1. A friend had a family obligation a few hours away. She can't drive alone in poor visibility, so I went along, and we proceeded on to Bar Harbor/ Mt Desert Island overnight. Both wore masks, kept a window slightly open in the car, 2 rooms. Did some driving & walking in Acadia Natl. Park, which is really beautiful. It was so, so nice to see someplace different. We'll spend US Thanksgiving together, possibly outside, def. well-ventilated. I'm thinking we should make it fairly brief.

2. I love the Thanksgiving meal - turkey, dressing, gravy, and a couple vegetables. Probably curried squash soup and roasted Brussels sprouts, maybe mashed potatoes. Pie.

3. At Acadia NP, there's a restaurant at Jordan's Pond that famously serves popovers. Closed for Covid, so of course I want popovers/ Yorkshire puddings desperately.

4. For dinner, a local restaurant has windows that open, and we sat by a window, windy and chilly, and enjoyed a nice meal anyway. So civilized and pleasant; I miss that.

5. Solitary Christmas. My family is a hot mess, last year's Christmas with my sister went predictably pear-shaped. I envy people with loving not-too-dysfunctional families, am making efforts to reconnect with one family member, but if it doesn't work out, it's okay.

6. Covid is a bit less horrible in Maine due to restrictions and common sense. But the spike is scary.

7. Took a temp phone job for Christmas orders; looking forward to having a bit more structure.

I miss hugging, too. Being single makes Covid especially difficult. Glad I have a dog; he's company.

Although I rarely leave the house I have been busy since late August. I have been caning and freezing and drying things and getting them ready for winter. With cooler weather I have been reviving my starter and baking bread and making pizza again.

I was a very early adopter of networked technology with Timex Sinclair and Commodore computers and BBSs and dial up networks and then an early Internet venture but I have gone the other way now. With this lockdown I am now almost done with online anything. I have been keeping an eye on things here at Mecha but not being active.

I have stopped consuming U.S. media. TV, movies, news, social media. I just can't deal with U.S. views. Done. I know the rest of us in the world have our issues but the U.S. is the biggest loudest drunk in the room and I just don't want to hear it anymore. Sadly I know I am ghosting friends and other good people but I often feel I just can't find the energy to converse with the Americans I know. Even one of my oldest friends who has been living in the U.S. for about 15 years just seems too hard to understand anymore.

The upside is I have found so many good, interesting and fun things from other places. I did not know Finland had such a good film industry. It's small but they do some good things with a sly and dry sense of humor. And new Zealand's Wellington Paranormal is one of the best things I have watched in a long time. Found many Japanese and Korean and Vietnamize writers that are new to me.

Our home and work routines have not really changed since March. I have been to the nearby market, the neighborhood hardware store (entropy marches on), one convenience store and one time to a big box store because I really needed to get some boots before the slippery icy times come. In August we had dinner at a neighborhood micro brewery. They fenced off part of the parking lot and put up sail cloth for shade and set up tables 4 metres apart so that was a nice change and safe.

Today has been a long one. My 97 year old mother in law is EOL (end of life). She is in that place where she has many things killing her but not one that is doing it quickly and she is too old and unwell for things like surgery and chemo and radiation. Palliative is the route. EOL is what medical people call it and they try to do anything they can so family can spend time with the person so designated.

MIL's home is in lockdown but my wife got to see her today. Straight to her room. Full PPE; medical mask, shield, gown, gloves.

We got up at 5 and drove 360 km visited for a bit more than 4 hours then drove back. We brought food and drink so we did not have to stop anywhere.

I was sad to see Cov19 took HuronBob. He was the most nearby mefite\bunnie to me.

Many cat things have happened good and bad.

Our Christmas will be quiet and just us but that is the norm.

I am trying to decide if I will post Christmas music this year or maybe it's time to let it go.

Fortunately for me I have someone to hug. Virtual hugs to you who don't. Please stay safe bunnies.

Oh, I didn't know about Huron Bob. Fuck Covid.

I would love to have Christmas music, arse_hat, and news of the cats. Mine is doing well, although he gave me a scare the other week when he had a day of vomiting and then not eating or drinking for a day. He needed a drip which kick-started him and within a day of that he was back to normal, but i was £400 down as a result. He eats and drinks all sorts of shit in the garden, so it was only a matter of time before he got a gastric upset. His water of choice is scummy and green, preferably with bird poo in it. He'll go for that every time over fresh, clean filtered water. Cats are weird.

Fucking vet bills can be a killer. I am glad Rudy is alright. Whitey Ford hated clean water too. I think some cats find processed water suspect. From the tap it might smell of chlorine and filtered it has no scent at all. For Whitey we kept a large plastic watering can full of water to fill a drinking bowl. That way the water going into the bowl was always several days old and thus acceptable.

I didn't get Rudi insured, and worked out that this bill was less than I'd have paid in insurance premiums in the two years I've had him, so I feel as if I'm (just) ahead. I think I'll set up a separate Rudi Vet Bills account and put something in there every month.

I'd like to have Christmas music.

1) So glad it's still (barely) warm enough here in the middle of the day to sit outside at a safe distance with friends, as long as everyone's bundled up.

2) The house we bought and moved into last summer needs so much work. It's absolutely worth it, we could never have afforded it otherwise, but damn it's exhausting. The place is very solidly constructed -- the original builder was a brick mason who designed it for his own family in 1937 -- but it lay empty for five years because it had been in the family ever since and his granddaughter couldn't bring herself to sell it.

3) So many thoughts and feelings about the state of the world. Can't possibly do them justice here.

I'm reading, and thinking yeas, noos, wows and such but cannot kick my brain in gear enough to make sense of everything well enough for me to comment.

I'm glad ya'll are around. Good peeps.

Mr. init and I have been working from home since March. I am grateful that our house is large enough for him to take his meetings and give his presentations without impacting my own work setup. We have figured out how to sail around each other and share the space without driving each other crazy.

I have not had a haircut, a dentist appointment, service on my car, or various doctor appointments for months. I am having to make a list of these types of errands for when I feel safe enough to venture out. I did have to go to the eye doctor early on to renew my prescription in order to get more contact lenses. Managing my anxiety level has been a bit difficult even without leaving the house much.

We were able to do some home improvement types of things after the first surge passed- we now have a much more flexible setup for movies and music, which is really great.

Thanksgiving was planned to be just us two this year, and good thing because a family member that we usually spend the day with got an unexpected call from the contact tracer and then tested positive for COVID (seems to be a mild case thankfully) several days before Thanksgiving. We cooked all day and watched football and had a big feast late in the day.

I am pretty tired of the endless scrolling of social media, so it was nice to check back here and see some discussion happening. I would also be interested in seeing/providing some Christmas music around here.