Hindsight 2020

This year's Super Bowl was kind of a let-down for me. I was hoping for a highly competitive barn-burner of a game that went into overtime. That certainly wasn't the case, eh? Maybe it's because I'm no longer a fan of a particular team.  About six years ago, I came to the conclusion how utterly stupid and moronic it was for me (emphasis on ME) to be a 'fan' of any particular team in the National Football League. Years prior, I had rooted for the team now known as The Washington Football Team. While I didn't shell out money on game-day tickets or a bunch of team swag, I did have an official NFL jersey and I engaged in my fair share of smack-talking with fans of opposing teams. I also played armchair coach and quarterback with my fellow fans as we talked about the team as if we were actually players or coaching staff. "What we need to do is draft ourselves a quarterback next year and not spend so much money on defense!" Or after a hard loss; "We ...

 In the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants have had to adapt and evolve to survive. The sad truth is many fine restaurants and bars simply could not survive this unprecedented chapter in American history. The ones that have survived so far have found ingenious and inventive ways of doing business whether it's upping their curbside-to-go game or adding delivery options, or coming up with family meal packages. I'm amazed at their tenacity and determination as well as their ability and willingness to think outside the box. I always want to do my part to keep these savvy-yet-struggling businesses going and I've been determined to try some new restaurants as time and budget permits. A local gal even created a very nifty Facebook group for local takeout options. I followed it and saw everyday how folks were raving about all the offerings from local restaurants. The coolest thing about this group is 99.9% of the posts were positive. No bashing for bad service and mediocre f...

 Wednesday, January 20, 2021. The end of an error. And that error is Donald J. Trump as President of the United States. If you've read my other blog posts, you know I've already covered the reasons why I think this piece of shit was able to ascend to the highest office in the land. It was a perfect storm brewing for decades, but especially during the two-term presidency of Barack Obama. And it was greatly facilitated by the two-party chokehold that's held this country for far too long.  For me, Donald Trump was always a joke; a sideshow circus with his utterly stupid Apprentice TV series. I'm convinced now that up to half the people in this country have no skill or aptitude when it comes to reading people for who and what they are, but I pegged this waste of human life for exactly what he was -and still is. First and foremost, he's spoiled, narcissistic, selfish, apathetic, dishonest, egotistical, obtuse, and overall just not that bright. Most people who display all...

 Let's start by defining some terms here; Patriotism . You see and hear that word being thrown around a lot by Trump and his followers. It means “devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty.” Examples of people commonly labeled as patriotic include our military service members as well as state and local government representatives. But folks such as diplomats, teachers, first responders, and everyday citizens who do extraordinary acts all exemplify patriotism in the many forms of good they do in service of their communities and the country. There are millions of government employees, as well as millions who volunteer their time in the interest of their country. Individual acts of pride, such as displaying an American flag at one’s home, are also examples of patriotism. Now let's talk about Nationalism . This is really what Trump is constantly mislabeling as patriotism. And I'm quite sure the vast majority of his followers really do not grasp the dif...

If you thought that Joe Biden winning the election was somehow going to make everything OK -or at least better- after four years of Trump, I admire your optimism. And although I hate to be a wet blanket or Debbie Downer, I'd like to call your attention to the fact that we still have the same exact two-party chokehold strangling this nation. It has and will always be Democrats vs. Republicans until we the people decide to do something about that. I hold out little hope of that though since the majority of us seem to love being part of a team. Trump was a prime example of how party comes before people. Party is apparently everything. To hell with morals, common sense, the greater good -all that stuff is meaningless when it comes to pumping up and supporting your party. Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, you're after the same goal. Party above all else. We're seeing that play out now in grand fashion as we approach yet another ominous Government shutdown on Decembe...

The following YouTube link is the speech that President Obama gave the day after the 2016 election when it was clear that Donald Trump had won the race. I encouraged you to take a few minutes and watch this. https://youtu.be/a_qg4svvSvU My immediate thought was "OK, so this is what a true president sounds like." He touched on all the important points and immediately tried to focus the country on the fact that the "united" in the United States of America was very important moving forward. He spoke about the importance of a smooth and cooperative transfer of power and assured everyone that he would do everything in his power to make that happen. You don't realize the greatness of this speech until you've endured four years of tweets, lies, insults, and tantrums from Trump. Pick any former president and find a speech he gave. You'll see many of the same common elements. They all focused on trying to unite the country and presented themselves in a dignified...

Back at the end of January, if you would've tried to tell me that I'd be sitting at my desk at work with a mask on and surrounded by hastily constructed foam board barriers to sequester me from my coworkers, I probably would have given you a skeptical look and thought you were blowing things a bit out of proportion. As far as I can recall, January was the first time I heard or read about a worrisome Novel Coronavirus that was starting to reak havoc in China and that had many infectious disease experts in this country sounding the alarm. At first, I thought the same thing as I imagine a lot of people thought: sounds like just another variety of the seasonal flu; not even as deadly it seems. I didn't really understand the aspect of there being no cure or no vaccine and that us humans had zero built up resistance against this new strain. The more I read and heard, the more concerned I became. I had a ton of questions and so did everyone else I knew. The problem was no one had ...