Taking a Break

As most of you know, it's been a rough couple of years for me personally, on top of the stuff we talk about here every day, and my health has not been great.

I have been dealing with — and trying to get to the bottom of — intermittent vertigo for several years now, and cluster headaches for the past year. I've been to countless doctors' appointments, ended up in the ER, haven't been able to drive for so long that we finally just sold my car, and have taken some pretty bad spills.

Many days, I am writing with excruciating pain from the cluster headaches, and I've not wanted to let any of it become debilitating, but it's reached the point where it just is, no matter what I want.

I was planning to take an extended break in August, because that tends to be the quietest news month of the year — not that there is any quiet time for news in the Trump Era. But I've hit a wall, so I'm going to have to move that date up.

Starting tonight, I'm going to take a long break with an eye toward returning September 3.

I am hoping that some extended time off will lead to improvements, or help with isolating the cause of one or both ailments, or I don't even know what, to be honest. I'm just hoping that something gives.

If things don't improve, I will let you know.

I apologize that I won't be around to cover the primary for awhile, including the Democratic debates later this month, or anything else that happens in the interim, for that matter, but I need to take care of myself.

While I'm away, I will schedule a weekly Open Thread each Monday, which the other mods have kindly offered to moderate, so you'll still have space to meet and talk.

See you as soon as I can.