Pollen in the Extreme

Allergies are really hit or miss on the types of pollen that get me.  Some parts of the year the white fluffy stuff is in the air and nothing. But, the outrageous amount of yellow powder from the tress this year is overwhelming.

I rinsed my car, it was shiny, and the next morning it was like I had done nothing.

It's been a couple weeks now.  A  little rain looked like it might help, but we ended up with mud puddles, or really yellow pollen mud like puddles.

And then the sun came back, it was dry, and it all kicked back up in the air and on everything and I am well and truly sick of it.

Greater JeffJeffJeffopolis in Minecraft

This has been an intermittent ongoing creative mode build for the couple years we have had the console.

It actually started as a bored build of a giant soccer stadium that became the centerpiece.

There was a suggestion to build a mountain.  There are two secret entrances as of this post.

Giant play fields or stadia for various sports including ultimate, lacrosse, football, cricket, and basketball.  A disc golf course runs through the town. A water slide and a trap range.  Even a rocket is ready to launch.

The build is filled with things like giant places to play MtG or do TKD or play Quidditch. 

A couple of towers, a skyscraper, and a high up observatory are in a few of the corners.

A giant tree house structure is included.

Over time there were buildings like a brewery, wine cellar, greenhouse, and a myriad of others. 

A food truck, pokestop, and campground with outdoor theatre are out there somewhere.

It is now far too big to be viewed from the middle all the way out and I have built to the edge of two rando generated villages and found a third in the distance.

A full mapping and survey really needs to occur at some point.  Scale is often comically off.  JeffJeffJeffopolis sort of rules.

So, a month passes

One month ago today I was subbing at the elementary school near my home.  We knew school closure was coming, but thought it would be for a couple weeks is all.

The announcement was for longer.

The private school I also sub for had already closed and gone virtual, for longer than we originally expected.

The state announcement pushed the private school closure longer to match the public schools.

Somewhere along the way we lost the rest of the year.

The signs at the schools are no longer current and are a reminder that no one is there to update them.

And a month has passed.

I got some things sorted out with a temp PT gig, that isn't much.

I got a favorable ruling on some measure of UI, even though it took a national declaration to make happen.  I am both surprised it did actually happen and grateful for even what they are providing.

But, a month ago, I walked home that afternoon after the state closed everything.  A month. 

Shopping the next day was eerie, an experience I do not want to revisit.

And now, the temp gig has positive tests in the team and district and I wonder how much I will ever get from that gig.

I have been productive, not especially creatively, but I have not let the home and health slide. Who I live with helps in that in that we have a healthy lifestyle and actually enjoy living together.

I miss friends and family even as I routinely contact them because I can't be around them.

And I wonder what month one of will end up being of.

A quarter century apart

So, I get a text today, and this pic shows up.

Me and an old high school bud.  I know this is at his house when we are both home from college like circa 1988 or 1989, but I think summer of 88.

I do not recall ever seeing this picture before and I think it was from his mom.

So I looked up the last time we had a chance to hang out and it is roughly 25 years later.

I know this one was around Feb of 2013. we don't see each other enough.  Old friends though and we sometimes connect.

But, really this post is to remind me that old friends are still out there and I hope they are okay going through all of this.