tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post2813778598364939406..comments2024-03-28T22:15:17.067-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: Texas Notes: Shadow of deathNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-75661489967436363952021-08-21T12:00:12.803-05:002021-08-21T12:00:12.803-05:00Thanks Oliver. I'm back in Chicago but I will...Thanks Oliver. I'm back in Chicago but I will visit when I can. Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-62659230112934606022020-08-10T11:27:42.571-05:002020-08-10T11:27:42.571-05:00Hi Caren! Thank you so much for the lovely tribute...Hi Caren! Thank you so much for the lovely tribute to Elisabet and our site once again! It was a pleasure showing you around amidst this unfortunate time. I do hope you don't leave. We need more nice people. And you are an excellent writer! Take care, OOliver @ The Ney Museumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15577787742100629773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-57336889645558193492020-07-26T01:31:44.504-05:002020-07-26T01:31:44.504-05:00These southern states people might just kill each ...These southern states people might just kill each other off. Very Darwinian and works in the interest of transition this November. But in the meantime you need to protect yourself.CTI Associates, Inc.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15409580955273589323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-79157328217087023842020-07-25T17:49:59.428-05:002020-07-25T17:49:59.428-05:00Yes, it does seem like some of these folks have no...Yes, it does seem like some of these folks have not evolved beyond adolescent mindsets and behaviors.Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-86968406329533930792020-07-25T17:49:20.338-05:002020-07-25T17:49:20.338-05:00Bullies. Boo!Bullies. Boo!Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-18277761254163741142020-07-25T17:48:50.571-05:002020-07-25T17:48:50.571-05:00There are so many interesting and valuable aspects...There are so many interesting and valuable aspects to being here, but the big ones- like values and sensibility- are often missing. It's rough. Yes, I may be coming back!Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-689153924994822252020-07-25T17:47:40.317-05:002020-07-25T17:47:40.317-05:00Yes- I also mostly stay home and limit my distanci...Yes- I also mostly stay home and limit my distancing hangs to real distancers. Good luck! Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-70988588173727674672020-07-25T17:31:32.829-05:002020-07-25T17:31:32.829-05:00As Civil War General Phillip Sheridan, who ran the...As Civil War General Phillip Sheridan, who ran the place for a while, famously put it: "If I owned Texas and Hell, I'd rent out Texas and live in Hell."<br /><br />TomTomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09641357239788323783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-70392313073919173282020-07-25T16:50:19.733-05:002020-07-25T16:50:19.733-05:00My Chicago friends and family all took the masking...My Chicago friends and family all took the masking and distancing very seriously, not so for many of my TX pals. The laid back “I’ll get to that later” just won’t work in this situation folks.Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-35801040722523599702020-07-25T16:47:06.393-05:002020-07-25T16:47:06.393-05:00Ha! Indeed it is not. Thank you for stopping by.Ha! Indeed it is not. Thank you for stopping by.Carenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948322374348472360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-73847801171989203102020-07-25T16:16:48.790-05:002020-07-25T16:16:48.790-05:00Talk about a modern-era horror story. So glad I l...Talk about a modern-era horror story. So glad I live far away from Texas!Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02265121591041114100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-63436161190267974972020-07-25T14:55:32.959-05:002020-07-25T14:55:32.959-05:00I attended a gathering with a small group of old F...I attended a gathering with a small group of old Friends last night and was surprised to find that more of them were wearing masks than the last time. The first time we gathered I was the only one wearing a mask. The next time another person wore a mask that I provided to them. but this time three other people were wearing masks when they first arrived. but this meant that a minority of people were wearing a mask. Before too long one of the mask wearers had given up on it.<br />Even though it seemed to be universally agreed through the casual conversation around the table that wearing a mask helped to protect you and prevent the spread of the virus.<br />Some people cited studies or mentioned articles they had read in prestigious magazines touting the health benefits of face coverings. They still weren't wearing masks.<br />Some people speculated that it was stupid uneducated people that didn't wear masks but they weren't wearing a mask.<br />Some people agreed that wearing a mask protected others more than it protected them even though that's not quite true it protects them too you're just being a good citizen by wearing a mask if you're not worried about contracting the virus The mask protects you from contracting it as well as transmitting it Anyway that person wasn't wearing a mask to protect his longtime friends.<br /><br />One person acknowledged that their spouse was immunocompromised and that they were very concerned for that person's health but they weren't wearing a mask. <br /><br />everybody agreed that the surge that we were going through right now is very troubling and concerning but they joked about it even so far as to pretend to sneeze on one of the mask wearers because somehow they wanted to denigrate them.<br /><br />we very rarely talk politics at these gatherings and last night was no exception either everybody seems to agree with one another or everybody respects the opinion that one another holds and has no interest in trying to change that person's opinion. <br /><br />At the same time everyone acknowledged that the mask wearing was politicized but that their reason for wearing or not wearing a mask had nothing to do with their politics. <br /><br />There was some misinformation during the discussions. And there seemed to be some ignorance. But no malice. Just an odd hypocrisy. A sort of certainty that others should be wearing masks but they didn't need to if they didn't want to.<br /><br />In the midst of all this I realized that I too was exhibiting hypocrisy and that there was no reason for me to be there it was just kind of a selfish Stab at normalcy. And a desire to not spend another evening home alone with my wife. <br /><br />I guess I figure if have to go to work and swim in the sewer all day I could also do something I want to do. Not inherently sensible. My friends are being exposed to the virus I may be carrying because of All the interaction with others I have in my work life that jeopardize my health are possibly being shared with them, and theirs with me. And they're not even wearing a mask? What am I doing there? How "safe am I being?<br /><br />I realize I just need to stay home<br />FMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06829632906445535928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-1523351459077276982020-07-25T13:06:39.887-05:002020-07-25T13:06:39.887-05:00Bald faces. What a great phrase. Your writing is a...Bald faces. What a great phrase. Your writing is always spot on and insightful. Thank you. Your story is nothing to sneeze at Debi Winston Buzilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14995979072573934034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-58917121788484953982020-07-25T12:19:25.852-05:002020-07-25T12:19:25.852-05:00"Restless, bored Texans decided they were don..."Restless, bored Texans decided they were done with the rules and started living as though the virus was over."<br /><br />Couldn't live without their honky-tonks...so now they're paying the ultimate price.<br /><br />Florida, Texas, Arizona, California...see the pattern here? All warm-weather states where too many people spend a helluva lot of time partying. Trouble is, they don't seem to know how or when to stop. Not even for a few weeks or months. Not even for a deadly plague. It's that casual, laid-back Sun Belt lifestyle, doncha know. Gotta fight for your right to par-tay...even if it kills you.<br /><br />So they pack the beaches and bars and patios and honky-tonks, and breathe into maskless faces, and scream and yell and sing...and die. But first they go home to parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, spouses and siblings. Who also sicken and die.<br /><br />I'm not exactly saying that there aren't any people up North who don't have the same party-hearty and don't-give-a-damn attitudes as the folks in the South and the West. Just a lot fewer of them. Up here, we seem to have been a wee bit more sensible and intelligent and restrained about the plague. Took it more seriously. Not nearly as many anti-maskers and anti-distancers, or those don't-tread-on-me "free-dumb" types. No cowboy culture up here. You don't see any "Don't mess-with-Ahia" bumper stickers. It's usually more like: "Put on a mask and stop being another jerk who's trying to kill me."<br /><br />So while major urban centers like Chicago and Detroit have had high death counts, most Midwestern states have not suffered the way the most populated Sun Belt states are suffering now. Maybe our colder climate just made it a lot easier to stay home this past spring. Or were we just more willing to follow the guidelines and to not be as willfully and as stubbornly ignorant? Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-71376965492728578162020-07-25T09:14:17.596-05:002020-07-25T09:14:17.596-05:00I think of the testosterone fueled challenge of th...I think of the testosterone fueled challenge of the young male feeling a warped sense of gallantry as he masklessly faces down the virus. Internally pounding his chest and screaming "Let's get it on," in his youthful impatience. Paul Fedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384556977324071639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-37601492512024201402020-07-25T08:13:28.665-05:002020-07-25T08:13:28.665-05:00The true unbelievers -- didn't believe they co...The true unbelievers -- didn't believe they could be so mean.<br /><br />johntatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06215684866966011198noreply@blogger.com