Dumpster Fire 2020: Slapworthy Edition

Yeah, yeah.  I'm late.  Sue me.

2020 started out okay. January 1 was relatively peaceful. After that, it was like we had been pulled into every single catastrophe movie ever made. Fires. Floods. Earthquakes. Every day. I didn't even know such a thing as a firenado even existed, and so add that to the list of things that keep me up at night. Mother Nature seemed to be downright displeased. When she slaps, she slaps hard.  My slaps aren't as crushing, but I still have a few.  

COVID19. And then there was this little virus. Just one tiny little virus.  Perfectly harmless, we were told.  Just like having a cold.  Drink some bleach, and walk it off, they said. I knew it was going to be bad. And it was worse.  Every epidemiologist I talked to was completely freaked out, with good reason. This likely would have been over sooner, if it had been taken seriously.  

Donald Trump. He deserves a slap for every single person who has died in the last year from a disease he has never truly taken seriously.  I know that very soon he won't be president, but still.  There should be consequences for deliberate ignorance when you're in that position.  He played golf while people died.  He gets a slap. 

Fox News.  These guys kissed Trump's backside daily for the past four years.  It wasn't a network, it was a sarcophagus of sycophants.  I was embarrassed for them, the way they kept bending everything to keep the toddler-in-chief happy.  They also downplayed the threat the virus presented, and are in need of a slap. Considering that their main demographic is the very population dying from COVID19, maybe kicks in the butt are in order, too.  

Me. Yes, I deserve a slap, maybe two, for falling down on the blogging job.  So many things have happened, including me trying to earn a doctorate, but that's no excuse.  I will try to do better in 2021, but no promises, because school is kicking my butt so far.  It's actually not the material that I have to learn, I am just not used to having to 'cite my sources' every thirty words.  I'll get over it, eye on the prize and all that.  

Meanwhile, here be kittens.  The one with the righteous mustache is Bootsy Collins, and his sister is named Shadow.  Rambunctious, but at least they amuse each other. 

The 2020 Dumpster Fire

How is everyone?  Everyone still standing?  Nobody coughing?  No fevers?  Wearing masks?  Sprayed for murder hornets?

I am not going to say that I didn't expect some random virus to show up this year, because we have one show up every year, pretty much. I keep track.  When we left school for our March spring break, I had a feeling that we wouldn't be back for a while.  I am not sure where I got that feeling, but since the epidemiologists were freaking out, I knew it wasn't good.  I fully expected the full force machinations of the CDC and the federal government to hit the 'speedy' button to get supplies, etc., out to the country to take care of business.  Silly, idealistic me! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  I thought that these organizations, whose actual job entails preparing for this VERY thing, could run without any sort of interference from those government entities who do NOT have such knowledge or experience.  Donald Trump certainly wouldn't commandeer the whole apparatus to make himself look pretty, no he would not.  He would.  He did.  That jerk took something that was not at all about him, and made it about him.  I am not used to such behavior from a president.  It would be funny, maybe, if so many people weren't dying in such a horrific way.

Quarantine, lockdown, whatever you call it, is NOT for the weakminded.  Who ever you live with is stuck with YOU, and vice versa.  And one of the members of this household is probably going through the dreaded PUBERTY, since his voice is getting squeaky.   There are adjustments to be made, whether it includes moving to a different floor for quiet time, or bed time, or whatever.  While we were still working, Larry and I had our zoom meetings with students, parents, and teachers.  Zane's schooling was also online, and when we all had meetings set up for the same time, it was a bit hectic, but we had a semblance of a schedule. Now that school is out, well...time has no meaning.  So really, it is Summer as usual. We just can't go anywhere. 

But maybe that's okay.  We're in the middle of tumultuous changes.  George Floyd's horrific death.  Rayshard Brooks' death.   Murder hornets. Black Lives Matter Protests, even where no African Americans live.  Asteroids rushing past our planet. Donald Trump.  A tiny little virus seems less scary when put up against all that. 

So hang in there. Do the best you can.  If you have to go out, take precautions. Wash your hands, Wear your masks where you are supposed to.  Take care of the people around you.  These are hard times.  We are all in this together!