Living in the time of pandemic: COVID-19 (336)
November 9, 2026
Year 7 of COVID in the Bay Area.
Year 7, Day 188: After two, no three… no, four extremely hectic weekends in a row, while also winding down work, past me decided my body was going to need a massage today. Past me was right. It hurt like the dickens, of course, especially since it’s been months since my last one, but all those muscles needed help to unknot and it’s worth it. I didn’t get as much post-massage rest right after but I made up for it in the afternoon with a couple hours. Also my massage therapist’s spouse has been out of work for months and as long as I can, I want to support them too. She’s gotten me through a lot of hard years and pain.
Year 7, Day 189: We voted as soon as I could slog through all the ballot measures, and PiC dropped off our ballots in the ballot box last week or the week before.
Today I had a vaccine appointment and laser focused on reading and processing stickers all afternoon with SmolAc to block out election anxiety until a friend mentioned a particularly heated race in the afternoon and BOOM, the anxiety returned (and lasted all night). We did finish up all the production I had planned, and avoided 3-4 hours of anxiety, so I call that a win.
Year 7, Day 190: What amazing news to wake up to. Unfortunately I woke up to it at midnight and a half after a glorified nap. I suspect the melatonin is giving me nightmares, and then election news kept me riveted as the most effective distraction from the general pain and stress. Taking a second sleep aid in 6 hours seemed like a bad idea so I’m pretty punchy today. I scheduled myself for a long liedown in the morning in hopes of a nap, didn’t happen but the liedown was still good.
Year 7, Day 191:
Year 7, Day 192: