Morning update

Lots of interesting stuff on politico today; check it out...

Working from home continues to be...ok?  I mean, I and everyone else is busy, and while the flurry of messages probably isn't that different than what it would be in the office... I get the sense that the order of prioritizing isn't there?  You can just ping away and then of course it becomes someone else's issue to handle it...  Maybe it is just me, and that this too shall pass...

So, I see that my parish is offering drive-by Easter basket blessings on Holy Saturday, allowing a fine tradition to continue...not having Easter Mass was a source of grumbling for me and the fellow Mass Nazis who were out Sunday.  To be sure, it is prolly the smart move, but as with so many other things, it offends my sense of normalcy, and that is frustrating...

In other news, Favorite Niece has to find a new job, as her college is closing... personal sadness aside... I guess to me there is a sense of sadness about everything else... all the memories, traditions... what do you do with all of the buildings and the related facilities?  The library (I think we all know how I feel about books)?  Where do all the people who work there go -- not just the faculty, but the cleaning and cafeteria staff? Maybe it is the conservative in me, and yes, that which is not sustainable cannot be sustained, but I cannot imagine the sadness that everyone is trying to process, especially now.

The OC

First Jimmy Wynn dies, and then Tom Coburn... very sad all around, and I cannot imagine who will be the next to go...

So, food pantry duty today... I was not in charge but am next month so I figured I should go and check it out... it was very busy -- an above-average crowd -- and there were some changes... basically, we are now a drive-through (and walk-up) food pantry.  We do all the produce bagging and such; the client comes to the tent, we register them on the laptop, and them we put all the food in their cars.  I didn't do all that many; rather, I moved all over, filling in where needed and such -- packing food bags, filling produce, carrying stuff, whatever... we were joking how in some ways this is easier, but we also had to walk more.  I had to admit I enjoyed sitting down to a leisurely lunch after all was said and done...

I think part of it was just getting out of the house, being active, and talking to people... that was actually nice, and in some ways I do miss it...though it would have been nice if the Nationall Guard had shown up...

Friday Night Blogs

So...it's been a long and interesting week -- mainly lots of work -- and my plans to blog during the week went by the wayside, alas. Now it is a big Friday night home, albeit just like everyone else...

So, I was warching some of the "classic" Tribe games on STO during the week, just when taking breaks from work or while the coffee water was heating... I noticed during Len Barker's perfect game that Herb Score mentioned that the Tribe -- while John Mayberry was batting -- put three infielders on the left side... this was in 1981 (one of my coworkers asked me if he was related to John Mayberry Jr., which made me laugh).  They didn't really show the positioning, but it looked more like Kuiper was at normal 2B and the SS was at the bag, not like now where the 2B is in LF.  But, it was a shift.

I also noted how little information was given in the 1990 games... I mean, no Statcast or Pitch FX; barely a radar gun, and just batting average, HR, and RBI.. such dark ages!

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/03/24/exclusive-hhs-secretary-alex-azar-lays-out-how-trump-will-defeat-coronavirus-invisible-enemy-reopen-america/
Interesting, but....maybe? I don't know, what I read and what I hear... well, that is the problem, albeit a minor one, if you get my drift...

Making Up For Lost Posts

I wouldn't say that I am bored, but it is a little...trying, if you will, to be able to catch up on all the stuff I normally don't have time to do.  Right now the magazine pile is slowly falling away, some accumulated emails are dropping, and some articles I have linked are being read and deleted.  This is good!  And, I went out and found some TP today, so it was a double plus.  I am, of course, still opposed to this shelter-in-place nonsense we are all in, but... we survive.  It's funny; one of my coworkers made the point that he is always used to drinking coffee ready-made, and now he has to go through the motions of making it each time he wants some, and it is incredibly...taxing?

In the meantime, I did note that the Tribe made a series of roster moves, none of which really surprised me; Daniel Johnson went down, to save his service time, while Yu Chang was sent down, as Arroyo doesn't have any options.  I for one would like to see what he can do; I get the feeling he is stretched at SS, and there is not exactly a lot of ABS for backup INFs on the roster, but if he can hit... I wonder how long of a leash Hernandez will have, or, for that matter, when Lindor gets traded.

I got a kick out of how the sports channels are running horse racing -- where it is still going on -- to fill the time and of course we in Ohio shut them down. I don't know; it's not essential, but it also doesn't require that many people to pull off, and 1) if people are betting online, the state is going to gettings its share, and 2) it would be a good opportunity to get people looking at the sport, and maybe liking it?

Week-long Update

Well, this past week has been...exciting?  Ridiculous? I mean, I understand caution, but we are driving ourselves into a recession here, with people getting thrown out of work and on the dole... I guess my feelings are -- and I have sensed a libertarian wing that agrees with  me -- 1) People can decide for themselves what the risks are and if they are appropriate; 2) Our medical systems are far better evolved than the last pandemic; and 3) The cure being worse than the disease puts in a worse state than we were previously, and how does that help anyone...

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/03/26/what-do-the-hohenzollerns-deserve/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Interesting...

On the bright side -- even if there is a shortened season --the starting rotation should be healthy; I fully expect Carrasco and Clevinger to be in form, which should help.  Claess will heal, partially, which should help the bullpen, to say nothing of mitigate the burn of the Kluber trade. 

I went shopping today -- 7 AM -- and not only was there a line, but I was the youngest one, too... which seemed odd, as I am not quite so young anymore.  I was surprised about the lack of bread and paper products, but it did seem that they had enough of everything else, which was not the worst thing in the world.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/09/trump-team-policy-border-china-tax-124166
I flagges this because, well, I don't exactly see the WH as doing anything to achieve short term goals, but, if you think about this, this is the sort of stuff that could be done and if you are, now is the time.  I don't necessarily object to these things, but again, destroying the market now isn't the best approach.

Weekend Update

Not that I want this to be a weekly thing, but... as always, life intervenes.  In the meantime, this -- March Madness -- is one of my favorite times of the year. As I told Mom... the mid-major conference tourneys, winning and losing is the difference the Big Dance and a long vacation. And considering how few of these kids will play beyond this level...well, it can be a special time.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/coach-k-goes-off-at-dukes-social-media-critics-come-into-cameron-and-look-up-in-the-ceiling/
This seems a little...much, don't you think?

Is it me, but has the Democratic field winnowed too early?  I mean, for the GOP it has, and the Biden renaissance, for better or worse, has been an issue, as I think he is the one who can beat Trump by appealing to his voters; not that he wins them but that he wins enough of them... I am not sure that the Bernie magic can return in the Midwest -- it will have to if he wants to win, but... I suspect electability is the theme of the day...

The Weekend Update

It's time for the now (sigh) weekly blog post... anyways, I watched "Before Stonewall," a look at LGBT life pre-1969, which takes me to 717 on the National Film Registry.... it was...ok?  Interesting, in some ways, of course, in how the public perceived gay life and how it was lived back then...

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/can-cleveland-afford-francisco-lindor/
I think this is largely correct, but no one in their right mind would ever think the Tribe would do it...

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2020/2/19/21052356/norman-rockwell-the-problem-we-all-live-with-saturday-evening-post

Interesting; I actually had to look up the "Murder in Mississippi" picture, as I had never heard of it... Of course, Vox also had to have an article explaining to people the concept of fasting, so....

In the meantime, another Duke loss... to be sure, losing at the buzzer to UVA on the road is hardly a fatal thing, but it does bode poorly, and I can't see them any higher than a 3-line, barring an impressive run through the ACC Tourney...which I also do not see.

So, sleepy Joe woke up and won a primary... I am not sure it changes the trajectory of the race, per se -- winning what you are supposed to isn't exxactly a miracle -- but it did give him some delegates and some mo for Tuesday.  I, of course, want this to go on as long as possible...as for a brokered convention, I am not sure... I mean, in this day and age the smoke-filled room is a thing of the past, so the drama would be intense, but I also suspect that at the end of the day they would pick a better alternative to Bernie, and that would it harder for Trump to win...