Bfth's Boring Blog

Let me start by saying back in 2007, I was THRILLED that Verizon, specifically Verizon FiOS was being offered in our area.  Since the dawn of time (that would probably be around 1995), I had been a Comcast customer and their custom service stunk (big time).  I was so HAPPY to have a choice of providers when it came to cable, internet AND phone.  It may be hard to believe it now, but this was a BIG deal.  There was a waiting list to get FiOS installed.  (Can you believe it?  A WAITING list?)  I believe we were the second house on the block to get it that spring. I sang the praises of Verizon...they were great! Leap forward to May 2021.  I've done a complete turnabout.  I've been a loyal customer (and not just to FiOS).  I've always paid my bill on time. (Which of course has gone up over the years; as of today $100 more than when I started keeping records in 2009 and no, I am not getting any enhanced services, as a matter of fact quite the opposite.) As I previously mention

  9 people dead in San Jose as the result of a shooting...let's do nothing 52 mass shooting in the US in April 2021 with a total of 64 deaths...let's do nothing 615 total mass shooting in the US in 2020 with a total of 512 dead...let's do nothing 26 dead and 26 injured in El Paso August 2019 in a hate crime shooting targeting Hispanic immigrants...let's do nothing 17 dead and 17 injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day 2018...let's do nothing.    61 dead and 411 injured; shot while attending an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017...let's do nothing. 50 dead and 53 injured at a mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida...let's do nothing. That's just five years of random data.  There's much, much more...but let's do nothing San Bernardino, CA 2015 Montgomery County, PA 2014 Washington, DC 2013 Newtown, CT (Sandy Hook Elementary School) 2012 Tucson, AZ 2011 Ten years...let's still

  If it hadn't been on the news this morning (and earlier in the week), I probably would not have realized that today is the 1st anniversary of George Floyd's death.  It's not necessarily something I want to remember, but it's something I need to remember.  His death and the protests that followed are an important part of history.   History is something we all need to learn about and learn from.  I used to think I had a pretty good handle on American history.  I DID have a good amount of knowledge of what I was taught.  However, history lessons cannot end with high school or college.  History goes on.  History is made daily.  I owe it to myself to continue my education and learn more about the world that I live in, even without a classroom. It's also important to acknowledge that history lessons cannot just come from one textbook. Too often in the past (which is all I can speak to since I am no longer in a classroom) history was presented in an exclusive (and NOT in

  I'm having a bad day.  Not a terrible day.  No one is sick or dead or injured.  There have been no major catastrophes (yet...maybe I shouldn't have said that).  Today is just a bad day. It started before I even got up.  I had one of those really weird dreams that when you wake up makes you will ill at ease, strange and uncomfortable.  It's a type of dream that I've had before.  That I've lost a baby/child that I am looking after for some reason.  Sometimes the child is mine; but most of the times it's not.  The child just disappears.   But before the child or baby disappears, it gets smaller.  I know that makes no sense but it is a dream (and God knows I have strange ones) and while I know I am looking after a child, the child may start out child sized, but then becomes pea sized. So this "pea" vanishes and I'm in a panic.  Then I wake up.  So is anyone out there well versed in dream interpretation?  I'm sure someone could have a field day. I

 You can take your mask off.  Well you can take your mask off IF you've been fully vaccinated.  I hope you ARE or WILL BE fully vaccinated because we've been in this lock down for so long that it's time we took control.  Get vaccinated and get out there.  Breathe a sigh of relief and hug somebody if you're vaccinated.  Shout hoorah! Going mask less is going to be a little strange a first.  So will be putting on makeup again.  Especially putting on lipstick.   I don't know about you, but since March of 2020, I really haven't been putting on much.  Every day prior to March 13th, I'd get up, wash, blow dry and style my hair, get dressed and put on some makeup.  Then I was off.  With the shut down, I still got up.  I washed my hair, but I rarely styled it. I got dressed, but pretty casually.  (I didn't wear pjs or sweats, but I was into leggings and jeans)   The makeup pretty much stayed in the cabinet.  Even when I went out, the makeup was minimal.  Lipstic

  When my son was a baby it seemed like he got vaccinated constantly.  Of course we were going to the doctor for checkups constantly.  It was part of life when he was an infant and then a toddler.  There was DTaP, MMR, IPV poliovirus...the list goes on and on.  My husband was smart enough to keep record of it all and scan.  When I started writing this I wondered how many and how often and because of his meticulous record keeping I had it had my fingertips.  He's gotten a lot of vaccines over the years. It was never fun.  He didn't like getting shots in his (then) cubby thighs.  Who would?  But it was important.  It was vital.  And while he was a sobbing mess for a while, it passed. I'd wait nervously to see if he had any reaction.  To see if he got sick.  As far as I can recall he didn't.  (I could have forgotten, but I think you wouldn't forget that kind of thing.)  As a mom you worry.  You always worry. When he got to nursery school, he did get sick a lot.  Or at

  Yesterday was our town council election.  One of the coolest/nicest things about this local election is that no parties are involved.  The candidates represent their ideas and values and not what a party wants.  To me, it seems as if more and more elected representatives are led by the parties they are affiliated with and NOT by the needs of the people.  Certainly the candidates for the town council have political affiliations, but they are not part of this race.  Candidates have to stand on their own two feet and have their own ideas. I like that.  I want to see more of that and not just on a local level.  I think that's one of the reasons that I am so passionate about our local elections. (Even though I would NEVER want to be an elected official.  For me it would be too much pressure and stress; where every move you make is wrong in some way, even when you know in your heart it is right.) In general, at the local level (or at least my local level), the candidates truly DO hav

 While Mother's Day weekend might not have been the best for me, I do have to unequivocally say it was much better than last year. It was a crazy busy one for me and my family starting on Thursday, which was opening night for the spring musical.  YES!  The high school theater group managed to pull off a live production.  And it was indeed a labor of love for all involved.  The director (English teacher) pulled together the "usual" conductor/vocal teacher and choreographer and together they came up with a cabaret style show which highlighted musicals through the ages.  They cast remotely.  They rehearsed outdoors (in masks).  They secured an outdoor theater venue.  They were only able to rehearse in the actual space for 3 days prior to the show and then they went live for three nights.  They worked through technical mishaps and dueling geese.  They froze.  (Who imagined it would so cold in May?  On closing night I dug out my winter parka and was still cold sitting there. 

Wednesday, May 5th was the first day of school ...again.  It was the first day of school where there would be school every day for a full (ish) day. (It was actually my son's girlfriend's first FULL day of high school...she's a freshman had never spent the whole day in the school building.)  What does that really mean?  It means that my son will be going to school in person every day.  Starting at 8:15 Monday, Wednesday and Friday (7:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when he has choir, which is going to be KILLER) he will have four classes.  Then there will be a break from 11:50 to 1:10 for lunch.   Lunch cannot be eaten IN school.  Students must go out to a designated area outside to eat.  But that doesn't work when it rains.  When it rains, students need to leave the campus and (it is assumed) go home.  In the past, if it rained for lunch everyone went home and the rest of the day (two additional classes from 1:10 to 2:50) was completely remotely.  However, starting on

  It's that time again; time to cast my vote.  Wait!  Isn't the election over; don't we have a new president and new representatives in Congress?  We do.  But I'm not talking nation; I'm talking local.  I'm talking VERY local.  In my neck of the woods it's time for vote for town council Maybe you think that's not important.  I feel that it's very important; this is my town and the people on the council can have a real impact on my life and my community/environment. I'm not going to tell you WHO I am voting for (although if you outright ask I will) because for most people reading this it doesn't matter.  They are just names.  For me, however, they are people and the people that I chose to run and nurture the town I live in.  For that reason, I take this election very seriously.   It's NOT a popularity contest (let's leave that back in the high school).  The number of lawn signs or posters do not matter to me (although they are importan

  I drink wine.  I like wine.  I am not a wine snob.  As a matter of fact if you were going to rate wine drinkers I'd be down on the low "trashy" side.  No, I'm not drinking it out of the bottle, but I DO drink inexpensive and generally sweet/fruity wines.  I also like to purchase local wines when I can; I try to buy from NJ (Tomasello's Ranier Red) and NY (Sweet Walter White). However, sometimes I can't find those so I purchase from (for lack of better term and to play on the title of this post) "big box" wineries like  Barefoot .   When it comes to white wines, I am a fan of Riesling and for my taste and wallet, Barefoot has a pretty good one.  Because I need to be economical, when I purchase Barefoot Riesling, I tend to buy the bigger bottle, or in this case the box.  (Yes, BOX!)  It fits well in my little refrigerator.  Plus you can squeeze out every drop from the "bag" inside the box when you get down to the very end.  (I don't w

        Truer words could not be spoken and Heraclitus (probably) said this around 500 BC.  That's a LONG time ago and yet they still apply.  Perhaps they apply now more than ever! I feel like it really applies to my family right now.  Just last week I wrote about t he last quarter of the school year .  The final quarter of 2020-2021 started on Thursday, the 22nd.  Now he could go in for a full day (with lunch outside the school) every other day.  So he had a "real" day on Friday, the 23rd, Tuesday the 27th and Thursday the 29th. (We actually thought the 29th might turn into a partial day because if it rains, everyone has to leave for lunch and not return.) It went well.  It went so well that... Starting next Wednesday, he (and all those who chose to go in for a full day) will be going in EVERY single day!  (Again, lunch will have to be outside.)  It's almost like what school USED to be; except not every student will be there (because remote is still an option as well