RECAFFEINATED MONDAYS: Three Years to Slow the Spread

Post “Daylight Saving” Mood

On this day in 2020, President Donald Trump declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency in the United States.

NARRATOR: It was Friday the 13th.

The afternoon before, word came from my work overlords that we might be required to telework for “the next two weeks” and that we should go home properly prepared. I packed up my laptop and some files, watered my office plants, went home and wrote a blog about how we could do this…for two weeks.

That weekend I filmed a cameo Santa performance for a movie. Check it out here: Everything But You

I was in the middle of directing True West with Panglossian Productions in Williamsburg. I had an amazing cast and was blown away with every rehearsal. It was going to be so good. So very good. But reality hit and we had to cancel.

I’d also been through a couple of training sessions to return to my weekend work at Kings Dominion. We got the word that opening was delayed, so we did some online trainings, more on that in a minute, but the park never opened for the season. There was a brief Taste of Christmas but that was it for the year.

We all rapidly began learning how to use Zoom, or Google meets, or other platforms. Some of us adapted. The harsh reality is, however, that some still don’t get it.

When in doubt…mute.

Eventually we got used to teleworking. In reality, I was more efficient working from home. That even includes the time that I was dealing with The Great Unpleasantness of the Summer of 2021 (™)…otherwise known as treatment for prostate cancer.

I got the first shot, and the second shot, and the first booster…but I’m not getting anymore.

I didn’t return to the office until July of 2022.

Four weeks later I tested positive for COVID.

You have to be in denial, or perhaps living under a rock if you don’t see that we were lied to, we were manipulated. Our economy suffered. Our students suffered.

The media, the politicians, and yes, the health care industry continue to lie to us today about so many, many issues.

Regardless of your conclusions, if you can’t see that, then perhaps you should sit this discussion out.

It didn’t have to be this way, and that makes me angry enough to say I won’t fall for it again.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how is your Monday?

As I said the other day, spring appears to be here. In my free time I am both trying to recover my yard and renovate the guest room.

Works in progress.

Speaking of manipulation, our clocks “Sprang Forward” this weekend. Daylight Not Saving Anything Time is no longer necessary but it’s darn near impossible to roll back anything the government has mandated.

But because lost an hour of sleep, today is National Napping Day. I am not making this up.

We’re all sleepy. Nap ’em if you’ve got ’em.

THINGS YOU SHOULD READ

Pope Francis: ‘Gender ideology’ is one of ‘most dangerous ideological colonizations’
New York Post
“All humanity is the tension of differences. It is to grow through the tension of differences,” the pope said. “The question of gender is diluting the differences and making the world the same, all dull, all alike, and that is contrary to the human vocation.”

Youngkin is Running for Vice-President (But Could We Please Do Something First?)
Shaun Kenney in The Republican Standard
For one, I’m hesitant when I hear talk about restoring the “Spirit of Virginia” from those looking to leave Virginia for the next big thing in Washington. It probably isn’t even Youngkin, but it is most certainly his handlers. Partly because I want to believe such a thing is sincere rather than a political calculation — yet mostly because we all know that it is indeed rooted in a political calculation.

Mario Arrested For Hate Crime After Leaving Skid Marks On Rainbow Road
The Babylon Bee

Also on this day in history…German astronomer and composer, William Herschel, discovered Uranus.

[Insert middle-school-boy jokes here]

WHAT I’M READING


BORN ON THIS DAY

American singer-songwriter and pianist, Neil Sedaka, was born on this day in 1939.


Available on Amazon.

Friday: Looks like We Made It

I’ve always found that anything worth achieving will always have obstacles in the way and you’ve got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that you want to accomplish.

American actor, producer, and martial artist, Chuck Norris, was born on this day in 1940.

We’ve made it to Friday. Welcome weekend.

It looks as though Spring is really here, even though the calendar says we have another week and a half. I’ve lived in Virginia long enough to know that we can have some nasty weather in March and April. Hopefully, the threat of winter is behind us. It’s been happening though in parts west and north, and they’re welcome to it.

I’ve been using the warmer weather to try to reclaim the yard. I almost have it to where it should have been around the end of October. Almost.

At least I think I have it to the point that the neighbors won’t be showing up with torches and pitchforks.

Still, I could put to work any able bodied mobs carrying farm tools. I’m just sayin’.

Tomorrow night we Spring Back to We’re Not Really Saving Anything Time (™). So, make sure to set your clock. Otherwise you’ll be late for church on Sunday.

As much as I hate the changing of the clocks, I am reminded that, three years ago this Sunday, we were told to go home and not come back for two weeks.

Longest two weeks in history.

For now, it’s time to get on with the work day.

Let’s go watch the clock…er…I mean…let’s get to work.

READ THESE BEFORE YOU GO

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Va. AG slams Spanberger, Wexton, Beyer and Connolly for approving DC criminal code bill
WJLA
Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is slamming Democratic U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer Wexton, Don Beyer and Gerry Connolly for voting to allow D.C.’s controversial criminal code revisions to take effect.

Democrats Warn That Anyone Watching Unedited Jan 6 Footage Could Arrive At Unapproved Conclusion
The Babylon Bee
U.S. — Democrat leaders have issued a dire warning to Americans, saying that anyone who watches unedited clips of the footage from January 6 runs the risk of arriving at a conclusion that hasn’t been approved by Democrat leaders.

Yea, verily, we have lost our minds.

How white and affluent drivers are polluting the air breathed by L.A.’s people of color
L.A. Times
Boeing was careful to note that the study doesn’t conclusively prove that patterns in how Angelenos get to work are solely responsible for different levels of air pollution in different communities.

No smog, Sherlock.

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEKEND