Journal of the Pandemic Years, Day Who-Even-Knows

Long time no talk, Gopherspace. I've been existing in this strange and
unpleasant limbo, in which I seem to always be busy, yet never accomplishing
anything, and in which nothing ever seems to change, yet everything feels like
it's growing worse with each passing day. 

We are, I read somewhere, ninety-nine days from the election in the States,
which means, somewhat pessimistically, we're probably about one hundred or
one-hundred and one days from the Second Civil War. So that's something to look
forward to... not.

The pandemic in this country is somehow actually worse than it was the last
time I posted. I say "somehow" but the causes are honestly quite clear -
ignorance, stupidity, and greed. I don't really foresee a end, or a solution;
imagining that things are going to get better just because a new well-to-do
geriatric capitalist is in nominal control of the country (assuming we somehow
nip this country's fascism phase in the bud in three months) is absurdly
optimistic foolishness.

Anyway, I've been getting on. The grocery situation is slightly improved over
what it was a few months back. I still try to go out as little as possible, and
when we get grocery deliveries I try to be frugal and practical. Among the side
effects of this, I don't thing I've had a carbonated beverage since the
pandemic hit. I don't miss soda, but sometimes it seems sort of weird.

Unrelated to anything, but I recently bought an old model airplane engine,
cheap, on eBay. It's an old .049 Cox of some sort. I have no real interest in
making or flying model airplanes, but I stumbled across something about
nitro/methanol engines in an old magazine, and was just struck by the amazing
simplicity of these little things. Less than a dozen pieces to make a
fully-functioning internal-combustion engine. Pretty crazy. The one I got is a
bit beat up, but it cleaned up okay. As soon as I can get some fuel (and a
starter thingy), it'll probably run. They're apparently weirdly durable. Not
real useful for anything - you can't run a generator off one, or anything like
that - but a lot of fun for a couple of bucks.

That's it for today, Internet. Stay safe, and try not to let the crazies win.