Bfth's Boring Blog

  I am really frustrated, annoyed and angry and to be clear this response is totally selfish.  I am pissed off with the resurgence of Covid-19 cases, not because people are getting ill (When they didn't have to because there IS a vaccine which is available here in the USA for EVERYONE over the age of 12.)  I am pissed off not because people are needlessly dying. (Death due to Covid for a vaccinated person IS possible, but the chances are incredibly slim.  As of the end of July the rates of death among fully vaccinated people with COVID-19 were effectively zero (0.00%) in all but two reporting states, Arkansas and Michigan where they were 0.01%.  This data comes from the Kaiser Family Foundation.)  I am not pissed off because those who CHOOSE not to get vaccinated or follow CDC recommendations like wearing a mask are draining our healthcare providers who have been working their asses off for over a year and half.  All of these are valid reasons to ...

  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...