The new, new....new normal.

First wave, second wave, endless wave. 

This feels permanent; a new, new...new normal. Take it in stride, mask up, make sure we have the latest booster.

I called Sabrina a few days ago and told that I thought we needed to communicate only by phone from now on, because if we were associating and one of us got sick, we'd both have to quarantine for the 5 to 10 days necessary and that would be extremely costly.

"Oh, my God," she said, "I didn't even think of that. Wow...Christmas."

"I had it in the back of my mind, but I thought the boosters would take care of things. But now...?"

From what I've read the Omicron surge should peak in March; and that some more of the new medications should be available by then too. We need to be extra careful for the next three months. Then, hopefully, things won't be so dire. 

I've moved to wearing N95 masks now. They are not as comfortable, and they are much more difficult to remove in order to drink or eat something. But I do believe that Sabrina and I having made it through months of hundreds of people coming in the store has shown the value of masks. 

But it is so easy to slip. Scratching my nose, rubbing my eye, whatever. A slip-up can happen at any time. I'm sort of half expecting it. Also, it's very wearying to remind people to wear their masks properly, and some times I just don't have the energy anymore. Stupidity wins.

Meanwhile, it's been slow at the store. Normal January business, not the kind of boom that we saw through most of 2021. Again, I wonder if we're setting into a new, new...new normal. I can hardly be disappointed: We had a spectacular year.

I ordered a ton of books. 18 boxes came in today. Literally a ton of books. It was most of the books that were depleted during the Christmas rush. But I've blown two weeks worth of budget in one week, so I need to step back. Considering how slow it's been, it shouldn't hurt. I have to fight my tendency to borrow from the future.

It just is starting to feel routine somehow, at the same time as conditions have changed yet again. 

It's new and it's normal.