BagOfNothing.com

I finally sold my fireplace mantle yesterday. I’ll count that as a Win/Win all around. The man who bought it from me is going to gift it to his sister in Houston, which for you non-locals, is about 250-miles away.

I yearn for the days when the biggest news in the area was when all locals were rushing out to get a picture next to the Leaning Tower of Dallas.

I’d like the see the producers and technical folks for The Simpsons make a new episode without the use of the voice actors, just relying on voices recorded from all previous episodes.

The Trump administration paid a bankrupt company with zero employees $55 million for N95 masks, which it’s never manufactured

#OTD in 1945, HST wrote a 14-page letter to his mother & sister, detailing his swearing-in as President & first days in office. We recently digitized these copies, as Mary Jane destroyed the originals. #Truman75 https://t.co/lP9CQcXMsq pic.twitter.com/CPLMSIWNcL

— Truman Library (@TrumanLibrary) April 16, 2020

What a fantastic piece of history. A firsthand, hand-written account to close family, of what it was like being informed you are now the president of the United States. Thankfully, the Truman Library transcribed the handwriting. I’ve included some highlights below, but I get a kick out of the envelope. Truman, the simple man that he was, handwrote the return address, and notice the lack of a street address. Why no ZIP code? Well, two years prior to the date on the letter, only large cities had ZIP codes, they didn’t become nationwide 1963. I also find it noble act of his sister burning the originals as a way to protect her big brother. And I found it noble of him paying his apartment rent for the current and following month.

• When I arrived at the Pennsylvania entrance to the most famous house in America a couple of ushers met me, bowed and scraped and took my hat; and then took me up to Mrs. Roosevelt’s study on the second floor.Mrs. Roosevelt put her arm on my shoulder and said “Harry, the President is dead.”It was the only time in my life I think, that I ever felt like I’d had a real shock. I had hurried to the White House to see the President and when I arrived I found I was the President. No one in history of our country ever had it happen to him just that way.
• I asked Mrs. Roosevelt what I could do, and she asked me what she could do to help me.
• Mrs. R. said she wanted to fly to Warm Springs that evening and did I think it would be proper for her to use a government plane. I told here that as soon as I was sworn in I would order that all the facilities of the Government should be at her command until the funeral was over. That wasn’t necessary but it made her feel that her using the plane was all right.
• We then had to survey around and find a Bible for me to put my hand upon to take the oath. They finally found one. If I’d known what was afoot I’d have used Grandpa Truman’s Bible which was in my office bookcase.
• This afternoon we moved to this house, diagonally across the street (Penna. Ave.) from the White House, until the Roosevelts have had time to move out of the White House. We tried staying at the apartment but it wouldn’t work. I can’t move without at least ten secret service men and twenty policemen. People who lived in our apartment couldn’t get in and out without a pass. So — we moved out with suitcases. Our furniture is still there and will be for time. But I’ve paid the rent for this month and will pay for another mother if they don’t get the old White House redecorated by that time.
• Mrs. Roosevelt told Bess & me that it is infected with rats!

Testing The Strength Of Different 3-D Printed Bridge Designs With A Hydraulic Press

We had design competition where our viewers designed their own bridge designs that we printed out and tested with the 40 ton press and 20 ton force sensor. All test items are printed using PLA plastic with 0.15mm layer height

This has happened to me way more than I’d like to admit. I’ll receive an invitation to a meet or event from my work email and I’ll forward it to my personal email so I can put it on my personal calendar. I’ll soon notice that I just received a new email and check it only to forget I was the one who sent it.

While Small Operations Struggle, Chains Land PPP Loans – The Relief Funds Have Flowed To Operations Such As Ruth’s Chris And Potbelly.

While mom-and-pops struggle to get a loan through the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), a number of sizable restaurant chains are cashing multimillion-dollar checks from the relief initiative, a cornerstone of federal efforts to help small businesses through the COVID-19 crisis.

The parent of the Ruth’s Chris steakhouse chain collected $20 million by applying through each of two subsidiaries. Taco Cabana qualified for a $10 million loan, and Potbelly Sandwich Shop landed a $10 million loan, the largest advance permitted per applicant under the PPP.

The approach taken by Ruth’s Chris’ parent—having subsidiaries each seek a loan—is likely to be followed by other big restaurant companies, according to Stifel, a brokerage and investment banker. It aired the possibility in a communication to clients that Chili’s Grill & Bar parent Brinker International might take that route to secure $100 million in PPP loans.

I love this idea, one big national commencement address, but I’d extend it to include all current and former presidents. If I were advising the current president, I’d have him out in front of this and issue a press release that understanding this unprecedented even, the president would like to speak to all upcoming high school and college graduates.

Hi @BarackObama! Like most high school/college seniors, I’m saddened by the loss of milestone events, prom & graduation. In an unprecedented time, it would give us great comfort to hear your voice. We ask you to consider giving a national commencement speech to the class of 2020.

— Lincoln (@lincolnjackd) April 15, 2020

I also appreciated his response to this one reply.

Ticket revenue is 75 percent of the money for college football. It’s 15 percent of the money for the NFL. That’s why it doesn’t pay for college to play without a crowd and it does pay for the NFL to play anyway.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 15, 2020

March 2020 was the first March without a school shooting in the U.S. since 2002

For most of those students, this is one of the longest stretches in their lifetimes without a school shooting. As first reported on Twitter by Washington Post reporter Robert Klemko, there hasn’t been a March without a school shooting since 2002 — the year most current high school seniors were born.

Dallas-area Food Banks Are Seeing Unprecedented Demand

That article is about a week old, but it made me feel better about having that check I received from the Trump support go straight to the North Texas Food Bank.

Wait for it.

Explosion at the Verso Mill in Jay, Maine on Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Spring Breakers Viciously Defend Themselves Online After COVID-19 Outbreak – After 44 spring breakers from the University of Texas tested positive, angry students (and at least one parent) ignited a backlash involving legal threats and a lecture from Matthew McConaughey.

Time to vent about some disappointment.

As many of you know, I have the privilege of serving as one of six trustees of a $2,500 memorial scholarship set up by the mother of my friend who was to be the best man at my wedding. He died a week prior to our wedding. When I say “our wedding”, I’m referring to the ceremony of matrimony between me and WifeGeeding, not me and five dudes I went to college with. Each spring, we get together to select a recipient from a graduating senior of the high school he graduated from and the school district he was employed by at the time of his death.

For the past 15-years, we’ve awarded a scholarship. However, we won’t be this year. Not because of COVID-19, but because not one single graduating senior took the time to apply. I could give them the benefit of the doubt that things are chaotic, but there was ample time to apply before this COVID-19 crisis started.

In an attempt to make some lemonade out of these lemons, we’re considering making a donation to a local cause or something benefiting the senior class. While looking up contact information for the school counselors I saw they maintain their own blog. One it, they have a list of scholarships, two actually. One is a junior achievement scholarship and the other is a memorial scholarship. Count me as disappointed that our scholarship isn’t listed, we’ve only awarded 15 straight scholarships to a graduating senior of their high school in honor of a former employee and graduate. I haven’t and don’t on mentioning my disappointment to them, I’d rather be passive-aggressive about it and vent on my blog.

A counselor and the vice-principal did respond to my email about a local organization we could donate to. I researched the organization and saw that it awards scholarships to graduating seniors and was set up about five years ago. To my surprise, when I looked at their criteria and application process, it’s almost identical to what we used for the first 13 years of our scholarship, even the wording is eerily similar. I’m not upset by this, I just thought it was a little peculiar and found humor in it all. We revamped our application process and modified the criteria two years ago so that the applicant can submit via the website. One reason we changed it is because we bickered each year over the wording of what we were asking from the applicants, so I’m left to wonder if this organization is experiencing any of the frustration we had.

I don’t see how some businesses are going to survive once this pandemic is over, especially shopping malls that were already hanging on a thread.

The real punishment for Joe Exotic is being able to have all the fame and press he ever wanted but he can’t watch the series which brought it to him.

Austin ISD Is Rolling Out 110 Buses Equipped With Wi-Fi For Neighborhoods With Limited Online Access

The Civil War epic, Gone With The Wind was released on January 17, 1940. The last day of the Civil War was on April 9, 1865. That time span is 74 years, 9 months, and 8 days.

Today is April 15, 2020.  The time span between the release of Gone With The Wind and today is 80 years, 2 months, and 29 days.

Gone With The Wind‘s premiere is now closer in time to the Civil War than the present day. And as someone who has a high appreciation for classic cinema, I have no idea why I haven’t watched it.

What would happen if I tried to explain what’s happening now to the January 2020 version of myself?

LiberallyLean.com might like this simply because it references the Butterfly Effect.

– “I think the Australian wildfires are gonna be the defining feature of 2020.”
– “Yeah… not even a little bit.”

Navarro knocks ’60 Minutes’ over coronavirus coverage: ‘This is like the fake news stuff’

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro slammed “60 Minutes” for its coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in an interview with the CBS show while defending the Trump administration over claims of not being prepared to respond to it.

Navarro challenged Whitaker to show him a 60 Minutes episode from the Obama administration or George W. Bush administration with a report about a potential global pandemic.

“Show me the 60 Minutes episode a year ago, two years ago or during the Obama administration, during the Bush administration, that said, ‘Hey a global pandemic [is] coming, you got to do XYZ and by the way, we would shut down the entire global economy to fight it,’” Navarro said.

“Show me that episode, then you’ll have some credence in terms of attacking the Trump administration for not being prepared,” Navarro added.

60 Minutes’ response:

Today is my buddy Jimi’s birthday… or is it? As long as I’ve known him, he said his birthday is easy to remember because it’s the day before taxes are due. So, since the tax deadline got moved back to July 15, I’m going to say his birthday is this year is July 14.

My goodness, that was a suspenseful Better Call Saul last night. It’s been a while since I’ve experienced that much suspense, the kind in which you really have no idea what’s going to happen you just kinda wish something would happen so you can stop stressing about the scene and start possibly grieving a character’s death. That Rhea Seehorn really delivered.

I’m willing to argue Anthony Mackie is the most handsome man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

WWE to resume live TV tapings after being deemed ‘essential business’ by Florida governor’s office

A Tufts University professor pondered what this pandemic would be like under a Hillary Clinton administration. Ignoring the idea if she would have done better or worse or agreeing or debating political differences, it’s fun to read some of the things he came up with.

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters that President Clinton had been “hysterical” to urge governors to quarantine the cities of Seattle, San Francisco and New Rochelle, N.Y. 
• At the same time, Republicans also criticized the Clinton administration for not taking a more hawkish approach toward China, where the coronavirus outbreak originated. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, blasted Clinton’s refusal to sanction China over a lack of transparency. He also urged the House to launch a third round of impeachment hearings.
• Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) continued to insist to Vice President Tim Kaine that any aid package had to be revenue-neutral, arguing that Medicaid benefits would need to be trimmed to compensate small businesses in the affected areas. He also urged Kaine to zero out emission standards for U.S.-based airlines, which have suffered tremendously from the reduction in international travel.
• McCarthy also railed against Fed Chair Janet L. Yellen’s emergency swap lines to Europe, saying, “I don’t see why we should be debasing our currency to aid European socialism.”
• Nonetheless, coronavirus czar Ron Klain’s intrusions into interstate commerce have raised concerns. A lawsuit pending before the Supreme Court will determine whether Clinton had the authority to restrict domestic flights and car traffic on the western seaboard.
• House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) demurred on whether he would support a third impeachment effort, suggesting that the 2020 rematch with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would supersede any impeachment effort. 
• Trump also mocked a public service announcement by former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush advocating that those in the affected quarantine zones wear masks when they go outside.

The last one got me thinking. Any other president than President Trump would have asked the former presidents to make some sort of PSA about washing hands, that we’re all in this together, thanking those in the front lines, and to stay vigilant with social distancing. I would also think any other president would lean on the counsel of former President Carter and the Carter Center with all their work on almost eradicating the Guinea worm.  Granted, I agree that’s not an apples to apples comparison.

I watched the end of Avengers Endgame last night and I’m left wondering whatever happened to Tony Stark’s body. Is he buried in a secret location? Was he cremated? All we’re left with are some floating flowers and an old arc reactor.

Terry Bradshaw doesn’t think Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time.

“It’s hard to say. He may be the best quarterback we’ve had in the last 30 years. Is he better than [Roger] Staubach? No. Is he better than Dan Fouts? No. Dan Marino? No.

I agree with Bradshaw. I may agree Brady is the greatest quarterback of this era, but not of all time. The rules have been changed so much to protect the quarterback and increase the passing game it’s not a just comparison. And I’ll be honest, if I was a GM or coach having to build a new team in this last era, I’d probably pick Manning over Brady. Brady’s great, but he also benefitted from a great coach, and I always thought Dungy held the Colts back.

Inside coronavirus briefing President Trump is having reporters watch campaign style montage praising his handling of coronavirus. #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/Idq26FKYqQ

— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) April 13, 2020