Long post.

I was reminded by another Fediversian who is also on the survey list that I needed to respond to the #JohnsHopkins #Covid survey. (Thank you!)

As a continued #Novid, I think it's important that I weigh in, even in small ways. These researchers might be some of the only people who are still willing to listen to me.

Why I needed the push: doing the survey meant taking the extra step of going to my computer to respond to the email because my phone is so locked down that I would've had to undo a bunch of privacy protections in order for their survey site to work on the phone (probably because it's hosted on Amazon servers).

As my phone is my main surfing and communication device, I prefer it locked down. So, I hadn't responded yet because of that extra step.

The survey asked questions about joint flexibility this round. ?!

Can I bend over and touch the ground with my hands flat without bent knees? Yes.

Do I have any other signs of double-jointness? No, but I believe this is because of how my body has been shaped over the last four-plus decades of being a bassist and a massage therapist (though they did not give a box to elaborate on that). I have tight muscles around my joints because they take on such strong bodyweight loads in my work, but I'm also naturally a very stressed-out person and that manifests in tight muscles. It's not really a benefit, but it does mean I'm not overtly loosely-jointed -- except in my hips.

They also asked for written feedback in a box toward the end of the survey, so here's what I wrote:

"Gaslighting and misinformation about COVID-19 remain rampant. It is mind-numbingly exhausting to remain so socially isolated while being made to feel like *I* am the one "wearing a tinfoil hat" because I continue to take precautions (quality masks, filtering indoor air, monitoring air quality, avoiding crowds). I am naturally justice-and-fairness minded (bc hello, autism), so there is no reconciliation of the cognitive dissonance between what society at large is doing (ignoring the risks, downplaying the virus as it continues to kill and disable thousands, isolating huge swathes of our population with a "you-do-you" laissez-faire mindset) and what I know to be the right thing to do regarding airborne infectious diseases. Even as a mostly-contented introvert, after five long years, I am quite tired of being so forcibly alone, yet there is nothing that will impel me to give up on the practices that I *know* have kept me safe from such dangers -- besides eradicating such dangers as a society through rigorous public health measures, a point that we have long recklessly sped by regarding COVID. I weep for our world."

All of the above is true and is maybe one of the most #ActuallyAutistic paragraphs I've ever written.

Remaining on the topic, I recently purchased a couple of 100-yard rolls of quarter-inch elastic to cut into headbands to replace the flimsy headbands on 3M Aura N95 masks.

Apparently this is a point of failure that makes them have an expiry date?

As I purchased hundreds of them in bulk at a huge discount last year, I am planning to create "mask care packages" to put into little free libraries and little free pantries around my city.

The envelopes will contain three of the individually wrapped masks, a small "hotel-style" sewing kit on a card (needle and thread), a couple of replacement straps cut out of said elastic, plus instructions typed or written (who am I kidding, I'm gonna type them because #typewriters!) on the outside of the envelope as to how to care for the masks and replace the straps when they break.

As they are one of the most-tested and most-reliable N95 masks, and they apparently stand up to weeks of abuse and re-use, I figured creating these kits will be helpful not only for airborne viruses, but for air pollution, wildfire smoke, and potential dust storms. Hello, #Kansas.

See? This is why you need autistic people in your life. These are the types of things that many of us think about and plan for.

I am my own mask bloc. It's kinda lonely. If there's one thing I've learned in all the time that I've been putting my energy out into the world, though, it is that you will never know whom you will positively affect with your actions. I'm not looking for praise or recognition. I'm looking at "doing good in secret" which is a principle from martial arts that I learned decades ago.

You knowing what I'm doing doesn't ruin that; consider yourselves confidants on my path. Also, telling you what I'm going to do keeps me accountable to doing it (hello, the "DHD" side of #AuDHD ). It also keeps me excited about doing it! It reminds me that I can post photos of what I'm doing to stay inspired to keep doing it. If that isn't a positive benefit of social media, I don't know what is.