Trader Joe's has long been a "nobody goes there any more, it's too crowded" situation. I won't go near my local one.

0530 at WinCo isn't too bad, as long as the stockers are suitably masked (most are, some aren't, and I count those who wear the mask to protect their beard, not their mouth and nose, as the latter); the few of us who are shopping at that hour are seem not to be anti-maskers. And they do have paper towels and TP (limit 2 packages per purchase).

Starbucks on the way home from WinCo at 0630-0700 usually has no lines. If I see more than 2 customers inside I turn around and leave - overpriced coffee is a convenience, not a necessity. Sorry, I'm not going to sit in line for 1/2 hour at the drive-thru Dutch Bros.

I suspect that if anybody looks at the current Covid flavor in the US, they'll find a lot of similarity with the fast-spreader in the UK. There wasn't THAT much change in behavior in the fall to account for that huge spike in cases, was there?

If I were still commuting, with mask and gloves, I wouldn't have any real problem with using the local light rail. They have cleaners riding the trains wiping things down, distancing that the transit cops enforce, masking ditto. With commuting in general way down, the parking lots at the stations (all outdoors - it's cheapo light rail, no subways) are pretty empty. Main worry I have is whether the transit system will still be there when people start going out again; the deficits are dramatic. But no commuting; what little work I'm doing in retirement (that's way down, too) uses the company's computer set up in the back bedroom.

On the plus side, similar to others in the neighborhood, there was time to do an expanded version of outdoor lights this year, and with LED light strings the power use is down even with extra lights.

With a family that's at least 1/2 Trumpers, I don't expect much attendance at a Christmas Zoom meeting, but I'll try. Maybe I'll go ride light rail downtown and back again, if it's running on Christmas; that's about as close to other people as I'm willing to do this year.

Anyway, Merry Christmas (happy is what you make of things!), Happy New Year (and hope for more vaccines that actually work long-term, so we can beat this thing)! And may BOB2 enjoy his churros (the ones around here tend to be kind of mushy). I'll be doing a little pork roast for the 2 of us (no decent beef available, and we did a game hen for Thanksgiving so it would be boring to do it again). She Who Must Be Obeyed still promises a cherry pie (no mincemeat available this year either).