During one of the mid-afternoon missile alerts, a neighbor who used to work here (and who, word has it, is coming out of retirement to cover some shifts at the front desk during the war) comes into the shelter, singing a folk song and dancing. She tries to get some of the women with whom I'm sitting to dance with her. They don't, but they sing along as she spins.

The alert doesn't last long. I head back up, but, just as I'm stepping out of the elevator, another one sounds. I head back down. When I get there, the women are where they were when I left. In the afternoons that we used to consider normal, they would be sitting together anyway, in the group of sofas and upholstered chairs outside the dining hall that we call the Parliament. This time, they've just stayed in the shelter. Good move.

I had just gotten out of the shower before that previous alert. Planning those is tricky. You don't want to be caught in the shower when you need to zoom down to the shelter. Fortunately, some folks have developed a website and app, "Can I Shower," which, based on the time and your location and perhaps other statistical doohickery, gives you the probability that you might be able to complete a shower before another alert.

The local Cinematheque has reopened for limited screenings. Based on guidelines from Home Front Command, they are only allowing thirty audience members at a time. The theaters are in the basement of city hall. If I recall correctly, the whole complex, or perhaps just each of the two screening rooms, is a valid shelter.

According to the Home Front Command app, we've had alerts so far at half past midnight, 5 AM, 6:20 AM, 11:20 AM, 2:45 PM, 2:56 PM, 3:25 PM, 8:30 PM, and 9:45 PM. Let's see if I can post this before we have another.