Work maintains its insane pace and the hours are long. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not Friday.
Why.
Apostrophe Abuse.
Apostrophe Abuse makes me very sad. What singular boy owns that department at Walmart? Who is the single boy? If they’re referring to the department of boys clothing, it should be boys. All the boys should be able to shop in the Boys’ Department at Wal*mart.
Don’t Look Up.
There was a pretty impressive meteor shower earlier this week. We were lucky to have clear skies and a moonless night; we sat on the roof over our garage, which faces east, and at the peak was able to see a meteor or two every 30 seconds. It was beautiful. The remnants of this comment were a bit more orange than most meteor showers I’ve seen. The universe is amazing.
I have concerns about the longevity of humanity. I saw this tweet pass by and I wonder if the person tweeting this actually thought the meteor shower would light up any clouds or come through clouds.
Meteors coming through the clouds would be a bad thing. There’s been quite a few catastrophe movies with that very sort of plot line.
RIP Betty White.
When asked in 2016 what she hoped her legacy would be, Betty White simply said, “I want them to still think kindly of me and maybe make them smile”.
Betty White passed on today at age 99. She was less than a month from her 100th birthday.
She’s been on television for nearly as long as the medium has been around. Originally wanting to be a Forest Ranger, Betty White started on radio and made her way to television and the big screen. Her love of animals made its way to all of her mainstream roles. Her comedic timing was impeccable. Her cheerfulness and love for life made us all a little bit better.
I knew this day would come someday and I knew it would make me sad. I was hoping America’s Grandma would live forever. Rest in peace, dear, sweet lady. You’ll always been a golden girl.
Here’s a clip from Match Game, and it’s classic Betty.
Why?
A woman in Culpeper County, Virginia sued a hospital when she contracted COVID-19. She demanded the hospital treat her with Ivermectin and the judge ruled the hospital had to comply with her wishes.
She died five days later.
A man in Pennsylvania was in the hospital for COVID-19 and his wife sued the hospital, demanding he be treated with Ivermectin.
He died the next day.
A man in Olathe, Kansas was in the hospital for COVID-19. The family sued the hospital, forcing doctors to treat the ailing man with Ivermectin.
He’s dead.
I can’t believe I have to say this, but Facebook and Twitter should never be a source of medical information. Heck, they shouldn’t even be a source for news. Listen to science, listen to the doctors, and get vaccinated. You don’t have polio because of vaccines. You don’t have mumps and measles because of vaccines.
Wear a mask and get the vaccine. Please.
Allergy.
So my body has decided it’s allergic to the pool. A month ago or so I went swimming and developed a rash all over the swimmy parts the next day. I had showered after swimming, I don’t have particularly dry skin, but I was itchy and it quickly subsided. I went swimming again and the rash came back. I waited a week, tried again, rash returned. I waited 15 days, went swimming for 30 minutes, showering before and after swimming, and I’m covered in a rash again. I woke up in the middle of the night on Saturday and it felt like my skin was on fire.
We’ve made no change whatsoever to the way the pool is maintained. Chris and Mike do an impeccable job of keeping chemicals in balance, bacteria at bay, and the water clear. Our pool looks gorgeous. Everything tests beautifully.
I just break out in a rash after swimming. I spent many summers swimming in the Great Lakes 10 or so miles from a nuclear power plant. No issues. I swam in seaweed, dead fish, and god knows what else. I swim in the cleanest pool I’ve seen in a years and I develop an allergy.
And that’s how life works.
Safety.
I still can’t believe the American trend of politicizing COVID-19, and coping with this deadly disease. The politicization of the pandemic makes absolutely no sense to me, and when people refuse to mask up while screaming “freedom” I can’t help but shake my head in disbelief. What in the world does your political beliefs have to do with keeping you and the people around you safe from a deadly, airborne disease?
As expected, when I disembarked in Houston I immediately noticed a drastic decrease in the number of people wearing masks in the airport, in spite of current Federal regulations that require everyone to do so. It’s Texas, and Texas does what Texas does. I don’t know if it’s smart for folks in Texas to ignore the pandemic in the long run; eventually this practice is going to kill off a number of folks that would otherwise vote for that side of the aisle.
I guess I don’t understand why the GOP would want to kill off their constituents by raising a ruckus around the precautions of a preventable disease, but then again, I don’t get the United States in general these days.
I maintained my space, kept my mask in place, and made my way through Houston airport as safely possible. I’ll do the same thing on Sunday for my return trip.
Perhaps those that refuse to wear masks will be at church or something.
Skymall.
Up until a couple of years ago, whenever I jumped on a flight to a faraway destination, I would take delight in perusing through the Skymall catalog found in the seat pocket of every airline seat. It would usually be situated next to a barf bag and the safety instructions card. Occasionally the Skymall catalog was front and center.
The Skymall catalog contained all sorts of oddities, such as a bicycle helmet with laser lights to regrow hair on balding men or blow up neck pillows for those contortionists who felt they could get a good night’s sleep on their flight from Peoria to Lubbock or mirrors that let you try on a mustache like the one pictured above.
Quality, solid offerings for the discerning capitalistic society.
Last week I came to the realization that ads on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter are basically electronic versions of SkyMall. With just a few quick clicks of my mouse and solid records of my last bowel movement, and any other personal information the platform can glean out of my interaction, for a low $599 I can have an Android tablet that lets me take notes and nothing else.
I then further realized that “Shark Tank”, the once popular television show where innovators grovel for funding for their latest get-rich-quick scheme, is really just the king of SkyMall with some extra drama to give the whole experience an edge. For those struggling with the aforementioned bowel movements, the inventors of Squatty Potty groveled for millions of dollars of funding from the queen of QVC, so you can raise your legs to Jesus while taking a dump for only $69.95.
I bet you didn’t see that on your last airline flight.
Thank You For The Music?
Not my photo.
I have always been an ABBA fan. Even before their resurgence and the “Mamma Mia” productions and the like, I have always enjoyed the music of Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Anna-Frid (Frida). So one can understand that when it was announced back in 2018 that ABBA had gotten together and recorded a few new tracks, there were many folks that were excited to hear the new these new numbers.
It’s 2021 and they still haven’t been released. Apparently, ABBA wants to accompany these new songs with a road show involving a young ABBA (as we remember them) depicted by holograms in concert. The technology is a little wonky at the moment, then of course there was the worldwide pause for COVID-19, and as things start to resemble whatever normal is, still no word on when the tracks will be released.
Let’s hope it’s soon. The world needs to say Thank You for the Music. Soon.
“Searching for sanity…”
This is a rather long read but I found it very interesting and worth sharing. This is an essay addressing the increasing insanity in the world. It’s relatable and enlightening.
Friday essay: Searching for sanity in a world hell bent on destruction
