I am privileged to be able to shelter-in-place comfortably.

I am privileged to live in an area which has not been significantly affected by protests, riots, or police oppression and brutality.

I am privileged to be able to walk down the street without worrying about drawing undue attention to myself because of my skin color or accent.

I am privileged not to have ever had to worry about where my next meal was coming from, whether I could afford medical care, or whether I was in danger of losing my home.

Far too many people can’t make all of these statements – or any of them – in the richest country that the world has ever seen.

No one should be without medical care. No one should have to worry about their next meal. No one should have to live on the streets. No one should have to worry about being presumed guilty – or assaulted or murdered – because of their skin color or accent.

I cannot solve these problems, but neither can I desist from the work of solving them. I can be an ally. I can put money where my mouth is. I can vote.

Black lives matter because black lives are human lives. Black lives matter because black lives are under attack. Black lives matter because all lives matter.

(From Chainsawsuit by Kris Straub)

I haven’t been listening to SiriusXM much of late – I mostly listened in the car or the gym if I was caught up on podcasts, and none of those conditions have applied for at least eleven weeks. This morning, I got a note that they’d be renewing my subscription automatically in ten days at full price (nearly $30/month), so I sprang into action.

My first step was to call them – naturally, they claimed “longer than usual wait times” but their automated system offered me a better deal than I’d even gotten from them when I’d negotiated in past years – $10/month for “All Access”. That was more than I wanted to pay, so I told the system “No”, and it instantly signed me up for the offer.

I then tried their chat and was immediately connected to an agent – a couple of minutes later, I was signed up for a year of their “Select” package for $5/month, which I was willing to pay (I hope to be back in the car and the gym sometime in the next 12 months!). I lose Howard Stern and some sports channels, but I never listened to any of those channels anyway.

JetBlue changed our flight from Boston to Richmond by seven hours, which made us eligible to get a refund instead of just a flight credit. I tried cancelling online, but the website only offered credit, so I had to call them. Fifty-five minutes later (fifty-two of which were spent listening to the hold music – to JetBlue’s credit, it was a decent set of songs), the reservation was cancelled and the money should be on my card in 7-10 business days.

And all of that helped me avoid obsessing about the news. For a little bit.