A very dead Halloween

With a stupid scary pandemic, I prepared my children for disappointment by getting a large bag of candy in case trick or treating didn't pan out.

We were down to ten percent of last year. Ten percent of lit up houses, and we saw only three other groups of kids out there. It was dismal. On the bright side, the houses were particularly generous, so the kids didn't go home with a paltry stash. The downside was the criminal lack of variety. My dear wife in particular was disappointed by the lack of even a single package of Nerds to steal.

Meanwhile, I have this giant bag of candy they didn't need, and nobody came to my house for. Oh well.

Silverish lining

So the massive economic slowdown has finally hit me. My otherwise recession proof job simply hasn't been shipping parts. (Nobody flying = airlines aren't buying planes = Boeing and Airbus aren't going to make as many)

Normally my department is ahead of schedule by 3 or 4 weeks (by necessity), and when we're doing good it's 5 weeks.

I am currently ahead by thirty weeks. I've been spending time on other projects and long term maintenance. Either way, we're cutting hours. Working only 3 days a week hasn't happened since I had a job that sucked.

Silver lining: my dear wife has me helping with the kids remote learning a couple of days. Also, more sleeping in.

I'm sure I'll find more.

Social media lockstep

I'm ok with social media, in theory. It's the only way I have of keeping up with some people I otherwise would have completely lost touch with. I'm a social person, so this works for me. In the beginning, though, it was all chronological. You'd see people's posts / tweets / whatever in the order they were created. It made sense, it formed a unique narrative to your feed.

Then, one by one, they all switched to a curated feed based on what they think you want. Even if you switch it back to chronological, things are still missing. You'd have to go on a hunt to see everything you actually said you wanted to see.

From the start of it I knew it was a way to control what people saw on the platform. Nobody wanted it, everyone hated it, but since we're A) Not paying for it, and B) Not being paid for it, that means the answer is C) We're the product being sold. So our opinion doesn't matter.

Now there's another presidential election, and news stories are dropping about either side constantly. People squawk about media biases, censorship, blah blah blah. What concerns me is when, suddenly, every social media outlet simultaneously blocks something. Links to articles are immediately deleted, people sharing information find their posts / tweets deleted, others outright banned.

I know they're privately owned, but it's almost frightening to see how much influence they've acquired.

Video recommendations

 A good while ago, I used YouTube to find music. Whatever garbage was being promoted was exactly that: refuse that should afflict the ears of no one. I found a few good songs, which led to a few good playlists, and soon the algorithm was sending me down a rabbit hole of endless new music.

Then I had to look up a few videos on other topics. DIY stuff so I could do things like fix a dryer, etc. Not long after I began looking up things I could show my kids (like when they ask how stuff works, and a verbal explanation just won't work. This is the kind of stuff I wished I had as a kid).

It didn't take long for the rabbit hole to be cemented over with an eviction notice. Since then it's taken longer to remind YouTube that what I want is music. I notice they now have different categories I can select for my 'recommendations', but honestly I should have just used a separate account and left it alone.

The mixed blessing

Every presidential election, the ground troops are out in force. Even in mid term elections, my door is beat upon by those canvassing for signatures / support / etc. It goes beyond yard signs, and full on into people being right in your face.

This particular election is... heated, shall we say. Civil debate isn't. I know people who refuse to display any loyalties for fear of vandalism. 

But this pandemic, this airborne disease with no vaccine and limited treatments, lingers on. An illness that kills old and young alike. One that's contagious before you even know you're sick.

It's October and nobody has come to my door. I have seen nobody canvassing neighborhoods, meeting people in public places (outside the library was a popular spot). Everyone rightly fears the virus.

Two edged sword, people.