Delta August
You probably thought I was referring to the popular SARS-CoV-2 variant, also known as B.1.617.2, and while I do that frequently, in this case I’m using it to mean Change.
As I’ve mentioned, after 8 long years living in the same place in Las Vegas (in the actual City proper, north of The Strip), I am packing up and moving. Not completely voluntary, but the “no-cause non-renewal notice” suggests to me that with so many people moving in to the Vegas area, new tenants can pay new rents, which will be higher than the rents we elders pay (er, paid). I haven’t thought about moving in a long time, and in fact I found out that I would be moving when I attempted to renew my lease (they sent a renewal letter but the non-renewal notice would come later… great!).
The good news, I was able to find and secure a landing spot nearby (I like this neighborhood, despite the recent increase in car-related crimes… I don’t have a car, though), so unlike lessons learned after my house fire of 2013, the uncertainty of what happens next won’t be an issue.
The bad news, if it’s bad, is the 7-week gap between moving out of this old place and moving into the new… thus there will be no classic “local move” but something closer to a long-distance move, in that I get to store everything as though I were packing up a single truck to head out. I did this when I moved my stuff out of my condemned former home (fire damage), recovering what I could and placing it in storage while conducting a search for a place to live, then eventually relocating from Sunnyvale to Las Vegas. It’s always cathartic to go through our “stuff” before a move, so while I’m not looking forward to the chaos that comes from breaking down home to move it, ultimately some good will come of it. Not to mention, the place to which I am moving was my first choice 8 years ago, and luckily the rent is only 10% more than my renewal rate at this old place. Could have been worse.
But Speaking of Delta
I’ve been as outspoken as one can me without an audience (present company excluded, of course), regarding my locality and the way the End of The Pandemic has been handled thus far. The small population of Southern Nevada and the small numbers put up for testing make growth look impressive against small totals when compared to other places (Florida reigns as I type this, that could change). Unfortunately, trends do not impress, only real numbers, which is why (in my opinion) there has been such a difficult time for some to accept the need for vaccination and the dramatic miscalculation of case fatality rates and their implications. I am no epidemiologist, nor am I a virologist, nor an immunologist. But paying attention is something we can all do, and that does not mean believing everything on Facebook or Gettr. Again, my opinion.
Anyway, I have a Twitter thread to which I append news items about Las Vegas/Nevada/Beyond and the next wave in which we find ourselves, you can check that out and follow along if you like:
In The Mean Time
Since I need to purge and pack in the current iteration of Our Pandemic Times (August), and since staying in is the new going out, the goal is to execute some weekly sprints to kick off some projects before I head out of Nevada for my respite abroad.
I’ve got the Quoggling Sand podcast which includes a Show Notes newsletter (right here on Substack, for now), during which I talk about projects and nerdy things, and during which I have also attempted to draw lines in podcast sand about sprinting.
So that’s August… avoid getting sick (I was fully vaccinated in February 2021, thanks to volunteering at a vaccination pod in North Las Vegas), purge the old, pack the present, and launch projects for the future.
Quoggling Sand podcast Show Notes via Substack
Check it out, and join in if you’re working on your projects, especially if you’re staying in to avoid the big sick…
How Funny
Hannah Einbinder brings a different style, discovered via the YouTube algo of course, the Late Show set was good, but perhaps a more relaxed set with some crowd work and then a comedy podcast chat with Mike Falzone rounds out her comedic stylings.
Yumi Nagashima is another algo find, I recently subscribed to her YumiTube channel and these two vids popped up as I was writing this issue… solid humor with a fun style that brings in the culture differences and language barriers with western humor, nicely done. Two vids are better than one!
Iliza Shlesinger has been at this for a while, she has some really fun stuff from years gone by. I’ve followed her shows for a long time and I even listen to her podcast now and then (I listen to a lot of podcasts now and then…). The goat noise (channeling some Jim Breuer Goat Boy perhaps?) fits in to the larger set, so check that out after you listen in on a sample:
Thanks!
Thanks for subscribing, or at least reading, this Monday Newsletter. I keep a profile page on Buy Me a Coffee with links to podcasts, newsletters, and projects (especially as they kick off later this month, fingers crossed).
There is no obligation to contribute to the caffeine supply, though you are certainly welcome to. This is simply a place to connect that is outside of personal blogs and project sites, so that I can connect them externally whether they themselves connect internally, if that makes sense.
So, thanks again, until Next Week!
(Unless you also subscribe to the Thursday Newsletter via Revue, in which case you’ll get an update then and there!)