Coping

As has been noted, there’s a ***LOT*** of bad shit going on right now. How are you coping?

I have a few things to share. Note, these are not guaranteed to get you through the work day – probably quite the opposite so far as getting work done if you’re working from home. But they might let you get through to the other side more or less sane, as opposed to exploding.

1. OK Go videos – go to YouTube or wherever, there are dozens, each one more amazing than the next. No special effects, just astonishing creativity. And most have “Behind The Scenes” or “Making Of” or “Outtakes” videos to accompany the official video.
2. Cornell Lab FeederWatch Cam – these are the folks who made the wonderful Merlin app that I use and have talked about for IDing birds that wander into our back yard. When I was looking for something different to have on as “video noise” at my desk earlier this week I stumbled on this. WONDERFUL!! Small birds such as sparrows and chickadees, whole flocks of mourning doves, at least two types of woodpeckers, cardinals and blue jays, and the occasional squirrel dropping in like Death From Above. (I suspect the squirrels are jumping in from an off-camera tree that might be a good leap away, so it’s nearly a suicide mission for them, but there’s SO! MUCH! FOOD!)
3. LabPadre – LabPadre currently has seven cameras set up around the area of the SpaceX testing facility on the Texas coast by South Padre Island. If there’s no actual testing going on during a given day it’s a little boring (but makes great wallpaper and white noise) but when they’re testing (and they’re testing a LOT these days) there might be a static fire engine test or even a flight for one of the prototype Starship spacecraft. The next static fire is probably late tomorrow afternoon, the next big flight is probably coming up later this week? This weekend? First thing next week? It depends on when they’re ready and when the weather cooperates. Still cool to see spacecraft the size of the Space Shuttle stack being churned out by the dozen for testing and occasional destruction while testing. But when they talk about having crews on the moon in 5-6 years and on Mars in 8-10 years (actually those are my estimates, they’re saying half that time) I don’t doubt them.
4. Hundreds of Hummingbirds – Birds stop coming around after sunset and sunset comes early in Ithaca, New York these days, so when they go to night vision and the only thing moving around are the mice (which I’ve never seen in the feeder, since they can’t jump as far as the squirrels can), there’s a site here in the LA area that has set up a buffet for dozens and dozens of hummingbirds, and there’s always a line waiting for an open spot. The colors and iridescence and amazing flying ability of literally dozens and dozens of these beautiful creatures is something I could watch all day.

So, there are a few ideas. Of course, turning off Twitter and Facebook and picking up a book or listening to some music are always an excellent idea, and if you have the opportunity to safely get out (take a mask and wear it!) and walk around the block or take a short hike through the woods or around the pond, that would be best of all.

What coping mechanisms or favorite distracting and/or entertaining sites have you discovered?