Our take

The other morning I listened to the local news and weather on the
TV and was told the rain had left the area. Imagine my surprise when
I stepped outside to see this and feel the wind gusts that spiked at
50 mph! This time they got it right though as it didn’t rain.

And it was interesting to watch the birds try to fly with that much
wind. They either stayed in one place or took off like a rocket.
Usually birds are sitting on the branches of nearby trees, but not
yesterday. The only critters stirring were the feral cats.

We like to say we’re self isolating due to the corona virus yet we
discovered that we don’t get out much anyway. I visit Dad on Tuesday
and we go grocery shopping on Friday. We did go out to eat before
the virus hit but with all our favorite spots closing we just stay
home.

And we talk more, the wife and I. We found out we actually get along,
even in stressful times. Some are saying this event will result in
a lot of divorces while others claim there will be a baby boom. We’ll
just have to wait and see.

Another bonus is we’ve quit watching the main stream media and only
watch local news. The 24/7 coverage of the medias take on the virus
just got to be too much to take.

Enjoy our Monday as it means we’ve lived to see another day. Now for
some coffee and pizza rolls.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

The story of Adam and Eve was being carefully explained in the children’s Sunday School class. Following the story, the children were asked to draw some picture that would illustrate the story.

Little Bobby drew a picture of a car with three people in it. In the front seat was a man and in the back seat, a man and a woman. The teacher was at a loss to understand how this illustrated the lesson of Adam and Eve.

Little Bobby was prompt with his explanation. “Why, this is God driving Adam and Eve out of the garden!”

It got wet quick

Earlier yesterday these two were out trying their best to ignore
each other, or at least it looked that way. The morning was cloudy
yet the critters were out and about.

Later it opened up and poured with thunder so intense it rattled
the windows. After a short nap a news flash came across the TV
screen that said when the storm hit we got over 2 inches of rain
in a half hour and almost 4 inches total.

This morning, still tired after an hour long nap I knew the
basement had to be checked for water. That came back positive. So
turned on the sump pump, got the squeegee, and sucked it up. Went
down an hour later and more seeped in and the process was repeated.

So thought I’d get this post out before going back down to check
when another hour has passed. The water keeps seeping in through
3 or 4 drainings usually before it stops so I figure the last
pumping will probably be around 4 am.

This wouldn’t be such a big deal but if the water gets over an
inch and half said water gets into the water heater. I just can’t
see letting the water heater get flooded as that takes up more of
the day and isn’t good for the water heater.

For now the thunder and lightning has stopped along with the rain,
and we’re OK with that. Enjoy our Saturday as we will after the
clean up. Now for some coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Little things

Went over to visit Dad yesterday with donuts in hand and for the
first time hit the hand sanitizer before going into his kitchen. After
breakfast we had a chat and I mentioned that when we went to get
groceries last week and a lot of the shelves were empty.

He was surprised we couldn’t get hamburger by the pound because
all that was left was pre-formed patties. He was shocked. He is 94
years old, fought for our country in WW II, drove a big rig for 35
years, raised us kids, but said he’d never heard of such a thing.

We talked of many other things and had a great time before I had to
head back home. I admit to being a little down over what all is
going on now so grabbed the camera and headed out to see what
there was to get a picture of. That helped my mood a lot.

Three days ago the daffodils by the side of the house looked like
this. Covered in snow and I thought for sure this bunch was done for
the year.

Fast forward a couple of days and the daffodils looked like the
picture above. They somehow survived the snow and cold and came
bac just as good as before. It improved my mood and reminded why I
like to go out with the camera.

Enjoy our Thursday as it means Friday is only a dream away. Now
for a coffee infusion and some pizza rolls.
Comments are always welcome.

Still confused

This whole viurs mess has me more confused now than when it started. I blame the media coverage 24/7 for my confusion and will give a few reasons why.

In 2015 Bill Gates warned of a pandemic like we’re going through now.
He also outlined how we could lessen the effect on our population.
Not many paid attention then but are wishing they did now.

Then comes the update that people who don’t know they have the virus, keep going until they get over it while infecting others who don’t know they have it who infect others.

And all of sudden virurs “experts” come out of the wood work with
opinions that range from not helping the problem to completely
insane.

As it that wasn’t enough, both parties in the Senate worked on a
bill that would help with the problem before Nancy Pelosi flew in
on her broom and stopped it. Suddenly Democrats, who helped write
the bill and were for it, said it was terrible and blamed the
Republicans.

Now said bill that would have cost about $1.5 trillion is dead and
Pelosi came up with version which will run us $2.5 trillion and has
more pork in it than Iowa. The first bill makes a lot more sense than
the latter. It contained funding for payments to citizens, beefing up
unemployment, helping the small business loan program, hospitals,
vaccines, money for the CDC, Veteran’s healthcare, education, FEMA,
and airports.

TownHall has a list of some things in Nancys new bill; a bailout of
of debt for the Postal service, required early voting, required same
day voter registration, provisions on official time for union
collective bargaining, full offset of airline emissions by 2025,
publication and reporting of greenhouse gas statistics for individual
flights, retirement plans for community newspaper workers, Federal
$15 minimum wage, study on climate change migration efforts, and
permanent paid leave.

Really? That almost makes the virus look petty.

Enjoy our Tuesday as it’s here anyway. Now for some coffee and
leftover pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

Late recap

Yesterday the TV weatherman, who throws darts at a weather map for his forecasts, said 1 possibly 2 inches of snow before the day was done. 3.4 inches later we had us a winter wonderland that I loved and the wife grumbled about.

So I went out this morning and got some pictures of what it looks
like before it all melts away. Since the temperatures today are
supposed to be mid-40s and 50s by Wednesday, it won’t be long
before the snow is gone. It was fun while it lasted.

As a matter of fact, I went out a few minutes ago and most of the
white fluffy love from above was gone. But we have the pictures. And
with things almost back to normal in our household the wife and I are
still talking!

Today she had some more work related things to do and since I was by myself, the TV was turned off and the camera grabbed before heading outside to listen to the birds singing and smell the freshness in the air. It was great.

We also heard this morning that Moline, Illinois, which is right
across the Mississippi River from us only got 1.7 inches of snow. At
least we do it up right in Iowa.

So enjoy the rest of our Monday and the weather where you’re at.
Now for some coffee and pizza rolls.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

There was a young Catholic man who went into the home renovation business.
He had previously worked for a house building company, but decided to go out on
his own. He was in the business for a while when he decided it was time to go to
confession. One of the sins he confessed was that he was stealing lumber.

Of course the priest admonished him for doing that and gave him his penance – an
Our Father and 3 Hail Marys.

A month later, the young man was back in confession and again confessed that he
was stealing lumber.

The priest asked him, “Didn’t you confess that the last time you were here.”

“Yes Father,” the young made said, “it’s sort of becoming a habit.”

The priest decided he needed to give the young man a harsher penance so he said,
“Do you know how to make a Novena?”

”No Father, I don’t.” said the young man, “But if you can get me the plans, I know where I can get some lumber.”

Shopping with oldfarts

Yesterday got away from me as I thought it a good time to change a
few things. Now we have a full trash bin but said changes are done.
Even got a picture of a bird who seemed surprised I got so close
before I took this shot.

Yesterday morning the wife had some things to do at work in the a.m.
so we thought we’d try grocery shopping this morning. The store opened at 7 am for senior citizens and those with health issues so we went at 7.

Thing I forgot is all the other oldfarts get up early and the place
was packed! Even had a policeman by the carts to make sure you were
old and/or sick. Once inside we noticed the produce section was
overflowing, the shelves with everything else, not so much.

We were told the store wouldn’t honor the print ad, the meat section
was low, and only one package of toilet paper to a family. We did
find a pound of ground bison for $9 but the pickings were slim. Even
the cat food was running low.

Nobody has to tell me we have this virus thing going around, but
what we saw this morning was crazy. That said, we have to remain calm and remember we will pull this and it shouldn’t last long. So don’t buy 30 when you only need 5 so someone else can get some.

Enjoy our Saturday as it seems like it will be a good one. Now for
some coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Clearing it up

The wife shared this, which was written by a nurse, so we’ll share it. Did not fact check it but it made sense to me. It’s long, but worth a look.

It has to do with RNA sequencing…. I.e. genetics.****

Seasonal flu is an “all human virus”. The DNA/RNA chains that make up the virus are recognized by the human immune system. This means that your body has some immunity to it before it comes around each year… you get immunity two ways…through exposure to a virus, or by getting a flu shot.

Novel viruses, come from animals…. the WHO tracks novel viruses in animals, (sometimes for years watching for mutations). Usually these viruses only transfer from animal to animal (pigs in the case of H1N1) (birds in the case of the Spanish flu). But once, one of these animal viruses mutates, and starts to transfer from animals to humans… then it’s a problem, Why? Because we have no natural or acquired immunity.. the RNA sequencing of the genes inside the virus isn’t human, and the human immune system doesn’t recognize it so, we can’t fight it off.*****

Now…. sometimes, the mutation only allows transfer from animal to human, for years it’s only transmission is from an infected animal to a human before it finally mutates so that it can now transfer human to human… once that happens..we have a new contagion phase. And depending on the fashion of this new mutation, thats what decides how contagious, or how deadly it’s gonna be..*****

H1N1 was deadly….but it did not mutate in a way that was as deadly as the Spanish flu. It’s RNA was slower to mutate and it attacked its host differently, too.

Fast forward.

Now, here comes this Coronavirus… it existed in animals only, for nobody knows how long…but one day, at an animal market, in Wuhan China, in December 2019, it mutated and made the jump from animal to people. At first, only animals could give it to a person… But here is the scary part…. in just TWO WEEKS it mutated again and gained the ability to jump from human to human. Scientists call this quick ability, “slippery”

This Coronavirus, not being in any form a “human” virus (whereas we would all have some natural or acquired immunity). Took off like a rocket. And this was because, Humans have no known immunity…doctors have no known medicines for it.******

And it just so happens that this particular mutated animal virus, changed itself in such a way the way that it causes great damage to human lungs..

That’s why Coronavirus is different from seasonal flu, or H1N1 or any other type of influenza…. this one is slippery AF. And it’s a lung eater…And, it’s already mutated AGAIN, so that we now have two strains to deal with, strain s, and strain L….which makes it twice as hard to develop a vaccine.****

We really have no tools in our shed, with this. History has shown that fast and immediate closings of public places has helped in the past pandemics. Philadelphia and Baltimore were reluctant to close events in 1918 and they were the hardest hit in the US during the Spanish Flu.

Factoid: Henry VIII stayed in his room and allowed no one near him, till the Black Plague passed…(honestly…I understand him so much better now). Just like us, he had no tools in his shed, except social isolation…

And let me end by saying….right now it’s hitting older folks harder… but this genome is so slippery…if it mutates again (and it will). Who is to say, what it will do next.

Be smart folks… acting like you’re unafraid is so not sexy right now.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Even though this St. Patrick’s Day will be different for all of us with
the bar closings we hope you find a way to enjoy it. Back in our drinking days we never went on this day as we considered Amateur night.

Right now it might even be hard to find any corned beef or cabbage
for those so inclined but there are other ways to celebrate. We don’t
know any but you can use your imagination and come up with something.

Our oldest posted a picture yesterday of what the store shelves
looked like when they went grocery shopping. Empty is the best
description that comes to mind. Things are getting crazy.

Talked to our youngest today and he said when they went grocery
shopping they couldn’t even find any milk or eggs in their little part
of Oklahoma. To those buying much more than they can use, stop it!
There are others who have children, are elderly, and otherwise need
supplies too.

This is going to be short as the more I write the more worked up I
get so to all I’ll say just take a deep breath and calm down. It’s
not the end of the world, and if it is all your hoarded groceries
will spoil before there is anyone around to notice.

Now for some coffee and breakfast.
Comments are always welcome.