Saturday, May 2, 2020
May 3rd, 2020
Wow, it's been a month. We are Finally! reopening, just as the numbers are at their highest in NE, and many other counties. I asked my mom if she regretted voting for Trump, and she didn't, she was offended.
Sunday, April 5, 2020
4-4-2020
I had my first zoom meeting with my some of my friends last night, the wife was doing it with her's so I seemed like a good idea. It worked out pretty well, I was able to get 4 people to join, mostly the older guys, i'm sure the young ones were dealing with their kids or having fun with their own lives.
The second week of school was better, this big kids are getting into the rhythm with their teachers and doing their assignment online, I fear my preschooler is getting almost no attention. My wife picked up her proscription opioids for her spine issue. I've extremely worried. She took one, seemed to feel better and worked on the house for a bit, then went to sleep around 3pm and didn't get up again until after 7. She needed the sleep, but when she was up again she was hurting again, so turned back to her normal pain management techniques. I was gonna try and not have a drink last night too, but it was too much fun zooming and I knew the booze would make it more fun, and it did.
This has got to be the largest social experiment ever performed. I'm worried about the outcomes. I suspect people will embrace certain parts of it, delivery, curbside pickup, more online meetings, all will probably stick around, even after the virus is no longer a threat. The impact to business will be long lasting as well, and obviously those whom are no longer employed.
The second week of school was better, this big kids are getting into the rhythm with their teachers and doing their assignment online, I fear my preschooler is getting almost no attention. My wife picked up her proscription opioids for her spine issue. I've extremely worried. She took one, seemed to feel better and worked on the house for a bit, then went to sleep around 3pm and didn't get up again until after 7. She needed the sleep, but when she was up again she was hurting again, so turned back to her normal pain management techniques. I was gonna try and not have a drink last night too, but it was too much fun zooming and I knew the booze would make it more fun, and it did.
This has got to be the largest social experiment ever performed. I'm worried about the outcomes. I suspect people will embrace certain parts of it, delivery, curbside pickup, more online meetings, all will probably stick around, even after the virus is no longer a threat. The impact to business will be long lasting as well, and obviously those whom are no longer employed.
4-5-20
We had a wonderful day today, very little fighting, a decent amount of time spent outside chasing chickens, and playing on the swings. The kids spent way too much time on screens, of course, it seems inevitable. I wonder, should I just embrace it, and I degrading paper and pencil over the virtues of chalk and slate? I don't know, I expect the march of time won't stop suddenly wither and die at this precipice of the digital age. Still, I can feel the disconnect from the natural world growing. We are moving to an online, digital, ephemeral, self. I suspect that's why i'm so obsessed with farming, growing food plants and crops, chickens and survival. I want that connection to the natural world.
I"m not convinced of a V shaped recovery at all. The job losses are going to be very steep, and I expect any move Trump and his administration makes will serve to enrich himself and his supporters at the expense of average citizens like myself. I expect companies will lay off employees, and slowly replace those employees with robots wherever they can using interest free government loans to finance it. I also think the government and big business is going to diverge. The US government is broke, the revenue coming in will quickly plummet and debt to GDP will skyrocket. We've been living on borrowed time anyway. Remember that malaise lingering, in November, December, January? Something monumental is happening in the world and we are witnessing it. I think this is goin to be the shift in global power from the west to the east. The Asian countries will respond faster, their companies will reopen sooner. our only benefit is that because manufacturing has largely left the country already we don't depend as heavily on jobs which require a physical presence.
It's not enough though, and we are doomed to suffer the humiliation, and pitiful gaze of countries we used to influence as China eclipses us. Our Economy, and that of a few, similarly ill managed countries will suffer long term consequences. But the rest of the world will recover quickly, and we will look that much more foolish.
What's so perfect about this crisis, is that because it is natural, it is perfectly solvable. We can model nature, given enough information we can understand and predict its movements. We may not be able to say for sure how many cases are available but we have the technology to find out. Covid-19 is beatable, good leadership has demonstrated that in both extremes of result. It's a mirror to the effectiveness of human leadership in each geography.
Asian countries will show the superiority of their governments, and economies and strip global control from the west who will be slower to respond. It really only takes two countries. If Korea and Japan decide to ally with China the east is lost.
I"m not convinced of a V shaped recovery at all. The job losses are going to be very steep, and I expect any move Trump and his administration makes will serve to enrich himself and his supporters at the expense of average citizens like myself. I expect companies will lay off employees, and slowly replace those employees with robots wherever they can using interest free government loans to finance it. I also think the government and big business is going to diverge. The US government is broke, the revenue coming in will quickly plummet and debt to GDP will skyrocket. We've been living on borrowed time anyway. Remember that malaise lingering, in November, December, January? Something monumental is happening in the world and we are witnessing it. I think this is goin to be the shift in global power from the west to the east. The Asian countries will respond faster, their companies will reopen sooner. our only benefit is that because manufacturing has largely left the country already we don't depend as heavily on jobs which require a physical presence.
It's not enough though, and we are doomed to suffer the humiliation, and pitiful gaze of countries we used to influence as China eclipses us. Our Economy, and that of a few, similarly ill managed countries will suffer long term consequences. But the rest of the world will recover quickly, and we will look that much more foolish.
What's so perfect about this crisis, is that because it is natural, it is perfectly solvable. We can model nature, given enough information we can understand and predict its movements. We may not be able to say for sure how many cases are available but we have the technology to find out. Covid-19 is beatable, good leadership has demonstrated that in both extremes of result. It's a mirror to the effectiveness of human leadership in each geography.
Asian countries will show the superiority of their governments, and economies and strip global control from the west who will be slower to respond. It really only takes two countries. If Korea and Japan decide to ally with China the east is lost.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
March 31st, 2020
We've been "socially distancing" for a couple weeks now. As a natural introvert I've actually enjoyed it, and who can argue with sleeping in until 8am everyday, sure beats getting up at 6 so we can make the bus and commute. We've barely eaten out, and i've been to the grocery once for real, a costco resupply, and I picked up ingredients at no frills for a Juniors cheesecake. I made the original with the sponge base. Holy cow it was good, definitely the best i've ever had. If I can just figure out how to keep water out of the springform pan I think I could probably sell them for 40 or 50 bucks myself.
I've been paying less attention to the news, I'm still aware, I check Twitter a few times a day and occasionally tweet, but honestly the whole thing just gets me down. Even a national emergency like this doesn't do kill the partisanship, even if congress passed a bill. It's interesting that Trump has let the local leaders take charge in the response to the virus. In a way I think it's a good call. Government should be responsive to its people, and if the mayors and governors let their constituents be overrun with virus they deserve the consequences. We will be able to see, and better yet feel the impact of the decisions of our leaders. All politics is local, and nothing is more local that our health.
I absolutely love sleeping in every day. I haven't gotten out of bed before 8am since we were locked down. The number of heart attacks must be plummeting with so many people being able to sleep in. I may just refuse to ever go back to a normal schedule.
I've been paying less attention to the news, I'm still aware, I check Twitter a few times a day and occasionally tweet, but honestly the whole thing just gets me down. Even a national emergency like this doesn't do kill the partisanship, even if congress passed a bill. It's interesting that Trump has let the local leaders take charge in the response to the virus. In a way I think it's a good call. Government should be responsive to its people, and if the mayors and governors let their constituents be overrun with virus they deserve the consequences. We will be able to see, and better yet feel the impact of the decisions of our leaders. All politics is local, and nothing is more local that our health.
I absolutely love sleeping in every day. I haven't gotten out of bed before 8am since we were locked down. The number of heart attacks must be plummeting with so many people being able to sleep in. I may just refuse to ever go back to a normal schedule.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
March 19th, 2020
I just watched the most incredible news conference I've ever seen. The power of the entire government being wielded by an addled, greedy, narcissistic mind. Trump moved from moment to moment, arguing for, then against the same question. You could almost see him lick his chops thinking of the money the government will give out to "affected industries."
Smedly Butler, twice recipient of the Medal of Honor, and author of War Is A Racket said, "War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses." I don't know exactly what kind of crooked deal Trump and McConnell, is gonna cook up with every industry now needing a handout, but I do know this. Americans are gonna get screwed, and Trump, McConnell, and the CEO's are all gonna get rich. It's happened every time before and it will happen this time too.
We need to pass legislation now that requires a vote in November. Trump's only move is to delay. It's exactly what he's inclined to do anyway. Just like his taxes, and his business holdings, and any detail ever. Trump will try to delay the election and we can't let it happen. We need to pass legislation, as part of the bailouts, requiring widespread ;mail in voting.
Smedly Butler, twice recipient of the Medal of Honor, and author of War Is A Racket said, "War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses." I don't know exactly what kind of crooked deal Trump and McConnell, is gonna cook up with every industry now needing a handout, but I do know this. Americans are gonna get screwed, and Trump, McConnell, and the CEO's are all gonna get rich. It's happened every time before and it will happen this time too.
We need to pass legislation now that requires a vote in November. Trump's only move is to delay. It's exactly what he's inclined to do anyway. Just like his taxes, and his business holdings, and any detail ever. Trump will try to delay the election and we can't let it happen. We need to pass legislation, as part of the bailouts, requiring widespread ;mail in voting.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
March 14th, 2020
I've been trying to stay away from the news. I'm trying to focus on enjoying my kid free time, and not worry about what's happening outside. It's impossible of course. Every TV is reporting numbers, sometime they tick up while you're watching. It's such a dichotomy, no one I know is sick, my town had it's first reported case of "community transmission" today. It still seems so far away.
We went to Home Depot today. If we're stuck at home, we might as well get stuff done. We weren't the only people with that idea, but it wasn't packed, by any means. Not for a Saturday, this close to spring. We're gonna paint.
Schools are closed pretty much everywhere at this point. So are large events, sports etc. Bars, restaurants, shops, those are all still open.
It's boring, sitting around, waiting for the end.
We went to Home Depot today. If we're stuck at home, we might as well get stuff done. We weren't the only people with that idea, but it wasn't packed, by any means. Not for a Saturday, this close to spring. We're gonna paint.
Schools are closed pretty much everywhere at this point. So are large events, sports etc. Bars, restaurants, shops, those are all still open.
It's boring, sitting around, waiting for the end.
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