Saturday, April 1, 2023

April 2022


                  April 2022

There Is Another COVID Variant Out There

And We Don't Give A Fuck

PA, DE, DC, VA, MD, OH, IN, IL, MO, AR

1- F- PA

I left my apartment at 3 PM in order to get to Sharon's house by 5 PM. And I needed all of this time to make it by 4:45. We went over to Heather's for pizza. Afterwards, Glenn drove Sharon and me to see Bob Schieder at the City Winery.  I had never heard of him and found him to be fun to watch.

2- SA- PA

I took Lauren and Mike out to dinner to celebrate their engagement.  They are going to be married on December 5 in Nevada.  The ceremony will take place in Valley of the Fire State Park which was I place I visited last January and loved it.

Twitter: Thank you for your service. But you don’t belong in the military if you don’t follow orders. Best wishes for your future.

3- SU- PA

It is still cold and miserable and rainy and windy with just a little bit of sleet thrown in to the mix.

I went to the dollar store that just raised their prices and everything is now $1.25 which has become a challenge to do the math in my head now.  I am starting a care package for Jameson who is stationed somewhere in Africa.  I am also asking my neighbors if they want to contribute. ceremony

There is a high school boy in our building who has begun to bring a group of 8-10 kids over to his place to hang.  Last week, they were in the lounge and their language was so vulgar that I had to say something.  Gina found them wandering the parking garage this week and that worries me because I do not lock my car.  Tonight I had to reprimand them again because they were so loud that we couldn't hear each other talk. I feel sorry for this kid but I am losing my patience with his friends.

Twitter: Nazis, confederate and Jesus: the new Republican platform.

We are at 980,000 covid deaths to date.

4- M- PA

It's raining today. It seems like we have had nothing but rain lately.

I had a singular focus today.  I wanted to put my care package together for Jameson. In addition to what I bought yesterday, I spent another $50 today and now I have too much stuff to send. I went to the post office to pick up boxes.  I got two sizes and the large isn't large enough.

The community box, for Jameson, has a few donations.  Hopefully, these donations will pick up in the next few days.

I hung in the lounge in the evening for several hours.  Steve stopped by and we chatted for a little bit.  Gabe and Dom also stopped by and hung out.

I started listening to the craziest book, Chouette by Claire Oshelsky.  It's the story fo a woman who gave birth to an owl and everyone speaks as if this owl is an actual child.  It is so strange and I am drawn to it.

I am in a ridiculous twitter exchange with some evangelical christians over gay rights.  Someone mentioned that she was taught that is it Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.  I posed the question, "Could you be wrong."  Well, that didn't go over well and now I am listening to idiots explain the reproductive system to me and it is abundantly clear, more sex ed needs to be taught to kids.

5- TU- PA

It's raining today. Again.

China is in lockdown again and England's covid cases are sky rocketing yet again.

I was going to drive to Washington, DC to see the cherry blossoms today.  When I put my destination on the GPS yesterday, it was going to take me 2 hours to get there.  Today, it was going to take me over 2 1/2 hours.  That surpasses the amount of time I want to be driving today.  So I postponed my trip until Thursday.

So, instead, I went up to Lansdale to the Well Crafted Beer Company (1) for a quick flight.  It took me five hours to make this happen.

I watched the series on the murder of Lacey Peterson.  It's stunning to see how quickly someone can be tried on the media even before evidence is even collected.  The human aspect is really a challenge to the defendant.

Tomorrow night, I go to see Gordon Lightfoot.  I just read that he is 82 years old.  I hope he makes it until tomorrow night.

Jaye called me.  She has just come to the realization that her cancer is not curable.  She will be on treatment for life.  They can't do surgery because they would have to take too much of her liver.  The tumor is shrinking but it will never go away completely.  So Jaye is going to have to be on a chronic maintenance program.  This breaks my heart.

Twitter: Definition of a woman: a female over the age of 18. If you want to reduce pedophile behaviors, you need to protect the girls in your state from child marriages. @MarshaBlackburn #NoChildMarriages

6- W- PA

It's raining again. And the five day forecast does not look promising.

The reports coming out of Ukraine are horrific and I feel helpless.  I am inspired by presdient Zelinsky and the people of Ukraine.  And I would like to do something.  But what could I do.  I would never pick up a gun and kill someone.  I couldn't volunteer to get supplies out to people as I cant lift anything heavy and I dont have the stamina to do that.  I couldn't work in the hospitals becasue I have no medical skills and the mangled bodies would devastate me.

I met up with Sue and Ruth to see Gordan Lightfoot perform at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville.  OMG, he was dreadful.  He was so bad that his performance was comical. He's almost 84 now.  In his younger days, he was handsome.  Now he looks like a character in a horror movie.  He has long, stringy, old man hair. He has lost his powerful voice.  He can't hold a note.  He's shorten every song and he mumbles the words. His range is very limited. He runs out of breathe when he sings. And he displayed momentary confusions from time to time.  He climbed up 7 steps to get to the stag and he had to rest for several seconds before he could proceed to the center of the stage. Then he told boring, old grandpa stories and these stories were longer than his songs.  He was dreadful and I could hardly wait for the show to be over.

7- TH- PA

OMG, it really rained today.  For a while it was intense. And it's cold today and I am stuck inside again.  I need a day of sunshine.

I had an appointment with my breast oncologist and everything looks good.  I don't have to meet with her again until January.  So that is a relief. 

When I was at the doctor's office, the nurse took my blood pressure.  It was 140/84 which is very high for me.  I calmed down for a few minutes and she took it again and it was 134/84.  It was better but not good enough for me.  Usually I am 120/80.  And then I realized that I had just been reading twitter right before she took my reading.  I will have to remember not to read twitter before I get my blood pressure measured.

History or should I say "Herstory" was made today. Ketjani Brown Jackson was appointed to the Supreme Court today.  She becomes the first African American woman and the first public defender to fill this new role. Her confirmation (53-47) went across party lines as to be expected. When it was announced that she was confirmed, the republicans walked out in protest.

8- F- PA/DE

It was cloudy today but at least it wasn't raining.

So I called Jaye and she was up for just hanging out.  We met at a resturant near her house and just sat outside and had a drink and  something to eat.  She is struggling with her life sentence of cancer treatment.

Twitter: He’s now hinting that he may not run again because of ill health. I hope he’s telling the truth. #TrumpCoupAttempt #TrumpIsARussianAsset #TrumpIsALaughingStock

9- SA-PA

The sun is finally out today. I hung on my balcony today.

Dave McGuire visited the apartment today so I checked in with him.  It was good to see him again as it gave me an opprtunity to talk about Joe.  It's been about a year now that Joe killed himself and I am still sorry that I saw no signs of his despair.

I did nothing all day but sit in my big, blue corduroy chair. But I did read for quite a bit in the afternoon.  This is the third day in a row that I've read a book. I used to be an avid reader and for the last ten years, I lost that discipline.  I need to go back to reading books.

Twitter: We should ban the teaching of religion from kids until they have reached an age of reason.

Quote Tweet
𝓡𝓱𝓮𝓪 𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓮
@TheTweetOfRhea
·
Religion is the worst part of growing up.

Twitter: Most of the problems in the world can be traced back to the indoctrination of organized religion. But nobody wants to talk about that. #FreedomFromReligion


10- SU-PA/ DC/VA

I got up and took off to see the cherry blossoms in DC.  This has been on my list of day trips for years.  But for some reason or another, I never make it happen.  So, this week, I waited for the first break in the weather to go.  I had my cameras charged and ready to take lots and lots and lots of photos.

The cherry blossoms are all gone just as I had anticipated.  The last four days of intense rain ruined them.  All the trees are completely bare.  Next year, I am going to have to come to DC on April 1 and assess the situation.

After several drives around the Tidal Basin, I surrendered and drove to the hotel in VA and then off to the New District Brewery-VA-(2) for a flight.  I really liked this place.  I mostly liked it because the bartender took an interest in my and he wanted to make sure I loved my beers.

11-M-VA/DC/MD/PA

Caillimid thú fós. It's been 29 years and I still can't talk about it.

After checking out of my hotel, I went back to the Tidal Basis in hopes that maybe there was a corner of this universe where cherry blossoms had resurrected themselves overnight and were there, ready for my viewing.  But that didn't happen.

So then, I drove over to the American Indian Museum and to my great delight, I got a free parking spot right near the museum. That should have been my first clue that I wasn't going to this museum on this day.  Of course, it is closed on Mondays.

In frustration, I decided to head to Baltimore and hang there.  I like this city.  It's a real working class city.  I found a new brewey and went there only to discover that it is near the baseball  stadium and it was opening day and a perfect day for basebool and several million people were ther today.  So I went to Full Tilt Brewery- MD- (3).  I've been here before and I liked thier beers.  This time I had two beers that were so full of fruit that they almost tasted like a smoothie.  They were high in alcohol content and they went down too quickly.  They could be dangerous.

This is an indication that Putin may be using chemical gases on the Ukrainians.  If that is so, this situation will esculate to a world war in no time.

Twitter: Who actually has hunter’s laptop? Has anyone seen it? Does it contain the details of Jared’s $2b deal with the Saudi’s?

Twitter: If you don’t believe in indoctrination, stop pushing your damn Christianity on your government site.

12- TU- PA

It is a gorgeous day. It's sunny, warm and I don't have to wear a heavy coat. I got to wear one of my many denim jackets and that always makes me happy.

My mom would be 95 today.  I wonder what she would be like right now. She didn't have an edit button in her late 60s and early 70s.  So I just wonder what would come out of her mouth today.

I met Karen, Fonda and Kevin for lunch at a seafood place in Springfield.  We met at 1 PM and didn't leave until 430 PM.  After two years, we had a lot of catching up to do. Mostly we talked high school gossip shit. I am so glad I am not working anymore.

I have to call my tax man.  I dropped all of my paperwork off at his office on March 29.  I haven't heard back form him and taxes are due on April 15.  I don't want to wait until the last minute.

Jaye called me and asked if I wanted to go see Riverdance with her on the 24th in Wilmington.  I immediately said yes and forgot about my tentative plans to drive to Arkansas on Monday. I wont make it back in time to see the show if I leave on Monday.  So I guess I will leave next week.

I am wearing a belt today.  I don't know why I decided to wear one since it has probably been 10 years since I wore one.  But today, I came across a belt and put it on and now my pants are staying up.  I am not tugging at my waist band all day.  But now that my pants are staying up, the pant legs seem a little short at the bottom. If it's not one damn thing, it's another.

I've been watching Mountain Men again.  I found a few more free episodes that have been releases on Youtube.  I don't know why I am so enamored with this show.  It is the same story every episode. Tom catches and skins a beaver.  Eustace has some old piece fo equipment that breaks on him. The lion chaser and his dogs chase a mountain lion.  The guy in Alaska has to worry about grizzly bears all of the time. Morgan never has enough protein.  And the Arkansas guy always has some sort of disaster. But I've watched every episode available to me.

13- W- PA

It's a gorgeous, gorgeous day and I got to sit on my balcony in comfort. the birds were out in abundance and now I have to worry about them flying in to my apartment.

I finished watcihing the mini-series, That Thing About Pam.  It's a true story told as a dark comedy about a woman who is a serial killer.  I listened to the podcast last year. And I listened to it again this moth.  And I watched all 6 episodes of this crazy story. I've also looked up as many youtube videos on the subject as possible.  I have to let this story go.

I finally got my care package out to Jameson.  I had a box filled with junk and the guy made me tell him everything that is in it.  And I have so much junk in there that I just didn't remember everything.  So I hope they don't check out.  It only cost $20 to send.

I didn't call my tax man. I better get on this task. Taxes are due on the 18th this year.

And today is the day of no turning back until October.  I bought two plants which I know will be the first of many plants. I was really hoping that I would hold off for another month.  But I am weak. I bought two small mums that are in bloom right now.  And they are already on display on my balcony.

Twitter: Is commiting voter fraud a rites of passage requirement if you want to call yourself a Republican? Two residents of The Villages, FL, plead guilty to voter fraud in the 2020 election. #RepublicansAreTheProblem #RepublicansAreDestroyingAmerica

Twitter: When did the republicans decide to show public distain our military?

Twitter: Two residents of The Villages, FL, plead guilty to voter fraud after confessing to submitting 2 ballots each in the 2020 election, according to the Orlando Sentinel. So I guess Trump was right. There was voter fraud on the Republican side. What a surprise. Lock them up.

14- W- PA

I called the tax man and I haven't heard back from him yet. Our filing deadline has been pushed to April 18 this year so I still have a few more days of paying my damn tax bill.

It's a beautiful day and I am wearing a short sleeved blouse which is very, very unusual for me. I don't usually wear short sleeves in August.

I checked my financial portfolio and I'm not doing as poorly as the news is implying. Like everyone else, I've taken a slight hit.

I had another meeting with Sharon and her GD team. I am losing interest in this assignment.

Twitter- Senator Feinstein has served us well. But, for the good of the country and the party, it is time for her to step down with the grace and dignity she deserves. And Senator Katie Porter would be my choice to replace this giant of a legislator. #Feinstein #KatiePorter

15-F-PA

I called the tax man again and couldn't speak to anyone. So I left a message. I think I am going to need an extension to submit my taxes.

I had a full agenda today and most of it was a bust. I heard of a place that had a few blue heron nests. So I drove out to Coatesville to find these nests. I must have been in the wrong place becasue there were no birders there to show me where the nests were.

Next I went to a garden shop that Deb Green has been talking about for the last few years. It was up towards Lancaster and when I pulled in th parking lot, I got to see how big this place actually was. It was huge. But I should have also noticed that there wasnt a car in the parking lot. It was fucking Good Friday and the garden center was clsoed for the afternoon.

So then, I went to Suburban Brewery (4). I've been to this brewery before but not at this location. The service was annoying and the beers were good.

Tweet: We don’t care about going to rallies to see Biden. He is not our cult leader. We vote.
And then we ordered a sandwich from 4th Street Deli. It wa a corned beef and pastrimi special and it costed $30. We slip the sandwich, ate till we were full and we both have at least anotehr meal for tomorrow.
A Republican News Commentartor is hosting a show on male testroneone. He clains men are becoming more and mpre feminine and that is offensice to him. So he has speakers on hos show to give advise on howt overcome this atracouty. Tonight's guest was advocating testicale tanning.

The pop up event was great fun. The margarits were medicre, They had a few offerings of Sam Adams beers. But lots of people showed up and we hung in the lounge, just like the old days. Steve, Phyliss, Debbie, Jeff, Gina, Connie, Rich, Bonnie, Kevin and others popped in and out of our conversation.
19- TU- PA

In the evening, I met with Steve and Phyliss and helped them review their itineray for this upcoming trip to the national parks. They don't travel often so traveling can be a challenge for them.
appointments. So far, the day has been productive.

Over 988,000 people have died of covid in the USA. And the virus has become almost invisible
to most of us.

Tweet: The Republican Party has lost its moral compass.

21- TH- PA

I had my 4th vaccine for Covid. I dont know if I am just getting used to these shots or what but I didn't even feel the needle go in. There wanst even a pinch and now I am worried that maybe I didnt get the shot.

NJ just allowed the use of recreational marijuana today. I wonder when PA is going to get with the program.

Two weeks ago, I attempted to go to The Way Brewery (5) but it wasnt open. It was today and I stopped in for a flight. My Russian Imperial Stout and Hazy IPA were delcious. The other two were mediocre and I have no interest in returning to this place.

Three weeks ago, I went to the doctor and she gave me several orders for medical procedures. I just spent over an hour, going through all of my random papers and I cant find these damn papers anywhere.

To date, I've sent 25.3K tweets. I joined Twitter in 2009. That's a lot of bullshit out there in the social media world. I spend too much time on Twitter.

It's five hours after my covid shot and my arm is sore. I am sort of relieved. Now I know I got the vaccine today. I had a moment of doubt.

22- F- PA

It's Earth Day so the building management team is encouraging all of us to plant a flower pot for our apartment. People were woking away on this task and I interrupted them with my offering of diffeernt beers I had in my refrigerator.

23- SA- PA

I spent the afternoon in the lounge with Steve, He needed to check in for his flight tomorrrow and he screwed up every step of the process which made this a big, annoying fucking pain in the ass.

24- SU- PA/DE

Jaye asked me to be her guest to see Riveredance. It's the third time I have seen this performance and it is still spectaular. Afterwards we had dinner at Andrea's house. I didnt realize that the whole family was going to be there. If was nice to see them again as covid has put a damper on Jaye's entertainment. There was a man, Bo, who is hanging around. He seems very itnerested in Andrea but Jaye said Andrea is not as interested in him.

25- M- PA/OH

Road trip #2022-5 begins. I am off to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for a few days.

I left by noon which was my goal. I was on the road for 8 hours and covered 7 hours of my 17 hour journey. I only have ten more hours of drving befrore I reach Arkansas.

I am listeining to Bill Byson's book, The Body. The book is 16 hours long. It is gruesome and so damn interesting. I think someone could listen to this book three times, take a test and become a medical doctor.

26- TU- OH, IL, IN, MO

I drove all day, listened to my book on body ailments and finally setteled in at a hotel in Missouri. I had put in another 7 hours of drive and only have 3 more hours to drive tomorrow.

So, of course, I found a brewery, Public House Brewing Company (6)- MO and loved it. My flight was delicious. The brew master came out and chatted me up. The bartender had me try another stout, a pilsner and the brew master's signature beer, Burky 10, a beer he concocked to honor his deceased brother. Of course, I had to buy a 6 pack of this beer to go.

27- W- MO, AR

I finally made it to Arkansas around mid-afternoon. First I drove through Eureka Springs and then I checked in to my hotel. Around 5:30, I walked back in to town and discovered that the sidewalk rolls up here at 5:00 PM. Everything was shut down and it was a chalenge to find a place for dinner.

Fauci announced that the pandemic is over. COVID is now just an epidemic.

28- TH- AR

I visited two breweries today and that meets my Arkansas goal of a brewery in every state. I just have Alabama, Alaska and Hawaii left to visit. The Bike Rack Brewery- (7) was just OK. I left thinking, no thanks. And the Eureka Springs Brewery- (8) was also a no thanks.

Just as I was leaving Philly on Monday, I saw a qucik clip of the Walton's art museum in Bentington, AR. That was only an hour away from me. So I went there even though I hate the Waltons. They need to pay their Walmart people a livable wage. But, politics aside, this museum is wonderful and free to the public and has a strong program to promote the arts to these children in the Ozarks.

I went looking for the 60 foot Christ of the Ozark statue and found it. Day by day, I am losing patience with christiantyt and christians. Why can't they leave poeple alone.

29- F- AR/MO/IL

As I was leaving Eureka Sprigs this morning, it seemed as if the town has bursting with enregy for a busy weekend. I wished I had booked one more night at my hotel.

Before I left town, I stopped at the Thronecrown Chapel and it was gorgeous. It's deep in the woods and has a commanding presence. I sat down in the chapel for a few minutes and was moved by the slience and the beauty.

Then I headed out of town and drove towards Branson, Missouri. I had high hoped that I would find a show to see in this theatre town. But mostly, musical reviews were my only available option and these shows just do not interest me. I wanted to see original entertainment.

So, of course, I found a brewery, Turkey Creek Brewery (9)- MO, and enjoyed every minute there. The staff was so damn friendly. I had a personal pizza that I thought would be too much to eat but I did eat the whole damn things. And my beers were delicious. I had an IPA, a sour, a stout and a kolsch. I could have sent the rest of the day there but it was after 3PM and I was only an hour out of Eureka Springs. I had 16 more hours of driving before I got home.

I had a new audio book to entertain me, The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towels. Sharon recommended this aurth to me and I tried listening to another book of his but I just couldnt get in to it even after listening to the first chapter on three different occasions. But I am driving and apprieciate the opportunity to avoid finding new radio stattions every 30-40 minutes.

The news is abuzz with the continuous bad behavior of our two illustriaious, immature US congresswomen. They had to be separated at a conference today as they were about to break out in a fist fight.

Tweet: If Greene and Boebert go at it and actually have a fist fight, who would win? #MTGvsBoebert
  • Boebert
    8.3%
  • Greene
    91.7%


30- SA- IL/IN/OH

I was in the car for hours yesterday but I still have 12 hours of driving before I make it home. I am hoping to put 7+ hours behind me today.

I stopped at a cowboy boot place, determined to buy black, square toed boots. I couldnt find any and there were other varieties that didnt interest me so I left bootless.

I stopped at the Terre Haute Brewing Company (10)- IL- and l loved the place. The beers were delicious. I took two 4-packs home with me and a drunk brew master slipped me a pint to go of their strong ale. I left with too much beer.

I pulled in to a hotel around 9PM and still have over six hours to drive tomorrow. It just feels as if I am not making any progress at all.





















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