Points to Ponder: The profound thoughts of Alex W________g aka Simon DelMonte

So for the past three years, we have isolated far more than most.  But at some point, it was inevitable that COVID would pay a visit.  It came for Hanukkah - pretty sure it was the new BB8 variant that only affects Star Wars fans - and Batya had what was essentially a bad cold and I never even go to that (and never tested positive at home).  But we are doing well now.  And as the three months after infection are comparatively (if not guaranteed) safe, and as we also have the max number of vaccinations, we will be masking up and hoping the train for Boston.  And for Boskone 60. 

This will be my first con in three years.  It might be my last for a while to come.  I will probably be somewhat antsy to be around so many people for such a long while.  But I'll be there, N95 hiding my smile.  I know a lot of you are not Boskonians, but if you are there, I cannot wait to finally see you! 

Haven't posted here in a long while.   But seeing as it's about to be Rosh Hashanah, this seems to be a good moment for it.

Things are the same.  Things are not.  I started a new job a month ago, working as Board Coordinator for The WNET Group.  That means I am in charge of certain details related to the board and committees that help run things at the local PBS TV stations (all of which are under the same non-profit corporate umbrella now).  It's a very different sort of job than my last one, much more administrative and not as likely to be as stressful since it lacks the 24/7 nature of a public relations job in the age of the Internet.  I expect there will be days and weeks and months of high stress, of course, but for now, it's a lot calmer.  

Lord knows, though, when I will meet any co-workers face to face.  Eventually, it will not be a remote job since eventually there will be in person meetings that I have to organize.  When that happens, there will be new stresses, I am sure.  For now, no commute and the weird sensation of being onboarded remotely and feeling just a bit like I am not really part of the staff.  But at least I found a job that suits me and so far everyone has been realistic about the limitations of starting a job over the Internet.

Right now my biggest concern is getting things done when I am out so much of the next month for Jewish holidays.  I am pretty sure that will be manageable too, but for 30 years it was never an issue since the Jewish Museum's offices were officially closed.  By the end, though, that wasn't entirely true in terms of the sheer number of emails I would find after every holiday.  So in some ways, this might not be that different.

And beyond all that...well, we're all in the same boat, aren't we?  Same pandemic, same global warming, same worries and fears and hopes that we are not sure we should be hoping.  We're trying to strike a balance between seeing other vaccinated people one or two at a time, attending services at my synagogue fully masked, and avoiding the world.  At some level, I feel like I want to just go back to zero contact with anyone.  At some other level, I feel like the risks can be managed with reasonable precautions (which is to say, masks for everyone, preferably double masks).  It would help a lot if people at large, and people in the Jewish community here in particular, where as committed to masking as we are.  We're gone so far as to stop shopping in person at the local kosher markets because people are being really bad about masking.  It's depressing, but it's not like we can make people do the right thing.

And with all that, we lurch into Rosh Hashanah.  In person in the synagogue this time, worries about the variant and all.  Personally, I think we should be offering an outdoor service.  But I feel like with a mask mandate for at least the High Holidays, it should be okay.  Even if I find myself feeling like the prayers are insufficient for the moment. Even if I find myself asking if God is even listening. Last year we begged for a better year.  I can't say we got one, even with the miracle of a vaccine.  And yet I will be there, trying to find the words within the prayers that express my feelings to God and to myself.


So with that, I wish all concerned a sweet, happy and healthy New Year, and hope that maybe this time our prayers are answered affirmatively, and that the old year with its many curses be replaced with the new year and some blessings.  

Can't remember the last time I posted here.  Certainly it was before the pandemic.  And since that became a thing, I have been doing more or less what everyone else has been, socially distancing and working from home and coping as best as humanly possible. There wasn't much I felt needed to be said.

That changed last week, when my job was terminated.  Budget cuts and the usual notion that letting go an older employee might make more sense than keeping younger, cheaper ones, and maybe just a desire to sideline people left from the old regime combined to the end of a 30 year run.  I am still in a bit of shock, of course.  And concerned about the prospect of trying to find a new job in an economy like this one and at my age.  But I am getting a decent severance package and at least for now I don't have to worry immediately about things.

And in some ways, it might be a good thing to cut ties from my old and essentially my only job and start over.  If nothing else, I could use a break in the short term from the work world and from the things at the office that had been slowly eating away at me. Which doesn't mean that this doesn't sting and won't keeping stinging for a while.  But maybe there is a silver lining somewhere in this rather large and overwhelming cloud.

 Dusting off the old blog to wish all those that ovserve a shana tova, a good new year as the Jewish year 5779 rolls over into 5780.  May the old year and its curses end.  May the new year and its blessings arrive.

Hope everyone out there is hanging in,  I am pretty much the same as I have been for a while, just not using Dreamwidth much (who is?).  

 Greetings fans of filk!  There will be a housefilk on Sunday, June 30 at the home of Josh Kroenengold and Lisa Padol,  39-20 52nd Street, Apt GD in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens, NYC.

 If all goes according to plan, we will be at HELIOsphere, the new-ish NYC-area con that is trying to be the replacement for Lunacon, the first weekend in April.  The guest filker will be the one and only Tom Smith, among other notables attending.  

And then we are looking towards Balticon on Memorial Day weekend once more, where last year's D&D-style LARP will continue.

Hope to see of you at either or both.

Greetings and felicitations fannish types and Bostonians.  Batya and I will be attending Boskone next month.  As I know many of you attend Arisia instead, I figured it would be a good idea to give you a head's up that we will at the other con.  If you like to meet up with us, regardless of whether you are attending the con, please give up a shout.  But be aware that Batya is slated to do a concert on Friday night, and you might want to attend..

Hope we get to see at least some of you soonish. 

Greetings.  If you haven't left Dreamwidth and are among my regular readers, glad to see you.  If you left DW and are returning as the Tumblexodus begins, welcome back.  As you may have noticed, I have been posting a lot less.  Some of that is because DW has been quiet overall.  But of late, it's because I broke my scapula.  Here's my story.

Out for a walk on November 11, as I often do on Sunday mornings.  Dunkin iced tea in one hand, the drug store two blocks away and ready for me to make a pickup.  I trip.  I fall.  I lose the iced tea.  I land on my hands, as one does.  I am in a lot of pain.  A lot more than from a routine trip.  I slowly stumble to a small park a block a way, land on a bench, and make phone calls to the volunteer ambulance service and to Batya.  Soon enough we are both at the nearest hospital, and I am in the devil's own pain.  It is incredibly hard just getting my shirt off for the x-ray.  It is not fun.

One x-ray later, and it's determined I broke my scapula (shoulder blade).  This is not an easy thing to do, as scapulas are well padded by surrounding muscles, tissue, etc.  I have no idea how I did it, but I did.  Go me.  I come home, make an appointment the next day with an orthopedist, and begin the long process of recovery.  Which meant two weeks out of work, three weeks of typing one handed, and six weeks of wearing a sling when I slept and a lot of time when I am awake.  Lots of Advil and icepacks.  Physical therapy twice a week.  And slowly starting to do all the things I suddenly couldn't do. 

Seven weeks later, I am at about 75 percent of "what I used to be able to do."  I can't reach out or up.  I can't lift anything beyond a certain weight.  I am still in pain a lot, albeit manageable pain.  I have only just begun to wash dishes again and use a knife.  And I am appreciating every little thing that I am once more able to do again.  I honestly missed doing the dishes.

There is a long road ahead yet.  But the doctor says I am where I should be at this point. And it's kind of amazing that bones can grow back, isn't it?

So that is one reason I have not been posting much. Longer stretches of typing are still a bit uncomfortable, and I need to save that for work.  But I am getting there.  And I totally recommend that you should avoid breaking your scapula.

PS: This is also why I didn't say anything about Stan Lee's death.  But by now, I doubt I have much to add.

 

I rarely get political in my posts. But this is not politics. This is about human decency, and the lack of it.

Trump Administration Eyes Defining Transgender Out of Existence  
https://nyti.ms/2R9W1jB?smid=nytcore-ios-share 

Okay, it is also politics. For the love of human decency, vote!

 Hey, I still have a blog.  I should use it on occasion.

Wishing all a shana tova as the Jewish New Year of 5779 starts.  May the old year and its curses leave.  May the new year and its blessings arrive.

 Hullo out there!

There will be a housefilk on Sunday, May 6, in Kew Gardens Hills in Queens, New York, at the home of Alex and Batya Wittenberg. The festivities will run from 1 pm to approximately 5 pm. The address is 144-32 71st Road, accessible from the LIE and GCP, and by subway and bus.

Interested? Reply to this post, and let us know. And spread the word!

Need directions? Feel free to ask as well.

Today, SpaceX successfully test-launched the Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket since Saturn V.  27 engines on a core and two boosters worked perfectly, as did a second stage rocket.  After which, the two boosters landed back at Cape Canaveral AT THE SAME TIME!  It was an awe inspiring sight, the stuff of science fiction made real.  (The main rocket's landing seems to have been the only failure of the day, but no word has come from SpaceX yet.)

And now there is a Tesla Roadster with a dummy dressed in a SpaceX spacesuit on its way into a Mars orbit.  And the car is sending back streaming video.

I daresay, today I feel like the future we have been waiting for has arrived.  Or is at least closer today that it was yesterday.

And as it happens, I had the day off and was able to watch the whole thing.  It was really nerve wracking, since there was always a good chance the 27 engines and the vibrations thereof could have done something untoward.  But everything went fine, and I got to watch history.  Yay! 

 May the old years and its curses end.  May the new year and its blessings commence.

Best wishes for a joyous new year to everyone!