SPELLING

 

SPELLING

I recently did something to someone that I hate when it is done to me.  I corrected his spelling.  The word was spelled correctly, it was just a homophone for the word he wanted.  Spell check does not catch those.

I corrected him offline because I know he wanted what he wrote to be professional. 

I am a terrible speller, if it were not for spellcheck, I would not even attempt to write this blog.  I can double check my post a thousand times and still I will miss isle for aisle, weather for whether and my all time favorite your for you're…spell check needs to be more intuitive.

I sometimes joke that I am a poor speller because spelling is just not that important to me.  I am more interested in what I write and what words I use than the correct arrangement of letters. 

I could easily read an article loaded with words spelled wrong, but phonetically correct and it would not bother me one bit.

I no their our sum readers hoo simply cud not get passed miss spelled words.  (ok, that bothers even me)

Anyway, I claim poor spelling can be a sign of intelligence.  Intelligent people are not bothered about spelling because they are only concerned with content.  They hone in on the meaning of words, the intent of words, and not what the words look like on paper. 

Intelligent people “hear” the words and do not see or care about the letter arrangement.  This is not to say that excellent spellers are not intelligent, only that they perceive and process words differently than poor spellers. 

Of course some poor spellers are just uneducated, but spelling is not a good indication of intelligence.

Anyway, that is my somewhat tongue-in-cheek explanation of my poor spelling and I am sticking to it.  The alternate explanation is depressing.

As a goof, and to support my theory I Googled “Notable bad spellers” and was surprised by my findings.

https://leelofland.com/15-famous-thinkers-who-couldnt-spell/

Among the list of poor spellers:

John F. Kennedy

Winston Churchill

Ernest Hemmingway

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Albert Einstein 

Turns out I don’t keep such bad company. 

Now all I need is talent.

 

 

It’s A Running Battle I tell Ya!

 

It’s A Running Battle I tell Ya!

 

Mrs. C and I are not totally compatible.  That probably shocks most married couples, but we are not always compatible.  We try to manage.

One of the biggest issues is temperature.  I like it cool; Mrs. C likes it hot…and then she likes it cold…and then hot again.  Apparently, she is going through something.  Whatever it is, we never agree on temperature.

Sometimes a solution is easy, I don’t need covers at night, she does…and then she doesn’t…and then she does again.  Not an issue for me, she can have the covers as needed.

One thing I find interesting is when in the car she turns the heat up to 80 degrees in the winter and down to 68 in the summer.

“Why, so high (or low)?”

“I want the car to heat up (or cool off) as fast as possible.”

I explain that the car will reach 72 degrees if you set to 72 just as fast as if you set it at 80 degrees.

She disagrees about the degrees.

Anyway, temperature is a constant battle.  In the summer I drop the temp to 74 when she is not looking.  When I suddenly start to feel warm, I find she has changed it to 78.  Fortunately, she does not hide the thermostat under a towel, so I just quietly change it back.  It is a running battle.

Recently Mrs. C found a solution for our bedroom.  She bought a cube thing that you fill with ice water.  It has a fan and blows cool air in my direction.

The first night she had the cube set on the low step of a two-step step-ladder we have.  The cold air was great except it was aimed below me.  On the top step of the ladder, she had an air diffuser thing that filled the room with a hint of eucalyptus. 

(Have I mentioned that Mrs. C will buy just about any gadget she sees in a catalog?)

I moved the cooling cube up the ladder.

“Don’t do that, it will ruin the air diffusing.”

“No it won’t, the diffuser goes straight up and not in the way of the cooling air.”

“Leave it on the lower step!”

“That just blows refreshing air under the bed and is useless!”

For one of the few times in our marriage I won a “discussion” and the cube went to the top step.

Then:

“Could you turn the cube away a bit and turn the divertors in a down direction? I am feeling the cold air.”

“Sure, but then I won’t feel any of the cooling air.”

“Just turn it a bit!”

I turned it and adjusted it so she receives no refreshing cool air.  For the most part I am still warm…the top of my forehead does feel cool and refreshed.

You just have to take what the wife gives you.  

 

SERIOUSLY?

 

SERIOUSLY?

I recently read that some people have complained about Notre Dame’s mascot.  A leprechaun in a fighting pose for “The Fighting Irish” was called offensive. 

As if you could ever offend the Irish.  No one has a better sense of humor about Irish stereotypes than the Irish themselves.

I highly doubt that anyone of Irish heritage is offended by a fighting leprechaun mascot.  If you want to start some trouble with the Irish, just try and get rid of the Notre Dame symbol.

It seems to me that these days people are just looking for things to offend. 

I once referred to Myrle Streep as an actress and a young feminist nearly took my head off.  Apparently now, “Actress” is offensive and misogynist.  All actors today are just actors regardless of gender.

I guess now the Oscars will give a statue out to the “Best Cisgender Actor that was Identified at Birth as Female.”

Somehow that seems more offensive to me.

Pretty much everything today is racist.  I am white.  I am sorry.

Bad enough that it is hard to express an opinion without offending someone, opinions expressed in the past are dug up to offend in the present.

That does not seem fair.  Its like getting a ticket because 10 years ago you were driving on the expressway at 65 MPH and they just changed the limit to 60 mph.

Don’t fight it, it only makes it worse.  Just pay the ticket.

The world today somehow reminds me of a swim club we were members of in the 80’s.  It had a large pool, a snack bar, chairs and tables around the pool, tennis courts, lifeguards with whistles and rules.

OMG there were rules!  And OMG there were whistles!

No diving off the edge, no running, no eating in the pool area, no bottles in the pool area, no long hair in the pool without a cap.  Oh, sure there were  reasons for all the rules. 

Running on concrete could cause scrapped knees.  Diving of the pool edge could be dangerous, eating brought ants, long hair shed and clogged pool filters. 

There was a reason for every rule.

Well kids around a pool will run, and they will dive.  All the whistles in the world never stopped it. 

“Ooh, sorry.” And 10 seconds later they were off running and diving.  They were kids.  Kids run, and around water they will jump in.

Eating brings ants? Bull shit, and ants can be stepped on.  I’m not leaving the pool area just to eat my lunch or snack on a potato chip. 

Sure, bottles break and glass can cut.  You can also clean up broken glass before it cuts.  I know because I’ve done it at home like a thousand times. 

Long hair clogging the filter? Please!  And if…just clean the damn filters!  That is what filters do, they catch stuff and eventually clog if you don’t clear the caught stuff!

The constant whistling and nagging about breaking the stupid pool rules was almost as annoying as that freaking Marco Polo game the kids played all day long.

Anyway, I used to say there should be just one rule in the pool area.  Put up a big sign:

HAVING FUN WHILE IN THE POOL AREA IS PROHIBITED!!

The world today needs a similar proclamation:

NO OFFENDING IN THE PUBLIC ARENA, THINKING OUTLOUD OR TALKING IS PROHIBITED!!

BTW, I still say that Myrle Streep is a great actress!

 

  

 

 

WHAT NOW?

 

WHAT NOW?

OK, we have screwed up royally.  What now?  I suggest we wait before throwing rocks, we need to let this play out before assigning blame. 

Probably will be a lot to go around.

Now we need to get Americans out of Afghanistan along with those Afghans who have been our allies for 20 years. 

God help the rest of Afghanistan’s people who will be once again ruled by terrorists.

We need leadership in this Afghanistan mess.

My limited experience with chaos and turmoil comes from working at a large brokerage firm during the 1987 stock market crash. 

Lives were not at stake; money was at stake and an economic system was at stake.  Not the same, but it was scary non-the-less.

What did I learn about leadership during this time?

Leaders recognized that in a short term minute to minute situation they needed to trust those under them, those who truly understood the nuts and bolts of the problem would have to solve the problem. 

Those at the top needed to provide what was asked, to support decisions of their reports, and except the fact they were in no position run the show.  Establish goals and monitor the situation, but leaders cannot run the show in the short term.  They just can’t!

In 1987 our brokerage leaders asked “What are our options?  What do you need?”

They then communicated support and assisted with supplying resources as required.  They remained informed, asked questions, but did not get in the way.

We have a great military.  They know what needs to be done in Afghanistan.  Don’t let poll numbers or politics get in their way.  Give them a goal and give them your support, and then let them do their job. 

If they were allowed to do their job before this mess, this mess would have been avoided.

What do I think should be done?  I have no expertise, I have no idea, probably not unlike most of our political leaders.

I’d like to see all Americans home safely; I’d like to see at risk Afghanistan people who have stood by our side, evacuated to safety; I’d like to see some signs of strength where we are not dictated to by terrorists; I’d like to see us get our respect back. 

What should we do?

Our military can do the job if allowed to do it and are supported by our leaders.

We can sort out what went wrong later.

 

Now I Will Wear IT

 

Now I Will Wear IT

A Cranky ramble by a virus weary old man.

Is this thing wearing you down yet?  Numbers fall, numbers rise, kids are safe, kids are not, young adults fine…except for long term effects.  Vaccination makes you safe…oops except now maybe not. 

It is wearing me down.

In the beginning I was worried, I was careful.  I stayed at home; I wore a mask even outside. At one point I was washing my hands every hour and leaving my groceries in the garage for a day before putting them away, and oh yeah, I disinfected packages.

I was afraid for my life, but at some point, that is no way to live.   After almost 2 years, oh yes, this thing was with us in October 2019, they just didn’t have a name for it then, experts still have not figured this virus out. 

My youngest son, 23, is fully vaccinated.  He is also fully infected.  Fever, exhaustion, breathing labored he seems to be recovering, but damn!

Along with this virus, it has somehow become political, well it did help put an incompetent into office, but that should be a residual effect, not an intended consequence.  I’m sorry, maybe that person is not incompetent, maybe he just seems to be incompetent, history will tell…at least he doesn’t tweet.

The big political fight now is over masking, and making the vaccine mandatory.  Let’s not miss the opportunity to keep this pandemic political.

I am all for vaccination.  It is probably the vaccine that keeps my son from getting more ill than he is.  But there are some reasons not to get the vaccine; that should be between a person and his doctor.   Heck, the FDA has not yet declared the vaccine to be allowed other than on an emergency basis…or something.

Face masks?  They make good theater.  For the most part they can’t hurt (there are arguments against that, most not very good in my mind) they could mitigate the virus a little, but they say this thing does not just drop to the floor after 6 feet.  It is an aerosol.  It hangs in the air.  It is really small; the mask stops it about as much as it can stop cigarette smoke…it cannot.  No one will admit that, they are too politically committed to admit it.

If masks worked this virus would be gone in my State.  I never went anywhere in Jersey where people did not mask up.  Of course, many people still do not mask over their breather nose, but still.

Anyway, if politicians decide the optics of masking is so important, I will wear the damn thing.  I don’t need to get into useless arguments with non-Neanderthals, but I think it is bullspit.

Actually, as I sit in bed typing this uninformed mish-mash of I-am-sick-of-this-thing-thoughts, I am fully masked.  I have a double cloth with a filter in the middle mask.

It probably will not stop the stealth like aerosol clingy virus bits, but it is effective as hell against fall grass pollen stirred up from a fresh mowing.

I took allergy pills.  Allergy pills zero, grass pollen miserable.

I put on the mask and in 10 minutes pollen is defeated!

So, mask up everyone, it may not stop Covid, but it can’t hurt too much, and there may just be actual residual benefits!

Ramble over.

Stay safe everyone, this thing will pass…eventually.

 

 

Karma is a Bitch

 

Karma is a Bitch

 I am not a vindictive person, at least no more than most people, but I do love a good “Ass-hat gets his comeuppance” story.

My favorite scene from “The Godfather” was the baptism scene at the end when all the heads of the families that conspired against the “Godfather” get wacked.

No, I don’t usually like violence, but when bad people pay a price, I do get a little vigilante pleasure in their demise.  I know, it is still wrong…

I’ll light a candle and move on.

At my work many years ago, there was a manager who held power over maybe 25 people.  To those 25 he was an ass-hat with a capitol “A”.

To his bosses, he was an ass-kisser with a capitol “A”.  

I knew him to also be completely incompetent at his job.

He toyed with the emotions of those who reported to him.  He was a misogynistic prick even in those days where misogynism was accepted by many and tolerated by most women.

When the company was faced with cutting costs, and when computers had reduced the Ass-hats staff, those whose butts he had been kissing determined he was not really very important.  In particular, his direct report saw through him and knew he was worse than worthless, he was a deterrent to productivity.

The Ass-hat was let go, and his exit was not pretty.  Caught by complete surprise he was in tears as he was led out of the building by security.

Did I take pleasure in his exit?  

Oh yes…yes I did.

I’ll light another candle.

This week another ass-hat at a much higher level is taking a walk of shame.  Head held high, but with a sneer, the raging bully, Andrew Cuomo, abdicated his NY Governors throne.

The son of  "Vote for Cuomo, not the Homo"* Former Governor Mario Cuomo fame, hit the karma wall. 

He left as he was accused of assault by multiple women.  He left as he was facing charges of mismanagement of Covid in nursing homes, but mostly he left because he was no longer able to intimidate. 

As charges mounted it became possible to avoid his arm-twisting tactics and his own bullying, power yielding personality took him down.

Will I miss his daily High School Principal style lectures telling us how to behave during a pandemic where he screwed up so badly?  No.

Will I take pleasure in his demise, his disgrace, his precipitous downfall?

Yes.  Yes, I will.

I’ll light a candle.

*Mario ran against unmarried NYC Mayor Ed Koch who was suspected by many to be gay.   He did not endorse the "Vote for..." but he did not discourage it either.  He was also a bully.

 

A Failure to Communicate

 

A Failure to Communicate

 Have I ever commented on Mrs. C’s poor communication?  I think I have.  Anyway, she is a poor communicator.

Nothing serious, we do not need to see a counselor. But it can be annoying, especially when she says it is my inability to listen.

First off, in my defense, I am a guy.  None of us listen.  It is a given.  Women buy shoes and talk forever on the phone.  Guys don’t listen.

Anyway, Mrs. C communicates, but she does no like to waste words (unlike most women).  

Example:

“Kare, where is the new fornistat we just bought at Lowes?”

“Downstairs!”

OK, she has saved many words, but it is those words that are required to find where she put the brand new fornistat. (Yes, that is made up)

“Where downstairs?”

“In the kitchen!”

“Where in the kitchen, I don’t see it.  If I did, I wouldn’t be yelling.”

“On the chair.”

“We have 7 chairs.”

“The one around the table.”

“We have 4 around the table.”

“The one with the coat on the seat.”

“I still don’t see it.”

“Look under the coat.”

I often wonder why she could not just answer the first time,

“Under the coat on the chair around the kitchen table.”

I guess she thinks she is saving words.

Today was another perfect example.

“I’m going out to put the garbage can on the street for tomorrows pick up.”

As I am unlocking the front door she responds,

“Leave the door unlocked.”

“Why would I relock the door, I am just going to come back when I take out the garbage can?”

“Not the front door, the side door on the garage, why would I want the front door unlocked?”

“I don’t know, call me crazy, but when I am at a door, in the process of unlocking it to go out and you tell me not to relock a door, my mind just gravitates to the door I am actually unlocking at the very moment, not the garage door.”

“But relocking the front door makes no sense!”

“Exactly!”

“So, what is your point.”

“You could have specified ‘the side garage door’.”

“I shouldn’t have to.”

It always makes me think of the Paul Newman movie “Cool Hand Luke” and the prison boss,

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

 

THIS IS A TEST

 THIS IS A TEST

Today I was watching an afternoon Yankee baseball game when, with bases loaded in the first inning and Luke Voit at bat, the screen went green and a message crossed the top.

“This is a test of the emergency broadcast system.”

The test lasted for five minutes.  FIVE MINUTES!

Now this usually happens late at night when I am one of seventeen people still up and watching TV, but this was 2:30 in the afternoon.

AND LUKE VOIT WAS AT BAT WITH THE BASES LOADED!

And what the Hell are these tests for anyway?

The test is intended to ensure public safety officials have the methods and systems that will deliver urgent alerts and warnings to the public in times of an emergency or disaster.

Why thank you Google…

BTW, as a test, if you count audio, every test is a failure.  All I ever hear is a scratchy muffled:

“This is a tryst of the immigrant broad straddle sister.  If it were a real umbilical, we would alarm you turtle French frizzle.  Repeat, this is early a mess.”

But in a real emergency, what happens to all the people who don’t have a TV or never watch the one they have?

Based on my blog readership, almost half of the people in the country either do not have a TV or almost never watch if they do have one.  How are they notified of an emergency?

Will all those non-TV watching people DIE?

What about the vast majority of other TV watchers who only watch PBS or CNN?  Surely the news would report on an emergency…that would be kind of like news.

So, do we really need the Emergency broadcast system? 

Paul Revere reached more people via horse than the Emergency broadcast system would reach today.

I’ll bet it would be possible to alert people over their cell phones easier than via TV.  That would alert everyone in the country under 75 years old.  You could then just interrupt the “Judge Judy” show for everyone else.

Why don’t they advise us of emergencies that way and stop interrupting my Yankee games or late-night re-runs of “90 Day Fiancé”?

When will Government recognize real priorities?

 

Oh yeah…Voit got a single and two runs scored.  I sure would have liked to have seen it.   

A Genetically Modified Opinion

 

A Genetically Modified Opinion

I recently had a fight argument discussion with someone about GMO food.  That’s Genetically Modified Organisms, for people with a life.

These days just about everything we eat or at least lot of what we eat is a result of GMO.  Corn, wheat, anything with seeds has been modified by really smart people to result in massively increased production of crops also resistant to insects and disease.

Pigs, cattle, chickens and such have been selectively breeded and or also genetically modified to grow larger, and fatter and also be disease resistant.

It is this selective breeding and genetic modification that has allowed the world to feed a population that has quin-trouple-fippled in the last hundred years.  There are areas in the world suffering from famine, but nothing like what we would have without improved farming methods including GMO produced foods.

The argument against GMO food is, I believe, that we do not know what these foods, untested over a long period of time might do to our bodies.

Will they turn out to cause cancer, birth defects, or who knows what else?

Anti GMO people are concerned with:

Five sets of ethical concerns have been raised about GM crops: potential harm to human health; potential damage to the environment; negative impact on traditional farming practice; excessive corporate dominance; and the 'unnaturalness' of the technology.  (Oh yes, I can Google)

I guess these are valid concerns, Hell, I’m not smart enough to debate these fears.  However, the concerns do remind me of the 1950’s scare movies like “The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.”

What I do find interesting about the fight argument discussion over GMO food, is almost anyone I have met that has concerns with GMO food, believes that people who do not want to take the Covid vaccine are knuckle dragging Neanderthals.

If eating chips made from GMO corn is dangerous, how is injecting the vaccine directly in our body not concerning?

Again from Mr. Google:

mRNA vaccines teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.

I do not really understand the above, but it sure sounds scarier to me than eating a chip made from corn that has been modified to fight off corn pandemics.

Now, if you think I am trying to make an argument for NOT taking the new Covid vaccines; You are wrong.

If you believe I am advocating GMO foods for all; you are also wrong, I don’t really care.

This is what I do believe. 

When really smart people develop stuff that after diligent testing is determine to be safe and highly beneficial to the world, then I will probably trust those people.

I will eat corn chips made from GMO corn seeds.  I will take the Covid vaccine.

It makes no sense to me to avoid the vaccine but eat the chip…or vice versa.

Yet, and I may be wrong, it is my perception that people who will not take the vaccine, will eat the chip, and those who strongly advocate the vaccine are leery of eating the chip.

Go figure!

 

THE 2020 2021 OLYMPIC GAMES

 

THE 2020 2021 OLYMPIC GAMES

Well, the Olympic Games are over.  Did you miss them? 

I did…most of them anyway.  They are just not what they used to be.

Maybe we need Russia to hate and root against again.  Some good old patriotic vitriol to spice things up.

This year it was difficult to root for some of our athletes who were determined to use this world stage to show the rest of the world that the USA sucks.  It is one thing to use an athletic field to make a political statement at home, I did not like our dirty laundry put out for the world to see.

I wonder what North Koreans thought when they saw purple haired soccer players kneel in protest of racism in the USA.  I’ll bet they wished they had the freedom to kneel in protest of starving to death.

Anyway, these Olympics are just not as exciting as they used to be. 

Maybe it is because many events take place late at night our time, with zero people in the Covid Stands.

Maybe it is because there just does not seem to be the same US vs. Them country rivalries.

Maybe it is because many of our athletes are too intent in telling the rest of the world that the US is a racist mean-spirited country.

Probably it is because every time I turned on the TV to watch it was always volleyball, or people endlessly swimming laps in a pool. 

What happened to the pole vault, discus, 100 meter dash, boxing and long jump? Did I blink and miss them?

There was golf, where the same professionals that I see every week played for a medal instead of money…as if that medal won’t generate money eventually.

I did watch women’s basketball.  I don’t usually see women pro-basketball on TV.  The women are very, very good.  It was interesting watching 6 foot-five US women dominating their 5 foot-nothing Japanese opponents.  Interesting, not very exciting.

Gymnastics did dominate TV on some days. I do like gymnastics every four years,  but without Simone Biles, it was just not as much fun.

Simone was having mental issues that are not unlike the dreaded golfing “Yips.”  Except the Yips in golf means you can’t make a three foot putt, in gymnastics it apparently means you can land on your head and never walk again. 

Simone is probably the best ever at her sport, she knows when it is not safe for her to perform, but I did miss her.

Maybe these young ladies would not have such mental issues if they were not driven to practice and excel at such a young age.  They miss out on a lot of the growing up most young ladies experience.  The pressure to excel is huge and most are not mature enough to deal with it.

Along with the pressure to succeed, many of these girls were sexually molested for years by a monster doctor who they trusted with their injuries, stamina and health. 

He is now in jail for 175 years; little comfort to those abused young athletes.

One of these ladies, since retired from the sport, was McKayla Maroney. McKayla won medals in 2012 while enduring a broken foot that the monster doctor lied about so she would perform.  She broke the foot because the maniac coach forced her to practice in an event in which she was not even entered.

McKayla won gold and silver medals even with the injuries and the mental anguish from the monster doctor.  Yet, what has she become famous for? 

While standing on the podium to receive her silver medal she made a face that indicated the was disappointed in the silver.  She was ridiculed for making a face in a short instant when the camera was on her.

Performed with a broken foot, was driven to exhaustion by a maniac coach, sexually molested for years by a monster doctor, and she was criticized for making a face!

Why do I bring up McKayla?

Recently McKayla is in a commercial which is a parody on her Olympic medal-stand face.

I think it is a riot, and speaks to her character that she can make fun of something she has been criticized for.

In case you don’t have a TV, or only watch commercial free PBS, here is the commercial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFiywyiUAp8

The funniest part in the commercial for me, is when the frisbee geeks drone in unison “Thank you McKayla.” 

When I think of what she has endured, along with Simone and many other young abused girl athletes, I think the thank you is deserved.

“Thank you McKayla” “Thank you Simone.”

 

 

Here We Go Again

 

Here We Go Again

With the resurgence of the new Covid variant, it looks like we (New Jersey) will be required to mask up again.  Not mandatory yet, but more and more I see people with masks at the supermarket.  I would bet anything that all these people are vaccinated. 

Why so sure?  Because 70% of those over 12 in Jersey are vaccinated.

Also, those that don’t get vaccinated are prone to avoid the masks.

How do I stand on masking?  As if a cranky old man’s opinion means anything, I give it a big MEH!

I do believe in science.  Science is by my Googled definition;

the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

Key words being “Study” Observation” and “Experiment.”

So, the SCIENCE of masking and Covid still involves study, observation and experiment.  The science has not been established; current science opinion has been established by a majority of scientists.  Not the same.

Still, wearing a mask can not, for the most part hurt, especially for retired old cranky people who spend about 30 minutes a week in a “Mask Up” environment.

The mask thing reminds me of meal time in college.  

In our fraternity, we were required to wear a jacket and tie for meals.  A nice tradition going back to the hoidy-toidy frat rules of the early 1900’s.  Many members loved this rule as they were still hoidy-toidy.  Many did not like the rule as it was antiquated and stupid.

The hoidy-toidy (maskers) demanded the jacket and tie, or you could not eat.

Everyone else (anti-maskers) wanted to eat, so all wore a jacket and tie to meals. 

But rules can be sticky and results are not always what rule makers are expecting.

The hoidy-toidy all came to meals fresh scrubbed and in their finest jacket and tie.  The rest came to meals with outrageous flowery clip-on ties and flamboyant seldom washed and stained with Chef Boyardee’s finest sauce, jackets.

Masks are kind of the same.  While some double mask with hospital approved masks, many, if not most, strap on crappy cloth things, often not covering their main breather…THE NOSE…and removed whenever they need to…TALK UP CLOSE. 

Further, when wearing the mask and within 20 feet of someone smoking a cigarette, I can smell the smoke.  Pretty sure the covid shit, which I can not see, can get through the mask as easily as the smoke which I can see.

You can require a tie; you cannot require class or taste.

You can require a mask; you can not enforce the behavior.

Still, it can’t hurt, so rather than get the stink eye or get into a political hoo-ha with others, I will wear the damn thing.  As a protest that only a few old-school college friends will understand, maybe I will also wear a crappy tie clipped on to my tee shirt.

Meanwhile, unless you have the antibodies or have a doctor’s recommendation against it because of some other condition, you might want to get the shot (s).