A little humor

Through these trying times, you have to have a little humor. If you don't, you'll drive yourself crazy. How much TV can a person watch? How much internet can a person surf? How many crosswords can a person do? We have another month of this stay-at-home order.

And the beat goes on...

The Corona Virus crisis continues, and it looks like we may be in quarantine, and adhering to stay at home orders for another month. President Trump has recommended we continue to practice "Social Distancing" until at least April 30th. That means everything except essential businesses will continue to be shut down. Shortages on cleaning and hygiene products, canned goods, and meat at grocery stores will likely continue. Most of us will be cooped up inside our homes except for necessary trips to the grocery store, or to get some exercise.

Let's hang in there, everybody. We can do this!

The Kitchen

Body Cameras

This is no longer necessary. Now that kids are home for school, the parents are seeing first hand what their kids are like. By most accounts I've read, things are not going well, and parents have a new found appreciation for what teachers do.

Faux-pening Day

What is usually one the greatest days of the year, is now quite a sad one. Today was supposed to be Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds. Instead we are battling the Corona Virus, and are quarantined inside our homes. I love baseball. I mean I really, really love baseball and this is hugely disappointing to me. However, I am not an unfeeling, cold-hearted person. I realize people are sick, and even dying. I realize millions of people have lost their jobs due to this crisis. Therefore, missing out on Opening Day pales in comparison to serious matters related to COVID 19.

So... keeping things in perspective, I will say to Opening Day... I can wait and I will wait expectantly. Looking forward to getting back to normal life.

So today is not Opening Day... It's Faux-pening Day!

Working from home

There's a new abbreviation out there... WFH. That's Working From Home. Most of our nation is doing just that. Working remotely or working from home. I have been teaching my students remotely through a platform called Google Classroom for the last week and a half. It's actually quite cool! Tami just started working from home today. Here she is doing an awesome job taking calls from customers. And I must say, I have only been listening to her field phone calls for a few hours, but she is a wonderful customer service representative. I have been highly impressed watching her in action. We are thankful this morning that God has continued to bless us. In a time when people in our nation are getting laid off from their jobs left and right, our family has fared quite well. Tami and I are still working and earning income. Kerry, Toni, Thomas, Abby, and Michael are still working too.

Soli Deo Gloria
(To God alone be the glory!)

LOCKDOWN!

Lockdown. Shelter-in-place. Stay at home order. Healthy at Home. Mandatory quarantine...

Call it whatever you like, but everybody in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana has been ordered to stay at home. There are exceptions of course. Trips to the grocery store or pharmacy. Traveling to and from work. Trips to check on family members. Outdoor exercise (taking walks, jogging, yard work, hiking etc...)is permitted as long as social distancing practices are adhered to. Trips to pick up essential items such as hardware, and booze (yes, liquor stores are considered essential). Trips to the doctor or hospital etc...

Bottom line: People are holed up inside their homes, and are ordered to stay there unless they leave for one of the reasons listed above. This could go one of two ways. One- families will enjoy the opportunity for some extended together time. The busy-ness of life has been halted and families will be spending inordinate amounts of time together. Two- People will get sick-to-death of looking at each other, and will be at one another's throats. I honestly believe option number one will be the norm, but I'm sure there will be those cases where people simply cannot get along.

And as I mentioned in an earlier post. Don't be surprised if all this togetherness produces a mini baby boom 9 months from now. I predict the hospitals will be inundated with Christmas babies. In fact... Christmas is EXACTLY 9 months from today. Put one and one together, and many times that equals THREE!

I know the graphic below is make believe, but it sure is a funny way of illustrating my point.

The Olympics

The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan are being postponed until next year. It's disappointing, but understandable under the circumstances. I really enjoy the Olympics every 4 years.

Timber!

I spent part of my weekend taking down, and cutting up a medium size tree. Maple trees don't have Corona Virus. Working outside is safe.

Here's a photo of the trunk after all the branches were removed.

We went to church

In accordance with directives from President Trump, state and local authorities, our church cancelled Sunday services this week. We did this not out of fear, but because of what the Bible teaches in 1 Peter 2:13-14. It says, "Be subject for the Lords's sake to every human institution, whether it be emperor (i.e President), or to governors sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good". Did you notice what it said? Be subject to EVERY human institution, not just the one's you agree with. Our leaders have told us to avoid gatherings of more than 10, and that is exactly what we did.  However, we still "went to church". How? Well, we started our morning by watching a sermon online from one of our new favorite pastors, Voddie Bauchum.

Then we made a couple of omelettes for breakfast while we waited for our home church to livestream a sermon. At 10:30, right on schedule, our pastor preached a sermon from our church in front of empty pews. It was very strange, and we missed worshiping corporately with our church family, but at least we were able to hear a message from the Word of God. I pray this all ends soon, and we can get back to going to church, and not sitting on our couch watching a livestream.

The Claw

Arcades sure have changed during this Corona Virus crisis.

The crisis continues

The Corona Virus crisis continues. Grocery retailers report there is plenty of food and other essentials in the supply line. They also report that empty shelves are due to hoarders buying so much more than they'll ever need. If people would just settle down, keep their heads, and exercise some common sense, we wouldn't be facing these shortages.

Welcome Sweet Springtime

At 11:49 tonight, spring arrives. I can never welcome spring without thinking of this classic. Welcome sweet springtime indeed!

I struck GOLD

As the Coronavirus crisis continues, I've heard Fort Knox moved all the gold bars out of their vaults and replaced them with toilet paper. Here's a photo:

Speaking of TP--- I struck gold today! Thank you, Lawrenceburg Kroger!

And since we are no longer on the gold standard, but on the toilet paper standard, signs like these are now popping up:

Still Working

Last week the governor of Ohio closed all public and private schools for three weeks. Everyone's first thought is probably, Woohoo! Vacation for students and teachers. That is not accurate at all. We, as teachers, have been charged with continuing education through this crisis. So, here's how it looks. Each student will be given a folder with enough paper/pencil assignments to last through this time off. Also, most of our learning can be done online through "Google Classroom". I am also expected to maintain office hours Monday through Friday from 9-2. Students and parents can e-mail or text questions to me. This is not ideal for teaching, but the plan is to keep the students learning as best we can under these extremely unusual and trying circumstances. See the photo below of my work station for the next three weeks. For those wondering, I will be WORKING, and not viewing this as a vacation.

Bare Shelves

The grocery store shelves are getting bare. There is no beef (except super expensive steaks), no chicken, no canned goods, no potatoes, no onions, no toilet paper, no paper towels, no tissues. no peanut butter, no crackers.

I don't believe there will be long term shortages, but I do believe we may have to do without some things for a while. I have been joking that if the food supply runs out, I will feed my family by catching fish out of the lake. Thomas said he would bring his rifle over and shoot a deer for us. As long as we can hunt and fish, we won't starve.

Christmas Babies

All bars and restaurants are now closed in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana (drive thru and carryout still open). People are being encouraged to stay home. All schools, major sporting events, entertainment venues, and public places are shutting down. With all this self quarantining going on, I have a prediction. Look for a mini baby boom about nine months from now (which is right around Christmas). Mark my words... LOTS of Christmas babies this year.

The Gadsden Flag

I love the Gadsden flag. It represents everything I hold dear about our great nation.

Given the current situation in our country, I am thinking of buying this...

Joe Biden

Joe Biden is the frontrunner for the democratic nomination to run for President. I just have one question for the democrats... Is he the best you have? Really? REALLY?????

TP Crisis

Welcome to the great toilet paper crisis of 2020. People are hoarding toilet paper like it's the last basket of bread in a great Biblical famine.

The toilet paper shelves at all stores are completely BARE. Reports say this is the case all over the country. I have no idea if that's true, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Joking aside, last night Abby called and asked if we have any extra rolls of toilet paper. This shows you how ridiculous this whole "Toilet Paper Mass Hysteria" is. My daughter and her husband (who don't subscribe to the panic) can't even go to the grocery store to pick up a pack of toilet paper because people have LOST their minds and bought more than they would ever use. If people simply bought what they needed to get through this temporary crisis, there would be plenty of TP for everybody. But nooooooooooooo..... Some people have to buy 500 rolls for a family of 4. Gimme a break! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. If people used just a smidgen of common sense this wouldn't even be an issue.

TP

Are you stocked up on toilet paper? I hope so, because you can't find it at the grocery store. Below you will see photos of people at Costco buying as much as they can, and you will see the empty shelves at my local Kroger. This is crazy!