Back In the Swing of Things
14/07/20 07:08
I'm heartened by a couple of polling things this morning that I'm seeing in the news. Trump has the support of roughly 90% of the evangelicals according to the polls. Biden's support in the black community, on the other hand, is softening. They say if Trump can get 15% of the black vote or so it is all over for the dems come November. You can see how fluid this thing is. If Trump can reinvigorate his support amongst suburban moms with his stand on getting schools back open in the Fall, all the better. Lots of moving parts.
I was thinking to myself yesterday while on my bike ride that the stock market is a win-win for Trump. If the market is doing well come November, it's party on with the republicans and President Trump. If the market is not doing well, is there anyone better than Trump to bring it around given his pro-business and anti-regulation policies? Besides, he's proven that he can deliver a hot economy and memories are short but they're not so short that people have forgotten what he is capable of doing when it comes to the economy.
Even Nancy agrees that Biden, his cognitive issues aside, has been in government for nearly 50 years and what has he to show for it other than a lot of nothing. I'm quick to remind her that personalities aside, and at the end of the day, you have to vote for the policies and not the person. It's easier than ever before to pick and choose those policies that suit you and your family to a tee and which ones don't. I guess some would say that is just one more indicator of just how polarized our politics have become.
I was trying to get Nancy to think a little bit about my proposal which has the two of us, and maybe the three of us, getting away for a couple of days this coming weekend. We have some people coming around to do some insulation work and it requires that we not be on the premises for a period of time so why not get away? Nancy is just not budging. I think she's open a day trip to a neighboring state but anything more than that is just a non-starter. When I tell her how good the trip might be for the Ev man she is usually more receptive but not this time. She's digging in her heels.
It has everything to do with this covid bullshit. It has her knickers in a bunch and I just don't see how we're going to fix that. She hasn't been in a store of any kind since this all began and not doing something for an extended period of time has both intended and unintended consequences. The unintended piece is what we're struggling with now that the virus thing is on the wane here in Southern New Hampshire. She is just not showing any inclination whatsoever to resume her normal life when it comes to doing things outside the house.
A local hospital in a nearby town discharged their last covid patient this past weekend and it made the local papers as a story of interest. So, when all of the national news is spewing its nonsense about how covid is on the rise along with deaths, incubations, etc., we have a hospital here that is saying loudly and clearly, no mas (Spanish for "no more.") And I'm thinking to myself, a hospital without even a single covid patient in a hospital that serves tens of thousands does not a pandemic make. In other words, how can we possibly be enduring the scourge of the century when this one local but sizable hospital hasn't a single covid patient?
Considering how emotionally and physically tethered I am to my dear wife in her time of need, I am feeling a little housebound and stifled in a lot of ways that don't particularly suit my nature. I either have to get her to change her ways or I need to make some personal adjustments on my own in order to survive. Before I make my wife out to be too overly closeted and downright dysfunctional, I should mention that she does get out and about but maybe just not enough for my tastes. It might even surprise you to know that she loves to go biking (without a mask) and will tolerate visiting her mom at her independent living facility just fine.
When and where she pushes the boundaries of her confinement is her prerogative so I'll not be too intrusive or insistent lest I want to sleep on the couch or otherwise be confined to my own personal "doghouse." I mentioned last night that I might just get away to New York this coming weekend to see family on my own and it was met with a collective shrug. I repeated myself just to make sure she hadn't already fallen asleep. The only response she could muster was, "why don't you take Evan with you?" In baseball parlance, her response was akin to a bunt rolling foul.
Nancy continues to work from home as well so bringing home the bacon gives her a well deserved sense of purpose. She hasn't shared this with her employers, but she has no intention of ever going back into the office. It's not as though she's worked extra hard at home to prove her mettle in order to perpetuate her at-home status because she is and has always been a solid "worker bee." Her worth has been well established and just between you and me, they are lucky to have her. It's a part time schtick with a part time wage but she's never wanted anything more than that. Well, not since she's started working part time anyway.
We're watching the show "Perry Mason" on television. We're three episodes in to what I think is probably a ten or more episode season. I was telling Nancy just this morning that one thing I like about watching programming from networks like HBO, Showtime, Sundance, etc., is that the shows really are quality shows. The writing is good, the characters and related performances are typically well done, and the look and feel of the shows are not short of the mark due to budgetary constraints. They are also more likely as well to have known actors with established careers and faithful followings. Perry Mason is one such show.
Where I part company with these networks is when their wokeness intrudes on my social sensibilities. I'm talking about the constant virtue signaling when it comes to everything from the plight of immigrants to the fanciful nonsense being pushed by the LGBTQ lobby. How the networks weave this bullshit into their plots is quite deceptive and unless your bullshit meter is up and running you quite likely find yourself accepting what they're selling without the usual response which would go something like this: What the fuck was that we just saw? No, I don't accept that what they're selling as "normal" these days. Aberrant, yes. Normal, no.
If I want to feel sorry for a Guatemalan immigrant crossing our country's border in the middle of the night then that's my prerogative. If I'm more inclined to think that what that represents is not a good thing for our country them I'm entitled to that point of view as well. Stop trying to make me feel guilty for believing that watching same sex actors on the screen with children in the same room is not a travesty and somehow a threat to their impressionable psyches. And don't tell me that the trans movement is a step in the right direction when it comes to forging new paths into the realm of human expression. It's sheer depravity.
I'll get off my soapbox now. I was telling Evan the other day that he should get a bone for his friend's dog to chew on when he's riding in his (Evan's) car. He's a pup and he's chewing on everything on sight when he's out for a ride. I'll probably need to buy the bone but I should hurry before he does some real damage. Today, he's chewing on some cardboard take-out packages and an unopened box of trash bags. Tomorrow it will be the leather seats. The ceiling light above the rear seat has been removed and god only knows what happened there. A mosquito just flitted across my computer screen. CLAP! Got em. Little bastard.
Nancy is going to drive me crazy with this insulation stuff. She's been after me the last few days wringing her hands about this and that as it relates to the company coming to replace insulation in our basement. She starts reading about the materials that they plan to use and she starts with the fretting already. The fretting turns to fear and her thinking becomes illogical and irrational. Do we need to notify our neighbors who may or may not be downwind of these chemicals once they start spraying, she asks. This online document says that we should leave our house for 24 hours and not the 4 hours recommended by the installers, she continues.
I'm buying some of the nuttiness but not all of it. I'm thinking that maybe we should cover the vents from the basement when they start and maybe make sure we close all the windows when we leave for however long we leave. I might like to take in a couple of my bird feeders that are close to the area where they might be working. Oh, and putting the bird bath away goes without saying. I can't have my little bird buddies drinking contaminated water. Who the hell knows. They might produce offspring with multiple heads or be short a body part or two necessary for flight, procreation, or god only knows what.
We got away for a few hours as recommended and I think it was a good thing in a couple of ways. One, we weren't around when the spraying took place, and 2, I got Nancy out of her comfort zone and back into the real world. Even she admitted that taking the ride we took and spending time in the stores we visited went a long way to restore her sense of equilibrium when it comes to getting beck to what we affectionately call "normal." Getting her into the stores was easier when I lured her in by singing the praises of the things she loves to peruse and then by talking up the things we've been meaning to buy but haven't because of the pandemic.
Not to belabor the point but we went into Home Depot to look at doorbells of all things, Lowes - to look at more doorbells (Lowes had a better selection), Starbucks - where we were allowed in to order while others stood in line outside on the sidewalk, Target - where Nancy went aisle by aisle looking at all the things she used to love to look at while in the store, and then I went into a small bakery in Newburyport to pick up a couple of cookies. We sat at the table just outside the bakery until we realized that the flow of traffic going in and out of the bakery put us at increased risk of contracting the virus due to our proximity to the traffic itself. The table at which we were seated was unoccupied for a reason. A very good reason indeed.
I was thinking to myself yesterday while on my bike ride that the stock market is a win-win for Trump. If the market is doing well come November, it's party on with the republicans and President Trump. If the market is not doing well, is there anyone better than Trump to bring it around given his pro-business and anti-regulation policies? Besides, he's proven that he can deliver a hot economy and memories are short but they're not so short that people have forgotten what he is capable of doing when it comes to the economy.
Even Nancy agrees that Biden, his cognitive issues aside, has been in government for nearly 50 years and what has he to show for it other than a lot of nothing. I'm quick to remind her that personalities aside, and at the end of the day, you have to vote for the policies and not the person. It's easier than ever before to pick and choose those policies that suit you and your family to a tee and which ones don't. I guess some would say that is just one more indicator of just how polarized our politics have become.
I was trying to get Nancy to think a little bit about my proposal which has the two of us, and maybe the three of us, getting away for a couple of days this coming weekend. We have some people coming around to do some insulation work and it requires that we not be on the premises for a period of time so why not get away? Nancy is just not budging. I think she's open a day trip to a neighboring state but anything more than that is just a non-starter. When I tell her how good the trip might be for the Ev man she is usually more receptive but not this time. She's digging in her heels.
It has everything to do with this covid bullshit. It has her knickers in a bunch and I just don't see how we're going to fix that. She hasn't been in a store of any kind since this all began and not doing something for an extended period of time has both intended and unintended consequences. The unintended piece is what we're struggling with now that the virus thing is on the wane here in Southern New Hampshire. She is just not showing any inclination whatsoever to resume her normal life when it comes to doing things outside the house.
A local hospital in a nearby town discharged their last covid patient this past weekend and it made the local papers as a story of interest. So, when all of the national news is spewing its nonsense about how covid is on the rise along with deaths, incubations, etc., we have a hospital here that is saying loudly and clearly, no mas (Spanish for "no more.") And I'm thinking to myself, a hospital without even a single covid patient in a hospital that serves tens of thousands does not a pandemic make. In other words, how can we possibly be enduring the scourge of the century when this one local but sizable hospital hasn't a single covid patient?
Considering how emotionally and physically tethered I am to my dear wife in her time of need, I am feeling a little housebound and stifled in a lot of ways that don't particularly suit my nature. I either have to get her to change her ways or I need to make some personal adjustments on my own in order to survive. Before I make my wife out to be too overly closeted and downright dysfunctional, I should mention that she does get out and about but maybe just not enough for my tastes. It might even surprise you to know that she loves to go biking (without a mask) and will tolerate visiting her mom at her independent living facility just fine.
When and where she pushes the boundaries of her confinement is her prerogative so I'll not be too intrusive or insistent lest I want to sleep on the couch or otherwise be confined to my own personal "doghouse." I mentioned last night that I might just get away to New York this coming weekend to see family on my own and it was met with a collective shrug. I repeated myself just to make sure she hadn't already fallen asleep. The only response she could muster was, "why don't you take Evan with you?" In baseball parlance, her response was akin to a bunt rolling foul.
Nancy continues to work from home as well so bringing home the bacon gives her a well deserved sense of purpose. She hasn't shared this with her employers, but she has no intention of ever going back into the office. It's not as though she's worked extra hard at home to prove her mettle in order to perpetuate her at-home status because she is and has always been a solid "worker bee." Her worth has been well established and just between you and me, they are lucky to have her. It's a part time schtick with a part time wage but she's never wanted anything more than that. Well, not since she's started working part time anyway.
We're watching the show "Perry Mason" on television. We're three episodes in to what I think is probably a ten or more episode season. I was telling Nancy just this morning that one thing I like about watching programming from networks like HBO, Showtime, Sundance, etc., is that the shows really are quality shows. The writing is good, the characters and related performances are typically well done, and the look and feel of the shows are not short of the mark due to budgetary constraints. They are also more likely as well to have known actors with established careers and faithful followings. Perry Mason is one such show.
Where I part company with these networks is when their wokeness intrudes on my social sensibilities. I'm talking about the constant virtue signaling when it comes to everything from the plight of immigrants to the fanciful nonsense being pushed by the LGBTQ lobby. How the networks weave this bullshit into their plots is quite deceptive and unless your bullshit meter is up and running you quite likely find yourself accepting what they're selling without the usual response which would go something like this: What the fuck was that we just saw? No, I don't accept that what they're selling as "normal" these days. Aberrant, yes. Normal, no.
If I want to feel sorry for a Guatemalan immigrant crossing our country's border in the middle of the night then that's my prerogative. If I'm more inclined to think that what that represents is not a good thing for our country them I'm entitled to that point of view as well. Stop trying to make me feel guilty for believing that watching same sex actors on the screen with children in the same room is not a travesty and somehow a threat to their impressionable psyches. And don't tell me that the trans movement is a step in the right direction when it comes to forging new paths into the realm of human expression. It's sheer depravity.
I'll get off my soapbox now. I was telling Evan the other day that he should get a bone for his friend's dog to chew on when he's riding in his (Evan's) car. He's a pup and he's chewing on everything on sight when he's out for a ride. I'll probably need to buy the bone but I should hurry before he does some real damage. Today, he's chewing on some cardboard take-out packages and an unopened box of trash bags. Tomorrow it will be the leather seats. The ceiling light above the rear seat has been removed and god only knows what happened there. A mosquito just flitted across my computer screen. CLAP! Got em. Little bastard.
Nancy is going to drive me crazy with this insulation stuff. She's been after me the last few days wringing her hands about this and that as it relates to the company coming to replace insulation in our basement. She starts reading about the materials that they plan to use and she starts with the fretting already. The fretting turns to fear and her thinking becomes illogical and irrational. Do we need to notify our neighbors who may or may not be downwind of these chemicals once they start spraying, she asks. This online document says that we should leave our house for 24 hours and not the 4 hours recommended by the installers, she continues.
I'm buying some of the nuttiness but not all of it. I'm thinking that maybe we should cover the vents from the basement when they start and maybe make sure we close all the windows when we leave for however long we leave. I might like to take in a couple of my bird feeders that are close to the area where they might be working. Oh, and putting the bird bath away goes without saying. I can't have my little bird buddies drinking contaminated water. Who the hell knows. They might produce offspring with multiple heads or be short a body part or two necessary for flight, procreation, or god only knows what.
We got away for a few hours as recommended and I think it was a good thing in a couple of ways. One, we weren't around when the spraying took place, and 2, I got Nancy out of her comfort zone and back into the real world. Even she admitted that taking the ride we took and spending time in the stores we visited went a long way to restore her sense of equilibrium when it comes to getting beck to what we affectionately call "normal." Getting her into the stores was easier when I lured her in by singing the praises of the things she loves to peruse and then by talking up the things we've been meaning to buy but haven't because of the pandemic.
Not to belabor the point but we went into Home Depot to look at doorbells of all things, Lowes - to look at more doorbells (Lowes had a better selection), Starbucks - where we were allowed in to order while others stood in line outside on the sidewalk, Target - where Nancy went aisle by aisle looking at all the things she used to love to look at while in the store, and then I went into a small bakery in Newburyport to pick up a couple of cookies. We sat at the table just outside the bakery until we realized that the flow of traffic going in and out of the bakery put us at increased risk of contracting the virus due to our proximity to the traffic itself. The table at which we were seated was unoccupied for a reason. A very good reason indeed.