Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Gray Days

View from the Command Center

Aside from the occasional history lesson, pictures of aircraft, tanks, and warships, I (Your Humble Scribe) will, from time to time, subject you, gentle readers, to my musings on things which, for one reason or another, got stuck in my head. You might well imagine what has been going through my brain over the past few weeks.

Quarantine, "corn teen" if you will, which I won't, has been all the rage over the past cuppla weeks. After being sent off home two weeks ago yesterday, it's been a rather humdrum existence. As I have no actual task to work on at the moment, I sit between two computers, work laptop to my right, home desktop to my front. You can just see the top of the laptop screen above. I monitor comms and answer the occasional email. It's pretty exciting (NOT), I can tell you!

The weather has been gray for the most part, with a passing few hours of sunshine here and there, but not that you'd really notice. The view out my window above, is pretty much what I look at, nine hours a day (give or take) during this here exile-in-place.

We are hunkered down, we are self-isolating, we are avoiding our fellow ape lizards like they had the plague. Some of them kinda do, not judging here, just stating a fact. It's nasty in parts of the world right now, come to think of it, it's always nasty in some parts of the world. Sometimes it's the environment (live through a couple of tornadoes and you'll understand), sometimes it's self-inflicted, like if the government sucks. Many of which do, even the better ones have a kind of suckiness to them. A necessary evil I suppose as we ape lizards can't seem to get along in large groups.

The governor of Little Rhody has apparently decided that if you have New York plates on your car, the State Police will say "you ain't getting into Little Rhody." Yup, Gina's gone all Gandalf on people from a state which apparently didn't take this virus stuff seriously. (Why was I tempted to type Staatspolizei rather than State Police? 'Tis the troublemaker in me no doubt.)



I have mixed feelings about that, limitations to individual freedom and all, what's next? Border control checkpoints and "let me see your papers"? I hope not. I am aware that this is a temporary expedient but it makes the freedom-lover in me cringe just a bit.

But hey, ya gotta keep the zombies out, amiright?

That being said, the youngest of the progeny, that would be The WSO, aka LUSH has decreed that Your Humble Scribe and The Missus Herself are to remain confined to quarters for the foreseeable future. As we are, apparently, old farts, the kids are concerned for our health and safety. She's even arranged to have groceries delivered to our front door (sic) so's to lessen the possibility of contamination by going to the store ourselves.

Well, whatever makes her happy. First delivery was today and honestly, I could get used to this pampered, though constrained, existence. I do feel rather like a zoo animal though. (And The Missus Herself has indeed requested that I stop pacing back and forth on the deck glaring at the passersby.)

Just to keep you informed, we're not really in quarantine as -
It’s only Quarantine if it’s in the Quarante province of France. Otherwise it's just Sparkling Isolation.
Heh.

Now for a nice aircraft video which I swiped from Joe over at Koobecaf -



Love those Grumman cats.

Speaking of cats, one of the feline staff demanded a check of the downstairs bathroom sink -

When's the last time you cleaned this, Hoo-man?

Apparently she found the sink "acceptable."

Another day in paradise...


April showers bring May flowers. Apparently we've had a jump start on both.

Adieu mars, we hardly knew ye.

Be well my friends.




Yes, I know I need a new shade in the Command Center. Low priority right now dontcha know?

66 comments:

  1. My step-dad flew with a FASRON (Fleet Air Support Squadron) in Japan during the Korean War. They had the job of retrieving broken/damaged planes (that were still flyable) from Korea and doing the repairs. I once asked him if he had any time in the F7F. He said he had a little but most of the F7F time was reserved for the Admiral. RHIP I guess...

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    1. It seems to, I prefer RHIR - Rank Has Its Responsibilities. Privileges are for royalty, we don't have royalty, but I get it.

      Delete
  2. Interesting wing design on that Tigercat and I see your cat likes the white glove inspection neh? Hunkered down like this am saving on eating out at least. Back in early January I inspected the provisions I bought when the swine flu visited our fair land....Lysol disinfecting wipes, still wet/not dried out, boxes of surgical masks (huh...somewhat disappointing but....wait....wut..... box of...3M N95 masks, made in the UK......well well well. Far more folks walking around the lake these days especially once afternoon arrives so it's time to go the OTHER route through the neighborhood on the side streets, not much traffic. Stay safe Chanters!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Oh yeah, white glove inspections every day!

      I've always liked the look of the Tigercat, a lovely aircraft.

      We don't get any crowds in the backyard, though it's a very short circuit!

      Delete
  3. I figured your drum kit would be beat plumb to death by now. It's been 2 whole weeks.

    Essential personnel like me, though. Let me tell you. It's a Sunday drive every day now. The work has definitely slowed, but some of it is nice. I got to help streamline the CV tests going to a major lab for half of San Antone.

    But grabbing aholt of public use equipment, then washing your hands, a hundred times a day is getting to be a drag. I wonder if Madge has any of that Palmolive left? And my booger picking is way behind. I'm afraid if I do start that up again, I might find a big one, and have my head cave in.

    Take kare tovarishch!! Wait, that would be kgb... kamerad!! or is it genosse?? hoo boy.... um....

    Take care bud. Enjoy the time at home while you can. Life can 'hot up' quickly...

    ReplyDelete
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    1. The last sentence in the third paragraph is a bit TMI, but it did make me laugh! And I am also rerouting my walks to avoid the gaggles of folks around the lake,especially since some of them don't know how to social distance very well - had a group of three young ladies walking arm in arm yesterday.
      You also take care down in SA, and stay healthy. Always enjoy your commentary.

      Delete
    2. Well, if I had been on the drums as much as I'd like, I figure I'd be beat to death by now. The Missus Herself can only tolerate so much. 😉

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    3. Move the kit and kaboodle of the drums to the porch for your 'lunch' period. Bang away like the monkey you know you are, while getting fresh air and annoying the neighbors and not The Missus Herself.

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    4. Not really logistically possible, i.e. I'm too lazy. It's also kinda bulky and it IS electronic so the weather plays a factor. Been rather damp lately.

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    5. Good reason to put a roof on your porch. Or get a he-shed.

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    6. (Don McCollor)...my greatest regret is that this didn't come in Jan/Feb where (in MN) you didn't want to go anywhere (or even go outside) anyway...

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    7. A good excuse to stay in the warmth and not drive in the ice and snow!

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  4. Great video! The sound of twin radials still makes me smile.
    As far as delivered groceries minimizing exposure, it does somewhat, but make sure you wipe down containers that have been handled, etc. never know who's coughed or sneezed around them. Wash your hands after putting the stuff away.
    In the photo of the command center, is that your version of R2D2 on the left? :-)
    One of our cats used to lie curled up in the bathroom sink, and he preferred to drink from the running tap - not doing both at the same time, though!
    As for "let me see your papers", that's a real issue now - my wife and I have a permission slip from a government official saying we are engaged in an essential business and are auhtorized to be out and about - scary! Swear the disease is not as bad as the cure!
    Interesting thoughts about that are cropping up - granted the bug is bad, but is it worse than seasonal flu? Only time will tell. And will trashing the economy lead to greater death rates for thise living paycheck to paycheck due to other causes that will probably not be directly attributable to coved-19 but that are at least an indirect result of lowered standards of living for those at the margins?
    Interesting times, indeed...

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I needed more of those A-10 turbofans at the end of the video, but big military piston engines are very special!

      The Missus Herself went at the groceries with a will. She was all over the cleaning aspect of things before I could say a word. This was just after I'd washed my hands after hauling the groceries in from the deck.

      The world is very strange right now, if this gets manufacturing out of the PRC, then there is a silver lining to this. Too bad so many had to die.

      Delete
    2. For the most part, the reaping is occurring in places where either the government, the people or both are dumb as a box of rocks.

      Yes, there are unintended by-blows. But... If you are highly suggested to self isolate and instead attend a glittering party of Hollyweird's finest, and then come down with Wuhan Corona-Chan in a fatal way, well, really. To actually get a fatal case of the Wuhan Whoohoos, you pert near have to be on death's door from other things. So if said Hollyweird person cacks off while looking healthy, one must really wonder what was going on underneath to take said lofty person out of the gene pool (Alcoholism, excessive drug use, crash dieting, even more excessive drug use, hidden virus of another type running rampant and person not being responsible and telling his/her/its partner that it has 'The Ninjas.')

      Again. Stooopid government (socialism, communism, socialistic communism, communistic socialism, democratic socialism, democratic republicanism (that is a front for socialism, communism or both,)) and very unhealthy. Not a good combo to combine.

      Stay away, have a decentish government, and your chances are reduced to minimal.

      This bug is a hard one to get. And seems to be selecting for... stupid.

      Delete
    3. Beans - your comment on governments of certain types being an accessory - helps explain why NY, New Orleans, California and Washington state all have higher number of cases. And yes, underlying causes are an issue. So is skewed statistics, such as counting deaths by other causes as covid-19 deaths.

      BTW, if the press during WWII took the same stance as our media today, we might well be speaking German and/or Japanese today!

      Delete
    4. Ya know, the more I am exposed to the world and stupid, the more I am glad that our slave-owning rich Christian white guys did what they did back in the late 1770's... Almost like, ya know, they had been exposed to 'teh stupid' and tried to not be, well, stupid.

      Delete
  5. The Grumman F7F is another aircraft that I never heard of and of course I wanted more. During my dip into the internet I found a video with more Grumman cats, but it might be from the same airshow.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8N21othZTY
    Getting all of the aircraft to do a flyby puts a different spin on herding cats.
    That would have been an awesome amount of big radial sound.

    The backyard view says, "Use this time to do maintenance on the mowers."








    ReplyDelete
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    1. If you look at the description underneath the videos over on YouTube, two different air shows in different years.

      Maintenance on the mowers? I've got a crew that does my lawn. I'm sure they're getting ready.

      Delete
    2. Too bad Grumman (by itself, not NG) no longer exists. Some of the best Carrier aircraft ever made.

      Same with Republic, except insert best ground field aircraft ever made.

      Mergers and acquisitions suck.

      Sigh.

      Delete
    3. Guess what my company is facing? Yup, merger. Can't wait to see what unholiness this unleashes.

      Delete
    4. Might be the time to... retire.

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    5. I dunno, might be fun to watch from the inside. I do have a parachute, just need to get to the door when it's time.

      Delete
  6. Rhody turning away New York plates? Maybe Colorado can do the same with California plates, permanently.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Now there's an idea!

      But it's probably too late, seems like the rot is too deep now.

      Delete
    2. I’ve been advocating that for Texas for a long time now. Maybe it’ll finally gain some traction.

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    3. Build the Wall! Around Austin!!!

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    4. juvat - You could still save most of Texas.

      Delete
    5. I like Glenn Reynolds' (Instapundit) idea of a welcome wagon approach, where folks greet the newcomers, help orient them to the neighborhoods, and then have a discussion about why they left where they did, and why their new home state is so attractive - smaller government, lower taxes, more freedom! If some wealthy residents could fund the program, it could be pretty effective. Too late for Austin, I imagine ... and Colorado ... and Chapel Hill, NC (aka The People's Republic of Chapel Hill)

      Delete
    6. Not a bad idea, might help stop the spread of dumbassery.

      Delete
  7. Gray day in SoDak today too. The Mrs. noted that it feels like a lazy day, and I can't disagree. Everyone seems a little extra lethargic today. I'm in Week 3 of "Everyone Work from Home Until Further Notice". Honestly, I'm rather enjoying it, but really, not much has changed other than that my commute is shorter and my lunch companions are cuter now.

    If this work from home mandate lasts for as long as some folks in my company seem to be planning for, then it'll be a good test of whether my long term goal of having a full time work from home job is viable or not.

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    1. Same here, week 3. I'd rather be at the office. Home is for home things, work is for work things.

      It's funny though that at 1700 hours I start relaxing more than usual.

      Delete
  8. California could have avoided all of the abuse it gets today if it had continued turning folks back in the 1930s.... just sayin.

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  9. Just bringing in the mail, here, is a major chore now.
    My mother in law gets anywhere from two to ten catalogs a day... then there are the package deliveries, ugh!
    Groceries are a piece of cake.

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    1. All sorts of nastiness could be on that stuff.

      Delete
  10. You haven't gotten down to the low priorities yet?

    I'm well into the NO priority projects nowadays.

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    1. Heh, I hear you. But new shades require a trip across state lines!

      Delete
    2. They have this thing... called... the... Internet.

      My sources tell me that some smart geniuses and some bloggers here deal with that arcane etheric thing on these things called... computers. Which, said sources also say, exist almost everywhere, even in people's homes.

      blinds.com
      americanblinds.com
      selectblinds.com
      homedepot.com
      lowes.com

      And probably many many more.

      And they deliver.

      You may have to actually put them up, but they are relatively easy to install.

      Delete
    3. Sigh as in 'Gotcha!' or Sigh as in "Beans, you have some splaining to do!"?

      Delete
    4. Sigh, as in "Thank you Captain Obvious."

      I put those shades up twenty years ago, I know how easy it is, I know about the Internet. Still an awfully low priority.

      Delete
    5. Beans, I’m betting ...Yes!

      Delete
  11. It's not people from New York State, per se. Just like down here in the South it isn't people from Louisiana, per se.

    It's the idjits from New York City that partied and pleasured and went to restaurants and plays and concerts and LUNAR FRIGGIN NEW YEAR WITH ACTUAL WUHAN CHINESE FRESHLY IMPORTED FULL OF PLAGUE that are the problem. Now the 'in thing' amongst all the New York Cityites that have the money is to bug out to the Hamptons (and act like self-centered plague rats) or to Rhode Island or Maine or FLORIDA and bring their stupid 'I'm a NYCityite so I am more important than you podunks' attitude with them.

    So, in response, Maine is getting frothed, New York Staters are pissed at New York Cityites and trying to keep the plague-rats in the city, Rhode Island is correctly trying to stop NYCers from coming in, and Florida's Governor de Santis has called for a 14 day self-isolation to all who hail from NY State in order to stop NYC from screwing us up any more than they already have.

    So, Louisiana isn't the problem, it's the hydrocephalic jackwagons that decided to Mardi Gras in New Orleans that are the problem (partially fueled by plague bearers from NYC who wanted to ParTEE in NO, so double down on NYC stupidity.) So MI, AL, FL, and TX are all getting uppity and checking and turning away people from LA who may have come in contact with Wuhan due to ParTAY! WHOOOO!.

    So, here's the issue. Self-centered, self-indulgent people mostly of a certain political slant are the ones causing all of this. You would think, with the high ideals of socialism and communism and all between that these people would be thinking of the common good. But that 'common good' and 'share the wealth' always seems to not apply to them, but to the rest of the world. 'Share the wealth' does not mean 'run around like an infected plague rat and purposely causing the spread.'

    And then there's just complete assholeness by Cuomo over the ventilators that were sent to him when requested and then found sitting in a warehouse after he complained that Trump has denied NEW YORK (city) all those ventilators. Shades of Puerto Rico and hurricane relief. (And two common traits link both NY (state via it's government) and PR (somewhat via it's government, as both are socialist hellholes run by corrupt 'I'm better than you' leaders...)

    All of this, from the beginning, would have been not a problem if people would just act like adults. But, noooooooooo. Friggin moronic children playing with the world's fate in their friggin hands.

    Yes, the deaths are horrible. But.. Italy is finally exposed as the corrupt failed state they have been since... WWI? Communist China is finally getting the black eye it deserves. Iran, well, well, well (I feel sorry for it's people, but not sorry, you know what I mean?) North Korea? Seattle? Portland? NYC? Baltimore? All are being shown as failed corrupt cities and states and locations that only the best public relations programs (via the MSM brown-nosers) have kept from being exposed as the shiite-holios that they are.

    Sucks. Sucks it does. But... maybe the world will learn a lesson about certain places.

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    1. It would be nice if we'd learn from this.

      But we won't...

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    2. Beans,
      Well said! In the Beans' History of Well Said Rants, that may be THE most Well Said.

      I doff my hat in your general direction, Sir!

      Delete
    3. One of the annoying things about the way my mind works is it does that James Burke "Connections" thingy all the darned time. So when I read an article about this and then a post about that and combine them with a book I read 20 years or so ago, suddenly the pieces and links all fall together to point out something.

      Thus... History of Italy, which I was wrong about, as it's been a failed state since unification. History of plagues and diseases which all come out of, survey says... China. Article about Communist China trying to go expansionistic and getting shut down by a plague (I think it was in the 60's, not sure.) And all the doctors screaming about how horrible it is, and then comparing where they live to the local political climate. Stick all of this in the empty hollow of my head, shake it and 'bing' out comes rantish analysis. Yay me. Because, like all of my good traits, I can't make a wooden nickel from it. Dangit.

      Glad to rant.

      Tired of all the screaming and stampeding that is going on. Certain bloggers who should know better are definitely trying to scream "The sky is falling, LOOOK AT MEEEE, the sky is falling!!!!" when they should be stepping back and saying what is and what isn't working, and using what few wits they have left to attack the systems that aren't working, like, say the California political system.

      Delete
  12. You know what is truly sad? That it took all of this to finally get many on the left side of the spectrum to see why we need border control and why 'illegal alien sanctuary cities' are a bad idea (since, well, side-by-side comparison of sanctuary cities and cities getting sloshed by Wuhan are... exactly the same. Hmmmmmm....)

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    1. Like Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"

      Delete
  13. Cars with New York plates should be stopped at EVERY border, and their passengers checked for evidence of communism: are they wearing Che T-shirts? Are there 'Feel the Bern' bumper stickers on the car? Is anyone carrying a copy of Mao's Little Red Book? If so, turn that vehicle around back to where they came from (say hello to Bill DeBlasio while you're there).

    And while we're at it, everybody from Massachusetts should also be turned away at every border. Every damn one of those guys wears Che T-shirts, has 'Feel the Bern' bumper stickers and carries a copy of Mao's Little Red Book. That, and they root for the New England Patriots, that in and of itself should be a crime.

    ReplyDelete
  14. At our local Publix yesterday, a couple of ladies were checking out whilst conversing amongst themselves as to how smart they had been to fly down to Ormond Beach the previous day from NYC. When asked why they weren't staying at home or at least at a distance, they, the LADIES, mind you told our friend to "you know what" themselves. Nice ladies.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. And this is why Governor de Santis has done what he did, regarding ordering self-quarantining.

      Keep this up and the South may rise up and kick the Newyawkerss stupid asses. From a distance. Because we are tricky folk and can. And will.

      Delete
    2. Dave - Idiots, it's why Governor Raimondo told the State Police to "keep 'em OUT!"

      Delete
    3. Beans - Some of those NYC folks apparently believe their idiot mayor. Birds of a feather I guess.

      Delete
  15. I'm always impressed by the number and types of people who just don't understand how easy it is to move people with boats and bypass all the silly crazy SS people at the border and let's be honest, if I had a house in Newport and one in NYC, I'd opt to live in my house in Newport and damn the governor even if I had NY plates on my car. I can just see the RI water police turning Block Island Sound into another Iron Bottom Sound. Sheesh, look at Cliff Walk. I think all those houses were owned by New Yorkers....

    Good luck out there on the coast and ignore those blind comments. :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. What's to stop them from renting a car without NY plates?

      All kidding aside, the situation in NYC sounds bad. Haven't heard from any NYC Chanters as yet as to the situation on the ground.

      And of course the Meejah has lied about this from the start, as has China.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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