I much prefer to call the virus COVID-19 than the Coronavirus and definitely better than that idiotic Chinese Virus. I think it’s because of the added distance the code implies. In my mind, there could be a Mr. Corona Virus out there bopping around and getting picked on, hating his life.

Whereas COVID-19 could easily be an evil AI out to destroy us all or an alien monster-robot or … a killer virus released to infect everyone in order to blackmail the world for all of the money. Any time now, the Evil Genius responsible will reveal himself and make his demands known while dangling the antidote just… out of reach.

But overall the name change makes it much easier to hate the thing. COVID-19 you bastard!! You will never break us COVID-19!!

Hand editing

I am nearing the end of a rewrite and editing a particularly sticky scene. I’ve been struggling to reconcile with a previous scene and using my new laptop and my massive new monitor. However, I’ve found that the technology is getting in the way. I’m not a big fan of ebooks anyway and prefer the physical product in my hands. So, when it comes to editing I am still of the old school. I can write and do basic editing through a keyboard, but for deeper editing or reconciliation I really need a hardcopy to mark up and rifle through.

So, I currently have a print of the offending scenes on the desk in front of me and the electronic copy on the monitor.

I feel that I’m at the crossroads between technologies. Like when cars were first on the roads, but the roads weren’t up to snuff so horses were still used to get them out of the mud. Or when electronic calculators came out but the student still had to use a slide rule for trig functions.

Maybe someday I will get comfortable enough with technology to put down the pen and edit by electronic means only. But for now, I’ll stick to what works for me. And after last weekend’s laptop apocalypse, I know my pen and paper won’t die on me.

PS: I still own a slide rule!!

I am not all worked up about the virus at this point. I am just making other plans for my weekends because concerts are now frowned upon. So, I guess I’ll just sit in my office and work on my book in the hope that people will still be around to read it.

Which is a legitimate concern when one is dealing with a pandemic. It’s not just a normal epidemic but pan-demic. Like comparing normal thin crust pizza to a pan-pizza!! One is most assuredly better than the other.

I just imagine a herd of closeted writers curled up in their rooms safe and sound and clicking away on their plague-punk novel that will be the hit of the post-demic world. I would read that. I am not going to write it though. There are others much more prepared to jump on that wagon.

So, we have entered the apocalypse and the stock market jumped off a cliff!

Well, shoot…

The ‘crisis’ has had little impact on our lives at this point. For the most part, we haven’t changed our daily life at all. Our social life was limited, to begin with, so there was little to change. I think I am washing my hands a bit more thoroughly than before, but not really more often. We have not ‘stocked up’ on anything. I can’t see us going through toilet paper or kleenex any faster than we usually do. And we’ve got stuff in the freezer, so that is not an issue.

Therefore, unless the world crashes and deliveries stop for months at a time, we should be fine.

I am watching the progression of the virus, though. We have a vacation to Egypt planned for December and I am concerned about our travel arrangements. I’m not really concerned about the health aspects of our travel; those are a secondary concern at this point. We are both healthy and not in a high-risk group. As long as we are conscious of our safety and use some safety measures, I think we should be fine. I’m certainly not going to worry. 

Overall, we have no plans to alter our lifestyle or travel plans to account for the virus. Things may change in the future, but at this time we are only slightly concerned.

Be safe everyone and Don’t Panic!!

My junk email has basically exploded in the last several months. I’m getting 300 junk emails a day! It’s all CBD supplements, erectile fixit pills, horny women, and Tinnitus – whatever that is. I also seem to have an issue with my US Bank/Chase/Target card that I didn’t know I had.

I am beginning to see this as a concerted marketing strategy. The advertising industry has made a career out of selling us things we didn’t realize we even needed. Now, they have taken it one step further and created an entire supply chain of interconnected products/services that support/lead to each other. Regardless of where you begin in the chain, you will be dragged kicking and screaming to them all. And the kicker is that you didn’t realize needed any of them.

Example: I’m feeling rather stressed and finally look at an email for CBD gummy bears and am convinced to give them a try. I purchase them with my Chase card, get mellow and kind of bunky at which time I contact a ‘horny local college student’ only to find out that I am too mellow to get it up for said ‘college student’, so I click on another email and purchase a years’ supply of Erect-ylanol on my USBank card. By this point, my Tinnitus is flaring up due to the screeching of my credit card bills and I am so stressed out that I need to upgrade to CBD-infused bubble bath to relax with my horny college girl and her mom. Now you might think that I have myself fixed up tight, but noooo….. It turns out that mom is still married. Luckily I just received a very timely email for Extreme Tactical Black Ops flashlights, which I, of course, purchase with my Chase card…

Now… you see what I mean.

I haven’t foggiest idea what an Extreme Tactical Black Ops flashlight can do, but I am very very sure they don’t allow you to put ‘Tactical’ on just any old flashlight. This ‘horny college student’s’ mom’s husband doesn’t know what he has coming.

WoooW…

This may be the CBD bubble bath talking, but I’m feeling like a psychic reading, right about now, and maybe a payday loan… hell, why not?

In the last few years, I have noticed small single-use bottles popping up everywhere. From alcohol sales to shampoo. My neighborhood is littered with them. It seems that the drunks can afford a handful of $.99 shots but not a full bottle. And they leave the detritus in my front yard.

Well, there is a growing pushback on the industry to limit the use of these bottles. And there seems to be some movement in the right direction.

Those Tiny Hotel Shampoo Bottles May Soon Be A Thing Of The Past