(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Top Comments: Back and Refreshed Edition [1] ['Thom Hartmann', 'Dr. Ash', 'Bumper Monster', 'Side Pocket'] Date: 2026-09-14 When last I wrote Top Comments, it was the last day of August and I had to be up at 4:30am Eastern the next day to keep democracy happening by being a poll worker for the MA State Primary. Happy to report that it went really well, with only a few ‘did that really just happen?’ moments to keep us all awake. Tl;DR because that’s not what this evening’s diary is about, I do not understand how people show up to vote not knowing that it’s a Primary… yes, someone asked why all the candidates weren’t on a single ballot, and could they vote for some on one and some on the other? The rest of that week was spent trying to pack my suitcase efficiently, getting the dog to his Vacation Camp (aka the boarding place) and making sure the house would be reasonably not a pit when we returned. Because on Saturday Sept 5th, Mr. Brillig and I headed to the airport at 6am for a return trip to the Cancun, Mexico all-inclusive resort we first visited for Christmas in 2018. Back then we had a 13 and 20 year old with us and we really did plan to return sooner. We even prepaid for a return trip… and then a pandemic happened, and kids became adults with lives, and THEN we learned our prepaid return had an expiration date so off Mr. Brillig and I went. Our return flight yesterday was delayed so much that we didn’t get home until 2am, so I haven’t had time to go through photos for a proper diary… but we had an unbelievably relaxing time. We made the choice not to do any off-site excursions, focusing instead on relaxing. Lots of time in the pools, great food at a variety of restaurants, and yes… I might have discovered Ranch Water as a keto-friendly beverage. You know how a three egg omelette is HUGE but 8 deviled eggs is just a snack (if you like them, that is)? Yeah, double ranch waters in an insulated cup refreshed every hour or so throughout the day is NOT the same as 8 shots of tequila. Nope. When I let the Community Advisory Panel folks know I’d be away for a week, I said “But I’ll definitely be checking the Slack and reading the site while I’m by the pool. You know I can’t quit keeping up with things!” Friends, I did nothing of the sort. I did peek in to see what the Rec List looked like, but I followed the site (and most other news sites) only a bit more than I used the workout gear I brought at the really, really nice fitness center at the resort. [Narrator: two trips to the Spa ACROSS from the Fitness Center was as close as brillig got to working out]. I hope kos doesn’t kick me off CAP and bojo me for saying this, but DAYYUM TAKING A BREAK WAS A GOOD THING. Both Mr. Brillig and I agreed we were more relaxed and less stressed about everything, and now that we’re back we are able to consume information without the cortisol rising quite so much. And frankly, we’re making not checking news and social media after dinner a more regular occurrence (Monday nights excepted, of course 🙂 :)). We humans are not meant to run at fight-or-flight DEFCON 1 mode all the time. That’s not to say the outside world didn’t intrude on our vacation. The resort we love is a Mexican-owned international chain of resorts with a decidedly international clientele. We ended up talking with a member of the sales staff there (the resort has a membership program, which is how we prepaid our visit; when you return they do try to upsell you but we know how to negotiate for what we want and no more) and over breakfast carefully let hiim know where our feelings on our government lie. Now, we know that travel and tourism professionals NEVER talk politics so as not to alienate a client, but in this case he mentioned both that expenses were rising and some construction/renovation work was taking longer because of tariffs. We did NOT dwell on that but the fact it was said at all speaks volumes, I think. Another time, we were taking the electric shuttle cart from one side of the resort to the Mayan-themed restaurant too far away to walk to, and shared it with a UK couple currently living in Australia. They mentioned not traveling to the US and we thanked them for doing so. After a chuckle and a “we dislike him too”, they were VERY frank about just what the rest of the world thinks of MAGA. Thankfully they understood we are doing what we can and not to blame the entire citizenry, but they were clear that when this is all over, the world will not come rushing back. I can’t overstate just how much I needed to unplug and take a break from the world. A vacation every time it gets to be too much obviously isn’t possible, but especially as fall arrives and more of my time is spent indoors where it’s warmer, I will be intentionally creating space for shutting the world out sometimes. Even an hour or two will help. How about you? Do you make time to allow yourself not to know what’s going on in the world on a minute to minute basis? What do you do? Share with us in the comments! brillig Here at Top Comments we strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site’s best, funniest, most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! Here’s how to submit nominations in DK6: If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail dot com or via kosmail to topcomments- either search for user @topcomments, or click that link then click “send message”!) by 9:30pm Eastern for inclusion in that day’s diary. Please, please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find! It’s especially helpful if you include a link to the comment you’re nominating… hover over the comment and you’ll see Share and Report options. Click Share, then choose ”copy url” and paste that into your message to us. We had no nominations tonight. Now that we’re back home, however, Mr. Brillig and the good staffer helping us get Top Mojo back need to have a conversation about some logistics and we WILL be ready. I know I keep saying this, but we will. Soon. Have a couple more vacation pics then head to the comment section! First, the little cafe area in the main building where you can get coffee, tea, pastries, macaroons, chocolates and ice cream 24/7. We got into the habit of afternoon iced coffee or cappuccino: brillig And lastly, every Tuesday night the Mexican restaurant turns the festivities up to eleven with Huatequetaco, a festival of tacos and other delicious options, freshmade churros, servers wearing lucha libre masks, mariachi bands and dancers: brillig We had so much fun and yes, we’re planning a return trip next year with the entire family! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/9/14/800098320/community/top-comments-back-and-refreshed-edition/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/