While checking the mail yesterday, a neighbor drove by, stopped, and rolled down his window. I stepped towards his car, but he told me to stop because he thought he might have COVID-19 and explained all his symptoms and how he hasn’t been able to work and just has been laying down on his couch out of breath.
I asked if he was going to get tested. He said it could just be a sinus infection. I told him he can get tested less than three miles away at Andy Brown Park in Coppell. Then, we talked about how much it might cost and how quickly he could get the results. He had a friend who got his results in 15-minutes, but it cost over $300 dollars. I told him that was because he got a rapid test, but I’m pretty sure he could go through the drive-thru testing at Andy Brown Park and it wouldn’t cost him anything, though it would take longer to get the results, and it was worth checking out.
He then explains to me how he doesn’t trust any testing but the rapid testing. I inquired as to why and he explains that he can monitor his sample and questions how can they track his sample from anybody else’s and that it sounds like some scam to cover-up a bigger agenda. Ignoring the cover-up portion, I told him that testing isn’t unlike any blood test or he’s taken in the past, that there’s a system in place in which they record his name, sample number, and they probably use bar codes to help with the record keeping and speed things up.
My neighbor then explains, “Well, I’m afraid if I get tested and I’m positive, they will take my son out of school.”
BoN: Wouldn’t that be a good thing so others won’t get infected?
Neighbor: But that’s the thing, I think he may have got me infected.
Puzzeled BoN: Well, if that’s the case, wouldn’t you want to pull him out of school so he doesn’t infect others? Thanksgiving is around the corner, you don’t want him to infect someone who is going to have Thanksgiving dinner with a high-risk family member.
Neighbor: Hmm. Yeah, probably. That’s why I talk to you, you’re my inner conscience.
Multiple Texas universities are planning in-person graduation ceremonies this December, despite the fact that the state’s daily COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations are higher today than they were in May when most universities first scrambled to cancel the celebratory events.
Entitled “What We Must Do to Rebuild,” the report outlines a series of problems that lay ahead and suggests some pretty radical solutions. For instance, Deutsche Bank researcher Luke Templeman proposes that leaders should impose a tax on people who work from home.
The proposed tax wouldn’t target citizens during times of government-imposed lockdowns, but a Deutsche Bank survey found that respondents would like to continue to work from home two to three days per week when it’s time for people to go back to the office. “That means remote workers are contributing less to the infrastructure of the economy whilst still receiving its benefits,” Templeman writes.
Posted inPersonal|Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Friday, November 13, 2020
Trump also had to use both hands to lift a glass to his lips during a 60 Minutes interview in the closing days of the presidential campaign, and later criticized the negative coverage.
Trump finally made a public appearance since losing the election. He visited the Arlington Cemetery for Veterans day. He can’t stand still and he is wobbling again. #Wobblegate 2.0 pic.twitter.com/QzWKBSGBno
I saw on the news that Lucille Bridges died. She was the mother of the Ruby Bridges, who was the subject of this Norman Rockwell painting.
That got me to thinking about segregation and where did non-white-non-black children go to school. You know, children of Hispanic or Asian origin. I could have easily looked it up, but I thought it would be a nice opportunity to reach out to WifeGeeding’s mother, who grew up in Waco, and ask her about her memories and experiences. Isn’t it crazy how we are only one generation removed from segregation? Per her, those children attended the all white school.
My family always ended phone calls with an “I love you.” Sure, we all know we love each other, but it’s important to hear those words and you never know if that’s going to be the very last conversation with who you are talking to. There’s a bit of comfort in knowing your last words to someone was “I love you.” WifeGeeding’s family never says it. To each their own. At the end of the call with her mother, I ended it with, “Hey, thanks for sharing a part of your life with me. I love you.” I was expecting, hoping I’d hear some variation of that back, but heard, “Yeah, okay, well, bye-bye now.”
This Architectural Digest list has only one Texas place on their 13 space list.
Jacoby’s Restaurant & Mercantile (Austin, Texas)
A mash-up of vintage mirrors, barbed-wire chandeliers, industrial-style chairs with a slate gray finish, patina-chic midcentury-modern lawn chairs, and furnishings born out of fallen branches makes dining at Jacoby feel timeless. During the pandemic, its owners revamped the outdoor seating—overlooking the Colorado River—to socially distance as well as add more seats.
Earlier this week I bought WifeGeeding some flowers. Before she got home, I got out an old vase, threw some marbles in for a little flare, and placed the flowers inside. Tulips are her favorite, but the peonies caught my eye, and I thought they would compliment. One of my rules of life is that you don’t have to be romantic only on Valentine’s Day. I’ll also buy random “big” presents at odd times, living by the rule that I don’t need an excuse like a birthday or Christmas to give you a gift. By far, I’m the romantic in the relationship, I just hope she appreciates this trait which makes me different from just about every single male on the planet.
DaughterGeeding surprised me yesterday when she said her school mentioned nothing about Veterans Day.
I was conflicted if Veterans Day had an apostrophe and if it did, where would it go. Initially, I reasoned it should and the apostrophe should go after the “s” since we’re talking about all veterans. But, now I know no apostrophe is need and why:
Veterans Day does not include an apostrophe but does include an “s” at the end of “veterans” because it is not a day that “belongs” to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans.
As for New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve – It’s always in the singular possessive. It takes an apostrophe before the “S” anytime an “S” is included.
Mother’s and Father’s Day – This one is singular possessive. Think of it as the day belonging to Mother, not mothers. Yes, either way would be just as logical. But singular possessive has become the standard form in dictionaries and publishing manuals.
April Fools’ Day. The apostrophe after the S is recommended by the major dictionaries and AP style. For example, AP Style and Chicago Style both call for the use of April Fools’ Day when writing the holiday in text. If you are using either of these two styles, clearly you would not write April Fool’s Day. Although, the most important thing to remember is stay consistent in your writing. If you are not clear as to whether you are using AP Style or Chicago Style and you find yourself writing “April Fool’s Day,” do not also use “April Fools’ Day.” Pick one way to write it and stick with it for your entire piece.
I love it that the Lincoln Project has not let their foot off the throttle.
He just put his old helicopter up for sale to pay off debts, imagine how much money he’s going to make out of office selling secrets to Russia and other nations.
As president, Donald Trump selectively revealed highly classified information to attack his adversaries, gain political advantage and to impress or intimidate foreign governments, in some cases jeopardizing U.S. intelligence capabilities. As an ex-president, there’s every reason to worry he will do the same, thus posing a unique national security dilemma for the Biden administration, current and former officials and analysts said.
He’s already putting a chokehold on the transition because of pride. Imagine how our enemies and other foreign governments may take advantage of a transition of power that is anything but smooth in all areas of government. His pride is putting the safety of the American public at risk. But then again, he’s already risked the safety of this country a plethora of times during his term reign. All he is doing now is cowering in the White House and avoiding the press and the public. Man of the people? Hardly. He even has our current Secretary of State sounding like he’s representing a hostile government instead of a republic founded on democracy.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday became the latest senior U.S. official to resist accepting the results of last week’s presidential election.
The chief U.S. diplomat even suggested — falsely, but possibly jokingly — that President Donald Trump had defeated Joe Biden.
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
I’ll say it again, it’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment. It’s time for Vice-President Pence to pull a Brutus. Trump lost in a legitimate election. The future of our nation is at stake. The way this is playing out is going to have consequences for future presidential transitions of power because it sets a precedent for someone even more abusive than Trump in our nation’s future. Biden isn’t even allowed to have security briefings and his team can’t even interface with the people they will be replacing.
Equally bad, a majority of Republicans refuse to acknowledge Trump’s loss. They are once again putting party and self-interest before country.
eemingly, undergoing a massive renovation, with the turf being dug up just a week after Election Day.
The unexplained lawn work has prompted some to speculate on the timing of this large-scale project — and to crack many Four Seasons Total Landscaping jokes.
Construction workers on a maintenance project along the North Lawn driveway at the White House in Washington [Carlos Barria/Reuters] pic.twitter.com/QHu5sYv6oX
Bravo to President-Elect Biden for showing poise and restraint, something our current president lacks, as he answered a question regarding Trump’s refusal to concede. He eloquently chose his words and could have easily taken a shot at Trump, but because he has integrity, didn’t. And bravo to him again, in the same press conference, for stating that the U.S. only has one president at a time, something acknowledged by every president with the exception of the one who currently occupies the office.
NEW: President-elect Joe Biden on Pres. Trump's refusal to concede the election: "I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly."
“Every store in the city had been closed for hours,” costume designer Tom Broecker told PopSugar in an interview on Monday, so he and his team, including wardrobe supervisor Dale Richards, had to put the look together from SNL’s costume closet.
They dug out a box of cream charmeuse fabric to make Harris’s silk “pussy bow” blouse from scratch. Funny enough, there was also a cream double-breasted suit lying around from when actor Cecily Strong played Melania Trump in a sketch a year earlier, though she never actually wore it. It wasn’t by Carolina Herrera, but SNL’s master tailors got to work, refitting the suit on Rudolph’s mannequin form. In just 80 minutes, she was ready to take the stage in a perfect dupe.
I had no idea this awesome piece of science equipment was damaged, I guess with so much national news stuff like this gets overlooked.
If there’s ever a chance the 25th Amendment is invoked, it’s gonna happen in the next 71 days. I’ve doubted Republicans and people of the Trump administration before when it comes to upholding Constitutional and American values before, but this time when the walls start caving in and the inevitable is going to happen and Trump still refuses to acknowledge a new president is going to be sworn in, they would rather spare the nation the embarrassment of literally throwing out a former president from the White House for trespassing.
Hell, I still find it amazing that people are still working for Trump at this moment with the crap he’s still pulling. I guess they value pride over any integrity. They will forever be associated with that tyrant. But, sadly, I’m sure they will all get high-paying jobs. Like this woman. She’s young and will forever be known as an enabler who lacked integrity when her country needed her most.
Kayleigh McEnany Gets Cut Off By Fox News Anchor During Press Conference For Spreading Election Misinformation
Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto takes the rare step (for Fox) of cutting into Kayleigh McEnany's lie-filled press conference about the election.
"Unless she has more details to back that up, I can't in good countenance continue showing you this." pic.twitter.com/cBd6ASlV8H
There was so much news last week that this story got looked over. A helicopter transporting a donor heart crashed on Friday on the helipad at Keck Hospital of USC. Rescuers were able to retrieve the heart, who then handed it to medical personnel, who then tripped and dropped the heart. Thankfully, the heart wasn’t damaged and stitched into the recipient two hours later, who will have an interesting story about how his heart survived a helicopter crash and then was dropped on the floor.
I’ve cued the video to start at the most important parts.
Currently in storage at a hangar in New Jersey, the aircraft bears the Trump Organization’s distinctive color palette of black and red stripes and still carries the U.S. civil registration code N76DT in reference to its owner.
The listing, which appears via Aero Asset and Jet Edge Partners, does not give a price. However, according to a New York Times piece, the helicopter was valued at approximately $875,000 back in 2016.
After Trump’s election loss and the notoriety associated with his name, it is anticipated the aircraft has gained extra market value and could secure around $1.5 million, autoevolution suggests.
Gates said Trump had met his daughter Jennifer, 22, at an earlier event in Florida.
“He went up and talked to Jen and was being super nice,” Gates said. “And then like 20 minutes later he flew in on a helicopter to the same place. So clearly he had been driven away and wanted to make a grand entrance on a helicopter”
“So when I first talked to him it was actually kind of scary how much he knew about my daughter’s appearance,” Gates said, prompting groans from the crowd. “Melinda [Gates’ wife] did not like that too well.”
I wasn’t upset at President Trump accepting his party’s nomination at the White House. After all, it was during a pandemic. But, I was upset at the spectacle he made it, especially seeing his name appear in fireworks over the national mall.
But I will give credit where credit is due. It was the best fireworks display I can ever remember and pulled off perfectly. I thought there was no way it could be topped, and then Biden’s speech on Saturday happened and we got to see a pretty nifty lighted drone presentation spelling out his name and showing the outline of our nation. Even if it doesn’t top Trump’s fireworks, I see a lot of symbolism. The Biden spectacle not only had fireworks, a nod to the past, but it used new technology, a nod to the future.
Only two things could have made that Biden spectacle better. First, the drones should have spelled out “MALARKEY”. Second, since Biden is a proud Irishman, U2 should have been played. I think it may have been avoided because U2’s City of Blinding Lights was Obama’s intro music at similar events, and the campaign wanted to make a clear distinction this is going to a Biden presidency, not a continuation of the Obama’s.
The color white has long been associated with the women’s suffrage movement, adopted as a symbol of moral purity alongside green for hope and purple for dignity. It also signaled their ethos of nonviolence, an olive branch to those threatened by their then-radical calls for political equality.
Harris, the first Black and first South Asian Vice President-elect, was standing on the shoulders of Shirley Chisholm, who wore white as she became the first African American woman elected to Congress in 1968. She was standing on the shoulders of Geraldine Ferraro, who wore all-white to accept the role of Walter Mondale’s running mate in his 1984 presidential campaign. She was standing on the shoulders of Hillary Clinton, who wore a signature white pantsuit to accept the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.
Harris’ pussy-bow blouse, too, carried historical weight. It evoked the power-dressing of Margaret Thatcher, who wore hers the way male colleagues wore ties, a fitting metaphor for how the UK’s former prime minister co-opted and remade the boys’ club rules of 1980s British politics.
The women of the Democratic Party have continuously used white in silent protest against a president whom they consider a threat to their rights. At Trump’s joint address to Congress in 2017, a group of female lawmakers synchronized their outfits to raise awareness for women’s issues, including reproductive rights and equal pay.
They did so again at successive State of the Union addresses, most recently in February this year, as lawmakers marked a century since the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote (though women of color would face voting barriers for decades longer). The sight of Nancy Pelosi in all-white clapping sarcastically behind the President a year earlier, while a great block of white-clad congresswomen sat before him, will also live long in the memory. Harris was standing on all their shoulders, too.
The name of the type of blouse, in all honesty, makes me feel uncomfortable to say.
There’s a trend on Twitter of recording Trump supporters removing their lawn signs and Trump flags with Taps playing in the background. It cracks me up. But don’t worry, I know one day my preferred candidate will lose and people will take pleasure in our defeat. What goes around, comes around. It’s also one reason why I don’t but any of that stuff on my lawn or stickers on my vehicle.
The items currently for sale on the company’s website include stickers that play on Trump’s campaign slogans and patriotic hoodies and t-shirts with the company’s name and American flag on them. The hoodies are selling for $50, while the t-shirts have been priced at $25.
Cancer sucks. Alex Trebek recently succumbed to it. But he got to live the last eight-teen or so months hearing how much he’s loved and what he’s meant to people. Too often, people never get to know how much they are loved or appreciated and it’s only revealed after they are dead. In that way, Trebek was a very lucky man.
Interestingly, Trebek and Sean Connery died just a little over a week of each other. Everyone loved the portrayal of them on SNL’s Celebrity Jeopardy sketch. I was curious if the two men ever crossed each other’s path. Nope. At least we know how Trebek felt about the sketch. I couldn’t find anything about Connery’s thoughts on the bit.
Back in 2017, Alex Trebek opened up about his feelings regarding Saturday Night Live’s sketch spoofing his mega-successful game show. Trebek told the New York Post, “It doesn’t bother me. If they’re spoofing you, poking fun at you or mentioning you it’s because you’re part of American pop culture, and that’s a good thing, I think.” That’s a great way of looking at it!
So, what about Sean Connery and Trebek’s real-life connection? Apparently the two never got the chance to cross paths. “I have never met Sean Connery,” but he was very familiar with their banter-filled SNL portrayal. Trebek then joked if he ever did get to meet Connery, he would “punch his lights out.”
Sean Connery made the most impressive entrance ever on a late night show. It happened when he visited David Letterman for the first time. I’ve cued the video below for you. What a good sport he was for doing that bit. His second Letterman visit was also rememberable. After he was introduced he walked up to Dave and kissed and hugged him (11:17 mark).
Posted inPersonal|Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, November 10, 2020
