As of late May I’m officially “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19 with the Pfizer product.

For what that’s worth, given that breakthroughs are a thing and mutations like Delta are a thing and even without the variants (ha ha, Loki humor) the vaccine was never a sure thing, never mind the uncertainty about the duration of the protection overall. So now, every time I have to go out among people, especially now that so many people have simply decided that masks are “for morons,” I find myself asking: Is this the one? Is this the breath that inhales the virus and gets me killed?

Not a healthy mindset, but it’s the only way my brain knows how to operate, so here we are. I absolutely do not get out much, no. And after a year and a half or so of this, I’m breaking down faster than ever.

But what else can I do? Ignoring reality isn’t the option. Blissful ignorance isn’t my style. So, here we remain.

Hopefully.

Let’s see… I’m not playing Satisfactory lately because there’s a glitch in the drones system they introduced with Update 4 and it won’t be fixed until Update 5 (some time this fall… or later). I’m winding down on my Fire Emblem: Three Houses playing (about to finish Silver Snow, the only route I hadn’t done yet) and then I’ll be taking a break from that. I’m working on a physical therapy regimen for the shoulder that got rather ouch-y right after my 2nd Pfizer jab, so I’m in pain a lot. I’m trying to collect blood sugar readings as per my doctor’s request but the glucometer and I aren’t getting along very well so it’s more pain than gain. I’m still working from home and not going out much because the Delta variant of COVID-19 is… worry-making. The high-definition remaster of Diablo II isn’t out yet. The current anime season doesn’t have anything that’s really grabbed my attention. We’re between MCU Disney+ shows (Loki was meh, What If is coming up next month). My last few music purchases were okay-but-not-great.

I’m still here, I’m just not really doing much of anything beyond surviving.

Saturday afternoon, Portland Oregon set a new all time high temperature record of 108F.

Sunday afternoon, Portland Oregon set a new all time high temperature record of 112F.

Monday afternoon, Portland Oregon set a new all time high temperature record of 116F.

Our apartment is fairly new. The complex was built only a year or so before we moved in, and while it’s kind of cheap as these things go, it’s still moderately well built overall. This includes the insulation, which is great at keeping us warm in the colder months.

Turns out, sadly, that it’s also incapable of shedding heat in the worst of summer. We’re on the top floor and we get a lot of the afternoon & evening rays before sunset, which ensures that the building’s outer structure is good and warm for hours and hours afterward. Result? Two portable air-conditioning units running full-tilt all afternoon, evening, and overnight couldn’t get the air below 86F inside the apartment, other than for the two small spheres of space directly in front of the units themselves. This last weekend was a brutal, joyless slog and I never want to go through that again.

Since it’s only June, however, and the hottest months of the year (normally) are ahead of us… I’m not going to hold my breath.

(The only upside is that I’d put in for a few days of vacation time, which included Monday, a couple months ago, which turned out to be lucky timing because having my computer on in order to do work yesterday was not gonna be happening.)