xtr

I thought that Troy Kostur's win and speech for CODA was a lovely moment for him and the show. Congrats to him. 

According to source Ryan on Twitter, there is a new character coming to the show named Rory. Ryan says he has been placed on contract and will be played by actor Michael Blake Kruse. I'm seeing some people say he's 32 IRL. 

5 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Well, I just wondered about a “Who’s the daddy?” plot today with Esme talking about a pregnancy, then asking Nikolas if she could stay the night with him. If not now, then soon.

They need to get Portia away from Curtis. They are not a snooze together, and Brook Kerr has a lot of potential. This is an actress who *ate* in scenes up against Vernee Watson, which is no small task.

 

I wondered if they would go there with Nikolas and Esme, though she's technically playing a teen right now. Then again there has been stuff like this that has happened in the past on soaps, so you never know. I wonder if Esme may develop an unhealthy dependency on Nik or if she may become so desperate she might try and seduce him or something. Or maybe even stage it like something happened between them. I don't know if Esme is pregnant, I'm leaning towards she's not or she think she is, but finds out she really isn't. I am interested in how things may play out especially with her and Nikolas, since they are still having him act like he's deeply in love with Ava.

Also I agree with the comments that Portia/Curtis don't really have any chemistry. I like both of them, but I don't really see any chemistry between them. She seems to fit more naturally with Taggert and I thought she had chemistry with CM's Drew as well. Though CM's Drew tends to have chemistry with almost everybody. Him and Shawn are two men that have chemistry with a lot of people on the show IMO. I also think that NC's Spencer has chemistry with a lot of people too. 

4 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

I might have missed it, but has Portia checked Esme yet? I really want to see that scene. Carly digging into her ass was fun.

I don't think she really has lol. Then again there are some scenes I need to catch up on. Interestingly enough I don't think that Portia has really gotten on Esme or even Spencer much. She really hasn't talked to him either, though she's made multiple comments about how she thinks Trina is better off away from him and Esme. Today's show we did get Taggert asking about Esme and Portia bringing up that this was the first time he had saw her. But neither one of them decided to approach her when she was talking with Nikolas. Maybe Portia will finally/confront Esme after Trina is possibly arrested. I would like to see her confront her. Liz need to get in on some of this action too (if she hasn't already), lol. 

Also, I wonder what might end up happening with Nikolas/Esme. There is potential for some soapy stuff to happen there as she leans on him more, though I don't know if the show will do any of it. 

44 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

I was initially put off by the more timid take on Trina in the scenes with Portia/Taggert and Cam/Joss, but then I saw her modulate and grow in assertiveness as her conversation progressed with Joss and thought, “Maybe she’s good.” She certainly *sounds* a lot like Sydney Mikayla at times, which helps. But again, the main question is how she blends with Nicholas Chavez, who is just adorable. He’s just soooo good, and today was no exception. Mark Teschner really nailed that one.

NuJordan on the other hand… At least she’s consistent? But yeah it’s Sexy Robot Policewoman all the time… I suppose she’s as good or better than Angie Harmon or Elisabeth Röhm were on Law & Order. She would work as a rarely seen professional presence but don’t call on her to interact emotionally.

I like how Esme is not just impacting the teen scene. She’s a menace affecting a lot of the canvas…

I think she may know what she's doing and I like how she's approaching things in this role so far. I do appreciate the softer take, while I enjoyed SM's version of Trina and loved her version of Sprina, I did get a bit tired of her constantly lecturing Spencer & others as well as doing stuff like jumping into the older folks business. It made her Trina come off a bit unnecessarily harder at times. Granted, I don't want to see Trina be a doormat either, but  I don't think this new version has acted like one so far. She is just bit more softer, and understated and I like it. I think this more demure take on Trina could possibly help her and NC's Spencer generate their own chemistry. I think it could work as they move back to a romantic in the progression in their relationship, especially as Spencer is realizing that Esme really is bad news. 

I also like that she sounds quite a bit like SM's Trina at times. I like that the dialogue still largely sounds like Trina. I think that will help her as she grows more into this role. Reminds me a bit of Krista Allen's stepping into the role of Taylor on B&B. It's close enough to the original (at least so far) that it works IMO.

I hope her and NC have chemistry. I think he's certainly going to try and generate it. I read an interview with him where he said that he thinks she's lovely and he enjoyed the scenes he's shared with her so far. I think he will do his best to help her, and I hope things work for this version of Sprina. I'm also interested in seeing how she fares against Esme. I could see her having a classier, "not going to sink to your level" type of stance against Esme and I could see that working as they continue to have conflict over Spencer.

I am liking the New Trina so far and her softer, more subtle take on the role. Plus IMO, her dialogue still sounds like stuff that SM's Trina would say. She's doing a solid job so far, I just hope she has chemistry with NC's Spencer and can hold her own against Esme. Speaking of Spencer he looked like he was going to be sick when he learned about the possibility that Esme could be pregnant with his child. He hasn't looked that upset since the night of his party when Nikolas pretended to stab him. I do wonder if Esme is really pregnant, I think she might be playing him. Or maybe she thinks she's pregnant but finds out she's not, but then still pretends like she is. I also how things will play out now that she's interacting trying to lean on Nikolas/more. 

1 hour ago, Vee said:

How much of a slow burn does it qualify as when the main focus and story drive seems to continue to be the white teens? Esme executes a scheme against Joss and Cam to drive plot, even though her stated objective is supposedly about Nikolas and Spencer. These two kids have been on almost a year and haven't kissed, while Cam and Joss (who do not have a serious fanbase together as far as I can tell) get a tender love scene. And I happen to think William Lipton is the best actor of the four, but go where the attention is and weave him in with Spencer and Trina, while doing something different with Joss's character as she potentially begins to morph into the rich bitch when Esme is done. Instead the focus is still on Frank's priority, IMO - Joss and her man. The Spencer/Trina stuff increasingly functions as a B-plot to me even though it's supposed to be a central story, which is exactly how Frank treated the 'ethnic' teens on OLTL: Sidekicks to the whites. Even when the story is supposed to be about them, the focus is not on them.

Yeah, it went from a nice slow burn in the beginning to (as I had mentioned in the recast thread), to water almost boiling out of a pot. They stifled the romance with Sprina with their lack of interaction/romantic moments and had their storyline/romance really drag after Sydney went recurring. (I also think they did a bit of this with Chase/Brooklyn but at least they finally kissed and seems like they might be in the process of moving forward as a couple.) I think there could be multiple reasons for it. I wonder if another may have been her limited availability (though they still could have possibly done better with the storyline even taken that into consideration.)

I also wonder if another reason they decided to drag with the pacing was because they wanted to wait until they had Tabyana in the role, and they have someone that can/will have more time to play out this story. Though, it would definitely be another bad sign if they continue with really slow placing/very limited interactions once she takes over as Trina. 

1 hour ago, Forever8 said:

I think it depends on whether or not Tabyana Ali has any chemistry with Nicholas Chavez. If not, I'm curious where they are going to go with Trina relationship wise. I just hope she isn't going to be further in the peripheral corner and be written off in six months. And I think they're going to bring up the whole "Is Curtis her biological father story?" that I don't think many of us want to see if things don't work out with Spencer. This is why they need to add another person to the YA set. 

Brenda's son, Phyllis, could have a nephew who comes to Port Charles on an athletic or art scholarship to PCU. Give me something here. And from the promotion they were doing, they were acting like MB's son was going to be the new face of the YA set. But I think somehow Trina will be more involved with her parents' lives soon. 

I do think that how they have Spencer interact with the new version earlier on can be a sign of what could happen regarding the pairing going forward. I think they should hit the ground running with new Sprina, have them interact early on and see what the chemistry is looking like quickly. If it's good, great they can build off of it, if it's not at least they will know soon enough and can go in different directions with the characters. It may also help if Tabyana's Trina comes across as a more mature/adult version of Trina. She is older than Sydney so maybe she will and that could help her version of Sprina.

Though, I'm not sure how early on new Sprina will interact. I know this is not a spoiler thread, so I will just say I haven't really seen upcoming spoilers that suggest that Spencer/new Trina will be interacting right away. But maybe they will and it just hasn't been spoiled. I hope they don't drag out their first meeting for too long, or have them have very limited scenes when she's first on.

I didn't care too much for how things played out with the original version of Trina on yesterday's show/their last couple of episodes together. I understand Trina not wanting to deal with him as much due to Esme, but I still felt that last few days of scenes lacked some romantic moments they could have had. They could have slipped a kiss in there somewhere even if Trina still decided to walk away.

I'm also not a fan of the way they had Trina constantly lecturing Spencer down the stretch of their time together (these past couple of months). I know that some (maybe a lot) of Sprina/Trina fans (at least a lot of the ones on Twitter) like that. I do not. Trina is his love interest not his mother, and that's one of the things I haven't liked that they've done with the character. She can/should call him out for stuff, but I didn't care for some of the stuff she was doing during their last few interactions together.

I'm not a fan of Daylight Saving Time possibly being permanent, but it looks like that may be where we are headed. I don't like the thought of kids having to go to school in the dark, and I don't want or need it to be sunny late in the evening all year round. I like dark winter evenings and I dislike other things about it as well. I would rather it be Standard Time All Year Round. I'm glad that I decided to take most of my annual/vacation leave off in Fall. Not only is it my favorite time of the year, but if this passes, I can at least try and enjoy one more fall before it becomes permanent. Though if it is made permanent I wonder if it will actually stay that way or if it will fail like it did in the 70's.

47 minutes ago, ironlion said:

GH drags it's feet when they have a good thing. While I respect that General doesn't slap couples together like the bold and the beautiful, they did the same thing with Jason and Britt. Took to long to pair them, interrupted the story with a poorly executed Carly marriage plot and then Burton got fired, so no Jason & Britt. We barely got any time with Spencer and Trina as a couple while Sydney was still in the role.

I understand her wanting to go to college (I'm unsure of the major). But if it's not something like law or medicine that explicitly requires specific credentials, will college take her further than a role on a network television show, even if its a soap? Daytime can still be a good launching pad--ala Justin Heartley.

I agree. There is slow burn and then there is letting water almost boil out of the pot until there's almost none of it left. And I feel like they did the latter with Sprina these past few months. It's a shame because even though her time was limited due to school, I still believe they could have done more with this version of Spencer and Trina. They should have kissed already, the show wasted too much time not doing anything with them. Or even developing Esme and her background properly. We still don't know what Esme's connection with Ryan is.

On the bright side, I have a feeling that Sprina will be shown considerably more now that we have the new actress and (I believe) she will have more time to dedicate to the role. So maybe that will help with things, especially if her and NC have chemistry together. I do think that this shows the show is still interested in the pairing. They could have just sent Trina off screen like they did other people, but they didn't. I hope that the recast works out. 

5 hours ago, John said:

Well there have been very successful recasts  and i know there are very capable actresses out there to play Trina

Maybe this recast will end up doing well. We've had had some good recasts lately. I think that both Cam Mathison and Krista Allen have been doing a nice job in their roles as new Drew and Taylor. Even if their storylines aren't the best right now. Cam's Drew has chemistry with a lot of people and Krista bears a good likeliness to Hunter Tylo's Taylor and is fitting well in the role. Maybe this new young actress will be fit in well as Trina and have chemistry with people especially Nick.

5 hours ago, Faulkner said:

Yeah, chemistry is lightning in a bottle, and NC and SM were special. You know it when you see it. The next actress might be perfectly capable, but it would be like recasting, I dunno, Marcy Walker’s Eden on SB and expecting her replacement to have that rare connection with A Martinez. It’s a tall order.

I agree that Sydney and Nick had great chemistry. I hope he has good chemistry with this new actress, though things won't be the same. He is one IMO, that tends to have chemistry with a lot of people so maybe he will have chemistry with this new actress. 

I will miss Sydney. I enjoyed her in the role and loved her and Nick's version of Spencer together. I wish her the best.

I enjoyed today's Valentine Day show overall. I thought it was romantic and nice that Spencer purchased a Valentine's Day gift for Trina, the art book that Laura gave her. Trina seemed pleased and touched by Spencer's gift. I also think it's interesting that Kevin has restricted Esme's access to Ryan. I wonder if we will finally get more movement on her storyline/connection with Ryan especially now that Spencer has learned she's interested in him. Maybe he will take note of her trying to get to/interact with Ryan. It looks like Esme is also about to release that video of Cam/Joss publicly. I wonder how she will release it and how she may try and cover her tracks. She should be the main suspect after it's released. And I am enjoying Avery's Pohl's portrayal of Esme, her facial expressions are amusing and she's doing a nice job with this character. I find there is something classic about her and her portrayal as a villain.

I also wonder what will end up happening with Carly possibly divorcing Sonny. On today's show she interacted with Felix but ended up spending more time with Britt and commiserating with her after her and Felix showed up to the Savoy where Britt was.

It was nice seeing Molly and TJ again. 

18 minutes ago, Khan said:

Agree.  Never mind it was Justin Timberlake who made the fateful (and fatal) blunder.  He's a man, and he's white, so he gets a pass.  But the WOC who had to face the humiliation of having her breast exposed on live TV without her permission?  As Emily Dickinson would say, she's straightaway dangerous, and handled with a chain (and worse).

Let's be honest: who, among the remaining Jackson siblings, is LaToya really that close with?

Tell me, does Rebbie put in an appearance?  I've had "Centipede" on my mind so much lately, lol.

Rebbie is featured in the documentary and is shown talking quite a bit. She continues to age well and is happy. I have always like her and she's always come across as very grounded. Also, they showed some pictures of a couple of Janet's nieces when they were talking about the secret daughter rumors. Her nieces are pretty, especially Stevanna (Randy's daughter).

Stevanna does look like Janet IMHO.

5 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

TBH, I don't think she's as close with LaToya. I remember after her divorce with René, I got the distinct impression that LaToya didn't even know she had been married...for 9 years!

Maybe her and LaToya got closer/closer again later on. She did mention that LaToya encouraged her to marry James, because that's what she wanted to do. And she said that one of his brothers was interested in LaToya and that's factored into how she met James. But maybe there was a time where they weren't as close or at least didn't speak as much. She also mentioned how her and Michael even drifted apart for a moment when his career was really ascending.

It does seem like she's really quiet and a bit more secretive and at least some of her family didn't know much about more personal aspects of her life including her marriages. I think that Rebbie said something like she looked up one moment and Janet was married lol. And I think it was Rebbie who said she didn't really meet James until after Janet married him. Janet was keeping those marriages on the hush hush lol, even from family.  

12 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Janet was such an adorable baby girl. It's obvious that this documentary has been in the making for years. I am always fascinated by docs that have so much unseen archival footage. That someone who is among one of the most followed and photographed/filmed pop stars out there still has all that footage hidden away.

To hear how the "neighbors" didn't want the family in their neighborhood after the Jacksons moved to California. Being called racial epithets and the microaggressions- I shouldn't be surprised with this being America but my image of the Jackson family was one where, once they signed with Motown and were living in California was as celebrities. Seems that the reality was quite different.

It was obvious that her marriage to James was troubled and that James had problems. I would really like to know why he rode that hidden child rumor for so long, but that's really something only James can answer. This obviously still pains Janet. I wonder how much of that relationship she has managed to make piece with, and how much is still an open wound.

Janet's relationship with Rene always seemed mysterious but towards the end of their relationship (marriage but nobody knew then) there were ominous signs that he was a looming figure who might have had too much of a creative hand in her career. I was never sure if he was a boyfriend, bodyguard or some sort of manager or a collaborator. 

 

I'm not sure that the relationship was ever a right time or right relationship for Janet. Sound like his rampant drug use put her through hell.

I thought it was cute and sweet how she was playing/slapping hands with Randy in the footage from the studio. I like how close him and her are. We are often hear about how close she was with Michael, but it looks like she's pretty close with all her siblings including Randy. And that makes sense given that he's closer in age to her than the others. Though, it seems like she's close with her siblings in general including her big sisters. I do think that she looks out for Randy and I remember telling him to be quiet in a playful manner in a video I don't think too long ago and calling him her "big headed" brother very recently when she wished him a happy birthday on Twitter lol.

It's good to see they still have a nice bond. I like seeing her absorb information from him as he tells her about their families upbring in Gary. She was so young when they were there, she really doesn't remember it. And probably really only remembers when they were well off financially. It was interesting seeing her listen to him as he gave her insight into the upbringing that her and the other siblings remember.

13 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

Thank you so much. James DeBarge said of his relationship with Janet on Unsung years ago: "it was the right love at the wrong time". I don't recall her ever really talking publicly about him. 

You're welcome.  I have never really seen her talk much about him before either, even when the secret baby rumors kept being talked about. And people were saying stuff like they found her grown daughter. She really did seem like she loved James and that his drug issues were too much for her. I am interested in seeing her talk about what was really behind the dissolution of her marriage with Rene. I remember people being surprised about that marriage too, as she was quiet about that, and it seemed like a lot of people really didn't find out about that, until around the time that their divorce was filed. Rene seemed supportive in the footage they are showing so far and he was her longest marriage, and I wonder what ultimately drove them apart. 

6 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

Thanks for the heads up, @xtr. I didn't realize it was on tonight, so I set the DVR for the 11 PM airing, as well as tomorrow's episode. It looks really interesting!!!

It's very interesting. I think you will enjoy it.  I like how it's documenting her early beginnings careers, and relationships. I think this might be the most she's ever talked publicly about all of these things especially the personal aspects of her life like her romances. Now she's talking a bit about her relationship with Rene and they are showing footage that he shot of them that has never been seen before. It's really interesting. 

Janet got a bit more candid in this doc regarding James DeBarge. She genuinely seems upset when she talks about his drug use, including fighting him over pills he was using. And how he would go missing hours at a time, including four hours after they met and would two and half hours late when he was picking her up from work. She also mentioned being out late at night looking for him and seemed upset that people thought she had a secret child and kept it from him. It seems like she really cared about him. Also, I did think it was kind of amusing how they showed footage of him saying that they were both shy when they met and that didn't help the progression of their relationship. The way he said that was kind of amusing to me. 

I am watching the Janet Jackson Documentary right now. It's really good. I am enjoying seeing her talk about her life and her family and their beginnings. I love how Randy is telling her more about how life was back then for them especially in Gary Indiana. She really doesn't remember much because she was the baby in the family and it's interesting seeing her absorb the information like how multiple brothers all slept in the same bed and just how little their childhood home was. She mentioned not really have been back to Gary since she was like eight.  Her and Randy seem really close and I am enjoying the way they are interacting with each other. Good stuff. 

I enjoyed today's show. I thought it was pretty good overall. I think that Spencer/Trina continue to have nice chemistry. They were flirting and are getting closer again. They looked like they wanted to kiss before Cam showed up and told Spencer to go back to work. Esme is still stirring the pot, by telling Cam that Trina wants him. It seems like Cam may be actually buying that though it should be obvious to him that Sprina are still into each other. Esme can definitely see that. I wonder what Esme is going to do with the pills and the phone.

Also, I liked Britt/Austin's scenes. I think they seem comfortable around each other. And I thought Sonny/Drew/Curtis/Marshall/Nina was interesting as well. Marshall looked like he wanted to knock out Sonny when Sonny was trying to order Curtis around. Sonny also said hurtful, insulting things to Drew. I could see that being a set up for more conflict, should Drew continue to get closer to Carly. I also still wonder if Marshall may have been in the mob. And I liked Harmony/Alexis as well. 

I wonder if #2 is Sydney. It may be. She really hasn't been shown much at all lately and her and Spencer's story is moving at a snail's pace. I do think prior to her going on recurring the show was interested in really writing for Sprina, as there was a time when her and Spencer were featured/heavily together and on almost every single day. The show knows this is a popular potential pairing, but maybe they are just finding things a bit too difficult if due to scheduling conflicts. I hope it's not her, but it could be. 

3 hours ago, dragonflies said:

Am on vacation from work since Friday. Haven't felt very well since like Friday night. Got boostered Saturday.

 

Got a sore throat, nasal congestion and a sinus head ache. I'm scared it might be omicron. I do have my taste and smell though.

 

Everything is closed due to weather though. So hopefully I'll go in the morning to urgent care and get tested to be on the safe side.

I hope you end up being okay and that it's not COVID. Hopefully, it's not something too serious.

2 hours ago, Taoboi said:

Yeah with our head GM gone and rules changing...again...I don't know what to expect. And I believe we ran out of masks yesterday so I need to see if any have been ordered for work. 

 

Hopefully it is nothing. Good energy sent your way. 

I hope you end up getting access to masks and that will help keep you safe. Things are still rough regarding several co-workers in my workplace with all of the people that we've had that are out with COVID/possible COVID and one who just came back from having COVID. It turns out one of the ladies that just returned did have COVID. The other lady who went home yesterday not feeling well showed up today. She said she's feeling better but I think she sneezed a couple of times today and there is always concern especially given what has been happening lately.

I order some KN95's off of Amazon, but I think it may take a while for me to get them. I think that a lot of people are ordering them right now and they are in short supply. Today at work I started double masking with a cloth mask then a surgical mask. I read that can be more effective than just one cloth or surgical mask. I do have some more surgical masks/cloth masks. I will be doing that for the time being until I can get my KN95 masks. That's something someone can do if they have those types of masks and are dealing with a lot of high exposure at work, or elsewhere. 

20 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

I am curious to see what our mandate going forward is now that 1) the person in the company enforcing left for a promotion and 2) now that it was finalized (?) in Cali on Friday.

 

I just had one coworker call in sick so....and this is POST outbreak at work 1.

We just had another person go home early today because she didn't feel well. She might be concerned she has it. She just came back from being on vacation for a couple of weeks and visiting another state.

Here are the details regarding the people from my workplace who either have or think they might have COVID.

 So far, there have been 7 possibly 8 people that may have either gotten Covid or have symptoms. And we recently had another person who was sick that just came back, I'm not sure if they had Covid or not, maybe they were just sick.

But of the people that either have COVID/symptoms/fear they are sick:

At least three of them are vaccinated. I'm not sure about the other four or five.

At least three of them are high risk.  Two of them were out for a year on leave, due to being high risk when the virus first started. I believe that all of the high-risk people are vaccinated.

And at least two of them are/were antivax. One of the ladies who I think may have either come down with Covid in the past couple of days/thinks she has it is very anti vax. She recently told someone she didn't see the point in getting the shot and no one in her household was vaccinated but her husband. She mentioned that she may get it at one point and was acting like it wasn't that big of a deal. Though, when more people started getting it recently she did seem a bit more concerned when a lot of people from our workplace started getting it. The second lady that was antivax may have changed her mind and gotten a vaccine, I'm not sure, though I think she may have turned in paperwork showing proof of that when were filling out paperwork for that as federal government employees. 

I think that at least five or six of them may have had gatherings recently/went on vacation. The one lady today who went home early today just recently spent a couple of weeks vacationing in another state. I think another had a large gathering recently, and I think that the lady who just came back from being sick (unsure if that was COVID) had went on a vacation just before she became ill.  

I don't know if any of these people have received their booster, and that may be an important factor in things.

We are having a worse outbreak now than we did before a vaccine became available when COVID first started. I think this shows just how contagious the omicron variant really is. My take on all of this, what's going on with my co-workers and working in a very high exposure environment since COVID began is to take things seriously and be very careful. People need to try and not let their guard down when it comes to this virus though that can be hard, especially for those of us who have high exposure jobs or have spouses/people in our households who have high exposure jobs or maybe kids who are in school. I definitely think that being vaccinated/boosted helps, but even with that people still have to be careful.

16 hours ago, Taoboi said:

Ooooo...having another issue with that work again as well.

 

 

Yeah and I think we may have at least one more person now that may had to get tested. We've been having several people call out lately. On top of that we have people that like to call out because they just don't want to work (we have people that call out a lot at my job in general), stretching us thin even more. I hope you are able to stay safe.

I  am very disappointed that the Supreme Court struck down Biden's vax or test mandate. That is dangerous especially with the way that Covid is spreading right now. At my governmental job I think we've had at least a couple of people (maybe quite a few come down) with Covid recently. I'm not sure how many exactly I do know we've had at least six people who have been calling out lately multiple/several days in a row, with sick leave being designated for some of them on the schedule. I think that some got it because a couple of people at work including some that would be more in the know mention us having a Covid problem.

Almost everyone if not everyone that has been out, (maybe everyone but I'm unsure of one person) have been fully vaccinated. I'm not sure if any of them have received their booster shots. And at least three of them are high risk people. And all of them wore masks like 98% of the time. (with exceptions being when they are on break or taking it off right before they leave work).

Our workplace is very high exposure because we deal with/ assist a lot of military personnel including people from other countries at time. (In the past few months we've dealt with people from the royal navy and other countries). So it's was already pretty risky as is. I do wonder if maybe possible recent vacations/holiday gatherings may have played a role as well. I do think some people may have had time off recently/had some gatherings recently and I wonder if that may be a factor.

People have to try and hang in there (especially with the mandate being struck down) and get your booster as soon as possible:

US supreme court blocks Biden’s workplace vaccine-or-test rules (msn.com)