Silver Linings

So the money I'd been saving to live on when I'm older is as good as gone, thanks to our economy being shut down to reduce the spread of COVID-19. And I'm okay with that because doing what we can to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is the correct course of action.

I'm just flabbergasted that we're actually doing it. And at the urging of all our governing politicians, no less. Imagine, who would have thought in 2019 that we'd be sacrificing The Economy! The Economy! in 2020 to save each other from the flu.

But also, and much less noble, I realize now, after looking desperately for a silver lining (I mean beyond Canadians coming together to sacrifice The Economy! The Economy! to save each other from the flu) that I was never going to use that money anyway. I was going to hoard it until after I was safely dead and could no longer enjoy picturing it in a bank vault, glowing with energy, whilst I sipped my tea and nibbled my toast in the old folks barracks.

My little pot of gold for a rainy day that would never be rainy enough for me to dip into it. I could be drowning in rain and still I wouldn't have touched that rainy day fund. Not even to buy a boat. Because as anybody with a boat will tell you, they're all the Titanic when it comes to the money poured into them to keep them afloat.

Anyway, this has all been kind of enlightening for me so I thought I'd share.

Also, don't tell the government I said this but working for it from home is the worst. NOT that I don't consider myself lucky to be able to do it, having scored a casual (temp job at government pay) in February. But it's the worst.

On the Road to Kindness

So I read a cool article today about Jack Kerouac that included a poem, the essential part of which is below:

The world you see is just a movie in your mind.
Rocks don't see it.
Bless and sit down.
Forgive and forget.
Practice kindness all day to everybody
and you will realize you’re already
in heaven now.

Calming, eh?

On the Flip Side

I look at it this way, if Trump et al were telling Americans to practice social distancing by sheltering in place and keeping a couple of metres between themselves and other people, his followers would be owning the libs by shooting on sight anybody who ventured outside for a bit of fresh air.

Seeing the Light in Ottawa

I just realized after reading yet another lamentation for our loss of what we think of as normal, our "drive to work to pay for this car" way of life, that I don't want to go back to normal now.

Normal was stupid. Anti-social, not social. Competitive, not cooperative. And why have we allowed our governments to task us with saving for our individual retirements instead of insisting our governments guarantee us all the same good standard of living later while we put our resources to good use now?

Cripes, we've all witnessed how basic it actually is, old age: get up too early, have a few sips of coffee and a small bowl of porridge, complain about everything to anybody who will listen while waiting for lunch, eat a half sandwich with a glass of bone builder of some kind, snooze with the tv or radio blaring while waiting for happy hour, drink an alcoholic beverage, feel happy, eat the other half sandwich and a piece of pie, watch tv, go to bed too early, get up to pee two or three times in the night, repeat.

How did this become what we're all supposed to work to save our money for anyway?

By the way, our governments have had to do a 180 from attributing virtue to citizens who have paid employment to attributing virtue to citizens willing to forgo it - for the good of the many as opposed to the few (Spock in Wrath of Khan). And anyone with a brain can see that "flattening the curve" would go a lot smoother if we had a judgement free guaranteed basic income in place. So count me out for going back to normal and count me in for adapting away from it.

The Great Leveling

My friend double nickel (he's from France) posted this on Facebook today:

"One thing that has become clear in the past few days is that the people who earn millions per year are worth significantly less to society that the ones who earn minimum wage."

And on that note, as us plucky paupers watch our retirement savings bounce around in ever diminishing returns, at least we won't be in prison for insider trading like a lot of mucky mucks are going to be.

Cripes, what would it be like to go through life without any shame, I wonder.

U.S. Senator Burr?

And the Oscar Goes To...

Well not Jason Kenney for best performance by a premier at a press conference about coronavirus.

And not the press gallery guy who went on about the carbon tax being scheduled to kick in soon and how the gLiberal government in Ottawa wasn't canceling it.

Reminded me of an act I saw in Vegas that made me wonder partway through if we were going to get mugged leaving the theater - or while we were still in it.

Just the Facts, Ma'am

Dear Everybody: Stop expecting Donald Trump to act like a President or in the interests of Americans. He won't. He's a traitor.

You're welcome.

Panic in Ottawa

The shelves in my neighbourhood Farm Boy were bare of fresh produce this afternoon. I've never seen that before. I've known favourite (and expensive) products to disappear, like grilled artichokes, but I've never seen shelves empty of fresh produce, ffs.

It may have had something to do with delivery, trucks, how much can come in at one time, how much is available at any given time for re-stocking shelves. I don't know. But it was freaky. The cashier was one of those young people born middle aged and beleaguered and it struck me how heroic people are just for showing up to work.

Mister Rogers said to look for the helpers. Or be a helper. I can come through in a pinch, I guess, but why bother if we're down to fighting over the last roll of toilet paper.

No Country for Smart Women

I hope Joe Biden picks Bernie Sanders to be his running mate.

That would really take the wind out of the Bros' sails.

Of course, he'd best get a food taster first.

It's still a bit early to call it but here's hoping President Biden brings some calm and an upswing to the markets. Goddammit. Years in GiCs and as soon as I get mildly adventurous <kaboom>.

Stupid fucking Coronavirus.

Oh well. It's not like I wouldn't have just saved it until after I'm dead anyway. Sorry kids.

I think Bernie fizzled this primary go 'round because his campaign was too much about defeating Democrats and not enough about defeating Republicans. He overestimated how much Democrats hate the Democratic Party and underestimated how much they hate Donald Trump. I think people even started wondering if Traitor Trump was cheering on Crazy Bernie over Sleepy Joe because President Crazy Bernie would be so busy purging the Democratic Party of liberals that he'd just let Traitor Trump lumber off to Mar-a-Lago to cheat at golf, while President Sleepy Joe would unseal the indictments at his swearing in.

And really, if this wasn't all about the male ego, neither one of them would have run and Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren would be the Democratic Party nominee.

We're All Gonna Die!

So, I have to avoid two my my three reads on Twitter now on account of their gloating re the Corona virus induced market crash.

Why are they gloating re the Corona virus induced market crash?

Because they hate Donald Trump and figure it makes him un-re-electable.

I mean, Geez Louise, nothing like going for broke, eh?

Anyway, I think if we've learned anything from this go 'round, it's that you can't lose investing in toilet paper.

Seriously, fuck Al Gore and his damned internets.

On the good news side, my book will be up on Amazon soon, so watch this space.

Because It's 2020

Happy International Women's Day in this year of our Lord 2020, ladies, where two frail male octogenarians, one with a dicky heart who doesn't like women, the other with a dicky brain who likes women too much, take it to the mat before the winner squares off against the all-time world champion of attention whoring mobster man babies - the current Adderall-snorting President of the United States of America.

Because apparently, nobody likes a healthy female human of sound mind less than a voter.

Hey, we'll always have book clubs, ladies.

And the Winner Is...

I only half pay attention to what's going on south of the border because I don't want to lose what's left of my mind, but speaking of Joe Biden, it looks to me like Mitt Romney is positioning himself for something.

In the meantime, Elizabeth Warren just called out Bernie Sanders' supporters for being the obnoxious bullies they've been for at least four years now, so, feel the Bern, bros. Here's hoping she goes for broke and a shot at being VP and endorses Joe Biden.

Jerks.

Anyway, I'm no political strategist (like Tad Devine of Paul Manafort and Bernie Sanders 2016 fame) but if I was the top dog and a socialist (I guess I should insert democratic either before or after socialist so that goons from Socialist International don't picket my hovel) going into a race to lead a liberal party of which I'm not a member, instead of attacking the liberals who are, I'd take it down a notch. But who knows. Maybe my ego would get so big being the leader of my party of one that it wouldn't leave room for my brain.

By the way, apparently there's such a discrepancy between those famous mom and pop donations (of either $27 or $14 amounts) that have been supporting Bernie Sanders' wildly expensive campaigns, and the votes they should translate to but don't (donors to political parties tend to follow-up with actual votes), that the FEC came up with a 500-plus page report about it all.

I read somewhere in the silo I'm on online that Saudi Arabia features in it.

Yikes.

But hindsight is 20/20 and like I said, I'm no political strategist (like David Sirota, Bernie Sanders' campaign manager and leader of his obnoxious bully squad currently being called out by Elizabeth Warren) but if I really wanted a President to take on Wall Street I'd have asked Bernie Sanders to not run at all so that Elizabeth Warren would be the alternative to the rest of the field and the first female pres... Oh never mind.

I dunno. Maybe Bernie Sanders is just the chaos agent he seems to me to be and not actually in it to win it after all.

Regardless, it looks like this shit show is about to get a whole lot shittier. Chin up, everybody. There are lots of asteroids out there.