed like it was a good prospect but didn’t save it and now cannot figure out AT ALL what it was called.

Complaining just inspired me to go try searching my browsing history! Luckily I remembered correctly that it was on my phone. My laptop browsing history would have been impossible to manage. Turns out it was CatPrint. Sure wish I knew why I came across them in the first place – did someone recommend them? I have no idea. But I thought we could try them out in January and do a few sets of stickers to see how they might sell online, along with buttons. Magnets are too heavy to sell online, shipping costs a mint.

That annoyance has transmuted into mild annoyance with myself for continuing to create more work for myself in the pursuit of teaching JB to make money from their art. I think it’s not just because they definitely want to earn their own money but also because I worry about them having an unrealistic viewpoint on whether they can make a living in art. It’s precarious, from what I’ve observed.

Anyway, they’re interested in making and selling stickers still. But/and that means I have to learn how to set up their designs for printing as stickers. But this is a good thing for both of us maybe?

Year 6, Day 246: I knew it was likely coming but I’m still sad that Vogmask is likely winding down their operations due to low demand. Their available inventory is incredibly low now. I am very glad that I stocked up big time months ago, and wonder if I shouldn’t just buy out the small sizes they have left. These masks fit us well and the kids are willing to wear them for long stretches because they’re reasonably comfortable. I’m not looking forward to having to find a replacement supplier for kid masks. 😑

Update: I bought another 18 masks. This should last us about 18 months with current heavy use?

My fight with all things electronic continues. Our backup server is being sixteen kinds of a pill and randomly decided that it doesn’t like our internal log in protocols. After SIX HOURS of fighting to figure out why, it decided it was totally fine with them what are you fussing about? BUT THEN that meant our external log in protocols were borked instead. What in the!!! Essentially this means that all my autobackups are paused for two or four weeks because I don’t have any stretch of time to sit down and fight with it again to straighten out the external protocols. URGH.

Year 6, Day 247: I’m a sucker part 2: I decided to try making a Ko-Fi for JB’s art. My own Ko-Fi doesn’t get much action but I’ve had one and navigated it a long time so I’m familiar enough to chance it. Bonus: they have actual products to sell. I really like the ease of Big Cartel but we’re limited to 5 listings for the free site. I don’t see any limits on listings on Ko-Fi so far.

I also spotted this cute listing for a downloadable coloring book and thought: that could be a thing they could also make! They’ve made coloring pages for SmolAc in the past. Maybe digital for online purchases first, and later I can figure out a print version for booth sales. I posted books and shirts that I designed on Amazon Merch several years ago and I seem to recall there is possibly a way to order author copies at cost. If that still exists, I could use it solely for that purpose and delete the listing after.

A reminder to myself: never use Sticker Mule, they went full-on MAGA a while ago. Other creator friends use Sticker Ninja, and they don’t appear to be evil, so I’m exploring them. The nice thing is that, unlike Catprint, they prefer to add their own cutlines and that means I only have to provide the digitized art.

Year 6, Day 248: I managed to visit one of my oldest (time of friendship) friends this week and I cannot tell you how much of a lift it gave my spirits. I always forget how easy it is to just gab about everything going on in our lives at the moment we see each other again. It can be a year or a decade since we’ve heard from one another. It doesn’t matter, we’re somehow still the same people who love each other regardless of how our lives above evolved. Happy bonus, our kids get along like a house on fire. They did not want to part ways.

Also? DANG we look old(er). Half my friends have grey/white hair. It looks great on them but it’s definitely jarring to go from my memory of them in high school to today. I know my face has aged tremendously since 2020, I shouldn’t be surprised they have too.

I’ve been thinking more and more about random things I want to do instead of work. Like I had to think hard about that. But things have been coming up that I’d just like to do. There’s a 2 day course that a local outdoors shop gives on treating emergency injuries out in the wilderness. I try never to be in a position where I AM in the wilderness without medical care but I’d still like that skill. It appeals to the hypervigilant in me. Also the me that watched a few too many episodes of Royal Pains. Possibly also the part of me that wants to be useful in hard situations.

Year 6, Day 249: First it’s our out of touch CEO pushing “AI” (it’s NOT INTELLIGENT!) on us, demanding that we incorporate it into everything when it doesn’t do even a tenth of what they believe it does. Then there’s our customer base’s use of the same which is eroding our ability to run a business that offers an ethical and accurate professional service. I spend part of every single day trying to mitigate the effects of fraud committed by using gen AI tools and it feels like a losing battle from that side. I refuse to use it in my day to day work and have to waste my time redoing the work that it comes up with. Now it’s LinkedIn pestering me to add “AI” key terms to my profile. GET AWAY FROM ME. ARGH.

So many companies are so all in on this garbage even though it does not increase productivity at all, I don’t know if we’ll be able to pull out of this nosedive when it finally crashes. I am whatever the secular version is of praying very hard that it will finally crash and this incessant parade of clueless mouthpieces demanding that we incorporate AI into every part of our lives. I can hope.