I think I was five years old when I took my first airplane ride. We went to see my aunt Jean and her family. I say might have because I’m sure some details escaped my finely honed five year old mind. Jean, and her husband Danny, had a boy, Kirk, around my age and a girl, Lisa, a couple years younger. Kirk and I got along “okay”. I say that because I don’t know if the fighting started then, or on subsequent visits. There was fighting. Quite a bit of it. 

I never had a brother, so, during these every or every other year visits, Kirk was about the closest thing in those early years. Thus, I wasn’t sure I wanted a brother. Seemed like a lot of fighting. Whatever trouble we got into though, was mediated by Jean’s husband, Danny. He was an affable guy with a southern accent, and he was a big guy, too. In fact, if somebody got out of line, he wouldn’t have to do more than plunk you on the head with a finger, because they were like small Billy clubs. So any ruckus settled down pretty quickly. 

Kirk was all red hair, freckles and bad attitude. I usually didn’t know what was going on in his head but his chaos was at odds with my sense of order, so we got into dust ups a fair number of times. I usually won because even then, I was a fairly solid tree trunk of a kid and he wasn’t movin’ me when I didn’t want to be moved. But that didn’t stop him from trying. Looking back, I’m not sure where the bad attitude came from. Maybe it had to do with Kirk and Lisa both being adopted. Maybe he didn’t feel like he belonged? I don’t know. I can’t pretend to know what that felt like or what effect it has on a person. Perhaps he just couldn’t sit still. Don’t know. Sometimes, it was like wrestling with a freckled tornado, though. 

As we got older and into our early teens though, the fights leveled off a bit and we developed a grudging respect for each other. This just meant we got into trouble together. But better allies than enemies. But Kirk was a wild one. Then, a few years later came the army. Kirk enlisted and after a stint in uniform, he came back literally a new man. Seemingly a lot more thoughtful, respectful, mature and with a purpose. It looked good on him. I was proud of him. 

We were in our 20’s by this time and we saw less and less of each other–not that we saw each other that often to begin with, me being in Chicago, him in North Carolina. He married a girl named Tonia, had three kids, Anthony, Heather and Ashley. Aside from he and Tonia coming up for a visit once in the late (?) ’80’s, that was *maybe* the last time I saw him. Starting out a few states apart tends to make it easy to drift further apart as life grabs hold.

Credit Facebook with giving Kirk and I a platform for communicating back and forth over the past several years, with little comments, jabs and jokes here and there. Not much, but a lot more than in years past. 

I guess Kirk had bought a new farm house a year or so ago, had a big plot of land, and he had been working on it, taking care of it.

Yesterday, while presumably doing just that, Kirk had a heart attack, and he passed away. 

He was 57. 

Although time and distance made strangers of us, I will never forget that red headed maniac.

Rest in peace, cousin.

Over the years, there have been certain shows that have made an attempt to wow us with truly magnificent series finales. It’s not always expected, especially with the dramas that feature stand alone episodes and sometimes they just try and tie things up on a good note. For instance, on Hill Street Blues, Norman Buntz (Dennis Franz), decks the police commissioner after getting fired. He deserved it. On NYPD Blue, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) gets a long over due promotion to captain and was now in charge of the 12th precinct. Sometimes, the finale is just the exclamation point on a series.

Some shows were solid productions that went one step further. St. Elsewhere had a mind blowing ending where it turns out — 30 year old spoiler– that the entire series had all been happening entirely in the imagination of an autistic child. The actual St. Eligius hospital was but a tiny model in a snow globe. Instead of sticking the landing in the usual way, they called an audible and wowed us with the unusual. A Twilight Zone ending. That may have been the first drama to really go crazy on a series finale. I know some 15 or 20 years earlier, The Fugitive wrapped on a conclusive note with a special finale where Dr. Kimbel finally brought the one armed man to justice. Good and expected closure, an example where they needed a big ending — and they stuck the landing!

Comedies are a different animal– most either get cancelled or try to just go out on a good note, nothing huge. Some just go out on top with no special ending (The Dick Van Dyke Show). Maybe just some have a change of direction for cast members, a personal milestone, Etc. Mary Tyler Moore didn’t go big but ended on a transformative note for the cast that was brilliant. The buffoonish anchorman Ted Baxter kept his job, while all the hardworking, intelligent people behind the scenes got fired. I think there are only three exceptions where they went really big (and admittedly, I don’t watch everything so I might have missed certain big moments in shows I don’t watch, etc.) and while going big, all had varying degree of successes. 

Allegedly, the worst of the three was How I met your mother. According to my kids and others who watched it, the ending was a horrible cheat that kinda undercut the entirety of the show. Evidently, they did NOT stick the landing. In the middle, you had Seinfeld, where they tried to do a little too much, but at the same time, I think people expected SO much, that it put them in a lose lose situation. The gist was another example of why the four cast members were bad people and there was a court case with virtually every guest star they ever had coming back in to testify against them and they ended up in jail. It was horrible but it wasn’t great, it was just there.

The all time comedy winner though would be Newhart. Turns out, the entire series was just a dream of Bob Hartley, Newhart’s character on his other popular show, The Bob Newhart show ten years previous. He wakes up in bed with Suzanne Pleshette’s character Emily and describes his “bizarre dream”. It was not only an excellent ending, they stuck the landing hilariously, *and* gave us a mind blowing Twilight Zone ending. 

Some shows shouldn’t try so hard to end big. House is a good example. That was as regrettable as the previous season’s ending where all you got out of it was that he was a much bigger, far more useless, unlikable asshole than you thought before. Kinda tainted the whole previous series for me to an extent. Their eyes were bigger than their stomach.

I give FX’s The Americans points for ending their run on a realistic down note. It was depressing as hell, as the deep cover Russian agent’s cover was blown and they had to leave the country, minus their children. Truly miserable for some characters, but it was true to the story and they did stick the landing, no matter how depressing.

Madmen was more or less a victim of AMC’s annoying tendency to string out finales over two shortened seasons, instead of a regular length one. Matthew Wiener, the showrunner is also at fault. When AMC approached Vince Gilligan about splitting up the final 13 ep season of Breaking Bad into two 8 ep seasons, he agreed and worked MAGIC with the opportunity. Wiener went a different route. Madmen was a show that took place in the ’60’s. It started at the beginning of 1960 and over the first six seasons, brought us near the end of the decade. Instead of the regular length 7th season, AMC convinced Wiener to do two shorter 7 ep seasons. Wiener chose to end the 1960’s at the end of season 7A in 1969, with the moon landing and the death of beloved Bert Cooper, as Robert Morse did a final dance in a farewell production number. Had it ended there, I would have said they stuck the landing and ended on a good note. But it felt like Wiener approached season 7B as more of an add on, a reunion special or maybe coasting as an FU to AMC for breaking up the finale season. Season 7B felt like they were winging it as the cast stumbled into the 1970’s and the future. The season dead ended with the notion that Don Draper allegedly came up with the infamous “I’d like to teach the world to sing” Coca Cola commercial of the early ’70’s. Wiener was being clever and carefree but although many were fine with it, I felt the ending was a disappointing disconnect, not to mention — in my pedantic way — that Don did not come up with the idea. They did not stick the landing.

Deadwood, as excellent a show as it was, did not stick the landing because they never really landed. The show got taken off air after the third season (of a planned five) because HBO would only commit to a shortened fourth season for some stupid reason and creator David Milch pulled the plug as that wouldn’t work for him or the story he wanted to tell. It was ten years before Milch would be able to revisit the show, actually placing it ten years down the line in history as well, giving some much needed and appreciated closure. So in its way, it finally managed to stick the landing.

Sopranos was a case where creator David Chase wanted to get clever with a “pick your own” ending as the final scene simply, abruptly cut to black, so *you* were left to decide what exactly happened, whether it was just a statement saying “life goes on”, or maybe Tony went to prison or maybe things went black because Tony got whacked and the statement there was “you never see it coming”. It would be a good decade or more before Chase slipped up in an interview about the ending and actually referred to it as the death scene. A moment later, he realized he gave it up. Oops! But it confirmed what many thought, that you just never do see it coming. So, I *suppose* they stuck the landing. Maybe *you* should decide. 

Breaking Bad is the gold standard though. As excellent and as perfect an ending as a great show could have. None have come close to equaling it. Probably the most beautiful landing of all. And years later, we got a special epilogue that went down really nicely via Netflix, El Camino. You always take a chance when you revisit such a classic show, because you run the risk of lessening the original production in some way. No fear here though. It was a very nice addendum to the proceedings. They stuck the landing there too. And of course Better Call Saul, the BB prequel spinoff series is thundering toward it’s conclusion, which leads up to events of BB and beyond. Very much looking forward on how they fit that into the puzzle.

On the OTHER end of the spectrum, as fantastic as the end to Breaking Bad was, THAT’s how horrible the finale to Dexter was. This lump of unbelievable excrement capped a series which was actually on a quality downswing for the last four of its eight seasons, getting worse and worse as Dexter’s activities, actions and storylines became less and less plausible each season. A truly horrible, insulting and disappointing ending to what was once a god show. So there you have your two extremes.

If there are any stand out examples I’ve missed, please chime in and we can discuss.

With the MLB season delayed, potentially truncated or even abandoned all together this year, it just occurred to me–I have to wonder if some members of the Houston Astros aren’t feeling like they dodged a bullet. Mind you, I’m only referring to the dirtbags that participated in the cheating the last three years. During the first month of spring training this year, whether they were playing in their own facility or visiting other teams, every time the Astros took the field or stepped up to bat, they were hailed with boos. And they’d usually get at *least* one person in each crowd who’d loudly call them out on their cheating. It got to the point where players and even other mangers were like “enough already!”

But no, no, no…people in each town want to have their say, their pound of flesh, and I can’t blame them one bit. Not one bit. But now, with the arrival of COVID-19, the dirt bags get a reprieve from the boos and the venom– because we’ve got more pressing things to worry about and far better people to care about. Hard to imagine anyone benefiting from this mess but a handful of arrogant millionaire athletes are getting yet another break after spitting on their sport and giving us the finger. 

It’s a shame, and really, it may mark me as a petty and vindictive individual for this to even be occurring to me with all the actual *important* stuff going on. 

But A) I have a lot of time on my hands, and I think a lot, B) I can be very petty and vindictive, depending on the cause, and C) what’s happening now doesn’t mean they’re any less guilty of their crimes. The actual players/perpetrators faced no penalties, no fines. They got off scott free. The Karma train is still comin’.

So, if you’re a baseball fan and you need a little something to distract you from you know what, just think about the fact that, if the season does resume this year, the Astros still have to show up at Yankee stadium for the first *since* all the news broke. 

Yeah. Something to look forward to, because the thing IS.

Back when we had the family room addition put on in 2000 (because the kids refused to stop growing), I took advantage of the whole side of the house being exposed, with the easy access, to have air conditioning in. 

Yes, from 1992 to 2000, we had no AC in the house. The house was built somewhere between 1910 and 1919 and had its original radiator heat but that was it. So we had a space pack put in. Basically, a unit outside and another section inside with tubes running up through the house. The place that put it in was run by an incompetent moron (didn’t find this out until later) but he did charge less and then he inevitably went out of business. I had any further repairs (if needed) done by companies who charged more but at least they knew what they were doing. All in all, an excellent arrangement, but we definitely had to put in AC. Up until then, we had to survive with one window unit in what was then the family room (just inside the front door), with a shower curtain separating that room from the rest of the house. That was not an energy efficient situation. Mind you, the main floor was also half the size it is currently. We put another window unit up in Theresa’s room (that was also Matthew’s room when he showed up). 

It was manageable but yeah, we jumped at the chance to put in the new system. There have been occasional issues over the years but only one big purchase– a new exterior unit outside (a Lennox), which is allegedly a solid brand. The company we usually resort to for AC and plumbing issues has had to make some fixes in the past but I’ve learned a few tricks over the years. Aside from the normal, common sense stuff like changing the filter, and covering the top during the winter, there’s the cleaning of the exterior unit. The company offers a yearly maintenance service but evidently the cleaning is extra. Honestly, I expect a $125 maintenance charge to cover CLEANING THE UNIT. Bastards. 

Basically, there’s a dusty gunk that builds up over the delicate, metal mesh grid on the unit. All this is protected by slatted metal grates around the machine. All bolted on by special bolts. They charge another $150 to take those off and clean the mesh. 

However, if you take your garden hose, with thumb added pressurization, you can spray –at an appropriate angle — into and through the grate, shearing all the gunk off the mesh without disturbing it. Takes about 10, 15 minutes but it results in a clean unit. 

How’s your unit? Is your unit clean? Do people appreciate the look and cleanliness of your unit?

You should try and give your unit a good cleaning once a year minimum. Preferably now, in early spring. I just did it in fact, taking advantage of the sunny, 60 degree weather. This way, any water I did get in there will dry off and if by some chance we get up in the 80’s soon, I’ll be ready. And yeah, with our weather, you never know. Just a few days ago. It got up to 78. Crazy. 

Got my filters, got my unit clean, ready for action. 

Bring on the spring/summer heat, bitches. 

From autumn of 1967 to spring of 1973, I attended Gasteyer elementary school. Kindergarten through the middle of fifth grade. Barely remember the outside of the school except for the playground with some dangerous slides and that the school was red/brown brick. I don’t really remember any teachers or things that went on inside the school except one event. 

Last student leaving the class room had to turn off the light. One time, that was me. For some reason, a staple had been inserted right underneath the light switch. Prankster? Dunno. I flicked the switch with my finger, the switch, jammed, would not go down, so my finger slid off the switch, made contact with one end of the protruding staple and ZAP. Mini explosion, sparks, smoke, melted switch plate, and me staring at the fried end of my fingertip like an idiot. There was like a hole burnt in the end of the finger. It must have hurt like hell. It was a bizarre occurrence and I have no idea if anyone was ever apprehended for sticking a staple in there. I’m sure I was taken to the nurse and sent home.

Which was right across the street, baby! 

Yep, I lived across the street from school, so I got to go home for lunch every day, rambling across 99th street– fairly quiet neighborhood road and home, where my grandmother or “Gama” as I used to call her, would have lunch ready for me. And to accompany the daily feast, I got to watch Bozo’s Circus at lunch time. 

Bozo, the world’s most famous clown! Oliver O’ Oliver! Sandy the tramp! The big top Band! Whoever the guest act was! Ringmaster Ned, (that’s he!), and a cast of thousands! It was all very exciting, being a youngster. Bozo’s circus was a dependable staple (ouch) of my daily routine. 

Bozo himself, a tall, gangly fella, with an all red suit (later blue), big wide red hair, giant blue shoes and a great laugh. He had a great comedy style– not too dissimilar from Bugs Bunny really. They both skirted the edges of humor that worked on two levels, kids and adults. Oliver O Oliver was a hayseed and the second banana, while Sandy was the little hobo clown who never said a word. They were usually all corralled and kept in check by Ringmaster Ned. The clowns did a few comedy sketched every day, cartoons were shown, and they’d have a different guest act each day. Acrobats, unicyclists, jugglers, dog acts, you name it. The most nerve wracking were the plate spinners. For a kid watching a plate spinner do their act, it was the child’s equivalent of trying to sell your house, you have only one possible buyer and you’re both operating on contingents. 

The sketches were usually fun and occasionally, you could tell the boys were laughing about something we weren’t supposed to know but the moms and dads in the audience were sure laughing. The stands were always packed with moms, dads and kids. It was the hottest ticket in all of Chicago. Screw present day Hamilton or season tickets for the Cubs. At one point, there was like a 12 year waiting list for tickets to Bozo’s Circus! And games! Magic arrows would search the audience (no…just a mom) to pick a boy and a girl to play the GRAND PRIZE GAME! You had to stand behind the line and throw a ping pong ball into a series of buckets lined up in front of you. Make a bucket, get a prize. Make all *six*, oh yes, a new Schwinn bike! 

After all the fun and excitement, Ringmaster Ned would blow his whistle, say good bye and announce that it was time for the Grand March! Then Bozo would do a high steppin’ dance as he led everyone out of the studio, twirling his baton. Then it was back to school for me. Good times.

Bob Bell played Bozo for many years and inspired and entertained thousands of kids. In fact, Dan Castallaneta, voice of Homer Simpson and a dozen other voices on the Simpsons, *based* Krusty the clown’s voice on Bob Bell’s Bozo voice. 

There were other clowns in the entourage over the years. Ray Rayner stopped playing Oliver to go on and do his daily morning show for me and thousands of other kids, playing with Chelviston the Duck, Cuddly Dudley at his house, playing cartoons, etc. that was my morning! There was also Cooky the clown, Whizzo, and others. Eventually Bell retired and there was a new Bozo for a new age. All things must come to an end, as did the Bozo show years later but those lunchtimes were a lot of fun. 

Bozo. 

The only Clown I ever liked. 

Although that’s to be expected with the World’s Most Famous. 

There are colorful activities and then there are colorful activities. If you’re referring to holding court after a few beers, yakking it up as a group during bad video night or bar hopping on a tropical vacation, yes, I have been a very solid and entertaining representative of those colorful activities. 

But if you’re referring to the more physically demanding or daring activities like skiing, skydiving, jet skiing and the like, no, I am not the poster boy for these things. Now, more than ever. I do regularly work out and go running when the weather’s nice but those are fairly normal activities, well within the scope of my abilities. But other things….

I’ve never been great at balance and have a weird thing about needing to always be grounded in some fashion. This explains why certain activities have been tried by me, failed utterly by me and finally condemned by me, often never to be attempted again. Don’t. Ask. Me.

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In the late ’70’s in high school, I tried skiing for the first time. Slipping on the boots of discomfort, I felt akin to Frankenstein, clomping around, feeling ready to fall over– and I wasn’t even on the skis yet. I spent all my time attached to the tow rope, sliding awkwardly down the bunny hill until I picked up the slightest bit of speed, which–I was certain –was seconds away from turning into warp speed, so I allowed gravity to help complete the sloppy fall I’d begun ten minutes earlier. And so it went, back and forth and I hated every minute of it. I didn’t have the coordination, temperament or patience for it. Ten years later, a couples Colorado skiing trip opportunity came up. Being in my late ’20’s, I couldn’t very well be the grumpy old man who never does anything or go anywhere (I was still saving that charming nuance) and Linda wanted to go as it was her friends, so what the hell. I think there were six of us total. Some flew there, some lived there and we all rented a cottage of some sort and were there for a long weekend. Times were had (I think). I’m not sure because of the balance, the contrasting memories. I’m not sure who else was even on the trip or if I spent much time with them socially. They’re a blur. That’s the part of the trip when I *wasn’t* thinking I was going to fly off a cliff on skis. So they don’t stand out. 

The country was truly beautiful. Trees, mountains, just exquisite. I remember that and leaping off a ski lift, managing to get up on the skis, facing a mindblowing mountain landscape, felt a fear of heights kick in, meandering a short distance on skis, speeding up TOO FAST, going down, getting up, rinse, repeat. You kind of have to keep “getting back on the horse” in this situation particularly, because you have to get down the mountain. And I did for a bit, but then I realized A) I’m missing some great scenery with all this slapstick and B) it’ll be faster if I walk down the mountain. 

I suppose we flew home after that. Lovely mountains. I’d love to go back some day and not ski there. We have now encapsulated the entirety of my skiing history, as I am a man of infrequent action.

Next time we dip into this area, it’ll be all about water sports because the thing IS. 

This is the other favorite U.K. Panel show. Jimmy Carr is the presenter, a very funny man with a ridiculous laugh, quizzing three celebrity duos as the teams. Usually, it only happens once a year, celebrating with questions about the previous year. But I was delighted to see this year they not only did “The Big Fat Quiz of 2019” but also did an additional one for the whole previous decade (the 2010’s). A few years ago, they also did a smaller weekly series (the Big Fat Quiz of Everything) but that was the odd group out. Usually it’s one show dedicated to the whole previous year. And it’s a hoot.

Depending on how familiar you are with varied British tv celebrities, you may recognize some of the personalities, such as Richard Ayoade from the IT Crowd or Noel Fielding from the Great British Baking Show. But there’s always a new selection of participants, like Russell Brand, Jonathan Ross, Bob Mortimer, and many more. The show itself, even without commercials is usually close to two hours edited down, so I imagine that it takes them at least twice that to film the extravaganza. It devolves nicely into a party atmosphere.

The atmosphere is very fun and laid back though and depending on the team, they’ll just as likely go for laughs as they will the correct answers, points be damned. The questions are broken down into sections featuring tv, sports, politics, etc. from all around the world, so it’s a bit of a crap shoot as to who knows how much about what. 

In the end, it’s basically a built in fun evening of laughs, and you’ve got least 20 entries on YouTube going back some 15 years, so enjoy!

Over in the United Kingdom, they love their game shows–I mean, “Panel Shows”. They’ve got loads of panel shows over there featuring celebrities who have fun matching wits with one another and there’s little emphasis on points. 

Via the YouTube app on my tv, I’ve checked out a few of these, and in some of them, the dry wit is in fact SO dry, that thank heaven water is provided on set, lest the participants choke on their comedic stylings. Others focus so heavily on British politics and inside stuff that the humor’s sometimes lost on us outsiders.

But once in a while, you find that sweet spot. The show that appeals to many, yet never has to dumb it down. Where, though dry wit is appreciated, *quick* wit wins the day. 

Would I Lie To You is one of my two favorite panel shows, which has seen 12 seasons so far. The set up is simple. There are two teams of three. One is always captained by David Mitchell (Peep Show, That Mitchell and Webb Look), with celebs on his left and right. The other team’s perennial captain is Lee Mack (Not Going Out), with his guest celebrity teammates. Rob Brydon is the host. The celebs take turns reading statements from cards they’re provided. The opposing team has to determine whether the statement is true or not, by asking the reader questions.

Now, the person reading the statement is either very familiar with the statement–however ridiculous it might seem, as it really happened to them and might try and sell it as if they’re uncertain or unfamiliar, to throw off the opposing team. OR… the statement is totally made up by the writers, and the celebrity has to quickly think on their feet to try and handle the barrage of questions coming their way, casually explaining away fiction as fact. 

Now, the comedy hits from a lot of directions, as people try to bluff, double bluff and sometimes triple bluff their way out of these holes they’ve been plunged into. I’ll give two examples with Lee Mack, who might be the fastest wit on the show, barely bypassing Mitchell.

One– there’s a feature where there’s an item to be shown along with reading the statement. In this case, a large ring of keys, that Mack said were his. He knew what all of them were for except one. So, of course he had to name what each and every key was for, plus the odd bits and tags attached. What followed was Mack operating on all cylinders to come up with the appropriate doors, gates and hatches for each key and bit, right down to an odd attachment labeled “P.B.U.”. All the while, the other celebs, particularly Mitchell, are luxuriating in watching him try to wriggle out of the latest predicament he’s found himself in. It was a lie and those were not his keys but to see him tread water is hilarious.

Two– reading the card, Mack states that he’s come up with an ingenious way of remembering the names of all the Teletubbies, and the rest of the gang settle in to hear his mental machinations. Once again, the explanation sounds like last second BS but then, the opposing team has to vote on whether he’s lying or telling the truth and if he’s fooled them, his team gets the point. If not, they do. 

It really is quite brilliant and simple at the same time.

There is also, “This is my…”, a feature where a stranger comes out and each member of a team has to explain who the person is. 

“This is Jim, he’s the man who broke my son’s arm”

“This is Jim, a clown who once comforted me after a fire”

“This is Jim, he once landed on my roof”

Only one of the stories and relationship is true, but the opposing team has to figure out who, of the three is telling the truth, and it’s never simple.

It really is entertaining as all hell and even though you probably won’t recognize any of the celebrities–it doesn’t matter. Each and every one of them either gets chucked in the deep end or have to put on a deceptive and confident performance –or both–to fool the opposition. 

My only regret is that they only do ten 30 minute shows a year but with 12 seasons, if you’re interested, you’ve got 120 eps waiting for you.

And that is the truth. Enjoy.

Had my appt. and 3 hour immunotherapy session in the chair. They had good security and a checkpoint at the door, where they asked people questions, made sure they were masked up and took their temperature. 

Talking to the Doc, he said they predict that we’re supposed to hit “the peak” this week or next. 

I said–but they don’t know that do they? 

He said no, they have no idea, they’re guessing. 

So it could be another month until the peak? I asked.  

Possibly, he said but he thinks it’ll happen sooner. 

What worries him is when people can *SAFELY* go back to their lives—-as opposed to when people will say “Oh, I’m sick of this!” and ACTUALLY just start going back to their lives, consequences for others be damned. Because yeah, we’re a big herd of epileptic cats that just can’t take this “horrible horrible torture”. 

Mind you, there’s nothing stopping you from going outside and talking a walk, or a bike or car ride. *Just don’t start mingling with people. 

I’m all for hitting the peak because it shows progression, as then it’ll start to drop and we can begin THAT span of time.

But yes, after we hit it, that just means a couple more months at least that we’ll have to stay holed up. This worries me. Because *nice weather or not*, if people hear “oh, we hit the peak!” and then decide they can start socializing around with everybody again, which will only start spreading it again.

I wish people would just get it in their heads that this reality will have to stay in place for a while. The SECOND any stay at home orders came down, people IMMEDIATELY started groaning, wanting to get back out, so it’ll just get worse as the weather gets better. Jesus Christ, we might miss some sunny days! 

If we just can’t manage to do the smart thing, sure, we’ll all end up getting it, what the hell. An extra, disposable, 100,000 people dying off because Joe Shmoe simply *must* get back to his favorite restaurant. And oh, Plain Jane just *has* to get out there with her girlfriends. 

It just pisses me off. When it gets warmer, the cases will lessen but the virus isn’t going away. Warm weather’s not a cure. And there will be a second wave this fall. Hopefully not as bad but with this thing, we have absolutely no real idea if that’s true. Could be worse. Don’t know. Dr. Fauci has said this virus is a moving target and that makes it more dangerous than SARS. 

If you get the thought in your head that “Oh, it’s no worse than the flu” well, remember, Brainiac, the flu also kills the elderly and immune compromised too and yeah this IS worse.

If you think it’s no big deal like the news anchor who defiantly went to her grandmother’s birthday party to be with her—last I heard, the grandmother caught it from her and is on a ventilator.

If you refuse to take precautions, like Britain’s PM, Boris Johnson, who insisted on shaking all the hands of all the foreign dignitaries, well, he tested positive and after a few days in bed, “still running the country”, he’s now been taken into intensive care. 

And if you somehow think this whole thing is a hoax or a conspiracy—well, yes. Yes it is. And we know where you live and agents are coming to get you with “devices”. So crawl into your bunker and stay there forever. After that, someone will tell you when it’s safe to come out.

*Thank God for the health care professionals that are the ones actually fighting this thing, putting themselves at risk, every day, while we moan about not being able to go out and play. If, when this thing is over, EACH and EVERY city, better goddamn well throw them a parade, or honor them in some way. Lord knows, we have no idea when we can ever hug them again. 

We don’t know everything about COVID-19 but we’re getting a better idea on how long the symptoms last, just from the thousands that have had it. A mild case sticks with you for around two weeks.

BAD cases that hit the elderly, the immunocompromised, or anyone really, they can last anywhere from three to six weeks. Imagine someone you loved being put in that position, feeling like there are bricks on their chest, not being able to breathe, finally being put on a ventilator. Imagine them going through this for 3 to an ungodly six weeks. Then, after that hell, they die.

All because it was really nice out, and you really just can’t stand being cooped up and you had to just get out there and screw around with your buddies in the park. Everyone in the group feels fine but two of you had it and now everyone does and you brought it home to the family, as did your friends. Then two weeks later, you all start showing symptoms. and for 20% of the group, it turns into a real shit show or a grave or both.

Sorry, Had to vent. A lot of people are incredibly stupid. 

Finally, a comparison. Decades ago, our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were called upon to storm the beach at Normandy and run into the jaws of death…

While we’re being called upon to do this…

We can handle that….right?

Life Under The Oppressive Thumb of COVID-19 is pretty much like life was before it, for me, anyway. Remember, I’m the guy who barely left the house for the last several years. 

But for everyone else, this is becoming quite the shift in people’s routines. Maybe that’s a good thing, and not just from a medical standpoint.

Sure, before this bug bit, brick and mortar establishments were on the decline, in favor of online sales. More and more and more people were retreating behind their keyboards every day to do their shopping, play their games and of course bully and bitch. Civilization was slowly disassembling into a scattered and isolated cyber-community. Human interaction was becoming less and less a thing. In another 50 years, it’s really hard to tell what form the human community would take, as we chose to slowly withdraw and get virtual. More and more people were choosing to hunker down, plug in and tune out.

But then comes COVID-19 and basically takes the choice out of our hands. Now, if you want to protect yourself, your loved ones and others, you make the responsible sacrifice and stay home. Some can’t for a variety of reasons, mostly medical and financial but those that do, can’t help but be a party to becoming reacquainted with human interaction. Medical house arrest means you’re spending a lot more time at home with family. When you finally take a break from your screen, they’re there. As this gets worse, it occurs to you that they could get sick. Or you could. Maybe the screen isn’t as important as it was. The screen will always be there. Mom and dad or grandma or grandpa… maybe not. A little fear bringing the family together. 

And when you go back to the screen because mom and dad and grandma and grandpa are driving you insane, you reach out to some people you haven’t contacted in a while, see how they’re doing. If you’re family is separated and isolated, then the screen becomes your ally again with a video conference here or there. 

In another (hopefully) six months when this thing winds down and we’re free to congregate again, to get OUT, I really wonder if we’ll see a new era of people getting together more, hugging more, celebrating more and less walking around like zombies on their phones. Families actually sitting around the dinner table, *talking* to each other. That’d be interesting. 

Or do we end up staying in our refuge and away from each other, even if the coast is clear, in case another bug emerges? Sticking with then long established protocols in an effort to cut any new bug off at its knees before it can get a foothold in the populace?

I guess it depends what the next six (?) months holds. We’ll see.