Just Some Thoughts (05/03/20)

With everything going on regarding "covid19" I feel I need to chime in and vent some of my thoughts. But I decided that I did NOT want to intrude on my Twitter feed with some of these thoughts and opinions. I feel we need to maintain a positive outlook and a positive space through all of this or it will defeat us.

These are just my "rambling" thoughts. Sometimes positive, other times not. Sometimes grammar is correct, other times, not so much.

05/03/20 - A few things I'm noticing in our new world:

• I'm finding out who really are my true friends (thank you!), and who really are not more than just acquaintances. One 'relationship' I feel is actually just 'abusive' - fits all the signs. Need to let that one go!
• I'm loving the fact that a wealth of 'new' friends (welcome aboard!) have been showing up in my life. I think it is because we have been reaching out to many in need and that makes those people feel better about themselves, and in return, offer their frienship.
• I'm noticing plexi-glass shields protecting more front-line staff in many of the open retail shops and service counters. This is awesome, since these workers more than likely only make minimum wage, yet are the folks that are allowing the rest of us to stay safe. We must keep our front line workers safe and healthy!
• On several walks, I have noticed a couple 'staff meetings' from the local businesses have moved outside. All the staff bring down their chairs, sitting in the beautiful weather 10-12 feet apart conducting business. So cool!
• And things that make you go 'hmmm'! New surveillance cameras going up everywhere! What is that about. It sort of makes sense making it easier for police to monitor activities without having to physically be 'on the beat'. We must have counted 2 dozen of them on our normal route. Smile, we are all on candid camera!

04/27/20 - Something I just have to ramble about - when you do a good deed for others, though I understand that bragging about it is not what you are supposed to do, you should be able to say something about it to your closest friends, just to sort of lift up their spirits about the gift and encourage them to do likewise.

NOT! Even some close friends get all weird about it, and either respond bitterly or with this flippant arrogance like what you did for others was not needed. One of my "friends" even asked if I should be doing that sort of thing for complete strangers.

I think I realize why people get "weird" - their own "guilt" kicks in because they know they could and should be doing the same things to help others out, but they are too self-centered, self-absorbed to do so.

Especially at this time in our human history we all NEED to be helping those less fortunate. It should be a human, moral responsibility.

04/24/20 - There was a really good article in the New Yorker magazine asking "are you rich enough to survive the Corona virus". Such a poignant topic concerning who can and cannot make it through the economic issues that are coming out of the pandemic.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/coronavirus-inequality-america.html

I've heard that to many people, this whole thing is just an 'inconvenience' to them. They have a job and benefits, are able to work from home, have everything delivered to them - to these folks this is just an unfortunate set of circumstances that are keeping them at home.

Yet they are happy to ridicule those who have to go out to get groceries, who are reliant on financial assistance. And, this "inconvenienced' group are NOT the ones who are donating to charities, reaching out with assistance to those in need. Because they live in their shiny little bubbles of convenience, they do not understand the suffering that others are going through. And maybe it's not that they don't understand, I think it's they truly don't care.

One 'acquaintance' told me that it was the fault of the workers that they had not saved enough money to get them through an emergency. That if they had better planned their finances, they would be fine.

Bullshit! We need to start caring about someone else other than yourselves! At this time in our human history we all NEED to be helping those less fortunate. It should be a human, moral responsibility.

04/20/20 - Something I noticed while walking/jogging around the neighborhood. Now that police presence is at a minimum, people are taking advantage of that. Speeds have increased dramatically - people flying by like they actually have someplace to be! And running lights and stop signs like they are not even there. I guess the thinking is the police have better things to do other than give tickets for speeding or running red lights.

Like I've said many times, during rough times, many of the worst of people come climbing out from beneath the rocks.

04/01/20 - As of today, how does 83,349 cases of Covid in China equate to 306,288 cases in the United States, with U.S. numbers continuously substantially increasing. The data, numbers and percentages don't make sense. What are we missing?

If the number of cases as a percentage of population are sorted, highest down, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Germany, France, Portugal - (.267% to .103%). Netherlands and the U.S. are not far behind. Then add in some variance for not appropriate or enough testing...

Compare those numbers to statistics showing highest "cash" usage across the globe, there is a really noticeable correlation. Has anybody looked into whether Covid can be carried and exchanged between humans through currency? How many of us wash our hands consistently after handling cash? For safety sake, probably just need to add that to the list of things we are watching out for.

03/30/20 - I've been noticing during the current global health scare, people are becoming more of what they really are. For those positive people who have always been decent, self-less, friendly, etc. - they are becoming more so. Over the last few weeks have met some really great human beings that are doing their best to help all of us make it through this challenge.

On the other side, those who had the inclination to be nasty are just becoming nastier - almost to an extreme, and especially through social media. Social media anonymity has always been intriguing to me, believing if you have something to say, attach your real name to it, otherwise you are just a coward. But now being able to say anything nasty you want and hide behind a fake name and contact seems to be getting prevalent. Not sure I like or agree with that.

"How you act in difficult times shows more about your character than how you act in easier times."

03/29/20 - The oddest thing seems to be happening these days. NHK World has now switched the order of names when they are reporting. For example, Shinzo Abe is now being addressed as Abe Shinzo. Even though Abe appears to be his surname/family name, with Shinzo being his given name, it is now reversed on their broadcasts. Even the news anchors appear to be having an issue with the new order of names.

I understand that it appears to be tradition for names to be in surname given name order, but what would prompt the change from a 'global' format to a 'regional' format? Maybe I'm getting this all wrong.

03/28/20 - The 'surreality' of it al! Went out for the morning walk, and wow, nothing, again! This deserves a story!

03/27/20 - Nice to see Amazon is getting closer to "back to normal!"

03/24/20 - Damn, gas-lighters! Excellent article on friends vs. fakes, or gas-lighters.
https://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/recognizing-the-gas-lighters-in-your-life-and-turning-the-tables/
Tired of dealing with one!

Another excellent article on the subject!
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/communication-success/201702/8-signs-someone-is-in-relationship-gaslighter

03/24/20 - I need to reach out to a few again just to say "thank you!" @target for keeping the basics stocked

03/24/20 - During times like this people show their true colors (or ignorance).
Four of us where out walking, on streets where there is no pedestrian traffic (all the businesses are closed), and the four of us live in the same apartment - yet we still were walking 6-10 apart, just because "we should."

This lady drives by, opens her car window, and yells "shelter in place you f...g idiots"
I bet she was quite a gem before all of this! LOL!

03/23/20 - My heart aches for those negatively impacted by covid19. My sympathy to those who have lost loved ones, and for those still hospitalized. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost their jobs (several of my immediate friends are included in this), and I'm hoping we all pitch in together to help these people get through this.

A giant THANK YOU goes to those workers on the front line who continue to keep us healthy and safe. #healthcare #firedepartment #paramedics #lawenforcement #fooddelivery #grocerystores

03/23/20 - A shout out and thank you to FarmFreshToYou https://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/ @FarmFreshToYou for their communication during this covid19 challenge. Through consistent email and website notices, they have kept the customer in mind and remained transparent in their changes and modifications to delivery schedules, etc. This level of customer service is greatly appreciated!

03/22/20 - People in SoCal experienced an "internet outage" during the day, some losing internet access, others losing cable access, some both. Several of the online outage trackers showed there was an issue - thousands of people jumping in and letting the provider know they were having challenges.

We contacted support, first through chat, then via phone, only to have the bot from chat, and the live support person from India, tell us "there were no outages in SoCal nor any interruptions of service reported."

OK, so with all the covid19 issues going on, we are all living in a strange, surreal world, then a large population of the US loses internet connectivity? And we get lied to by the provider. Wouldn't it be better for some transparency, and just let us know there was an issue and they were working on it, instead of a company line of "no issues."

Even Twitter was "trending" on the issue, with thousands of posts that people were having issues. Why can't the large companies actually put their customers first? Is that really asking that much?

03/22/20 - I'm happy to see more walkers and joggers getting out, all keeping a very healthy distance. What has been even more interesting and a positive light - the new cyclists getting out. The streets are nearly empty of cars, so there is plenty of space for bikes!

A couple in our complex that I have never seen on bikes before went out for a ride. It was apparent they were "new" to the biking experience, but were laughing whole-heartedly as they started their trek. It was so fun watching them having such a great time during this crazy period!

03/22/20 - As we were on our morning walk, we noticed quite a few cars all heading towards a really large church in our area. We are in "shelter in place" order, so we wondered if church service was still going on. Yep, it was. Though I understand the need for faith and interaction during this difficult time, I was wondering if it was wise for several hundred people, most of them in the older demographic, to get together in the same space?

03/21/20 - All night a group of revelers partied in an apartment across from ours. They were definitely having a great time - well, most of them. I'm not thinking "social distancing" was on their radar, and they were definitely not boosting their immune systems.

03/20/20 - One of the "interesting" aspects of social media during this period of quarantine - porn! Damn, the amount of new porn accounts, more postings, and even TV ads in the middle of the night. I guess when people have nothing else to do when staying at home...?!?

03/19/20 - Panic buying! I understand the concept and why people think they need to stock up for an emergency, but I don't understand many people's rationale for what they buy. Example below.

An acquaintance that normally states they "can't finish a gallon of milk before it goes bad" recently was part of the panic buying surge. They grabbed up 4 gallons of milk to make sure they had enough while in quarantine. I have no doubt in the coming weeks that 3 of those gallons of milk will be thrown away because they went bad. Knowing this person doesn't actually drink much milk, WHY on earth did they buy 4 gallons, depriving others that need it from having it. To me, this behavior makes no sense whatsoever - I can't even begin to fathom why they would do this.

03/18/20 - Never trust anybody who has to put "I'm a nice person" on their social media profile! If you have to tell people that, I might question their actions.

 

 

 

#Twitter #sharing #thoughts #socialmedia