More frightening than the virus

I know I'm going to receive a lot of criticism for what I am about to say and that's OK.  I still have the freedom to speak my mind.  There is something more frightening than this virus in my opinion.

I've been watching how quickly we citizens have accepted the limits on our freedoms.  I've heard stories from small business stores that have shut down while the big box stores carrying some of the same products have been allowed to stay open.  Farmers are not able to sell their produce because restaurants and small groceries are closed.

Some state governors have put into effect regulations that make absolutely no sense.  In Michigan, if you live in one part of Michigan and have a summer home in another part, you cannot visit your summer home, but if you live in one of the neighboring states and have a summer home in Michigan, you are free to travel to that home.  You cannot go fishing, but you can take your kayak on the lake.  Unless you are on a large party boat, which I doubt they have on the lakes in Michigan, fishing is a solitary sport.  You don't want to be close to another fisherman, you don't want competition for your bait.

I watched an interview with a man in New Mexico who owns a small gun shop.  He also has a target range which was used by law enforcement to maintain their skills.  His shop was shut down, however, the local Walmart continues to have the ability to sell guns.

Our elected officials need to have a lesson in civics.  My own governor has said that he believes the Bill of Rights is above his pay grade.  Does he not know that the Bill of Rights is part of our Constitution which he swore to uphold and defend.

I have no problem with wearing a mask when I leave my home, even though it fogs up my glasses  There is an advantage of wearing a mask.  You only need to use eye makeup to look properly groomed.

Elective surgeries have been  cancelled.  Imagine if you discovered a lump or suspect you may have cancer, you would want to know immediately so you could start treatment.  Then, you hear from your doctor that the biopsy procedure is considered elective and has been postponed.  How many of you would be willing to wait to find out.  Wouldn't you want to know as soon as possible so you could start treatment.

I agree with our president that we must start reopening our country.  The price of this shutdown is too high.  There have been reports that  domestic abuse,  and suicides have increased.  If people would use common sense, we could go back to our normal lives.  Wear a mask, keep your distance from other people and stay home if you're not feeling well.  Naturally, there are areas, like New York City that do need more stringent rules.  There would have to be limits on the amount of people using the subways, or maybe the subways could be shut down.

Lest you think that I am a callous youngster, let me say that I am in a higher risk group - I am considered "elderly", but I believe that with some common sense, we could reopen our country.  Every job is "essential", especially if it is your job.

If we can be made to stay home, close businesses and schools because of a virus, how easy would it be for some elected official to declare that it is necessary to stay home because the sun is too strong, it's too cold, etc.

Just use your common sense and you will be OK.

(Signed) The Mouse that Roared

Bad Day

This has started out as not a good day.

First, Crash decided at 4:00 am that she was thirsty and wanted a drink from the faucet and she expected me to get up and give it to her.  I managed to ignore her for about 2 hours.  Then I got  my revenge (sort of).  I got up and fed her, but couldn't understand why she was still meowing.  Then it dawned on me.  I had dreamed that I fed her.  Her meows had penetrated my sleep, so I fed her, but not really.

Now I was up and decided to check my mail.  Hmm.  My phone did not charge overnight, and my Fitbit didn't sync.

Not a good start for my day.  Time to shower and have breakfast.

Turned on the TV in the bedroom where I have a firestick.  For some reason, AT&T needed me to sign in again.  I hate signing in using the remote.  I'm a trained typist and don't enjoy the "hunt and pack" system, using only one thumb.  Oh well, typed in my user name, then the password, which was wrong.   Went to the office to check.  Only one letter off, should have been upper case.  Back to the bedroom.  Now, how to return to sign in screen.  That worked, but I couldn't correct the password and kept trying to sign in, instead of editing the password.  Now I'm locked out for a little while.

Maybe I should go back to bed, maybe I'm still sleeping and this has all been a dream?  Nah, it has all been real.  This is my life with a 19 year old, deaf, spoiled cat and electronics in the 21st century.

Traditions

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all

Well, the corned beef is on the stove and the soda bread is in the oven.  Making it brought me back to when I first got this recipe.   My son was 4 years old and in Nursery School.  On St. Patrick's Day in 1975 he came home with some soda bread and a recipe.  The bread was delicious and I saved the recipe and made it for many years.

I still make that same recipe, but today, I marveled at the patience of those two teachers with a room full of busy 4 and 5 year old boys and girls.  If I remember those teachers, Miss Judy and Miss Ruth, they probably would have let the children be hands on when making the bread.  Oh, the patience they must have had.  I thank them now, many, many years later.

Miss Judy and Miss Ruth, thank you for that delicious recipe and I can't wait until my bread is baked so I can have a piece with some butter and think of you.

The Ban on Plastic

I heard on the news today that this is the day that New York City bans stores from using plastic bags.  In my opinion, this is a big mistake.

First, I must say that I believe in recycling.  I have been recycling long before it was mandatory.  When I was younger, I would return cans and bottles for a deposit.  We saved our newspapers for our neighbor who would collect them and take them to a recycler and receive cash which he would then put into a savings account for his grandsons' college. The supermarkets used paper bags then and they were reused as garbage bags.  We even used them to make covers for our school books.  When we switched to plastic, I used them as small garbage bags or to cover shoes when I travelled.

Any pet owner will tell you that these plastic bags are necessary and not wasteful.  They are not one use plastic, they are used by dog owners on their daily walks.  I have a cat and use these plastic grocery bags when I clean the litter box daily.  They are NOT one use bags, however, when all cities ban these bags, I will have to buy bags that I will use only once to clean the litter box.  How is that good for the environment?

I have also heard of another use for these bags.  Many food pantries use them to distribute food to the needy.  These pantries rely on donations of food, money and plastic bags.  If the bags are banned, the food pantry will have to buy bags leaving less food available for those in need.

I hope city leaders will rethink their plans to ban these bags.

TAKE ME AWAY

            Wildfires, shootings, tornados, blizzards, politics.  The news had gotten so discouraging, I started watching the business channel, but the ups and downs of the market were making me seasick.  Even the comedy shows were anything but.  TV was not enjoyable.  I wanted to  get away from all that.  I checked, but there was no Calgon anywhere to be found.

            I needed to find some escapism entertainment.  I found the Hallmark Channel.  They usually show mild movies, even though the story line is always the same – girl breaks up with boyfriend and returns home, meets first love who broke her heart.  They renew their friendship while preparing for Christmas.  There’s always a snow scene and a Christmas tree with all the trimmings and other decorations.  Of course, there’s some misunderstanding, but everything works out and they live happily ever after.

            These movies are just what I need for this stressful time.  Unfortunately, there is one drawback.  I want to put my Christmas tree up and start decorating, but I have to wait until after Thanksgiving to do that.

A Shocking Surprise

Tonight I got a shocking surprise.  It wasn't a good or bad surprise, but I was shocked.

A little backstory.  For about the last week and a half, I've been trying to eat healthfully.  For me, that meant no sweets, no fried foods, no wine and smaller portions.  And now I do feel better, more energetic.  I guess I was super good today because after dinner I was still hungry.  I needed a small snack.

I went to my secret stash of cookies in the pantry and checked the calorie counts and there was my surprise.  I had some lemon Oreos, some sugar wafers and Mallomars.  Here're the calorie counts - lemon Oreos have 150 calories in two cookies.  The sugar wafers have 110 calories in three small (about 1/2 inch by about three inches)  and the Mallomars have 120 calories in two cookies.

Who would have thought that those yummy chocolate covered marshmallows and cookie have fewer calories than a lemon cream filled sandwich cookie.  After all those marshmallows are covered in chocolate.  I took two and they were soooo good.

Hypocrisy

Well, I see that the climate change alarmists are at it again.

Recently, Google sponsored a global warming summit in Italy.  It was well attended by the rich and famous.  These "concerned" people arrived in their private jets and yachts.  They claim that private jets are necessary for security purposes.

Their 114 private jets must have put hundreds of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.  I'm sure their super yachts didn't do much good for the waters surrounding Sicily.

I just did a quick Google search on global warming or climate change conferences and found that there are meetings planned for this year in October in Amsterdam and Bangkok and another in December in Kuala Lampur.  More chances to use those private jets and travel in luxury.

I wonder is these attendees are more concerned about our planet, or if they just want an excuse for a party with their other jet-setting friends.

If they are truly concerned about our planet, they would consider jet-pooling the way we normal people are encouraged to car-pool when we commute.  Have they not heard about tele-conferencing?  Many large companies use this method for meetings instead of having employees fly from several offices to one office for a meeting.

Instead, the rich and famous want us to give up our water bottles and plastic straws so they can continue to enjoy fitting around the world in their private jets and super yachts so they can warn us that we only have 10 years to save our world.