Today I was messaging my good friend in Texas who is suffering from Post COVID syndrome. She wrote:
As Iām messaging her I open my email. One of my clients in England sent me this.
So itās official. This thing is at the exponential explosion stage. Iām terrified and trying to stay healthy.
I spent ten minutes talking to two guys who worked for a company that says it will lower oneās gas bills - and none of us were wearing a mask, as I completely forgot when they came to the door. I washed my hands after sanitizing them and just HOPED that Iād stayed far enough away with the door cracked open. I simply FORGOT.
Good news - I didnāt get signed up because I checked "noā when it came to receiving texts.
Depending on classifications, it looks like Iād end up either in the first third or roughly in the middle of the line in my area in this (entirely theoretical) timeline.
Which is mostly fine by me, mind you. Sure, Iāve had to do the travelling and such, but it usually doesnāt happen frequently, and thereās others who are in much more urgent need of protection. But thereās no telling how fast distribution will be possible, especially with the trainwreck of an administration thatās the only current source for nationwide coordination.
I want mine via sniper. I also think we should have drones disguised as mosquitoes to reach anti-vaxxers.
Really taking that social distancing thing seriously.
Iām in favor if we train current snipers in proper vaccine dosage and not try to arm up the medical aids and pham techs,
Or an army of Dr. Leonard McCoy clones.
Thatās one big mosquito.
A little unreliable even in relatively good indoor lighting, too. But, if we also get personal shields and a steady supply of spice, sure, bring 'em on. 
Actually, white folks hunt with those as well. And theyāre fun for target shooting. But wouldnāt shooting a vaccine dart for a respiratorily-spread virus with a blowgun be counterproductive?
The very model of a modern front line medical worker? The snipers would practice on each other.
And thereās the other dangersā¦
Two potential gags are for the user to accidentally inhale the dart or for the target to grab the end of the gun and blow the dart back.
Yes, Iām citing tvtropes. With the way 2020 has been, can you really argue wacky tv show hijinks wouldnāt be a danger?
Between this and the robot dogs, Iām going to have Fahrenheit 451 themed nighmares. 
I am reluctant to call for criminal charges against people who pass on a virus, because it always ends up disproportionately punishing those without power and authority (see the AIDS crisis and who the bulk of those the law was weaponized against), but this is beyond the pale of reckless endangerment causing death. If attending a 300 person event, when you work in fucking nursing homes and there are gathering restrictions on because of a fucking godsdamn pandemic, doesnāt meet the standard for depraved indifference, I donāt know what does.
I am beyond enraged at the people who pull this kind of shit. Your average serial killer has less victims than these Libertarianesque wacklefucks in the middle of a pandemic.
Followup on my friend. She is feeling better and has gotten various supports that are known to work for her. Itās been a difficult week nonetheless knowing someone I love has struggled so hard.
Journal of the Corona Year
12/04
My work has been was getting busy this past week. It hasnāt been this busy since the start of the PAUSE order in March. Though the work has returned, the workforce to do it is unfortunately no longer there. Everyone who I would have relied on for help during busy periods, were fired back in March or have subsequently quit.
On Thursday night at 7:15 I was still working. Due to what can be called āefficiency-learned-through-experienceā I was just about to get my head above water. Then the last straw ā in the form of an email ā arrived.
The email requested a large project that needed to be finished by Tuesday. Although in the process of losing mind, I managed to politely suggest that that might not be possible. They replied that this was for an important client, and that the CEO was personally involved. That didnāt impress me. I was already working on a project for an important client with whom the CEO was personally involved. Perhaps the CEO should have considered a situation like this before he fired everybody. What was I suppose to do? Take Benzedrine and begin working 24 hours a day?
Adding to the pressure of work, there was also personal pressure: On Friday evening I would be meeting with two friends I used to work with at Macyās. All three of us had not met at the same time since last February, when COVID-19 was just starting to gain traction in the news.
Meeting friends sounds like it should be pleasant. However after living and working in the same space for the past few months, my world has shrunk. Also, it would be raining. And cases of COVID-19 are increasing again. Iām not saying I was panicking, but I would have been very happy if anyone else had wanted to cancel.
This was the first time Xiomara would see my new haircut, āthe Shimada.ā She said it instead reminded her of Edward Norton, and suggested I should also grow the appropriate beard.
I might as well grow a beard. Iām wearing a mask when I go out, who would know? Xiomara said she would call me āAmerican History D,ā but I would prefer to think of the beard as āthe Tony Stark.ā
The Mexican restaurant we were planning to go to required reservations. They had limited seating due to social distancing. So we ended up going to a small hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant instead and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
I felt much more sane after dining with them than I did before.