Cashless?

In Evanston, IL, where I currently live, the city council members have been debating about whether to ban some businesses from being cashless. Some council members (mainly one council member) believe that businesses that don't accept cash discriminate against the unbanked. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, cash is legal tender and it should be accepted by all businesses, right? On the other hand, even the unbanked have access to electronic methods of payment via prepaid credit cards, etc. that can be purchased from a variety of places, including your local Walgreens. (There is a fee for these cards, but the point is that they're available for anyone to purchase and use.) You don't have to have a bank account in order to have a credit card that can be used at any business that doesn't accept cash. My father, who refuses to use a debit card and prefers to pay cash for just about everything, complained that the self-checkout registers at his local Walmart store don't accept cash. They used to, but now are for credit transactions only, so he's forced to go to a register with a live cashier in order to buy anything. My father is not unbanked, he's just old. He really should just get a debit card and call it a day, but he won't. So I guess he'll have to wait for a cashier to ring him up whenever he's at Walmart. 

Chicanery

At times, I feel like I curse too much, so I make feeble attempts to clean up my language and use words other than curse words to say what I mean. There's been a lot of nonsense going on at my day job and rather than saying a lot of bullshit, I'm going with "chicanery." (I can't really curse like I normally would at work anyway unless I want to be summoned by the HR folks.) 

Chicanery is the perfect old-timey word to describe trickery or shenanigans going on. Too many folks are lying and doing weird underhanded stuff. Chicanery has run amuck in my workplace. I even described a coworker as our own in-house George Santos because he lies so much with a straight face. And yet the guy, like Santos, keeps moving on up. He was promoted recently. Ugh.

Being a frequent reader of Datalounge, I came across a thread recently asking how people's lives have changed during the Covid pandemic and someone posted: I'm seeing my job as the joke it is and enjoying more time on my own. I feel the same way, Datalounger. 

I work because I have to, not because I necessarily want to. If I had the means, I wouldn't work at all or I'd do something I wanted on a part-time basis. But, bills have to be paid, I need food, health insurance, transportation, and shelter, so I have to work.  

Can you tell I'm feeling better? I am, physically. Mentally, I'm just trying to stay afloat and rise above the chicanery in my workplace. That's a full time job in itself!

Work in Progress

I vowed to try and stop being so much of a recluse during 2023 and get back out into the world. Well, one month into the new year, and my attempts to be out and about have been mixed at best. First, I caught Covid at the start of the year. Then I started having some other health problems that, hopefully, aren't serious. So I've been to the doctor and I'm trying to get my issues resolved or at least controlled. But, in more promising news, I am writing something new and it's coming along. I'm really working to get this thing moving and finished in the next month. I've been trying an failing to write a stalker story. It's something that's been on my mind for some time now. Finally, I feel like it's coming together. It's a work in progress, but it is progressing! 

I really wanted to take a trip this year, but I don't know if that's going to happen with health issues I'm having right now. I was out of the country after Christmas and for New Year's, but that was for work and I really didn't get to enjoy it. I had one free day to enjoy Bermuda. It's a lovely, expensive country and I'd love to go back on my own dime and my own time when I could truly see the area.

Random Thoughts

I've been reading and watching a lot over the past few weeks and here are some of my random thoughts about random things:

1. George Santos (aka Andrew Devolder, Kitara Ravache): I find the Santos story fascinating for a number of reasons, but mainly because of the pathological level of lying he does. This guy didn't just lie about what school he went to or about a previous employer, he lies about everything: playing varsity volleyball, having health injuries due to his non-existent volleyball career, dressing in drag (per him, he wasn't a drag queen, just a guy dressing in drag and having a good time), owning multiple properties, how and when his mother died, being Jewish, having grandparents who were Holocaust survivors, running an animal charity, helping a disabled vet pay for animal care, providing his campaign with $700K, and the list goes on. I can't believe this guy could keep so many lies straight. Actually, he couldn't! It must be exhausting to keep making up lies about yourself. Who does that? Someone who, clearly, doesn't like who he is. I could see a kid lying about where he came from if he's ashamed of growing up poor or something. But Santos is no kid and so many of his lies are downright ridiculous. Still, if this guy gets tossed out of Congress, I doubt it'll be for lies about his personal life. It'll be for lies about his financing. Follow the money, folks.

2. Annoying Commercials: I swear, if I see one more commercial with Kevin Hart or with the Shriners Hospital kids, I'm going to lose it. Do the Shriners fund certain channels because I sure see their commercials running all the time on channels like MeTV. Get some other funding, folks! Mix up the advertisers. And is Kevin Hart doing endorsements for whoever asks him? Chase, Draft Kings, whatever. Enough already! I have to mute the sound on the Draft Kings commercials where he's featured. Just the sound of his voice makes me reach for the remote. Also, ugh to the Dupixent commercials with the dancing kid all dolled up in bad makeup. Who thought this would be a good idea to highlight a medication for eczema? 

3. Timothy Olyphant and Conan O'Brien: I'm going to end this post on a high note by confessing my love for the duo of Olyphant and O'Brien. These two guys are hilarious together. I've been watching clips of them on YouTube from Conan's talk show and from his podcast and they're so great. I am a huge Olyphant fan. He's the kind of actor who gets better looking as he ages. He's also very charming and very funny (at least he is in all of the clips I've watched with him). I didn't even watch Justified when it was on (although I will watch the new shows when they air) and I bailed on the Santa Clarita Diet after the first episode, but I still enjoy Timothy particularly when he's teamed up with Conan. Such a delight and highly recommended.

Covid-Free!

After testing positive for Covid last week, I got a negative test result this week. (See the picture below.) I'm also feeling much better, but I still don't feel 100%. My appetite hasn't fully come back (which may be a good thing and help me shed some pounds) and my voice is still slightly off, but I feel pretty good overall. I'm looking forward to relaxing over the three-day MLK holiday weekend and doing some writing and reading. In 2023, I'm vowing to do more reading and writing, things I neglected a lot in 2022. And, even with Covid, I'm going to make an effort to stop being such a recluse this year. Life is short and we need to enjoy it while we can. That doesn't mean being irresponsible, but doing what you can do stay safe while still trying to live your life. 

Covid Finally Caught Me!

After being Covid-free since the start of this pandemic, I've finally been infected! I was out of town (and out of the country) after Christmas for work and, I believe, I was infected by a coworker with a persistent cough who (A) wasn't masked and (B) was sitting next to me, unfortunately. I can't prove Mr. Typhoid Mary infected me, but I believe he's to blame! By the time he was finally asked to mask up (and did), the damage had been done. I should have masked up and moved away from him, but I didn't. Thankfully, after a terrible Tuesday locked in my hotel room, I made it back home and I'm feeling better. I had all of my shots and boosters and I'm grateful to be here today typing this blog post rather than in a hospital on a ventilator or, God forbid, dead. People have to make their own decisions about their health care and I made the decision to get vaccinated and that decision, I believe, has helped me during this bout of Covid. I hope I don't end up with long Covid and lingering symptoms, but I'll cross that bridge if or when I get to it.

Post-Christmas Greetings

I’m posting from my phone, so forgive any typos. Christmas this year, for me, was disappointing for a number of reasons. I wasn’t able to visit family because of weather problems and because I had to travel right after the holiday for work. (More on the travel later.) Speaking of work, don’t you just hate fake-asses co-workers? It’s bad enough when you have yo deal with them during work hours but the horror is extended when you have to deal with them after hours also at functions. Ugh. I’m stuck working and being forced to socialize with people I really don’t care for. It’s awful. Every day I have to stop myself from saying something insulting or rolling my eyes. For those of you who work with a majority of people who you like, consider yourselves lucky!