CoViD-19 California & San Diego Stats | Governor Newsom Launches 30 by 30 by '30 Environmental Land Use Strategy | Don't Count On Disneyland Anytime Soon | Photos: San Diego Zoo

A Golden Takin at golden hour at San Diego Zoo (Taken 10.7.2020)

This morning I made a plan for the day, which is different than usual when I kinda just go with whatever the day brings: I would sleep in, then watch the Governor's Media Briefing delayed on YouTube, watch the County briefing live, then go to the San Diego Zoo, then  watch the debate, then have post-debate cocktails in the speakeasy. And I stuck to it. So I'm wrapping up here so I can cocktail downstairs. 

But of course I have some things to say before I go.

First, one thing kinda slipped into Dr. Ghaly's briefing yesterday and was reiterated today by the governor: there is no "green" or "non-restrictive" tier in the foreseeable future. This means you should stock up on masks because they're going to be required indefinitely, don't plan on schools being "normal" in a pre-pandemic sense for a very long time, and don't expect those initial things that were on the old version of "Phase 4" to open anytime soon: large theme parks like Disneyland or Six Flags, large indoor concerts or arenas, and as we're seeing, movie theatres and small music venues are still going to be a long, long wait. The places that are having live events (like the comedy club downtown) are currently doing so against the public health order. 

Second, that debate really cemented my adoration for Kamala Harris. I don't LOVE all of her policies or historical moves, nor do I feel that way about Biden, but the decency, belief that we can be better and do better for everyone, citizens and non-citizens alike, and shutting down that horrible, horrible man tonight was impressive. I got my ballot today and I'll be filling it out tomorrow. I'll share more of my stances since I appreciate the few friends who've reached out to ask which candidates and initiatives I'm supporting. And about that debate, do not for one second believe that a person who, on his watch as the lead on the Coronavirus Task Force has watched 210+ Americans die; who on his watch is trying to take away healthcare and Social Security; who on his watch separated infants from parents and has left asylum seekers to endure the outbreaks in horrific ICE facilities; who on his watch is defending murderous cops and denying systemic racism; who on his watch forced hysterectomies on women in ICE custody; and who on his watch is failing to support millions of Americans who are out of work and at risk of losing housing, not to mention creating such scarce pandemic support that people are forced to choose between proper isolation when they do get sick or continuing in their jobs because they can't afford not to, and on and on and on. Seriously. There is no decision to make here. Any claim to being pro-life is just show and complete and utter bullshit.

Last, I'm going to make a conscious effort to chill on my social media posts/likes/comments through the election. I have this outlet (and I appreciate those of you who still read it) but the outrage posts that retweet or repost whatever crazy thing the lunatic has said still amplify his message. I will not post any polling or comment on any such things because we know what happened in 2016 and we have to be prepared for anything. I have been snoozing and unfriending completely on Facebook at a rapid clip and I'll keep doing it to maintain my sanity.  

CoViD-19 San Diego Stats | COVID-19 Tops 1 Million Deaths Globally | President's Debt Is A National Threat | SD Red Flag Warning Continues | Photos: San Diego Zoo

Mid-jump ring-tailed lemur at San Diego Zoo (Taken 9.28.2020)

My godsister works at a fancy salon where she does manicures and pedicures. On Sunday while working, a woman made the last appointment of the day then showed up 20 minutes late, causing Claudes to have to stay past regular operating hours. Then the woman berated her for the job she was doing and told her the "right" way to do her feet, and then left giving her a $2 tip. 

What. A Scumbag.

And the thing of it is, these are the people demanding the reopening of everything to full capacity. It's not the people doing the jobs, though I'm sure there are some, it's the people who want people serving them so they can go to One Paseo and make the young black girl take their shit for a goddamn $2 tip. Today, while flipping through channels, we caught Supervisor Desmond complaining about chasing metrics, meanwhile the world passed 1,000,000 deaths. But to him, they're not "pure deaths" so they must not matter. 

Besides all that, it was a nice birthday. Darren and I hung out in the speakeasy last night, I slept in, Darren made me a lovely charcuterie and cheese board for lunch, we went to the Zoo in the afternoon, and then resumed watching Utopia, which I'm gonna get back to now. 

And in case you're wondering, Michael told me that after doing the math, the County's Tuesday assessment should be 7.2 cases per 100k, putting us back at the purple tier, though we won't move because you have to have two weeks for movement.

CoViD-19 Stats | What News Channels Keep Getting Wrong | Small Biz Defiance | Colds Are Back With A Vengeance

A Year Ago Today I Was Working at the Loft for a show with Phum Viphurit (9.21.2019)

I have a rant today, but I'll leave it after the jump because I'm actually in a pretty great mood tonight, despite over 400 new emails today. Seriously, it feels really tone-deaf for the moment, but maybe that's just because I'm the recipient of so much garbage. I slept so solidly (thanks, Bulleit) after a super fun night in the speakeasy. We kinda have fun rearranging things little by little and a good buzz certainly helps. 

What I'm really enjoying at the moment is watching all of Pea Hix's found footage videos on his YouTube channel, particularly this one with old footage of Balboa Park from the 70s. I'm also feeling a little mischievous because while Nova was at an open derby practice, Darren and I sneakily had Tacos el Panson. Seriously, they are the best. So things are bad in the world and also good. I hope everyone out there is coping as best they can with the world as it is. Though it may be time for a rewatch of Man In The High Castle. 

CoViD-19 Stats | Masking Works* | County Asks State For Exemption of SDSU Cases | Board To Hold Special Meeting To Sue State | Governor Declines Data Exemption For San Diego

Gerenuks eating at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Taken 8.30.2020)

Oh. My. Gosh. There is soooo much news drama today my head might explode. I woke up this morning to share some of the takeaways from a video I watched with Dr. Gandhi who is the head of the HIV/AIDS program at UCSF. Then I watched the County's media briefing and then the State's, and I'm glad I did in that order because Newsom and Dr. Ghaly are not budging on San Diego's stats. "As we look forward to next week, the potential that San Diego meets for two consecutive weeks the need to go to a more restrictive tier; if that's what the data shows, that's what the state is going to expect." So of course, now our Board wants to sue the state, which is a little scary because as we saw in Pennsylvania earlier this week, the court ruled in favor of the petitioner, that the state had overreached on constitutional rights. Which really just goes to show how political this whole thing is when it never should've been. You have Caputo taking a leave of absence, Trump shouting down Redfield, and a whole bunch of other drama. So I'm going to do two posts today, just because I still have so much to work through. Plus it's Fiestas Patrias, celebrating Mexican Independence Day, so I've got some margaritas with my name on them. Later, of course. Today's stats and news after the jump. Part two will be posted later. 

COVID-19 Stats | San Diego Stays Red While Meeting Purple Metrics | SPLC Releases A Vision For A Just Future | Adoptable Animals Arrive From Louisiana

 

That time a rabbit decided to help itself to a lemur's food at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Taken 6.27.2020)

In my new effort to get out of the house a little bit more, we spent this afternoon in Chula Vista. I had to get my hands on one of the free masks the city is giving out featuring the Chula Vista logo on it, available at the main library from 11am-6pm daily. They're super cool and certainly bring out my CV pride. 

We took our dog with us for the drive, so after we scored the masks, we went to the Bayfront and walked the bay and marina. I was super impressed with the mask and distancing compliance there, so we'll definitely mark this as a lower-risk space we can take advantage of to get sunshine, fresh air, and that lovely sea breeze. After all that, we popped by my parents' house to drop off some supplies and my poor mom is going stir crazy. She's been working on the backyard, but because of my dad's health, she really isn't getting out of the house at all and it really, really sucks for her. It doesn't help that my dad just watches news at triple volume all day long. I need to be a better daughter and visit more often. 

It's been a long day, so I'm gonna call it. Stats and info after the jump.

CoViD-19 Stats | National Forests in CA CLOSED Through September 21 | GPMB Releases A World In Disorder | True COVID Mortality Exceeds Current Numbers | La Jolla Cove Photos

This Sea Lion didn't appreciate that the dolphins were getting all the attention (Taken 9.14.200)

I had a bad dream and woke myself up when I was kicking the bed full force correlating to me kicking some rando in the balls who was attacking my friends in the dream. I didn't hurt my foot, thankfully, but it sorta set this icky feeling for the rest of the day. 

I was irritated when news channels were covering the arrival of Air Force One and the "hundreds of supporters" but not one showing what they did to anyone who might've been there in opposition. They certainly weren't allowed anywhere near the tarmac, making it just like a really dumb taxpayer paid photo-op campaign rally.

I was irritated when I saw that the "fire briefing" with the president wasn't open to the media, but then it was, but I couldn't find the stream anywhere. I did, however, see the clip where he says "it'll get cooler, trust me" and not one person in the room said "WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT WEATHER, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CLIMATE YOU DUMBFUCK!!"

I was irritated when I saw a News 8 clip, "Will San Diego County slide into state's most restrictive tier?" and they interviewed Supervisor Desmond, who has, for months, been parroting the "pure COVID death" bullshit, and they didn't even try to do the math of the data, which is available to EVERYONE. As I stated yesterday, tomorrow's unadjusted cases per 100k, which will reflect the week ending September 5th, will be 9.96 based on the County's numbers. But we already know there were "data issues" and this will further be adjusted. But don't mislead people and act like it is all arbitrary. It's not. 

It was one news thing after another that got me more and more irritated. 

I proceeded to try to do my usual bloggy and email stuff but I just realized it was pointless to do in the morning. 

Instead I cleaned the house and caught up with Reality Checked. Darren did all of our laundry. Nova did online school. After we all had a nice lunch and folded and put away all the laundry, then went to La Jolla Cove. It's something they promised me would still happen even though Nova has quit soccer and that's when I'd usually go. 

It was more poopy than usual but not quite so crowded now that we're past Labor Day. It was pretty cool, too, because a pod of dolphins swam by while we were watching the pups.

After all that, we hit Costco and loaded up on speakeasy supplies and now we're reaping the rewards, so I guess I'll sleep in on Tuesday and watch any of the press conference streams later instead of wasting my day watching news in real-time. 

CoViD-19 Stats | Hiking Ramona Grasslands & Photos | Conspiracy Theories Run Rampant | Vaccine Equity Threatened | Wildfire Death Count Rising

A midday hike on the permit-only Ramona Grasslands trail (Taken 9.13.2020)

I don't keep it any secret that I have terrible sleep habits. If you've ever asked me (pre-pandemic) to get together, you'll generally get a hem-haw. Plans give me debilitating anxiety. I do well with spontaneity, where in that moment I can say yes or no and move on. 

When I actually got to bed before midnight on Saturday, I woke up rested at 4am. And I thought, no day like today to go for a hike. 

I thought I did my research. A couple weeks ago, we got permits to hike the Ramona Grasslands Old Survey Road 97 Trail, but obviously with the recent heat and fires, we hadn't really thought about it. I mean, just last week I was railing against people who were hiking in the dangerous conditions, being rescued, diverting frontline personnel. 

But I thought I did all the things. I got my map to Ramona Grasslands and screenshotted in case we lost service. I consulted the local hiking group on the essential things to carry on a hike. I filled water bottles and refrigerated them. I froze my cold pack cooler. I packed a basic first-aid kid and found my multi-tool. I packed snacks. I checked the air quality, local fire situation, and the projected weather forecast. When I finally woke Nova up to see if she was onboard (she's always game for something new,) I had her pack a bag for the hike and one for the car for after. Same for Darren. We had binocs and my camera and extra water and food in the car (probably enough for 3 days though we were only hiking 6 miles.) Once everyone was up, we all had healthy, energy packed breakfasts. 

We did all the things. 

(More after the jump.)

CoViD-19 Stats | Youth Are Not Immune | CSU System Will Remain Online For Spring 2021 | Streetlight Surveillance Shutdown | Valley Fire Reaches 55% Containment | SDSU Confirms 562 Cases

Saturday is National Aunt's Day, so here's a pic of my nieces and sisters. (Taken 5.1.2020)

On my dad's birthday, my brother called to wish him a happy birthday. And also to defend the president. "What they're saying about him, it isn't true." A NAVY captain, he was defending the accusations that the White House occupant defamed dead and injured soldiers. 

Then we got the Woodward tapes admitting that the American people were repeatedly and intentionally lied to about the severity of the novel coronavirus and the pandemic.  

The gaslighting happening right now is simply unbelievable. We are told that we can't believe what we're actually seeing and hearing with our own eyes and ears. 

Earlier tonight, Politico dropped a story that confirmed what we already believed to be true; the administration's health department communications aides have been editing CDC reports because the TRUTH reflects poorly on the way the pandemic was handled and is still being handled. 

We're lucky we don't live in an information bubble and can trust people who know what they're doing or have the scientific curiosity to admit that we don't know what we don't know. But the terrifying reality is that there a lot of people playing politics with this pandemic and I seriously hope we see major changes come election day. 

Anyway, last night Darren and I had a fun night in the 'speakeasy' and distantly cocktailed with our neighbor as she told us how things happening right now correlate to the Jewish end-times prophecies. 

Fun times. 

Today was a relatively quiet Friday with a zillion emails and I binged The Duchess on Netflix. It stars (and is created by) great stand-up comedian Katherine Ryan and definitely locks in on her awkward/funny humor. The short 6 episodes are a breezy watch, though the dialog is fast so you've got to pay attention so as not to miss her quips.   

CoViD-19 Have We Learned Anything? | Valley Fire Containment Increases | San Diego Museums: What's Open

Greg Laswell at Belly Up (Taken 9.11.2019)

I'm sorry about how many people are struggling during this pandemic, but I have to say, I am naturally a homebody. We *almost* went to the Safari Park today, but by the time we ate a late lunch, double checked the weather, and I realized how much email I had to get through, it was a no-go. Darren and Nova went and played tennis again while I had an hour of quiet at home. 

I watched a local news clip where the reporter was trying to explain the tier system and the current San Diego numbers and he kept saying that our cases per 100k were "6.9 percent" which is not accurate. He also said we're being adjusted for not enough testing whereas I understood the opposite. But either way, the point is that the County is basically objecting to the current numbers because of data reporting issues from some of the testing centers back to the state. So I'm not the only one who is confused, but I think I have it all somewhat sorted in my brain now. 

Since we've been home a lot, we've been watching a lot. We're watching Away on Netflix but it's super dramatic, so we're sticking to one episode a night. I also watched Krystal on Netflix which, despite being directed by William H Macy, I don't really recommend, unless you can sit through a couple hours of literally the worst acted southern accents you can imagine. Does this ever appeal to anyone from the actual south or midwest? And then the background music is always some slow strum banjo or some bullshit. I watched the whole thing (because I can't start something without finishing) but you've been warned. 

I also watch Chemical Hearts on Amazon Prime. It's about a high-school kid who lives a very normal, uneventful life until he meets the new girl at school, who is sorta the opposite of the manic-pixie, but no less a trope: dark, mysterious, walks with a cane from a traumatic injury, and has a very bipolar vibe as she works through her shit. Still, I enjoyed it enough that I checked out the book it's based on from the San Diego Public Library app immediately after I watched it. Anyway, lots of news and stuff, but you won't find any links about Fury or any of the outcry by the tapes here. We already know where I stand on this, I've already blocked family from Facebook, and I'm gonna try to temper the rage until the election is over. 

CoViD-19: Mass Testing Only Way To Resume Festivals, Schools, "Normal" Life | CA Prioritizes Small Biz Recovery | SDSU Case Counts Continue To Rise

Hummingbirds love the flowers at Africa Rocks at San Diego Zoo (Taken 8.2.2020)

Okay, okay. We got the clarification we needed. Kind of. On the one hand, there are San Diego County testing counts that are somehow getting boggled when reporting to the state. Dr. Wooten says those will take two weeks to work out. Additionally, Supervisor Fletcher maintains that you have to reach a new tier's base level for two weeks before moving, in both a positive or negative direction. Then there's an "adjustment rate" that San Diego received based on testing; we're being adjusted to lower numbers because our testing exceeds minimum required amounts set by the state based on tests/population.

It was my understanding that you had to meet the new metrics for two weeks to move in less-restrictive categories, but apparently the same is for more-restrictive. So supposing we hit the purple tier metric when it's reevaluated on Tuesday, we'd have to hit it a second week to actually move into purple. Or something like that. 

This new tier system was supposed to be more simple, not more complicated, to allow anyone to look at the data and be able to assess where concerns should be, i.e. a restaurant owner could follow the data and know they'd have to be ready to close down some capacity or back to fully outdoor, but that's just not where we are with data anomalies and testing adjustment rates. So I'll keep it zipped, follow their reports and skip the math because it's all just too much of a headache. 

In the meantime, we're still mostly chillin' around the house, though we did leave for a couple hours to hit some tennis balls on some public courts and picked up some steaks from Vons that were still on Labor Day specials. It was my first time shopping there since March.

The County is moving to just one press conference per week on Wednesdays moving forward. Governor Newsom seems to be a little more random depending on the wildfires and information he has to get out. I'll still keep up my dailies here because I'm looking over the data anyway and it's somewhat calming in that nothing really comes as a surprise anymore. Lots of news from today's briefings and stats, after the jump.  

CoViD-19: San Diego Stays Red: "Hold Harmless Due To Data Issues" | Don't Sacrifice Teachers | Chill Your Need To Hike | SDSU Cases Continue To Rise

September 8 is iguana awareness day. Close enough. (Taken 8.13.2020)

Nobody likes to admit that they're wrong, so instead I had to dig deep to prove to myself that I was not. (hahaha). Tuesday came and went and San Diego stayed in Tier 2/Red Tier. Using the state's data, San Diego should've moved into the purple tier, and in fact, it is indicated as so on the state's California Blueprint Data Chart, but there's a caveat specific for San Diego to "hold harmless due to data issues." Whatever that means. 

If we already look into the future and use the current County provided data for the week ending September 5th, without any adjustments, our case rate jumps to 9.96 per 100,000 people of the population, well into the Purple/Tier 1. I'd be shocked if they can find some way to manipulate the data to keep us in red after that. But okay, I'll chill on my math and predictions and leave that to California. 

Darren and I hung out in the speakeasy on Monday night, so it was a low-key day around here. We'll largely be staying home this week just because we know how everyone was out raging this weekend and it always seems like a good idea to quarantine after visiting non-household members, even when we were safe, masked, distanced, goggled, and outside.  Today's weather was a nice reprieve, and hopefully the expected Santa Ana winds are overstated so firefighters can get a better handle on the current wildfires raging in the County and State. Today's stats and reading are after the jump. 

CoViD-19 Disney Clears Sick Employees To Work | Fall Virus Fatigue Inevitable | Valley Fire 3% Contained | Humane Society Aids Animal Evacuations

Darren, Nova, and cousin Robin (Taken 9.7.2020)

I hope everyone had a superb weekend. As I mentioned, we spent the whole day Saturday in the yard in the sprinkler, then all of Sunday in the house, bunkering like it was our jobs because of the smoke from the Valley Fire. 

For actual Labor Day, we got a text from Darren's cousin from Anchorage that she was in town for a flight layover. He hadn't seen her in over a decade, so we had to risk assess and opted to meet up with her. We picked up tacos from El Panson (because everyone should experience tacos from El Panson) and met her at the pool of her hotel, Carte, in the Columbia District of downtown. There are nice big bench seats so we were able to spread out while we ate, though of course we got scolded by hotel staff halfway through our meal because you're not supposed to bring in outside food or drinks. Uh, sorry not sorry. 

After finishing up, we walked toward the waterfront and decided to use the empty bocce ball court at Waterfront Park. It was nice of the County Parks people to be open on the holiday, so we played while the cousins caught up with each other. Nova and I beat them, but who's keeping track? ;)

We returned home to rest for awhile, then picked up a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake to take to my parents' house for my dad's 72nd birthday. Unfortunately he's not in great health, so while the family masked and distanced in the backyard, he was stuck in the house, too painful to get on his scooter to join us. But it was still nice to all get together and we'll be doing it again soon as both my mom and I celebrate birthdays later in the month. 

The County didn't report new stats today, but I still maintain that using their formula, San Diego will be moved to the purple tier tomorrow, reverting back to some older closures. 

I suspect Tuesday will be a busy day, since the state will be reassessing all counties for the new metrics, fires continue to rage out of control, and police continue to do whatever the eff they want. News after the jump. 

CoVID-19 Stats | As Election Approaches, Things Are Increasingly Terrifying | East County Fire Grows to Nearly 10k Acres

One of Many Summer Trips to San Diego Zoo (Taken 8.5.2020)

On Saturday, we spent the day in the yard with the sprinkler running to cool us off. We didn't expect that Sunday would be so drastically different with the Valley Fire burning in East County. We kinda all did our own thing today, with Darren making music in the studio, Nova and I watched a movie called Ride Like A Girl, based on the true story of the first woman jockey to win the Melbourne Cup. And then I slept. I took advantage of the air conditioned bedroom to dodge the record setting heat of the weekend. I also watched Wildlife on Netflix but it was pretty slow moving, and I'm not really down with the "floozy wife of the sixties" trope, so I'd maybe skip this one on Netflix. 

I have to say I was disappointed by the dozens of beach and hiking photos I've seen this weekend. But even more, I've been happily muting people on Facebook. We're about a month out from ballots being mailed out for the election, and I just have no capacity for non-voters or Trump supporters. So much is at stake and I just can't tolerate the nonsense. Sorry, not sorry. 
Today's news and stats are after the jump.