This is the latest loon video/conspiracy ‘theory’ regarding COVID (which is pretty much no longer an every day topic). Snake Venom in the public water system. A few bullet-points to keep in mind on this one:
He’s a Chiropractor
COVID is a virus, not a venom
“Do the opposite of what the CDC tells you to do” speaks for itself
Typos in text overlays (“thier” vs “their”) – small detail, but detail
So truckers are driving to DC to protest Mask Mandates and Vaccine Mandates in the US.
If these bozos can’t figure out that all mandates are gone (except Hawaii – which is 2,471 miles from the coast and any mainland highway) and/or are so late in getting this figured out, it’s no wonder why we are so behind on supply chain issues. And now they are driving 2,668 miles from LA to DC to sit in their trucks to ‘protest’.
At 8mpg for these monstrosities, that’s about $1,200 in gas (one way) each rig is wasting on this ridiculous venture. That buys about 4 banjos.
Honking your trucker horns is just … juvenile. Mandates/asks by the government … yeah, frustrating. I really don’t think truckers care about logic, though. It’s messed up, and I can understand/sympathize all sides here
(but much less the truckers. A very good friend in retail Loss Prevention audits company truckers [pulls them over, inspects cabs] and wears gloves on every check. Tells me some absolutely revolting stories about what’s in those cabs. Not saying every cab is like how your worst thoughts think … but most absolutely are]
This is when I recommend using Noise-Cancelling Headphones.
You see, with my years (many years) of travelling to many different types of towns and hotels, NOTHING is better than a set of Bose noise-cancelling headphones. I am seriously serious here. I’ve dealt with crazy hotel neighbors (screaming kids), agonies of plane travel noise, thin hotel walls, thin hotel floors, storms – even slept through tornado sirens (seriously – Amarillo TX November 2015). NOTHING. NO NOISE.
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.
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.
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 29th, 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.
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.
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 …
Every news article is just depressing to read, frankly.
It is weird, because just a month ago, my news ‘dashboard’ was always filled with -what now seems- as trivial BS news articles. To remember what it was like to check my newsfeed back then is just odd. The past few weeks has just been COVID. All of it.
With all of this COVID Scare, the market has been thrashed over the past 2 weeks. A month ago, a day +/- 100 would envoke emotion (elation/fear). Today, the new norm is a fluctuation of 500 – 2000 points. It’s crazy – and people have been panicking. Panic is the word – the lever, the ‘GO’.
“A market downturn doesn’t bother us. It is an opportunity to increase our ownership of great companies with great management at good prices.” — Warren Buffett
“You make most of your money in a bear market, you just don’t realize it at the time.” — Shelby Cullom Davis
This is literally a once-in-a-lifetime market. Tomorrow, I get my annual bonus. I have been waiting for this, doing due diligence over the past 2 weeks. I will be increasing my MSFT and AMZN holdings bigly, as well as adding some additional tickers to my portfolio – relative to travel and hospitality.
Hell – practically everything is on sale right – a BOGO event, if you will.
Tina and I have been talking about how we must write down our experiences and thoughts during this pandemic. It’s been just over a week now since it’s hit society hard. 8 Days ago, I was picking up a VP from the airport to tour stores together – a pretty typical day, I guess. Effective that morning, field leaders had received an email announcing stricter standards with safety … this was around the time we started hearing the term ‘social distancing’.
After I dropped Mike (said VP) off at the airport, I headed south to El Paso, TX. It’s a 4 hour drive from ABQ. As I drove, I would periodically check the news on my phone (not the smartest thing but whatever). The news grew darker and darker. The news was a curiosity, though. Especially with Trump’s farcical leadership.
The President is just an embarrassment, frankly. His ramblings (‘Incredible’ ‘Tremendous’ ‘Huge’ ‘Great’ ‘Winning’) and inability to stick to the script for Pandemic Updates are just terrible. It is painful to hear him talk and it’s just best to ignore the news at this point. Washington (state) has even opted to not carry his updates live due to his messaging.
Every once in a moment I catch myself wanting to call a friend or relative to say ‘you’re never gonna believe the shit that’s going on right now – there is a friggin pandemic!’ But then I realize the entire world is going through this. Weird.
It was just this week that things started to feel like a science fiction movie. People were acting differently – you can see the worry and almost panic in peoples’ eyes. At the grocery stores, meat is sold out – cleared out. Cheese – gone. Milk, Eggs, Canned Food. I’ve never seen anything like it.
All news on the TV, web, apps on the phone – bad. Dire tales from elsewhere as it sweeps across the us from centralized hubs and spreading a web as you look at the maps.
Yesterday, one of my managers – who is married to a state trooper – informed me that the police were preparing for looting. Bothered me for a bit and I let it go, but then today I was with another manager who was former military and he said he was loading up on ammunition. It’s getting deep. Shit.
I went online this evening and purchased some supplies to help fortify, should it get to that. Not panicking, but preparing for the worst. WTF.
Spring Break is here! But not so glorious … COVID is here.
Heard at 3pm the Governor was going to close all non-essential businesses. Went to Lowes real quick to get supplies for the week (Spring Break vacation week. I will be painting. No trips under current state-of-affairs).
This was the checkout at Lowes: Social Distancing (notice the cones every 6 feet). Getting strange and lonely.
Over dinner I told the kids that they must spend 1 hour per day during this mess (schools have gone remote for now) doing Khan Academy, and we will be eating dinner together as a family every night.
Literally within hours Elyce asks me “where are my lessons, Dad?” (Khan Academy).
