Nothing much to do today. Even the golf course got shut down yesterday, by the Governor, so I can’t go to the driving range and work on my crappy golf swing.
It’s Springtime, so it’s weed-growing season. I pull about 100 per day on our large lot, but there are plenty more…in the same places, it seems…the very next day. It’s a conspiracy I tell ya’. (Probably those damn Chinese Communists at the bottom of this!)
Funny thing is…the property next door, which is vacant (an unsold, finished new home) has virtually no weeds on the property, front and back.
What’s that about?
The new house next door has been completed for several months. It’s a “spec” home that the developer built to complete the subdivision. There are two of them on our cul-de-sac, both “bare bones” units, with no fancy upgrades or landscaping. As the pandemic rolls on, I’m guessing the developer will be marking down the asking price so he can get the Hell out of Dodge.
Hopefully, we will get a good neighbor. Thus far, the rest of our neighbors are good eggs (knock on wood!), but it only takes one dud to ruin things. We know; we had one in Southern California who spoiled our once-friendly cul-de-sac. After ten years of dealing with her bullshit, we moved out of state.
Speaking of neighbors, we had an unusual couple who lived a few houses down the street in Bear Creek. He was a psychologist who also moonlighted as a pastor in the Army National Guard. He wrote articles for the community newsletter that no one could comprehend. He would also walk around the community…skipping backwards! He was a wiry Caucasian man who was married to a big-boned African-American lady. She was a little strange, too. Her two-story house was pure white inside: every room, the walls, the carpet, the furniture, etc. And, there was not a place you could go in that 2,100 s.f., multi-level home where you couldn’t view a television: the house had a least ten of them, even in the bathrooms. She also had her 30-yr-old son living in the house. He was a very dark-skinned, bowling ball of a guy, maybe 5’9’’ tall and 300 pounds thick. He was also a friendly guy, but his Mom seemed ashamed to admit he was hers.
Yeah, they were weird.
We live on a corner here in Mesquite, and have a20′ stone wall behind us, so, basically, we only have one potential neighbor…the unsold home on the north side of our fence. So, we have one chance to get it right. Please, Jesus, no assholes and no weirdos this time!
Speaking of the Lord, I’m noticing that some of our famous televangelist friends are getting a bit itchy, what with “stay at home” quarantines in place all over America. Those collection plates could be barren on Easter Sunday. Lord have mercy!
Not surprisingly, there have been public calls for relaxing the Covid-19 rules so that parishioners can crowd together in the pews this weekend to spread the Good Word (and, the coronavirus!) and open their wallets . Yes, some cowardly state Governors are going to allow it!
I’ve already read a few news articles about clergy who are saying that the Covid-19 pandemic is a divine punishment for society “turning away from God”. That’s the kind of horseshit drivel that emerges every time there is some type of natural disaster or terrorist attack. His Holiness Pat Robertson, the televangelist blowhard who has a regular cable TV show, famously said that AIDS was God’s retribution for America legalizing homosexual behavior.
I also noticed this week that Billy Graham’s son (and Donald Trump honk), Franklin, has hit the airwaves to extort contributions “in this time of need” in the name of Jesus. (I’m guessing that his Gulfstream VI needs a fill-up.) Why doesn’t he just ask God for some “manna” to get him through the crisis?
I’m sure that, when the pandemic mercifully ends, these same hypocritical a-holes and their flocks will say, “Thank God” for sparing so many of us. (Which will beg the question: Why did it take Him so long? Why didn’t he stop the damn thing in Wuhan, China?!)
On a lighter side, Charlie and I are watching a lot of TV, most of it home improvement shows, crime dramas, coronavirus news, and re-runs.
When we turned the television on this morning, the station was playing a “Friends” re-run. I was never a big fan of this series, but Charlie liked it. As we watched it for a few minutes, I realized why I hadn’t liked it much in the first place: the ever-present, overbearing “laugh track”.
That feature is why I don’t like “sit coms” generically. Why is it that the viewing audience needs to be cued that something funny (presumably) has just been said? And, more importantly, why is EVERYTHING so funny? Whoever is running the “laugh track” machine on this particular sit-com has a very sensitive funny bone…pushing the “laugh” button on every bit of dialogue and with every lame pratfall. Is there anything that this employee thinks isn’t funny?
Comedians used to have to work for their laughs. Sometimes, let’s face it, they bomb. I remember a Johnny Carson show when Don Rickles arrived, sat in the “guest” chair, and attempted some lame humor. Of course, Johnny courteously gave Don a giggle or two. Then, Groucho Marx showed up, and Rickles moved to the couch. Marx walked over to the chair where Rickles had been sitting, pantomimed brushing the seat, and sat down. Johnny Carson said, “What was that about?” Groucho said, “I had to clean off the eggshells!” Yeah, he was right, Rickles had laid a few eggs; his routine was as lame as a “hockey puck”.
I believe that the funniest sit-com in the history of television was/still is “Seinfeld”. The producers may have used a “laugh track” to supplement the live studio audience on that series, but the gags were so good that it (the “laugh track”) isn’t that obtrusive. In essence, the viewer has been self-cued to laugh by his own sense of humor. That’s the way it should be.
On a serious note, Charlie and I watched a news conference on the coronavirus a few days ago starring the Governor of Nevada, Steve Sisolak. He was magnificent. Sisolak was poised, well-informed, sincere, and in-charge…pretty much everything President Trump has not been during this pandemic. Anyway, we were very impressed by the guy and proud to be Nevadans.
Superlatives are also in order for California Governor Gavin Newsom. I didn’t know much about him when we lived in that state, but this guy has been super-impressive during the pandemic. He’s young, smart, handsome, sincere and nonplussed about leading the world’s 5th largest economy. Forget Joe Biden: this fellow would kick Trump’s ass if he were running in November. Mark my words: he will be President some day.)
Charlie’s frenetic work routine has finally slowed a bit today. Most of her clients who needed some of that SBA “lifeline” dough have either succeeded, with great effort, in getting their application submitted, or have simply said, “Fuck it, I give up!”
This particular Federal money give-away will have to go down as one of the poorest program roll-outs of all time. I could have designed it better on a restaurant napkin. Shame on whomever was in charge. (I’m guessing Rudy Giuliani.)
Anyway, Charlie is back to doing that last of her clients’ 2019 tax submittals. She’s probably done about thirty or so this year. It’s work, to be sure, but she enjoys the camaraderie with her clients, particularly this year when her social contact with others is limited. And, as a bonus, she’s earned the Manning family some extra income…maybe $10,000.
Good job, Girl!
Well, it’s 1:18 p.m. and sunny outside, so I think I will go back outside and see if there are any more weeds to pick.
See ya’.