New Reality

Well hello there, Dearly Beloved!

Are we having fun yet?

At Camp Runamuck, we are (so far) (knock on wood), not showing any symptoms of Covid 19.  

We are a mess, because nobody feels like cleaning.  The cupboards are groaning full of Emergency Preparedness, and we are ordering a lot of pizza and Panda, because nobody feels like cooking.  I have begun the following:

     paint by number

     macramé bracelets

     sort-and-chuck effort on closets

     several books

     4 knitting projects

     

What I'm actually doing:

     all things Facebook

     bingeing Midsomer Murders

     making costumes for shows performed for a virtual audience

     painting by number on my phone

     crying

You know, the reason we all cried after the election in 2016 wasn't because we were snowflakes sad because our team lost; it was because we saw the imminent destruction that has come to pass.

The question to ask in any presidential election year is, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Whether you look at it personally or in terms of the country as a whole, the answer, for most of us, has to be a resounding "NO!"

We are stuck in our hidey-holes, hoarding toilet paper.  Every time we stick our heads out, the sickness numbers rise and we duck back inside. 

The economy is in the toilet.  Of course it is, because people have no money to spend.  Most developed nations are helping their citizens and their countries get through this by supporting people.  Here?  Our government is arguing that we should only pay 70% of people's pre-covid income in unemployment benefits.  It was hard to get by on 100% of what we were earning, because it wasn't enough in the first place.  They begrudge every penny of OUR TAX MONEY that they need to give back to us in this mess, but happily plan to throw billions at an already bloated military.  Who needs fighter jets in a pandemic?  I suppose it will be spun as an employment stimulus, but surely dams and bridges would be a better idea.

The murder of George Floyd, seen happening right before our eyes, was so shocking, that I feel a huge change coming.  This is one of the most positive things I am feeling, at present.  Even though the prez has as good as declared martial law, sending in a cobbled-together force of border agents and mercenaries to quell the protests.

I got news.  When you don't answer peaceful protest, you get riot.  Thus it is and thus it has ever been.

He can't run on the economy, and he can't run on his covid response.  All he has left is to try and persuade people he's for law and order.  Which, of course he is, for you and me, especially if you are a POC.  Not so much for him, though.

So yeah.  I have a lot of thoughts, but not much executive function happening to organize them.

How's errybody doing?