Saturday, July 31, 2021

CoViD-19: US Breaks 100k Daily Cases (Again) | Clarifying Breakthroughs | Delta Breakdown | Miramar Landfill Powers Base | August Heat Shutters Some County Parks |

  

Happy Mutt's Day (Taken 7.10.21)

Yesterday was my niece's birthday, so we celebrated today at my parents' house with Filipino delights from Jochi. We had a fun time just hanging out and ribbing each other and my god-sister brought her new beau to meet the family. There was this funny moment where I was trying to explain why my niece should stop using the phrase spirit animal and like a true teenager, she responded, "but I did a quiz on Buzzfeed." My dad isn't doing especially well, so I guess the time together packs more meaning than any usual visit of the past. 

My house is really quiet right now because Nova is staying at my sister's and Darren is working at the Agent Orange show at the Casbah. The latter makes me so nervous and I wish Tim was mandating proof of vaccines but he's just not ready to take that leap without the big guys like Livenation or AEG doing so first. I actually think it should be the opposite, one by one the smaller guys could require proof like Urban Mo's is doing and people will just get used to it like showing their ID at the door. I'm kinda kicking myself for volunteering Darren when I won't go to a sold out show on my own, but in my head I know that breakthrough infections are not common. As Ben Wakana of the White House COVID response team tweeted, "If 10 vaccinated people walk into a room full of COVID, about 9 of them would walk out of the room WITH NO COVID. Nine of them." Plus Darren's wearing a good mask so I'm trying not to worry. 

So most of today's reading is leftover stuff I didn't get to yesterday but if you don't want to read it all, I recommend at least watching the interview with Dr. Jha embedded below. 

Stay safe out there. 

Friday, July 30, 2021

CoViD-19: CDC Reveals Data For Revised Mask Guidance | CDPH To Host Back-To-School Panels |

  

Satu The Big Papa Orangutan at San Diego Zoo (Taken 7.26.21)

I'm gonna have to do a second post tonight or a catch-up post this weekend because I didn't get to all of my email today, and for good reason: I visited Jake Najor at the hospital. I'm not gonna lie, he's bored af, but it was great to see him and catch up for a little while. 

After visiting, I did some shopping and we ended up grilling and I sat on the deck to try and catch up with work but it is a lot and all you really need to know is that if you're vaccinated, you should still mask up indoors when around people outside of your household and if you're not vaccinated, I think you're an idiot and I hate you and I have nothing to say to you, so why are you even reading this??

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, July 27, 2021- Monday, August 2, 2021: Tiki Oasis, SummerFest, The Havnauts, Agent Orange, and more!!

Sold Out Casbah Show (Taken 1.18.20)

I have to be honest and say that during the pandemic, I did not miss doing these listings. I don't know how I assumed doing them and why I didn't figure out a way to automate them, but here we are. I'm sure I missed a bunch of things, so I'll add and pepper throughout the week if I find more stuff. 
Obviously I'll be paying close attention to how the new mask guidance fleshes out, too. If you missed it, today the CDC updated previous guidance and recommended that because of the high transmissibility of the delta variant, even vaccinated people should resume wearing masks indoors in places of high and substantial transmission. San Diego is currently in the "high" zone. Tell your stupid friends who say they're young and healthy and don't think they need it to stop being selfish cowards and to go get their vaccines. The spread of this virus is primarily among 20-40 year olds, and while the unvaccinated are the majority of hospitalizations and severe illness, they're really fucking it up for all the rest of us as more and more breakthrough infections are identified. My young, healthy, fully vaccinated friend was knocked on his ass for 5 days with a breakthrough cases. It isn't fun, and it is almost entirely avoidable. 

Stay safe out there. Listings after the jump. 

Thursday, July 29, 2021

CoViD-19: Biden Announces Vaccine Mandate For All Federal Workers | US Records Over 80k New Cases | Disney Returns To Mandatory Indoor Masking | Schools May Not Opt-Out of Masking |

International Tiger Day (Taken at San Diego Zoo Safari Park 8.20.2020)

I'm keeping it short today because email was kind of a nightmare and there's nothing here that you don't already know: the Delta variant is everywhere, the unvaccinated are getting hospitalized and dying, and more vaccinated people are seeing breakthroughs because of the high transmissibility of the Delta variant, which is said to be 1000x more than the Alpha variant. San Diego's numbers yesterday showed 10% of cases were breakthroughs, but it could be much higher because asymptomatic people may not be getting tested and San Diego's contact tracing and investigations have drastically decreased. 

I'm kinda over it. I'm sick of holdouts and selfish fucks and people who can't get their shit together to get vaccinated. I'm sick of debating this when this was all preventable if we only looked at the data in India and UK and Australia. We knew it was coming, we celebrated independence from the virus, and now here we are. I'm going to the San Diego Zoo to clear my head. 

Stay safe out there. 

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

CoViD-19: Less Carrot, More Stick: More Vaccine Requirements | Time To Flash Your Vaccine Record | McCarthy IS A Moron |

  

Ficus Enjoying Fiesta Island (Taken 7.28.21)

I am exhausted. There was a lot going on today so I'll probably still do another post, but while talking with the SDIVA team today, I decided to put together a small list of places that are now requiring vaccines and I really appreciate that it is gaining steam. There's a great piece I linked below about how those of us who followed the rules, who wore our masks and stayed home and who couldn't work are so sick of the people who have been fighting masking and vaccines all along. Though in reality I've been sick of them from the beginning. Wednesdays are the days the county releases all the weekly reports, so you should definitely take a look at where our numbers are. 

It was a good day though. Nova is asserting her independence and caught the bus to and from her camp today and after school we decided to go swim at Fiesta Island. The water was so perfect and it was pretty and sunny until the sun dropped behind the marine layer and we called it a day. I'm gonna hit the couch for awhile. 

Stay safe out there.  

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

CoViD-19: CDC Says Vaxxed Or Not: Time To Mask Up Again | Vaccination Requirements Expand | Biden Saved Live Music | Governor Newsom Expands Healthcare, College Accessibility |

 

Hummingbird at San Diego Zoo (Taken 7.16.21)

Today was a really nice and productive day. I spent the morning working while watching briefings by Jen Psaki, Governor Newsom, the January 6th committee hearing, and bits of the Olympics.
 
By the afternoon, the CDC had released their updated mask guidance for vaccinated people and frankly, it is about time. I understand they can only issue guidance, but did they really think -- in a country where that last guy was president, where January 6th happened, where people believe in a blood-harvesting cabal of pedophilic liberals exists, that we were going to get people on board with masking or vaxxing or having any kind of sense? 

And don't get me started on the media. I have a couple links below but this idea that reinstating mask wearing is somehow going to hinder vaccinations is absurd. The people who weren't masking were already never gonna get vaccinated. 
Here are some reasons I got vaccinated: I don't want to die by dry drowning. I don't want to get so sick I have to isolate from other humans for days on end. I don't want to catch a virus and not know that I'm carrying it and spread it to my family or friends. I want to go to shows. I want to be around groups of people and not feel suspicious that they're carriers. I care about myself, my friends, my job, and my community. You know what didn't come to mind when deciding to get vaccinated: the question of having to continue wearing a mask. 

Mask wearing is so inconsequential and easy and I don't even think twice about it. So let's be real about who the Americans are who will somehow decide that if they still have to wear a mask there must be no point of the vaccine. And maybe they'll keep driving mutations to the effect that the virus becomes completely vaccine evasive and they'll get a self-fulfilling prophecy just to say they were right. We need to keep up the pressure and mandate vaccines where they can be mandated. The next big move will be showing proof of vax for restaurants in bars like in SF. 

The afternoon was lovely. My sister and my nieces came over, we ate in the backyard, and then went to Sea World. It was crowded but definitely saw more mask wearing which was encouraging, and we tend to stay in the perimeter less-crowded areas. I'll be paying close attention to see follow up from the State, County, and local businesses. I'm trying to influence a couple to be the torchbearers for vaccine requirements, but it's gonna take some big political will.  

Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: Stick Supplants Carrot: California, VA, NYC, Bay Area Bars Mandate Vaccines | San Diego's Funded Projects | Humane Society Waives Adoption Fees Through Sat |

  

6 year old Orangutan Aisha at San Diego Zoo (Taken 7.26.21) 

Mondays are such big news days but I was glad to have forced myself out of the house for some time at San Diego Zoo, even though with the monsoonal air I was sweating just by standing still. I noticed a lot of the primates off exhibit and was wondering if that was because it was later in the day or because they're being abundantly cautious about COVID. It was specifically the ones whose exhibits are open air or only have a fence between them and humans, so my hunch is COVID precautions, but then why not just require masks again? It's the Zoo's busiest time of year so it definitely qualifies as "being in a crowd". Either way, we were masked for the duration. I didn't explore a lot --it was so muggy and crowded, but I did spend time with the orangutans and it was pretty special because Aisha and Satu came right over to me at the glass. Unfortunately that meant I was surrounded by a crowd pretty quick and had to move away, but I got this silly pic of AIsha. I've still never figured out how to adjust my settings through the tinted glass, but I'll keep trying. 

The big news today was that lots of vaccine mandates were declared. New York City, the State of California, Veterans Affairs, and even the business group with over 300 Bay Area bars all issued some variation of vaccine mandates or mandatory weekly testing. I hope it works and I hope they all stick, because as Governor Gavin Newsom said today, people making the choice not to vaccinate is now affecting the rest of us. It isn't a personal choice when you willfully endanger everyone around you. Ideally this expands nationally to congregate care, health care, and jails and prisons, at the very least. As I mentioned yesterday, media is finally focusing on percentage of the total population vaccinated and it's far more grim than just singling out vaccinated seniors or just eligible adults, and goddamit, I want to go to shows again. It reminds me of a comment a friend made on a conference call when asked how he incentivized vaccination among his employees and he said he offered extended furlough if they didn't. Ha!

I'm gonna try to start listings but they might not be done by 6am. Sorry. They haven't really fit back into my schedule and it's hard to square promoting live events when I'm not even sure they should be happening at all unless San Diego venues step up and require proof of vaccines or a negative test. This week is Tiki Oasis and hopefully it doesn't just become a massive superspreader event. 

Stay safe out there. 

Sunday, July 25, 2021

CoViD-19: US Going In 'Wrong Direction' | Mass Shooting In Texas | Monsoonal Ants Attack |

 

Anteater at San Diego Zoo (Taken 6.14.21)

I didn't have big plans this weekend, but I certainly didn't expect to be in bed by 9:30pm on Saturday night nor did I expect that Sunday would turn into a deep cleaning day, but it actually felt kind of amazing to be well-rested and have a clean house. 

Our very old property has a known history of major ant problems. It was so bad in early 2020 that our neighbors moved out and that's why we went for almost a year without downstairs neighbors. But we managed. We've bought more peppermint oil than anyone should ever have to buy and stockpiled Terro traps. I often find myself cleaning counters in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. But my Mexican mom would always say when they're really out it's because they're preparing for rain. And with the weird monsoonal pressure and moisture and *actual* rain last night, they made themselves known today. 

And if you try to kill a small group of ants, it leads you to their entry source or what they're interested in...usually one tiny kibble of cat food that got away or one tiny piece of shredded cheese that is hiding under the toaster. So that's how Darren and I spent our Sunday. (We let Nova off the hook with helping after she vacuumed the living room.) It started with a shelf, then the fridge, then the rugs and carpets and sweeping and mopping and bleaching and pepperminting and then it carried to the bedroom and bathroom and the house is nice and clean and tonight we shall drink and celebrate our efforts. 

The news was much of the same today; lots of weekend shootings, Pelosi found another Republican to name to the January 6 investigation, and Dr. Fauci was on the Sunday news shows offering the dire warnings about Delta getting out of control and I think my pals at Channel 8 are using my page as inspo because today they did a story on long lines at testing sites. 

I should note that I've been reading and sharing and sounding the alarms about Delta for awhile now, and it is important to keep perspective: cases rising in highly unvaccinated regions has different ramifications than more vaccinated areas with rising case numbers. For example, it is more dramatic to say "cases rose 400x" than citing the actual number, and I think since we're seeing breakthtough numbers may be so much higher than the CDC is suggesting, because they're not actually counting breakthrough cases unless they become hospitalizations or deaths. it is important to look at the ratios of cases to hospitalizations between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations and the same for deaths as those suss out in the next few weeks (as they lag behind case numbers), too I'd be interested in seeing the ratio of cases to hospitalizations in California vs Arkansas or Mississippi or Florida or Texas. It's probably out there somewhere but I'm not gonna put in the time to dig for the info. 

There was also a significant change in tone of reporting today across news channels. Where they would optimistically report vaccinations as "over 80% of seniors" or "65% of eligible adults" to skew the numbers high, media outlets now seem to be looking at overall percentage of the population vaccinated, which is only 49.1%. I think they realize that the needle isn't gonna move much on currently eligible Americans, but once kids are eligible, those numbers could and should climb, especially because school reopenings are going to be full on shitshow if our numbers stay where they are. 

The greater point is you should still be cautious, even if you're vaccinated, especially if you're around mixed crowds, and especially if you spend time with children and/or immunocompromised or vulnerable people. Stay safe out there.  

Saturday, July 24, 2021

CoViD-19: Nobody Seems To Care About The Pandemic Anymore | A Math Explainer On Breakthrough Cases | Snow Leopard With COVID |

 

Ramil's The Snow Leopard's Female Mate (Taken 6.20.21)

I woke up from a weird dream super early this morning and was just never able to fall back asleep, so my day has consisted of a whole lot of couching. I caught up on my Bravo shows then watched some Olympics highlights. I spent some time on my balcony, played with the kittens, and tried to coax Kiwi back to living amongst us instead of hiding out in my room. By afternoon, Nova and I started watching the second season of Never Have I Ever and we're about to go to my parents' house. One bright spot: my sister finally took my niece fore her first vaccination shot. 

There weren't a lot of things to share except that many states and jurisdictions, as I mentioned earlier this week, have stopped daily data updates. California and the County of San Diego have stopped on weekends. I also couldn't get into the Johns Hopkins Dashboard, which is weird, but maybe they're giving up, too. It's not good, as we're learning that a vast majority of the country is just post-pandemic and back to living life as it was before while the experts are sounding the alarms and nobody listens.   

So nothing else I can really say about all that, so instead, I'll show you a video I took of the snow leopards at the San Diego Zoo banging it out a couple months ago. I was thinking a lot about Ramil and how, like a lot of humans, he was about to get his COVID vaccine but hadn't gotten it yet and now he's sick and will maybe have to wait before he can get it. The other thing I was thinking about is that they can't really trace where or how he got it, but the enclosures that give us humans such an up-close personal view of them also makes them susceptible to our cooties, especially when they're sleeping on the catwalks the are above your head as you walk through. I hope the amur leopards aren't sick, too. I would be stoked if the San Diego Zoo reconsidered their mask policy being that probably 60% of the visitors are kids under 12, that even though you're outside should be considered being "in a large crowd," especially in summer when it's almost impossible to socially distance. 

Someone needs to show some goddamn leadership on the issue.    

Stay safe out there. 

Covid-19: Breakthroughs, Delta, & Our Highest Case Count Since February | San Diego Zoo Snow Leopard Tests Positive For COVID | CA To Offer Park Passes At Libraries | Superspreader Olympics Begin |


Ramil, A Snow Leopard at San Diego Zoo, Tests Positive for COVID-19 (Taken 2.10.2020)

I wrote this post late last night but apparently forgot to publish.  Whoopsie. All this information is from Friday, but the state and county don't publish new numbers on the weekend anyway... 

Friday: A friend of mine dropped by after running into Darren at Pancho Villa's. I said that I intended to take advantage of the backyard this weekend, so that's exactly what we did. I moved some plants around, we set up the new outdoor rug to go under the table, and had tacos in the shade, while we watched the construction guys next door drop a huge piece of wood from their scaffolding and break our butterfly planter, which they promptly fixed. 

While he was over, he told us about his bout with COVID-19. He's a fully vaccinated adult but who has been living a little too risky for my tastes...partying, picnics, numerous trips to Mexico. He has three young boys, too young for vaccination, and they are all in summer school and after-care programs. Their mom is unvaccinated. They all got COVID. The boys were mostly asymptomatic though one did lose taste/smell for a few days. My friend felt like shit for about 5 days, but was healthy enough to care for the boys while they had to quaranting. Their unvaxxed mom couldn't get out of bed or care for them for eight days. The reverberation was that the boys had to notify their schools, and all three of their classes plus their after-care program had to shut down for two weeks as all the students and teachers had to quarantine. Even if you don't care about getting a mild upper-respiratory illness and a few days of brain fog, the consequences affect more than just you. Obviously they cannot trace the source of the illness, but naturally there's a lot of bitterness and anger at the mom for not disclosing that she was unvaxxed. But the whole story made me really think that breakthrough cases are far more prevalent than we know. Some places are reporting more than 10%, others higher, but I included a few explainers below on why that would happen, even in high-vaccinated populations. But mostly it makes me so angry how many parents aren't enforcing masking among their unvaxxed children and I hope that lawsuit by the Let Them Breathe people gets dismissed as they choose to cherry-pick their data and use old information when new variants and circumstances require looking at it all anew. 

We went to Hoover twice to pick up Nova...they were on a field trip to the beach and got back later than expected...we drove straight to the testing site at USD. Unfortunately so did everyone else because they were maxed out on walk-ins. Then we drove to the Kimball Park Senior Center in National City, but that line was about 30 deep with only about an hour left, and we opted against waiting in a huge line amidst people who all probably suspect they're infected. We'll try again in a day or two, or maybe even wait until Monday. 

I wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo today, but after all the driving around, we all kinda just crashed at home and took naps. We learned that Ramil, the one-eyed snow leopard at the San Diego Zoo tested positive for COVID-19 and so now both snow leopards and both amur leopards in their exhibit are quarantined and the exhibit closed for the time being. I would hope that this would mean more encouragement for people to mask up at the Zoo, because even though you're outside, this is peak season and it is always packed with families from open to close. There are no quiet and distanced parts this time of year. I didn't mention it, but we went to Sea World on Thursday and it was horrifying crowded with nary a person masked up, not even in the inside spaces like the sharks, sea turtle, wild arctic, or the penguins. Might have to put a pause on our visits there for a minute. 

I hope everyone is doing well. The Casbah sold out tonight and I turned down a merch gig because I'm not ready for 4 hours on the smoking patio among people who may or may not be vaxxed but who are most definitely drinking and smoking without masks. Choose your own risk is all I can say about that. 

Stay safe out there.  

Friday, July 23, 2021

CoViD-19: Time For CDC To Roll Back Mask Leniency | Singapore: Vaccinated Make Up 75% Of New Cases | State Provides Funding For Max's Bridge | Cyclist Killed On Pershing |

  

Donate to Jake Najor's GoFundMe

It was a late night of work for me and I don't know how motivated my Friday will be, so I thought I'd get out a bonus post of Thursday stuff so I have a clean slate when I do a new post. I also wanted to post because I was SHOCKED by the revelation that Singapore's cases are 75% among partially and fully vaccinated people. They're using Pfizer there, so that is especially alarming and goes to show just how transmissible the Delta variant is -- even among vaccinated people -- in case you didn't already believe that from what happened in the UK and Israel, and low-vax countries like India and Australia. Be diligent and if you're putting yourself in high-risk situations, even if you're vaccinated you should consider masking up and testing regularly. I think we'll go for swabs this afternoon as Nova completes her first week of Girls Inc camp. 

Stay safe out there.  

Thursday, July 22, 2021

CoViD-19: Young Driving Pandemic - 1 in 4 San Diego Cases Among 20-29 Year Olds | Vaccine Breakthroughs Considered Exceedingly Low | AHA Supports Mandated Vaccines |

  

Rodney, Jake Najor, and me. Donate to Jake's GoFundMe (Taken 12.25.19)

Here's the link again to Jake Najor's GoFundMe. It has far exceeded the original goal, but as we well know, medical bills and living while in medical recovery is incredibly challenging. If that kid from Starbuck's got over $100k because some Karen yelled at him for asking her to wear a mask, we can make things nice and cozy for Jake. Jake's amazing girlfriend Sabrina said that he's doing better, but he's still in ICU and will be for at least a few more days, pending his improvement and ability to get surgery. He posted today, too, so it was great to see he's positive and going to beat this thing, even celebrating that he got to add jello to his hospital diet. I know how much he loves scrolling through his feeds, so I know he is seeing everything we're posting and can't wait for him to feel better and back to himself again. 

Today was a pretty chill day around here. Apparently my capacity for busy days is limited to once a week. I did all kinds of stuff yesterday topped off with a trip to Sea World, and today was just a TV day. Today's COVID-19 media briefing is worth watching as Dr. Fauci details breakthrough cases and vaccine efficacy. Jen Psaki is also worth watching too, because she's kinda like a cat just intending to play with a mouse before she accidentally murders it whenever she engages with Peter Doocy. And while I'm recommending YouTube links, this segment of Seth Meyers and Lorde day drinking which had me in tears by the end. I don't have any major plans for the weekend but hopefully it will be more comfortable weather and I can get some backyard and gardening time in. There are fun indoor and outdoor events this weekend, too, so maybe I'll brave ArtWalk of something. 

Stay safe out there.  
  • COVID-19:
    • Let's face it. We're not really learning anything new about COVID-19 these days. We know that Delta is dominating across the country, even if the US is only sequencing a small amount of cases. We knew the delta variant was coming and did nothing to stop it and so we are where we are. Lambda has now been detected in the US, too. Now it's a matter of what to do about it. I'm going to keep posting interesting articles and information, but it's really a lot of the same...more people need to get vaccinated, people are still dying though cases are still about a third of what they were in January and deaths are about 20% of what they were, anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers are mostly the same circle on a venn diagram and the desperate news will continue to platform these people to make it look like there's a debate even if it's only 12 stupid moms and their poor misguided children showing up to Let Them Breathe rallies. I don't expect the CDC will walk back masking guidance, but hopefully they get their shit together and get back to tracking breakthrough cases and break it down further between symptomatic and asymptomatic cases so people can get a real sense of their own personal risk instead of these blanket statements that if you're vaccinated you're protected without any qualifiers and the regurgitation of statistics 99.5%, 97%, 99.9%. And I don't know if you noticed in my post yesterday, but in one week, San Diego went from 96.6% to 40.7% for case investigations, which is not good because it could mean that the County is pulling back on pandemic- dedicated staff just as our numbers climb again. 
    • Some Bars and Restaurants Requiring Vaccination or Negative Test Amid COVID-19 Case Spike. Several San Diego establishment owners are trying to decide what else they can do to help stop the spread of COVID-19 - NBC San Diego (7.22.21)
    • COVID ACT NOW issued a COVID Alert for California: Risk increased on 07/22/2021 to Very High RIsk

CoViD-19: 'It's Too Late' To Vaccinate When You're Dying of COVID | County Cases Rise 82% In One Week | More Breakthroughs | US Extends Border Restrictions | Christmas is Canceled |

  

Support Jake Najor's GoFundMe (Taken 1.27.21)

I had this really productive day but there was so much going on today that I'm really not gonna get it all covered. What I am gonna keep doing is posting pictures of Jake Najor and posting his GoFundMe

There were some notable things today that I do want to mention. It feels like there has litrally been flooding on every part of the planet except for the drought-stricken west coast of the United States and Canada, and not that we want floods because our infrastructure certainly would not be able to handle a deluge, some liquid from the sky would be nice. We were watching as the live coverage was rolling in on the floods in China and Germany and Denmark earlier in the week, and it's horrifying and hundreds if not thousands of lives are being lost but also so much rebuilding to do, which make me think of some themes I've been thinking about a lot over the last several weeks and those are (1) all news is climate news and (2) Christmas 2021 is canceled. 

Obviously I don't really think Christmas is canceled, but this whole year we've been hearing about supply chains backed up and chip shortages and shipping container shortages and worker shortages and gas prices increasing and China closing their busiest port for 3 weeks due to COVID and the backed up containers in Long Beach and nobody wants to work and everyone wants cheap shit from Dollar General and all the Christmas trees are on fire in Oregon and you better get used to black coffee because there's gonna be an almond shortage due to drought and it's a good thing you got used to paying $15 for a salad in your fancy restaurants because if you wanna buy lettuce this summer that's pretty much what it's gonna cost you and don't even get me started on the farmers spraying sunscreen on their grapes so they don't turn into raisins before they can be made into wine. The crazy shit is literally none of this has to do with this administration but we will never hear the end of how everything is his fault. All I'm saying is you should probably start your Christmas shopping now, or skip it this year entirely and put the money aside for shit you actually might really need. 

CoViD-19 is bad everywhere, today was data update day for the county and they were kind enough to make a slide like I asked for with partially vaxxed and fully vaxxed broken down by age group and as a percentage of that part of the population. It's not exactly what I wanted because they broke it up in weird age brackets, but the point was that 18-29 year olds are still less than 50% fully vaccinated, so if you were at emo nite or a busy place where college aged kids party, you may wanna get tested. 

Stay safe out there. 

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Things To In San Diego: Tuesday, July 20-Monday, July 26, 2021: Comic-Con@Home, Museum School Benefit, Paul Oakenfold, Gregory Page, ArtWalk, and More!

Jake Najor (Taken 1.27.20 at Casbah) 

I really wanted to do listings last night but I was so beat that I decided going to bed before midnight was more ideal, so I've been a busy bee since 6am shuffling listings with other work and it kinda reminded me why I do them in the middle of the night...it gets really hard to focus with so many tabs open and notifications coming in every five minutes. I also had a call with SDIVA this morning so it's always nice to touch base with the venues. 

If you're reading my other posts, you know I'm super concerned about the rise in cases in San Diego at the moment, but I also think everyone should evaluate your own risk. That doesn't mean I think masking up if your unvaccinated is a "personal choice" because we aren't islands, but what I am saying is that if you're vaccinated and comfortable being in hot and sweaty venues, this week's listings are below. But there's also several free concerts-in-the-park type events if you need music but would rather enjoy it outside. And then there's lots of stuff in between. Be smart, take advantage of free testing, wear a mask when you're around people's whose vax status is unknown to you and be safe out there. 
 

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

CoViD-19: Delta Dominates with 83% of Sequenced Cases ; Mask Up | Fauci Calls Out 'Liar' Rand Paul | Verify Your Voter Registration; Vote No On The Recall | GoFundMe For Jake Najor |

  

Jake Najor, Drum Beast (Taken 1.27.21)

Jake's best friend shared a GoFundMe for Jake that includes more information on his condition. "On Friday, July 16th Jake went to the ER, thinking he was having a bout with stomach flu, GERD, or maybe food poisoning. It turned out that he was in a much more serious state. Jake was admitted to the hospital right away to be treated for pancreatitis and to schedule gallbladder removal surgery. By the late morning he had developed sepsis and complications have followed. He is currently receiving dialysis, and we are confident that he is receiving the best possible medical care." If you can donate, please do so here, and spread the word. I briefly messaged with Sabrina and she was glad he's not getting worse, but his improvement is slow-going and he needs all the positive energy we can muster.

Today was an interesting day in politics as Dr. Fauci, Dr. Walensky and others testified in front of Congress and there was a brutal exchange with Dr. Fauci shutting down fake doctor Rand Paul. Bezos also did his space flight and got widely criticized for being a dick and literally getting rich on the backs of his workers. But of course, the big news is COVID-19 and how quickly the Delta Variant is spreading. KTLA did the math and San Diego would be back in purple if we were in the old tier system. Also, while data is still being gathered, there's evidence that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has lower durability against the variant, so it would be really smart to keep masking up and behaving with caution if that's the one you got. I should also apologize with my post yesterday about breakthroughs. I should better emphasize that testing positive with Sars-COV-2 is not necessarily translating to getting the disease of COVID-19. Vaccinated people are mostly protected from severe illness and outcomes, even with the J&J vaccine, but why wouldn't you be as safe as possible when you don't know the vaccination and status of people around you? It would be great if enough pressure was put on the CDC to reinstate masking guidance and tracking all breakthrough infections, but I don't know that any circumstances would make them do so, so we're really on our own to keep ourselves and our families safe. 

Once again, I completely forgot to do listings for the week so I'll get right on that and wish you all well. Stay safe out there.  

CoViD-19: Are Breakthroughs As Rare As We're Told? | Masking In Schools Supported By AAP | Gov Newsom Signs Housing Funding | Texas Chill With Whit Power | Positive Healing Energy For Jakey |

  

Jake Najor, Me, and Tim Fears (Taken 1.28.2020)

It wasn't until late yesterday, when we finally got home from getting Nova from Chula Vista and doing some shopping, that I learned that Jake Najor is in the hospital. His beautiful and amazing girlfriend Sabrina has been keeping everyone updated, though nobody has been specific about what is going on or why he's in ICU. What we do know is that it's very serious, it's not COVID or related, and that he needs surgery but as of yesterday wasn't stable enough to go into surgery. In the latest update, Sabrina says, "Jake is getting your messages/texts. He simply does not have the energy to reply back, which is okay because the little bit of energy he does have is going into each and every breath, literally 💛 ...Today, his spirits were a little higher, and he is definitely not worse, but getting better is going very slowly." 

I love Jake with all my heart and we've been friends for many years and I'm devastated knowing that he's suffering right now. Obviously he is a super beloved person among the music community and the greater community at large, evidenced by the hundreds and hundreds of messages from well-wishers, and just by how many people have reached out to me directly to ask if I know anything. (I don't besides what's publicly posted on Facebook) Please send all the positive healing energy or prayers or thoughts or whatever you've got to get to comfort Jake and his family at this time.   

It's made today really hard to focus on anything else, but I'm trying to catch up tonight. I'm still working through email so I'll do a second post if there's anything important to share, but mostly you already know: cases are rising in all 50 states, doctors and experts but not the CDC are recommending masking indoors whether or not you're vaccinated, and unvaccinated people are refusing vaccines and masking and continue to drive the pandemic to own the libs. Also, Texas senators are super chill with white supremacy. 

Stay safe out there. 

Sunday, July 18, 2021

CoViD-19: WHO, Surgeon General, Others Express Worry | OPEC+ Agrees To Boost Oil Supply | San Ysidro Massacre Anniversary | Mandela Day | California Cliffs Collapsing | Inflation |Bogeyman |

R.I.P. Christmas Tree 2020 (Taken 12.11.21)

In one of my many reads over the weekend, I learned about CrowdTangle which is kinda like a Tweetdeck but instead of your feeds it follows trending posts and topics. It was essentially how the CCDH came up with it's "Disinformation Dozen" report. (See my post from Friday for links). I obviously don't click on everything posted, but I did see a post scroll by about how the cost of Christmas trees is going to skyrocket this year: shortages of drivers and gasoline output will hopefully readjust to regular supply years by Christmas, but the drought and fires are already taking out 50% of the supply. I wonder if this is the year I just get a fake tree. Or maybe we should buy an alternative living tree that we can dress up by the time Christmas rolls around? Or maybe we just do Christmas in July after all? I don't really know, but let's just already agree that by November this will be dominating the news cycle, it will be Joe Biden and the Libs' fault, and we officially canceled/ruined Christmas as we've always been trying to do as part of our evil scheme to establish a Socialist America.

I included an important link below from Robert Reich about inflation and also the big news that OPEC+ has come to an agreement about restoring world oil supplies over the next 12 months, although still not reaching pre-pandemic levels. I saw a story yesterday lamenting that Californians pay the highest taxes on gas and was like, "so what?" As a native, I was raised when we had "smog days" that were so dirty we weren't allowed to go outside. I would also love for our state to get cleaned up, for bike lanes and alternative travel to be given priority by our gas taxes, and for the disincentivizing of giant monster trucks on our roadways. And we have a giant van, but we're actually disincentivized from using except when we really need to. The tax works as intended.       

I guess we gotta go pick up the kid, though I gotta admit it was a nice and chill Sunday around here. Had an iced coffee on the catio while I read my feeds, played with the kittens, made a massive brunch for me and Darren, and now it's already late afternoon. Yikes. Time flies. 

I will post some links about the aftermath of those protests yesterday that I mentioned on Friday, but I haven't seen any reliable coverage besides people at the scenes which are extremely biased on both sides. Maybe that's all there is and MSM just didn't take the bait. 

Stay safe out there.  Data reporting will resume tomorrow. 

Saturday, July 17, 2021

CoViD-19: Vaccines Can't Protect Unvaccinated | LA Sees 4X Case Increases Since Independence Day, San Diego 5.2X | Shooting Shuts Down Padres Game In DC | WaPo Rips Doocy |


Quality Phone Time With The Family (Taken 7.17.21)

Today a colleague asked if anyone expects San Diego to follow Los Angeles' lead to require masks again. Earlier in the week, Nathan Fletcher said in an interview that San Diego would continue to follow CDPH guidance, and anyway, the people who won't wear masks are the ones who won't get vaccinated. (Here's the link of Fletch talking to NBC). Nobody asked me, but I'd be on board with full mask reinstatement indoors, especially because even though businesses may choose to require them outright, there's absolutely no enforcement anywhere when people are clearly not vaccinated, i.e. children under 12. (Looking at you, Sea World aquarium sections). As I wrote yesterday, still only about 46% of people 20-60 are vaccinated. 

So of course I played with more numbers. From June 30-July 16, there were 3,704 new cases in San Diego. 2,376 were ages 20-49 which represents 64% of cases. 20-29 year olds were 1,105, or 29.8%. 30-39 year olds had 790 cases, or 21.3%. And 40-49 year olds had 476 cases or 12.9%. While cases aren't fully representing COVID-19 in the same way anymore, because there's no differentiating between symptomatic and asymptomatic cases, vaccinated or unvaccinated, but know there is a lot less testing than before, we know that most people who get tested do so when they're symptomatic. Of course a certain portion are people whose industries require regular testing or people testing for travel, expecting to test negative. Still, as I looked, our positivity rate is higher than LA. I didn't dig into vaccination comparisons, but maybe I'll get into that later, because I know how to rage on a Saturday night. 

Today we spent several hours at my parents' house for my God-sister's 23rd birthday. We macked on salt and pepper wings from Royal Mandarin and ate cake and everyone was super happy and healthy, though we were watching the Padres game and the shooting that stopped the game while watching the news unravel on Twitter. I wonder if Jen Psaki will still throw out the first pitch on Sunday when this game picks up from where it left off. 
Anyway it was a good day and Nova is at a sleepover and I'm going to take advantage by getting a full night's sleep. 

Stay safe out there.  

CoViD-19: JHU Breaks Down Breakthroughs | Biden Rightly Declares Facebook Is Killing People | Were We Ever 'All In This Together?' | Foos Cancel Due To COVID+ | C-19 & Kids |

Nighttime San Diego Zoo (Taken 7.16.21)

I always wonder if I'm overreacting by continuing to wear my mask, to dodge indoor events, to continue skipping eating out at restaurants, so then I fiddle around with numbers. My numbers aren't exact simply because the data provided by the county isn't specific in a lot of ways, but putting them together, you can glean some interesting information. For example, the county has pretty good vaccination numbers, but if you remove senior citizens and underage people, among the 20-60 year olds who make up the greatest proportion of people with whom I'd most likely bump elbows at shows, only about 46% are vaccinated, and that is counting partially vaccinated as fully vaccinated since the County doesn't break it down between the two. The number is even lower if you remove vaccinated people 50+. So no, I don't think I'm overreacting, and it might be worthwhile for the news to start reporting the vaccination numbers among the people who are out superspreading in bars and clubs and parties and restaurants and workplaces. Seniors were super important in the earlier rollout of vaccines, but besides my fully vaccinated mom and dad, there aren't a lot of places I'm going to find myself surrounded by seniors. 

I finally got out of the house and we went to the San Diego Zoo and walked around. There aren't a lot of animals out after 7...most of the primates are long asleep, the aviaries are mostly locked up, but you can still have a nice walk, catch some of the cats moving around, the koalas make that funny grunting noise, and the giraffe seem as interested in the few people left as we are with them. We took some snacks and just found a quiet place to sit and eat outside while we waited out the parade at the front. I love the parade, but I don't need to see it every time we go. That would be weird. 

It's funny because now it's late Friday night and everyone is asleep except for me and the kittens so I'm leaning in to my email and sharing it all with you for some weekend reading so I can have a kickback Saturday for my god-sister's birthday. 

Stay safe out there.

Friday, July 16, 2021

CoViD-19: San Diego Sees Highest New Cases Since February | Pandemic Of Misinformation | Psaki Smacks Down Doocy, Again | Q Alert For Saturday | Nightlife Renaissance Or False Alarm? |

Mandrill at San Diego Zoo (Taken 6.16.21)

I got my computer issues mostly solved last night after clearing my cache and uninstalling McAfee and then resetting the modem through Cox, but today our power continued going out numerous times. I linked up with our property manager who sent over the electrician who explained that when they "upgraded" our power the other day, they actually CUT our power by 40%. Apparently our downstairs neighbors have five circuits, each one with 15amps. We only have two, but our fuses were 25amps when they should only have been 15amps, so we actually lost 20 of our 50 amps when he brought it to code. Or something like that. So now he gave us 20amps per circuit and got permission to add two more circuits, but it's super frustrating that it was billed as an upgrade for us when really it was a downgrade (albeit, we're lucky we've never had an electrical fire with the wrong too-big fuses installed) So yeah, the next three weeks will be really fun while we wait for the work because every time the power blows out, my wi-fi blows out, too. 

So, yeah, it's been stressful. Plus there is so much news today. Jen Psaki was especially amazing today with stupid Peter Doocy, but there are a lot of articles I want to share, but I want to be selective and read them before sharing. So I'm going to go ahead and share now, and maybe will jump back on tonight for a second post. In the meantime, I need to get out of this house and owe it to the kid to get her out of the house, too. There's a really interesting report from ProPublica on failures by OSHA and the USPS, which is only more evidence that Louis DeJoy has got to go and any infrastructure fund need to include aging government buildings and facilities and their HVAC systems.  

Stay safe out there. 

Thursday, July 15, 2021

CoViD-19: LA Returns To Mandatory Masking | When Will We Booster? | MIT: It's The End Of The World As We Know It | County Addresses Environmental Justice in General Plan |

Beluga Whale at Sea World San Diego (Taken 6.28.21)

I am having a day. I don't know what is different between yesterday and today but my laptop is being super wonky and every function is taking minutes, not seconds, and I've literally been working for 14 hours trying to get done what I normally can in 4 or 5. It is so frustrating. Our internet went down because Cox was working on it but it just hasn't been the same since it came back online. Then I restarted my computer thinking that would help and McAfee installed and it's making me insane. On top of all that, I've had a toothache the past day or two and I'm dreading having to go to a dentist to see what's up. So I wish I had fun stuff to talk about but I don't, I'm only here to grumble. All I wanted was to go to the Zoo or Sea World today but I just couldn't get my shit together. 

Tonight was the Casbah's first rock show since March 2020 and from all accounts I can see it was packed, but I'm playing it safe. LA and some other smaller counties have reinstated mandatory masking indoors regardless of vaccination status and I'm fully onboard because if we still were doing the Blueprint for a Safer Reopening, we'd be back in the Orange Tier. There are reports of a breakthrough cluster in Las Vegas among fully vaccinated adults at a pool party (OUTDOORS!) and it got me thinking that we deserve better breakthrough reporting: tell us the people's ages, which vaccine people had, tell us if the people are symptomatic. But to be honest, I'd just be happy to see San Diego Country return to their daily data reporting, and especially breakdown their demographic chart further between partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated. A news commentator said that Libs are addicted to the pandemic, but the reality for me is that I need to know as much as there is to know to move through a world with people who just don't give a shit. 

Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: Deaths Undercounted | Bad News If You Need A Passport | Global & Local Cases on the Rise |

Jacaranda and Magnolia Keeping Us Up All Night Long (Taken 7.13.21)

Wednesday is the big data update day so I'm sorry for the super late post. Today our power was out all day as they upgraded something so we don't blow fuses with too many appliances between the upstairs and downstairs, so it was pretty much a wasted day for me, thought the kittens keep me endlessly entertained so staying home and doing nothing isn't really a bad thing. 

Jen Psaki's media briefings are always an interesting watch and once again she put Doocy on display as the clown he is. He's definitely a joke amongst the media pool and you can see the cringes on everyone's faces whenever he focuses in on whatever hot take Fox has that day. It's pretty embarrassing but amusing. There was also a briefing about passports and bad news if you need one, they can take up to 18 weeks to process at the moment. If you need one, you should definitely apply as soon as possible. Mine expires soon but Mexico isn't in my future anytime soon. 

Besides that, just a lot of COVID usual. Unvaccinated are driving cases, especially under 40 year olds, and Tennessee is no longer promoting vaccines of any kind and fired a health official who was promoting vaccines to teens. The sheer stupidity of a huge swath of the country is astounding. Just last week, San Diego's transmission was considered "LOW" by the CDC, we moved to "MODERATE" and now we're considered "HIGH" so that is concerning. In-person school in the fall seemed like such a sure bet and no way the governor is walking that back before the election, but it definitely is concerning. UK is hosting the ultimate experiment and opening everything with no conditions in just a few days and health professionals are just shaking their heads at the crassness of it all. But I guess they'll find out what we're finding out just after fourth of July...cases will spread and people will die, and it could have been prevented. San Diego's delta variant cases doubled in a week, so we know it's here and spreading fast. 

Stay safe out there.   

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

CoViD-19: Personal Risk Assessment | Mask On, Mask Off | In Life, I Can Only Ever Trust Myself | If Your Boss Loves You, They Should Require Vaccination |


Earlier this week I got a text from a friend asking me which shows I would be going to this weekend. Casbah really wants staff to show up for Thursday's Ben Johnson night with the Creepy Creeps, Mrs. Magician is playing on Friday at Soda Bar, just a 7 minute walk from my house, and on the daily I get more emails about shows and tours coming up. 

While for those tours later in the fall I haven't been shy about making my photo pass requests for outdoor and indoor shows alike, I haven't been able to commit to anything immediate. I would love to have drinks with friends, on the condition that they come to my house to have drinks, because I'm not ready to go to a bar. 

I'm not really ready to do ride share either, and after the shitty way the corporations treated their workers with Prop 22, I don't know that I will ever take one again. It's personal, being that they had already put Darren's Rose Cab out of business until he started Darren's Van and they made sure to put that out of business, too. 

Until the pandemic hit, he sucked it up and drove for both major rideshares and saw his income diminish from his old taxi years, and left with no choice but to keep driving more, with customers acting worse, and getting paid less and less. It is actually a miracle that California paid gig-workers unemployment being that those companies pay nothing into the system. It's the only way we survived the last year and a half. 

And then there are my spots. Places I would go, no questions asked, before the pandemic. But now there are questions. Places that stayed open when they should've been closed. Places that flouted pandemic rules. Places that fought losing parking spaces to bike lanes but suddenly supported and over-eagerly encouraged pedestrian palisades and curbside seating and in-the-street restaurant extensions, violating permits and fire codes and simple 'layered mitigations' to keep everyone safe. And now they're crying that they were illegal and shouldn't have to take them down. 

I'm not with it. So you can establish your risk and I'll establish mine. But I know that I'm a grudge-holder. It's not a good quality, but like fear, it's there for a reason. There are businesses I cannot forgive, places where I was a regular where I don't see myself going again, and if I vote with the limited dollars that I make, that is what I shall do. For now. Maybe the grudge dwindles. Maybe conditions change. But for now, my risk assessment says no way. 

And let's be clear, Casbah and Soda Bar and Belly Up and Music Box all did everything right, but with the under 30 year olds still holding steady at low vax rates, I trust the venues and the staff of the venues, I just don't trust the people bumping elbows with me in those spaces to have done the right thing. It's a direct conflict with my job, but with my dad so sick and having only received one J&J jab which is showing lower resistance against the delta variant, my dad isn't a sacrifice I'm willing to make for a show. Not now. Maybe that will change. Maybe numbers will flatten back out after 4th of July is longer behind us. But for now, outdoor spaces are thumbs up, indoor spaces are a no go. 

Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: No, Don't Get A Booster (Yet) | Biden Blasts Big Lie | County Breakthroughs Remain Low |

 

Funani and Amahle at San Diego Zoo (Taken 7.13.21)

I had a hard time getting through email today. It seemed like all I got today was surveys, political fundraisers, and movie announcements, which I generally don't cover here. So I had to get out of the house and Darren and I walked around the San Diego Zoo for almost four hours, which was kind of refreshing because normally we only go for about two and are rushing around. The hippos were really putting on a show and I know it's stupid but I think they know me because they kept coming back to me over and over and over again. Nova opted not to come but hopefully we can do some fun stuff this week, which will end up being her only full week off during the summer since we got her into two more level up summer courses. One tip if you go to the Zoo, check if the SkyFari is working. Today it was down because I think there's a special event in the Pavilion for Pride this week. 

If I keep reading and find anything important, I'll for sure share in a second post tonight or tomorrow, but mainly you should watch Biden's speech on voting (though there was kind of an important flub when he left out the word 'million'. If you watch, you'll see it.) And as far as COVID-19, you should check the County's COVID watch which is linked below and has interested demographic breakdowns of cases/hospitalizations/deaths and this time they included information on breakthroughs. Tomorrow we'll get the updates on variants in the County and we can get a better sense of what's happening in San Diego. 

In the meantime, Tikka is bullying Magnolia and Jacaranda so I gotta go. Stay safe out there. 

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday July 13- Monday, July 19 - The Creepy Creeps, Mrs. Magician, SD Pride, Lady Dottie and More!!

Casbah Homies (Taken 12.20.19)

Concerts are coming back. Festivals are coming back. And especially among the unvaccinated, COVID cases are climbing back, too. Be smart, get your shots, and if you're gonna be indoors with people you don't know whose vaccination status you also don't know, you should really consider continuing to wear a mask. You know all those places that said that your safety was their top concern? I hate to break it to you, but staying in business was their top concern. If that wasn't the case, Sea World would have signs urging masks at their indoor aquarium parts, the Little Italy restaurants wouldn't be crying on the news about having to modify their parklets (which they fought so hard against when they were being pushed along with bike lanes long before the pandemic), and everyone would be boasting about their new HVAC systems and the air changes per hour. Just saying you're the only one looking out for you. So keep doing that. And if you're going to shows or working in bars or venues where you're exposed to strangers for hours on end, you might consider regular testing while it's still free all over the county. Stay safe out there. 

Monday, July 12, 2021

CoViD-19: Delta Surging | CA Releases School Guidance | Single Tickets To The Shell Go On Sale Tuesday |

  

Lauren Ruth Ward at Casbah (Taken 3.13.2020)

Today we had a big Casbah staff reunion and meeting and it solidified one thing for me: I'm not ready. 

Even knowing that our staff have been fully vaccinated, there were some new guys I didn't know, and the hair on the back of me neck rises a little every time someone coughs. Why are you coughing in public? If you're coughing you need to stay home or drink some damn water. Still, it was cool to see everyone and the office remodel looks super sick. 

It's my own fault though. I was scrolling through my usual Twitter feed and these doctors who've been sharing super valuable information during the pandemic are all either talking about the rise of delta cases in their ERs or practices or even some of them talking about getting breakthrough illness simple because of exposure to their patients and then passing it along to their kids. There's all this new information coming out about that the reason that Delta may spread so easily with "fleeting contact" is because the viral load is so much higher than other variants and the original wildtype and it's terrifying. 

And even though San Diego is doing pretty good with vaccinations, the under-30s are still only about half-vaccinated and those are the people us olds will be sharing air with at concerts. And we know that people who aren't vaccinating are also the ones who won't wear masks if it's required anyway. COVID Act Now has downgraded California back to a high risk level, thanks to low-vax counties and the influx of tourists no doubt spreading their junk. I know the numbers are a little wonky today because the state and county have stopped weekend reporting but they're really worth keeping an eye on. I know I will. 

Stay safe out there.    

Sunday, July 11, 2021

CoViD-19: R-Eff On The Rise | Educators Applaud School Masking Mandate | Kill The Rich |

Sunbird (Maybe?) at Africa Rocks Aviary, San Diego Zoo (Taken 7.8.21)

The downside of being a media junkie is that sometimes the world is just overwhelming. I can't stop thinking about images I watched of families in Iraq whose power was cut during 120+ degree weather, and then think about Haiti and Myanmar and Lebanon and Syria and Afghanistan and all these places with immense human suffering and if any of it even makes the news, it's all bumpered with headline news that Richard Branson went to "space" and is now gonna charge $250,000 per flight to a waitlist of over 600 people and it's fucking absurd and disgusting and should be fucking criminal. 

Then I'm fighting with some douchebag on Twitter who is trying to equivocate school masking with fully vaccinated adults at a brewery and have to point out to the moron that <50% of eligible kids have been vaccinated and having drinks for an hour or two at a brewery is way different than kids sitting in classrooms in decrepit buildings for 7+ hours a day while half or more of their peers are unvaccinated and sharing the same air and space. 

I should really take a breath. 

I'm gonna watch my silly kittens play with their Tower of Tracks for a while. 

Stay safe out there. 

Saturday, July 10, 2021

CoViD-19: Delta's Crazy Transmission | California Wildfires In Force | Heat Advisory Continues | Local Earmark Requests |

  

Ficus at OB Dog Beach (Taken 7.20.21)

I'm gonna keep it short today because it was a low key day. Mostly I just prefer staying home on these hot weekends to avoid crowds and enjoy the a/c. I watched the Argentina vs Brazil game today and it's been a while since I've watched futbol and I remembered why...the fake injuries and the crybaby tactics and the poor sportsmanship just gets super annoying after 90 minutes. Darren made us a nice dinner and then we decided to run out to OB dog beach for a quick sunset swim. We'll probably hang with my parents tomorrow though I am glad my dad has been chatty and feeling better than earlier this week. 

I'm gonna go have some speakeasy cocktails, so I'll catch up tomorrow. I misspoke yesterday when I said the county returned to daily data. They only went back to Monday-Friday cases and deaths reporting. Looks like the state is following suit. 

Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: San Diego Cases Rising, Driven By Unvaxxed People Under 30 | California Maintains Mask Mandate For Schools | Delta Demands Air | Parks Master Plan Update | CA Recall "A Farce" |

(Taken 5.26.21)

Just because you're loudest in the room, doesn't mean you're right. Tonight every local news jumped on the CDC's updated school guidance which says vaccinated staff and students may drop masks this fall, but CDPH is keeping the mandate. They showed these morons from a local organization who plan on filing a lawsuit to make California comply with CDC guidance. The problem with that notion, however, is that the state is exactly in line with the CDC, which allows for "localities to monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, screening testing, and occurrence of outbreaks to guide decisions on the level of layered prevention strategies." Masking is one of many "layered protection strategies." Right now, less than half of the 12-19 year olds in San Diego County have been vaccinated. As I tweeted earlier, "For every parent who wants masks off, there are parents like us who won't send our kids to school WITHOUT a mask requirement. If #letthembreathe don't like it, we should just mandate vaccines and vax passports." 

Just because they're vocal and outspoken, doesn't make them right. Just like the assholes who stormed the Capitol during the insurrection, just like the former guy, just like the moneyed interests who are pushing for the California recall. 

Which also got me freaked out today. Because it occurred to me that while every registered Californian will receive a ballot, those motivated to recall will vote, while some of those who think it's a nuisance will have to be reminded and urged to return the ballots to keep Gavin Newsom in office even though a large majority of Californians support him and the job he is doing. Our recall process is thoroughly outrageous. The NYT opinion by Ezra Klein, linked below, is worth the read.  

I took my sweet ass time posting today because I had a million emails and they were all worth reading and there's a lot worth sharing. Notably, the County of San Diego held a press conference and reverted back to daily updates of cases and deaths because the numbers are increasing once again, which should come as no surprise after the June 15th reopening and 4th of July weekend. Expect those numbers to keep climbing in the next few days as case reporting and illness onset can lag holidays by a couple weeks. Earlier this week, our county's community transmission was considered low by CDC standards and now we're back to mild and the estimated R-effective or reproduction number, which once got down to .6, is now back over 1 at 1.11. 

But yeah, lets give airtime to the bitches who think their little precious monsters shouldn't have to wear masks. They're the exact reason why I'll keep masking up and if and when boosters are recommended, I'll be right in line to do so. 

In good/bad news, today I learned (by reading the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Journal, formerly Zoonooz,) earlier this year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature was able to separate species of African elephants between forest elephants and savannah elephants. This is good, because the general category of African elephant numbers were threatened, but now they get to be categorized as critically endangered and endangered, respectively, which is obviously bad, but it's also good because the more endangered, the more protections and stricter the penalties for poaching and whatnot. Sorry for posting so late. Now I'm gonna watch RHOBH and follow the Erika Jayne saga. 

Stay safe out there. 

Thursday, July 08, 2021

CoViD-19: San Diegans Should Get Their 2nd Dose Regardless of Time Passed | Vaccinated Should Still Test When Upper Respiratory Symptoms Present | Hospitality Biz Sees Massive Increases |

Okapi Toby, b. Feb 2021, at San Diego Zoo (Taken 6.29.21)

This morning we had been expecting an electrician who is upgrading the power for our building because the neighbors downstairs requested it. They're all students, but they're all also gamers, and for all I know they're mining bitcoin or something because we literally never see them. But I didn't expect the electrician to just ladder up onto our balcony. That was a bit of a surprise. Going back to bed was not a possibility after that. 

I've been trying to work more productively in the day while everyone kinda does their own thing around the house and so I'm actually gonna publish early today and can hopefully put the Casbah newsletter together before Nova gets out of band ensemble and maybe we can do a double-dip tonight at the San Diego Zoo and Sea World. I was also a little embarrassed by the state of the apartment when the electrician came through so today also involved some deep cleaning and it feels so nice in here now. I will tackle my closet someday, but today isn't that day. 

There wasn't a lot of eye-catching news today, though this viral TikTok of cops slamming into each other is kinda funny. Or I guess I should say there's always "news" but nothing I should really dip into in the scope of my goals here. There's a lot of talk about the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the assassination in Haiti, and the Olympics banning fans from events, and the Governor held a media briefing to roll out some water-related proclamations. I'll update this post if they come online. Jen Psaki had a couple zingers, too, if you're into White House press briefings. 

The White House COVID-19 briefing was a little annoying because they're toeing this line of suggesting masks in high-risk situations without them being under guidance or recommendation because apparently Americans are too stupid to understand any nuance without massive outrage and politicizing it. We've already seen states ban mask-mandates, and now vaccine-mandates, and oh, the uproar, when Biden said people would go door-to-door to help meet people where they are for vaccinations. We've been watching these deep-dive videos into the Handmaid's Tale and sometimes it's hard to see us being far away from Gilead. I'm gonna just keep doing what I'm doing...masking up, keeping my distance from non-household people, and scowling when someone coughs or sneezes in my direction. 

Stay safe out there. 

Wednesday, July 07, 2021

CoViD-19: San Diego Reaches "Low" Level Of Community Transmission | Newsom Launches Clean California | Known Global Deaths Surpass 4Million |

A Catamaran At Sunset From Our Dinner View at Ketch (Taken 7.7.21)
 
Today was a very weird day. I woke up to a 7am call from my sister who told me I should get to my parents house, that my dad wasn't doing well. Apparently he called her and told her to come over because he was dying and we needed to say goodbye. My mom has been telling me all week that he hasn't been doing well, and I guess I'm sharing because it's what I do here. He's been of poor health for a really long time and we've had two pretty serious close calls that resulted in long hospital stays before but somehow he made it through. 

The good news it was maybe just low blood sugar or something because by the time I made it to Chula Vista, my sister was gone, and he was up and alert and chatty and talking on the phone and being my dad again. His health is really bad and deteriorating and he's made it very clear that going to the hospital is not an option when his time comes. We've all been preparing for that for a long time but I really don't think anything can really prepare us, so we show up when he says this time is for real and continue to hope that it's not. 

I ended up staying with them for a few hours, helping my mom with a tax thing and watching the Price is Right and Judge Judy like we used to when I worked in their daycare. I eventually left in the afternoon and had to reflect on what a weird way to wake up that had been. 

Besides all that, I watched the WHO and Governor Newsom briefings today, and today is the County's reporting day of variants, cases, hospitalizations, deaths, and all the other data that used to be daily. Shocking to nobody, the Delta variant cases doubled but it's important to bear in mind that only a fraction of cases are sequenced. Still, the data for fully vaccinated people in San Diego is looking really encouraging. By the CDC's standards, our county's transmission is "LOW" which it hasn't been for a VERY long time. Still, it's not so good for the unvaxxed. Globally, deaths surpassed 4,000,000 and that's only the tallied deaths that are reported. Dr. Ryan from the WHO is always blunt and awesome and I included a link and notes below.   

This afternoon Jeff took Darren, Nova, and I to Portside Pier for dinner at Ketch and it was delicious and a beautiful view and kinda made me forget the morning I'd had. Tell your family you love them. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, July 6-Monday, July 12, 2021: Bayfest, Pride, Swami Play Record, The White Buffalo and More!!

Ficus at Fiesta Island (Taken 5.27.21)

I guess with the holiday I totally forgot to do listings. I'm gonna leave Tuesday on here just because it helps me next week when I have to do them again to see who has been open. This weekend kicks off some of the Pride stuff in San Diego and also Bayfest is going down at Waterfront Park. Casbah should be packed on Saturday, too, so if you're planning on going, you should arrive early. Belly Up is also jumping back in and has several sold out events this week. I think I'm gonna keep on keeping it low key around here but have fun and be safe out there. Listings after the jump. 

Tuesday, July 06, 2021

CoViD-19: Delta Is Bad. Get Ready To Hear More About Lambda | Doom & Gloom Rabbit Hole | About Face On Masking? |

Sea Otter at Sea World (Taken 6.28.21)

Last night I was up late and started reading about the Lambda COVID variant, which is prevalent in Peru and South America and it's kinda the same story as all variants of interest so far: not enough study has been done, not enough sequencing is happening, we think the vaccines we have work even if their protection is less than before but you don't want to be unvaccinated and get this variant because you could still get very sick and spread it to everyone around you with more fleeting contact.  

I had even more links that I wanted to share today but it was all a little too much. I was down a twitter rabbithole and there were stories about the COVID outbreak at a Texas church camp that then linked to other stories of a summer camp outbreak in Illinois which somehow got me reading about the fire in Lytton BC and that lead to a story about how the extreme heat dome on Canada may have 'cooked' billions of marine animals like clams and mollusks. Then there's the storm off Florida, the continued search in the building collapse, and an outbreak of CWD in deer farms in Texas and I didn't even know deer farms were a thing but they are, and people raise them, sell them, then people put them on their land so they can be hunted and all I could think was passing HUNDREDS of dead deer the last time I drove to Austin and why you would raise an out of control population that is suffering from their own disease while also spreading human disease like Lyme through ticks, which are also out of control because of climate change? 

I wasn't feeling super great today and in retrospect maybe all that reading killed my psyche, but I'm feeling much better now after a cold air-conditioned nap. I also realized I totally forgot to do listings for the week, so I'll get around to those at some point, too. I know it's really hard with peer pressure and whatnot, but if you've listened to any experts lately, there's a lot of backtracking on masking even if you're vaccinated, so I'd say you should assess your risk, but don't be afraid or embarrassed to keep masking up. I don't know what my first indoor show will be because I'm just not there yet, but without vaccination verification it may still be awhile for me. 

Stay safe out there.