GAINS

So here is the corollary of Losses, as u can’t go down to the bottom without going up too, at some point. Here r things to be grateful for, even in the midst of chaos.

1. In the USA, WE GAIN a new President as of January 20, 2021, and a new VP, plus a whole new Administration, and most importantly, a return to law, order, respect and good judgment not only 4 the people of this nation, but 4 the world! All hail President Joe R. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. We will regain normalcy also, and a President who wants to vanquish the virus asap, so we have less to concern ourselves with.
2. Perhaps most importantly, we have both domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies who have recently claimed up to 95% efficacy on COVID vaccine trials in late Stage 3, that Dr Anthony Fauci has also approved as being not rushed, and effective, so far. He is trying to quell public insecurity about the politicized process here in the USA as to safety and efficacy of said vaccines.
3. As a world community, we have taken to not only protecting ourselves individually, but also 4 the common good of everyone, to wear a mask, when u cannot safely distance yourself from others, especially while indoors or in close quarters, like private vehicles, public transit, airplanes, etc. We have as a whole looked out for our brothers and sisters, to not spread a deadly illness, especially to those whom it would likely be deadly. This is laudable.
4. We have deprived ourselves and others of our physical company also as a function of protecting those who r particularly vulnerable, because the more people u r exposed to, the higher your risk, especially w regard to close contact, under 6 feet, perhaps eating, drinking, obviously without a mask then. This will also be true for upcoming group holidays, which r cherished traditions, as we realize that it may be unsafe to do the usual thing this year. We have sacrificed in the name of saving people. This is also laudable.
5. We talk on the phone, video chat and ZOOM each other in lieu of being in actual physical proximity, to show others we haven’t forgotten them, and also to show we care. Sometimes phone sex is just phone sex, because u can’t be in person either. Too hi risk? Not on the video, not really.
6. When u can’t do the things u normally enjoy, because they r shut down, or have been canceled/postponed, then u may have extra income, perhaps, to do good deeds 4 others. This year, I have a list of projects that I funded 4 my dear friends as family, which would not normally be the case, if it had been a normal year, which it was most certainly NOT. Doing good 4 others is good 4 u also, in that it bears benefits 4 health and life purpose, and is very satisfying. Also, it helps on the karmic scale as well.
7. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. And phone sex isn’t like in person sex, right?
8. Hair salons, nail salons, spas, bowling alleys, some movies elsewhere, other than NYC, have re-opened. All good. We have had also some indoor dining again, but it depends on local restrictions as to where. And outdoor dining under tarps and tents, trees, and umbrellas, can be wonderful, depending on how the weather is outside. Seems kind of European, the practice of that.
9. They brought professional sports back. Also, kids’ teams, college sports. Although w restrictions as to protecting players and all others.
10. Some online streaming platforms continue to proliferate, offering more viewing choices, for ever more $. The division of the airways is debatable as to whether it was an overall good or just sucking money from everyone, because how much extra r u willing to pay each service? But overall, more is better. I grew up where it was a mere 7 channels on the air, it was all free, and everyone watched, in black & white, and no remote control either! Boy, am I old!
11. We have smart phones that dominate our lives. Is this good? Well, we can see both benefits and downfalls, but having every stitch of knowledge at your command by voice activation is something Einstein and Ben Franklin would have been mesmerized by. Just don’t believe everything u search, whether it’s by Google or not. Retain skepticism. And be certain to get a good solid education too, to utilize these tools better.
12. We cook more at home, some actually becoming good at it, if there is an aptitude and interest. This is most definitely good 4 u and your family overall. U can control ingredients, additives, buy organic, add less fat, use more specialized herbs, etc. Home cooked food is usually superior food.
13. We can still go outside, and enjoy the weather, when that is feasible, doing outdoor activities, that r less dangerous than the indoor varieties. Home exercise equipment has seen a boom, among other household items and improvements also. This has been good for some sectors of the economy.
14. The initial shock of the pandemic was met by Presidential and Congressional action as a CARES Act, w unemployment enhanced benefits, eviction protections, free or subsidized COVID testing, small business forgivable loans, if certain conditions were met, and other relief for vital business infrastructure, like the airlines. This was both needed and good. But now, there is further need for fiscal stimulus, or else society will break down. No one knew how long this was going to take when the walls were falling in March 2020.
15. We prove our mettle as a society of people when we adapt effectively to changing circumstances. We do what we can 4 those who r less fortunate, by volunteering, donating, baby sitting, caregiving, helping in any way we can. I saw today that homeless men on the Upper West Side of Manhattan had been employed as street sweepers and cleaners, which is giving back too, given that they r housed at The Lucerne, a hotel there. They want to earn their keep, and stay put.
16. Remember always that the homeless r not miscreants, but rather some of them r merely people who were isolated, w no family perhaps, and insufficient monies to pay the rent. That’s about 3 million New Yorkers these days, as to not having jobs anymore, nor any unemployment benefits to fall back on. And exhausted savings. It can happen to literally anyone, just 2 paychecks away from homelessness. That is the false American dream, that u received a bill of goods, which was a big fat lie.
17. Give thanks 4 what u have. Count your blessings, my dear comrades. Socialism is not our system, but helping others in need most certainly is.
18. Lastly, if it is safe to do so, I strongly recommend in person sex, but that will apply most likely to people who r either married or in long term living in arrangements, with whom u can reduce risks, because u care 4 each other. That’s the ideal sex, after all, when u love each other, body & soul. It’s also good to reduce your stress level!

LOSSES

SADLY, THIS IS A LONG LIST OF THINGS GONE. PREPARE YOURSELF. ALSO, AS A COUNTERPOINT, AFTER, A 2ND ENTRY, ON GAINS…

1. My parents, in 2010 and 2014. Miss both of them, but was closer to my mom, in 2014.
2. Effectively, my only blood half sister, because of her unwillingness to forgive or have a relationship w me anymore. That’s on her tho.
3. Most of my cousins, as they do not have an interest in keeping in touch at all, even tho I try, periodically.
4. Single line entries of 2020 in person meetings w friends, due to the damned pandemic and self-preservation efforts.
5. Most travel, almost all by air, or by common carriers, like Amtrak, public transit in NYC. Almost all unsafe, even tho it has improved some.
6. Live music concerts, vacations, theater, movies, sharing time w friends, in public places, mostly.
7. Indoor dining at restaurants, even tho it came back, it’ll be taken again.
8. Failures of countless businesses, including iconic restaurants, chain stores, department stores, unique mom and pop shops that r the bedrock of NYC.
9. President Donald J. Trump and VP Michael R. Pence! Soon.
10. The entire sycophantic Administration of DJ Trump, soon.
11. Aunt Marilyn, on May 31st, my last of that generation. She was 93.
12. Members of my Lodge, also sister to a close friend, Anna Lyrist, aged 67. All COVID. NYC was the USA epicenter in March and April, May 2020.
13. Massive crime increases locally, also as a function of catch & release non-violent criminals, due to COVID. Massive increases in violent crimes also.
14. Much higher food insecurity which is widespread.
15. Coming drops of eviction protections, so people will be evicted into the dead of winter, w no capacity to house the homeless either.
16. Budget shortfalls due to massive loss of revenues from taxes, as a function of unemployment. No reimbursement from Washington, as they hate NY, but also nowhere else either. No state is getting COVID expenses reimbursement. This means firings of doctors, nurses, firemen, corrections officers, FBI, policemen, sanitation, teachers, education assistants, DMV, FDA, EPA, Disaster Management, countless public servants that the public relies on. States have to balance their budgets, whereas the feds don’t have to.
17. Soup kitchens and food pantries w lines around the block, and in other places, miles of cars lined up, as people have no way to put food on the table. They lined up right in front of my house, going around a very long block from a pantry.
18. Schools shuttered w practically no advanced warning, in March 2020, and again opened late in Sept, and closed again in November as of the 19th. The working theory is that the 3% positivity rate in NYC is the trigger point for need to close, as children may be vectors of the infection, not showing any symptoms either.
19. Sports mostly shut down also, major leagues as well as kids’ teams, college athletics, all have seen disruption, and no live audiences on site either.
20. TV seasons came back to new programming in November 2020. Game shows were on repeats for many months, as u couldn’t have live audiences as in the past, and if u did, u had to segregate everyone. They had to retrofit studios to compensate.
21. Air fares, theater tickets, concert tickets were all put on hold, w alternative dates announced and re-announced, as to far future dates, and refunds were not always available either.
22. USA citizens were pretty much persona non grata all over the world as we have no control over COVID, w a high country-wide contagion rate. So we were kept in place involuntarily, unless we could quarantine in other countries for 14 days, meaning not going out at all from an indoor space. We were also prohibited from Canada and Mexico even, our border countries. This effectively meant vacations abroad became impossible.
23. Nurses and doctors all over the USA r exhausted, and some thousands of them have already died too, from COVID, as caregivers. There have been periodic shortages of proper personal protective equipment, over and over again, as well as lack of ventilators, space to put the ones who were critically ill, only moderately ill, and also the dead were placed in refrigerated trucks due to overflows of bodies, nationwide.
24. Even tho this is taking place all around us, still people have not written wills, or put into place any plans for becoming ill, like having a power of attorney in place, to pay bills, or have a health care proxy to delineate what a person wants in terms of care. It is truly a state of denial w dire consequences if one does manage to survive.
25. People r dying all alone, as COVID protocols prohibit visitors due to the airborne virus. Even nurses r the only ones allowed in segregated tents where the very ill r kept. U only have a Face Time or an iPad to say goodbye to, if your loved one can still speak.
26. Every single day over 1000 Americans die from COVID. We have just passed 250,000 dead here so far. Disproportionately, Black people and Latinos have died in far greater numbers, due to societal racial disparities, and poverty.
27. The entire Vietnam Veterans Memorial has over 58,000 dead memorialized in Washington DC. We r nearing 5x that number soon as to dead. We can calculate when that number will be crossed by some calculus of virus spread and increased death counts as it gets colder.
28. The failure of the outgoing Administration to coordinate w the incoming one likely means that vaccine disbursements, when available, will be further delayed, this jeopardizing some other lives, including most precious current health care provider lives. THERE IS STILL NO TRANSITION, AND THIS IS DAY 13 SINCE THE ELECTION WINNER WAS CALLED!!
29. The outgoing POTUS is having a public tantrum rather than caring for his country and his people. He is entitled to his recounts, and verifications, if he likes, but NOT at the expense of the people and their health. The outside betting is that he will find some way to overthrow the Electoral College which will vote on now December 14th, thus invalidating the overwhelming victory of the President-elect. That isn’t going to happen. This is conduct unbecoming. And I am being kind.

Heartland America, Thanks!

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O! And on that farm he had some schmucks, who tumbled as weeds, screaming foul! Them thar turkeys be fowl! And as Thanksgiving was approaching better fatten ’em up, to be brined and juicy, E-I-E-I-O! So that the kinfolk and friends could eat heartily and give thanks for any and all blessings, about 10 feet apart, wearing masks but for the food and drink consumption…and all manner of grievances would be aired, and embarrassments aplenty heaped on plates w cow dung as a side dish! Because not everyone got what they wanted this holiday season! Especially not the farmers! They all be red states, the heartland, spouting temblors for the heartland where the crops grow and the herds graze. And they by far and large voted red, as they always do. So they r wailing now! Cry foul! And I use the vernacular purposefully, as the red states use questionable English, so I am doing so also, to more mightily imitate them. (“They all be red states…”) I am a stickler for proper English, unless doing so would be inauthentic to actual usage of the farmers and their families. When u gotta be workin’ da land, the education takes a back seat, don’t it, grans? Even my own ancestors gave up school at 6th, 8th and 9th grades, thinking that was enough. But we of the modern age knew it wasn’t. And now, unless u have at least a bachelor’s degree, it’s mighty hard to make a decent living in these United States, divided tho they r. I espouse an affectation of a genius named Prince, a pop/rock star, who also liked to abbreviate his words to a single letter, 4 “brevity is the soul of wit.”- W. Shakespeare, Hamlet. I make no apologies for my own usage, as it is my right to shorten and quote, and run on, if the point is made, thus. This is my blog, after all. I have full freedom to use my Amendment Number 1 right: Free Speech. As long as it isn’t egregious, like yelling fire in a crowded theater.

And so it has been quite a few days since 11/7 now, and we dawdle away the days, w a happy hue of rosy cheeks, or of green complexion, as to jealousy and disbelief and doubt…as to what happened?! A man was arrested for online plans to kill Senators, and any and all Democrats, as he can’t accept the election. The FBI got his ass. He graduates to an orange suit now. Manacles, no more freedom. And the Brits have already gleefully taken down the Madame Tussaud’s wax figure of President Trump, to wear a golfing sportswear of plaid and purple, green…as if he were now a golfing caricature. Private Citizen Trump waiting for the little green men to come take him away….as they play them thar song, “They’re Coming to Take me Away, a-ha!” And it’s to a funny farm, that song…ok, Enough. Defense of Temporary Insanity?? Nah. The votes went down as u count them, because u told your adherents to go vote in person, and not by mail! What did u expect, that they’d do their own thing?! They didn’t, they followed your orders. And so it’s not unusual that as u get down to the legally cast mail in votes, they skew widely to Biden. Bully Pulpit, u ever hear that? Use it, man!

Look, kiss my ass! U can’t miss it: it’s as big as the whole state of Texas! But be kind to the ones who lost. Kindness doesn’t cost anyone anything, and is in short supply now. The Divided States of America. I am praying for all of u, and our country too. No insurrection, no concession, no saving the brand name of Trump even, even for those who come after, his children. He never cared for them, they were only tools to be used for his own purpose, like he was for Fred Trump too. And so it goes on, the dysfunctional juggernaut that is Donald J. Trump. I feel comparatively lucky, after whittling down his psychoses and not calling him Dad. Remember also karma is a bitch!

May God bless us all, as we surely need it! And have forgiveness on the Thanksgiving table too, for those who need that as well as the triple chocolate mousse cake…that maketh an ass the size of Texas! Bwahahaha! Some guys like it big, after all….

VICTORY!

The people of the USA have now spoken, and as of 11:25am EST, on 7 November, 2020, we knew: that we had elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, another first here in America: our first ever woman , and also a Black woman of Asian Indian ancestry, of her very parents, both of whom r now gone from this Earthly realm. She is actually my age too, 56 years old, only 5 months younger than I, and her boss, now President-elect Biden is going to be 78 years old on November 20th, the oldest elected President ever, but well seasoned and ready to govern, reasonably fit and healthy too.

I literally cried for joy a long time, out of pent up desire and stress release, when it came on, as a special breaking news TV interruption. I felt sad however for my compatriots, as so many people had supported President Trump, whatever their reasons, and passionately held grievances. I resolve to be kind and understanding as regards their distress, as it could have been us who were weeping, not from joy. Not much later, after posting on Facebook, Twitter, I got a text request to keep politics out of discussion today at late lunch in Manhattan. And so I complied, mostly, even tho one of the guests to said delicious Italian lunch brought it up at the table. We tried to be kind however to the ones who supported Trump. Even as we heard sporadic episodes of applause, cars honking, people dancing in the street, all manner of celebration public.

We were over 74 million votes for Biden, over 70 million for Trump, and still they r counting, tho the result is a done thing, over an anachronistic Electoral College structure on top of the so called “popular vote,” which is the actual number of votes that people directly cast. The Electoral College is a weird structure on top of the popular vote, that assigns special Electors according to how the actual votes went, and it’s usually an all or none proposition as to a state’s Electors, who r sworn to uphold the will of the people as to the direct vote. Each state has so many Electors based upon its population, and the minimum is 3 for a state, up to 55 for the state of CA. My state is a big prize w 29 Electoral votes. But the critical one was one of several battleground states and this year it was PA, w its 20 Electoral votes. At the point of the counting, the 20 would put Biden over the top as u need 270 Electoral votes to win the election. Once reached, it is incontrovertible, as there is no lawsuit or recount that will overturn the result. But let them have their due process, to make it clear that the people have spoken, and this was their collective will. The Trump voters r calling foul, alleging corruption, as they fear the Biden Presidency and its opposite policies, even tho Biden is being very Presidential, calm, conciliatory in victory, to call for healing and national unity. No more harsh rhetoric, or hatred, division.

Let us bind up our wounds and rebuild America and the world again, in peace and prosperity! With concern for our fellow man and woman, in terms of climate change and also against COVID, as we will overcome. It is fine to watch it all play out, and know that the Lord’s will was done, as it turned out this way. It is Morning in America again, to echo another great President, back in 1980, Ronald Reagan. I wish that those who r disappointed will give a long line of forbearance to the new President, once he takes office on January 20, 2021.

And about time to see a woman up there beside him, a heartbeat from the Presidency too! Historic USA election in so many ways, it was not unlike a held breath being exhaled, w tremendous relief! And I love it too, that she is Black, tho she is of an interesting complexion. Beautiful! Viva Biden/ Harris, as the USA is moving from its white roots to a more mixed and hopefully fairer America 4 all! …To establish a more perfect union, provide for the common defense, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America! And so it was democracy in action, on these days leading up to November 3, 2020. And the people spoke, and it was so, that their collective will was heard around the world.