eating away

Yes exactly...It gnaws away little by little and add to that the passing of time and the feeling of loss and it's leaving feeling quite annoyed for sure. The last I was on an aircraft was October 2019 and I miss it and all the rest as mentioned above. It must have been a huge adjustment for you considering the frequency you were flying. It's so shit.

damage is being done on those who are being conditioned into believing that the current environment of restrictions are in any way "normal" or "necessary".

Indeed. I didn't want to make this post a rant about the pandemic preferring just to get some of my feelings down and at arms length but, having said that, there's much to rant about for sure. I think the fallout from the last two years and going forward will take a long time to completely reveal itself...And by then, with all the brainwashing that's going on, will anyone really care anymore. Who knows.