Month: April 2020

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Unpreparedness

Some site (no, no link, because I don’t think the info is all that reliable, just. . . moderately interesting as a viewpoint to take off from) suggested that the following list was what grocery stores ran out of quickest at inception of the recent pan(dem)ic. *shrugs*

Pasta and tomato sauce
Yeast
Flour
Sugar
Milk
Eggs
Butter
Rice
Beans
Peanut butter

So, folks weren’t already stocked up on staples. Had NO idea how to bake w/o commercial yeast? *yawn* I have bought exactly one of those items in the last six weeks. Had all I needed of the rest (didn’t need any milk, but I’ll admit to buying a couple of gallons of cream. . . ) Grocery stores ran out/low on only one item on my own replenishment list, and I had alternatives for that. But then

1. We have a pretty well-stocked pantry and
2. Our diet is not normal. *heh*

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To Be Determined. . .

Experimental dinner again tonight built around. . . a sweet red pepper. Casserole Sine Nomine: Browned ground beef (salt, pepper, roasted garlic–powdered–, minced onion); chopped sweet red pepper; broccoli, cauliflower, a can of no-name cream of mushroom soup, sharp cheddar (shredded), mixed; topped with more shredded cheddar and chunks of a smoked bacon cheddar cheese ball I had layin’ around. 350°F for 30 minutes. We’ll see how it turns out: save the “recipe” or toss, that is the question. Answer to be determined.

Determined: Good. Due a wee bit of tweaking (more garlic, for one), but a keeper.

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Outright violation of inherent, inalienable rights? Yes.

But do note: this is nothing new, really. *sigh* Doncha know, constitutional “protections” of rights are merely suggestions? And with the Great Toilet Paper Panic of 2020, now that the Constitution is now seen as simply a convenient substitute for TP by governments throughout the land, such quaint, outmoded ideas as “inherent rights” are simply to be dispensed with for convenience’s sake. This is nothing new, though. After all, when Newt Gingrich–that *cough* great defender of the Constitution *cough*–was reportedly asked a couple of decades ago whence the constitutional authority for the so-called “war on drugs” since the only constitutionally-authorized ban on the manufacture, import, distribution, sale and use of _A_ drug (alcohol–Volstead Act) had been mooted by the repeal of the 18th Amendment, Gingrich is reported to have replied simply, “It’s different now.”

Yep. The difference is that the Constitution is viewed as either a document to deliberately twist into saying what it does not (lies, damned lies, and political lies) or as TP with which to wipe one’s lips clean of fecal matter.

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Affliction Becomes Benefit

Some folks are more prone than others to vertical ridges in fingernails as they age. Oh, anyone can experience them because of nutritional deficits or some physical malady, but mine are apparently age and genetics related. I can recall as a young boy times spent with my maternal grandfather’s mother. Spending time with Great Grandmother was an enriching experience for me in many ways, but one lil thing has remained fascinating to me over the years: her hands. She was always doing interesting things with her hands: needlework, paging down pages in her Bible as she read (sometimes aloud for me, though I was close and reading along), sharpening her always-at-hand pen knife, and even trimming her nails with that very sharp pen knife.

And then there were her nails. Yep. Ridged just like mine are now, like Dad-Dad’s (maternal grandfather) were, like my older sister’s are. I have dealt with mine by checking my nutrition (no problems there), by making them less brittle with applications of different kinds, and. . . by trimming them as short as possible in order to minimize the real problem with ridged nails: frequent splitting and chipping.

And how has this become a benefit in recent days? Ease of keeping things really clean under my fingernails (because there’s hardly any “under my fingernails” to clean, for one thing).

So, a lil piece of heritage coming around to being a benefit.

Sweet!

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That’s (Self-Isolated) Entertainment

One cat (Ye Olde Pharte) just sitting and watching youngest cat play–wildly–with imperceptible bits of fluff (or whatever), while “middle cat” sits staring at me over my laptop’s display.

*munches popcorn-sips beer* Now, THAT’S entertainment. . . *heh*