RECAFFEINATED MONDAYS: Saddle Up Your Horses

Photo by Lucia Macedo on Unsplash

One million, two-hundred-twenty-five thousand, four-hundred and forty minutes…how do you measure, measure a pandemic?

While life for most of us has returned to something looking like normal, it has been 852 days since I was told that we had to go home to telework for “15 days to slow the spread.”

It is true that most people in my office returned last week whilst I was moving the offspring to Atlanta. It is also true that over the months, I’ve been in the office on occasion.

Today, I saddled up one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse and headed downtown for a return to “normal.”

My new schedule is a hybrid. I’ll be in the office Monday through Wednesday, and I’ll telework Thursday and

Mugshots

Friday. That’s not a bad compromise.

A week in to what I have referred to often as our forty-seven years of house arrest, I wrote these words:

I would like to think that, on the other side of this, we’ll come out a better sort of people. Kinder and gentler if you will. It saddens me to think that I don’t have enough faith in humanity to believe that might be the case.    
[We Can Do This]

Pretty sure we all know that didn’t happen.

We’re more divided and more snarky, our economy is in the tank and we’re all struggling to keep up with the cost of gas and groceries.

It’s hard not to be cranky. I try to stay out of the mess on social media. I have my opinions. You’d have to be pretty clueless to read here and not pick up on them.

Then again, being clueless may be why people don’t share my opinions.

Oh snap. He went there.

Let’s move on.

In spite of all the crappy things that happened in the last two and a half years, including Last Summer’s Great Unpleasantness™, I had some good things happen.

I’ve had some good times and success building the Santa business. That continues.

I’ve had a couple of really good weeks at the beach.

I wrote, illustrated, and published my first children’s book. [Available on Amazon]

One son is happily moved back to Atlanta. Although we miss him, and his little dog too, he is pursuing his dream. That’s a good thing.

The other son finished his freshman year at Randolph-Macon College by making the Dean’s List. He’ll soon be moving on campus where he’ll be living in the Honors Dorm.

Are there lots of things that are still frustrating, things I’d like to change?

Of course. That just gives us something to work for.

Even if it means going back downtown.


BORN ON THIS DAY

1274 – Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (died 1329)
1767 – John Quincy Adams, American lawyer and politician, 6th President of the United States (died 1848)
1897 – Bull Connor, American police officer (died 1973)
1899 – E. B. White, American essayist and journalist (died 1985)
1920 – Yul Brynner, Russian actor and dancer (died 1985)
1924 – Brett Somers, Canadian-American actress and singer (died 2007)
1926 – Frederick Buechner, American minister, theologian, and author
1931 – Tab Hunter, American actor and singer (died 2018)
1956 – Sela Ward, American actress

THINGS YOU SHOULD READ

Biden Admin Sold Nearly 1 Million Barrels Of Oil To Chinese State-Owned Company Tied To Hunter Biden
Daily Caller
The Biden administration sold close to one million barrels of oil from the United States’ strategic reserve to a Chinese company that one of his son’s equity companies once bought a $1.7 billion stake in.
Read More.

Biden Sold Oil From Emergency Reserves To Chinese Gas Giant Tied To His Scandal-Plagued Son
The Federalist
Some of that oil went to India, some to the Netherlands, and some was sent to China where the president’s son has engaged in years of potentially criminal business activity embroiling the Biden White House in scandal since the 2020 campaign. Read More.

Professor Jonathan Turley Debunks Biden’s ‘Demonstrably Untrue’ Remarks On Roe Ruling
Daily Caller
“There were some unfair moments directed at the Court, not just repeatedly calling the justices extremists, but he says as you noted they didn’t consider the early English cases on abortion. That’s entirely and demonstrably untrue. You can disagree with how they view that history but to say that they ignored it was really quite unfair.” Read More.

Sunday Firesides: You Already Know
The Art of Manliness
The fact you’re keeping yourself from acknowledging the answer isn’t because you don’t think you have enough information. It’s because you want to stay within the safety of limbo. Read More.

BENEDICTION

Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Ephesians 6:23-24

Recovering and Recalculating

Photo by Joey Kyber on Unsplash

I’m a little late posting today.

It’s Friday and I’m focusing on one of my three words: Recovery.

As I noted Tuesday, we moved our oldest back to Atlanta this week. As I may or may not have noted, I am much older and more out of shape than the last time I did such a move.

So, today I’m recovering from that and figuring out the next move. Or maybe figuring out if I can still move.

The house seems emptier this morning. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we weren’t able to get all of his stuff into the van. That’s going to take another trip in August.

But when the remnants of Last Summer’s Great Unpleasantness™ woke me around 4:00 this morning, I realized that his dog Nola wouldn’t be joining me soon. Allow me to explain.

He came home just before the worst of the pandemic in 2019. We’ll call that Providence. Since then, he’s been working toward the return and was able this month to transfer to a new store where he starts on Monday. At the same time, his former roommates found a new house with a room for him.

Back to Nola. On those mornings when he had to be at the store by 4:30, his dog would join me in bed until time for me to get up. She learned that Grampy got up a lot during the night, but he wasn’t going downstairs until he put his shoes on.

So, it was a little quieter this morning. I’ll get used to it, even though I’m not sure I want to.

Like I said, today is a day of recovery. I don’t bounce back from these trips like I used to.

I’ll be spending most of the day here in my office where I’ll also be reassessing, reevaluating, and recalculating all the things on my plate.

Some of those things don’t seem so important this morning.

I think you can figure out why.

On a side note, I used a free trial of Audible to listen to Mel Brooks’ All About Me – My Remarkable Life in Show Business read by Brooks himself. It’s a great story, worth a read or a listen.

And, while you’re over at Amazon, don’t forget to order, and review my book: Cat and Pig: A Story of Friendship.

Have a good weekend. Come see me at the park.

American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor, Toby Keith, was born on this day in 1961.


 

BORN ON THIS DAY

1838 – Eli Lilly, American soldier, chemist, and businessman, founded Eli Lilly and Company (d. 1898)

Available at
Mug Shots
(click the pic)

1885 – Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (d. 1948)
1908 – Nelson Rockefeller,  41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
1930 – Jerry Vale, American singer (d. 2014)
1934 – Marty Feldman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1935 – Steve Lawrence, American actor and singer
1944 – Jeffrey Tambor, American actor and singer
1947 – Kim Darby, American actress
1958 – Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician

 

THINGS YOU SHOULD READ

Never Apologize For Loving America
Shaun Kenney at The Republican Standard
Virginia’s gift to the world — imperfect as it began — is worth cultivating and defending, ladies and gentlemen, worth reading and learning about, worth teaching to our children, worth memorializing in statues and battlefields, and worth improving upon.  Read More.

Most Americans Want An Abortion Ban After 15 Weeks: POLL
Daily Caller
Only 10% of registered voters support the Democratic Party’s position on abortion access up to 9 months of pregnancy, according to the Harvard CAPS Harris Poll released Friday. The poll surveyed 1,308 registered voters from June 28-29.  Read More.

British Parliament Forms July 4 Commission To Investigate Colonial Insurrection
The Babylon Bee
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has directed the House of Commons and the House of Lords to form a committee that will hold televised hearings on the matter every night for at least 100 fortnights. “We have to get to the bottom of this, and find out what these dodgy Americans are up to,” he said. Read More.

BENEDICTION

Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Ephesians 6:23-24