ever increasing disconnect

choosing who and how to connect with others can be the difference in a momentary pleasant experience and time you'll never get back. I had an interesting conversation today actually it was the only conversation I had today with another human and it consisted of five words in the form of an email and it went like this, "..it arrived in good order." That was it and there was no response = perfect, the end.   

Whether it's television or satellite radio, phone or text, more and more these days I find what is apparently the world's most dreaded circumstances of self-distancing to be exactly what I need a lot more of. Six feet isn't near enough and I'm in favor of an all-out total ban on seeing or hearing from another human being for a trial period of twenty years or so and then we'll take a look at the data and see how it went. By then I'll be 84 and probably dead but if not I'll be totally blind and deaf and won't be able to see, read or hear anyone's bullshit. 

If I'm not gone I'll have stories to tell of how I used to care about a lot of things I no longer do and that time we had that virus thing that stopped the world and left everyone on social media platforms to drown in mindnumbing funny animal videos, music from warshed up old wrinkled rock stars, and blog posts like this one. Then in the fall we had round two of that virus coupled with the flu that made round one look like the pilot for The Twilight Zone.

I'm still working on both houses to organize and purge leftovers from far better people and times than me and this. The task seems impossible to get a handle on and all my time spent making progress is through a lot of pain and misery that feels like it will consume and suffocate me. I plan to keep going until I no longer can and I'll keep the television on mute and the sat radio on all the old channels and I'll have paid more attention in my life to things I no longer care about than I'm able to justify thinking back on.

There's cold filtered water in the fridge and a few cans of soup in the cabinet, some cherry sour candy and some aspirin so I can sleep. Feels like it may rain and Mother's day is coming. I'm reminded of it constantly despite my efforts to push it away- I love and miss you mom.       

saturday night fever..

for what it's worth, last night I get out to go fill up the gas tank with some 1.50 a gallon gas. I turn the corner one block from my house in a nice neighborhood and the street is lined with cars on both sides of the street. I'm guessing 20 to 30 cars. I slowly drove by and saw an open garage jam-packed with people dancing and drinking and laughing it up with kids spilling out and running all around the front yard. I could not believe what I was seeing and I was beyond furious.

I thought about calling the Sheriff and then realized there is no law against stupidity and irresponsibility even at this level. But the rest of you don't live near this house and you don't know these people so no worry right? There were probably about 50 people at this house last night in very close contact with each other and you need to consider this one simple question. Where did all those people who put themselves and others at risk last night, where did they go today and who did they put at risk? The answer is we don't know. We don't know if any of them went to that party infected and didn't know it, and we don't know if some were infected AT the party and went out on Sunday to endanger YOU and we have no idea what they have had their hands on today at the grocery stores, the gas stations or the other places people continue to go. Did you go someplace today? Maybe you stood right next to one of them in line or walked by one who just coughed a plume of the virus in the space you walked through, who knows?

The we don't know far outweighs the what we do know but one of the things we actually do know is that there are people out there all over the place doing exactly the same thing these idiots were doing and that thing is, not giving one single shit about themselves, me, you, or anyone else. This was one house, on one street, and 50 some odd people risking their own health and risking the lives of people they will never even meet. Your parents, grandparents, kids, even you, THIS is how this extremely contagious virus is spreading like a wildfire all over the world.

Some people in our society today are risking the lives of everyone else on a daily basis. Those people need to be dealt with immediately and harshly or they will take this entire society to its knees. I know how I would handle them if I had a say but I don't so... The dangers we face today are now at a level where the open border and political correctness crowd is going to kill many many people. Some will need to be forced to comply with guidelines to keep the rest of us safe and the sooner we begin dealing with them, the better.       

outside the window

The first part of this is a brief description of what I observed today during a two-hour excursion outside the window. I had to drop off some paperwork for my taxes and then I drove over to a food type place but not a grocery store.

The traffic middle of the day was very light and the drive quite easy. No one was cutting me off when I tried to get into the correct lane from the one I was in. I approached the office building I was looking for and with one exception, the parking lot was empty. My first thought was that it might be closed. It wasn't.

My accountant is also a very close friend and was to my mom as well. She came to mom's funeral and was visibly moved. My mom loved her and she is very dear to me. I've been keeping a very close eye on all the information about Covid-19 and rightfully concerned about it's spread to those who are least able to fight it. When I got my paperwork together this morning at home in anticipation for the delivery, I had the well being of my friend in mind when I washed my hands and then put gloves on to handle the papers and folders so that I could assure her that they were completely safe to handle knowing she was probably handling many dozens of sets of paperwork this time of year and would have no idea how they had been handled.

I went inside the office and was greeted by a lady who looked shocked to see me walk in and did several double-takes at me wearing gloves. She appeared so confused at the gloves as if she couldn't imagine why anyone would wear them at a time like this. I set my paperwork down on the counter and told her what the papers were and who they needed to go to and left. This is an office of accountants and they handle untold thousands of papers every day and if you have paid close attention to the information from the experts, you know that the virus can be active on top of paper and cardboard for upwards of 48 hours. She was clearly unconcerned.

I left and drove to the food place where an older gentleman was walking in at the same time and I held the door open for him so he wouldn't have to worry about touching the handle if he was concerned about it. I watched him as he shopped touching things on the shelf touched by thousands of other people and then the nose scratches, face touching, picking up other things and setting them back on the shelf and so on. At the counter, the lady came from the back where food is prepared and had no protective wear on. No mask, no gloves, nothing. She was taking money that can have an active virus on it for days from customers with her bare hands. She touched the counters and the register, she then used her unprotected hands to give this elderly man his change and he took it and off he went having just taken at least a half dozen chances with his own life I presume,  unknowingly. Did he take those chances back home to an elderly wife or grandkids or?

Conclusions with opinion.

Clearly, people outside your window can be put into at least 3 categories which can result in someone else becoming from sick, to dead. There are those who are not taking this virus seriously enough, those who are taking it seriously but not taking all the precautions and those who are paying close attention to the problem and taking all the precautions. The problem is, ALL of these people look exactly alike and you aren't going to be able to tell which one of these people they are.

So this is why the Covid-19 virus is as big a deal as you have ever seen in your life whether or not you understand that or you don't. Despite the 80% who will be infected and be alright, 1000 people are dead in Italy just today. Over 9,000 total in Italy alone and rising. Those people aren't just unfortunate numbers, they were someone's mother, father, grandparents, and kids maybe. Almost 6,000 deaths in France and nearly 2,000 are now dead in the US. There are over 100,000 cases in America that we know of as of this writing and growing every second. The numbers sound so sanitary and impersonal, don't they? But some of them probably didn't have to die if not for the carelessness of someone else who may think this isn't all that big a deal. 

America went from the greatest economy this republic has ever seen to a crash in a few weeks that is going to have ripple effects for every one of you whether you understand that yet or not. The "cure" for the economy by itself is going to end up being a calamity of historic proportions by the time we're done. This country has never seen the levels of inflation that is coming from printing money over by the window and shoving it out. Will you remember that $1200 bucks you got when a loaf of bread is $25-$50 dollars and the job you used to have doesn't exist anymore?

Then there is the damage to America's healthcare system that was already tough for some. The new damage from this no big deal virus cannot even be imagined yet. The forecasts of how bad it's going to end up being too mind-numbing to repeat or think about. So what's the point in a post like this, well, you can take heart not many will read it, much fewer will believe it, and even fewer will understand any of it. A lot of people are just sitting back flittering around and enjoying the view while life, as we knew it in America, has already changed so fast that you haven't even felt the vibration yet. It's no wonder this virus is spreading like a wildfire with what little I witnessed today. The trouble with this pandemic and its ripple effects is that we were already suffering an extreme ignorance and ideology pandemic inside the last couple of the what's in it for me generations that we were counting on to be better than the generations that spawned them. That's a really bad combination of pandemics for a society that is so very broken.

I expect a full out depression within the next 12 to 18 months and unemployment to reaching 20 million within the next 30 days. Inflation, well, we aren't finished printing money yet so I guess we're waiting on a solar-powered fan capable of blowing it all out the window, but guessing the inflation number would be silly till we run out of ink in the printers. If we can't stay at home for a few weeks without "suffering", and if we can't take basic precautions to save our older generations from the threat of dying from our selfish and willful ignorance, then we aren't worthy of what we had before all this and we full out deserve what I believe is on our doorstep.

Take precautions till this is under control and if not for yourself, do it for those at your mercy-

have a cookie

Can anything come from a calamity that isn't just more of the worst thing in the world?

Maybe there is, and you had better find some of it really soon cause we aren't likely to be over this anytime soon and God forbid you actually get this virus and don't have a strong immune system.

Finances.

Investments, where I've done really well since hiring Trump to get the government out of my way, took a sharp downturn when all this virus mess first hit the fan. Just like everyone else I went from feeling unsettled to semi-panicked depending on the day and the new information until I realized I was solidly prepared. I went from 90% invested to 80% cash in a matter of a week trying to avoid a crash and have the cash to jump back in when the dust settled. Now I'm about 50-50 and nibbling on some insane bargains on the worst selloff days and trimming big gains on the days when the market reaches for the moon. I was prepared for this disaster in a number of ways not the least of which is my minimalist lifestyle and I'll be even better prepared when the next calamity happens and it will. I'll hopefully be ready for that one too and for all the very same reasons. Being prepared, it's not the worst thing in the world. I highly recommend it.

Work.

Almost overnight the work I have been doing over the past several years stopped on a dime. No calls, no outlook, no future plans, nothing but silence. I have effectively been laid off or furloughed, or however, you would describe it it's gone at least for now. My finances are well and in order and there is no reason to worry where or if I would ever work again, so all is fine there. The things others have expressed as being hard to cope with like social distancing and hunkering down alone, I've been doing this for over 40 years and hearing how tough that is for some is very strange to me. I'd just say, welcome to my world, come on in, and in fact, I don't even notice a difference. Learning to live by and with yourself, it's not the worst thing in the world. 

Food.

For the past few years, I've been filling two homes with food and general supplies of all types and I always ordered from Amazon and Freshly.com all these large quantities of things to split between the two houses so my mom and I wouldn't ever run out of anything so all is good on that front for now. Nothing wrong with having too many of things you use all the time and it all came in handy when this virus hit the fan.

Peace of mind.

I think I relate more to much older folks more susceptible to this pandemic than younger ones and ever since mom passed away I've been on a steep learning curve about life and the things that really matter. I am worried about our elderly who need to see and talk to people but who are extremely vulnerable to this virus and the people who are a-symptomatic but who are carrying it. These folks are from a different time and value system and all too often they are left in the end to fend for themselves when in reality they need others to help. Needs is one of the many things I learned a lot about from caring for my own mom for the past several years. For me now that my number one concern is no longer with me, I no longer worry for much else related to me personally but I could see at some point when all this virus mess is controlled wanting to do something to help older people in some way who desperately need others and don't have anyone. What I learned during my mom's hospital stays and the home health care industry we tried to use was horrifying and someday I'll write about it. If you have loved ones who are elderly and have to rely in some part on others, you had better take a VERY active and present role in that care. That's all I'll say for now about that.

All the other noise related to this pandemic and the worrying about everything I have no control over, I've put all that in the hands of a much higher power. It helps to keep the TV muted except for watching CSPAN to see who exactly is trying to help people, and who subscribes to never letting a tragedy go to waste even while people suffer and die until we get money for our pet projects. Then I watch the press conferences held by those put together by the president who are actually dealing with and trying to address this calamity. Lastly, when totally bored, I do the infrequent drive-bys on social media to see how well I'm doing at avoiding the other pandemics of drama and ignorance.

Moral of the story.

There is no getting around the fact that millions of people are suffering and many more haven't even begun to fully appreciate what all this pandemic and its ramifications will mean to their future and health. The world and not just mine or yours, has changed. Some of the change is through no fault of our own, but a lot of it is. Not being prepared, and a short-sighted lifestyle is directly connected to one another regardless of your ability or willingness to understand that. The health ramifications if you are to get this virus and not have the immune system to fight it off, may kill you or someone extremely important to your life. Taking this health threat lightly is unconscionable. Nothing is ever going to be the same again for a lot more of you than realize it yet. Some will lose everything possibly even your life, and some will be lucky enough to just lose a lot and be OK. But there is hope for really smart people who are fortunate enough to avoid the virus and only have to endure losses you yourself have control over.

Really smart people who may have previously subscribed to flawed and unsustainable political views prior to this mess may go through a total ideological reset because of the effects this economic downturn is going to have on you whether you can see it coming yet or not. The "progressive," open border ideology so many thought of as racist, would now be unthinkable yet there is a candidate running for president in a few short months even in the face of this life-threatening pandemic who supports that threat to you and your families lives and only one who has fought every day of his presidency while being crucified to prevent it. Hopefully, this calamity has changed the mindset of feelings over common sense and may have already flipped some people around. That by itself would be a very positive outcome from a very bad situation. We can only hope and pray this is the case.

When smart people begin to focus on how valuable capitalism, prosperity, and self-reliance is at a time like this, personal values are also going to do an auto-reset almost overnight and may already have done so for those who weren't too sure why some ideologies always fail and others can lead to unfettered prosperity while preparing for the worst. Who you choose to vote for in the next election may already have changed as a result of this calamity now that you have been home and able to see who pushes ideology while the ship is taking on water and sinking and those who will stop at nothing to push you into a lifeboat to literally save your life. We'll have to see who has been paying attention and those who have not who I feel deserve the consequences of ignoring it.

I'm not sure there has ever been a time when the differences in political ideology have ever been as clear and life-saving or life-threatening as the past few weeks. If you aren't seeing it then you are willfully making a personal choice to ignore it and I feel zero obligation to enabling your ignorance now, or ever in the future when your bad choices in the voting booth begin to affect your life AND that of others.

Ask yourself after all this is controlled and we come back outside, who is best suited to get this government out of your way of becoming self-reliant and financially independent so you will suffer less next time and who is more likely to encourage you to vote for skin color, gender, or a more likable personality. Really smart people already know the answer and those new to common sense thinking we welcome you to a better way of life no matter what gets thrown at you. God gave us more sense than a goose to be able to handle situations like we face today but you have made the choice to start using it prior to needing it in order to mitigate your suffering and everyone else.

Those who are never prepared and who choose to spend and live on the edge of being insolvent or in debt and dead broke, those who have no understanding or concern of their own responsibility in never being able to survive in this world without relying on the rest of us who would never live that way, those people are of no concern to me now, or ever. And you are a threat to America.

There is no better time than right now during a calamity like this when an involuntary world reset is upon us to change the ideology you may have been subscribed to that is completely incompatible with capitalism, fully independent self-reliance and personal responsibility, prosperity, and the values America was founded upon. Come on in the water is fine and the life it may save might be your own. Think about it and have a cookie.   

the mouse and the elephant

The lessons available from this virus calamity are all over the place with dozens of new ones popping up every hour and unfortunately, most of them are likely to fly over the heads of many.

A pandemic like the Wuhan China Virus only comes around ever so often but the price paid for it is paid mostly by those who can least afford it. Our parents and grandparents are now unfortunately at the mercy of a lot of the "ME-llennial," generation and that is as frightening as it is chilling. Some thankfully are heading the call to change behaviors in an effort to save others and some are gathering on beaches for spring break and in parks spreading the virus who are clearly glib and don't care.   

But there is actually some hope.

Today I was invited by a very real friend of mine to a link to their church service where the pastor had a great message that was current with a direct link to history that I feel is so important to our survival whether we are in the throes of a worldwide pandemic, or whether all is going exceedingly well like just a few weeks ago.

Reading the anguish and fear some are feeling today made me think of posting this even though only a few dozen will see it. There is no denying we are as a society in very real trouble with this mess today. Some of you are going to lose your jobs, some will lose family members or friends, and the suffering and anxiety are very real and just beginning. Death is very real and easily understood, but the economy and financial health of America for some, is harder to relate to but trust me, you are about to get a better understanding of it all regardless of whether or not you think it relates to you. There are direct unmistakable links between politics, the stock market, the economy, you and your job, AND your future and all of that is going to become more clear to you personally if it hasn't already and regardless if you get infected with the virus or you manage to avoid it.

I want to keep politics in this post at a minimum but it is intrinsically related to where we are and where we will be going and it is going to affect you and everyone you care about. I will only say a couple of things and then leave it here for those who understand it's importance. Imagine if you can, where America would be at this very moment if the economy had not been on a rocket ship to the moon when this virus began and yes, lead by a businessman with an annoying personality. While this unforeseen calamity has vaporized 30% of the gains since Trump's election, just take a minute to think of where we would be if we had elected a professional politician whose ideology sees removing the government's boot off the necks of business and innovation as an afront to social engineering logic. Right now if Trump hadn't had the economy on a rocket ship to historic levels this republic has never seen before, we would already be inside a depression before this virus is even under control. Think about that for a minute. Now think about this, after this pandemic calamity has run its course, what will happen to the rest of this economy that has already lost so much of the cushion Trump gave it, if we elect someone else in 6 months who has already said he will turn back every policy this president has used that boosted this economy to heights never seen before? The bottom line is this if you don't understand the connection between politics and the economy that includes you, your job, and your family's future, educate yourself before you vote to do damage to America that may be impossible to recover from. That's it for politics. Some get it, some never will.

This is what I know for certain about fear and the damage it can do.

The very worst thing I could have ever imagined in my life was losing my mom. She knew I felt this way, she knew how afraid I was, and before she passed away she gave me something that I can say is the only reason I am still alive. She gave me hope and faith that if I would get closer to God that we would see each other again and I know it to be true.

Today the pastor a young guy, relayed a story of him and a colleague who has a picture on his wall in his office that they talk about often. It's a picture of a tiny little mouse dragging a huge elephant up a mountain. This pandemic isn't the only struggle most of us have faced in our lives and how many times have we looked back at where we have been and what we are struggling with and wanted to give up? I know I have MANY times. Maybe the mouse in this picture is dis-couraged at how far he has yet to go dragging this giant elephant or just maybe he's en-couraged by looking back at how far he has come. Just a little perspective on how to look at the days ahead.

We are all still here after all we've been through so far and we took it one small step at a time and decided at some point literally not to look back at where we had been and the struggle that looked impossible, but to look up where we are going and we took another step and then another one and here we are closer to where God is leading us to go.

The struggle and fear is real but you are not alone. There are very powerful people some are hated beyond belief who are doing things to help mitigate the ramifications of an enemy we couldn't see coming. There is a much higher power at work here too that has already paid the full price for you to get from here wherever you are to the top of that mountain where you are headed. Do not waste your time or the price already paid by looking back at where you have been and the struggle ahead. Look up to see where you are going and take another step, then another, and with every step you take you'll be that much closer to where you are intended to be.

When this whole pandemic thing is over do not forget who and what some are doing to help others get through this. Do not ignore the good feeling you get when you see good replacing evil. Look to those generations before us that went through really tough times and instead of folding up they forged ahead and while they were at it, ended up saving the world. If we go through all this and fail to learn the lessons that came with it, all the suffering we experience today will pale in comparison to the next time.

Be well.

look on the bright side..

this virus scare may be doing what a lot of people (me) have wanted to see happen for a very long time. Common sense not as common as it once was, may be experiencing a forced but welcome come-back. Think of the ease of life benefits from getting people to stay away from you without having to insult them, ask them to go away, or revealing that you are carrying a weapon. Glad handing professional politicians are now re-thinking the practice of hoodwinking the fools who vote for them out in public where fake "journalists" can record and promote their flawed ideology making it appear these vile thieves have support.

Your fake friends will now have to pretend to have your best interest at heart and then stab you in the back over the phone where you don't have to hold yourself back from letting them know you are on to them then punching them in the throat. No more Jehova Witnesses on your porch to be chased down the driveway with a fully loaded garden hose. Cuddling with your significant other will need to be banned and replaced with romantic video conferencing that can save and extend your relationship till this thing is under control and you can find someone you're more compatible with that doesn't make you want to poke their eyes out with a hammer while they are asleep. 

Shaking hands with people you can't remember while telling them how nice it is to see them again and we have to get lunch soon and catch up, no more of that BS. Hugging people you could never stand the sight of in the first place, preferring instead to trim your toenails with a running self-propelled lawnmower than to ever see them again, no more of that.

As bad as it may seem this virus and how contagious it is, the irony of how it has caused EVERYone now to want to live like I have my entire life, is certainly not lost on me.     

mosquitos carrying coronavirus

I've been wondering about it and haven't yet heard the subject addressed. Italy, the entire country, is now quarantined. No movement being allowed.

coronavirus - the truth and the bullshit

This youtube video may help you put this virus and all the hullabaloo over it into perspective. You'll have to try to ignore the arabic scribbles on the screen but the information is informative and full of perspective.

At the time this was posted February 27, 2020 about a week ago, deaths per month in the USA from the virus were compared to deaths from other ills as follows:

Coronavirus - 25
Aspirin - 250
Iatrogenic (deaths from medical treatment!) - 20,000
Flu - 38,000
HIV - 49,000
Car accidents - 90,000
Heart Disease - 1,000,000

Now, try using whatever levels of common sense at your disposal to ask yourself just why it is AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME when the economy is on rocket fuel and an election is in a few short months, ask yourself why it is that media has made such a massive story out of a virus that is no doubt worthy of attention, into this humongous world coming to an end daily "story," that has effectively halted at least temporarily the gigantic gains in the economy, potential job losses from historic unemployment lows for every race, creed, color, and gender, and caused outbreaks of fear and calamity that simply do not add up to the realities in the numbers. If you pay any attention to what the liberal left in conjunction with the media has been doing since the election of 2016 and you have any common sense left to use for this situation, look at the numbers above and ask yourself one simple question, why? The numbers of deaths from taking aspirin are 10 times the deaths from this virus! Aspirin! Just putting this out there in case there are still some people left of center who still think common sense has value anymore.

Here is the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAtAd6_Wh9Y