The View from the Hermitage, Day 300

In news we should have heard or read long, long ago, Twitter has banned The Lame Duck permanently. His followers and/or minions will no longer be able to hang on his every word, capitalized or not. He will have to find new means of venting, which I guess might not be a good thing. Can he be encouraged just to play golf for the next 12 days? Golf may be why he is now supposedly heading to Mar-a-Lago rather than Scotland on January 19. January is not golf season in Scotland even if you own the course. 

The Democrats in the House of Representatives are still talking about impeaching The Lame Duck on Monday. I assume that they would dispense with hearings such as they heard the first time The Duck was impeached and forward articles of impeachment to the Senate as quickly as they can. Moscow Mitch McConnell has said, however, that the Senate's schedule would not allow for a trial before the Inauguration. Could they even hold a trial once The Lame Duck is no longer President?The Lame Duck's remaining as President until Inauguration Day frightens me, as do thoughts of what havoc his minions might try to wreak in conjunction with the Inauguration. I seriously hope someone, anyone can keep him from pushing the wrong buttons.

One priority for the Senate before the Inauguration should be confirming some of Uncle Joe's Cabinet picks. I'd never really thought about it, but most Presidents have several Cabinet members confirmed and ready to go on Inauguration Day. I think Uncle Joe has now named all of his choices. I would say that State, Defense, and Justice would be the most important to have confirmed as early as possible, with Health and Human Services following closely given the pandemic.

Moving away from politics for now, 2020 was not a good year in terms of climate-driven catastrophe in the US. There were 22 major disasters, a major disaster being defined as one causing $1 billion or more in damages. Those 22 major disasters caused at least 262 deaths and more than $95 billion in damages. The previous record was 16 major disasters. 

Lots of numbers in that last paragraph. I like numbers, and have been called a data nerd. Speaking of data, The Professor and I cheered out loud last night seeing a clip in which Dr. Fauci said, "The data indicate ..." It probably dates me, but I grew up with "data" as the plural of "datum" and still cringe when I hear "data" used as a singular noun. 

I'm not sure I'd want to own stock in Boeing right now. A Boeing 737--not a 737-Max--went down in the sea off Jakarta, Indonesia only minutes after takeoff. Debris has been spotted though it has not been confirmed as having come from the plane. There were also reports of an explosion heard about the time to plan went down. As The Professor just noted, Boeing has its fingers crossed that terrorism rather than mechanics was the cause of the accident. 

Probably because I ordered bulbs this fall, I received the Prairie Moon Nursery catalog yesterday. Prairie Moon specializes in "native seeds and plants--wildflowers and grasses for restoration and gardening." Perusing the contents of said catalog, I discovered a plant named Hairy Beardtongue. Its Latin name is penstemon hirsutus. Hairy Beardtongue sounds like a Tolkien character or someone in a Dungeons and Dragons game. If I could draw decently, I'd see what I could make Hairy Beardtongue look like. 

No unpacking and putting away today, but I did make bread and work on a small prototype of my pandemic quilt. It's going to be sufficiently detailed that I want to make mistakes now so that I will know how to avoid them when I start on the real thing. I made several of them today and hope to make more when next I work on it. Much as I prefer somewhat "liberated" designs in which the goal can be less than perfect, this is going to require more attention to detail than I am used to paying.

I do like Hairy Beardtongue as a character name.

The View from the Hermitage, Day 299

Yowza! Tomorrow will be Day 300. Since they're now saying that people in group 1C for the covid vaccine are looking at late spring for their shots, I should hit Day 400 before we're through. I'm being optimistic that I'll get into the 1C group given that I just printed a list of my "Ongoing Health Issues" from the medical records site, and it clearly lists Hypertension and Stage 2 chronic kidney disease. It also lists Asthma, but I don't think that will count for anything. Four hundred days? I'll say it again. Yowza!

I just came in from walking The Family Dog and retrieving a mysterious envelope from the mailbox. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I subscribed to a magazine called Welcome Home. Its aim was to support women staying at home with their kids. They ran a pen pal thing one issue, and I started corresponding with a woman in Evanston, Illinois, who was also at home with her kid(s). Our correspondence became less regular as our kids grew and our lives expanded. She's worked in costume design, teaching elementary school, and religious education fits in there somewhere. She ran the Chicago Marathon one year, and I considered going up to meet and cheer for her. I can't recall why I didn't. It seems that she saves  everything which included all of the letters she got from me. She thought I might like to take a trip down Memory Lane. Wow! I did not see these coming. I have no idea if I will have the courage to read the letters. If I do, I'll start with the first and work my way up as our kids grew. Another Yowza moment.

The fallout from Wednesday continues. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned. She, like Elaine Chao, was in the Cabinet from start to, well, almost finish. The authorities are using video footage to identify and arrest as many of the domestic terrorists (Uncle Joe said they were not demonstrators or protesters but were domestic terrorists) as possible. They arrested the man who was photographed relaxing at Nancy Pelosi's desk. It will be interesting to see what they're charged with. There are going to be a lot of trials, though The Professor figured they would have a couple of trials and let the convictions and sentences motivate the other people charged to plea bargain. Some of the rioters have been fired from their jobs after their employers learned that they'd been there. They get no sympathy from me. Finally, a fifth person, a police officer, has died as a result of the riot. Son #1 said he heard that the officer had been struck in the head with a fire extinguisher. If that is the case, I hope they can find the perpetrator. 

It seems that VP Pence does not want to use the 25th amendment to move The Lame Duck out sooner than the 20th. There's talk of an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives on Monday. If they impeach The Duck, any trial in the Senate would have to be short and sweet. If it stretched to January 20, there would be no reason to do it in the first place. Nancy Pelosi said she has called the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about what is being done to prevent The Lame Duck from going nuclear. The possibility he might be able to do that is a very good reason to get him out of office immediately rather than in a couple of days.

The Lame Duck has said that he will not attend Uncle Joe's inauguration. The last time the exiting president skipped the Inauguration was in 1869. Incoming President Ulysses S. Grant refused to share a carriage with outgoing President Andrew Johnson. Johnson stayed at the White House. I can't imagine The Lame Duck just staying there. I'm agreeing with the pundits who suggest he will fly to Mar-a-Lag on January 19. If he does, let's hope he plays golf on Inauguration Day rather than holds a rally. He could still pardon family, friends, and himself that morning, taking some of the attention away from Uncle Joe.

And covid-19 continues to surge. Wednesday's little insurrection at the Capitol could be the most super spreader event since Sturgis, South Dakota and its motorcycle rally. Yesterday, 4,085 people died in the US the highest number yet. It's going to go higher, too. We're just starting to see the post-Christmas surge, with the post-New Year's one yet to come. Our governor seems to think that because there are now vaccines available, the numbers no longer matter. He doesn't seem to consider the fact that it may take the rest of 2021 if not longer for everyone who is going to get vaccinated to do so. 

I emptied several boxes of stuff this afternoon and shall now rest on my laurels until The Professor makes a trip for curbside pickup Mexican food. Haven't had that in almost a year.

The View from the Hermitage, Day 298

It's been a very long day for a variety of reasons. Chief among them is concern about the events of yesterday. What can and will happen in the next 13 days? Will the Defense Department obey the Commander-in-Chief if he tries to declare martial law? What if he thinks it would be nice to go out after attacking another nation? Iran? What if he urges his supporters to the streets in more than one city? Every city possible? I'm not optimistic about using the 25th amendment. At least one Cabinet member, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, has already resigned effective Monday. Her husband happens to be Mitch McConnell, so perhaps she fears retaliation by proxy. Will others be following her out the door before the 20th? And with the House of Representatives saying they will not come back until after the 20th, impeachment would be difficult, not to mention holding a trial in the Senate.

The state health folks started to release details about the next waves of covid vaccinations, and my getting in is actually looking bleak. They're still working on details of what conditions put someone at high risk, but the lists out now do not include asthma. One list includes high blood pressure while another doesn't. And I supposedly have Stage 2 kidney disease (stages go from 1 to 5, with 5 being the worst), but I have no idea if that is considered "chronic kidney disease." I may end up waiting until the last wave and then fighting for a place in line. The Professor will get to go in the next wave, being over 65. At 64, I don't count. 

The governor held a covid briefing yesterday but it was all about vaccinations with nothing at all about the new case numbers that are setting records just about every other day. The percent positivity for the testing they're doing is 16.8, a number they were very worried about back in the spring. I guess now that the vaccinations are rolling out, the number of new cases no longer matters. 

So tomorrow I'll try to do better. Maybe I can even find some levity to inject into the proceedings. I hope to be in a better mood, but a lot of that depends on the world around me, unfortunately. I'm having trouble right now going with the flow.

The View from the Hermitage, Day 297

The Professor suggested a photograph of nothing but black. That's what the world feels like right now. I just watched a violent protest at the central legislative site of a third world country. Wait! That was my country. I saw and heard things today I would never have believed I would see and hear in this country. I am ashamed to see that it has come to this.

The View from the Hermitage, Day 296

I've been trying to stay busy today so that my mind doesn't wander to all the shit that may go down tomorrow up the road in Washington, DC. The police chief says everyone in the force will be on duty, and the mayor has requested National Guard troops to be on standby. The alt-right web presence is evidently full of calls to action tomorrow if the certification of Electoral College votes proceeds unchecked. The Lame Duck is saying that VP Pence can demonstrate loyalty by canceling or otherwise throwing a monkey wrench into the proceedings. No, The Duck has not read the Constitution recently or ever and so does not know that the role of the VP is ceremonial at best. I did like Nancy Pelosi's comment that "at the end of the day, which could be the middle of the night" Uncle Joe would officially be the Preseident-Elect no matter what else went down. 

The Lame Duck held a rally in Georgia last night to boost the campaigns of the two incumbent Republican Senators. He spent more time on his own electoral woes than he did on the Senate races. He promised to punish the Governor and Secretary of State for not doing as he asked or ordered. He also promised to campaign against them should they seek reelection. In terms of the weekend phone call and possible vote tampering, The Professor read the argument that central to tampering's being a crime was the intent of the perpetrator. If The Lame Duck's mental condition is such that he honestly believes he lost due to fraud, did what he was asking or ordering have "intent"? 

As for what might be coming for January 20, word is that The Lame Duck has reserved the Boeing 757 typically used by the Vice President or First Lady to fly to his resort in Scotland on January 19. It seems that the airport there is too small for the Boeing 747 that is typically used as Air Force One. US fighter planes have been doing patrols around the resort  just as they would for a planned and announced Duck visit. The Scottish government meanwhile says that Americans can't just show up there in the days of the pandemic. Of course, on January 19, The Lame Duck will still be a head of state, and heads of state are probably exempt from at least some of the restrictions on visitors. 

The pandemic quilt planning continues. Today I experimented with sewing two pieces of the striped fabric together and hiding the seam. One width of the fabric is 44 inches, and I need 46 plus whatever area I want around the chart itself. Tomorrow, I'll sew a bunch of bars of varying heights and see how they look. If they look okay, I may have no excuse other than packing and putting away for not starting on it. 

I did go through several boxes this afternoon. Two were filled with demo materials Son #1 developed and used for the semester he taught high school physics. That was spring 2012; I'm not sure he'll even remember what's in each box. If he no longer wants the stuff and there's nothing I can use, they will probably go into the trash; I don't think there's anything worth donating. I do need to figure out what to do with styrofoam coffee cups, paper bowls, and plastic utensils left over from decades of being a room mother or other organizer of social event such as going away cookouts. I think there are more plastic utensils than The Professor and I could use for three meals a day in a year, but I'm not going to count to make sure.

I did come across something yesterday that I shall use as needed. It was one of those motivational things people put up on social media. I've relocated the paper to which it is glued to the kitchen desk where I can look at it as needed.

Sometimes you just have to give yourself the pep talk like, "hello you badass, amazing human being, don't be sad, you're doing fucking great..keep going!"

The View from the Hermitage, Day 295

We set yet another coronavirus record here in the US yesterday with 125,544 people in hospital with covid-19. The number of people dead from covid is now over 351,000. It could get much worse in the coming weeks; it is certainly not going to get any better. Are there any national mitigation measures here as there are in some other countries? Heck, no! The Lame Duck and his Toadies are too busy committing crimes connected with The Duck's call to the Georgia secretary of state telling him to find more Duck votes. Someone should give that secretary of state a medal, especially given that he's a Republican. Not very many of those are standing up to The Duck these days. 

England is entering another national lockdown, this one until at least February 15. People can leave home to procure food and medicine, seek essential care, or escape harm. People can also leave to go to work if they cannot work from home. People can also leave their home once daily for exercise which can be done with one other person from a different household. All non-essential businesses will close. 

The Senate runoff elections in Georgia happen tomorrow, though early voting has been open for a couple of weeks. I can't say that I've seen any polls indicating who might win each race. I have read that The Lame Duck's actions in regard to the presidential election may make some Republicans reluctant to vote. I'm not sure enough of them will stay home to let the two Democrats win. It would certainly be nice for the Senate to have an edge to the Democrat side. Otherwise, the Republicans could wreak havoc with Uncle Joe's Cabinet and court nominees. Should that be proposed, I'd like to think that a couple of the more level-headed Republicans such as Mitt Romney would refuse to go along and would vote with the Democrats. Should both Republicans win reelection in Georgia, it would only take two Republican Senators to throw any vote to Vice President Harris. I guess we'll know on Wednesday just as the Electoral College certification process begins.

But enough about the world outside my door. Having collected all the data I need, today I began working on my pandemic quilt. I plan to recreate Virginia's graph of the number of new covid-19 cases every day starting on my birthday, July1, and ending at year's end, December 31. On July 1, there were 532 new covid cases; the high point, 5,239 new cases, came on December 30 followed by 5,182 on the 31st. I'm using striped fabric on which the alternating white and grey stripes are 1/4 inch wide. For 184 days, that will be 46 inches width. The vertical scale will use approximations using 100. The 532 will be as close to 5 1/3 inches as I can get, while the 5,239 will be as close to 52 1/3 inches as I can get. Running across the bar chart will be a line showing the rolling 7-day average number of new cases. At least one border will be black. I'm figuring out how to do the bars; right now, I'm leaning toward using one of the decorative stitches on my Bernina. I'll do the bars before quilting, I think, since I don't really want to do that much decorative stitching as quilting. I also want to mark certain bars, though I'm not sure if those will be the first of each month, every Sunday as in this blog, holidays, or something else that comes to mind. The nerd factor is high with this one. 

I must admit that it was nice to focus on something creative today rather than go through boxes and deal with "stuff." Perhaps tomorrow I'll try for a healthy mixture of the two. 

The View from the Hermitage, Day 294

A bit of background to yesterday's news that I found the errant kindle. I had to work my way through several horizontal layers of boxes in the basement to get to a box labeled "kitchen desk." Since that was the usual location of my kindle when it was not in use, I was optimistic I might find it there, and, indeed, I did. I also found my Amazon fire tablet that can act as a kindle as can my iPhone. Since I broke down and bought a refurbished replacement kindle, I am sufficiently kindled for the rest of this pandemic not to mention the next.

We're 42 weeks along our wayward path through the pandemic. We're also at (I-17) days and counting or just 17 days from Uncle Joe's inauguration. First, though, we have to get through Wednesday's Congressional certification of the results of the Electoral College votes. Most years this is a fairly ceremonial thing, and many members of Congress don't bother to attend. This year will be quite different. Republican Senators are lining up behind Ted Cruz getting ready to challenge the results of at least some states along with some 140 of their counterparts in the House of Representatives. From  what I read of the procedure to be followed, it sounds as if challenges can be made to each state as its results are presented. Once a state is challenged, the Senate moves back to their chamber, after which each house has two hours in which to debate the challenge at which point they reconvene in the House chamber. Even if there are only challenges lodged against Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, and Nevada, it could well take into the wee hours of the next morning for things to be wrapped up. Everything I've read claims that there is no way Uncle Joe's election will not be certified. I just hope I don't have to stay up to find out.

The Gallup folks just announced that The Lame Duck was 2020's "most admired man." Michelle Obama was the "most admired woman" for the third year in a row. How some people can admire The Lame Duck is beyond me. I could see him getting distinction for being the most newsworthy man, but admired? Puh-lease. Somewhat related, The Duck is said to be angry that no fashion magazine put Melania  on its cover during her four years as first lady. 

The numbers of covid-19 cases and deaths continue to rise. The total number of cases a day or two ago was 20,427,780, 2,574,049 of them in the preceding two weeks. Can 30 million be that far away? The 32,518 covid-19 deaths in the last two weeks contributed bigly to the 350,186 total deaths. It will be a while until we hit 400,000 deaths, but that number is on the horizon. 

This morning's Guardian laid out just what the UK's "Tier 4" restrictions are. Nonessential shops, hairdressers, and leisure or entertainment venues are closed. No travel with the exception of education, childcare, or exercise. One may also travel to work if it is not possible to work from home. Households cannot mix, but one person can meet one other person outdoors in a public place. Support bubbles and childcare are exempt from this restriction. Clinically extremely vulnerable people should not go to work and should limit the time spent outside the home. Finally, residents must not stay away overnight, and cannot travel abroad. I cannot imagine the reaction to those restrictions here in the US of A. It might help but only a wee bit in the US that nowhere in those restrictions is there mention of wearing masks. Perhaps it's assumed that masks will be work outside the home. 

As the owner and occasional wearer of an inflatable, air-powered tyrannosaurus rex costume, I wish the following item were funny rather than sobering. A hospital in California say that a staff member wearing an inflatable, air-powered costume for a short time on Christmas Day may have sickened about four dozen other staffers. Such costumes have now been banned. There was no mention of what type of costume it was, though I'm hoping it might have been Santa Claus rather than a rex.

I don't know if my final item qualifies as "funny" as much as it is just plain "unusual." A small item on page A2 of this morning's Washington Post reported that a vessel carrying 20 people had disappeared between Bimini in the Bahamas and Lake Worth. I'm assuming that Lake Worth is in Florida, but either way the vessel vanished in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle. I had not thought about the Bermuda Triangle in years. The triangle is some 500,000 square miles of ocean between Bermuda, Miami, and Puerto Rico. Many vessels go into the Triangle and are never heard from again. One school of thought is that this is because there is so much air traffic over and boat traffic in the Triangle that of course a large number of disappearances is to be expected. The other school of thought has unknown forces at work. I said I had not thought of the Bermuda Triangle in years. I wonder if that is because there is less attention paid to such anomalies now or if the attention is there and I am not paying it.