Douglas E. Berry

(posted by kshandra)

Douglas “Uncle Bullhorn” Berry passed away Saturday, September 30, from complications of long COVID. If love alone could have saved him, he would be as immortal as we always believed him to be.

As for the future of this blog, it is my intention to import all of the content from his erstwhile Patreon so it will remain available as long as this site exists (I've taken the time to unlock all of his posts so they are public there, and will remove his membership tiers so nobody is being charged any longer, but I realize that's not the purpose of the site). This may take some time to complete, however, as I am still managing my own medical treatment AND moving back in with my mother.

Doug's life will be celebrated Saturday, October 28, from 1-5 p.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton, 2050 Gateway Place, San Jose CA. Dress code is "fannish formal" (the venue was chosen as it was home to the conventions where we began our life together) or "whatever makes you think of Doug," be that Burning Man attire, heavy metal t-shirts, SF Giants or 49ers gear, etc. Please be prepared to mask unless you are actively drinking or at the podium to speak. N95, KN95, KF94, or reusable cloth masks with disposable PM2.5 filters will all be acceptable. (We will have a limited supply of masks on hand.) For those of you who cannot attend in person, we will be streaming at least part of the memorial on Facebook Live.

Donations in his memory can be made to the SF Giants Community Fund, the All Within My Hands Foundation, or Mission 22.

I already miss him more than I will ever be able to tell you.

The first Americans killed in combat in Vietnam died on July 8th, 1959. The last to die were killed on April 29, 1975. In the 15 years, 9 months, and 22 days those dates encompass, 58,220 Americans died in the Vietnam War.

The First COVID-19 death in the US is thought to have happened on February 6th of this year here in my home of Santa Clara County. In the 83 days since that first casualty, 58,365 Americans have died.

I am honestly amazed I'm not one of them.

Right now, there is no vaccine. Right now, all we can do is try to keep the body fighting. We need to stay strong and keep doing everything we can to keep the coronavirus from spreading!

In case you were morbidly wondering, the next milepost is the 405,399 who died in WWII.

Just a warning, I'm going to be a mess tomorrow as I will be missing my kids and dealing with the feeling that once again I've found something I love only to have life fuck with it.

My plan is that I will be spending the next three weeks in voluntary quarantine. I will not be a hermit, I will go out for walks and bike rides, but I will be avoiding groups as much as possible. Sadly, I lack the resources to set up a proper defense-in-depth, as Safeway is out of M-18A1 Claymores and concertina wire.

But I have books to read, a book to work on, a copy of Traveller-related essays I've been meaning to get to, and tons of movies both at home and available on the Roku box. The freezer is packed, I have chips and salsa, I shall not surrender!

I'm doing this because my broken ass is a prime target for COVID-19. If I get it and somehow survive, odds are my lungs will be even more torn up. Like to the point of needing oxygen. So I'm burrowing in, and checking Amazon for M-167 chain guns that I can fire via an app. I think Ring sells those.

This is Offhand Manor, keeping the flame!