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So … was shopping for shirts. Saw this:

Don’t get me wrong … I really don’t mind the mask thing (unlike these people, who really just flabbergast me). I mean – It’s not fun wearing them, but I digress.

I just couldn’t get to the point where I feel it important for my mask to match my shirt. Just goofy. It was on sale, though.

Over six months now and we have enough data to realize that the vaccines seem to be working. It just blows my mind that we still have these loons out there screaming about being tracked, it’s not ‘tested’, it alters DNA, school the libs, m’uh freedom, etc. Really?

Been wondering a lot (too much) about this lately and just think most of those who are ‘anti-vax’ are just scared of getting a shot. Yes, I really said that. But I digress.

Here’s a great example of the idiocy (from a freakin’ RN, mind you) we are seeing (if you don’t want to click – RN screaming about vaccine conspiracy. Now she’s dead – from COVID). It is just really disappointing. Sad.

By the way – 96% of doctors have been vaccinated … RNs 53-74%. Hmm. Science, yo.

One Day (man, I hope it’s soon) we will look back at this crazy stuff and just realize that science was -and always will be- right. In the meantime, Due Diligence.

Facebook/Twitter news is just destroying us.

Ugh.

Interesting article regarding North Korea and Kim Jong-un’s banning of various ‘western’ traits … to protect North Korea.

Of mention are the 15 Approved Cuts (below):

Um … what if I’m bald? I mean, I’m not planning on vacationing in NK for a while, but a genuine question here. The dude near the bottom right is kinda bald … but what happens in 20 years or so?

I tell you what, though, it would be pretty simple to be a barber there, right?

One more thing … looking at the NK Supercut Menu above, I’m not seeing this do:

So … I had personally calculated on April 12 that the COVID Pandemic will end on May 29, 2021. I was bored and decided to Math.

I have told family, friends, and co-workers. Not an aggressive discussion or proclamation – just using a little math and predictive analytics. How? Math with Vaccination Rates (daily number of vaccinations), Infection %s (how much of the population has had it), Death rates, Positive Counts/Rate/decline percentages, etc. Taking all of this into account at that time, I was pretty confident that things (Pandemic) would end on that day. I had actually said “47 days – it’s done”.

Now – problem is, according to various authorities, it is still unclear as to what defines it being ‘over’. And I don’t have a definition, either. I think we could debate that all night. Back then, I was kind of thinking “no masks” would be a good indicator; however, it seems every state has it’s own understanding of the CDC’s directives, WHO, and OSHA. Leadership in the US has been better on the pandemic since Trump became a one-termer; however, can someone step it up and define the end? It always baffles me how leadership (Red or Blue) seems to be such idiots on PLANNING and GOALS. Too much conflict/opinion …

At this point – I stand by my math and projections. By the 29^th, we will see all businesses mask free. We will see ‘social distancing’ and restrictive efforts gone. Things will be completely open – at least in the US. Which – by definition, is sketchy as to whether it will be the end of a pandemic or now just an epidemic. I think if one looks beyond the US, we could still [technically] be in a pandemic (cross-regional infections) … but I’m thinking relatively local. The fact of the matter is – the vaccines work. No rocket surgery here. But I digress – and don’t want to get ‘political’ (it’s sad that science is up against social differences/opinions – it really is).

What my point is – I think there will be a lot of Masks and Sanitizer on sale in the latter half of this year. Either that, or a rage trend of Mask Quilts. Can’t wait, frankly.

Um … so vaccines slow the virus? Yes, apparently.

Jesus, folks. Get Vaccinated!

[BTW – my wifi is AWESOME since I got my 2nd dose]

If there ever were any questions or doubt regarding human evolution, there is one argument for its logic occuring literally under our noses.

We continously hear from politicians and the religious right (every time there is a school shooting, the topic surfaces) of the dangers of video games on children/youth. With 2020’s news cycle, the topic has obviously been pushed out of primetime for larger, more important issues.

Of note, while there certainly is a link between tv violence and youth impact, other forms of entertainment throughout history consistently fail to prove a strong correlation to youth behavior/psychology.

• There was the music industry’s Parental Advisory hearings of the late 1980s – which still have yet to prove linkage of explicit lyrics to adolescent behavior.
• Even books/novels were considered dangerous in the 18th century as they reached prominence in entertainment.

Video Games look more and more to be joining the realm of Music and Books as a force which fails to show correlation to aggression.

Yet another study from Stetson University (as a follow-up from another 2015 study from the American Psychological Association) shows again – no substantative link. “Dubious at Best”.

Consider this quip at the end:

“Games are now more important than ever for socialization, feeling autonomy and control during an uncertain time, and just de-stressing”

Game On.

So this is just stupid on many levels (newsarticle out of Florida) where the Sheriff is announcing his department’s ‘take-down’ of what seems to be some sort of Amazon Firestick Mafia. This group of flea-market sellers were selling “Jail-Broken” Firesticks for streaming via Amazon.

Okay – “Jailbreaking” a firestick sounds like tech wizardry. Granted, jailbreaking really became prominent hacking vernacular years ago with the iPhone. That process was a bit more subverse – with resetting the idevice, installing other apps, security adjustments, pirating aps, etc. The process for ‘jailbreaking’ a firestick is literally clicking one box in the device’s settings – see below.

True – once you do this, you can install Kodi, VPNs, etc – but there is nothing ‘illegal’ about a Firestick that has this option (third party apps) selected.

The context here is what one does with the device once the portal has been opened. What irks me on this piece is how giddy the Sheriff is, announcing the take-down of these grandmas.

Also wild is the fact that there is a market for this. This group figured out how to click a menu item and were selling the device for 2x street value? A user not doing their research, but who wants to stream from the apps that can now be installed, is drawn to a pre-“hacked” version. I would be inclined to think that if they can’t figure out how to click this menu item to open the device’s streaming options, they probably won’t be able to figure out how/where to get the aps or how to use.

I’m not saying I support the jailbreaking or that I support the streaming with third party aps … I’m just saying this Press Conference is silly when you really look into the device and its settings. It’s not like we have the cartel here. Yes, a user is subvertting the proper channels to be able to view paid content – but why the hell does Amazon leave the option on the device? If they wanted to curtail/eliminate the activity, maybe they should make the option less simplistic?

And the fact that the Sheriff is holding a press conference to announce how they took down the granny cartel is a bit preposterous. He really seems giddy over his team’s sleuthing. The old addage of “Don’t you have better things to do” (I remember hearing my dad say that the few times he was pulled over) rings a little true here.

Not terribly earth-shattering here, but interesting features on a simple tape measure.

The loose end always made me a little skeptical/nervous when measuring … now I know it’s actually a feature.

Ready for some post-feast board games … appropriate one this year.

This may, ordinarily, seem hokey. But 2020 has been a very diffic … you know.

Both Elyce and Gavin are ‘remote learning’ due to COVID. Elyce has been good with things (it’s her senior year, and she’s pretty much taken many of her more difficult/AP classes already) and has adapted accordingly. Still was a challenge to start in August with things, but her grades have migrated towards her norm. It takes time for any student, I know.

Gavin – well, it’s his first year in high school. He’s a freshman. We warned him, leading into it, that high school would be different. Middle school and Elementary were a breeze for him – ALWAYS straight As. Remote learning, high school … it’s been hard. It’s hard as a parent to constantly ‘nag’ and follow-up every day with class times, schedules, etc. These guys are on conference calls about 1-2 hours a day … the rest is ‘self-directed’. It must be tough … I get it.

As a result, he has struggled. Any 15 year-old would. Not failing by any means, just a lot of follow-up and nagging to turn in assignments, etc. Ugh. I feel for them both right now.

BUT – tonight, as I videod in via FaceTime to say goodnight – he was happy. 100% on an Algebra test. Man that was so cool to see him light up like that! He can do it – he’s a smart guy. I hate how things are and how they have had to learn like this. It hurts to see – it is lonely for them, I know.

But that was so awesome to see him so happy like that. Elyce turned the corner in October, I think Gavin is doing it now. They are adapting – Dad is happy.

We’ll get through this! Damn it – we must. We will.

This just in. Apparently the fridge is opened -on average this year- 31 times a day.

Chris Wallace asked about Trump’s now self-proclaimed ‘very difficult’ mental acuity test (3:28 in the video below) …

If you would like to take, it is here.

Our dog, Lucy, has taken it. Scored beautifully.

So I have been taking Elyce out for driving lessons every Saturday recently. With the whole shut-downing of things since COVID came about, it put a wrench in our plans to sign her up and take driving lessons with a 3rd party. That was the plan. Things, obviously, have changed.

So we go out in my car every Saturday for an hour or so. We started in a parking lot – where I just had her NOT using the accelerator and getting a feel for braking/coasting/turning. Then we went to parking and maneuvering around a parking lot (empty casino lot – shut down due to The Rona). Then driving around being-built neighborhoods in the area (empty streets) … to “drive me to Lowes”. Yesterday, she drove on the main street here in town – 55 mph. Umph.

Her ‘driving school’ started today, finally. But it is all on-line. “Virtual”. Friday she gets her permit and will start her 100 hour driving log to eventually get her license.

I’m happy. I’m sad. Here we are at another crossroads of parenting that kind of makes me sad. Reminds me of when I took her to her first day of school so many years back. I didn’t think being a dad would make me sad when we hit milestones like this. You always see other parents so happy when their kids grow up and move on. Really proud and happy to see both Elyce and Gavin growing, learning. I just wish this lasted a lot longer – that somehow time could just chill a bit.

Twenty years ago, fatherhood was something very far from what I wanted. Today – it’s just time I treasure.

To add to the world-wide calaminity of the COVID19 Pandemic of 2020, we now have worldwide demonstrations. Realizing there is no ‘good time’ for having a demonstration on matters that we are dealing with [or have failed to] throughout history, it just seems like the picture below [from Paris, today] are so twistedly bad under the grip of a 100-year pandemic. The clash of these two events in the world’s history just shows you how messed up 2020 has been. And we’re not even halfway through.

With all of the commercials on during this pandamic, you hear a lot of “during difficult times like these”, or “We’re all in this together”. Piano music background is typically in the mix.

Here’s a new one: “We’re Making Toilet Paper as fast as we can”.

Who knew that in 2020 we’d be seeing Old Navy spotlight masks for sale …

I think the thing that is really sad for me to see when I’m out and about is seeing little girls wearing masks – kids, for that matter. I don’t know … just seems like such a sad thing to see. Still hard to accept that this is what it has come to.

Dumped more into AMZN late March … earnings today, will be on sale in am. Sweeping recent gains from travel stocks that tanked 45 days ago with COVID and will be dumping into AMZN in the am. 10 more shares while on sale …

Final Warning: Wear Your Pants to check the mail during the COVID Pandemic.

Thank You.