#3020 just…no

I was planning to write a cute little post tonight, but I don’t have it in me right now. I am so disgusted, enraged, and heartbroken about what happened in Minneapolis today. The best thing I can do for myself right now is to wrap myself in a cozy quilt and watch a familiar and beloved movie to try to get the images I saw on the news and on social media out of my head, at least for a couple of hours. 

#2943 taking a break from reality with art

 

current mood

Listen...I am cranky today. Sometimes the state of the United States just makes me want to yell, scream, cry, and finally curl up in a ball. I don't know if it's better for me to hear the news or not. I want to look at pics and videos of dogs and cats, but I can't resist watching videos of people like me who are worried and annoyed and angered by the trump Regime and all the things that are happening.

So...I decided to make some art. I've been busy with a bunch of stuff lately and haven't had a chance to listen to my muse. I let her all the way in this morning, and I feel a little better. Here is my wee calendar for April:

I got impatient and started erasing the pencil line and smeared the M and the T. Oh well. Wabi sabi and all that. 

This next work of art (heheh) is inspired by what happens in my back yard every night when I play with the dogs. First the tale, then the art. 

There is a bird feeder hanging from one of the maple trees in the yard. It is a late-budding tree. The other maple already has baby leaves, but the bird feeder maple just has little buds, so it's just bare branches. Along the fence line right behind the bird feeder maple, there is an enormous juniper tree/bush. It's got to be at least 15' wide and probably at least 20' tall. It's huge and dense. You can't even see the fence through it. The birds love it. Hummingbirds love it. Mac and Stella like to lay in it's shade. I like it and MT doesn't. It likely does need to be trimmed, but we'll deal with that later. 

In the evening after work, the dogs and I like to go outside to play. Stella chases after her frisbee, of course, and the big dogs snuffle for kibbles and chase each other around. Usually the bird feeder is empty at that time. As we play outside, I watch the little birdies come to the juniper and start to watch us. At first there are just a few, but the more minutes go by, the more birdies come to the juniper. They start to chirp and make a bunch of noise, which I interpret as them saying, "Feed us! Feed us!" One day I counted around 20 little birds in the juniper at dinnertime, with various doves and other small birds nearby, like on the wire fence between us and the neighbor, and in the cypress trees at the house behind the back yard. It's a little intimidating.

Bird feeding time correlates with dog feeding time, so I'll fill the bird feeder, then take the dogs inside for their dinner. I love to watch the flock of birds descend onto the feeder, the tree, and the ground under the feeder. They can have the feeder empty pretty quickly, but then there are the seeds they kick out on t the ground, so we have birds in the yard for awhile. It's pretty cool to see them all lift into flight when the dogs go back out after their dinner. 

I never knew how much pleasure I would get from watching the birds in my yard. It's really cool.

Anyway, here is a little thing I did today to remind me of bird dinner time:

That's all for today. I'm off to Trader Joe's for some groceries. Have a lovely week.

 

#2937 three things: night guard, Grammys, WTF

 

Oops...I missed writing a time or two. Happy February! I hope it goes by a little quicker than January. I felt like there were eleventy-hundred days in January. Let's get to it, shall we?

1. I need a night guard. I went to the dentist today and the hygienist told me that it looks like I'm grinding my teeth at night because some of them are worn down. She asked if I have jaw pain in the mornings. I don't, but I do frequently have headaches and my neck and shoulders are sore, which can also be signs of teeth grinding. A custom-fitted night guard is expensive, but my insurance does pay for half of it.  The hygienist did say that Botox injections are another option, but that is more expensive and you have to get them every four to six months. I think the guard will last for awhile, so I think I will go ahead and get it. Not having headaches when I wake up and getting better sleep would be swell.

2. The Grammy Awards. I missed writing on Sunday because I watched the Grammy Awards, aka the LA Fire Relief telethon. I actually didn't mind the request for donations, and I liked the commercials about the local businesses affected by the fires. As far as the performances, I think my favorite was the "California Dreaming" duet by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. (Side note: please put out another album soon, Bruno!) My least favorite part of the show was the reaction by Beyoncé when she won Best Country Album. It seemed phony to me. 

3. WTF is happening? It's been less than 30 days since Trump moved back into the White House, and he seems pretty intent on tearing down a whole bunch of stuff. From the tariff announcements and subsequent walk-backs to dismantling the federal workforce (except for the military), to saying that the U.S. will buy Greenland, that Canada should be the 51st state, and that the U.S. will take control of Gaza, every day brings something new to ponder. And WTF is Elon Musk doing there? Why is he getting so much government information and how is this going to end? It all feels very weird and yucky. I am trying to keep an open mind, I really am, and maybe things will all work out, but I'm uncomfortable.

Dog bless us, everyone. 

#2931 Los Angeles in flames

The news out of Los Angeles makes my eyes water. The images on the news are horrendous, but seeing posts on social media from people who are affected is something else. I saw a post from a guy I follow in LA. There was a photo of burned out buildings and his caption said, "I had breakfast here on Sunday." My sister knows people who have lost their home in Altadena. Mom and Lizzie had an evacuation warning late this afternoon. It was rescinded about 30 minutes later, but the warning itself was enough to worry us. I asked Lizzie what the plan was, and she said they were getting the 6Ps together. I had to GTS to find out what it is:

People and pets

Papers, phone numbers, and documents

Prescriptions, eyeglasses, vitamins, etc.

Photos and personal items

Personal computer

Plastic (credit cards and cash)

They also have a plan about where they would go if they were evacuated, and I am glad about that. I don't think they are in danger, but you really just never know. It's good to be prepared and to have a plan.

If I was a praying woman, now is when I would be praying for the firefighters to be able to contain the blazes, for everyone who is in danger to be safe, and for the winds to quiet down so the fire will stop spreading so quickly. 

#2831 mid-week check in

I listened to my favorite podcast, Vibe Check, today. The gurls (their terminology) talked a lot about the Grammy Awards. The three of them were mighty put out that Beyonce's album, Renaissance, was not named Album of the Year. I was kind of put off by their take on that topic. I listened to several of the albums in the category, and I thought they were all good. Yes, I'm sure Beyonce was disappointed, but don't you think Adele was bummed out, too? How about Kendrick Lamar and Lizzo? Those were good albums that I liked a lot. Bad Bunny's album was the first Spanish language album nominated for Album of the Year, and it was excellent. Harry Style's won the award for Harry's House, also a very good album, and I was happy for him. He did make me shake my head in disappointment when he said, "This kind of thing doesn't happen to people like me." I'm like, "Dude, you are a young white man. Stuff like this happens for people like you all the damn time."

Anyway, who really cares? Those awards are all subjective, anyway. Someone is going to get the award, and nine other people won't. So what? Does it make me not want to listen to Beyonce or Lizzo because they didn't win the Best Album Grammy? No, it doesn't. I will continue to listen to all the albums and enjoy the hell out of each one of them. 

I think this was the first time I was not on board with what Sam, Saeed, and Zach were saying. It's okay, though. 

You know what really annoyed me about the Grammys? It happened right at the start of the show during Bad Bunny's performance when the closed captioning on my TV said something like "non-English singing." Ugh. I don't know why there was closed captioning on the song. I don't even remember if there was closed captioning on any of the other songs. I usually ignore the closed captioning, but it was on and I saw it plainly during Bad Bunny's performance. Benito (that's what I hear his Puerto Rican fans call him) won an award a little later, and gave most of his acceptance speech in Spanish. I liked that. 

There seems to be a lot of heavy news this week. I'm still feeling down about the Tyre Nichols murder. The earthquake in Turkey and Syria is awful to hear about and those images of the crumbled buildings are terrifying, knowing that people were in their beds when the earth trembled mightily. I didn't watch the State of the Union address, but it's American politics, so it can't be good. Oh yeah, and the Jazz just traded three players, including Mike Conley, to get Russell Westbrook and some draft picks. 

Ugh! This is not a fun check in! I'm cranky/sad/bummed about so many things!

Ok...so what's good? Here's something:

This afternoon after work, I leashed up the doggos to take them for a walk around the neighborhood. Harley, the lab, is a terrible puller, so MT and I use a harness for her. MT told me to try attaching the leash to the loop on the front of the harness, then the leash would go between her legs and she doesn't pull as much. It really worked! She did much better today on the walk. I gave her lots of praise and kibble snacks along the way to reinforce her good walking. 

Stella gets so excited when we go for a walk that she yips and barks for a good couple of blocks. We stopped while she was in the middle of barking her fool head off, and I petted her and talked to her in a calm voice and she chilled out and had a good walk. 

Mac is an easy walker - I would have never thought I would say that when she was a puppy. She just trots along, sniffing everything and being good. 

After a day of work, I enjoy taking the dogs out for a walk. Sometimes I don't, like if it is raining hard or snowing, or if it's eleventy-hundred degrees in the summer, but most days I do take them out. There have been a few times when the three of them are out of sorts and are terrible walkers, and I'll cut the walk short, but it doesn't happen often. Mostly we all get straightened out within a block or so of the house. The majority of the time, it feels so nice to get outside, stretch my legs, breathe in the fresh air, and have fun with the doggos. Since Stella came to live with us, we have outside play time after the walk. Stella loves to play fetch. Mac has been getting into running after a ball - they have to have separate toys and throwing routes. Harley will sometimes chase a ball, but Mac always takes it from her, so Harley mostly just stands by me and waits to get a kibble and a snuggle. She's my sweetest girl. That 30 minutes I spend with the puppers after work is one of my favorite parts of the day, and I get to do it every day!

Yes, there are times when I really don't want to do it. Leashing them up, herding them out the door, getting them straightened out and walking in the same direction at roughly the same pace sometimes isn't easy or very much fun. Sometimes they pull and misbehave and eat poop out of the yards we pass by. Even on the worst days, though, there is usually something good and pleasant that happens. It is unusual for all three of them to act awful at the same time, and they almost always settle down. Come to think of it, if I don't enjoy the walk, it's usually because I reacted badly to the dog's antics. I lose my patience, and then the walk isn't good for me.

Anyway, that's all I've got for tonight. I'm going to spend a few minutes doing a bit of art. I hoped that I would have some time to work on it earlier, so I could show you what I'm doing, but I read a few pages of one of my books after dinner instead of drawing. Maybe I'll remember to share it with you on Sunday when I post here again.

Enjoy the rest of the week! 

#2764 waiting for the cool-down

 

I know, I know. It is so cliche and dull to talk about the weather, but really, Mother Nature? Salt Lake City has had 36 days with temperatures over 100 degrees in 2022. 

According to the weather app, we are in for a cool-down starting tomorrow. I’m ready for it. 

Remind me how hot it was this summer when I am complaining about how cold it is in the winter, ok?

#2755 weekend wrap-up

I did what I said I was going to do and rested at home all weekend. I did get out a little bit, mostly to get food. I feel pretty good, although the fatigue remains, as does the stuffy nose. Maybe the stuffiness is from allergies, though? The cough is gone, as well as the body and head aches. There's a little bit of breathlessness when I climb the stairs, but it's over pretty quickly. 

On Saturday morning, I slept in as long as the dogs would let me. MT left for Idaho to attend his family reunion. I went to the grocery store to get a couple of things, then to Petsmart to replace the oldest Kong. 

Oh, I have to tell you about the meteor! On Saturday morning, I heard this giant BOOM. I looked over at the Oquirrhs because I thought maybe something had blown up at Kennecott. I didn't see anything, so I thought maybe the nearby military bases (there are three within 100 miles of our house) were doing testing or maneuvers. I got on Twitter and many people were posting about the boom. It was heard from north of my house in the Ogden area, east to Park City, and south to Lehi, at least. The military denied any testing, and over the next couple of hours, it was determined that a meteor had hit the atmosphere, and the sound was the sonic boom from the meteor. How crazy is that?

Check out the story from our local news.

After that, everything was pretty calm. I laid around reading and re-watching season 2 of Ted Lasso. 

This morning I slept until about 8:30. The doggos were kind! I had a peaceful, slow, quiet morning. I sat out on the deck reading and drinking a little coffee. The coffee actually didn't taste very good to me, though, so I switched to water. I hope the coffee thing is temporary. Maybe it's just the blend I got isn't to my liking. I had to take a nap around 11:00. I've been in slow-motion today, and it's been pretty great. 

MT got home around 3:30 this afternoon. I think he might have been up late last night, because he said he felt pretty tired and took a short nap. 

I'm looking forward to getting back to normal this coming week. Tomorrow is our 29th wedding anniversary. We both have to work, then I think we'll go out for dinner. Probably nothing too fancy, but it's worth celebrating. On Thursday, I'm scheduled to volunteer at the Maren Morris concert at Red Butte. On Friday, MT and T are going to see Joe Rogan in concert. He does stand up comedy, I guess? They are excited about the show. I'll probably go look at flowers that evening. 

I hope y'all had a pleasant weekend! 

Here's a pic of my girls to make you smile:

#2726 wellness Wednesday

When I was on vacation, I took a break from the constant news cycle. Yes, I looked at Facebook and Instagram, and I was on Twitter occasionally, but not for very long.  Mostly I went on those platforms to post photos, and maybe to get a snippet of what was happening in the world. The break was a good thing for me, in lots of ways, not the least of which was a reprieve from the constant barrage of news and opinions and rhetoric.

Since coming home, I have been deliberate about what I look at and what I engage in. One day I was sitting in the office, and I realized that I felt happy. I felt present and satisfied with my life. Sadly, it had been awhile since I'd felt those feelings. As I and wont to do, I started thinking about what was driving the good vibes so I could continue riding the wave. I came up with a few things, and one of them was that I wasn't spending so much time with the news. It's not that I am unaware of what is happening, but I haven't taken the time to immerse myself in all of it. I get the gist, file it away, and move on. I'm not saying this is a good thing, but it's good for me right now.

All that being said, there was no way to avoid yesterday's news about the school shooting in Texas. 18 little kids and two teachers were murdered at school. It was just two days before the start of their summer vacation. Remember when you were in fourth grade and how awesome the end of the school year was and how you couldn't wait for summer vacation to start? I bet a bunch of those kids had fun plans with their families. I bet they were looking forward to running through the sprinklers or going to pool on a hot Texas day. Some kids were probably going to visit their grandparents or go camping, maybe even going to Disneyland or something. 

Now their moms and dads are devastated by their loss. Those moms and dads kissed those little kids yesterday morning and sent them to school, and now they will never get to kiss their babies again. I weep for those families. I wonder if there will ever again be a time in our country when these shootings don't happen regularly. 

Did  you know that today is the 145th day of 2022 and that there have been 212 acts of gun violence that have killed or injured more than four people at a time in the United States? 145 days, 212 "mass" shootings. Yes, I realize that many of these shootings are probably gang-related or domestic disputes, but 212 in 145 days? I'd like to think America is better than this, but these numbers are awful. 

I know Americans love their guns. I understand that the vast majority of gun owners in this country would not commit acts of mass violence and that other than the gun thing, they are probably reasonable, cool people. I don't own any guns. I don't think I've ever even held a gun, much less shot one. I don't have any desire whatsoever for any of that. I don't understand the allure of the gun culture. I can't understand why a person would want or need to have multiple safes full of guns, but I personally

know people who do have those things. 

I was watching the news a bit today, and I found myself crying, and I could feel myself at a tipping point of sorts, where if I didn't stop the flow of information, I might not be able to stop crying and I'd find myself in a state of depression. So...in this time of grief, sadness, and outrage, I have to protect myself a little by focusing on the good things around me, even if they are little dumb things that don't mean anything to anyone but me. Gratitude for a glass of wine while I sit on the deck in the back yard, or freshly painted toenails, or a nice cup of coffee in the morning. No, it doesn't take away the pain that I feel, and I'm not trying to minimize the bad news. I'm only trying to get through the best way I can. 

Take care of yourselves the best way you can.

 

#2675 one month down

Today is the last day of January. I don’t know if it went quick or slow. It seemed that some days and even weeks went by in a hurry, and some dragged on and on. I feel a strong sense of Covid fatigue that caused January to feel like it lasted 310 days instead of just 31. Like most places, Utah experienced a huge surge in sickness this month. I thought the guidance on how to deal with the surge was unclear, and many leaders seems to think it is nearly inevitable that everyone will contract the virus. I don’t accept that! I don’t want to contract the virus. I don’t care if my symptoms will likely be “mild”. I feel like I’ve been through every emotion that can be felt in these first 31 days of the year, and all of them have been caused by Covid fatigue.

Whew. Lighten up, little Sandy. It’s gonna be okay. What was good about January?

A fun thing about January was Wordle. I have played 21 times and it’s been a pleasure. Today the New York Times announced that they have purchased the game from the creator, Mr. Wardle (that’s really his name). I wonder how long The NY Times will allow us to play the game for free and share the joy with others?

I did something pretty out-of-the-ordinary for me this month: I had lunch with someone who is not family or a co-worker! The woman is a fellow Red Butte Garden volunteer. We became friendly in 2019 when we had shifts together during Saturday night weddings. She and I both love to read and travel. We have similar political views, and are close in age. When I saw her at the volunteer reception in December, I asked her if she’d like to get together one day for coffee and chatting. We ended up going to lunch a couple of Sundays ago and it was really cool! I’m looking forward to doing it again. 

An update on the dogs: Harley has kennel cough. She is on some medication now and she is feeling a lot better. Mac is fully recovered from her stomach ailment. Both of them are eating their kibbles without embellishment and with great gusto. All is well. 

The menfolk are good. T is working at the gas station in Magna and living his vampire lifestyle - up all night, asleep all day. He works from 6pm to 1am, so whatever. I can’t mandate his awake/sleep times. The only request I have of him is that he is quiet during the night so MT and I can sleep. With few exceptions, T has been compliant with that request. MT has worked his tail off this month. We had two units that were vacant, and he spent a lot of time getting them fixed up and ready to lease. I’m happy to say that we are back to 100 percent occupancy! Here’s hoping we have good new tenants. 

In February, I am looking forward to seeing Hamilton. It was postponed from January and rescheduled. I’ll be masked up and ready to go on the 6th. The Super Bowl will be fun to watch on the 13th. I’m surprised by the Cincinnati Bengals, but not by the LA Rams. I don’t really have a preference for who wins. Maybe Cincinnati because LA fans are insufferable enough as it is. 

Also in February, I plan to take the dogs to a doggy daycare, after Harley finishes her treatment for kennel cough, of course. I think they will love to play with other doggos every now and again. I will also be thinking more and more about our April vacation and planning what clothes to take and what activities and excursions we will do while we are on the trip.  It’s certainly not that I haven’t already been thinking about it, I’ll just be more actively getting stuff ready to go. I want to book some of our shore excursions in February because I do not want to miss out on stuff because the tours are booked. (I’m looking at you, Florence, Italy.) In addition, I am continuing to learn about habits, working on my Spanish, taking lessons through Master Class, and of course, reading, reading, reading. 

Since I won’t be chatting with you here tomorrow, I wish you happy lunar new year a day early!

#2667 three things: more about the dogs, physical therapy, and The Virus

 

FYI...this is a pretty long post.

1. Make that three attacks! In the last post, I wrote about Mac and Harley being attacked by Danny the Devil Cat. It was the only time they had been attacked by the cat, but it was actually the third "attack" on the doggos in the past week. One day we were walking along our side of the street and a wiener-type dog that lives on the corner got out of its house and ran across the road barking and yapping at my dogs, who were leashed, by the way. My dogs are always leashed when we go for a walk. We have had multiple encounters with this little wiener dog called Coco. I worry that Coco will dash across the road to bark at us and get hit by a car. I know Coco's humans worry about that, too, but I guess not enough to make sure Coco doesn't run out of the house to get to us. Coco is not friendly.

The second time we got attacked was on the last cul-de-sac in the neighborhood. We were on the south side of the street, and on the north side of the street, two little kids were outside playing with two little dogs, neither of them on leashes. One of the little dogs saw my girls and ran across the street barking and snapping. My dogs just stood there looking interested. When the little dog ran up and snapped at Mac, Mac took a step toward the little dog, which then started howling and crying like it's leg had been ripped off. It hadn't, of course. Mac didn't even growl. She just looked confused. Meanwhile, the little boy, probably seven or so, had come running over by us. Harley was super-interested in saying hi to him, but he was freaked out by his dog yowling like it was about to die. I looked at the boy and asked him what he was doing. Did he really think he was going to catch his dog, which was now back at their house? He didn't say anything, just ran back across the road. I've never seen the little dog that yowled before. The boy and the dog must have been visiting. 

It's always the little dogs that freak out. It's the same at the dog park. There is a little dog yard and a big dog yard and an entry area in between with gates to either yard. The little dogs always bark their heads off when a big dog comes in to the entry area. The big dogs just gather around the gate to see and smell whoever is coming in, then they all run around. 

Follow up on Harley's injury: her nose does still have a visible scratch mark, although it is faint. She doesn't like to walk in front of Danny's house. We cross the road. 

2. Update on physical therapy. My co-workers always ask how physical therapy was when I get in to the office. My answer is always the same: physical therapy kinda sucks. I never feel great when I'm done with my session. I always have a headache afterward., my shoulder, neck, and arm are in pain, and I usually feel like I won't ever have good strength or range of motion again, so I'm disheartened. Today was no different. I've had five sessions at the clinic, so it was time to do some measurements to check progress. We just did strength measurements. Pulling down and pulling across are pretty good. Lance didn't tell me the numbers, other than to say it was a little better. Pushing back is also a little better. When I started, I was pushing back at about nine pounds of pressure. Today I was up to 13. Compared to my right arm, though, I'm not close. On my right arm, I push back at 40 pounds of pressure. Plus, Lance says my neck is "a mess." I feel my neck muscles tense up and my shoulders pull up to my ears when I do anything. I have to consciously release my neck and shoulders and relax. Because of that, I have knots in my neck. For example, today, Lance was rubbing my neck and he pressed down on an area and I winced and whimpered. He asked if I could feel it. He kept pressing and told me to breathe in and out, in an out. He pressed harder and then harder still and suddenly, it felt like something burst in there. It was awful. I might have howled a little as water seeped out of my eyes. Lance said there isn't really anything I can do about it but keep trying to not let my neck get involved with my shoulder work, to use a heating pad and to have MT rub my neck (like that's gonna happen!). My next appointment is in two weeks. I shudder to think about how my neck will feel by then. Also, he gave me another exercise to do that hurt like hell, but I have to do it. 

My advice to you: don't get hurt, but if you do, just go to the doctor and find out how to get better. Don't think it will get better on its own. It probably won't, and if you wait too long, everything about getting better will feel awful.

3. The Virus rages on. In Utah yesterday, Jan 12, there were just over 10K new cases of corona virus. Salt Lake County had more than half of those cases, at 5,800. The County mayor, on the advice of the County health director, who is the former state epidemiologist, issued a mask mandate for a month, through Feb. 7. The pushback has been unbelievable. The Salt Lake County Council narrowly, by one vote, decided to keep the mandate in place, but said the legislature, which convenes next week, may repeal it. People think mandating mask wearing violates their rights. I don't understand. What is the big deal? Wear the damn mask!

The line at the mobile testing facility in my neighborhood was the longest I have ever seen it today. The testing center is on the eastern-most side of the grounds, and this morning the line snaked through the fitness center parking lot all the way to the western-most side of the grounds. I drove by on my way home from work this afternoon, and the west entrance was blocked off. I bet the line this morning was out in the main road, blocking traffic. 

A couple of small businesses in my neighborhood have temporarily closed due to staffing shortages likely caused by The Virus. One of them is Atlantis Burger. They have been closed for three days. I really hope they come back. 

I would be happy to work from home until this surge settles down, but I don't think that is an option. In the meantime, folks are getting sick, though not necessarily with The Virus. One person has pneumonia. Another has bronchitis. It just feels like germs are everywhere and they are strong and horrible and want to harm us vulnerable humans. 

Also, the thing I was most looking forward to this week, the Hamilton performance on Sunday, has been postponed. Why? Covid in the company. They say they will reschedule. 

I have ordered a bunch of N95 and KN94 respirators, but I am not sure when they will be delivered. The County Library is giving out N95 masks, so I picked a couple up yesterday. I am not interested in getting sick.

If you made it this far, thanks for hanging in there! Maybe I'll be a little more upbeat on Saturday. Stay safe!

#2536 tonight I feel...

Tonight I feel overwhelmed and disheartened by things I am learning and seeing every day. For example, I’m talking about the way Black people have been treated and are still being treated in the United States.  It seems like weekly, every few days, every other day, a Black man is being mistreated or killed by the police. There are shootings of more than a couple of people reported nearly as often. Here in Salt Lake over the weekend, a man walked into a small business without a mask. He was politely asked to put on a mask and he refused. He was then asked to leave the store and he told the clerk that he would leave then come back with a gun and shoot everyone in the business. What the actual fuck? 

Sometimes it is hard to be positive and find joy. 

I’m hoping to shake off my glum disposition. I’m okay, just a bit down.

#2504 the yellow snow is not what you think it is

Yesterday (Friday) it snowed here pretty much all day. While it was coming down, it looked white, but when it landed on the ground and on my car, there was a definite yellowish tinge to it. 

I took T over to his work to pick up his check, and as I brushed the snow off the window, I thought that maybe my car was just dirty. I mean, it was dirty, but it seemed the snow on my window was extra dirty. I could actually see dirt. When I took the dogs for a walk later in the evening, the snow on the ground was definitely not white.

MT commented on it when he got home and he did some checking. Turns out we weren't just imagining it. It's been very dry here, and before the snow came, it was very windy. The wind picked up dust from the west desert. The dust mixed with the snow, and that's why we had dirty snow. Here's a clip from the local news channel Fox 13 about it.

Local car washes were doing a booming business today. Every car wash, from the drive-through kinds to the wash-it-off-yourself kinds, had long lines, some out into the street holding up traffic.

My car is a mess.

The car should not be this dirty after a snowfall!

As you can see in the top photo, all the snow has melted and it was a fairly nice day with highs in the mid 40s. I did not wash my car, but I did clean off the windows so I can see. I'll probably rinse the car off in the next day or two if the lines aren't too long. 

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. Will you be watching the game? T is very excited about the half time show which will feature The Weeknd. We'll be watching. I hope the Chiefs repeat as champs. Mostly I hope for an exciting game.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

 

#2499 three things: Wednesdays in January

 

The first three Wednesdays of the year have each been historic for different reasons, but all of them have politics and one place in common. Let's recap.

January 6. Insurrection! Violence! Mayhem! 

Hanfordsentinel.com

 January 13. Impeachment.

wsj.com

January 20. Inauguration

wsj.com

I mean, my hell America! Let's settle down now, okay? That's a lot of shit to deal with in the first three weeks of the new year. It was like 2020 telling 2021, "I've softened 'em up for ya. Come in with some hard and fast!"

I'm ready for a bit of peace, please. And can someone tell COVID-19 to just go away? Ugh. It's just all a lot. 

All right, I'm going to start my weekend now. Be good to each other. 

#2495 this again?

I just got back from the grocery store. I was too lazy to go yesterday, so I had to go after work tonight. We were out of essentials like milk, Brummell & Brown, and sriracha, among other things. One of the don’t-come-home-without-it items on the list was sliced black olives. We have tacos every week at our house, and MT like to put sliced black olives on his tacos or taco salads. (This practice has been hotly debated in the break room of my work. It’s an American thing, isn’t it?)

The olives shelves were bare. There were some green olives, but those are not acceptable for tacos. Look at the sad olive shelves:

The olives I buy are usually on the second shelf from the bottom. You can see it is bare. As I recall, there were no olives there when I shopped the previous weekend either. What’s with the run on sliced black olives? Is everyone in West Valley having tacos?

As I walked through the store, I noticed there were quite a lot of empty shelves. The dog food aisle had a lot of empty space. There were lots of bins for different fruits and veggies that were empty. The toilet paper/paper towel aisle was fairly full, as were the shelves with cleaning products. 

It made me wonder, though, as the pandemic rages on, are we in for more shortages? Here in the U.S., we are so accustomed to our grocery store shelves being stocked with at least three to five brands (or more) of every product the store carries. I wouldn’t mind if there was just one or two brands of sliced olives to choose from, as long as there were some sliced olives. I think having fewer choices is why I like Trader Joe’s. The quality of their products is very good to excellent and I think they are reasonably priced. I’m sad I didn’t look for sliced olives while I was there last week.

I heard a story on The World today (an NPR program) that talked about how people are becoming numb to the COVID-19 fatality figures and pretty much just everything associated with the virus. I know that for myself, the first few months of the pandemic, I was tracking the global, United States, and Utah cases and deaths daily. Then it became monthly. I didn’t even look at the numbers at the start of January. I guess I am guilty of the numbness to the numbers a little. Along with everything else, it’s a lot. I’m not surprised that more and more people are looking to speak to therapists or turning to substances to try to cope. 

Today is January 11. March 11, 2020 is when the worldwide pandemic was declared, so we are ten months into this situation. From what I’m seeing, the end isn’t in sight, despite the rollout of the vaccines, the mask wearing, the social distancing, and the hand washing. We still have not flattened the curve. To be honest, the flattest the curve has been here in Utah was during March and April when there was a nearly complete shutdown. I know it freaks everyone out that another shut down would spell the end for the economy, but I don’t think we can fix the economy without overcoming the virus. There is nothing easy about any of this. 

In the meantime, grab those olives while you can. I’ll be going to another grocery store tomorrow to see if I can find a couple of cans of olives to get us through our taco nights.

Stay safe friends!

#2493 three things: anxiety, hope, and anger

Yesterday's events in Washington DC had me feeling things. 

1. Anxiety. When the news alert from NPR popped up on my phone that shouted CAPITOL BUILDING BREACHED, I felt concerned. I immediately went to Twitter to see what people were talking about. There were photos of white men waving Trump flags and wearing MAGA hats. There were white men wearing animal skins and with their faces painted with red, white, and blue. They were bursting in to the Capitol building, carrying the Confederate flag, and shouting things. I stopped looking. It was making me feel like I wanted to cry. Why did I feel like crying? I sat with it for a minute and I realized that it was my body and brain's reaction to the anxiety and fear I was feeling.

I talked to a couple of people about what was happening. It did not appear that they wanted to cry as they checked their news feeds. Their response just confirmed to me that the feeling to cry was anxiety. I had to stop looking at Twitter and the news for awhile.

When I went back to doom-scrolling a bit later, I was more in control of my emotions. I wasn't any less offended, horrified, and upset, but I didn't feel like I would cry about it. I just felt sad for our country. I looked at reporting on the BBC and from The Guardian. The UK didn't seem impressed with what was happening in the US. I'm guessing most of the rest of the world was pretty shocked, too.

2. Hopeful. When I got home last night, I turned on the news to get the latest information. CNN was carrying the Congressional hearings to certify the Electoral College votes. I heard some strong rhetoric from Senators on the right and the left condemning the violence and insurrection that had happened earlier in the day. I'm sure it scared the hell out of them when they were escorted to secure locations or told to lie on the floor and given gas masks. I allowed myself to feel hopeful that both parties would figure out a way to work together to unite the country. I allowed myself to think that maybe, just maybe, something good could come out of the horror of the day. Maybe civil discourse can resume without the profound vitriol on both sides. Yeah, I know it's a long shot, but I can't help but hope.  

3. Anger. I was busy at work today. I thought about yesterday and I listened to NPR report on the aftermath. I thought again of the images I'd seen yesterday. The difference was that while yesterday I felt scared and anxious, today I felt angry. What were those people hoping to accomplish? That they would take over the Capitol and then Trump would continue to be the President? What was with setting up a gallows in the building? Why were they wearing those ridiculous animal headdresses and painting their faces like they were at a sporting event? What was up with some of the Capitol police - the ones taking selfies with the mob or opening the barrier and inviting them through?

While we were eating dinner tonight, MT was telling me that some Republican friends of his on Facebook were spinning the tale that the insurrectionist mob were not actually Trump supporters. They were in fact ANTIFA people in disguise. I could not believe it. What a bunch of cowardly people.  Are they embarrassed by what people who believe the same as them are willing to do? They oughta be. There was nothing cool or honorable about breaking into the Capitol building and acting the fool in the Senate Chambers and in the House of Representatives.

UGH. 

Now I'm upset for riling myself up again after I took a nice warm shower and was feeling all relaxed. I better go listen to some calming music and go to bed. It's been a long week.

 

#2451 thankful it is over

Tonight I am thankful that the election cycle is over. And yes, I am pleased with the results of the Presidential election. I have no idea if Joe Biden will be a good President. What I do think is true is that I won't be cringing every day for the next four years about the words coming out of Biden's mouth or out of his Twitter account. I think he is a good person, even for a politician!

I found Trump to be rude and a bully. It's not about "political correctness" to me. It's about being polite and having respect for people. I don't like name-calling: Pocahontas, Sleepy Joe, Crooked Hillary  - I disliked it when Trump did that. Don't even get me started on the lying and the way he talked about the media (with the exception of Fox News, of course). Trump seems like a person of poor character and as I've aged, I've come to appreciate a person's character and morals more and more. 

On a positive note, the fact that a woman has been elected Vice President is thrilling. 

#2450 thankful it's Friday

 

I kind of felt like Chris Farley looks in this meme when I walked out of the office this afternoon. The first week of the month is always very busy and little stressful at work as we close the previous month's business. I had a couple of long days - more than eight hours of work - so I feel thankful it is the weekend.

Want to hear my big plans? I'm going to read. The book club I'm in finished a book yesterday, except I didn't finish the book. I'm having a really tough time with it. The book is Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. I have found that my level of anxiety is very high while reading it, so much so that I can only read a chapter or two at a time before I have to take a break. The chapters vary from maybe ten pages to one page. It's that the characters are odd and the premise is quirky. Some of the insights given by the omniscient narrator are interesting and thoughtful, but the interviews with the police are mostly unbearable to me because it seems so unbelievable.

However, most of the book club members said they really loved this book and that the way it ends up made them feel happy and joyful. So, my big goal for the weekend is to finish this book. I've got about 110 pages to go. There's another book I'm reading that I actually like, and it would be cool to finish it too. Ekpe, the book club leader, wants us to start on the next book because he wants to finish it in two weeks. As a club we set a goal of 15 books we would read this year. I think Anxious People is book eleven. It will be close, but I'm sure we'll do it. All the people involved in the club are serious readers.

I was hoping to watch Utah football tomorrow, but the game has been cancelled because of a Covid outbreak on the team. Utah as a state is not doing well with Covid right now. Today there were almost 3,000 new cases in the state. Covid fatigue is real, and it's the worst time to have that fatigue and arrogance. 

A block away from my house there was a large gathering of people. There was a tent set up outside the house a couple of days ago as the preparations were made. Tonight when I took Mac for a walk, there were many cars parked on the street and people flocking to that house. About an hour ago there was a good-sized fireworks display. Mac and I didn't walk past the house tonight, we went the opposite direction, so I don't know what was being celebrated. I do know that there were way more than ten people over there, though. 

My plan is to stay home with my books. It's supposed to be rainy tomorrow and snowy on Sunday and Monday. That weather forecast makes me want to eat soup and biscuits. And cookies. But then, I always want to eat cookies. I'm nearly 100% sure I'll be making cookies.

Have a good weekend! Stay home if you can. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Be nice to people.

#2439 freeform Friday

 I haven't been good at writing this week. To be honest, I'm feeling a little down lately. The happenings in my country is, well, it's a lot. 

I was thinking about February 2016 when Justice Antonin Scalia passed away. President Obama put forth a viable candidate to fill the seat on the Supreme Court but Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, wouldn't give the candidate, Merrick Garland, a hearing in the Senate because, McConnell said, there wasn't enough time to have hearings and confirm the Justice. That was seven or eight months prior to the presidential election. Justice Ginsberg died within 50 days of the presidential election, but miraculously, there is plenty of time to have hearings and confirm a Justice to the Supreme Court. McConnell said as much the day after Ginsberg's death. The hypocrisy is stunning.

This week a grand jury in Louisville ruled that the police officers that killed Breonna Taylor in her home were justified in shooting her because they were fired upon by her boyfriend. Here's the thing though: the officers entered the apartment without knocking, and I don't think they declared that they were police. (Of course there are contradicting statements about all of this.) The boyfriend thought someone was breaking into his home, so he got out his gun to defend himself, Yes, he shot at people he did not realize were police officers. The police fired back and Breonna Taylor was killed.

On Twitter I see people posting that the boyfriend shouldn't have fired his gun. I feel a little confused by these comments. Isn't one of the reasons people have guns is so that can protect themselves from intruders? The boyfriend was a licensed gun owner. I bet there are other people who would fire first and ask questions later. There is something wrong with all of this. 

The presidential election is approaching and damned if that man in the White House isn't sowing the seeds that the results of the election won't be valid and that he won't accept the results (unless he wins, of course).  Why is he saying that stuff? Why does he feel the need to rile people up with words like that?

And the pandemic continues. Over seven million cases in the United States and over 200,000 dead Americans. In Utah today we had the highest number of reported cases in a single day in the state, over 1,400. I believe it is complacency that is driving the numbers. We get bored so easily. It feels like we become immune to the growing numbers shown on the news every night. Many people don't personally know anyone who has been affected by the virus, so it doesn't seem real, maybe. 

I know none of the things I wrote about here have much of an impact in my own little world. My people are fine and I am good. I think back to the days, pre-Twitter, when I didn't really pay attention to the news and was mostly blissfully ignorant of what was happening in the world. Now I am aware and as much as I might want to go back to my ignorance, I can't go back. I can limit my time of Twitter and not read comments on new stories (because usually it's ordinary people who write comments that get me riled up). Any news program I see, with the exception of The Weather Channel, has stories about social unrest and stuff that guy in the White House says and the global pandemic. The different networks may have different takes on all of those things, but it's all out there.  It's all just a lot. 

So...I'll be aware of what is happening in my country, but I will focus on stuff that is good and gives me joy like baseball and basketball and my dog and my family. I am so thankful that I have someone to talk to every couple of weeks. I'm thankful for meditation. I'll continue to try to find joy and gratitude in little things every day and still allow myself to feel anger or sadness over things I don't think are right. 

Whew.

Have a good weekend. Wash your hands. Wear your mask. Be nice to people.

 

#2433 wild weather

 On Monday night the winds picked up to hurricane force levels, up to 99 MPH, though the early morning hours. Trees were uprooted, power outages abounded, semis were toppled on the freeway, and there was even one death reported. 

deseret.com

ksltv.com

I was scheduled to work at home on Tuesday, so I didn't have to go out into the storm. One of my friends was driving to work and a piece of metal flew through the air, ripping off the mirror on the driver's side of her car, scraping the door handle, and damaging the front driver's side quarter panel. Another of my friends drove past the office and shared a video of many trees that were uprooted, one of which had fallen on the building. These were big trees, too, over 20 years old. The power was out at the office on Tuesday. It was still out this morning, so I didn't go into the office. Power was restored today, but the servers for the computers were still down. I worked from home, but wasn't able to get a lot done since all of my files are on those servers. 

Today was a lot more calm and a little warmer. Oh, I didn't mention that Tuesday was cold! The temperature on Sunday and Monday was in the 90s; yesterday the high was in the mid-50s. I was wearing sweats and a long sleeve shirt. I had to turn on the heater in the house this morning. I'm thankful that I was able to do so since so many people, still over 80K, are without power.

Over here on the west side of the valley, I didn't see much damage. I think we lost a shingle or two from the roof, but I haven't seen any downed trees around the neighborhood. Like I said, we had power and internet the whole time. On the east side of the city and north of Salt Lake seems to be where most of the damage happened. 

This has been the damnedest year, hasn't it?

#2427 Wakanda forever