The Daily Parker

On day 3 of my symptomatic Covid-19 experience, I feel about the same as I did yesterday, but more annoyed. It's exactly the kind of day when I would meet friends at a beer garden or outdoor restaurant and not sit inside reading. But I don't want to expose people who can't get vaccinated to possible illness (people who can get vaccinated and choose not to, however...), and after a 3 km walk with Cassie half an hour ago, I really can't do much more than sit and read for a while.

My friends who have gotten this strain in the last six weeks or so report that my experience sounds about right, and I should be through symptoms by Tuesday. And looking ahead at my summer plans, which include a trip to Austin at the end of this month and a trip to the UK at the end of July, plus two opera performances and many afternoons sitting at beer gardens, it turns out this was simply the best weekend for me to miss. Lucky me!

Cassie, on the other hand, seems bored. And she would very much like that squirrel to get just a bit closer:

Even though I feel like I have a moderate cold (stuffy, sneezy, and an occasional cough), I recognize that Covid-19 poses a real danger to people who haven't gotten vaccinations or who have other comorbidities. So I'm staying home today except to walk Cassie. It's 18°C and perfectly sunny, so Cassie might get a lot of walks.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of things to occupy my time:

• Arthur Rizer draws a straight line from the militarization of police to them becoming "LARPing half-trained, half-formed kids playing soldier in America’s streets and schools" who completely failed the children of Uvalde, Texas.
• Jamelle Bouie wants Democrats to turn up the volume on Ginny Thomas's and her husband's obvious collusion in the January 6th insurrection.
• The Sun-Times visits the Neenah Foundry in Wisconsin, which molded all 148,000 of Chicago's manhole covers—some of which appear to be over 120 years old.
• Freddie Boer lobs a ton of snark on his "Roster of the Good White Man." (He put himself on it, too.)
• The Netherlands General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD in Dutch) unmasked a GRU intelligence officer posing as a Brazilian student trying to infiltrate the International Criminal Court.
• The Cubs have won 1 of their last 11 games, giving up 92 runs since the beginning of June, and becoming only the second team in club history to lose back-to-back series by more than 20 runs. (The first time was in September 1879.)

Finally, today is the 210th anniversary of the War of 1812 and the 207th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.

After four nights, five puddles, four solid gifts, and so much barking that the neighbors down the block left a note on my door, Sophie finally went home this afternoon. I also worked until 11:30 last night, but that had nothing to do with her. It did cause a backup in my reading, though:

• Reports out of the Supreme Court say the Justices have gotten testy with each other after last month's leak of Samuel Alito's (R) draft opinion allowing states to kill pregnant women with impunity. This has led Clarence Thomas (R) to complain about the lack of trust in the institution. (Stop laughing, he was serious.)
• Speaking of fascism, fully 44% of self-identified Republicans believe that mass shootings are just the price we have to pay to have freedom in the US.
• Julia Ioffe makes the case against appeasing Vladimir Putin.
• Ross Barkan reminds us that we can—and probably should—ignore Elon Musk, as he's drawing scrutiny away from the billionaires who actually want to live in a dystopia.
• The European Union has decreed that all smartphones must use USB-C chargers by 2024, forcing Apple to whine that it hates open standards because then it can't charge as much for its inferior products.
• Covid significantly altered airline schedules out of Chicago, and they still suck if you live somewhere other than a major hub.

Finally, army dude-bros in several countries have gotten into arguments over online tank games and, to win those arguments, have posted classified information about real tanks. The defense authorities in the US, UK, France, and China are investigating.

One of Cassie's old friends, who moved away about a year ago, has come for a 4-day visit. Sophie seems to enjoy being back in her old 'hood:

Sophie is very much a potato. Couch, bed, floor; still a potato. I just walked the two of them together around the block, and that is the last time I will attempt it. Cassie pulls forward, Sophie pulls backward, human is unhappy.

But Sophie and Cassie get along really well, in part because they both get along with everyone really well. So it'll be a fun few days.

Cassie and I spent almost all day outside yesterday, starting at Puptown:

Including pool time and some new friends:

Followed by a 3½-kilometer walk to Spiteful Brewing, where one of us read a book and the other napped:

Today, though she doesn't know it yet, she will get a bath.

I had to put out a new version of the Inner Drive Azure tools for my day job today, and I had more meetings than I wanted (i.e., a non-zero number), so these kind of piled up:

• Master Strategist Vladimir Putin's efforts to weaken NATO have succeeded in getting Sweden and Finland interested in joining the alliance.
• Margaret Sullivan wants the media (including her own Washington Post) to understand "democracy is at stake in the midterms."
• Jim Fallows recommends (re-)watching the 1947 Oscar Best Picture winner Gentleman's Agreement.
• A Federal appeals court overturned an injunction against enforcement of a Texas law that would end content moderation on Internet sites, among other horrific things.
• Retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent Keith Billiot single-handedly destroyed a case against four alleged drug traffickers by casually describing how "people of Latino descent are the ones that are supplying (narcotics to) people of African American descent or Caucasians, or whatever." The US Attorney is displeased.
• Why does the Internet hate Amber Heard?
• Author John Scalzi revisits his "lowest difficulty setting" post ten years on.

There were other things I'll read later, but it's past 6pm and someone is staring at me because she needs a walk.

Welcome to stop #74 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Burning Bush Brewery, 4014 N. Rockwell Ave., Chicago
Train line: CTA Brown Line, Rockwell
Time from Chicago: 35 minutes
Distance from station: 1.5 km

The brewery opened in March 2020, and like others on this list, quickly pivoted to to-go sales. That let them get pretty good at making beers. Yesterday, Cassie and I stopped by the brewery after a 5 km walk to the Horner Park Dog Park just across the river.

I got a flight, naturally, and Cassie found shade under my table, naturally.

(Cassie also pulled on her leash, which I had clipped to the table, just as I set the flight down.)

I started with the Lion's Den Hazy IPA (7%), which had good balance and a long Citra finish. The Walls of Jericho Hazy DDHIPA (7.7%) had less intensity than the Lion's Den, but a really good, smooth, almost malty flavor that I enjoyed. The Smooth Serpent American IPA (7.1%) had a very hoppy, bright flavor with and a refreshing crispness. Then I finished with the Indulgence Stout (8.2%) and its chocolate, vanilla, and caramel flavors that I would have for dessert any day.

The patio doesn't have any shade at all, so I expect it'll be really uncomfortable in the hot months but really great in spring and fall. The large interior space seems welcoming enough, too.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Yes
Televisions? Yes, avoidable
Serves food? No, BYOF
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

It's a bit windy in Chicago: winds steady at 25 knots peaking at 47 knots at 1pm. WGN says:

The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Warning through 7 p.m. Thursday.

Gusts are to build to greater than 60 mph at times–and there are indications a few of the strongest gusts could reach speeds of 70 to 80 mph.

Whitecaps were spotted in Lake Michigan and the gusts have the potential to send waves greater than 10 feet on the shoreline.

It’s a good idea to move objects indoors and out of the wind.

Great, thanks! That last bit helps. Even Cassie got tired of pushing against it.

Bonus graphic: can you spot when the cold front came through yesterday?

Thursday evening, at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance:

That's Bill Kurtis, Peter Sagal, Karen Chee, Alonzo Bodden, and Helen Hong at this week's "Wait Wait" taping. The "Not My Job" guest was actor Matt Walsh:

Then yesterday, Cassie and I trundled up to Spiteful Brewing in the sun:

Not a bad few days, in all.

Cassie has spent the last two weeks creating found art out of one of my area rugs. Yesterday the "found" part got too much for me and I let the rug go. Pity, too; I won it at a silent auction for $300 only in 2016, and neither Parker nor Cassie tried to destroy it until this spring.

Here's Cassie's final expression of the piece. Note not only the center section, which Cassie exfiltrated from the house a small bit at a time, but also the left edge, where she expressed a more compelling feeling of the interplay between organic lines and straight edges: