3/27/2020 Coronavirus Quick Hitters

Things have been different for us all during this pandemic. We're eating at home more. I'm checking on mom and my siblings a little more often than usual. Our social circle, like mostly everyone with a conscience and common decency, has shrunk considerably. Things will get back to normal. I'm going to keep telling myself that till they do.

My 401k and retirement investments took a beating. It's amazing, considering how much hard work and discipline went into saving for retirement, to watch it erode like the sand coming out from under you feet at the beach after a wave washes over them, then rushes back to the sea. Things will get back to normal.

Chloroquine is going to turn out to be an effective treatment for this virus. Effective treatment will be the game changer we need for things to get back to normal. Game changer.

Testing, 1,2,3. Testing 1,2,3. We were slow to get off the starting blocks with testing, but we sure are testing now. Not surprisingly, more tests are identifying more people infected with the virus. Many made valid critique of the Trump Administration's slow start in testing. They've rectified that. Yesterday I read that the tests that the Spaniards and Italians got from China are only 30% effective in identifying Coronavirus. Didn't anybody test those tests? Testing 1,2,3. Testing 1,2,3.

The news was bonkers last night. "The U.S. now has the highest number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the world!" Well no shit. Testing 1,2,3. Testing 1,2,3. When you test more and more people, you find more and more cases. Does anyone really believe we have more cases than China does? You do? Have you been tested for stupidity? Testing 1,2,3. Testing 1,2,3.

I don't know that it will ever be proven, and it's more likely that even if it is the Chinese will deny it forever, but I believe Coronavirus was on the loose before December 2019/January 2020. Travelers to and from Wuhan transported the stuff around the world, and likely more like October or November of 2019, maybe even sooner.

The more testing we do, the lower the mortality rate will be. I'm not a scientist. I couldn't decipher the data even if I had it. But if we start wide scale, random testing, and can add testing for the Coronavirus antigens, too, meaning testing people who have an immunity, too, we will find out a lot more people had this crud than we ever thought. Yep. More Testing 1,2,3. Testing 1,2,3. We may even find out the severity of the reaction to it, closing businesses and all the rest, was overkill. But if you ask me, overkill to prevent deaths is erring on the right side of things.

I don't believe that this pandemic is the result of Chinese bio-warfare aimed at damaging our economy because we were gaining leverage and working toward an upper hand. Whether the origin was unsanitary food conditions or an escaped bio-weapon, who knows? If it was an accidental bio-weapon release, the Chinese will never admit it and we'll never prove it. But regardless, it doesn't seem plausible to me that the Chinese did this on purpose as part of their scheme of global domination. Stop thinking that.

Shame on the Congress and Senate for packing the relief package with pork. I advocate new legislation that under a national emergency any legislation to address a specific national emergency can ONLY include items specifically to address the emergency. If they want to make a deal on the side, that's one thing, but putting shit that has nothing to do with the emergency in there opportunistically? No. Stop doing that!

Nothing has happened, not one single thing, since this pandemic, that has made me wish that Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, or Michelle Obama, or anyone else, other than Trump was president right now. Nothing. Yeah, he calls the virus from China a Chinese Virus. Sure, they were quick to close the travel lanes from China, but a little slow to get the testing started. Yes, he presided over cutbacks to some of the previous federal bureaucracy that was in place. The team he assembled, and the work they are doing reassures me that those cutbacks were the right thing to do. In my wildest dreams I can't conjure up visions of Joe or Bernie briefing us on this crisis and feeling lucky they're at the helm. If you really, really do, then vote for them.

Drs. Birx and Fauci have been phenomenal in dealing with this pandemic and explaining it to us on a day to day basis. President Trump is well advised to keep them engaged and front and center. Each in their own way, I have become a huge admirer of both. I really don't give two shits if you don't like Fauci because he's a friend of Hillary Clinton. If you measure every single goddamned issue and person that way, you're no better than never-Trumpers and Resisters, a bunch of losers so blinded by partisanship that your morality, that your good vs. evil, is predicated more on who did it than what they did. Stop doing that! It makes you look stupid.

And finally, I read a letter to the editor yesterday, I think it was in the Wall Street Journal. May have been the NY Post, I'm not sure. But the letter ended with this (paraphrased): "It's time to stop fighting each other, we have this virus to fight." I get a sense that so many want to be on the winning side of a win-lose equation in which Trump is the loser, that they'll take illogical and detrimental positions just because those positions counter Trump's. Trump's rising approval numbers during this crisis show that it's not working. Trump's handling of this crisis will get him re-elected, if you ask me. We're in uncharted waters here. Irrational second-guessing predicated on your hatred of the man is largely unconvincing and ineffective.

3/23/2020: The Wuhan Covid-19 Era, Era of the Selfish Bastards!

A lot of us have had a hard time working through the new social distancing. There are people in hospitals and nursing homes who can't have visitors, and their families are at home, enduring the painful sadness that they can't visit. People are losing their jobs, having hours cut, and in some cases, losing a loved one. A lot of people have shown their true colors this last few weeks, some for the good. After early partisan jousting, NY Governor Cuomo, someone I'm not a big fan of, and President Trump have shown good leadership and cooperation, setting aside their partisanship to work together to address vital needs during this crisis. That's just two examples of MANY, MANY who have stepped up for the good of the people. Some haven't. This post is for the rotten, selfish bastards.

Florida Spring Break Selfish Bastards

How about the selfish bastard spring breaker selfish bastards? Are they some selfish bastards, or what? To anyone under the age of 40 or so: if you're thinking you're not at risk, you got shit you want to do, so you're going to do it, you know what? You're a stupid selfish bastard. One selfish bastard spring breaker went full selfish bastard on television, explaining how he'd been looking forward to spring break for two months, no way he was letting it slip away. I wanted to smack that little selfish bastard back to wherever his selfish bastard ass came from.

Then there are the grocery store selfish bastards. Toilet paper! Affectionately called 'shitpaper' in my Marine Corps days, what kind of selfish bastard needs 100, 200, or 300 rolls of toilet paper at one time? Only a major league asshole of a selfish bastard needs 200 rolls of toilet paper.

Store Shelves Ransacked By Grocery Store Selfish Bastards

Yesterday, or maybe it was Saturday, I saw a picture on Twitter of a selfish bastard woman at a Kroger with a grocery basket full to the brim with chicken.

Greedy Rotten Selfish Bastard Selfishly Depriving Other Shoppers of Chicken

Now, I'm not sure, but this selfish bastard's selfish bastard family isn't going to eat all this chicken in one selfish sitting. I'm quite fed up with these selfish bastards, if you haven't already picked up on it. So, to all you selfish bastards everywhere: go to selfish bastard hell. I hope you like Selfish Bastard Hell's provisions, where everything is in short supply, and there are other selfish bastards all around you who have everything you need in massively excessive quantities. Of coarse, they're selfish bastards, too, and won't share, but they will offer to sell your selfish bastard self all the chicken, ass wipes, toilet paper and hand sanitizers you need at a 1000% markup. Short of cash? You poor, unfortunate selfish bastard. You're shit out of luck, you selfish bastard.

3/20/2020 - Don't Believe China!

For the last couple of days I've seen a number of stories in U.S. media touting the success of the Chinese in dealing with the Wuhan or Chinese coronavirus. Even though I'm not supposed to be touching my face, I find my palm on my forehead each time I see one. People: they were lying to us then, they're lying to us now. But hey, if you want to extol the great successes of the Chi-Coms on the one hand, and on the other criticize the US response, then you go for it. I don't know everything about this virus, or about what goes on in China, or even what all we are and aren't doing. But if you're complimenting the Chinese and criticizing us simultaneously, your logic is contorted to fit your bias.

Wall Street Journal Photo

What if the virus was spreading around Wuhan and China months BEFORE we first learned of it? Supposedly the first case was December 1, 2019. Do we know for sure how the supposed first person contracted it? The person wasn't at the market from where the first cluster of cases is 'believed' to have come, some four weeks or so later. I put believed as a quotation because I don't believe the Chinese even a little. I suspect it is entirely possible that not only was there human to human transmission of the virus taking place in Wuhan BEFORE December, 2019. And supposing that to be the case, who's to say the virus wasn't carried abroad from Wuhan much sooner than we have been thinking?

Do we know that there weren't undiagnosed or incorrectly diagnosed cases of WuFlu in the US prior to Jan 14th, which according to the US Center for Disease Control, was the date of the first case in the US? I don't know, but I doubt it. The disease isn't severe in all demographic groups. What if a lot of what we thought was normal 'flu season' was actually the first appearances of WuFlu? One thing I've learned from this pandemic is that there is way more international air travel to and from Wuhan, a place frankly I'd never heard of before this, than even after I had heard of it, that I'd have guessed.

Now, this may be a little far-fetched, so I am not asserting it is true, but do you remember what happened last April? A Chinese national woman was arrested trying to enter Mar A Lago. What if? I mean, holy crap! What if? Do you remember in January of this year, a Harvard professor was arrested for espionage? The story centers around recruitment of US scientists to work for the Chinese where? Wuhan. And if I recall, the story also mentioned smuggling vials of biological materials out of the US to China. I'm not sure what, if anything, these stories have to do with Wuhan coronavirus, but it's stuff that makes me go, "Hmmmm?"

Sure, those incident likely had nothing to do with any of this. Can we rule it out? Should we? The Chinese have been up to no good for a long, long time. And even if those things  had nothing to do with anything, don't be the Resistance douchebag reporter extolling China's efforts and progress in fighting back the Chinese virus, and turn around and bash the US response. I know you hate Trump. I know you swoon over the magical mystery of life in a communist paradise. But, as I touched in passing, I also know you're a douchebag. Stop believing China, douchebags! And stop believing these douchebags, people!

No Camping: Coronavirus Rules

Travel trailer vacations aren't looking as good as they did a few days ago, as state by state yesterday announced closures their state park campgrounds. This no doubt will affect our travel plans, and the plans of many, many thousands of others. No doubt the impact is greater on full-time RVers, who are far more in numbers than I ever thought until I started preparing for our own adventures.

In addition, other curfews and closures are announced here, there, everywhere, seemingly by the minute. Schools, churches, social clubs, and self-help groups are canceling meetings or offering virtual alternatives. Many of you are working at home, others are still in the office, shop, or store, but working with an abundance of precaution and care. Restaurants and bars in many places have greatly reduced seating, with food being offered to go, but no dining in allowed. I'm sure employee hours are being cut and some places may already have layoffs. Amazon announced it's hiring 100,000. An Amazon job may not be many people's cup of tea, but it shows there may be opportunities out there for people who need the work and money, if they're willing.

Caroline and I went to the Punta Gorda Walmart the other day. I was impressed. They were out of the stuff you keep hearing about: hand sanitizers and surface sanitizer/cleaners. They were also low on some of the staples: various meats, soups, etc., but the only thing on our list that we couldn't get, since we knew we wouldn't get and didn't bother with the TP or sanitizers, was pasta. And we do have pasta on the shelf, so it wasn't an immediate need. One thing I want to mention about that visit to Walmart is about the employees. I could see the Walmart employees looked stressed out, but with no exceptions, they were working hard and remained helpful and cheerful. I made it a point to say hi, tell them I could see how hard they were working, and to thank them. I did so to five or six, and I got very friendly and appreciated thanks from them all for it.

Before I wind this post up, I recognize I've nearly broken the golden rule. I've nearly concluded a post about the Covid-19 Coronavirus, the Wuhan Flu, and haven't encouraged you to wash your hands. Can't do that! And also, to encourage you to be nice to the stressed out people where you shop, eat, and do other business. Check in on your elderly neighbors. With proper precautions, a little kindness, and maybe just a little prayer, we will surely get through this.

So please, please, please: wash your hands. A lot.  Have a great day, friends! God bless.

Losing Sleep Over Covid-19

I am not panicking because of this damned virus. That being said, I am finding the situation troubling enough that last night I felt stressed out, same as I did during the most difficult of times in the past. I had trouble getting to sleep, and this morning found myself awake at 4:25. I haven't felt this way since retirement.

First and foremost, I'm worried about my parents. I don't know that they'll catch the virus, but if it spreads half as much as some of the worst projections indicate, my mom and stepfather will be in great danger. After much thought and considerable anxiety over the decision, I canceled our trip to visit this week so I can be sure I won't be the one who exposes them to it. But for them at 81, she'll be 82 this coming Friday, and 90, respectively, I don't know that they're capable of self-quarantine to the extent they'd need to to stay clear of it. I saw a news report last night in which the Governor of California has asked all people in his state over 65 to self quarantine. Meanwhile they're still going to the grocery, playing golf, dining socially with friends. Even if I were to drive over weekly to do their shopping so they could quarantine in place, I don't think they would at this point. Am I the only one worried about their parents this way?

Then there's my trip to Italy and cruise of the Mediterranean. Cancelled early of our own good sense, we were inconvenienced. But looking forward, I believe our travel plans for the next month or two have to change, too. We had been planning to drive up to Louisville, spend a week or so up there, then to drive back down with our granddaughter, and spend a week and half or so here with her, before bringing her back. While she was to be here we planned on a visit to mom's and a day trip to Disney, the Magic Kingdom. As of now, I'm sure Disney is off, I'm not even sure making two round trips driving is a great idea, either. I told Caroline last night if we drive up to see Harper and the kids, we'd likely be better off spending the week and a half up there and saving at least one round trip. Am I the only one who's worried about travel this way?

Then there's the economy. I feel like we're watching a train wreck in slow motion. This past weekend was just one announcement of either businesses cutting back in response to how the virus is affecting them, half empty airplanes and hotels, restaurants and bars, etc. On top of that, cruise lines canceling operations for a month, and various states announcing curfews and mandatory closures of restaurants and bars. As badly as my investments have been affected so far, I think the worst is yet to come. And as far as the business closures go, both self-imposed and government mandated, I see a terrible double-edged sword type dilemma leadership is facing making and mandating the closures: nobody in a leadership position can afford to under-react to the virus. If the worst projections did turn out to be true, and they contribute by under-reacting, the blaming and second guessing will be fatal to their business and political interests, on top of the toll in lives. And even if it's not as bad as predicted, these steps being taken to close up in case it is, are sure to ripple through the economy and put many businesses and livelihoods at risk. I'm worried about the worldwide economy being decimated as an outcome of this, no matter how the next 6 months or so plays out.

I'm more pissed off than worried by how some people are acting during this crisis. First, there are too many young adults who think it's no big deal and are doing their best to completely ignore it. It's not likely to kill a 30 year old man or woman, and they have to go on living, right? So there are some, even some WITH the virus, living life as if nothing is going on, nothing is changing. And maybe they're in the end going to be proven right. But I don't think so. It's pretty goddamned selfish to be ignoring this whole thing. "It ain't gonna kill me, so what the fuck?" Asshole! And then there's the second thing. Hoarding food, cleaners, hand sanitizers, toilet paper? I mean, damn. Stores are low on supplies, having to adjust hours, not only so they can clean the places up and try to sanitize, but to restock shelves, too. I just can't believe the selfish bastards. Some of the worst offenders are damned near criminal. I saw a story about a guy who had bought up 17,700 or so bottles of hand sanitizer to sell aftermarket after making significant price markups. There's something called entrepreneurial spirit, but there's also predatory price gouging. I worry that a crisis too often brings out the worst in people.

And then there's the politics. I can't stand the politics anymore. I'm angry about the politics and I should let it go, maybe laugh it off, but I can't. It's no joke. Has the Trump Administration been perfect 10's across the board on this? No, they haven't, he hasn't. The situation was, is, and will continue to be fluid. As the virus shifted from a threat to a pandemic, so too has the response. I felt much better about the way the situation was being handled after the briefing on Friday, but there's no stopping the political opportunists who, as the cliché says, "never let a good crisis go to waste". You can convince me that President Obama, Secretary Hillary Clinton had she won in 2016, and either VP Joe Biden or Senator Bernie Sanders, if either of them was President, would have done different: more here, less there. But you can't convince me that any one of the four, if President right now, would have less cases of Covid-19 in our country right now. Sure, if you're one of their loyalists or supporters, you probably truly believe that would be the case. Well, for every expert you find who supports that notion, there's another somewhere who'll contradict them. And the bottom line is, it is what it is, and what it would be under some other 'hypothetical' president is unprovable. Our politics is poison, and a crisis forces us to drink some of it. It's disgusting.

So, what can I do, can we do, in addition to just losing sleep? Sure, wash our hands. Of course we can do and should do that. We can self-quarantine to the extent we can, employing social distancing. We can be nice and considerate to one another. We can call and check up on each other. We can heed the warnings and advice of our local, city, state, and federal government officials as best as we can. We can be stressed out, but have to find ways to stay calm, and to not panic. Losing sleep is one thing, freaking out and scaring people with off the wall conspiracy theories and fake news info is quite another. We need to take this damned threat seriously, look out for one another, but stay as calm and collected as possible. Road-raging and freaking out at the checkout at Walmart or Publix? It won't help. Hoarding 17,700 bottles of sanitizer? Nope. Not that, either.

I hope some of you got a better night's sleep than I did last night. Have a great day, friends. God bless.

Just a Typical Day of Fishing

Generally, when me and Dale are going fishing, we meet up at his house about 20-30 minutes before sunrise. And yesterday was no different.

We head down the road, oftentimes as was the case yesterday, headed to the Babock-Webb Wildlife Management Area, which is 9 miles down I-75 from where we get on at Charlotte Harbor. And yesterday, as is also often the case, we had a some Creedence Clearwater Revival playing, in this case it was a decent 2005 live album by John Fogerty. It's good luck. The gravel roads into Babcock-Webb are mostly flat, but they do get a little potholed, so you can't blow through there too fast. Yesterday there weren't as many birdwatchers as there sometimes are, but we did spot a total of six deer, grown and one small fawn, all in a hurry to get clear of the road as we approached, white tails flashing through the palmettos.

Sunrise at Launch

Big Stick Lake Launch, YANKY 72

Big Stick Lake East Bank, Looking Northward.

We slid YANKY 72 down the east bank by hand, and set off fishing. The fishing wasn't spectacular, but the morning was. We caught six or seven bass, mostly small ones we call "dinks". I had several bites that came up empty. Those bites felt more like gar than bass. When a bass takes a rubber worm or a stickbait, there is a certain tug you can feel, and they will start swimming with the bait. A largemouth bass eats by engulfing it's prey whole. As they strike it, they flare their mouths open, creating a vacuum that sucks whatever it is they've eaten whole into their mouth. They'll eat anything but plants" bugs, worms, small snakes, fish, lizards, even mice. You sort of have to figure out what they're eating to catvh them on a given day. A gar, on the other hand, has a long mouth and razor sharp teeth. They grab their prey and then shake the dickens out of it to tear them to shreds. I can't say which is worse, but we don't fish for gar, so when we feel them herky jerky tearing at our bait, distinctively different from a bass, we either wait till hopefully they drop it, realizing it's unsavory rubber, or they pull it off the hook straightaway and we have to retrieve and rebait the hook. 

We were about 1/3 of the way down the south bank, working the lake in clockwise motion, when from the far west end of the lake I saw a large bird, low to the water, headed straight toward us. I could tell it was big, it's wing flaps were long, graceful, and looked powerful. At first I thought maybe it was a great blue heron, but as it made its way to us, I knew it was a bald eagle. It lifted higher as it neared. We could tell it was a juvenile, it's feathers a mix of light and dark browns. But juvenile though it was, it is still a majestic and awesome sight. And just to make our day better, the large raptor circled to its right, paralleled the south bank, then arced higher, and perched on top of giant power line post. It sat there watching us and us it for the rest of the time we were on Big Stick.

Not a minute later, another pair of deer, spooked by the two old Marines approaching in YANKY 72, bounded away from the lake, their flashing tails trademarking their departure. Eight deer in one day at Babcock-Webb is the most we've seen in one day. Add a juvenile bald eagle airshow, you've got a pretty good day, all things considered: sunrise, sunshine, temperature in the 70's, a light breeze, Marine buddies of 40 years, wildlife, and a few fish, even if they were dinks.

We worked the north bank, headed back to the boat launch. We'd been on Big Stick about an hour and a half by then. The wind was blowing, not a stiff breeze, but enough so Captain Dale had to work our rear mounted trolling motor a little harder. About 2/3 of the back along the north bank, as we sat about 20 yards off the bank, casting to the edge of the reeds that border much of Big Stick, I saw something bright and white. It was unmistakable, a gator's skull. We pulled up to the bank and Dale jumped ashore. He found some of the gator's bony skeleton there. It was probably a seven footer or so, although other than a mostly intact head, the rest was scattered all over. Dale found its head and lower jaw, grabbed it, and came back aboard.

Bleached Remains of a 7' Gator

By the time the adventure of the gator's skull was over, the fishing on Big Stick had pretty much slowed down. We recovered the boat, and moved to a lake we call "Bee Hive Lake". We call it that because there's a beekeeper who stores their hives there when they're not being (no pun intended) used in a farm somewhere, pollinating the farmer's crops, and collecting the beekeeper's honey. We caught another three or four bass there on Bee Hive Lake, and by 11:15 were on our way back to I-75, a nice morning adventure spent fishing and in touch with wild Florida. If I told you I had any complaints, I'd be lying.

Coronavirus Shutdown Things to Do.

Things to do during the coronavirus cancellations of school, sporting events, cruises, etc.

1. Call your mother.

2. Read the one book you've said you would get around to for years, but haven't. Now is the time.

3. Write a letter (or email) telling someone important to you now or before, telling them how you feel and why. Maybe it's your H.S. football coach, Math teacher, Scout Leader, aunt and uncle who helped you with something, your Marine Corps NCOIC, Commanding Officer, platoon mates.

4. Wash and wax your spouse/love interest/mom and dad's/grandparent's car.

5. Write a letter and say your sorry for something you may have done or that happened that ended an important friendship. Maybe it wasn't your fault. Maybe it was. Write it anyway.

6. Organize all those old family pictures in the garage or closet. You've put it off for two hundred seventy-seven years already. Isn't it time?

7. Eat healthier by cooking at home.

8. Walk or other exercise in the morning. Every morning.

9. Clean out the garage/shed/basement.

10. Go through your closet, get rid of stuff you don't wear or doesn't fit anymore.

11. Find the three to ten best movies ever made about your favorite sport(s). Make watching them a substitute for the tournament games you're not going to see.

12. Learn the names of every elected official in your district in the city or county. Who are your state legislators? What congressional district are you in? Who is your congressman? Senators? The President of the US, VP, POTUS' Chief of Staff? Speaker of the House? House MInority Leader? Senate Majority and Minority Leaders?

13. Call the nearest veteran's home. Ask what they need during the crisis. Take up a collection and bring it. Some of them old codgers are locked in with no visitors. Must suck. Can you make things a little better?

14. Bake cookies. Make waffles. Bake a cake. Bake a pie.

15. Get out a map. Mark the places you've been in blue, the places you want to go in red. The places you've lived in orange. Have your love make their own list. Compare.

16. Make lists of things you can do.

17. Call your mother again. You forgot to tell her you love her.

18. Have a great day! Good bless.

Our New (Politically) Toxic Environment

So there's coronavirus. It's still new, and we're still learning. As I observe the toxic public discourse, I can help but wonder, how in the hell did we get here?

In the last 20 or so years, we've had other medical threats. There's been MERS and SARS and H1N1 and Ebola. Some of them were pretty bad, maybe (I'm not a scientist or a doctor, so I said maybe) even worse than this thing will turn out to be. Time will tell. But holy cow, not a one of them was treated like this one to my memory.

On Sep 11, 2001, scumbag terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and an airplane that ultimately crashed in Pennsylvania. In the says, weeks, and months afterward, the people of the U.S.A. pulled together. We were united in solidarity with victims, their surviving relatives, the military, even the President. People dropped what they were doing to help sift through the rubble and in hopes of helping just one person to survive, or another to know their loved one's fate and reconcile with a grim reality. People left their job to join the military. It was incredible. The playing of the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America at a ballgame would bring tears of grief and tears of pride. Where has all that gone?

Our politics today is completely and totally infected, not with coronavirus. Something else that has poisoned our dialogue and made it nearly impossible to find the common ground that we surely do share with one another, even if it's on the other side of the aisle. And while I think there are several things that have brought us to this place, from the Clinton impeachment, and through and during the Bush and Obama campaigns and presidencies, there is one thing that in my opinion is before all others in differentiating 2001 from 2020: social media. It's social media to be sure.

One social media there is first and often, some anonymity. The anonymity of Twitter makes it easy to say things one wouldn't say to another person face to face. Likewise, to some extent it dehumanizes everybody to some degree. The result is the people we disagree with are not completely human to us as we perceive them, and behind their mask of anonymity and our own anonymity, too, the discourse has grown harsher and less civil on a nearly continuous basis. And in deploying and marketing themselves on Twitter, for example, too many people feel a need to prove themselves to their fans and followers as being more snarky, more cutesy, more of an asshole, frankly, than they might otherwise be. This behavior is reinforced and encouraged by the comments, likes, and retweets of their fans and followers, who then try to match or exceed the wittiness, cleverness, and snarkiness of the one they follow in their own tweet or replies. Some people have really developed themselves into super assholes, where nothing is sacred or secret, nothing is taboo, and no insult can be given or received without some even worse insult proudly fired off as a last word. But there never is a last word. It's a continuum of assholierthanthoughness.

I see this stuff mostly on Twitter, which is the worst, I'd wager, but it comes through on Facebook, too. There's nothing I hate more than people I consider dear friends being insulted and snark-attacked by other friends in a really poor excuse for discourse. And the insulting is sometimes, oftentimes more insidious than just plain old snippy-snark. Several friends of mine have posted 'informative' articles they found to be expressive of their point of view. And while I assume as a dear friend they didn't intend the generalizations and insults of white men, or of Republicans, or of Trump voters and supporters like me, they did proudly post that Dan Rather or some other piece that explained how stupid we are, or how uninformed we are, how cult-like we are, how racsist, homophobic, xenophobic, islamaphobic, misogynistic or otherwise evil "they" are. Meanwhile, who is they? Sometimes they is me. Other times, it's you. Both sides do it. I've tried to maintain a respectful curiosity about what the people on the left side of the aisle want, what their vision of America is, and how they think that all fits together to work for us all and make the country better. Too often I don't see or get that. Instead I get a sense it's not win-win solutions they seek. It's win lose, where oftentimes they'd actually rather see 'us' lose more than 'they' themselves would like to win. It's a toxic, toxic, terrible place for our society to be in.

The right does it, too. I cringe when I hear 'lib-tard', or whatever. It's wrong. We have to stop it. I'm NOT against expressing political views. I do it all the time. But as soon as the insults of the day show themselves, I check out.

I blame it on social media. To a nearly equal extent, I blame mainstream news outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, New York Post, etc., and ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS, and most of all Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. They have found many of the snarkers, and given them a platform from which to expound on their hateful win lose theories.

Sports talk radio and political talk radio is overcome by snark. We hear it, we take it in and the discourse becomes a cesspool of snark that is not just unproductive, but rather counterproductive and destructive. I don't want to hear a radio personality bash a celebrity, an athlete (like some guy's irrational hatred of Tiger Woods or LeBron James, or Alex Rodriguez, of Donald Trump, or Mitch McConnell, or anyone else). I don't care for it and don't like it. Today's toxic environment is a petri dish in which that kind of infection thrives.

Back to MY social media. Until things improve I will continue to: delete my posts when they're devolving into a cesspool. I will delete your comments if you're insulting people, whether intentionally or accidentally. I will unfriend, unfollow, or outright block you if you persist. It's MY Facebook, and it's MY Twitter feed. This is MY blog, not yours. You are welcome to read it, even to leave a comment. I moderate all comments. If you have something to offer in the way of agreement or disagreement, it is welcome as long as it is thoughtful and respectful. Respectful of me, my friends and family, my country that I love, etc. But if you're just being cute and continuing a left versus right back and forth that never, ever ends as a part of your social media existence, you're probably a goner. If not, your shitty comment will be deleted, at a minimum. I've blocked literally thousands on Twitter. I even maintain two, one for politics, and another for sports and other interests. For me if I didn't the intersection and crossfire between those two worlds is intolerable.

So feel free to comment, whether you agree or if you disagree. Just be nice. Tell me what you think and why. And a pro tip: the niceness starts to wear off quickly when you start by telling me what you think that I think, and then you continue by analyzing what you think I think to determine why you think I think that, so that you can explain it to me how and why you think I'm wrong. A better way would be to ask me what I think and why I think it. And how you ask makes a difference, too. Questions prefaced by, "Do you have so little regard for _____ , that you think we should (or shouldn't) ____ ? That's not a question. It's an argument against or a statement about something in a poorly disguised to look like a question. End of rant.

Have a great day, friends! God bless.

Coronavirus Musings and Advice

I suppose there's a fine line between getting people to take something seriously and inciting panic. Setting aside the silly self-aggrandizing that was no small part of his initial statement about this virus, seems like Pres. Trump was trying to reassure people. And subsequently they are TRYING to take all the right steps. I highlighted trying because I don't think anyone knows just exactly what all the right steps are. The press and his political opponents have been inflammatory. I'll give the press the benefit of the doubt and say it's been for ratings, not political. Trumps opponents, not so much. But when you have quarantined cruise ships, cities, regions, and now entire countries worldwide under quarantine, when it's reported, people are going to freak out to some extent.

And it comes back to not being stupid while this is going on. Wash my hands? Trying. Probably not as often as I really should, but then again being retired and all, I'm not out in public all that much. We've got hand sanitizers, and Caroline may even make some with aloe vera and rubbing alcohol. Avoid big crowds? Easy for me again. We cancelled our cruise this summer. That means no flight, no ship for us.

Last but not least, elderly people and people with compromised immune systems: if it's you, be doubly and triply careful. If it's your mom or dad, remind them, help them out. Be gentle but firm, "No, mom and dad, you really mustn't go on a 14 day cruise right now with 10 hour flights to and from the ports or departure and arrival. Mom, you're 80 and your medication compromises your immune system. Dad, you're 85 and prone to pneumonia already. Both of you need to be super careful till this all passes. Why not come visit with us for a week or so? I'll drive over and get you, and we'll give you a ride back after you visit." Be specific, be firm, offer a (hopefully) pleasant alternative.

It's not time for panic. It's time to take things seriously. It's time to be especially helpful and considerate. And if you're sick or thinking you might be getting sick, stay home! If you're a boss, and someone needs to stay home for this reason and you decide it's unacceptable, you've got a business to run, etc., if the person is an otherwise excellent employee especially, and you're going that route anyway, look in the mirror. See that? That's an asshole. See it winking at you? That puckered asshole winking at you means that you know you're an asshole, too!

Camping Stuff

So we bought a travel trailer. What other stuff do you need when you buy one? I don't mean linens, towels, dishware, soaps, etc. I mean the mechanical "stuff" you need for basics like hooking up water, electricity, leveling, etc. It's a lot, most of which is available fairly cheap on Amazon, but you sort of have to have it. Admittedly, our unit, being our first, is a scaled down model, as far as features go. And, should we decide we're all in and want an upgraded unit in the future, most of this stuff will fairly easily transfer over.

2-5/8" hitch ball with sway and load leveling controls. A couple of hundred bucks and then some.

Towing mirrors for adequate safe rear view visibility. Forty bucks for cheap temporary attach ones. $500-800, maybe $1000 to replace existing mirrors with extension mirrors with all the features of the original factory mirrors. One the cheap to start out for us.

Leveling scissor jack socket. So I don't have to hand crank the leveling jacks twice every day, coming and going. Five bucks.

Trailer jack foot. Otherwise the 2" metal pipe at the bottom is just open. This will give the tongue jack proper footing. Less than ten bucks.

50 amp to 30 amp dogbone adapter and 15 amp to 30 amp dogbone adapter. The trailer takes 30 amps. If the power available is 50 or 15, without these adapters, no juice. Fifteen bucks each.

30 amp surge protection, a bare bones minimum one. Fifty bucks.

Leveling blocks. Use these under the wheels when camping on uneven ground, and under the leveling jacks so the jacks don't sink into sand or mud.  10 pack, under thirty bucks.

Plastic wheel chocks. Ten bucks.

20' Sewer hose with all the attachments and hose support that will pitch the hose downward from the trailer to the poop chute. Seventy-five bucks.

Water filter to filter water from campsite into trailer. Apparently some campsite water can be pretty nasty. Under twenty bucks.

Screen covers that fit the water heater, furnace, and refrigerator vents and outside panels to prevent insect or critter (geckos!) infestations. Thirty-five bucks.

Vinyl tire/wheel covers to help prevent tire dry rot while camper is in storage here in hot, humid Florida. Thirty bucks or so.

Did I mention camper insurance and storage costs?

It adds up. And we're just getting started. Only the first few trips will tell us which we didn't need,. what we didn't know we needed, and what I regret going for on the cheap. In the end, I know it will be worth it. That's the real bottom line!

Have a great day, friends! God bless.

Schumer

I'll make this short and sweet, try to thread the needle on why I don't think what Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said yesterday is different, and worse than the things President Donald Trump has in his criticisms of the court.

From a Nov. 23, 2018 CBC piece (one example, chosen almost at random, of many from which I could choose):

"Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster. It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, and is used to get an almost guaranteed result."

What Trump did, and still does, is criticize the court. He should continue to express his opinion about the courts, and has every right to. Twitter and all. What I don't like is his tone. Not that he ought to be pussy-footing around the subject, but I think he could elevate the discourse a notch or two and still make known his displeasure and opinion of the biased and activist nature of, for example, the 9th Circuit.

As recorded by multiple outlets, yesterday, Oct. 4, 2020, Schumer said:

"I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind, and YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE! You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions!"

What Schumer did was threaten two sitting Supreme Court Justices. His emphasis and inflection in saying this, especially 'you will pay the price' was outrageous and wrong. By late last night I saw him trying to backtrack, saying he was in truth talking about Senate colleagues. Hogwash! He should be at a minimum censured.

There is a difference between over the top bombastic criticism and threats. If you won't admit that, you're probably too biased to see it, or perhaps you're dug in too deeply, sheltered by your ego, to ever admit you were wrong, or that one of 'your politicians' may have made an egregious mistake.

US National Parks Bucket List

Driving through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks with Caroline in 2014, it dawned on me that I had missed a calling. I almost called it "my calling", but that would infer that in life we are only called once. But surely, at least on some level, the National Parks Service called me. As I do what I do for a trip, I'm in the process of researching a trip to Utah to visit the Magnificent Five National Parks: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches. This morning, I got to thinking, which parks have I been to, and which have I not? So here's the list:

 Parks I haven’t been to: 40 total

Acadia NP MN
Shenandoah NP VA
Cuyahoga Valley NP OH
Indiana Dunes NP IN
Isle Royale NP MI
Voyageurs NP MN
Guadalupe Mountains NP TX
Big Bend NP TX
Arches NP UT
Canyonlands NP UT
Capital Reef NP UT
White Sands NP NM
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP CO
Great Sand Dunes NP CO
Theodore Roosevelt NP ND
Wind Cave NP ND
Olympic NP WA
North Cascades NP WA
Mt Ranier NP WA
Lassen Volcanic NP CA
Channel Islands NP CA
Death Valley NP CA
Joshua Tree NP CA
Pinnacles NP CA
Saguaro NP AZ
Great Basin NP NV
Kobuk Valley NP AK
Lake Clark NP AK
Kenai Fjords NP AK
Wrangell - St Elias NP AK
Katmai NP AK
Gates of the Arctic NP AK
Haleakala NP HI
Biscayne NP FL
Dry Tortugas NP FL
Congaree NP SC
Hot Springs NP AR
Gateway Arch NP MO
American Samoa NP
Virgin Islands NP

Parks I have been to: 21

Great Smokey Mountains NP TN
Everglades NP FL
Mammoth Cave NP KY
Badlands NP SD
Carlsbad Caverns NP NM
Petrified Forest NP AZ
Grand Canyon NP AZ
Rocky Mountain NP CO
Mesa Verde NP CO
Bryce Canyon NP UT
Zion NP UT
Yellowstone NP WY
Grand Teton NP WY
Glacier NP MT
Crater Lake NP OR
Yosemite NP CA
Redwood NP CA
Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP CA
Denali NP AK
Glacier Bay NP AK
Hawaii Volcanoes NP HI

I've been to only 21/61, which is a lot, yes, but leaves a lot yet to see. Life is short. Gotta go!

Maps, Maps, Maps, Maps!

I've always loved maps. Since long before I joined the Marines and became an Aerial Navigator, maps have always fascinated me. Caroline and I are planning a trip out west to see the incredible National Parks of Utah, with stops in surrounding northern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and northern Arizona. For the last week or so, I've been nearly obsessed with maps of the area I got from AAA.

My passion for maps started when I was a kid. My parents took us on a good number of cross-country trips. In 1967 we went all the way from Staten Island to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. In 1971 we went to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, then down through California, to the Grand Canyon, and back. I will never get back to talking about maps if I keep listing the trips we took and the places we saw. I'll just say I am blessed to have seen so much, and I'm truly grateful.

Well, on those trips, I remember the 1967 trip when I was 10 years old specifically, each time we stopped for gas the filling stations used to have free maps for customers. Before the days of GPS and the Internet, maps were an essential part of cross-country travel. I remember running in excitedly to get my hands on the maps for the next state of few states. Then as we drove along away from there, I learned to follow our route, to read the map index, to calculate how far we had come, and how far to the next place we were to turn or to stop. I took great joy in it, in knowing where we were, in where we'd been, and in seeing where we were going next.

It's something I have carried forward into these retired years. Sure, now we have tools and resources and don't need maps in the same way we did back then. But for me, there is still nothing better than spreading out my map and carefully choosing which roads to take between stops. Which is the most scenic? Which is the shortest? Which is the one that will take us past the Walmart or hotel or campsite?

When I read books, be they fiction or non-fiction, historical or hysterical, I can't tell you the number of times I've set one down to grab a map, or to open a map application on my phone or computer, so that I can see where the place I'm reading about is. Because until I see where it is on a map, for me it's an abstraction. But once I've seen it, I know where it is and it's real and surrounded by a million very real points of reference, i.e. the world around me, the same world around wherever it is, too. I do the same on television. Whether it is where someone on a program is, is from, has traveled to, whatever, many times I feel a compulsion to grab a map or a map application and see just where that is. Is it a place I've been, a place I'd like to go, or someplace that I've never heard of? Was so and so I knew in the Marines from there, or was that where President Roosevelt did... (fill in the blank).

So, if you look on the shelf in my man cave, or in the map pocket in my truck, there are maps. There are always going to be maps around me. And when someday comes, and my travels are finished, I am sure there will still be maps. And if you ask me where I've been, or tell me where you plan to go, do me a favor, please? Would you get that map of the Northwestern United States down for me? I'd like to see where you're going, and if you don't mind, to show you where I've been, and where I never got to go.

I love maps.