20210721 Covid Snapshot

 

COVID cases are trending up again. This time, it is in the summer, but with few masks and fewer restrictions. The saving grace is that the "vaccines" are preventing deaths, and the vaccinated that are symptomatic are much less likely to be hospitalized or die. I'm vaccinated and I'd like to portray some sense of optimism, but I'm at a loss right now. I pray that this surge does not affect my family nor my friends. 

For the unvaccinated and those dispensing lies: Ex 20:13

2021 Memorial Day

 

These are the numbers that we honor on Memorial Day this year. I'm sorry that this statistic exists. We must do better. 

Exodus 20:13

I Worried

by Mary Oliver

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.

20210314 - a year

Scope	Cases	Deaths
Worldwide	120,094,542	2,660,516
United States	30,043,662	546,605
Florida	1,973,109	32,252
Pinellas County	68,912	1,501

Greetings from our little tin can by the sea where Wendy and I try to survive through the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been quite a year since originally going into lockdown. The numbers to the left show the current state of the pandemic. Testing has been down because people are now more interested in the "vaccines" than they are in avoiding COVID. Since I anticipate that this pandemic will still be going on next year at this time, I'll pass another installment of the numbers at that time. I'm sorry for all those that died and all of those that suffered, my daughter and her husband included. So much of this suffering was needless and it was all fueled by capitalism. 

Sometimes I feel

Sometimes I feel

Like I've been tied

To the whipping post

Tied to the whipping post

Tied to the whipping post

Good Lord, I feel like I'm dying

- Gregg Allman, "Whipping Post", The Allman Brothers Band, 1971

Cancer timeline

I have opened a new blog for my journey with cancer. The cancer timeline has been relocated here. I will maintain updates to that post on that timeline. Thanks!

The Road not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

20210109 the crucible

Welcome from our little tin can by the sea. This has been a rough week: I had a very good friend die on Monday, we passed 4000 COVID deaths in a single day in the US, and our president committed a seditious act by inciting a gathering of over 100,000 to ransack the Capitol. On top of that, I'm ill.

I met Ed Stephens on my first day at Honeywell Industrial Automation and Control in Phoenix AZ, after transferring from their Atlanta, GA location. Ed had just hired on the day before after working at Asea Brown Bovari (ABB) in Columbus, OH. Ed had a strong wit, and was a dynamo with knowledge. He could recite delicate intricacies in acquisitions with this person going here and that person fitting there - it was an education to hear him over lunch or during a break. Ed's wife, Elaine, was quite a treat, too. Originally a Mississippi lady, Elaine was comfortable with everyone. She passed in 2019 and a little over a year later, so has Ed. We stayed casual friends over the years, exchanging Christmas cards and an occasional phone call or email. How precious those wisps of communication are now. I miss you both, Ed and Elaine!

COVID-19 is uncontrolled in the US and the rollout of the vaccine is moving very slow. Biden, the pres-elect, has promised to improve this state. A: I wish him luck, and B: It should be an easy task, considering how terrible it is now.

sedition n. - incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority

Our sitting president has committed an act of sedition by sending his rally audience to ransack the Capitol. Five people died, one of them an officer. Republican members of the senate and house raised objections to the certified counts from the states, becoming accomplices. At the rally, the sitting pres continued his reckless lies of voter fraud despite losing numerous court cases on that very item. By facilitating the lie, these congressional members became complicit in sedition:

Senate: Tommy Tuberville, Ala. Roger Marshall, Kan. John Kennedy, La. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Miss. Josh Hawley, Mo. Ted Cruz, Texas 

House: Robert B. Aderholt, Ala. Mo Brooks, Ala. Jerry Carl, Ala. Barry Moore, Ala. Gary Palmer, Ala. Mike Rogers, Ala. Andy Biggs, Ariz. Paul Gosar, Ariz. Debbie Lesko, Ariz. Rick Crawford, Ark. Ken Calvert, Calif. Mike Garcia, Calif. Darrell Issa, Calif. Doug LaMalfa, Calif. Kevin McCarthy, Calif. Devin Nunes, Calif. Jay Obernolte, Calif. Lauren Boebert, Colo. Doug Lamborn, Colo. Kat Cammack, Fla. Mario Diaz-Balart, Fla. Byron Donalds, Fla. Neal Dunn, Fla. Scott Franklin, Fla. Matt Gaetz, Fla. Carlos Gimenez, Fla. Brian Mast, Fla. Bill Posey, Fla. John Rutherford, Fla. Greg Steube, Fla. Daniel Webster, Fla. Rick Allen, Ga. Earl L. "Buddy" Carter, Ga. Andrew Clyde, Ga. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ga. Jody Hice, Ga. Barry Loudermilk, Ga. Russ Fulcher, Idaho Mike Bost, Ill. Mary Miller, Ill. Jim Baird, Ind. Jim Banks, Ind. Jackie Walorski, Ind. Ron Estes, Kan. Jacob LaTurner, Kan. Tracey Mann, Kan. Harold Rogers, Ky. Clay Higgins, La. Mike Johnson, La. Steve Scalise, La. Andy Harris, Md. Jack Bergman, Mich. Lisa McClain, Mich. Tim Walberg, Mich. Michelle Fischbach, Minn. Jim Hagedorn, Minn. Michael Guest, Miss. Trent Kelly, Miss. Steven Palazzo, Miss. Sam Graves, Mo. Vicky Hartzler, Mo. Billy Long, Mo. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Mo. Jason Smith, Mo. Matt Rosendale, Mont. Dan Bishop, N.C. Ted Budd, N.C. Madison Cawthorn, N.C. Richard Hudson, N.C. David Rouzer, N.C. Jeff Van Drew, N.J. Yvette Herrell, N.M. Chris Jacobs, N.Y. Nicole Malliotakis, N.Y. Lee Zeldin, N.Y. Adrian Smith, Neb. Warren Davidson, Ohio Bob Gibbs, Ohio Bill Johnson, Ohio Jim Jordan, Ohio Stephanie Bice, Okla. Tom Cole, Okla. Kevin Hern, Okla. Frank Lucas, Okla. Markwayne Mullin, Okla. John Joyce, Pa. Mike Kelly, Pa. Scott Perry, Pa. Guy Reschenthaler, Pa. Jeff Duncan, S.C. Ralph Norman, S.C. Tom Rice, S.C. William Timmons, S.C. Joe Wilson, S.C. Tim Burchett, Tenn. Scott DesJarlais, Tenn. Chuck Fleischmann, Tenn. Mark E. Green, Tenn. Diana Harshbarger, Tenn. John Rose, Tenn. Jodey Arrington, Texas Brian Babin, Texas Michael C. Burgess, Texas John R. Carter, Texas Michael Cloud, Texas Pat Fallon, Texas Louie Gohmert, Texas Lance Gooden, Texas Ronny Jackson, Texas Troy Nehls, Texas August Pfluger, Texas Pete Sessions, Texas Randy Weber, Texas Roger Williams, Texas Ron Wright, Texas Ben Cline, Va. Bob Good, Va. Morgan Griffith, Va. Carol Miller, W.Va. Scott Fitzgerald, Wis. Tom Tiffany, Wis.