Lazy Weekend

I watched all 7 episodes of The Tiger King on Netflix this weekend. Yeah. That was interesting. Throughout each episode, I kept thinking, This is why Donny is POTUS. A lot of folks are nuts. Another lazy weekend in front of the TV during the Coronavirus Lockdown of 2020. Not that I'm complaining. I'm glad to not be sick either at home or in a hospital. I'm doing my part to maintain social distancing although I did venture out to the grocery store yesterday with a ton of other folks. I did my best to keep my distance from them and vice versa. Today I ventured out to the mailbox. It's a good thing that the weather has been pretty crappy around Chicago this weekend, so that has kept people indoors. I still think it's good to try and take a walk if you can even if it's just around the block. We all need fresh air and a change of scenery.

As I keep reading about the epidemic and the situation in New York, I can't help wondering what things would be like for me if I still lived in Brooklyn. Schlepping to Foodtown or the bodega for what meager groceries they had to offer. No car. No way to escape the city without taking public transit. Oy! I probably would have had a breakdown by now. I feel for those folks. I feel for everyone dealing with this situation. People who are out of work, people who have to work, people who want to work but can't. I know we'll come out on the other side of this eventually, but it's hard to imagine that light at the end of the tunnel when there are so many days of darkness still to come. We all have to stay strong and do the best we can with what we have.

On the bright side, I am getting some writing done, so I'm not totally frying my brain watching stories about tiger handlers and their groupies. I'm also doing some reading and I'm thankful I have my Kindle since the local libraries and bookstores are closed. E-readers are coming in handy now.

What Day Is It?

I feel like the days are all running into each other. When you're confined to your home, Monday feels like Tuesday and Tuesday feels like Wednesday. The weekends go by and they don't feel like weekends. I've been trying to get out most days for a walk just to get out of the house and breathe some fresh air. Plus, I could use the exercise because I'm certainly not getting it any other way. The Y is closed for business right now. We all adjust and do the best we can with what we have. After an exhaustive search, I finally got some toilet paper. Yea! Sam's Club had some and I was glad to be able to buy a pack. I was down to my last two rolls and the panic was setting in! I split my bounty with my sister. Sam's was limiting people (thankfully) to just one pack per customer. Over the weekend, a local Citgo station was selling a small 4-pack for $7.99 plus tax! I reported them to the Illinois Attorney General's office for price gouging. Eight dollars for a dollar-store pack of toilet paper was ridiculous. This wasn't Charmin or Angel Soft, folks! Ridiculous. I can't believe how some businesses are trying to take advantage of people at a time like this. People are out of work. They can't afford $8 toilet paper!

And what's with all of these celebrities and NBA players getting tested for COVID-19 when normal folks and health professionals can't get tests? Ridiculous again! Our society has problems. I know the playing field isn't level, but this kind of stuff really needs to stop given what the country is going through right now. The people who need to be tested should be tested ahead of celebrities and athletes who can certainly wait.

One Week

Well, it's been one week since I last worked in the office at my day job. And what an interesting week it's been. I bought toilet paper from a gas station last night. That's right. Toilet paper from a gas station convenience store. I couldn't find any after going to three grocery stores and one Walgreens over the week and finally I was able to get a few rolls from a BP station. This is what it's come to. At least they had some! Working from home has enabled me to save money. No more runs to Starbucks or McDonald's in the morning. Now I drink my coffee and eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at home. In addition to the financial savings, when I cook my own food, I know it's safe. It's a win-win! I do miss going out to eat, but I'll get over it. I'll have to. If the weather was nicer around here, I'd be able to get out for walks daily, but it's kind of crappy around Chicago right now, so I haven't been getting out every day. I do recommend that you try to get out for a walk each day if can during this pandemic. It helps just to be outside even if it's only for 15-30 minutes. (Just avoid others!) We all have to keep our sanity during these difficult times and, I don't know about you folks, but there's only so much news I can take on a daily basis. I want to be informed, but I don't want to keep hearing this gloom and doom every freaking time I turn on the news. At least the election is over here in Illinois so I don't have to see a steady stream of political ads with Bernie, Joe, and whoever else is/was running for office.

Stay strong, folks. The struggle is real.

Lockdown!

Well, that was fast. We went from mild panic to full-on freak-out mode in less than a week. My day job told everyone to work from home starting today "until further notice." Fine with me. I thought about going out to try and pick up a few things from the store this evening, but I'm afraid to given the crowds and the lines. I'm down to my last three rolls of toilet paper and I'm low on Coffeemate! This shit just got real. I also had a coughing fit last night, but it seems to have gone away today. Still, I don't want to chance anything by going out. So I'm going into lockdown mode, like a lot of other folks as we deal with this Coronavirus crisis. It's amazing to me how so many things have changed over a period of 1-2 days. Sports gatherings have been cancelled, concerts have been cancelled, museums and schools are closed, colleges and universities told students to attend classes online, businesses have closed up shop. I'm just curious to know how long things will go on like this. Until we get notification that the virus has peaked? And who, exactly, would give that notification? Donny T.? Hopefully not. I'd prefer to get news from someone who's not lying on a daily basis.

I am looking forward to getting some much needed rest over the next few days/weeks now that I don't have to schelp to work on the L. Maybe I can save a few bucks too by not eating out. But what about the people who can't work from home? The ones who work service jobs that depend on people who go to the Starbucks, stay at hotels, eat out at restaurants? If those places don't have customers, they can't stay open. We can only hope and/or pray (if you're a praying person) that things improve sooner rather than later. Life probably won't ever go back to how it was, but maybe it can get close to being how it was and we can all keep calm and carry on.

Corona Anyone?

Have we reached peak hysteria yet over the Coronavirus? I feel like it's the only thing on everyone's mind these days. I was walking behind two guys when I went out for lunch the other day and the only word I heard from them was "Coronavirus." I've talked about it myself with relatives, coworkers, neighbors. Aside from washing your hands, social distancing, avoiding crowds, and staying away from sick people, what else can you do? Lock yourself up indoors and don't come out again until the crisis is over (if it ever ends)? Most of us don't have the luxury of staying indoors like that, so we go out, do the best we can, and take our chances. I read about price gouging of products like Lysol and Purell in New York. Some store was selling a can of Lysol for $19.99 and another was selling a bottle of Purell for $14.99. That's ridiculous. People will try to make a buck off of anything. I have to believe the hysteria wouldn't be as hysterical if we didn't have an idiot at the helm of our country. If people felt confident in our leadership, they could chill out a little. But, as the saying goes when you elect a clown, you get a circus. (And saying that about Donny is an insult to clowns!)

Clearly, Mike Couldn't Get "It" Done (and Other Observations)

I got this in the mail today:

You should have saved your money, Bloomie! It's over for you. I'm surprised Bloomberg did as poorly as he did on Super Tuesday. I thought for sure he'd do better. I believe he failed for three reasons: 1. Joe-mentum pushed him out of the game. 2.  People just didn't seem to want him for POTUS. 3. People didn't think he could hold his own on the debate stage against Donny T. All that money spent and he only won American Samoa? Sad.

In other news, the hysteria over Coronavirus is reaching peak levels. No Purell in the stores, functions canceled, people quarantined in their homes. Unless you truly put the public on lockdown (a la China), this thing can and will spread. You can only do so much to restrict people's activities when you live in a free society. As I've said before, freedom ain't free! As much as I'm personally trying not to freak out during every ride on the L (particularly when someone sneezes or coughs), it's not reassuring that our government has VP Pence on the case to handle this thing. Does he even believe in medicine or does he just plan to pray on the situation and hope for the best? I believe in prayer too, but I also believe in medicine and science and reality. Between the media's non-stop coverage and Donny T.'s bad moves, it's enough to make you feel sick (even if you aren't really sick).

In my old age, I'm not ashamed to admit when I like something that others might find embarrassing. Today's example is Justin Bieber's song "Yummy." Yeah, I like it. I like the song, I like the video, I like the little dance routine near the end of the video. I can't say I care much for many of the lyrics, but the beat is good. I am not usually a fan of autotuning one's voice, but it works here. When did Biebs get so many tatts? I couldn't believe how much ink he had when I watched the "Yummy" video. Oy! I have to admit, before "Yummy" I couldn't name a Bieber song. I'm not exactly the demographic for his music. But I give credit when credit is due! Lost control of myself, I'm compromised! 😄