Getting close to the end of 2021, soon we will put it to bed.

Merry Xnay and all that, hope everybody has a nice holiday and stays safe. Covid has rose 59% in San Diego County this week, even higher in Los Angeles. Be careful if you congregate, there is a lot of misinformation out there about the virus, you owe it to yourself to sort through the bilge and figure out the facts. No dim sum for us this year, hard to imagine a Christmas without shrimp shumai but I just can't take the plunge and be around all those people. *Was pre-op tested for Covid at Scripps this morning, going to lay low until the operation on Monday. Cytology came back negative today, a very good thing. * Leslie had me read this fart story last night, kind of touching, woman has parleyed her flatulence into a big book deal. What a country we live in. Greatest fart chapter ever was in Dan Jenkins football classic, Semi tough. * Barry sent over this twisted restaurant review. I can relate but will not name names. Chef ain't exactly happy but loves the publicity.* Quick shift to politics, good article at National Review by Yuval Levin, The Irony of our Polarized Age. * Shawn sends over the absolutely wonderful Online Etymology Dictionary. Steller's sea eagle now in Massachusetts, only a couple thousand miles off course. Leslie says it is the breakdown of the magnetic field and the polar shift causing this and the whale beachings, what do I know? * Can't remember an Aztecs basketball team that didn't have an outside shooter. Maybe Seiko will develop. * I was driving down the 15 today past Pala Mesa, what is with the great trash heap in the road median? * Sorry to see that Moon Valley Nursery has swept up and devoured another great nursery, Evergreen in Oceanside. I still miss Tropic World. The new selection there is totally denuded but they will help you plant what you buy if you fork over a whole bunch of money. * Thanks to Lynn Stadille James for the gift certificate and to RoxAnne for the delicious homemade fudge. * That's it, stay dry, have a great holiday and weekend, wear your mask, get your booster, be safe.