Bfth's Boring Blog

I gave a reflection at church on Sunday about unexpectedness.  I had not expected to speak on Sunday.  And I found a parallel in the teachings of Christ.  (To see what I said see:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/unexpected.html )  I was still at the church (though now working in the thrift shop) when I saw that I had missed a call from my husband.  He didn't leave a message, so I called him back.  And he gave me some more unexpected news; news that nearly made me drop to the ground.  Our good friend Ed had died. Despite the fact that Ed had been battling cancer for more years than I can remember, the news was shocking; like being punched in the gut.  As the news traveled around our social circle, everyone was stunned.  Ed was larger than life...he was outgoing in the best of ways.  He was everybody's friend; the uncle that you wished you had.  As far as I can recall he was always upbeat and positive; ...

Note:  Sometimes I have filled in as guest speaker at my church.  On Friday, I was asked to fill in at the last minute.  The service had already been established and a reflection was offered for me to read.  But this unexpected request got me thinking and the result is below:  Scripture: John 12:20-33  20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and whe...

  What is wrong with this picture?  If this were pre-2020 the answer would be absolutely nothing.  But this isn't pre-2020.  This was this morning.  This man works for  Entenmann's ; or at least he's a driver/stocker for the company.  (He's stocking their baked goods.)  It's March 2021.  We are a year into the pandemic.  We are making progress towards getting everyone vaccinated, but as Dr. Anthony Fauci (and if you don't know who he, where have you been for the past year?) even with vaccinations going strong, we still need to wear masks.  (Side note:  Anthony Fauci is an EXPERT in his field, which is why I listen to him and respect his advice.  I wouldn't take medical advice from a tax expert and I wouldn't take tax advice from the person who cuts my hair.  On the other hand, I wouldn't ask Anthony Face for tax advice or have him cut my hair.  When you are getting information you need to go to the experts in the...

 Since I've been working from home for a year and not really going on vacations, you'd think I'd get things done that needed to be done.  You might imagine that I would actually clean my house more (dusting, mopping and vacuuming for example).  You would be wrong.  Even though I'm physically here and I COULD take time during the day (since I'm not taking a coffee break to talk to coworkers or going out for lunch), I haven't.  Yes, I am shamed...no it isn't changing. I could have had the house fixed up a bit more.  I did have the downstairs painted ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-virus-diary-moving-downstairs.html  will take you down that rabbit hole) and I had wanted to do more.  I HAD wanted to fix up the patio since we were spending more time outside.  That didn't happen as none of the contractors/companies that I reached out to followed up.  (One guy never even called me back!)  Out of 6 or 7 attempts, I got th...

 Well last year St. Patrick's Day was a little strange.  ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2020/03/st-patricks-day-2020-view-from-shoprite.html ) It was the first "holiday" during the pandemic.  The year before my son and I had marched in the Morristown St. Patrick's Day parade with our fellow Civil War reenactment group.    It  had been a beautiful warm day and I thought it would be a tradition that we would keep.  I signed us up for the 2020 parade, but you can guess what eventually happened.  I had hoped that this year might be different but... Obviously that didn't happen, but I still want to keep the St. Patrick's Day spirit alive.  So yes, I am dressed head to toe in green.    We need to find fun and joy wherever we can. To that end, I have a corned beef ready to cook this afternoon.  I made one last week too (because when it's on sale,you NEED to buy it) and we had an early St. Patrick's Day meal on Sunday.  I...

  Today is March 12, 2021.  Exactly one year ago today (which was a Thursday), I spent my last day in an office.  It was the last time I saw most of the people I worked with.  When I packed up my things at the end of the day, my intent was to work from home on Friday and come back on Monday.  (Although with the news about the pandemic, I wasn't too thrilled with the prospect, but...)  Now a year later, the office is closed and I continue to work from home.  That can be challenging at times, but it also has its benefits.  I can run a load of laundry while I work and break for 5 minutes to fold it and put it away when I am done.  For as difficult as things have been and in some cases continue to be, I am still working.  I may not see them, but I still work with some really great people.  I have weekly chats with people and in many ways I am getting to know them better than I did before.  And that's good news.   Good n...

I'm reading that today, March 11th, marks the one year anniversary of the "lock down;" or today is the day that we (America?) went into serious mode.  Or maybe it was a year ago that we realized (or were forced to realize) that this was not a drill; this was the real thing (it IS the real thing.)  I realize that there are some people out there who STILL don't believe in Covid-19 and who STILL won't do what needs to be done to keep our world safe (social distancing, masks, vaccinations, etc.) On March 11, 2020, I was writing about touching my face.  You weren't supposed to touch your face.  I still do.  (It's an unconscious thing.)  You weren't supposed to shake hands.  (I never imagined that elbow or fist bumping would become such a thing.)  You washed your hands.  You washed your hands for at least 20 seconds.  I remember a bunch of us standing in the ladies room with the water running washing our hands for much longer than we ever woul...

Everyone's still talking about the Meghan/Harry interview that Oprah did on Sunday night.  It's been the leading news on CBS for two mornings now.  (The fact that the interview ran on CBS might have something to do with it.)  I thought I'd add my own thoughts because why not? Let me backtrack and say that I have a slight fascination with the Royals.  Like many things in life, it ebbs and flows.  When Charles and Diane married I was seriously obsessed.  I had magazines and books (no social media yet).  I got up early (because back then I was a teen and didn't get up early like I do now) on a summer day to watch the wedding. (On a black and white tv no less!)  I, like many other Anglophiles, followed her new life unfold.  I remember the births of William and Harry.  I had a sheep sweater similar to the one she had worn before she got married.  (If you don't know what I'm talking about Google it...if you do you'll know that I ru...

 On This Day In History:  March 8, 2020:  Bfth gets her hair professionally cut and colored. Why is this an historical event?  Ok, it's NOT an historical event, but it is the last time that I got my hair cut and colored professionally.  Since that date I have gotten my hair professionally cut once and I have lightened my hair (thank you Sun In), but not both. In some ways this date marks the end of an era.  I know that seems overly dramatic and probably is, but... J, who used to cut and color my hair, only had an opening on Sunday morning.  I had wanted to have an appointment later in the month; closer to Easter and other planned social events.  However, his calendar was booked, so I took it.  He wore a mask as he did his work.  He said he hoped I didn't mind.  I didn't.  I got it; sort of.  It seemed overkill to me.  (What a fool!)  We chatted as usual as he worked his magic.  And about two hours...

  It's the first Friday of March 2021.  I've been doing a lot of  reminiscing  recently.  I think back to the first Friday of March 2020.  Then my son would have been performing in his first high school musical.  Friday would have been the 2nd performance of the show.  This mom was at all four performances, handling ticket sales at each one. There were lots of dollar bills being handled by my bare hands.  It was well attended.  No one wore masks.  Why would they?  I hugged people.  Why wouldn't I? My son was going out with fellow cast members/friends every night and there was a big cast party on Saturday night/closing.  I remember thinking back then that it was really too early for a "spring" musical, but then again the next (extended) weekend would be the music trip to Cleveland and since most of the cast was involved in that I could see why it had to be done so early.  I never thought that the trip would be can...

 Now that we've hit March 2021 and we've been in pandemic mode for just about a year (for me pandemic mode starts on the 13th), I find myself looking back more and more on what the beginning of this month looked like for me in 2020. On this day in 2020 I was blogging about a digital photo frame that I had in my cubicle.  A year ago I was working in an office and couldn't imagine anything else.  While I worked from home on occasion (and was something I appreciated), the routine was to hop in my SUV and deal with early morning traffic,  What a pain traffic was, especially as I got closer to the city (even though I never really got close to the city.)  Getting to the office suite meant leaving the house by 7:30 or so.  It's been a year and its funny how the daily routine has faded in my memory.  I know I would try to find a "good" parking space near the front door.  (The building was on marshland and there were places that you definitely did not want...

  We've entered March 2021.  It's been a year since this madness began and while there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, it's still a long way until we emerge from that tunnel into the light of day.  While everyone who wants a vaccine MAY be able to get one by the end of the summer, we also may be wearing masks into 2022. (Don't get me started on those who STILL won't wear them or wear them PROPERLY...why is it so difficult for the man who stocks the frozen veggie aisle at Shoprite to put it over his damned nose?) It's been almost a year since our school system went into limbo.  March 13, 2020 was the last day of what used to be normal.  Although that was not completely normal as it turned into a half day and everything from lockers had to be removed.  There would be two "snow" days to set up a remote system and the (wrong) assumption that things would go back to normal in 2 weeks.  We all know that it didn't happen.  Remote learning w...