Month: September 2025

It’s Beach Time!

The warm weather finally returned, but two stretches of cold days definitely brought the water temperature down, although it was still warmer than in June. Still, I was surprised when my Kenyan friend M. expressed enthusiasm for going to the beach; I thought she would find the Michigan water unacceptably cold. Still, she put the beach high in her list of priorities, and I didn’t mind at all! In fact, even if she won’t be visiting, I would take Friday afternoon off, because it was perfect beach weather!

I cant even describe how much we both enjoyed this outing!

And my old swimsuit found a new home. 😀

DjangoCon US

I think it was the first time in my life that I attended a non-academic, professional, and non-Postgres conference, and it was surprisingly interesting.

I am posting about this conference here rather than on my professional blog, because it’s more about the atmosphere than what exactly the talks were about.

First note: this community did not succumb to whatever the current “official” position is, and fosters diversity for real. Just one nice touch: when you register, they give you your name tag, and then you can add as many ribbons as you like:

I loved the idea of speakers’ ribbons! I will do it for PG DATA
Keanya Phelps made opening remarks. Later, I had a very in-depth conversation with her about how we can work together.
We share the goals and values, and that’s amazing.
The talk about community governance – I talked with the presenters later.

Django’s 20th birthday and DEFNA’s 10th birthday!

Although I am not a “programmer” or an application developer, many talks were really interesting to me because they were about building communities, supporting Open Source, fostering diversity, and working towards the common good.

And we spent a lot of time together with my friend M.

Another thing I loved about this community was how the conference participants organized to experience the best of Chicago, including multiple tours, museums, bike rides, and even an early morning lake plunge. Somehow, when I attend Postgres conferences, most of the attendees are only interested in places to have dinner. It was really refreshing :). I felt being among “my tribe.”

And More Chicago!

While Lena stayed with me over the weekend, I was constantly checking my phone for two reasons: to check what Trump was up to and to follow the moves of my friend from Kenya, who was arriving in Chicago to attend the same conference I was going to attend the next week.

I wanted to be the first person to show her the city, so after Lena left, I immediately headed to the conference venue where my friend was volunteering with the conference setup.

She didn’t even had a chance to check-in to the hotel yet, so we had only two hours, but the Wolf Point Plaza was a great starting point!

And she brought me a dress from Kenya – an amazing dress with gigantic pockets!

We did a lot of things together in Chicago this week – more to follow!

COVID Vaccines Update

For those who are in Illinois and want to follow my example, please hurry up- things might change! See the Sun Times article below.

As doctors anticipate word from the federal government, many expect Illinois will promote vaccination for those left out under new restrictions, Elvia Malagón and Kaitlin Washburn report for the Chicago Sun-Times.

That could mean authorizing pharmacists to administer vaccines off-label, as they do in other states. Doctors already are authorized to give vaccines off-label.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the latest version of the vaccine but only for those 65 and older or people with a high-risk medical condition. The agency did not specify which medical conditions were eligible, but pharmacies offering the vaccine are relying on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition of high-risk groups. That includes people who have asthma, are neurodivergent, live with disabilities or certain mental health conditions, smoke or are physically inactive.

It’s unclear, however, whether insurers will cover the costs over the long run for people who fall outside the FDA’s guidelines. For now, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, one of the state’s largest private insurance companies, hasn’t changed its coverage policy.

The Illinois Department of Public Health plans to issue its own guidance by the end of the month after reviewing recommendations from medical societies, experts and its own immunization advisory committee, according to Dr. Sameer Vohra, the agency’s director. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Weekend With Lena

Lena finally made it to Chicago – in September instead of July, and it turned sharply cold, and we could not go to the beach. Still, our interests are so much aligned that we made it an absolutely perfect weekend.

Lena arrived on Friday evening and met with her Chicago-based coworkers. We chatted for a bit before and drafted the plan of activities.

Saturday was chilly, and since Lena uses each of her Chicago visits as an occasion to dress nicely, and I am happy to join her, we ended up being dressed not precisely to the weather, and were moderately cold most of the time :).

We started the day in the Field Museum, and I was able to properly see all the exhibits (and the recent updates to the “Evolving Planet,” which Lena didn’t see yet).

Continue reading “Weekend With Lena” →

New Field Museum Exhibit, And How I Took My Mom There

Last week, a new exhibit,  “After the Age of Dinosaurs,” opened in the Field Museum. There was a members-only access event on Tuesday evening, and after a long break, I decided to give it a try and take my mom there. I was encouraged by the suggestion of her caregiver that she could travel with her to the museum, and I can come there after work and meet them right there. That way, her caregiver would also have a chance to see the exhibit.

We planned everything seemingly perfectly, but since my mom walks slowly, and they had to switch from the Red line train to the bus, this trip took them a very long time. And my mom felt it even longer.

Then she had to eat something (I planned on that, because I knew that would be the time for her to eat), and it also took a very long time, and she could not choose what to eat, and then she asked how much did it cost, and complained that everything is expensive (even though she didn’t have to pay anything).

When we entered the exhibit, she started to ask how “they” (who put up the exhibit) knew what things looked like 66 million years ago, and then said that they just made things up since there was no way to know. I tried to remind her that she learned about different geological periods of the history of the Earth at school, citing the archeological discoveries and radiocarbon dating, but it didn’t look like she remembered.

The same went for the fossilized plants. The exhibit showcased some prehistoric plants that were distant predecessors of the plants we use widely today, such as chocolate trees or apple trees. She asked skeptically, “How did the scientists know these were the prehistoric apples?” and ultimately concluded that “they made it all up.”

Possibly, this is something trending on the Russian internet these days; I know that the theories of “everything is made up” emerge from time to time.

After that exhibit, we briefly saw the Reptiles exhibit, and I just walked her directly to the actual live reptiles, bypassing all the displays with scientific information.

I got Uber home, and on the way back, she was saying that “she does not understand why there were so many people there, why they were interested, why there were so many children, and why parents explained something to them and they seemed to listen.”

I don’t know what to make of this experience, except that it should be Uber both ways. I am afraid that if I were to stop taking her anywhere, she will mentally decline even more rapidly than now. However, if she is unable to process any new information, I am unsure what good it would do. So still figuring this out.

Over The Weekend

My friend Lena and I had a great time in the city, and although I was nervously looking at my phone all the time, nothing happened. In fact, Trump said that “he was not going to war with Chicago” (yea!), and even went so far as calling it “fake news.” I still listened to the sounds of helicopters more than I usually would (they are up there all the time), but once again, nothing happened.

Igor attended the “No Trump No Troops” rally, reporting way above average concentration of Palestinian protesters, which obviously bothered me as well, but I think it only means there should be more of “us” there.

I honestly think that Chicago showed enough resistance and readiness to fight to scare some crazy people away.

ODS

Yesterday, I was going to make dinner at the ODS, but then it turned out that the current volunteer coordinator had put in their notice, and forgot or didn’t have time to purchase supplies for making dinner. I went to the shelter anyway, picked up some sweets from Vanille, and spent two hours in conversations with staff and residents. There were too many private moments in these conversations, so I am not sharing them except for one thing: I was thinking about taking a break from volunteering for the Night Ministry, but I am not going to do it.

Even though I am not there often enough, I still can do something good. And a little bit is better than nothing.

Yesterday was a very emotional and a very long day, and the whole week seems to be long and emotional. The fear of the National Guard’s appearance dominates the environment and touches my life in many different ways. Between escorting, which I did twice this week, ODS volunteering, and conference attendees coming from abroad, and all the conversations I have with people, it’s almost too much.

However, I have a hope (maybe too soon) that Chicago’s readiness to fight back stopped the worst that could happen. We’ll have to see, but I really hope…

Holding A Conference In These Challenging Times

All this week, I worried about my friend from Kenya, who was going to travel to Chicago to participate in next week’s conference. I worried that she would land in Chicago in the midst of raids and social unrest.

A couple of hours ago, I received a mass e-mail from the conference organizers, which I am just going to copy/paste here.

We’re excited to see you in Chicago! We know that travel in the United States may not feel as safe and easy as it has in past years.

To help provide some peace of mind, we’ve built a Travel Safety Check system. You can enter your contact and arrival info as well as an emergency contact. DEFNA board members will reach out to you via Whatsapp or Signal soon after your scheduled arrival to make sure you made it safely. If we’re unable to reach you, we’ll notify your emergency contact.

We know travel can be stressful whether you are traveling within the country or flying in from abroad. If you’re traveling alone, it can feel especially overwhelming, and we want you to know you don’t have to navigate it entirely on your own.

If that sounds like something that would give you some peace of mind, please register today. Only DEFNA board members have access to the system, and we’ll delete the data 30 days after the conference.

What’s going on in Chicago?

There has been a lot of posturing and public comment over the past week or so about the US federal government sending National Guard troops or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Chicago. At this point it looks like movements are being made to follow through on this, but we do not know exactly what to expect on the ground–or when.

Here’s what we know: – Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has increased its activity in the Chicago area. These agents tend to wear masks over their faces, baseball caps, and minimal uniforms that say “police.” If you see people fitting this description, avoid them. They are likely looking for someone particular rather than wanting to investigate the general population in the area. We do not expect them to be active in the downtown area where the conference is located.
–

The National Guard is making logistical movements that make it look like they are planning to send troops to Chicago in the near future. These are military troops wearing a proper uniform. From what we’ve seen in other cities where they have been deployed, their job is going to be to stand around and not bother anyone. They may well do this in the downtown area near the conference.
–

The Chicago Police Department is completely separate from both these groups and has an official policy of not cooperating with ICE or the National Guard. Chicago Police officers will have patches on their uniforms that say “Chicago Police” and tend to wear a blue shirt with dark pants. They want all our attendees to have a great time in their city and are people you can approach for help should you need it.

In the United States, you are allowed to record the police and military in public. If you or someone you’re with has an encounter with agents, take a video recording and please report the incident to the Code of Conduct team.

We do not expect any of these developments to directly impact you while you’re in Chicago for DjangoCon US, but we do want to be prepared. Please attend opening remarks each day during the conference as we will provide any updates to these situations at that time. We may also send emails to attendees if there are important developments to be aware of.

Sign up for the DjangoCon US Travel Safety Registration System

Please reach out if you have any questions, – DEFNA

Vaccination

First, I was waiting for the updated COVID vaccine to arrive. My only COVID happened at that time of the year, when the previous vaccine was already worn off, and the new one hadn’t arrived yet. Since I also travel extensively at that time of the year, I always try to get a new shot as soon as it becomes available.

So, I was waiting for the updated vaccine. The same day it became available, the new CDC guidelines barred me from getting it. I tried to schedule on both CVS and Walgreens sites, and both times got: Sorry, you are not eligible. Meanwhile, my GP returned from vacation and replied to the message I sent to her earlier: Yes, you should get a shot. I told her that “I am not eligible.” She replied: Maybe we do not have this vaccine yet. Could you try a local pharmacy? And please schedule a virtual visit with me if there are any issues. I replied that it was actually the local pharmacy that didn’t allow me to get an updated shot, and then decided to give it another try.

I started at the CVS site again and selected “I have a condition.” Nobody asked me what condition I have, and I could select an appointment pretty much immediately. I didn’t even have an insurance card with me, but I knew that this pharmacy had me in their system. I downloaded the card from the BCBS website and hurried up to my appointment.

Indeed, they didn’t ask for my insurance card, just verified the date of birth and said that both COVID and Flu were free, and five minutes later, I walked out with two band-aids on my arms.

That happened yesterday, and with all the craziness going on today with the Senate hearing, I am glad I didn’t spare any time!