Staying-at-Home: Week 6

March/April are the months.

Staying-at-home is not and has never been a problem, especially since my immune system is not functioning as it should be functioning due to chemotheraphy.

What do I do all day?

• Watch FOX NEWS for most of the morning.
• Exercise on a stationary bike and treadmill.
• Research and write articles on my 4 blogs.
• Play with the cats.
• Watch TV/Cable.
• Yard Work.
• Sleep.

There was talk this morning on FOX NEWS that our economy is going to reopen on May 1, 2020 and personally, I think that is a mistake...  I think we should not reopen until June 1, 2020...

I also hope that I am wrong so that people can get back to work but my concern is that Americans do not like to be told what to do and do not like wearing face masks or keeping their distance from people, especially males who want to flirt with females.

If we go back to work and do not take precautions then we could have a second phase of COVID-19 and our economy gets shut down again.  And, our economy gets shut down again...

So, my thoughts are let's just bite-the-bullet and stay closed for another month.

However,  I realize that if I were younger that I would not feel this way...  I would want to get going and take my chances believing that I would not get sick.

Hard to believe that I was ever that stupid, naive, and innocent...

A Siamese Cat Tale

All of my life until the age of 43/44, I have had two types of dogs as pets:  a Dachshund and a Labrador Retriever; but when I relocated to TN in 1990, I began living with a woman who had a cat and after 6 months started to feel just as comfortable with a cat as I had been with a dog except the cat was more skeptical than a dog about most things.

Five years later, we got married and acquired two stray cats who later died of old age and after a few months of mourning, we selected two baby cats for an Animal Rescue Center and decided to purchase a Siamese Cat who came with "papers" but we did not want to spend the extra money for those.  The Siamese owner led us to believe the cat was younger than it really was and that it had been properly socialized.

When we went to pick up the cat, we immediately realized that both of those assumptions were incorrect but decided to take the cat anyway.  I was living in KY at the time and my wife was living in TN and felt like a needed a pet.

Back at my apartment, we let the Siamese out of the carrier and the cat went "ballistic," running around like a cornered wild animal and jumping up on the walls trying to escape.  He later ran under the bed where he remained.


I left a bowl of food and water out in the second bedroom along with a litter box and went to sleep.  That night I felt the Siamese walking all over my body and in the morning, all the food was gone and the water container was half empty and the litter box had been used.

This behavior continued for about 9 months until we brought one of our other cats up to my apartment from TN and it was that cat who was able to entice the Siamese out from under the bed where I could interact with it and eventually begin to rub it.

Ten years later, the Siamese is still somewhat anti-social and very skeptical of everything that takes place in the house, but because of our time together in KY, the Siamese has bonded to me and I am the only one who has been able to fully interact with him.

Binging on BSG

During my mid-day exercise routing of riding a stationary bike and walking on the treadmill, I was surfing through the Cable Channels and discovered that Channel 63, SyfyHD, was broadcasting the entire series of Battlestar Galactica...  some of these episodes I had never watched before which made the journey even more interesting to me.

Opening the Economy

CAN AMERICANS BE TRUSTED TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT???


We assume that our LEADERS will do what is right


We assume that our MINISTERS/PASTORS/PRIESTS will do what is right


We assume that our SPOUSES and CHILDREN will do what is right


BUT,
we CANNOT assume that our fellow citizens will do what is right as opposed to doing what they want to do or feel like they need to do...

Being from East TN, it is obvious that our State was not hit as hard as other States or other Cities with COVID-19 but that does not give our citizens the RIGHT not to protect themselves or protect the rest of us by their inappropriate behaviors...

Yet, that is exactly what they do.

When watching FOX NEWS, we hear that all sorts of Americans are violating the Stay-at-Home Orders in many States because they do not like to he told what to do...  and, in some instances they are protesting...

SO,
what are the ODDS that AMERICANS will again violate the rules and guidelines if we open up the economy again???

We have no assurances!

And, that is the HUGE downside of being an American and living in AMERICA...   we always seem to do what we WANT rather than do what is RIGHT...

All About Italy

Spending Sundays @ Home

Typically on Sundays, my wife and I would go out to brunch after Church Services, then
spend the rest of the day watching movies on NETFLIX or CABLE or sit outside on our deck under the Gazebo (reading and surfing on the internet) or in our pool floating around or exercising against the water.

BUT, those days are basically over (at least temporarily) as a result of the Federal/State stay-at-home orders keeping us away from Church Services and going out to brunch.

So, now what we do after feeding the cats is watch FOX NEWS to get the latest on COVID-19 until Governor Cuomo does his NY State Update...  that is to say politely that we SWITCH CHANNELS and watch something else that usually deals with Cooking or HGTV and recently the ZOO which deals with behind-the-scenes at the BRONX ZOO.

For example, this morning when Governor Cuomo started to do his thing, we switched channels to the FOOD NETWORK's  The Kitchen, and learned about making broccoli fries by using the stems (that are usually thrown away) of the broccoli.  I thought this was so amazing that I found a video about making broccoli fries and posted it on my blog A Bipolar Scorpion on the MY COOKING page.

Since it is important to keep the wife happy when being sequestered at home, we for the most part always watch HGTV's Property Brothers which is actually being watched as I write this article...

Time is Relative

When an airplane passes by overhead in the distance sky, standing on the ground and looking up, it appears that the airplane is moving very fast...  and, that is confirmed mentally because we intuitively know that an airplane is faster than our cars, buses, and/or trains. 

BUT, if you are in the airplane looking down at a person looking up at you, it appears that the airplane is moving relatively slowly...

So, why is this and what has this got to do with time?

Think about it this way...
When our male astronauts went into space for several days their beards did not grow as fast as did the beards of the males on the ground working at NASA...

What that tells us is that time slows down the farther we move away from earth.  And, this can be understood easier if we look at a bicycle wheel.

Look at the wheel on the left...  and, imagine that the earth is that round black circle in the middle and that the edge of the universe is the black larger tire with the orange wheel. 

It it obvious (at least to me anyway) that the inner black circle makes several complete revolutions by the time the outer tire completes one complete revolution.

If the inner black circle's complete revolution represents 365 days, then it might make 10 complete revolution or 10 years by the time the outer tire makes one complete revolution or 1 year...

So, as one moves farther and farther away from the earth, time does not pass by as quickly as it does on earth.

Does that mean that astronauts could live longer is they remained in Outer Space?

How BIG Is Our Universe?

Sexual Submission

A submissive is an individual who willingly relinquishes control to another person, usually to satisfy a sexual urge. If you're here reading this, chances are the thought of relinquishing control to another person has piqued your interest or has even gotten your sexual juices flowing, so to speak. Think you're odd?

Don't worry - you're not weird. Far from it, really. In fact becoming sexually submissive is one of the most common sexual fantasies.

Just check out these statistics from the Kinsey Institute.

• 5-10% of Americans engages in sadism/masochism (S/M) practices for sexual pleasure at least occasionally.
• 12% of women and 22% of men reported erotic response to an S/M story.
• 55% of women and 50% of men reported having responded erotically to being bitten.
• 14% of men and 11% of women have had some sexual experience with sadomasochism.
• 11% of men and 17% of women reported trying bondage.

To read the entire article, click here...

What're You INTO?

MISTRESS DEE

Don't Mow the Grass

Do you live in a GREEN State?

Do you live in a BLUE State?

Do you live in a Grey/Gray State?

I live in the State of Tennessee which is Gray/Grey but my State of origin is North Carolina which is also Grey.Gray...

So, I have to drive/fly to Illinois or Colorado if I want to legally smoke a little weed...  

PISSER!!!

BUT,

what really bothers me more than anything else when it comes to marijuana is that people in those Gray/Grey States put people in jail for buying/selling marijuana whereas if they were lucky enough to live in another State they would not be in jail.

HOW IS THAT FAIR???

Why is our Federal Government not taking a stand here?  They don't arrest marijuana buyer/sellers in those States where it is legal...   WHY NOT?  It is still ILLEGAL on a Federal level?

Breast Pianist EVER!!!

American Higher Education

Donald Southerland

My career (1969-2019) spans 50 years although the last 5 years, I was a part-time Adjunct Instructor for a local University.  Of those 50 years, 45 years was spent either directly or indirectly in Education either as a Professor/Instructor or as an Administrator.  I have worked or taught in the following educational systems:  Community College, College, University, and/or Proprietary Colleges. 


The courses I have taught include:

1. English Composition
2. Micro/Macro Economics
3. Introduction to Computers
4. Statistical Problem Solving
5. Process Re-engineering
6. Personal Financial Planning
7. Strategic Planning
8. Project Management
9. Business Communications
10. Human Resource Management
11. Production Management
12. Management & Leadership

What did I discover?

That my college students were not very well prepared to attend College other than a Community College and even that level of education was doubtful.

My students basically LACKED:

• Writing Skills
• Spelling Skills
• Reading Skills
• Grammar Skills
• Presentation Skills
• Problem Solving Skills
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Working in Teams Skills
• Drilling Down on a Subject Skills
• Self-starter/Hit-the-Ground-Running Skills

I had students that...

1. never purchased the textbook
2. could not remember what they learned from their previous course
3. memorized for the test then forgot
4. did not prepare for class
5. did not do homework
6. did not ask questions
7. wanted to be told exactly what to do
8. did not want to figure out what I wanted

American Education

After ranking countries based on their levels of education and health, the study found that the US ranked 27th in the world on these metrics as of 2016, behind a host of top-ranking Nordic countries, including Finland, Iceland, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

This comes as little surprise, given that healthcare services in these countries are universal and publicly funded. The US, by contrast, is one of the few developed nations that lacks universal healthcare, according to The Atlantic.

When it comes to education, the nation fares even worse. The latest findings from the Pew Research Center have the US in 38th place out of 71 countries when it comes to math scores and 24th place when it comes to science.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the study is just how far the US has fallen in the rankings. In 1990, the US ranked sixth in the world for its levels of education and health — 21 spots ahead of where it is now.

So, what happened in the last 30 years?

To read the entire article, click here...

Only 6% of Americans aren't worried about anything

I.  There are 540 billionaires in the United States, with a combined net worth of $2.399 trillion, according to our 2016 list of the world's richest people.

II.  According to the report, the US has 18.6 million millionaires, highest in the world.

III.  As of 2019, the USA had a population of 328 million

If we were to add I and II, the result would be about 19 million...  as a percentage of 328 million, the result would be .06 or 6%

What does this mean?

Billionaires and Millionaires represent 6% of the total population of the USA...  while, 94% of the population of the USA are not Millionaires or Billionaires.

Think about this!

Those who are in the 6% are telling those of us who are in the 94% not to worry about the financial implications of COVID-19 and the fact that they are out-of-work and pretty much staying-at-home.

SALUTING TRUCK DRIVERS

Cairo American College

From 1962 through 1966 I attended Cairo American College, in Maadi, Cairo, Egypt because my
father worked for the American Embassy.  The school housed grades 1-12 and those who attended were the children of Diplomats stationed at their respective Embassies in Cairo, Egypt.  My graduating class totaled 28 with about 12-15 different nationalities.  I remember that the Valedictorian of our Senior Class was a Hungarian Communist.

During those years 1962-1966, it was possible to climb up the pyramids which I understand is no longer possible.  My fellow classmates and I climbed to the top of one of the pyramids, carrying a goat-skin water bag full of wine that we drank once we got to the top.  It was also possible and very easy to buy little blocks of hash from street vendors but I suppose that is no longer possible either.

CAC had no cafeteria so all students had to bring their lunch and sit at picnic table under a covering to protect us from the sun.  While there were trees and a little vegetation, most of the area inside the walls of the school was compacted sand.  The buildings were made of substance that reminds me of sandstone or a plaster/clay like material.  The buildings had tall ceilings with fans and openings covered with wooden shutters with no glass or screens.  I guess the idea was that heat rises and it would remain cool where one was seated, but that was never the case.

Our sports teams basically consisted of basketball and field and track and volleyball.

Ancient Egypt

Are You A RACIST?

RACISM QUESTIONNAIRE


Yes      No     Maybe     Questions
(    )    (    )     (       )      1. Would you attend a Caucasian/Black Church?

(    )    (    )     (       )      2. Would you live in a Caucasian/Black Community?

(    )    (    )     (       )      3. Would you marry a  Caucasian/Black male/female?

(    )    (    )     (       )      4. Would you allow your child to data a Caucasian/Black girl/boy?

(    )    (    )     (       )      5. Would you go to dinner with a Caucasian/Black person?

(    )    (    )     (       )      6. Would you have sex with a Caucasian/Black person?

(    )    (    )     (       )      7. Would you go on vacation with a Caucasian/Black person?

(    )    (    )     (       )      8. Would you share an apartment with a Caucasian/Black person?

(    )    (    )     (       )      9. Would you shower nude with a Caucasian/Black person?

(    )    (    )     (       )      10. Would you attend a Caucasian/Black only Social Club?


Notes:

1. I understand that there are Black/Caucasian professional athletes working together
2. I understand that there are Black/Caucasian professional musicians working together
3. I understand that there are Black/Caucasian professional actors/actresses working together
4. I understand that there are Black/Caucasian employees working together
5. I understand that there are Black/Caucasians Americans that are already racists
6. I understand that there are Black/Caucasian parents that teach their children to be racists
7. I understand that there are Black/Caucasian ministers/pastors that preach racism
8. I understand that there are Black/Caucasian people that pretend not to be racists in public
9. I understand that there are Black/Caucasian leaders that indirectly/directly promote racism
10. I understand that there are Black/Caucasian only colleges and universities

If the United States of America did not want to be a RACIST nation that it would not be...  Our government cannot LEGISLATE an end to RACISM...  it can only happen when ALL THE PEOPLE actually want to end RACISM once and for all...

CHINA DENIES

Why Do I Write?

What an interested question that I have just posed to myself...

I do not see myself as a Professional Writer because I did not earn a living from writing, nor am I a Published Writer although I did self-publish a book of poetry entitled Reflections In Thought that I sold - 500 copies in all - but, that was mainly because I wanted to teach myself the printing process.  I did all my own layout boards, burned my own printing plates, operated the printing press, collated all the printed sheets, folded, stapled, and trimmed the edges.  I sold them at a local bookstore for $10 each, paying the bookstore a commission of $2 for each one sold.  I have about 50 booklets left that I was giving away as gifts to people with whom I worked to show my appreciation.

But, that really doesn't answer the question, does it?

A wrote a couple of poems in high school but I did not really take writing poetry seriously until after graduating from high school and needed something to do while drinking coffee in the student union waiting for my 9 am classes to begin in college.  I felt self-conscious just sitting there with a cup of coffee.  I doubt those first poems I wrote were worth a damn, but when I stopped writing poetry  on a daily basis in 2015, I had written over 42,000 of those "suckers" and I am sure that some of them had to fairly good.

I write what I feel at the moment and NEVER edit anything unless there is a spelling mistake or a glaring grammatical error.

After writing poetry for several years, I created a fake profile on LinkedIn and started publishing 1,000 word opinion articles on that forum.  I used a fake name in case my employers were checking up on their employees and I did not want to be "fired" for writing something negative about who hired me which I did often.  All totaled, I wrote between 1,200 - 1,500 of those articles.

Why the range?

Well, I decided to merge my fake profile with my real profile and in so doing I lost all my fake profile articles.  I have written and published about 200 articles on my real profile.  All my articles were saved on a file on my personal computer and I have not decided yet whether to take the time to publish them all again.

So, I wrote because I feel something that I want to put down on paper and I write because I have a
personal opinion that I want to share.  Currently I am writing because I want to share my personal experiences being a cancer patient for over 12 years and my attitudes living with the highs and lows of being bipolar...   so, there is a clinical and medical reason why I write as well that was not a foundation for my writing earlier as I wanted to keep my personal and medical life QUIET...  but then, when that is done nobody learns from my experiences or mistakes.

This is why I write...  at least, this is why I think I write today...  tomorrow, I might find another or alternate reason for my public writing.

Unemployment Increases

More than 5.2 million jobless claims filed according to FOX NEWS this morning making a total of 22 million American Workers are out-of-a-job...

Stock Market has dropped from 28,000+ down to 18,000+ but it now up to 23,000+ which is an indication, at least to me, that our investors believe that our economy will survive...

Stay at home orders have lowered/reduced the spread of COVID-19...

Social Distancing when out and about has prevented others from getting COVID-19...


W  T  F   CHINA???

W  H  O  COVERUP!!!

Honorably Discharged from the US Navy

I was almost 25 years old and had spent 21 months in the US Navy on a 2 year enlistment contract, receiving an early out to return to college.  I had joined the Navy after taking a leave of absence from college after 2 and 1/2 years and while my grades were right around a "D+" to "C-" range, I just did not want to pursue a college education.  I don't know if it was because my parents had forced me to go to college or because I had not learned enough in high school, but I was not interested in anything college had to offer me.

However, after spending a year working before entering the Navy and almost 2 years in the Navy, I quickly realized that college offered me what I needed whether I liked it or not...  When I graduated in 1974, four years behind schedule, my grade point average in my major was 3.8 which I thought was pretty damn good, given my previous grades.

Interestingly, looking back on my 45 year career, none of my employers (which included colleges and universities) never once asked to see my grades either before or after being employed.

Hump Day

Here in the Valley, social distancing is not really being followed when people are out and about, and every time my wife needs to go out for groceries, like Walmart, she notices that no one is wearing face masks...

Of course, there is less than 25 people in our area that have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and only 7/8 deaths so far, giving rise to a lack of concern among the local residents here; but, to me that is a stupid way to behave.

People like me, who have a low or no immunity, MUST follow the social distancing guidelines or else face a high probability that we will catch COVID-19 and possibly die.

As always, I spend most of the morning watching FOX News...  and, the reason why I watch this cable channel is because I have previously watched:  CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC and what I have discovered is that ALL OF THESE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS distort the truth against President Trump and/or they simply do not broadcast those stories that FAVORS President Trump...

Why is this important to me?

FIRST AND FOREMOST, I did not vote for candidate Donald Trump.

Second, I am a Conservative Liberal and as a result am a SEEKER OF THE TRUTH...  regardless of whether the truth agrees with my personal political beliefs or not.

THIRD and equally as important as my FIRST AND FOREMOST is the fact that no matter what President Trump does or says, the Democrats and mainstream media are against him.  This is a fundamental problem for our DEMOCRACY, not to mention the concept that it is ethically wrong, morally wrong, and a complete loss of integrity which is the heart and soul of the American Mindset in my opinion.

If this philosophy continues, we will most certainly lose our FREEDOM...

You've Got To Be Kidding Me...

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