And while I'm at it...

   I see that Michelle Obama is supporting an organization to provide "interview clothing" for  underserved women. Good for her, but I fear she's wasting her time. Nobody cares. Women wear what they want. Maybe her efforts would be better directed toward men.
   Case in point:  During the NYS daily Press Briefings, which typically include three  men and one  woman.  This is my perception, not duly noted every day. The men wear the standard shirt, tie, suitcoat during the weekdays, and maybe open collars or more informal on weekends or holidays. The woman present, Secretary to the Governor, seems to be most often clad in a sleeveless camisole or shell top. She is attractive, intelligent, well-spoken, and capable. Her clothing is not provocative or sexually exploitative, but as far as what would be deemed appropriate for professional wear, it would seem not. The men could wear t-shirts or sweatshirts for their formal appearances, but they don't. What is different about women? I mean, we already know that women television anchors choose to display  a lot of leg during their newscasts or interviews. What motivates them I certainly do not know, and care even less about them, on any personal level.
  The NYS Secretary seems too young to be experiencing hot flashes, but when the men are clad in jackets, she appears in what could be a slip or cami.
   

Power Play / Ego Trip/ Payback/ One-upmanship?

 I don't get it. Dr. Fauci, voice of conservative reason, advises against premature speculation on the efficacy of potential cures/ vaccines/ treatments for  COVID-19. And now is he waxing enthusiastic over the possible modest effects of a drug that could maybe reduce recovery time from 14 to 11 days?

Again the "Tap-Tap"

   A little different this time. Only 2 taps, the second slightly more emphatic than the first. And it was 5:30 a.m. I tend to  think I'm already awake when I hear those taps, though I suppose it's possible the sounds wake me up. I only know I'm wide awake at the sound. The morning was still darkish and chilly and rainy. I considered staying in bed---I'm used to it now.
   So I lay in bed for a while, a few seconds, or maybe minutes. Then the familiar scenario replays itself.   What if the "tapper" is a would-be burglar who is testing to see if anyone is awake and aware before he decides to push the door in. His tapping is kind of a courtesy call. If someone is awake and up to calling for help, maybe he would go elsewhere. (I think this scenario arises from twice before when our door was kicked open and our stuff stolen. Both times there were no cars in the driveway, but it was broad daylight. A child could have been home.  If the burglars had knocked on the door before kicking it in, might they have been deterred if there had been a response to their knock.) So I always get up and look out the window.

Dreams, and such

   Last night I dreamt that I had been driving, by myself, and decided to stop at a church for Mass. The church was in Stillwater or Mechanicville, some familiar location, but I hadn't been there for a while. I walked in, saw it was mostly empty, but there were people in the entry way, standing around as if waiting for services to begin. I stood there for a while, and then I recognized Teresa Andrew, standing among the others. She was wearing a beautiful white top, and I thought she might have been part of some ceremony or other, but then I saw she was wearing a really pretty print skirt in a red design. Her hair was dark and curly and in a very becoming cut. I complimented her on her wardrobe and her hair. She responded graciously. She was with others so I entered the church by myself.
   I didn't know the time of the service so I walked over to a wall where it looked like a schedule was hanging. I felt slightly self-conscious doing so because I had to make 2 trips; it wasn't clear to me what the start time was because the wall chart said it would be 1 1/4 hours and I couldn't seem to calibrate the time with my watch.
    Some people were beginning to file into the seats, so I decided to stay for the service. I took a seat in the mid-front area where no one was sitting. But  I noticed that every seat in that section had coats or jackets hanging on them, so I had to get out of that area. I moved to the side section and sat there, pretty much by myself. I soon discovered that from that angle, I would not be able to see the Altar, and deduced that if I couldn't see, I wouldn't be able to hear either. I decided to leave but by then all the seats around me were filled. The area was snug, and I could not get out without causing major disturbances.

     This morning I got a Facetime call. He had dreamt that he was on Wrentham Street discussing finances with his brother. Although at first he wasn't sure it was a dream. I told him dreams are as real as reality  itself. Or something like that...

Anomaly?

  Yesterday I went to Walgreen's to pick up a prescription which their phone call informed me was ready. My doctor's  office said to wait 3 days from date of request, but Pharmacy  called in 2 days.
   There were 2 customers ahead of me at the counter, each spaced at least 6 feet apart. When it was my turn, I said I was there to pick up my Rx and gave my name. The pharmacist shortly returned with my order, I inserted my credit card, and left the store.

Tiger King

    Just finished watching Episode 2.  Really restores your faith in human nature...
(And I viewed it with 2 of my favorite people.

Animals

  Last fall, I carefully cleaned our barbecue grill, and enclosed it in a new grill cover. It made a nice winter home for what I suspect are the resident

chipmunks.

Driver's License

 I read that New York was the first state to register automobiles, in 1901. This license must be one of the first. Peter Keegan was brother to my father's mother, Mary Ann Keegan Madigan.

Before They Fade

Daffodils from forever ago, tulips from Krystal and Danny's wedding,Japanese  irises (maybe)  from I don't remember where, and yet to bloom Lilies of the Valley. Ma gave me about six of them, and they spread so far out into the lawn that some got mowed, many remain.

Say what?

Pepcid as treatment for COVID-19...?

Alas.

It appears Dr. Birx has partaken of the Kool-Aid. Rumor is that she may be taking Dr. Fauci's job so that may be first and foremost.
  Dr. B. Please note:   "A musing" is not amusing.

Accidents and Incidents

   I spent quite a lot of time outside today, tending to my plants and sitting on the front step. I watched the motorcycles go by, thinking everybody who owned one was riding today. I saw 2 groups of 4 cycles, with rider and passenger on each, as well as a few single rider motorcycles some minutes later. Then several bicyclists drove by. They all looked so free and I imagined happy to be enjoying the beautiful weather. I remarked (to myself of course) that most of the motorcyclists  appeared to be heavy, portly, to be kind, while the bicyclists were slender as reeds. I hoped all of them would be safe, knowing the risks cyclists take sharing the road with automobiles.
    I read this evening of a fatality in Pittstown, between Tomhannock and Croll Road. A motorcycle and a vehicle evidently collided head on and the motorcyclist died. Death occurs on a sunny day.
    I was reminded of what was probably the closest call to an accident that I have had in a lot of years, and right in the village of Valley Falls. Friday morning I was driving home from the post office when a vehicle shot out from the "trashed house" across from Catone's.  The SUV type thing didn't enter the road straight, but drove at a slant into the wrong lane and almost directly in front of my car, almost as if they were trying to merge, though they were driving in the wrong lane.  Of course, I was driving at a low speed and braked when I saw it pulling in ahead of my car from what seemed to be alongside my car. I don't know who lives there, in what once was Lou Bonesteel's house. There seems to be a number of young people in residence there among the garbage, which is all over the yard and bulging out of the windows of the house which most probably will be scheduled for demolition at some future date.

Oops!

   A few years ago, a young girl I knew misspoke, made an uncharacteristic mistake in playing some game or other. She, being very cautious and sweet, and also precociously knowledgeable, caught her slip-up and, no doubt feeling embarrassed, explained to the rest of us that she was just being sarcastic. She was 6 years old.

Hugs---- or Not

  I think the last hug I received from an adult was from Father Richard at Ellie Lohnes' funeral service.

The Last Word----Ha!

    In truth, the winner in a verbal exchange is not who gets the last word, but rather the one who left  that last word unanswered, hung out to dry, so to speak.
So. three cliches in a rather passive aggressive comment.

Somewhere in the basement is a BB Gun...

It sits on the deck, defiantly, with  cheeks full, waiting to deposit its mouthful  my car. I used my power vac to vacuum every trace of any substances from my engine and under the hood cover, even taping the covering closed. I spread chili powder on the engine where the acorn deposits were. Yesterday, the tape was ripped off and seedy deposits are stuffed under the lining of the hood---again. Stronger measures are called for.

Eye of the Beholder

I try to tell the kids; Every award you ever win, or don't win, is the result of someone else's judgment.

Yeah, this was us:

Over 50 years and 50 lbs. ago.

1984 Review (1993's Future History)

   I believe "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell shows traits of a science fiction book but isn't quite true science fiction.
   Orwell exaggerated into fiction by inventing telescreens and peepcopters. He also wrote about the future, which is common to science fiction. However, I don't think he wrote ABOUT the future; he wrote FOR the future. He hid his real point under the surrealisms of 1984 and Oceania.  His real point showed that humans are conquerable, ignorant creatures. They are even capable of duping themselves into believing their own lies, which is definitely a truth about humans. He showed how fear can suppress a world of people. He showed how Catch 22's completely wiped out any hope of retaliation.
     George Orwell's "1984" would be classified as science fiction, but I would file it under future history.  As Orwell wrote, "Ignorance is Strength, War Is Peace, and Freedom Is Slavery."
       Teacher's comment: "Thoughtful and Thought-provoking"  Grade was 98

Spring Flowers Here today, Gone ?

Ye Olde Community Hall

  When we moved to Valley Falls, the village was a pretty cohesive community. Everybody  knew everybody in town. Within the village, besides Jack& Sara's Confectionery Store,  were Rospo's grocery store, the Village Tavern, with Vinnie's Barber Shop, Bill Ryan's Butcher Shop, the Valley Inn, the upstreet grocery store (Jack's/Kerr's/ D'jernis's/Davis's/ Baxter's/ Brundige's), the River Road garage building, where for a time Fisk & Boom manufactured and sold cinder blocks, the upstreet gas station, Clum's (I think),the Post Office, White's Funeral Home, Dr. Sproat's office,and for a time, Dr. Lohnes' office,  Catholic and Methodist churches, and, on the other side of the river, Bassett's Auto Sales and Jonnie's Esso station, as well as Diel Betts' hair salon. And also  the Valley Falls School. (I can't remember the old fire house building. I just recall, when the siren blew, all the kids would run up to see what was posted on the board outside the building.
   The Valley Falls Community Hall for a time was just that, more or less the center of the community. It was the home court for the high school basketball games. I remember my mother bringing my sister and me to Christmas Carol singing there. We would sit in the balcony of the community hall and look down on the singers. But the most spectacular event of my very young life was the time  our  mother brought us as spectators to a dance. From our viewpoint in the balcony, I was astonished to look down upon what seemed like all the stoic elders of the village. Of course when you're seven or so years old, all grown-ups seem elderly, especially at that time when their manner was so reserved. As they had recently relocated to our own building, I was fascinated to see Sara clad in a formal-looking blue gown dancing away with Jack, and the butcher and his wife doing the same. I have no idea who sponsored the event or why, but in my memory, the event was well attended.

From My Window

Robert Frost wrote that "Nature's First Green is Gold, the hardest hue to hold." But the others don't last long either.

The Troy Record ruled supreme

Wondering no more

  Tractor Supply Company was founded in 1938 in N. Dakota as a retail mail-order store for tractor parts.
   Today they advertise:
 PET FOOD   ANIMAL FEED    GARDENING SUPPLIES

Did'ya Ever Wonder...

  Why is there a company named "Tractor Supply"? I know there are lawn tractors,garden tractors, farm tractors, even tractor trailers. I don't think the store is exclusive to carrying supplies for tractors. I don't suppose the company is named after a guy named Tractor.I get the connection to farmers, both the rural and urban types. I understand the sales pitch to supply.
    But how the word tractor and the word supply came to be joined together I just don't get.

"Scary Lung X-Ray"

  Chris Cuomo's experience reminded me  (of course) of my own experience viewing my own scan, some years ago.
   I had  a cough and was feeling miserable. I remember being woken up one morning by a strange rattling sound, only to realize that it was my own breathing.
At the time I was tutoring a young girl ather home. She was not permitted to go to school because she had contracted a pneumonia on her last  visit to Mexico. Their home was clean, but because it was small, the living room was partitioned off to make another bedroom. This was done by hanging sheets or bedspreads on  a clothesline strung across the room. A lot of fabric, and close quarters.
   On this day, I had 2 medical appointments, both in Troy. The first was a follow-up visit to my cardiologist. He listened with a stethoscope, but said all was okay, to return in 6 months or so. I was rather surprised, but relieved that he found nothing wrong. I then drove to the gyno office, then in downtown Troy. The intake nurse did not conduct an examination, but just hearing my breathing, told me she thought I should follow up. She didn't like the sound of it. I don't remember the examining doctor having any comments or recommendations. But like many doctors, they only relate to the condition they treat.
  In the parking lot, I used my tiny little cell phone to call my primary doctor in Waterford. Dr. Carrozza was a caring and involved doctor. He immediately sent me for a chest X-ray. The lab he used was an old building behind the Dunkin' or whatever franchise is on the corner. The front part of the old building housed a medical office, and tucked away in the back was the X-ray facility. So I had the chest X-ray there, administered by a young medical person, who must have felt pretty isolated back in that dungeon-like area.
     He told me to wait while the films were developed and when they were, he asked me if I wanted to view them. I did. He pointed out a large white area in my right lung. I thought white might be good, but he said no, that was a sign of pneumonia. Again, I felt rather relieved. I'd never had pneumonia before, but had heard a much more ominous diagnosis not too many years before. But the relief was not long-lasting.
   Back in the doctor's Waterford office, Dr. C. told me that a white area on the lungs did  not necessarily mean it was pneumonia. Only that the lung was infected by some entity, which, due to my  previous history, could indicate a more serious condition. Several weeks of drug treatment and follow-up X-rays finally convinced him that it had been pneumonia. That was a very welcome outcome.

 

Pre Existence

   Whenever anyone succumbs to the corona virus, and. yes, most who die are senior citizens, the report invariably will state that the decedent also had pre-existing conditions. Do you know anyone over the age of say, 50, who has not suffered some type of physical impairment, has avoided all surgeries, suffers from diabetes or pre-diabetes, or has not had some less than ideal reading of blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood labs. So pretty much the entire population has a pre-existing condition related to simply existing. 

Bottle Return Technology

When you use the bottle return machine at ShopNSave, you no longer have to press the button to get your receipt. Just wait a few seconds and boom, there it is. BTW the store is no longer accepting any returns inside, for the time being--whatever that may be..

We're all trying...

Dratted Chipmunk.

Commodity----ASV

  It seems the most desired piece of equipment today is the Mechanical Ventilator, for Adaptive Support Ventilation, the Breathing Machine. But would  everyone want one, even if they were medically eligible and the machines were available. 
   Several years ago, I was contemplating knee replacement surgery. I researched extensively on youtube and hospital surgical sites. I viewed dozens of TKR's performed on models, cadavers and living patients. I felt encouraged and informed enough to proceed with both surgeries, with complete success.
  Not that I'm contemplating the use of a ventilator, but curiosity as to how they functioned led me to check once more with youtube.
   Right away, with the insertion of the breathing tube the first line of  defense, I thought I'd seen enough to say I'd pass my potential ventilator on to then next patient in line. But then, I do believe that a breathing tube is inserted during TKR's also. But the videos focus on the sawing and cutting of bones, tendons and patellas and such, so the patient is unaware of other invasions.

Im My Dream

  Usually I have difficulty bringing my dreams to mind, but my last dream of Dave and me approaching a bright and shining city won't leave my mind. Looking downward  from a hill we didn't know we'd climbed was an absolutely breathtaking sight, something like a scene from one of those old time fold-out Christmas cards which brought out our childhood wonder. But this was real, all the wonders to behold from our solitary vantage point, where for a brief time we were the only two people in the world.
     The spell was interrupted by an ordinary villager, who had strung the barbed wire across our path of dreams, and as a further deterrent held in his hand what I now identify as a mace, with all its flanges and knobs. I still see it. It looked like this, but the handle was much longer:

That Other Dimension

  I dream a lot now, and when I first wake up, the dream is clear in my mind. I want to remember it, but when I try it slips away, like a thin film of oil over water, spreading away into oblivion.
   I remember the dream I had last night.
       We were traveling, Dave and I, along a road. My dreams never have a clear or noted beginning, so I don't know where or why we were on that road. But the trip was fairly long and arduous in some way until suddenly we came to the top of a hill we didn't realize we were even climbing and saw the most beautiful sight we both had ever seen.We were young and everything was aglow. The view was spread out in both directions, bright, shining, sparkling. Now I might see the scene unfolding as a " shining city on the hill, " though I didn't think that in my dream.
    We commented to each other that we hadn't known the road was uphill, and we remarked on the beauty of what had unfolded before us. We stopped  our car  and walked to the end of the road., as far as it was open. There were buildings to the left and to the  right, with several people a distance away. But across  the road was a strand of low-strung barbed wire fence, which may have been why we had stopped. The road continued on, beyond the barbed wire. We approached the wire. It was obvious someone didn't want us to proceed any further. But Dave, being Dave, stepped over the fence. I noticed, though the wire was only about a foot off the ground, he didn't quite clear it unscathed; the wire caught, harmlessly, on the leg of the khaki pants he was wearing.
    As I had anticipated might happen, a man, elderly and clad in walking shorts, came out of the closest house on the right. He slowly approached us, carrying in casual manner what seemed like a weapon from the past, a long pole with some type of appurtenance on top, maybe an implement for loosening soil. In my dream and now, I tried in vain  to think of what it's called.
   He informed us, in a civil enough manner, why he had strung the wire at the end of the road, that it was not a through road, that  they didn't want people passing through, and that anyone who crossed that  wire would be cited, would receive a legal summons.
    Dave, apparently growing tired, walked back to the car, a distance away. The man's wife had come on the scene by now and I was talking to her. She was younger and more  amiable than her husband, and we talked for some time. During our conversation, I remember saying that where we came from,, barbed wire was illegal in village settings, and so would be the rather wicked-looking implement which her husband had propped beside the fence. I recounted a long-ago  memory of a young girl, a friend of Sandy's, who climbed over the pasture fence behind her house. The fence was topped with barbed wire and the girl, about seven years old,  was severely injured when she fell onto the fence, 
    We chatted on, for so long that Dave, tired of waiting in the car, walked over to see why I was delayed. I asked him if he had my camera with him. He did, and I told him to take pictures of the barbed wire and that stick. While he was doing so, the woman approached me and said she didn't think Dave  would have thought of taking pictures if he hadn't been prompted to do so. She sounded as if she'd been betrayed.

Language Lost

   I had a medical appointment a few weeks ago, a follow-up appointment in an individual medical office, which was evidently deemed a good idea. A medical team of 2 professionals was stationed in the hallway. Each was wearing mask and plastic gloves. They administered the remote thermometer test. My temp was 97.5.  So I proceeded to the next level which was a questionnaire I was to sign. There were several questions as to whether I'd been out of the country, had been exposed to any COVID-19 patients, had any of several symptoms myself, the usual screening.
   Above the signature line was the notice, "If you have not answered all of the questions satisfactorily, you will not be permitted." I asked  the rep does that mean to say  I wouldn't be" admitted?"   
    She responded, "Permitted, Admitted, same thing."
 
 

Soup to Nuts

Who need to go grocery shopping when the nice Amazon people surprise you with this:

Call

I'm at the computer in the kitchen, and both the iPad and my Apple Phone sound off at the same time. I answer my phone and a male voice says, "You're not talking." I say I just picked up. The voice sounds something like Bill, or Don. I say I don't know who you are. He says, Marilyn, this is Jim LePrete . I say this is her mother. He says you sound just like her. I say everyone says that. He says the similarity of voices amazing. I say Marilyn is not here. I ask if he has her cell. He says yes, but he didn't know where to reach her. I offer to give him her home tel#. He asks if she will be home. I say maybe since she's doing remote teaching. He says, sounded surprised, she's a teacher? I say well, yes. Are you a friend from the old days?  He says, Marilyn Cardinal, right? I say no. We say good-bye.