Day 57 a.m.-Traffic

Posted on 13/05/2020 by Grumpa Joe

This morning I had to attend to a number of errands which I have been putting off until such a time it was worth risking a trip into the public forum; Post Office, Accountant, Bank. One thing I noticed was the greatly increased traffic since my last venture out. This can only mean that people are beginning to lose interest in COVID-19 and are giving Governor Pritzker the finger for his directives.

Otherwise, it is a beautiful spring day in Illinois, the sun is actually shining. This will bring out people en-mass to the walking paths. The dogs in the community seem to be losing interest in their owners sudden burst of energy for exercise. Many are no longer leading on the leash, but rather lagging and requiring a tug to move forward. Although the dogs navigate on scents, and with so many dogs marking the same routes there are many new and interesting chums to check out.

My Tuesday Night Stray Bar Club meeting on Zoom is also beginning to lose members who opt to do other things. It just isn’t the same drinking as a group within without social distancing rules. Pouring your neighbor more wine is not possible, so the ability to get a hot lady high is just not happening. Not that the group is so crazy as to cohabit, but the conviviality, and bawdiness of the conversation makes for more fun.

As soon as I hit the post button I will descend into the bowels of my home to the wood shop to make dust on my new project. I began with a burst of enthusiasm, but over the last couple of days I have faltered and ignored the project, the same has happened with my garden goals. Sunny days should be spent in the garden and rainy days in the shop. The prediction for today was for rain, therefore my desire to grind wood, and not transplant perennials. The ground is still cold and the plants will be healthier if I leave them alone for another week.

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Day 31-Quarantine-Conventions

Posted on 17/04/2020 by Grumpa Joe

For three years I registered for the Lions District Convention. Peg was still with me and my philosophy was that if she was well enough I would go. Since the convention is located within twenty miles of home I planned to go for the main day, attend meetings and the dinner. Peg was never getting better, so I never went. I forfeited the registration and dinner fees. This year was different. Peg had passed, and I had no excuse to not go. I registered for all three days, and booked a hotel room at considerable expense. Then, I told myself why not attend all the conventions, go to the State also, I registered. The flyer came for the Lions USA/CANADA Leadership Forum in Louisville, Kentucky. This was another meeting I wanted to attend all three of those years, but they were too far away, and needed several days. I opted out of all of them, until this year.

You know the rest of the story, all of them are cancelled. Today was supposed to be day one of the District Convention. They aren’t even having a virtual meeting to elect officers. I will spend this  weekend the same way I have spent all the previous weekends, hunkered down in my palatial home wondering in which room to spend the day.

Yesterday, the President announced his phased plan to restart the economy. Good luck with that. I don’t think I will be too quick to respond to entering crowded restaurants and venues after the last six weeks of brainwashing to keep a distance. In fact, it’ll be a very long time before I am convinced it is safe enough for me to gamble outside. That is what it will be, a gamble. Each time I come within a foot of another human I will be wondering if the corona jumped the space and landed on me. Maybe I’ll zip myself into one of those big plastic balls and enter society that way. Or I’ll attach my feet to roller blades, and roll through crowds faster that the corona can leap. Or maybe, just maybe, I’ll stay at home and not gamble with any of it. The next few years may be my end of life experience. Not such a bad one when I think about it, but nevertheless not such a good one either.

Filed under: Aging, family, grief, Seniors | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Day 29-Quarantine-Virtual Sports

Posted on 15/04/2020 by Grumpa Joe

How about it folks, let’s do some brainstorming. I’ve heard a lot of people complain that they are in live sports withdrawal. That is not something I readily understand, but sympathize with sports fans. I’ve heard my favorite radio host say he is tired of watching 14 year old baseball games and even older football games. He would like the MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and live Cricket to return to the stadiums. Lets kick out all the COVID hospital paraphernalia and lay down the grass, wood, and ice once again. That won’t happen until we decide we would rather catch the Covid-19 virus and develop our own immunity, or we get vaccinated.

Here is an idea I came up with, virtual teams playing virtual games. With the advanced gaming technology available it should be relatively simple to set up. The hard part would be in inventing how games would be played in a virtual setting. My vision has each professional team equipped with the latest WII software integrated with the latest gaming software. Players of each team operate using a meeting program similar to Zoom, so they can communicate (huddle) to call plays. The players all have WII controllers and use them to move against the opposing team who is controlling their robotic equivalent in defense. They watch themselves on the screen to decide what moves to make and which way to move and who to tackle etc. Basketball programs are already pretty sophisticated with the players controlling themselves on screen using the handheld device.

Think of the benefits, all players would  be socially distanced from one another. Spectators would be doing the same. Game injuries could be eliminated although some aggressive WII players can hurt themselves even when alone. There would be no need for a Zamboni to make new ice between periods, and for that matter there wouldn’t really be a need to take long breaks between halves and periods because the physicality of the game is so much reduced. Although this rule would not be eliminated since most players would want to grab a quick beer between periods.  Fighting at hockey games is nil because the players are so far apart. Injuries requiring stitches disappear. Instant replays to decide if a player is out of bounds is not required. The computers will know when a foot goes over a line.

Teams would save big money by not having to transport players to far away cities to compete. At worst, the teams can set up virtual game studios with separated Covid-19 play-rooms to keep them safe. This also removes the virtual team  player from his living room so he can relinquish the game player to his kids. Players would be freed from having to be in top physical condition since there isn’t any real contact between human bodies. Instead, players would have to train using game controllers and eye coordination.

Another twist is that the team owners could charge fans a premium play in games. Pick your position, get a controller, and substitute for a professional player. They can charge you by the number of plays you want to play, or you can pay a huge subscription for a season pass, or an even larger subscription to substitute for a season. Because of the new 5G systems available the subscriptions available to play are limitless. Each SS (subscription  substitute) player will be playing the game and watching himself on his TV. You can now play the same position against all your drinking buddies in the exact same game and determine which of you is the best.

You get the idea, right?

What’s that? It’s already available?

Then why am I wasting my and brainpower posting about it

I need some wine.

 

Filed under: Aging, family, Humor, Sarcasm, Technology | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »

Day 15-Quarantine-Assess How Lucky One Can Be

Posted on 31/03/2020 by Grumpa Joe

Today, I must make a giant decision relative to going to shop for needed groceries. I promised family that I would not leave my home. They offered to shop for me. Why should I put young people at risk for me? I am closer to end of life than I hope they are so it just makes sense to keep them out of harms way.  I will practice social distancing and avoid crowded spaces so my risk is reduced.

15-Online-Shopping-Statistics-Ftrd32.jpg

Yesterday I tried using a shop on line program using Wal Mart service. The program is easy to use and they offer just about their entire inventory of groceries. Where it fails is in the delivery part. I recognize that there are just so many people employed to run around the aisles with a customer shopping list to collect items for a specific customer. Then, there are also too few employees driving those orders to customers. I failed yesterday to get in the que, and this morning I tried earlier with the same result. I will try again in the middle of the night. Meanwhile I will scrape my coolers for available goodies to feed my fat ass. I’m sure I will survive.

Today’s agenda includes cooking, reading, killing grass near the pond, walking, shaping my rose project, and watching a series on TV. Oh, and avoiding coming in contact with COVID-19.

Filed under: Biography, family, Food, Ponds | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »