4 Years Ago Today - Injecting Bleach

The maga republicans like to ask the political campaign question about whether you were better off four years ago than you are today. They should just leave it alone because four years ago any time this year is always about the pandemic and the trump response to it or lack thereof.

Four years ago today was that crazy rant by trump about fight covid by injecting bleach into your body. Yep, the president of the US said that and it came to symbolize how trump handled the pandemic and certainly destroyed what little credibility he had left by then.

Here is what he said... "A question that probably some of you are thinking of if you’re totally into that world, which I find to be very interesting. So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light, and I think you said that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that too. Sounds interesting, right? And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it’d be interesting to check that. So that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we’ll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute. That’s pretty powerful."

The infamous bleach press conference became a rally cry for trump's opponents and today is the anniversary of that chaotic moment.

Recycling Eclipse Glasses

Last week I read somewhere that there was a recycling program for gently used eclipse glasses run by the non-profit organization Astronomers Without Borders which re-distributes the glasses around the world during solar eclipses. They sponsor drop-off locations that collect the glasses and I saw that the public libraries in Buffalo were a drop-off location. 

I collected the eclipse glasses we used during the recent solar eclipse in our backyard with Sara, Eliza and Dan. I had four pair of the cardboard glasses I picked up at the library and Sara had four of the big plastic glasses she bought in anticipation of the eclipse. After the event had passed and I heard about the recycling I found six glasses around the house. Three plastic glasses and three of the ones from the library. I think Eliza kept a set for herself to take home which was fine. The others I put in a bag and set aside to take to the library.

Well, a week or so went by and the glasses sat in their bag first on the dining room table and then on the floor near the front door. Finally I grabbed the bag and put it in the car when I went out to my eye doctor appointment. After seeing the doctor I turned down Hertel Avenue and drove over to the North Park Library and dropped off the glasses. The staff there were happy to receive them and I was glad to put them to good use. They will be used in some Third World poor country during another eclipse where the people may not have access to the glasses like we have here in our country. They would just sit in a box for who knows how long if we kept them or we would just throw them away. Now someone else somewhere in the world will get to safely experience that solar eclipse totality like we did.

Eye Doctor Again

This afternoon I had another appointment with an eye doctor. This time it was my regular doctor and not the cataract surgeon but it was a post-op follow-up visit. Everything went well. About three weeks ago I had another appointment at Ross Eye to check my eyes for glaucoma and had some tests done by a technician. They also did some tests on my vision which was 20/20 without glasses. Part of my visit today was to go over the results of the test with Dr. McGraw. 

So everything went well. She reviewed the test from last month and every thing was good. There were no increases in the potential glaucoma problem from the previous test results last year. She also checked out my eyes from the recent cataract surgery and everything was good. Then she also did a regular eye exam and my eyes were very good. She said I had outstanding results from the surgery.

I talked with her about some of the issues I had with using reading glasses and it was unusual for someone my age to not have reading glasses prior to cataract surgery and she assured me I would adjust and get used to the new need for reading glasses. We also talked about using mid-range glasses for computer work. She gave me a script for both reading and computer glasses but it would be best for me to try over-the-counter glasses first which I have started using. She gave me some numbers for the glasses I should try out.

I made an appointment to see her again in six months. At that time I may not need to use the glaucoma prevention eye drops anymore. That would be nice. Overall she said I was doing very well.

Zios for Dinner

When Sean and Ashley were getting close to Buffalo on Friday Sean texted me asking about our plans for dinner. I suggested we get some take out food and asked any ideas. I got a response back... Zios! We had the menu out when they arrived later.

We ordered five sandwiches and the food was wonderful as usual. Their sandwiches are always delicious and well made.

The sandwiches this time... Rocco, Luther, Zio, Bro and Nana.

Becky put together a salad too.

101 Magazines

Over the course of my adult life and delivered to the various addresses I've lived at over the last 50 some years Becky and I have had subscriptions to 101 magazines. Some of the were very brief and some we had for many years. Some were gifts that we didn't renew and others were for our children. We had subscriptions to magazines about music, art, politics, librarianship, computers, sports, films, cooking, home and gardens, economics, entertainment, etc, and etc.

So I'm going to break them down into manageable groups, make some lists and write about those magazines. I came up with the initial list by going to Wikipedia. First I did a search on the List of United States magazines which they broke down by categories such as entertainment and art, finance, children, lifestyle, music, sports, politics, computing, etc. Then I looked at the list of defunct American magazines. From these lists I came up with my personal list of magazines we had subscriptions to over the years and decades. I wrote them down in my notebook and added them up... 101 magazines.

Last Drops & A Glass of Beer

Celebrating my last session of cataract surgery eye drops this evening with a glass of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. One of my favorites. So the eye drops went on every day, at least twice a day, for a month for each eye. The charts were handy to keep track of the eye drop schedule. The whole process went on for five weeks but it's done now.

On Monday I got to my eye doctor to check things out but right now I'm enjoying this beer.

It's Election Interference He Says

Today began the first of Donald Trump's series of criminal trials and he was sleeping in court. He now has become the first former president in America to be tried in court as a criminal. Another infamous first to add to his disgusting resume. When he left the courtroom this afternoon he of course had to make some rambling incoherent which somehow did have one statement that made some sense although not in the way he intended. After going on and on about radical leftist Democrats being out to get him he called his trial election interference. Yes, it is about his election interference in the 2016 election by paying hush money illegally using campaign finance money to interfere in the election process by hiding his corrupt behavior with another woman while his (3rd) wife was pregnant. There was also another woman he had a 9 month affair with that was also part of the hush money scheme to keep that information from the public during his election campaign. Yes, election interference.

Actually all of his current and upcoming criminal cases can be described as him doing election interference to avoid losing the election in 2016 and his election interference with the results of his losing the election in 2020. It's all about him and his fear of being a loser... which he always has been.

Another aspect of this trial I thought has been amusing is the jury selection and the ability of perspective jurors to tell the court, with Trump sitting there listening, why they have prejudicial views about the defendant. Some have said, as New Yorkers, they have been aware a his corrupt activities for decades and strongly believed he has been criminally interfering in our democracy with his activities to keep himself in power.

The Women of Lower Bohemia

I just found this flyer in a box of "stuff" up on the 3rd floor. We've been to Nietzche's so many times over the years but this event was very special seeing our 17 year old daughter performing on that stage in 2002. She was in some good company too.

March 1972

March 1972 is written on the back of this photo of me on my Navy ship the USS Plymouth Rock. I haven't seen this picture in about 50 years and found it in a box of "stuff" on the 3rd floor. I'm wearing a hat with PR on it which refers to the name of the ship. 

In March 1972 I was on a Mediterranean Sea deployment cruise. If this was early March I was probably heading across the Atlantic Ocean. If it was mid March I was probably off the coast of Spain and if was late March then I was in the waters of Greece.

I don't remember where I am on the ship at this time. I'm standing in front of a hatch to another compartment and there is a loudspeaker above my head that was used for routine announcements and general quarters calls. I'm wearing my dungarees and bluejacket so I must have just come from being on deck. I certainly wouldn't be wearing the jacket if I was coming to or from my duty station in the engine room. Maybe this was early March and we were up on deck gazing at the Northern Lights which we saw several times crossing the North Atlantic. Otherwise it was warm off the coast of Spain and Greece but of course maybe it was night.

Table Hopping @ The Steer

We had another wonderful dinner at The Steer this evening but we also had a very unique experience... we sat at four tables to find a comfortable place. The reason was that the garage door to the patio was open and it was a rainy chilly evening with a very cool breeze blowing in on the tables. Actually the first table we sat at was next to the fireplace and it was too warm. Then we moved across the room but we were directly in line with the open patio area plus also under a ceiling fan. Then we moved to the table next to it and it was still too chilly. That breeze coming in off the patio was intense. That poor waitress was fine with moving us around and there were no other people in the dining room at that time. Finally we moved ourselves across the room to another table that was closer to the fireplace and completely away from the open patio door plus there were no ceiling fans above us. That was the sweet spot. Soon there were other people sitting at tables and I know some of them were not comfortable. One woman and her child sitting near the patio area ate and ran. 

The food and the service was fantastic. The waitress was very attentive. We both had chicken sandwiches but different. We also both had a Peroni Lager on tap.

The restaurant also had new lamps at each table that looked great and classy. The waitress said that the patio was in use yesterday and earlier today. It was a lot warmer earlier but as it got past 5:30 pm the temperature was dropping dramatically and there was a stiff breeze. The manager should have had that patio garage door closed. They weren't going to be able to serve dinners throughout the night with that room getting so cold.