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shadowkatBloody hell - I just found out that the gym that I was a member of and frequented up until roughly 2013, collapsed. The ENTIRE BUILDING COLLAPSED.
My mind is blown.
How did I find out? I skipped Bible Study, went for a restorative walk around Greenwood Cemetery - actually talked to an older woman on it. From ten feet apart with masks on, it was nice - and came back. Showered. (I was sweaty, it's humid and I'm in menopause - need I say more? You sweat like crazy in menopause.) Changed. Made dinner. Watched rerun of soap opera (they are showing thematic reruns out of order - and since we never get reruns with soap operas - it's weirdly entertaining). Had a glass of wine. Went to email - and voila, one of the members of the Bible Study Group informed me that my old gym building collapsed. It's the building on the corner of her street - she's understandably stressed and had to skip Bible Study. I skipped because I had two conference calls today, and two regular calls, plus I have a painful negotiation tomorrow. I wasn't up to more time talking to folks on computers and cell phones and Zoom. I can only handle one or two a day. As I told mother - I had to talk to too many people today - and the only one I wanted to was my mother.
I did have a nice chat via FB Messenger with my pal Carol, who is the Belly Dancer, IT professional, Doctor Who/Star Trek fan. I adore her. She's six foot tall, long black hair, and loud and unconventional. We interact mostly on FB - because she's a ridiculously busy person. She's the one who posted the videos that I reposted here of the BLM peaceful marches. We met doing social activism via theaterical performance.
Time for picture.
Crazy Company
Well, at today's staff meeting, boss got all emotional and decided to thank the ten of us for basically doing our job and standing up to the "herculean" task at hand for the last four months. (Learning new technology in order to effectively work from home. I didn't have that much trouble with it - but I'm rather good at figuring out computer software programs. I just wish they'd stop updating the stupid software programs.) Or rather the last six months of this crazy ass roller-coaster ride from hell otherwise known as 2020.
We go around and list off all things he needs to know about. Unless he has dire news he wishes to impart. Today, he decided to thank us. Which was nice. My boss, as much as I whine about him (really who doesn't), does thank me and tries to protect me for the most part. More than I can say about all the other bosses I've had. They all threw me under the bus or just left.
Talked to Project Manager at the Electric Rail Yard today. He told me that Crazy Company had had at least 140 deaths to date - all transit. We'd had two death due to COVID. He's furious that people aren't wearing masks. He told me that 140 people had died from COVID in the last four months - from Crazy Org. Two in our section of it. And that the news continues to be dire.
Project Manager did explain to me why the Federal Government got to decide on whether NYC could do congestion pricing in its own city.
Me: What's the Federal Government have to do with it?
Project Manager: Route 1 - US Highway Route 1 runs through NY City and the Federal Government owns the highway. They get to decide whether we put a toll on it or do congestion pricing because of it.
Crazy Org had been counting on that going through, everyone said yes, except the Federal Government.
On that depressing note...another picture from my walk today!
New York vs. the Corona Virus...and the idiotic President
The New York Governor continues to try to bully the President of the United States into wearing a frigging mask in public for the sake of the nation. He's given up on getting any money or support from him. If he could just get the dumb bastard to put on a mask. (I think I'm in love with my Governor. This is so weird.)
Mother: You know Biden really doesn't have to do anything to win the election. If he just sits back, Trump will hang himself.
ME: Yeah, pretty much. Recent surveys suggest that 6% of Trump supporters in Swing States will not support him again. There's nothing that will make them.
Mother: He thinks his base got him elected. What got him elected were the independents who hated Hillary and the Republicans who can't vote for anyone else. Now, they'll vote against him.
Me: If they want to survive.
Mother and I like to talk politics at lunch time. Also the state of my father's health or mind, one or the other. What mother has done. And the state of mother's health. Also family. And the weather. Mother is upset because she can't do water aerobics - they still have water aerobics, but the public restrooms are closed. And every time she does it - she has to go to the bathroom and going in the pool is just not done.
Anyhow, back to New York. If you can visualize four or five traumatized groups of kids huddled together after a major storm, who have managed to survive said storm by the skin of their teeth and are in major debt - while outside another storm threatens engulf them and possibly even worse than the previous one - that's New York, New Jersey, and Connetitcut. It's kind of like that scene from "Night of the Living Dead" - where the surviving humans are all huddled in a shack together terrified to go outside? I mean at least Europe is able to enforce it's international boundaries to some extent.
Governor: If people want to come to NY, they can. We have two storms threatening. One is the people from other states. Try as we might, we can't keep them out. We can't keep the illegal immigrants out, how can we keep people from other states out? The other problem is people aren't wearing masks and socially distancing enough in NYC and elsewhere. If you don't, we're dead. We'll go back to the mountain. Want me to bring out the mountain again? Because I will. The President needs to wear a mask and mandate that everyone does and enforce it!
My super doesn't. His wife and child do. He does not. I'd like to smack him. (I don't like him very much, I like his wife. But he's an asshole. Getting him to do anything - is pulling teeth. I hate to ask him. I ask her - and she makes him do it. ) He also can't speak English, Russian yes, English, not so much, while she can, which is part of the problem. (They are Polish. I live in a community that is basically the United Nations.)
I don't like conflict - otherwise I'd tell strangers and the super to wear masks. Instead, I do what Chris Rock does - I give them a nasty look. LOL!
(And since my eyes are barely visible - something tells me that it isn't that effective.)
Poor New York. It won it's fight against the virus, and figured it out. It's even tested 4 million of its citizens, roughly a fifth of its overall population, more people per capita than anyone else. If it were up to our Governor - every citizen of the state, and anyone visiting the state would be tested on a daily basis. (New York is test happy. It is obsessed with testing and contact tracing.)
Anyhow, because they can't control what is happening in NYC, the indoor dining and bars are being post-poned until maybe Phase 4.
Mother: Is it true that Broadway isn't opening until 2021?
ME: Yep. Forget Broadway, they are having troubles figuring out how to open department stores, malls, restaurants, and bars. (I'm not sure about the museums.)
Half the press conference was about opening up malls and whether it was fair to make them put in expensive hepa filters. Actually UV light works really well - the MTA has been using that.
This is killing our economy.
The other half of the press conference was the Governor basically lecturing the NY Press and the public by extension on why the $1 Billion dollar reduction in Police spending isn't going to work and what they should be doing and should be discussing.(Also why it failed and had to fail.) Folks? I sat forward in my chair when he began doing this, and almost stood up and applauded. He basically said, word for word, everything I was trying to say last night. In that moment, I forgave him for what he'd done with the MTA. I forgave him everything. I wanted to reach through the television set and hug the man. I'm in love. Everything he said - I had been thinking. And finally someone said it and far better than I ever could. I've learned so much just from watching his briefings.
What did he say? Ah.
First, what happened - the Mayor and his committee - submitted to the City Council for a Vote - a budget, where the NYPD would be reduced by $1 Billion and money transferred to various places. But what isn't clarified is what the police would do or look like. All they did was cut money from the budget.
Protestors: Defund the Police! Defund the Police!
Mayor and his budget team: Okay, cutting $1 Billion from the Police. Voila. Defunded.
Protestors: ....
Police:....
City Council: Eh...no.
Protestors/Police: Agreed. This plan sucks.
Mayor: WTF?
Reporters: No one is happy. Governor, can you please give us your take on this?
Governor: Okay, this is important. We're taking a billion dollars out of the NYPD budget, I don't know what that means? What did you take it from? Does it mean I'm more safe? I don't know what this means?
Instead of trying to write it all down from memory - I'm embedding the Youtube video of his press conference - it's about at the 40:38 mark.
Thank you, Governor. I don't care what other people think or say, You earned my vote ten times over. If you are an activist in any way - I strongly recommend you watch this video. I really want to find a transcript of this.
This made my day!
Ah, New York. I love you. You crazy state with such people in it.
I leave you with another picture..this time of a beautiful bronze sculpted door on the front of a mausoleum.
My mind is blown.
How did I find out? I skipped Bible Study, went for a restorative walk around Greenwood Cemetery - actually talked to an older woman on it. From ten feet apart with masks on, it was nice - and came back. Showered. (I was sweaty, it's humid and I'm in menopause - need I say more? You sweat like crazy in menopause.) Changed. Made dinner. Watched rerun of soap opera (they are showing thematic reruns out of order - and since we never get reruns with soap operas - it's weirdly entertaining). Had a glass of wine. Went to email - and voila, one of the members of the Bible Study Group informed me that my old gym building collapsed. It's the building on the corner of her street - she's understandably stressed and had to skip Bible Study. I skipped because I had two conference calls today, and two regular calls, plus I have a painful negotiation tomorrow. I wasn't up to more time talking to folks on computers and cell phones and Zoom. I can only handle one or two a day. As I told mother - I had to talk to too many people today - and the only one I wanted to was my mother.
I did have a nice chat via FB Messenger with my pal Carol, who is the Belly Dancer, IT professional, Doctor Who/Star Trek fan. I adore her. She's six foot tall, long black hair, and loud and unconventional. We interact mostly on FB - because she's a ridiculously busy person. She's the one who posted the videos that I reposted here of the BLM peaceful marches. We met doing social activism via theaterical performance.
Time for picture.
Crazy Company
Well, at today's staff meeting, boss got all emotional and decided to thank the ten of us for basically doing our job and standing up to the "herculean" task at hand for the last four months. (Learning new technology in order to effectively work from home. I didn't have that much trouble with it - but I'm rather good at figuring out computer software programs. I just wish they'd stop updating the stupid software programs.) Or rather the last six months of this crazy ass roller-coaster ride from hell otherwise known as 2020.
We go around and list off all things he needs to know about. Unless he has dire news he wishes to impart. Today, he decided to thank us. Which was nice. My boss, as much as I whine about him (really who doesn't), does thank me and tries to protect me for the most part. More than I can say about all the other bosses I've had. They all threw me under the bus or just left.
Talked to Project Manager at the Electric Rail Yard today. He told me that Crazy Company had had at least 140 deaths to date - all transit. We'd had two death due to COVID. He's furious that people aren't wearing masks. He told me that 140 people had died from COVID in the last four months - from Crazy Org. Two in our section of it. And that the news continues to be dire.
Project Manager did explain to me why the Federal Government got to decide on whether NYC could do congestion pricing in its own city.
Me: What's the Federal Government have to do with it?
Project Manager: Route 1 - US Highway Route 1 runs through NY City and the Federal Government owns the highway. They get to decide whether we put a toll on it or do congestion pricing because of it.
Crazy Org had been counting on that going through, everyone said yes, except the Federal Government.
On that depressing note...another picture from my walk today!
New York vs. the Corona Virus...and the idiotic President
The New York Governor continues to try to bully the President of the United States into wearing a frigging mask in public for the sake of the nation. He's given up on getting any money or support from him. If he could just get the dumb bastard to put on a mask. (I think I'm in love with my Governor. This is so weird.)
Mother: You know Biden really doesn't have to do anything to win the election. If he just sits back, Trump will hang himself.
ME: Yeah, pretty much. Recent surveys suggest that 6% of Trump supporters in Swing States will not support him again. There's nothing that will make them.
Mother: He thinks his base got him elected. What got him elected were the independents who hated Hillary and the Republicans who can't vote for anyone else. Now, they'll vote against him.
Me: If they want to survive.
Mother and I like to talk politics at lunch time. Also the state of my father's health or mind, one or the other. What mother has done. And the state of mother's health. Also family. And the weather. Mother is upset because she can't do water aerobics - they still have water aerobics, but the public restrooms are closed. And every time she does it - she has to go to the bathroom and going in the pool is just not done.
Anyhow, back to New York. If you can visualize four or five traumatized groups of kids huddled together after a major storm, who have managed to survive said storm by the skin of their teeth and are in major debt - while outside another storm threatens engulf them and possibly even worse than the previous one - that's New York, New Jersey, and Connetitcut. It's kind of like that scene from "Night of the Living Dead" - where the surviving humans are all huddled in a shack together terrified to go outside? I mean at least Europe is able to enforce it's international boundaries to some extent.
Governor: If people want to come to NY, they can. We have two storms threatening. One is the people from other states. Try as we might, we can't keep them out. We can't keep the illegal immigrants out, how can we keep people from other states out? The other problem is people aren't wearing masks and socially distancing enough in NYC and elsewhere. If you don't, we're dead. We'll go back to the mountain. Want me to bring out the mountain again? Because I will. The President needs to wear a mask and mandate that everyone does and enforce it!
My super doesn't. His wife and child do. He does not. I'd like to smack him. (I don't like him very much, I like his wife. But he's an asshole. Getting him to do anything - is pulling teeth. I hate to ask him. I ask her - and she makes him do it. ) He also can't speak English, Russian yes, English, not so much, while she can, which is part of the problem. (They are Polish. I live in a community that is basically the United Nations.)
I don't like conflict - otherwise I'd tell strangers and the super to wear masks. Instead, I do what Chris Rock does - I give them a nasty look. LOL!
(And since my eyes are barely visible - something tells me that it isn't that effective.)
Poor New York. It won it's fight against the virus, and figured it out. It's even tested 4 million of its citizens, roughly a fifth of its overall population, more people per capita than anyone else. If it were up to our Governor - every citizen of the state, and anyone visiting the state would be tested on a daily basis. (New York is test happy. It is obsessed with testing and contact tracing.)
Anyhow, because they can't control what is happening in NYC, the indoor dining and bars are being post-poned until maybe Phase 4.
Mother: Is it true that Broadway isn't opening until 2021?
ME: Yep. Forget Broadway, they are having troubles figuring out how to open department stores, malls, restaurants, and bars. (I'm not sure about the museums.)
Half the press conference was about opening up malls and whether it was fair to make them put in expensive hepa filters. Actually UV light works really well - the MTA has been using that.
This is killing our economy.
The other half of the press conference was the Governor basically lecturing the NY Press and the public by extension on why the $1 Billion dollar reduction in Police spending isn't going to work and what they should be doing and should be discussing.(Also why it failed and had to fail.) Folks? I sat forward in my chair when he began doing this, and almost stood up and applauded. He basically said, word for word, everything I was trying to say last night. In that moment, I forgave him for what he'd done with the MTA. I forgave him everything. I wanted to reach through the television set and hug the man. I'm in love. Everything he said - I had been thinking. And finally someone said it and far better than I ever could. I've learned so much just from watching his briefings.
What did he say? Ah.
First, what happened - the Mayor and his committee - submitted to the City Council for a Vote - a budget, where the NYPD would be reduced by $1 Billion and money transferred to various places. But what isn't clarified is what the police would do or look like. All they did was cut money from the budget.
Protestors: Defund the Police! Defund the Police!
Mayor and his budget team: Okay, cutting $1 Billion from the Police. Voila. Defunded.
Protestors: ....
Police:....
City Council: Eh...no.
Protestors/Police: Agreed. This plan sucks.
Mayor: WTF?
Reporters: No one is happy. Governor, can you please give us your take on this?
Governor: Okay, this is important. We're taking a billion dollars out of the NYPD budget, I don't know what that means? What did you take it from? Does it mean I'm more safe? I don't know what this means?
Instead of trying to write it all down from memory - I'm embedding the Youtube video of his press conference - it's about at the 40:38 mark.
Thank you, Governor. I don't care what other people think or say, You earned my vote ten times over. If you are an activist in any way - I strongly recommend you watch this video. I really want to find a transcript of this.
This made my day!
Ah, New York. I love you. You crazy state with such people in it.
I leave you with another picture..this time of a beautiful bronze sculpted door on the front of a mausoleum.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-02 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-03 01:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-02 03:33 pm (UTC)Gorgeous photos; you captures some stunning views of the skies.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-03 01:12 am (UTC)Thanks. It's amazing what this cell phone can capture. It doesn't do animals well though - I have to get up in their face and they don't like that.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 09:26 pm (UTC)And watching an episode of The Newsroom where a character talks about being on one of the Trains bombed in London. Never got on, or off, a train at Liverpool Street, but I passed through the station on a train nearly every time I went to London.
"There but for the grace..."
kerk
no subject
Date: 2020-07-05 03:50 am (UTC)I could have been there when the towers fell. I wasn't. There but for the grace of god, go us all - I think. Particularly right now ...