THE POWERS THAT BE CRAZY, GREELEY, AND MASK-HOLES

So there's this town north of here called Greeley. On certain days, since I have lived here, at certain times of year, the wind blows this really awful stench into Denver. A combination of poop and decay that smells like an army of zombies got food poisoning from eating too many brains  and let loose. When I first experienced this invisible cloud of noxiousness, I asked my wife what was happening. She said it was Greeley. Apparently there is a lot of cattle up there, and the feedlots fill up with nastiness, and hence the smell. Don't take my word for it. Google it. I just did, using "smell from greeley" and got all sorts of articles. They say it isn't as bad as it used to be. Which is scary. If you shit the bed only twice a night, but used to five times, it's still a problem. But most folks seem to be able to live with it, I guess. At least they do up in Greeley.

So, last night, I was watching Maddow. It's my go to news show, and the only one I can watch for more than ten minutes without switching the channel. One of the big stories last night on her show was how there is this meat packing plant up in Greeley that has a Covid problem. Five employees dead from the disease, and an unknown amount of workers with it. Unknown because they stopped testing early on after discovering that of the people that they had tested, there was over forty percent positives for Covid. The plant shut down for a bit, was even promised help with more testing from VP Pence on national TV. But the testing help never materialized, and now the plant is open again, with the same people, and who knows how many infected folks. So now, instead of filling our nostrils with the stench of animal waste, the town of Greeley will be filling our lungs with infection. But don't take my word for it. Google it. I just did, using the words "greeley meat packing plant covid". And lots of articles popped up. And from reliable local sources like KDVR, CPR, the Denver Post. So, thanks Greeley. You suck.

If you want to see the Maddow segment, click HERE. I know, it's over three minutes. But I think you have the time these days.

There seems to be this really bizarre fantasy going on, this rash of magical thinking that not only equates the death rate of the virus to the flu, but that we've weathered the storm, it's all over, and now we can go back to being our old careless, carefree selves, throw our masks away, and do whatever we want. I think that's nuts. First off, I don't want to go back to a world of ignorance. I don't think that helped us. I don't want a world where medical care is treated like a luxury. That's part of what got us here. I don't want to go back to a world the air stinks from time to time so that our beef costs less. I don't want to move backwards. We need to,  and eventually will, move forward.

Because, despite opening up some states, and not wearing masks, and whatever the POTUS says, the virus is still here. People are still dying. And will continue to do so. I wonder what will happen when the number of deaths from the virus surpasses the flu rate? Will the powers that be adjust the numbers of flu deaths? And why does that even matter? Fifty six thousand additional deaths on top of natural causes like flu and cancer and car crashes is a lot of additional deaths. It's not like people are dying of Covid instead of flu. Still, more and more folks are walking around without masks, getting closer and closer to each other. I have a friend who works at Home Depot who calls those without masks mask-holes. I like that. Seems to fit. I have another friend whose mother yells "six feet apart or six feet under" at the mask-holes in her neighborhood. Confrontational, perhaps, but accurate.

So, what to do? I think get ready. This is all the first act of the movie, the part where the situation is set, and we meet all the players. Act Two is about to begin, with twists, turns, a dark night of the soul, leading to a big confrontation of some sort. And then Act Three, where we blow up the Death Star.

We will get through this. Not without blood, sweat, and tears. But will will get through this.

Here's a song. It's Spinning Wheels.

A FEAST OF FOOLS

Dreamed a kid I used to teach made watermelon jerky. It looked disgusting, and I told him so. He had also made all kinds of other jerky that was good, so he was okay with it. He had gone into business for himself during the lockdown, and had a food truck he ran with his dad. He worked in Conifer, a mountain town near here where I direct and teach high school theatre for StageDoor. I was up there to get a check, talk with the board, and see how everyone was doing. The kid, a boy named Elijah who in real life I used to teach in Superior, a different town about an hour from Conifer, was driving around like the pandemic version of the ice cream man, with a truck full of french fries and candy and various comfort/junk foods. All the teens up there were out following his truck around like little kids. When I told him I thought the jerky was gross, he sent me over a huge slice of delicious pizza. Honesty really is the best policy, I suppose.

And that was only part of an epic, complex dream that got shook up like a snow globe the moment I woke up. Sometimes, my dreams don't want to be examined.

Last night, I was watching Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. I like her a lot. Smart, funny, objective, and from the Bay Area, like me. So of course she's good. She was doing a segment on how social distancing had been working, and no doubt saved lives. This seems like a no brainer, but also seems to be something a lot of people have chosen to ignore when demanding we open up the economy. As I watched it, I began to wonder what people were thinking, what the "other side" was saying, so I switched over to Fox, where Tucker Carlson was on. I could tell he was angry right away, just from his facial expression, but it was the weird anger people sometimes get when they are trying to make an argument and don't want to lose it. He was going on about how in most of the country things aren't so bad. That only NYC and New Jersey have really bad death rates, and Florida has had less death from the virus than deaths from people choking to death on their food each year. Which seemed weird, both the choice of comparison, and the fact that he used two different groups for his comparison. He should have used the number of people who choke to death in Florida each year, not in the nation. So right away, I'm inclined to think he is not making a good argument. I think he was leading to something like "let's open up places that haven't had a lot of deaths yet, so that we can have equality in our misery. Why should New York and Jersey get all the attention and pity? Let's get those mass graves out to the Heartland.  I turned it off after a bit, as the overall tone and lack of proper comparison models was too annoying to me.

If you wanted to lose some weight, and went of a strict diet, and it started to work, I would think the last thing you would want to do is go back to your old habits. Especially before you even hit your goal.

Picture this. Let's say you weigh 230 pounds, and are told by the doctor you need to lose some weight. You go on the Whole30. At first it's tough. You long for a pizza, some ice cream, and bread. Sweet, delicious bread. But you stick with it. And after 15 days, you've lost 13 pounds. And feel great. Clothes are getting a little baggy, and there's an extra spring in your step. Suddenly, you feel like Whole30 is oppressing you. Taking away your right to a double chin and your American way of life. You stage a few protests in the kitchen, maybe bringing with you a Confederate Flag and a semi-automatic rifle. You make bizarre rants about how stupid your doctor is. How it's your body and you can do whatever you like. And then you eat for like three days straight, chugging sodas, eating whole sticks of butter, and even things you didn't ever eat before but feel like you should because it's your right. And, to keep this analogous and avoid being like Tucker Carlson, you don't stop there. You go around and shoot hot dogs into other peoples throats. Like, everyone you know. Everyone you don't know too. Pretty much every person you come into contact with. You somehow get them to all eat five pizzas a meal. And then you drop dead of a heart attack, and are buried in a mass grave.

That would be foolish.

Let's not do that.

Here's a song. The Doors live at the Isle of Wight Fest 1970 doing When the Music's Over.