Day #83 of Self-Isolation

Long day..drifting towards another...and another...

1. Me vs. New Desk Chair

Things are slowly re-opening here, but I'm still working from home remotely. It has its pluses and minuses. On the plus side - my balance and equilibrium have been slightly off all day long - so not a good day to take mass transit or go to the office. Thankfully, I did not have to.

Instead I spent the morning trying to figure out how to fix my new chair - because apparently it is supposed to have five wheels and it only came with four.

(Ordering furniture online is kind of like rolling dice. Hence the reason I rarely buy furniture and hate doing it. I'm rarely satisfied. And no, it's not possible to go to a furniture store and look around - I do not have a car and can't just go do that. If I could - I would have done it. I have tried to do it that why. I'm kind of heading you off at the pass there.)

Anyhow before anyone rags on Amazon - Amazon was actually extremely helpful. A kind lady from Tampa helped me find wheels and order them, stating that I'd be getting a $40 promo to cover the cost of the wheels. They come in a five pack. She spent a lot of time hunting down the manufacturer, asking them for the code for the wheels, then hunting the wheels in Amazon's site. I was rather impressed - and had me on the phone and told me what she was doing the whole way. Best customer service I've had in a long time. (The way you get hold of customer service on Amazon is you hit the "contact" and then "chat" and then "ask that they call you". It's hard to find but once you are there - quite helpful.)

The chair's okay - it's better than the one I had previously. I had gotten on sale. It should be much better when I'm able to pop in the fifth wheel.

So, the wheels are coming on Thursday. Hopefully this will be an easy fix. The chair is better than the other one I had, but I miss the one in my office. I had finally gotten the perfect set-up in my office, a standup desk, two monitors, a tower, a good keyboard, and a great leath chair. I'm annoyed. I want that set-up at home and I can't get it.

Oh well, it could be worse. Must look on the bright side.

2. Me vs. Sinus Headache From Hell

It cleared up this morning. I took my blood pressure - it was down, well down after I ate at any rate. Or where it should be.

Then high again this afternoon. I took another walk around Greenwood Cemetery - a long one. And came back with a sneeze and a sinus headache. Thank you, tree pollan and freshly mown grass. I think I may be allergic to Greenwood Cemetery. To be fair, I'm kind of allergic to the outdoors and the indoors...it's just a question of severity.

But I hadn't been getting the sinus headaches...possibly the air pressure?
God knows.

3. Black Lives Matter

Yes, the protests are still going on. Actually, you probably already know that since they appear to worldwide or global at the moment. The New York Times had a picture of folks protesting six feet apart in Edingburough, Scotland (which honestly is much brighter than what people are doing here - and we wonder why the US has the most COVID cases in the world at the moment, the US is stupid. Righteous yes, but also stupid.)

On the way back from Greenwood Cemetery - I walked past a few women putting together signs for the nightly banging of pots, and protesting for Black Lives Matter - while at the same time applauding the efforts of the essential health care workers. They've kind of combined the two now.
I gave her a thumbs up and clapped. She smiled at me. It was a warm moment of solidarity between two strangers - these moments are happening more and more now. It makes me feel a little less alone and isolated in this crazy bustling city. But the truth is - it's kind of impossible to be alone or isolated in NYC. Lonely yes. Alone and isolated? Not so much.

There is some good news on the BLM front - Congressional Democrats are rushing legislation to Propose a Broad Bill to Target Police Misconduct and Racial Biasis. I seriously doubt it will get passed - but the fact that the Republican run Senate won't pass it, will most likely be another nail in the Republican's coffin. The Republicans have basically done every possible thing they can think of to make this situation worse. (Fed up I donated some money to both Jaime Harris (South Carolina against old bigoted fart Lindsey Graham) and Amy McGrath (Kentucky against demon spawn Mitch McConnell). )

President Trump said that he had ordered National Guard troops to begin withdrawing from Washington after three former Joint Chiefs chairmen condemned his use of military force in response to protests. [ He claimed that they'd done their job and weren't needed any more and took full credit for the decision of course. Only people who don't follow the news still support the asshole.]

Senator Mitt Romney marched with protesters yesterday, becoming one of the first prominent Republicans to do so. He posted photos of himself at a march in Washington, along with the message, “Black Lives Matter.” [I'm thinking Mitt may be the only Republican re-elected next year? So far he's the only one who stood up for the impeachment, pushed for the states to get funding, and marched with the protestors.]

Meanwhile the Minneapolis City Council is thinking of doing away with the police force or rethinking it
-This is not as simple as it looks. Minnesota and Minneapolis have multiple police forces and different unions.

And according to my New York Times briefing this morning...the big problem is that cops lie...

( Excerpt detailing the wide-spread problem of police lying )

After reading this, I've decided the police are really stupid. Honestly they have video cameras on them all the time. The Governor basically said the same thing, which I appreciated. My apologies to all the daytime soap operas and television dramas that have depicted the police as abusive idiots - you were right - they are.

Meanwhile on Facebook this morning, once again, because the Universe has a sense of humor, I found myself on the opposite side of the argument. A while back, when all this first happened, about a week or so ago, I wondered why people were protesting in NY and Brooklyn over a killing in Minneapolis - when the perpetuators had been caught. And I got attacked.

I, however, am proud to say that I did not attack this poor woman or anyone who has said this to me. Why? I can sort of see her confusion. I mean it's not like George Floyd's death is unusual or anything. [That's the problem - it's NOT unusual. Not at all. And George Floyd is by no means the first black man who these cops did it too. My mother told me over the phone that when she watched the video - it reminded her of slavery. ]

So why now? At the height of a pandemic? And why him? Why not Breonna Taylor, or Eric Garner, or oh so many others before them. ( Read more... )

I remember discussing all of this with my friend and co-worker, J, a year or so ago. ( Read more... )

As I walk around the cemetery - I wonder this. The trees stand ever patient, silent sentinels. Guarding over the dead. I hugged one today. Put my arms around as far as they could go and hugged a tree. Feeling its kindness, its patience, its wisdom flood into me. Trees have a certain kind of energy..something strong, and pure, and so old and so wise. It's like feeling connected to something far greater than oneself. And in that moment, I no longer felt just connected to humanity but to the earth beneath my feet even though it makes me sneeze.



4. New York vs. the Corona Virus

In our daily installment of New York vs. the Corona Virus - folks, some good news. New York has beaten back the Corona Virus.

Governor of New York: Today is Day 100 since we had our first confirmed COVID case in New York State. And with New York City entering Phase 1 today, the entire state is in the reopening process. At the outset, no one knew how long it would take us to control the virus. But we did understand that it all depended on our actions. I'm so proud of how New Yorkers responded. Together we bent the curve. When things are tough, New Yorkers are tougher. Now we will move forward by region smartly.

We have a 1% infection rate - the lowest to date. The state is re-opening. 450,000 people went back to work today in New York City. (Some of us never left - I've been working remotely and if I weren't doing it remotely, I'd have been doing it at the office - I'm considered essential apparently. I don't feel essential. I'm just keeping a bunch of vital construction projects going at the moment.)

Here's what else you need to know tonight:
( Read more... )

New York continues to amaze me. It is a tough little state. You can knock New York down but its going to come up swinging.

I leave you with...trees..