Too Crazy

I am going stir crazy. I need a laugh! So I sat in front of my computer thinking I could write a parody or a satire to make me laugh at my present situation, or perhaps I should say our situation. For some reason my mind turned to the great humorist, Art Buchwald. During the Watergate scandal Mr. Buchwald's column was a much welcomed laugh in a very angry world. It was a world in which everything seemed to be so exaggerated that people wanting to write parodies or satires were hard pressed to come up with anything more ridiculous than the truth. Indeed, Mr. Buchwald said that writing his column was far too easy during those years. He assured us that he was not making it up, that he was merely telling the truth and people found it funny. Thank you, Martha Michell!

Today we do not have a Martha Mitchell ringing the bell or blowing the whistle, but we do not need her. We already have the idiot in chief and the chumps who are stupid enough to believe him and support him. In which orifice does Trump propose injecting sunlight to kill Covid-19? Whichever one he chooses you can safely bet it is not where you want a sun burn and/or skin cancer. While propounding his specious Covid-19 cures Trump frequently points out that he is not a doctor. Neither was my father. My father was a plumber, but he was still far too knowledgeable to suggest that anyone should drink Drano to cure constipation, and he knew where the “sun don't [and shouldn't] shine.” Now Trump claims he was just being sarcastic when he suggested ingesting disinfectants or injecting disinfectants and/or sunlight into the body. The funny part is that the Trump chumps (particularly Fox viewers) will actually believe him unless they are among to few who wound up in the hospital because they followed his advice about taking hydroxychloroquine.

Speaking of Trump chumps, let me just say that while I am sympathetic to people who are losing their incomes during this crises, a very large number of the people demonstrating against stay at home orders are making more of a political statement than an economic statement, and they are more than willing to trade lives to gain a political advantage. One of the reasons they are willing to do this is because they are not smart enough to think about whose lives they might be sacrificing. This issue takes on a whole different meaning when the life sacrificed is yours or that of a beloved family member. But, in the name of God, the Trump chumps banish all thoughts about such consequences. In the alternative world of the right wing there is only the earthly present and an eternity ruled by faith rather facts.

There is no need to award a Darwin to the people who gather in close proximity to other chumps demonstrating against social distancing. The award far too many of those people are likely to receive is the Covid-19 virus. While I do not wish that on them, I have an even stronger objection to them passing that virus on to others who did nothing to earn it!

Oh, and one quick note to Moscow Mitch. Be careful what you wish for, dumb ass! If New York and California go bankrupt who is going subsidize Kentucky?

The Distance Is Physical

Trying to fill a prescription now is not as easy as one would think. I spent three days trying to order my medications on line only to find that I could not connect to Kaiser's on line ordering system. I tried using the option of calling in my refill order. The the voice menu they give you requires you to say or type in the prescription order number. Perhaps I simply do not know how to use this function but I could not find a way to give them multiple prescriptions to fill. This is a problem because I need to refill most of my medications at the same time. Adding still more complexity to this is the fact that the postal service does not provide street delivery up here. Kaiser has been pretty good about sending things to my P.O. Box but there have been times when I have received calls from them informing me that mail they have sent to me was returned to them as undeliverable because they used my street address. If my medications were returned to them I would not receive the medications before I ran out. So I had to use the talk to a representative funtion. Furthermore, the pharmacy where I usually go was closed, and I had to place my order with the pharmacy in Redlands. Fortunately Kaiser's menu options allow you to ask them to call you back rather than forcing you to sit on hold for four hours, and four hours is not an exaggeration!

The bottom line is that I ordered the refills on Friday, and I went to the Redlands Pharmacy on Tuesday to pick them up. There was a line outside of the building. A pleasant young lady wearing a protective mask asked if I was there to fill a prescription. When I said yes she told me to get in line. Everyone in line was observing the rules in regard to the distance maintained between people in line.

“You must be pretty busy given the fact that the San Bernardino pharmacy is closed,” I said.

“Yes,” she agreed, “and I'm form the San Bernardino office. Do you recognize me?”

“Not with the mask on.”

She laughed. So did some of the people close enough to hear our conversation. The congeniality of the people waiting in that line was encouraging. Most of the people there smiled and carried on conversations in spite of the physical distance between them and other people in line. It was a pleasant reminder that we are all in this together, and we will get through it together. I should add that people who had earthquake survival kits found them useful.  As one lady said, she was really glad her kit included toilet paper.