A common saying is, "Half of life is just showing up." Perhaps the 21st century version is, "Half of life is just communicating." This year I've witnssed a significant deterioration in communication with friends, family, and others. I don't know what it is. Covid fallout? For example, there have been several instances of people asking me for something, like "Can I borrow that repair tool?" or "Can we meet next Wednesday?" And, I'll reply affirmatively, and then crickets. Did they change their mind? Don't need that tool? Were they expecting me to deliver it? I've encountered this at least once per month this year. The crickets phase happened twice this week alone. It was not this bad as recently as a few years ago. What's the deal? I've later confirmed my replies did reach them, so I've begun to ignore requests from repeat offenders.