Fully Vaxxed

On Friday May 28th at 10:10 am (edt), I am fully vaccinated with some of that sweet SWEET Moderna running through me!

I suppose this is where I tell a 5G joke, or a Bill Gates joke, or an "I'm going to lick all the doorknobs" joke...

I suppose I could talk about ALL of the things I missed out on these past 15 months...

...or, like so many others, the loved ones that I lost.

I could list all of the things I plan to do...

...the things I am most excited about.

But in truth, most things probably won't change.

I'll still wear a mask in many public places out of respect for those who haven't been "vaxxed" yet. Or, because of health reasons, can't be.

I'll still wear a mask when I am with my daughter ion any place she has to wear one, because she is still too young to receive a vaccination.

I'll still wear a mask when I'm at any location that requires, requests, or recommends I do.

I'll still wear a mask when I am feeling sick, so as not to spread this or any potential disease on to my fellow members of society.

I'll still wear a mask when pulling off various heists.


I am just grateful to be able to see the many people I have missed for well over a year. Be able to hug them. And to tell them about some of these wicked heists I've been involved in!

Every Day Is A Lesson - Today: Stinging Nettles

(This post was written on 3/9/2021. For some reason, Blogger pulled it down and "investigated" whether it violated their standards. I'm not sure if Big Nettles controls Blogger, but I found it funny if not completely bizarre).

*********

Throughout the pandemic, construction has continued on a railroad line in front of my house. What was once a "training" section for SEPTA will now be an extension of the Elwyn/Media line into Wawa. It's far enough removed from our property that I don't worry about Kit playing on or near it, though we have discussed the potential dangers. After all, every day is a lesson.

Yesterday we took the time to discuss how dangerous the third rail for a train is at all times. We discussed the electrical power that runs through it and how, under no circumstances, do you ever touch or go near it (even though it's suspended about 40 feet or more in the air). Why take chances?

Later, in the early evening I was inside when Kit came running in holding her hand and crying. It's not uncommon for her to hurt herself and quickly recover, after all, she's a daredevil! So I didn't think it was serious. I comforted her and asked her to explain what happened.

She told me and Julie that she was looking to decorate the "fairy garden" that she's been building outside when she saw what she thought was a little shrubbery. "That would look cute to the fairies," she thought.

So she reached down to yank it out of the ground and immediately felt the pain of a STINGING NETTLE!

If you have never experienced the pain of stinging nettles consider yourself lucky. It's an odd sensation not unlike being stung or cut, but with no visible ailment. The pain/itch can last up to 24 hours! Luckily, this particular incident seemed to subside after about 5 or so. However, that coincided with bedtime which is already a tricky time of night.

Because it was her right hand, she proclaimed she wouldn't be able to do her homework for the night. Rather than give her the night off, I took dictation and her homework's handwriting changed ever so slightly (I write like a 7 year old).

I made her spell out every single word in the sentence she wrote for her writing assignment. I didn't correct her when she spelled a word incorrectly, so it looked like a normal sentence I myself would actually write.

In the end I sent it to her teacher with a note about those dangerous Stinging Nettles. This morning, because she's still learning remotely, I overheard her teacher in group guidance discussing with the kids the dangers of stinging nettles.

It was nice that my kid could contribute to the lessons of the day.

Third Time's A Charm?

 

So perhaps Gus is Pennsylvania's second most famous groundhog, but I think I might be Pennsylvania's second most "accurate" prognosticator.

On January 6th I wrote about Trumps Tweet's and the fact that Twitter had deleted 7 of his last 10 Tweets. Later that afternoon, he'd inspire his devotees to "storm the castle" in an attempted coup of the US Government.

On January 8th I wrote about how Jack Dorsey & Twitter refused to curb Trump's megaphone by taking away this Twitter account. Later, they'd temporarily suspend his account, and ultimately make the suspension permanent.

In no way do I think I influenced any of these things from happening.

But....

The power ball is up to $550 Million.

Odds of winning 1 in 292,201,338.

I'm 1.

Let's see what happens.

Twitter is Fine For Entertainment, But Not News

There is a lot to take issue with in regards to Twitter and its CEO, Jack Dorsey.

They continually refused to curb Donald Trump's megaphone as long as his campaign continued to pour more and more AD revenue into the company during the 2020 Presidential Election. Now that it's over and that faucet has been turned off, the costless "face saving" display of temporarily suspending his account was a no-brainer. Perhaps it should be more permanent. Regardless, to many, this is too little and way too late.

Far more informed and well spoken people can, and will, continue to have this discussion.

But what I want to point out is Twitter's poor use of language.

This is the message you receive when you read through some of Twitter's aggregated Tweets on a certain subject:

For example, right now TED CRUZ is trending in regards to the increased criticism he's facing for his unsubstantiated claim that there was voter fraud in the 2020 Election. This played an enormous part in the riots we saw in the US Capitol on January 6th.

The number of unique Tweets in that aggregated "nest" is 14. FOURTEEN! And worse, they come from 8 different accounts.

There is no way on Earth (*round or flat), that 8 people's thoughts in 14 total Tweets could bring you "up to date" on this subject. Or almost any subject, really!

Sure, if you were trying to...let's say steal a piece of art from the US Capitol, and you accidentally tased yourself resulting in your heart stopping, we could probably cover that in 14 tweets. Hell, I bet I could do it in 1:

Nailed it!

But really how well informed could you possible be on something as intricate and complicated as this issue, or really any issue, facing our nation?

My point is, Twitter is merely entertainment, It is an absolutely atrocious place in which to get your news.

Please read newspapers. Yes, you can read their online sites, but you should be paying for it! 

Rather than saying, "Dammit, I used up my 5 free articles this month," please pay for well researched, and meticulously vetted information. Not from some stupid limerick written by a guy who really only joined Twitter to tell dick jokes and sometimes posts rants when his anger boils over.





(*And it's round, dummies - you're up to date)

Unemployed Gameshow Host, Donald Trump's TWEETS

In the case of "Nuh-uh vs. Yuh-huh," seven of unemployed gameshow host, Donald Trump's last ten Tweets have the added demarkation, "This claim about election fraud is disputed."

I'm not sure if these 45 characters count against the 280 limit allowed per Tweet, but I will say, at least we know this portion of the message is spelled right!


*********
EDITED (after the events of 1/6/2021):  Obviously, everything vile this "man" stands for was bound to eventually boil over into chaos, violence, and exactly what we witnessed on Wednesday 1/6/2021 at the US Capitol Building in the District of Columbia. 

Donald Trump's Twitter was suspended yesterday evening after this sociopath-in-chief couldn't even muster the smallest amount of civility that newborn humans come into the world with. 

Jack Dorsey and his Twitter lackeys waited too long and acted too late in doing anything to curb the abhorrent behavior that led to yesterday's events. And even that was to save face and perhaps help stave off the plummet in stock value. So business as usual.

I yearn for the day when "Donald Trump" is merely a bad memory.
Though I know he and his sycophant's affects will be a nightmare we'll be waking up to for many long years to come.

Be kind to each other. Be brave. Be strong. Better days are surely ahead.

"Banished" Words of 2020

At the beginning of every year, Lake Superior University compiles a list of words they wish to be "banished," which had grown popular in the previous year.

Along with having never heard of Lake Superior University (sounds like a "back-up" school), there are some words on this list I have never heard before...well, at least one.

You can find the FULL listing here:

https://www.lssu.edu/traditions/banishedwords/

Many of the "Words That Should Not Be Named" are completely unrealistic, such as "COVID-19" or "coronavirus."

While I completely respect the sentiment here, there is just no way we could eliminate something that has had such an enormous impact on ALL of world history. Especially when we have yet to "eliminate" the disease itself (I mean, come on, wear the fucking mask!)

However, I can 100% get behind ridding the world of words such as "Rona," which seems like the laziest SLANG ever created. I mean COME ON, say the whole damn thing! We aren't going anywhere. We've got the time!

"Social Distancing" is another word (or phrase) on the chopping block. This I concur with, as it doesn't seem to capture the true spirit of what is necessary in these turbulent times:

People are so demonstratively stupid, it makes sense to eliminate this phrase for one that spells out completely what is necessary. Therefore saying something like, "Stand 6 feet away from each other, but since you all suck at simple mathematics, let's just say "six seats" away. Be it a seat at a concert, sporting event, or movie theater...none of which we are able to go to, because you fuckers don't know what 6 feet means (also, wear the fucking mask)!"

*Clearly this needs a "rona" like abbreviation.

The phrase "I know, right" should have been eliminated long ago, along with "I'm just saying," "I can't even," & "This" when none of them are accompanied with any other independent thought. Probably, even if they are.

"Karen" can stay. At least for another year. I know some amazing Karens and not one of them is represented by the stereotypical "Karen," but I'd imagine most of them are all for the sentiment. As the male equivalent, "Kevin," I also have no problem with this sticking around.
(*But let's be honest, "Kevin" should be replaced with "Grant" or "Tyler" or something like that, but whateves...)

"Whateves" isn't on the list, but should be.

And finally, "Sus." I have never heard this before. In fact, I thought it was a typo and they meant "Cis." But apparently, this hip dude was not aware of the word "Sus," which is an abbreviation of the word "Suspect." I can think of one, "about to be unseated Presidential Administration" that might be interested in getting rid of this word.

My personal belief is that we should be working less toward eliminating words, and more towards getting people to read the entirety of articles filled with them as opposed to merely headlines, but whateves...

Also, wear the fucking mask!