Bfth's Boring Blog

  I am not wealthy.  If you look at my salary, I'm barely middle class.  But I am a white woman (now an older white woman) in America and I'm am privileged. My life isn't perfect.  I have my share of frustrations and disappointments.  I complain and even bitch (probably too often).  But I am privileged. I should recognize and appreciate my privilege, but I don't always.  I forget how grateful I should be for all that I have as well as for what I don't. I particularly recognize my privilege this month, this week and today.  Why? Two weeks ago I was privileged enough to go to the lab (located in my physician's office) and have my blood drawn by a skilled and careful technician.   I went into a clean bathroom and peed into a cup.  I had electrodes carefully attached (and then removed) by a technician who was concerned about my comfort. Earlier this week I was privileged enough to see my physician (who I hadn't seen since December of 20...

  We WERE doing good.  No more masks. Indoor gathering restrictions were lifted.  Life was looking good. Today I can't say that.  Here in NJ, there has been an increase in Covid-19 cases.  (According to the data I'm looking at we've had a 198% increase over the past 14 days.)  That's not good. All over the country the numbers are increasing.  Is it time to put the mask back on?  Maybe. What the heck is going on?  We know that the new Delta variant (if you didn't know by now viruses are adaptable little buggers that mutate and change) is more contagious.  It's spread rapidly.  And that's obvious in the numbers.  83% of Covid cases in the US are of the Delta variant (at least as of last week according to The New York Times.) At 83%, it's the predominant strain and it seems to me that it's anxious to keep spreading as quickly and violently as it can. What can we do to protect ourselves?  As it has always been, wearing masks, ...

It's summertime. That means the windows are open at my house; getting the fresh air in and (hopefully) getting cool breezes.  I'm outside on my patio as much as possible, taking advantage of my new space. Of course that's been hard since it's been either so hot that you can’t move a fingernail without massive sweating or so chilly and damp that you don’t even want to leave the house or everything inside the house is damp due to the humidity.  With all that said, summer is for me about the great outdoors.  Sometimes the great outdoors actually makes its way in. An example of this is frequently it smelled in my home early (really early) in the morning. You know what I'm talking about!  It's that lovely scent of skunk!   I don't know what's going on in my backyard or my neighbor's backyard or the people across the street or the people down the block, but there is a skunk. A skunk likes to spray.  (Or at least it seems that way.)  I'm not sur...

  (If you heard the McCartney song playing in your head when you saw the title of this post; kudos to you and if we aren't already friends we probably should be!) I am officially an old lady.  I'll even go a step farther, I have become a crotchety old lady.  (How the heck did that happen?) What was my benchmark to determine this status?  I went to the NJ shore this weekend and there were just too many people.  To top it off, there were really too many disrespectful people. Now I realize that is the height of summer.  There are going to be a LOT of people no matter where you go on the Jersey Shore.  I get that.  I spent most of the summers of my youth (and I know that was a LONG time ago) at the NJ shore, so I KNOW that it's a busy place from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  I expect it.  And for the life of the area, I know it can be good for the area.  However, I think it's gone a bit too far. I can't speak for all of the NJ shore,...

 I just finished watching the final episode of  Bosch  the other night.  Yes, it's been out since June 25th, but before watching the new (final) 7th season, I wanted to go back and watch the previous 6 seasons.  (This is something I don't usually do.  It's got to be a really good/riveting series for me to sit down and seriously focus.   Bosch  ticks off that box for me.)  I wanted to savor every episode before viewing this new season, which I hoped would be amazing.  Alert:  it was!  In my mind I have ranked all 7 seasons of the show and from best to worst (with "worst" still being pretty darned good) it would go:  7, 2, 4, 3, 1, 6, and 5. (Feel free to discuss why I am right or wrong.) The thing is as anxious as I was to get down to season 7, I also wanted to hold off.  This is it.  The end of the series.  Yes, I know that there will be another series with some of the characters down the road.  ...

  WHY haven't you gotten your Covid-19 vaccination?  (And if you have you can skip this whole thing if you want...I won't be too disappointed.) Vaccines work!  Yes, there is the miniscule possibility that it won't work for you.  Just like there is a one in a million (or more) chance that you will have a life altering reaction.  (I'm not talking about just getting sick with chills, fevers, aches, etc.)  I will not say that there is absolutely no risk in getting this vaccine (or any vaccine for that matter), but the odds are lower than low that you will. Getting the vaccine protects YOU.  You are saving your own life.  Getting the vaccine protects your family, your friends and total strangers.  Getting the vaccine protects those who are unable to get one that this time; like children under the age of 12.  (Hopefully that will change because children really need to be protected.)  If you saw a child drowning, would you jump in a pool t...

 I just finished a fascinating book.  It wasn't long.  It had photos. I wish I could share it with all of you, but I can't because it's not readily available.  It's the insightful self published The Heyer Family Camping Journal:  A Diary And Photographs of Their Four Month Cross-Country Journey In 1921 . Full disclosure:  I received a personalized copy of this book at no charge (although I TRIED to pay) and I know the editor/publisher.  (In the days prior to Covid, we used to sing in our church choir.)  I admit I'm completely biased.  However, if I didn't think the book/journal was worth talking about I wouldn't be writing this.  Over the years I have gotten complimentary copies of books.  When they are worth talking about; I talk.  When they are not I just shut my mouth. This spiral bound journal is obviously a labor of love by Charles Heyer, who's grandfather was the brains (and brawn) behind the journal and the trek from New...

Creator of all,  As darkness descends Let the worries of the day end Release this day Let tension go away Fill my heart with love My mind be calm My body at rest My spirit at peace Fill all hearts with love Let all minds be calm May all bodies at rest And all spirits at peace Let go and be refreshed Refresh and renew my soul Amen

 My "Aunt" Julie is turning 95 today.  It's okay to say that.  It's not a secret.  As a matter of fact she's throwing herself a bash this weekend to celebrate her birthday as well as the 25th anniversary of her ordination.  Yes, she became an ordained minister when she was 70 years old.  That's an amazing feat; not because of the work that she did, but because of all the hoops she had to jump through as a woman and an "older" woman at that.  But that's a story for another time.  It's definitely a time for celebration.  But it's also a time that is tinged with sadness.  Not for Julie, but for the friends (who consider her family) here in New Jersey, as she has decided to leave the town where she has lived for over half a century and return to her hometown.  Some people have questioned this decision.  I don't.  Julie is a woman who knows what she wants. She listens with her heart.  She makes decisions with well thought ...

  I couldn't sleep last night.  It's not because it was too hot (although it was) or that I had too much caffeine to drink (I didn't). It was because of my husband.  Not that he was snoring because he was awake.  And it's not because his reading light was too bright or his headphone music too loud.  It was because he was mad...and he was (rightfully) venting.  But I just wanted to sleep.  (I really like sleep.) Why was he so mad?  Because he got a notification that his package had been delivered and was in the mailbox.  Guess what?  It wasn't!  Because it had been delivered to a mailbox in the next town over.   This is not the first time it has happened.  The SAME thing happened to me less than 7 months ago:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2021/01/serious-problemspetty-problems.html .  Which is why I TRIED to get him to calm down.  (Spoiler alert, I didn't really succeed.) In my part of the ...

I went for my morning walk today, as I do most mornings.  I was listening to the 2nd season of the podcast,  The Plot Thickens  (I recommend it if you are fascinated by the behind the scenes movie stuff.)  I was approaching my  favorite bagel place  which is approximately a mile away from my house. I didn't hear the app "voice" tell me that I had gone a mile in x minutes.  (And the x is getting longer; those 17 minute miles are a thing of my past.)  I pulled out my phone (which is a pain when you are using hand weights) and saw that although I had opened the app, I hadn't started it.  This bothered me.  This is the 2nd time over the past 3 days that the app hasn't recorded my mileage correctly.  On Sunday I had started the app, but somehow it had gotten paused and I didn't notice it and again it wasn't until I had gone to what I figured was about a mile and hadn't heard the voice that I caught the problem.  It's not the error i...

  I had a wonderful holiday weekend...I did nothing. Maybe it's a sign of old age.  Maybe it's just that work has been really crazy as we wrapped up the month and ended the second quarter of the year. (Each time the quarter close seems to get more and more complicated.)  Maybe it's because I spent too many hours during the hot portion of last week "stuck" in the home office with the portable air conditioner droning around me.  (Please don't get me wrong, I am so thankful that we have this unit.  It's just that the way the room is situated, I sit right next to it and sitting next to any type of running electrical unit can get under your skin.)  The heat of last week was draining.  The sudden cool (I'd say cold, but it wasn't) was shocking.  (It was 87 downstairs in my house on Thursday night, by Saturday morning it was 67. Remember there are no air conditioning units there.  Just open windows and fans.) So when the 4th of July came around and ...