COVID and the State of the Kitsune, Part 7:

To no one's surprise, the numbers have continued to get worse as the weeks and months drag on. Reports suggest that help may be on the way in the near future in the form of treatment, but it cannot come fast enough. Even then I still get the sense hat this is going to linger over everyone for a while longer.

I briefly considered starting hunting for a replacement job in the short term, but the search has been suspended until some treatment hits the streets. I will probably qualify for the extended unemployment. It will help in the short term, but what happens when the calendar flips to January remains to be seen.

In the meantime, what was originally a message out of the blue has now turned into a girlfriend closer to my age than past relationship candidates. Both parents have figured it out, and it's pretty much official now. For me this is by far the deepest I've been able to explore a real relationship and feel mostly comfortable about it - albeit with some adjustments. It helps a lot knowing that she is capable of taking care of herself.

Sure there's a few issues that will need addressing in the long term, but it's far better than previous relationships where I would have to do most of the heavy lifting and supporting of the other partner. I kind of realized those sort of relatoinships were only going to cause me fatigue and stress... and that was before the unforseen disaster that this year has been. A situation like this may have driven me to the point of doing something drastic - and that has never yielded good results for me when faced with similar situations in the past.