Category: News

  • Talking to My Daughter about Ukraine

    It’s been very hard over the past week to talk to my daughter about the war in Ukraine. A hard conversation, but one that I know we need to have. She’s seven, and sees the world as good guys vs bad guys, which I do think makes explaining this war to her a little easier. Putin is the bad guy for starting this war, that’s the easy part. Everything else has been challenging.

    I have found that the “Mr. Rogers Rule” works really well. That rule is simple, “Look for the helpers. When things are bad, there are always people wanting to help.” Luckily, there are still parts of humanity that aren’t garbage, and we have been pointing out how the people of Poland, and other nations as well, are helping with the refugees; giving food, shelter, medical care, and safety. We have even talked about what we can do here, to help all the people over there.

    Now, we don’t purposefully have her watch the news. Most of the time, when we tell her that we are going to put the news on, she will leave the room as that stuff is boring to her. But now and then, she’ll walk into the livingroom and catch something, an image; a building on fire, a blown up tank, or a dead body in the street. My gut reaction is that I don’t want her to see these things, but I don’t want to shield her, nor stop her from asking questions about difficult subjects.

    The one thing that I think she is grasping is that war is not good. Even the “good” wars were still awful.

  • Mask Free NYC

    Today is the first day that New York City has sort of done away with their mask mandate. Well… You still have to put on a mask if you use mass transit, but I think I will be doing that from here on out. The most important mask free part of the City are in the schools; no more required masks in the classrooms.

    Last night, the principal for my daughter’s school sent out an email, reminding parents that masks would be optional starting on Monday morning. Then she went on to request that parents talk to their children about respecting each student’s and family’s decision on whether to wear a mask or not. No teasing will be allowed, and we must respect each other’s choices.

    And we did talk to the kid about all of this. We asked her if she wanted to wear a mask or not; her choice was not to wear a mask. Then we talked to her about respecting her fellow student’s choice to have a mask on or not. That each family has to make that decision for themselves, and what might be right for them, could be different from us, and that’s okay. She said she got it, and would treat everyone the same. As we headed out for school today, the wife and I put a mask in her coat pocket, and another one in her backpack. We reminded her that it was okay to change her mind. That if she wanted to put her mask back on, she could.

    At the schoolyard, where all the kids line up before going in, I have to say that it was a 50/50 split of all the people there. The kid’s teacher had a mask on, and so did the vice-principal, and I understand that decision. They are the ones on the front line, but also, that mask will also help cut down on catching colds and the flu. So, I respect that decision.

    But what jumped out to me was that here we all were, (parents, students, teachers and staff,) doing what we think is best for our kids and ourselves, and everything was fine. Tomorrow might be a totally different situation, but at this moment, everyone is cool with everyone else’s choice.

    Walking home, it really didn’t feel like that much of a change. It still felt like it did the day before, with people in and out of masks. Everyone going about their business; Coming and going, still looking kind’a annoyed. You know, the New Yorker face.

    For me, it feels like a small step forward. I know we aren’t back to normal, and there is a good chance that we will never return to what normal was. But a step, even a very small one is progress.

  • 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.