Category: Life

  • ODDS and ENDS: Tottenham Woes Continue, Mushroom Stock, and Explaining War

    Tottenham lost their FA Cup match against Middlesbrough on Tuesday. (I head you saying, “Who did what now?”) Doesn’t matter. Tottenham should have won that match, it’s embarrassing, and I really don’t think there is any hope left for this team to make it back to the top of the rankings to at least make it to the Champions League for next season. Who knew that Mauricio Pochettino time as manager would be the high watermark for this club?

    Why is mushroom stock so hard to find? It used to be that we could easily get it around Thanksgiving, but over the last few years, it’s disappeared. I looked it up on Amazon, and I can either by a 12 pack for $48, or buy a single 4cup box for $3 but get charged $5 for delivery and $5 for a driver tip. I am also fully aware that I can make my own mushroom stock rather inexpensively and quickly, but I still wonder, why is this item so hard to find.

    This week the wife and I had to have a very serious conversation with our daughter. We had to explain to her that war is bad. And even when the good guys win, that still means a lot of innocent people had to suffer to get there. It’s not fun and games. A war is an awful thing.

  • End of Masks

    Seems like just about every state will end mandatory mask mandates in March. I know there is the asterisk for local communities who can still require a mandate if numbers go up again. But for all intents and purposes, the phase of masking up is coming down.

    Now, the cynical me feels like this is a Democratic ploy to get an issue off the table before the midterms. If there are no more mandates and restrictions to rally against, then the Republicans gotta come up with another issue. (Sadly, I know the “issue” will be school choice and the bullshit CRT issue. But that will be for another day.) In reality, I don’t think this move will help Democrats; they’re gun’na lose.

    I will say this honestly, I am ready for masks to go away. (I will still wear a mask on the subway, because it’s a stinky, crazy place down there.) Yes, there is a little fatigue, but I also feel, especially here in New York City, we have done our job of getting vaccinated; 77% vaccination rate for the City, with Queens the highest at 85%. We followed the rules, though no one was happy about it, and got on top of this. Besides, isn’t this what was supposed to happen.

    I thought the plan from the very beginning was to mask up, social distance, stay home, wash your hands, get your vax when available, and when we get to herd immunity – 75-85% – then we can all go back to normal. Seems like we hit the goal. Time for masks to go, and get back to doing whatever it is that you want to do.

    The only thing that I will say is that I would feel better about getting rid of masks if there was a vaccine for all ages. 6 months to 4 years are still waiting, so that is the only hesitancy I have.

    My last thing I will say about masks; I have adopted the idea of having a mask for winter. Covering my face outside on the coldest of cold days made the weather bearable. So, not all masks were bad.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Tottenham Woes, Something Worse, and Museum Day

    (Stuff and things…)

    On Wednesday, Tottenham played, the facing relegation, Burnley FC in Burnley, and the Spurs found a way to lose. This is the same Tottenham team that beat Man City on the road, which was just about impossible. Yet when it comes to playing a bottom of the table team, Tottenham can’t seem to even get a draw. Then when Tottenham’s manager comes out and says that he doesn’t get why they can’t win consistently, well that just screams that this team is in trouble. Sadly, I don’t see the Spurs qualifying for the Champions League, and that will be the death nail for Harry Kane’s departure. (I have a feeling that Kane is going to go hog wild scoring in the World Cup this summer to drive up his contract price.) Not sure what this team will be like without Kane, but it might mean hanging out in the middle of the table for the next couple of seasons.

    I can’t get rid of the feeling that something worse is coming with the war in Ukraine. I know I wrote about that yesterday, but, surprise!, it’s still on my mind today. Who fights a land war? I really thought that was one of the things that World War II put an end to; wars of conquest. Economies are no longer based on how much land you have. But still, I feel awful for the people of Ukraine, and also for the people of Russia, who will be the ones to really suffer from the sanctions. The sanctions won’t have an effect on Putin and the other corrupt billionaire cronies; they won’t suffer. It’s always the people who do.

    Today is the final day of the kid’s Winter Break from school, and our big activity of the day is to ride the bus down to the Guggenheim! Yup, taking the kid to look at some art, and this was actually her idea. Going to a museum, not specifically the Guggenheim. I want to make sure that I raise a kid that can apricate all the different forms of art, and also apricate how great the City she live in is. I liked going to museums as a kid, and my Dad was pretty good about taking me to the Dallas Museum of Art growing up. I feel like I’m completing the circle by take my kid today.

  • ODDS and Ends: NYTimes Killed WORDLE, War, and Crypto Value

    (Say it ain’t so…)

    Yup, @nytimes killed WORDLE. They took something fun, monkied with it, and now it’s not fun. WORDLE has become more difficult, not hard or impossible, just a little more difficult, to the point where now sometimes you lose. There is a good chance that you might not get the word in six tries. Just like how you might not be able to fully fill out the Times’ crossword puzzle, or become a Queen Bee on their Spelling Bee game. (I play both semi regularly, and I keep struggling for perfection, but may never attain it at those games.) WORDLE was the opposite of that. It was challenging enough to make you think, but not so hard that you couldn’t succeed. WORDLE was easy, and for most of us out there, it gave us an easy win at the start of the day. And the sociability of it, to share your box of colors, but not the letters, kind’a gave an insight on your thought process without divulging that you use the same words over and over and over again. Now, seeing everyone get it on the fifth or sixth try isn’t encouraging, or even envy creating, it just shows that we are frustrated. Read the room @nytimes, we liked our easy win.

    I have been avoiding talking about Ukraine and Russia and all of that going on. Sadly, I don’t feel good about it. I am not an expert, clearly, but it just feels like everything is leading to a war. Maybe it won’t turn into a world war, but it just feels like a war will happen. The reason I feel this way is sadly because it feels like a pattern humans keep repeating; Disease, Limited Resources, War. That and it’s been over eighty years since a world war, and well, most of the people who lived through that are gone, so no one remembers how bad this stuff can be. Just makes me nervous.

    My crypto currency has lost 37.45% of its value since I purchased it in October 2021. That means I have lost $12.92.

  • Selfish with My Time

    This past Friday, I mentioned that I had seen a listing for a theatre job that I was interested in, but wasn’t sure if I should apply for. I was going to take the weekend and think about it, but most likely, I was going to submit a resume no matter what, because what do I have to lose.

    Well… I totally forgot about the job. I mean, we did have a busy weekend with Friday movie night, and a birthday party on Saturday afternoon, and then there was the Super Bowl, and by the time Monday came around, we were back in the swing of the week.

    Then this morning, as the wife and I were walking back from the gym (you read that right) she asked me if I sent in my resume for that job. Thus, why I can say I forgot about the job as that was the first time I had thought about it in three days. First, I might not be real “into” the job if I forgot about it. Second, and I told my wife this, I really don’t want to give up my time with our daughter. I don’t like being in debt and feeling stuck, but I’m only going to get one chance have this time with her, and I don’t want to give it away to people who don’t deserve it.