BagOfNothing.com

Hey all you cool cats and kittens, I’m firing up the BagOfNothing Super Duper Doppler Radar and I don’t see any ice or snow in our forecast but I do foresee schools remaining closed.

I have a feeling we are all eating more ice cream than we should and sales are through the roof. First of all, it’s comforting, second, we bore easily and we like to snack when we are bored.

It feels weird sharing my home office with Mrs. BagOfNothing. And it feels weird having her around when I’m on conference calls and sharing presentations on my screen. I’ve told her it feels like “Take Your Wife To Work Day”.

The second-grader in the house now makes my lunch every day and brings it to my desk.

Typically, elementary schools wouldn’t set up an email for their students, but we are going through very different times. The teachers at our elementary school will send parents emails and we often have to forward them to our kids, something like a Zoom link. I tell you what, it feels weird sending emails to the second-grader and fourth-grader in the house.

I really wouldn’t mind if the White House put up a live feed of President Trump and Melania binge-watching Tiger King. I’d settle for him live-tweeting while watching an episode.

I’m highly curious about the amount of mail Joe Exotic is now receiving in prison. And if there is going to be a Halloween this year, there’s gonna be a ton of him and Carol out there.

Spotted in Plano at Riverfront and Cole in the design district.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has certainly become a household name, but I think Dr. Deborah Birx may be more noticeable at White House press briefings because of her assortment of scarves. Birx usually wears a scarf at her neck or around her shoulders. I wanted to learn more about her and did a little research. Here are some random facts about her:

• She turns 64 in three days.
• She’s a colonel in the U.S. Army. In case you ever wondered how to address a military officer with a terminal degree:
  • All members of the Armed Services are addressed by rank. Those with an advanced academic degree will have that noted in their bio/CV. “Dr.” or “PhD.”, “M.D.”, “MBA”, etc. are never used with a military rank. Armed Services medical personnel’s branch of service abbreviation will reflect their medical corp or service.
• Birx lives with her parents, husband, and one of her daughter’s family in a multi-generational home. Her family must live in a large house.

If you ever need to cast someone to play her in a movie, I nominate Renée Zellweger.

Having to get a prior authorization for a prescription is a pain in the bum.

Martin Luther King’s final Sunday sermon of his life was yesterday in 1968 at the National Cathedral in Washington DC.

This is considered earliest photograph of U.S. Capitol's interior, about 1861, during the crisis of Civil War: #LOC pic.twitter.com/iKNKeTfHjR

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) March 25, 2020

The Golden Calf –Exodus 32

Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

I never thought about it before, considering Hebrews were Egyptian slaves, I wonder why the Pharoh allowed them to have any amount or form of gold. It seems like something he and all Egyptian masters would hoard for themselves. I’m also curious how much gold the Hebrews were able to take with them on their long trek. Even if it’s just wearable jewelry, I’m guessing it wasn’t a whole lot, which means the golden calf I’ve aways envisioned wouldn’t be large but somewhat small, perhaps only half a foot in height. But then again, perhaps it wasn’t solid gold but gold plated. I suppose if the golden calf was hollow, that would be some interesting symbolism.

Interactive article – Tracking How The President’s Coronavirus Response Has Changed Since January – From ‘It’s going to disappear’ to ‘WE WILL WIN THIS WAR’

The ultrarich are paying limo drivers to deliver mail from Manhattan to their Hamptons houses

Without any context, someone can mistakenly think that one of the White House’s goals of community mitigation is to have 1,500,000 – 2,200,000 deaths.

The Cheesy, Sexed-Up “8-Minute Abs” Video Still Holds Up, 25 Years Later – It made $20 million after its 1995 release for very good reason

Welcome to The Workout From Home Diaries. Throughout our national self-isolation period, we’ll be sharing single-exercise deep dives, offbeat belly-busters and general get-off-the-couch inspiration that doesn’t require a visit to your (likely now-shuttered) local gym.

Alamo Drafthouse Launches Virtual Cinema Programming Series

If you’re a fan of Alamo Drafthouse’s Terror Tuesday and Weird Wednesday programming lineup, you’ll happy to learn that the company is bringing both to the virtual cinema space. Dubbed “Alamo-at-Home,” the new virtual cinema programming series will feature pre-show content, introductions, and discussions, just like real Alamo Draft House screenings. This will be conducted on their website, Birth.Movies.Death.

Happy April Fools’ Day, y’all.

The Wolters Trumpet (Fort Wolters, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 39, Ed. 1 Friday, April 1, 1966: Above the fold

I’ll start things out on a macabre note. While watching the evening news and seeing how Central Park is now housing makeshift hospitals (a first since the Civil War), a Navy hospital ship arriving at the shore, and refrigeration trucks used to store an influx of the dead, now would be a good time to invest in death care stocks. Houston-based Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) is the largest funeral-care provider in North America. Carriage Services (NYSE: CSV) is a leader in the funeral home and cemetery industry. StoneMor Partners (NYSE: STON) is the second-largest network of funeral homes and cemeteries in the U.S.

WifeGeeding’s nephew was recently accepted to Baylor (as if there was any doubt with that family lineage, you have no idea). I think instead of a letter he received some sort of celebratory video. However, he’s considering going to Mary Hardin-Baylor to squeeze in a few years of baseball. The first time I heard of Mary Hardin-Baylor was at a Baptist church camp when all the Baptist universities visited. Their recruiter basically had one sales pitch to all the guys, the girl-to-boy ration was four-to-one.

I always wondered about how the school got its name. It’s like a perfect marriage for someone who can’t decide to attend Baylor or Hardin-Simmons. But, is the “Baylor” and “Hardin” the same ones associated with Baylor and HSU? Here’s what I found out along with a few other nuggets.

• Baylor was named after ordained Baptist minister, district judge, and politician Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor. He was born in Kentucky, served in the Kentucky militia, and as a state congressman. Later, he moved to Alabama and eventually elected to their House of Representatives. In Texas, he was the judge of the Third Judicial District of the Congress of the Republic of Texas and later appointed to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas as an associate justice. He never married, had no children, and retired and died in Gay Hill, Texas, which is now a ghost town. Initially, he was buried in Independence, Texas (on the original site of Baylor University). In 1917, his remains were exhumed and transferred to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas. As for how he became the university’s namesake, “Some at first wished to name the new university “San Jacinto” to recognize the victory which enabled the Texans to become an independent nation, then before the final vote of the Congress, the petitioners requested the university be named in honor of Judge R. E. B. Baylor.”
• The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor was chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1845 as Baylor Female College, the female department of what is now Baylor University. Both colleges started in Independence, TX  and in 1886 relocated to their permanent homes in Waco and Belton. It was later named Baylor College for Women and almost folded during the Great Depression until It was saved by a generous gift from Mary and John G. Hardin. In gratitude, the college changed its name to Mary Hardin–Baylor College in 1934.
• John. G. Hardin was born in Mississippi, moved to Tennessee, and eventually to Texas.
  • In 1879, Hardin moved his family to northern Clay County (later Wichita County) where the couple had purchased a 127-acre homestead at the price of one dollar an acre near what would become Burkburnett, Texas. In order to pay back the loan for the property, Hardin gathered buffalo bone from the prairie and hauled them to Wichita Falls where he received fifteen dollars for each ton.
  • His first wife died and he married Mary Catherine Funk. She’s the Mary Hardin in Mary Hardin-Baylor. That clears up a lot for me, for the longest time, I thought Hardin-Baylor was someone’s actual last name. Like, perhaps a woman with the last name Hardin married a man named Baylor and she kept her name as Hardin-Baylor. You should have seen my face when this epiphany hit.
  • The Hardins wealth mainly came from oil. in 1936 they donated $400,000 towards the construction of a four-year college in Wichita Falls thus establishing Hardin Junior College, later Hardin College, the predecessor of Midwestern State University.

So, at one time, the Hardins had three colleges with their name on them. In addition to that:

Mr. and Mrs. Hardin established trust funds for a number of educational and charitable institutions including Baylor Female College (renamed to Mary Hardin-Baylor University) in Belton,  Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University), Howard Payne College (now Howard Payne University) in Brownwood, and Buckner Baptist Children’s Home in Dallas. In 1934 John and Mary Hardin provided a life-saving gift to Simmons University of Abilene. When asked why the couple supported Christian schools, John Hardin said:

“We are inclined to believe that Christian education of the right type is the greatest work for good that can be done. It is foundation work and the basis upon which good citizenship grows.”

You know who else had their names on a bunch of colleges, Sid Richardson. Colleges and universities themselves may not have the name Richardson in them, but about every other college in Texas seems to have a building named after him.

NBC5’s David Frinfrock seems like a nice and humble sorta fella, so I thought it was odd he was showcasing an Emmy award during his at-home weather forecast. You’d figure it would be on top of that wardrobe in the background and not so predominately displayed right next to him. Humblebrag? Hey Jimi, check out the temperature. (A joke for an audience of two.)

OpenTable will allow people to reserve shopping times at supermarkets
– The feature would work much like restaurant reservations

Tampa megachurch pastor arrested after leading packed services despite ‘safer-at-home’ orders

The pastor of a Tampa megachurch is facing charges after refusing to close its doors despite a “safer at home” order in effect in Hillsborough County, meant to stop the spread of COVID-19. The sheriff says up to 500 people were in attendance at Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne’s Sunday services.

Sheriff Chad Chronister and State Attorney Andrew Warren on Monday announced that an arrest warrant had been issued for Pastor Howard-Browne. He faces misdemeanor charges of unlawful assembly and violation of public health emergency order.

The River at Tampa Bay Church held two services Sunday, Chronister said, and even offered bus transportation for those services. The chuch’s livestream showed a packed crowd cheering and applauding.

Waco ISD principal tests positive for COVID-19

According to Waco ISD, the principal was on campus at times the week after spring break. He was also present when at-home learning kits were distributed to G.W. Carver families last Monday.

Good for the school district making this public, I can (unfortunately) see a lot of places trying to hide or cover this sort of thing up.

Tom Bosley may best be remembered for his role as the father in Happy Days, but I remember him as the man in the Glad sandwich bags, clingwrap, and garbage bag commercials. When I first saw the clingwrap commercial sealing liquids inside, I instantly wanted to try it only for my father to instantly stop my experiment.

But it as Ziplock who taught me yellow and blue make green.

Random tidbits about the old television series The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (Sept. 1969 – March 1972).

• The first time I heard of this show was when I was in my late twenties and a team leader at work randomly tole me I reminded her of the kid in the show. I have yet to have watched a single episode or clip of the show.
• The series starred Bill Bixby, who is probably best known as Bruce Banner from The Incredible Hulk (Nov. 1977 – May 1982) television series. The actor who portrayed his son in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Brandon Cruz, had a guest role in The Incredible Hulk in the show titled “747” which aired in 1978.
• Cruz became a punk rock musician and an assistant editor on South Park. In 1991, Cruz was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star “Lifetime Achievement” Award, which I had no idea was a thing. Other recipients include Jerry Mathers, Robert Blake, Drew Barrymore, Charlene Tilton, Mario Lopez, and Melissa Joan Hart.

Spring Break vs. COVID19: The Real Impact of Ignoring Social Distancing

We ran an analysis using data from Xmode Social to see the travel paths of anonymized mobile devices that were active at Spring Break at one single Ft. Lauderdale beach. As the map shows, the footprint of social gatherings like these can be massive and put our whole nation at risk!

DJI Won the Drone Wars, and Now It’s Paying the Price – China’s flashiest global brand has a 77% share of America’s consumer drone sales. It also has to deal with coronavirus, the trade war, a $150 million fraud scandal, and skeptics in the U.S. and Chinese governments.

I had a hard time navigating that website trying to read an article, so here’s a summary article – Go read this Businessweek story about the downsides of DJI’s drone dominance

Here’s the story behind that photo – Blaze engulfs historic Baltimore church, topples its steeple

BALTIMORE — Baltimore firefighters battled a four-alarm blaze that sent flames shooting through the steeple of a church that traces its origins back more than 150 years.

Photos of the fire posted by the Baltimore City Fire Department on Twitter showed orange flames coming from the top of the steeple of the Urban Bible Fellowship Church. Firefighters used ladder trucks to spray water at the blaze, but flames eventually caused the top of the steeple to tumble down. A school next door also was damaged.

There are a lot of Christians virgins who have saved themselves for their wedding night only for the ceremony to be delayed. I have a feeling a lot of them are going to have a private ceremony, consummate, and then have a public ceremony with family and friends when this is all over with.

The Weather Channel’s website and app will provide you will current COVID-19 data about your local area.

East Texas news – City of Canton cancels First Monday Trade Days for first time in 170-year history

Arkansas woman murdered by same person who murdered her mother 23 years ago – The daughter was killed in the same house where her mother was killed.

President Trump never made appearances in the White House Briefing Room until the Coronavirus outbreak, but I think he’s only doing so because it’s the next best thing than speaking at one of his rallies.

The media sure does look for any opportunity to label a person or a group of folks in a profession a hero.

Columbia Sportswear employees to receive regular pay as CEO cuts own salary to $10,000

Random tidbits about the old television series Alice.

• I had no idea it was based upon a Martin Scorsese film, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
• The waitress Jolene, was related to the Dukes of Hazzard‘s Jefferson Davis “Boss” Hogg. In one episode Sorrell Booke guest stars in this role, along with fellow Dukes character Deputy Enos Strate (Sonny Shroyer).
• I knew Flo left the show and started her own place, but I didn’t know it was in Fort Worth.
• In case you forgot how the show wrapped up:
  • After 9 years of trying, Alice finally gets a recording contract and is moving to Nashville with Travis Marsh. Vera announces she is pregnant and decides to be a full-time mother, Elliott having been promoted from officer to detective. Jolene’s “Granny Gums” dies and leaves her enough money to open her own beauty parlor in her hometown. Besides all three waitresses suddenly leaving simultaneously, by an amazing coincidence Mel has just sold the diner for a large amount of money to a real-estate developer and must close within days. On closing day, he surprisingly gives each waitress a $5,000 farewell bonus. 

It’s not that this week went by fast, it just went by faster than last week.

DaughterGeeding owns an iPod which looks like an old iPhone. She has several alarms set on it to remind her to do her chores and get ready for her online classes. But I noticed she has two daily alarms named “Visit Dad”.

The next Jurassic Park should star Joe Exotic of The Tiger King running his own dinosaur park in Oklahoma.

“The virus makes the timeline.” — Anthony Fauci

One thing my now-retired pastor used to remind his congregation about is the true meaning of the word “apocalypse”. Most folks use it to mean “end times” but it actually means “an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known.”

Inside the Story of How H-E-B Planned for the Pandemic – The grocer started communicating with Chinese counterparts in January and was running tabletop simulations a few weeks later. (But nothing prepared it for the rush on toilet paper.)

San Antonio-based H-E-B has been a steady presence amid the crisis. The company began limiting the amounts of certain products customers were able to purchase in early March; extended its sick leave policy and implemented social distancing measures quickly; limited its hours to keep up with the needs of its stockers; added a coronavirus hotline for employees in need of assistance or information; and gave employees a $2 an hour raise on March 16, as those workers, many of whom are interacting with the public daily during this pandemic, began agitating for hazard pay.

This isn’t the first time H-E-B has done a good job of managing a disaster—it played an important role in helping the Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Harvey in the immediate aftermath of the storm—which led us to ask: How did a regional supermarket chain develop systems that allow it to stay ahead of a crisis as big as this one? We spoke with nearly a dozen employees, executives, and customers to better understand—in their words—how H-E-B has taken on its unique role in shaping its business around the needs of Texans in the midst of trying circumstances.

Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene is mentioned in this article. I interned there under the base commander and loved it.

When Secret Mystery Planes Landed At The Air Bases Where I Was Stationed – It may sound like fiction, but on rare occasions, ordinary air bases have extraordinary mystery visitors. It happened to me, twice.

Years later at my home station of Dyess Air Force Base, an operational readiness exercise was interrupted by a similar call from the command post. Evacuate the flightline and evacuate it now. An aircraft no one can lay eyes on was diverting to Dyess Air Force Base. Why? Because it is. Go inside and stay away from the windows.

It may not be as isolated as Diego Garcia, but Dyess is to the West of Abilene, Texas. It’s situated just outside of town and the flightline lies in the country. On the rare occasions that the flightline has no running engines or APUs, it gets very quiet.

Texas Roadhouse CEO gives up salary to pay front-line employees during COVID-19 outbreak

The CEO of Texas Roadhouse restaurants is giving up his salary and bonus for the year in order to pay the chain’s front line employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MarketWatch reports W. Kent Taylor will forgo his base salary and bonus from the pay period starting March 18 through Jan. 7, 2021. In 2018, Louisville Business First reported Taylor’s total compensation was $1.3 million with his base salary being $525,000.

Right out of central casting.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Runs 3.5 Miles a Day—Even While He Works 19 Hours Fighting a Pandemic

Dr. Fauci doughnuts sell like hotcakes at NY doughnut shop