The Mail Is Here !

Other than greeting cards or checks of any type, the best thing to come in the mail is a seed catalog at the end of the year.  Time to start planning the garden!

Skylar Mack

 

Stop crying about your four month (now two) sentence for breaking CoVid quarantine.  Instead they should have sentenced you to a year working in an IU.

   

And forget about asking Trump for help.  The only way he is going to lift a finger to help you is if you can supply him with a fool-proof way to overthrow the election.

A CoVid Christmas

 

Three Christmas trees, two Yule Logs, and no fireplace.

R.I.P. Larry Dixon

Former Alabama state senator, Larry Dixon, a Republican, died of Covid-19 last week at age 78.  His last words were "We messed up. We let our guard down."

   

DUH.  REALLY!?!?!

An Easy Decision

I'm really getting tired of people (you listening C.C.?) saying that they are fatigued from having to follow the pandemic guidelines.  Well, you know what?  What you do now is quite easy.  It's your choice.  Do you want to follow the guidelines and LIVE?  Or do you want to crawl into a coffin and DIE? 

The Great White Hunter

The Great White Hunter reached his limit in Florida's CoVid hunting season.  Over a million infected and almost 19,000 dead.  But he wanted more.  His hunting license wasn't valid in other states but that didn't stop him.  He took his hunting party north to poach in the state of New Jersey.  Fortunately, he was expelled before he took even more lives. 

Whose Family?

 I have always loved my Oreos.  Chocolate filled, double stuffed, etc.  Lately they have been coming out with new flavors.  I have already tried Carrot Cake and Caramel Coconut.  I prefer the latter.

Today I bought Mint and Dark Chocolate.  Both are very good.  But I noticed that the packages were labeled as "Family Size".  But the Mint was 1 lb 4 oz and the Dark Chocolate was 1 lb 1 oz.  Shouldn't they be the same?  Or are they targeting different size families?

Me And George

George Clooney reveals that he has been cutting his own hair for 25 years.  I am at about 30 years now (I could get the exact date with some research).  I use standard barber clippers instead of a Flowbee. 

A Thanksgiving Run

     

Today was a beautiful day for my daily run.  Shorts on Thanksgiving.  A nice 5 mile run in the mid 60s with a slight wind.  I built up a nice appetite for my turkey dinner that I waited four hours in a food bank line to get.

There were very few people out to encounter during the run.  They had already flown, drove, and taken trains to family gatherings all around this country.  And now they were all inside watching lots of football, getting drunk, throwing up, stuffing their faces, throwing up some more, passing the stuffing, passing the bean casserole, passing the 'rona.  It's what Thanksgiving is all about.

Hey American Covidiots--you could have stayed at home and done the same thing!! 

Charles Bronson Won't Be In This One

   

   

DEATH WISH 2020

    

     

Thanksgiving is only a few days away and many Americans have decided to risk their lives and others.  After the holiday I am going to have to get a larger TV so that the new CoVid-19 death graphs will fit on the screen.

The number of jobs in America will probably remain the same but the number of unemployed workers will sadly decline.  Good time to look for a job.

Many elderly will also be moving on which will mean fewer Americans will be drawing Social Security.  Good news that the program will still be solvent when I apply.

Santa will be able to skip a lot of new empty houses this year.

And regardless how many covidiots kick the bucket during the holiday season, the number of readers of this blog will stay the same.  😔

So have a wonderful T-Day this year.

As always....Zero Sympathy.  ZERO  

Milestone #4

    

For reference, see the post on 10/22/2020.

Milestone #3

     

Yesterday I passed 1,000 miles for the year.  It was the fourth time in the past six years (as an O.M.) and the earliest that I have reached that milestone.  Did I ever do it when I was younger?  Probably.  Those running logs are lost forever.  I most likely did it when I had the 200+ consecutive running days streak back in college.  What's next?  1,100 of course.  

Milestone #2

 

 

The old black Toyota made it to 200K.  The car is 15 years 2 months and 16 days old.  That is an average of 13,129 miles per year and 36 miles per day.

Zero

 

We are now eight months into the pandemic.  If you get infected, get sick, or even die, it is because of two reasons.  First, you believe the whole pandemic thing is a huge hoax.  Or somewhere along the line you heard about "masks" and "social distancing" but it went in one ear and out the other.  Either way, it's all on you then!!  Do we need Biff banging on your head saying "Hello, McFly, anyone home?"  Either way you made the choice.  So if you are sick or dying, I have ZERO sympathy for you.

Milestone #1

 

   

Today was the 174th consecutive day on which I went for a run.  That's right.  The last day I took off was May 1.  That is an O.M. (Old Man) Record.  Back in college I remember going past 200 days once but my running logs from back then are lost.  So my next goal is to hit 300 which will insure that it will be the longest streak ever. 

The weather is still pleasant on mid-October and I am still running in shorts and a tee.  Total miles for the streak is 710 miles which is about 4.08 miles per day.

Satisfying Moments In Life

    

Yes, there are satisfying moments in life.  Your lawn mower starts up with little effort in the spring.  Your 15 year old car still passes inspection.  And here on October 18, another one took place.  Turn on and turn up the thermostat, cross my fingers, listen for the furnace to light up, and then wait to feel the warmth coming out of the baseboard heating unit.  Aaaaahhhhh!!

Peppers Anyone?

    

 Covid-19 had no effect on my summer garden and I had another bumper crop, mostly peppers.  In normal years I give out many peppers to the parents of my runners during our summer workouts.  But there were no summer workouts this year and the season didn't even start until mid September.  I was able to give some out to my two assistant coaches and some friends, but most of the peppers remained with me.  I diced up every pepper I had and the picture is a bit mis-leading.  Once I was halfway through shoving them all back into the freezer, I noticed another bag on the counter that I missed.

The Fitzpatricks

 When I was a kid, my Mom had a friend named Mrs. Fitzpatrick.  I can't remember her first name but her family lived on Herbert Avenue, about 1/2 mile from my house.  My Mom was associated with her thru our church since their kids went to the same Catholic school as I did.

Anyway, the thing about the Fitzpatricks was that they did not have a phone.  I used to ride my bike to their house with messages written on a piece of paper from my Mom.  Mrs. F would read the note and write down an answer in the available space on the note and back to my house I would ride.

I never thought much about that whole scene but looking back I remembered their kitchen (the only room I went into) was very messy.  So now I assume the lack of a phone was due to economic hardships.

So why am I posting about this?  Well, last week at a X-C practice during a steady rain, I was receiving many texts from parents as to where they could pick up their kids.  It turns out that the exposure to the rain affected my cell phone in that it could not accept a charge.  So now, many years later, I am in the same boat as the Fitzpatricks.  

Trump Cures All Cancers!!

Thank you Governor Cuomo for letting us know.  Dr. Trump should be Man of the Century for this accomplishment.
    
I have cancelled all of my doctor appointments.
   
If I was a techie, I would splice out the reference.  But since I am not, just fast forward to 20:10 of the following video.
    

Young And Stupid

Students in Alabama Threw COVID Parties to See Who Would Get Infected First, Say Officials

   

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

JULY 2, 2020 12:36 PM EDT

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) — Several college students in an Alabama city organized “COVID-19” parties as a contest to see who would get the virus first, officials said.

Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry said students hosted the parties to intentionally infect each other with the new coronavirus, news outlets reported.

McKinstry said party organizers purposely invited guests who tested positive for COVID-19. She said the students put money in a pot and whoever got COVID first would get the cash.

Can You Blame Them?!?

EU confirms ban on American travelers as US scrambles to contain coronavirus

51

American tourists deemed too risky for EU travel

     

In fact, if you are from outside of the tri-state area, stay the heck out of my state!!!

    

Hypocrites?

    

    
New Jersey young knuckleheads thumb their noses at the seriousness of Covid-19.
   
I wonder how many of them have a "Thank You Healthcare Workers" sign on their front lawn??

He Warned You!!

“We are your future,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told the country during a briefing on Tuesday morning.  "New York is the canary in the coal mine,” he said. “New York is going first. We have the highest and the fastest rate of infection. What happens to New York is going to wind up happening to California, and Washington state, and Illinois. It's just a matter of time. We're just getting there first."
  
He said this three months ago today!!
   
    
    
"The United States on Thursday reported more than 40,000 new coronavirus cases, a record total for the second straight day, as a nationwide sense of urgency grew and caseloads soared in Southern and Western states that were far removed from the worst early outbreaks."

--- The New York Times     June 26, 2020

A New Favorite

     
My favorite ice cream for the past 30 years or so has been Haagen-Dazs.  And my favorite flavor has been Chocolate Chocolate Chip.  I can remember eating this flavor as far back as the mid 80s.  When I was living in Little Falls, I would walk down to the 7/11 in the early evening, buy a pint of CCC, sit on the front porch, and listen to the Mets game on the radio while savoring this delicious flavor.
    
I continued to buy Haagen-Dazs even when they reduced the size from 16 to 14 fluid ounces.
    
And then in the past month I discovered Double Belgian Chocolate Chip.  I'm not sure how long this flavor has been around.  All I could find on the internet is that it used to be just plain Belgian Chocolate.
   
The chips are thin slivers so they melt on your tongue rather than having to chew them.  And the chocolate.  Oh, the chocolate.  It is so rich.  It reminds me of chocolate mousse.
   

        
Farewell CCC.  There's a new girl in my life and her name is Double Belgian Chocolate Chip.

CoVid-19 Update 7

    
New Jersey took another step in their re-opening of the state.  Libraries are now allowed to lend books to residents only.  They have to be picked up curbside and only books in the library are available (no lending from other area libraries).
   
New Jersey continues to do a great job of beating down the curve and getting back to normal.  Many other states are having major problems in re-opening too soon and seeing large spikes in their infection counts.
    
Other updates - today I ran for the 47th day in a row.  Although it is far from a record, it is a record for consecutive days on one course.  I thought when I started this new course because of the 'Rona, I would last maybe a week before I went to a flatter friendlier course.  But I've climbed those hills every day; I don't know how I do it.
    
And routines are becoming important.  I visited my Shop Rite again this past Monday early in the morning and pretty much had the place to myself.  I feel I can now go once a week rather than have to stock up for two weeks at a time.

This Year's Garden

I don't know who or where it was, but as a youngster we would go visiting either relatives or friends of my parents.  And on maybe one or two occasions, I remember being in backyards and seeing beautiful well-kept gardens.  Maybe it was a characteristic of Eastern Europeans.  Anyway, I've always tried to emulate those gardens of my childhood memory.  This year, I think I have come as close as I ever have.
   
Mostly peppers (I enjoy giving them out to workers at school and parents of my X-C runners) with some tomatoes and cucumbers.  This is the first year I have had no problems with birds or chipmunks eating small seedlings.
    

   
Not shown: Summer Squash and Watermelons on the side of the house.

CoVid-19 Update 6

Last Friday, I did my usual two-week grocery run at Stop and Shop.  They open at 6 AM for Senior Citizens.  That's good but I grew tired of the empty shelves and the high prices.  So I decided to try and return to Shop Rite today.  They have no S.C. hours and open up at 7 AM.  I was there before 7 and when it opened I was glad to see that they regulate the number of shoppers in the store.  And it didn't seem like a lot of people shop that early.  Shelves were plentiful and they still had low prices.  It was good to be back home.
   
And yesterday I filled up my car.  It had been 87 days since I was at a gas station!  The price was an incredible $1.69.  I had only driven 250 miles in those 87 days.  Besides only going to the grocery store, I now drive 1 mile each day to park my car for my daily run.  All of that resulted in a very low 25 mpg average.  Normally, my car gets a mpg in the low 30s.
   

Wait Til Next Year

That is what the Brooklyn Dodgers used to say whenever they didn't win a World Series.  For me it pertains to my annual summer vacation.  Every year, my three brothers and I rent a house somewhere between Illinois and New Jersey.  The original schedule was to have been: packing tonight, traveling tomorrow, and returning on Sunday.  Due to the 'Rona, this year's get together has been canceled.  Hopefully we'll get to the house on a lake in Ohio in 2021.
     

A View of Where We Were Going To Be

     
It is always a great vacation hanging out with my brothers and their wives as well as enjoying a house in the woods.  One other thing I always enjoy is my morning run before everyone else wakes up.  The surrounding area is always an example of "God's Country".  My Plan B for this year has been to set up a new course for my daily runs.  Because of social distancing, I need to avoid running thru parks or built-up areas.  Fortunately, the next town to me is one of those rich towns with very few walkers or traffic and wide roads with no sidewalks.  And it feels like the country.  So since May 2, I have been running this course every day.  And it is a 4.03 run which is longer than the old 3.5 I used to do every day.  Today was the 26th day in a row thru the rich neighborhood.  At this rate I should be able to make it to 1,000 miles for the year.  And there is a possibility of attaining the never reached before total of 1,100.

CoVid-19 Update 5

The second wave of the Pandemic is beginning in my neighbor's back yard.  My idiot neighbor is celebrating her 50th birthday.  A yard full of people, no face masks, and everyone closer than six feet.  And the wind is blowing at 20 mph.  There's corona virus droplets all over the neighborhood.
    
She is the ultimate idiot.  Has no idea how serious this whole pandemic is.  She has no idea that 70,000 Americans are dead.  She is just waiting for the "switch" to be flipped or the vaccine to be discovered.  No idea what nurses and doctors are going thru on the front line at the hospitals.  No idea of the tragedies in the prisons, the nursing homes, and the meat packing plants.  Probably never watched the news in her life.
   
God help us all.  

Phone Books

I can't believe they are still throwing phone books on our driveways.  It's 2020.  Who looks up numbers or companies in a phone book?

Blog Name Change

It is time to change the name of this blog again.  There have been six postings in the last month and a half.  So it's not "Seldom Posted" anymore.
   
When I started this blog almost 13 years ago, I couldn't think of a name so I called it "TBD".
   
Then it was changed to "Seldom Posted and Seldom Read".
   
It will now be called "Seldom Read".  😃

CoVid-19 Update 4

Today I went grocery shopping for the first time in 39 days!!  For that time, I had rationed all of my food.  I finally did break down and bought some Fritos, Oreos, and microwave popcorn online.  The refrigerator and the cupboard are almost empty (see pictures below).  One thing that helped was my stored peppers.  Last summer I had probably the best pepper crop I ever had.  This year's is also looking good so far--they are still seedlings but they look good and I will provide pictures in a future post.  Anyway, I always give them away to friends, runners, their families, my family, etc.  And I still had a ton leftover which were frozen.  I have about 1/2 of my stored amount left.  They are the three items to the right in my freezer.  The rationing also continued to help me lose weight.  Since my last post I have lost 4 1/4 more pounds.
     

    
So I awoke this morning at 5:30 AM to get ready to go to Stop & Shop for their 6 to 7:30 AM special shopping session for Seniors.  At the store the amount of people was smaller than I expected.  Usually I was the only one in my aisle and I only had one problem with someone blocking me by taking their time.
    
I also noticed that a lot of the Seniors were wearing regular face masks.  I had heard that if anyone was wearing them, they would be confiscated.  Oh well.  I had a bandanna on but the next time I go, I will wear a face mask.
   
The shelves were about 1/2 full.  Stop & Shop has always had higher prices than my regular grocery ShopRite and I ended up buying a lot of name brands.  Overall I got almost everything I had on my list.  I was unable to get pancakes or syrups but I can live without them.  I also couldn't find any tissues or Lysol.  I may try and buy them online.
   
Overall, the experience wasn't too bad.  I will probably start going more frequently, like maybe every two weeks.  Or maybe three!!
    
When I arrived home, I placed all of my non-frozen and non-refrigerated items on my workbench.  I will leave them there for four days unless I need them sooner.  I feel four days is the maximum time that CoVid-19 can survive from what I have been reading.  I put my frozen items in the freezer.  I read that the virus can survive for 28 days in extreme cold, so I will be cleaning those items when I use them.  And finally, I placed refrigerated items in my two vegetable bins so they would be isolated from the empty space in my refrigerator.  I'll use the four day rule with them too.
   
Once everything was put away, I went to my laundry room, stripped naked, put all of my clothes in the washer, took a shower, and then went for a run.
   
So it's still morning, but the day is off to a good start.  I should be good for another 3-4 weeks before venturing out again except for my runs.
   
Next up is the garden.  Tomorrow is the last day where the "low" is in the 30s, so I will be opening up my greenhouse and planting my squash, cucumbers, and Lima beans on Thursday.  Stay tuned!!

CoVid-19 Update 3

Today marks 20 days in shelter in place.  The only times I have left my property has been to go for runs with wide arcs around people walking.
   
I continue to ration my food and it still looks like another two weeks supply.  I am only eating twice a day: at noon and at 6 PM.  The one good thing that is coming out of rationing and running is the loss of weight.  I have lost 7 pounds.
    
My plants continue to flourish; most tomato plants are at 17 inches.  I also started some more seeds inside today.  These are for plants that normally should be set directly into the ground.  But in the past I have noticed that they do not always come up and I have gaps in my rows of plants.  So I have decided to start them now and transplant them to the garden at planting time.
   
The three vegetables I started today are cucumbers, summer squash, and Lima beans.  The last two are vegetables that I have never tried before.

CoVid-19 Update 2

Today marks six days since leaving my property and eleven days since I visited a store (Sunday morning paper).  That streak ended yesterday.  My withdrawal for running finally got to me and I went out for a "short" 2.75 mile run.  There were very few cars and people out in the afternoon so I felt very safe from any infection.
   
Another thing that I am jonesing for is chocolate.  It's not as bad as missing running, but I don't plan on going out to buy some.  In fact, I am not looking forward to doing grocery shopping.  I am still rationing food and I feel I have about three weeks worth left.  Also I have lost three pounds in the past five days.
   
Been keeping busy with movies and other things including monitoring my plants (below).  I've watched two silent classics since self-isolation began.  Ben-Hur and Greed.  It's interesting that in the former, there is a sub-plot involving people with leprosy who are shunned and quarantined.
   

Pepper Plants

Tomato Plants - A ruler is near the last plant for scale

CoVid-19 Update

New Jersey has issued a "stay-at-home" order for almost all residents, so I am now in self isolation.  I plan on staying inside of my house with a trip or two in my back yard as long as possible.  That means I won't be getting the Sunday paper.  I also will be suspending my daily runs.  They got to be a challenge because running in the park was difficult since all of the human carriers were on the same paths as me.  I did set up a new course that had very little contact with humans but even when there was someone, I had to constantly make very wide spurs around that person.  The spurs were very wide becasue I really do not believe in the six foot social distance.  I would rather it be about 10 to 15.  It's a shame too because I was finally getting back into good running shape after a stoppage due to a kidney stone back in October and November followed by a winter where I ran maybe 50% of the time.
   
Staying in the house 100% of the time will mean I have to put off grocery shopping as long as I can.  I am not that keen anyway on being around people in a store.  But when I do I am lucky that Stop & Shop has set aside an hour in the morning for Senior Citiznes, of which I am now one.  I am rationing my current stockpile of food and anticipate being able to last 3 to 4 weeks.  One good thing that will come out of this is that I will probably lose some weight.
    
Being a anti-social hermit when there isn't a pandemic now makes this almost a wonderful vacation.  I doubt if I ever will get bored.  I have my old movies on VHS, Strat-O-Matic, and a record collection to keep me occupied.  Reading maybe be tough with the Library closed, but I am sure I can find some old sports or music books in the mean time.  And then there is always TV.  With all of his important decisions, Governor Murphy should also issue an executive order to have Comcast make TCM available on their channel line-up for all old timers to enjoy.
   
Well, that's it for now.  I'll provide further updates when there is something new.

I Witnessed A Fight Today

My morning run begins and ends in G.C. Park.  When I completed this morning's run, I looked over to the side of the pond and there were two combatants hammering each other while others circled them and cheered.
   
But instead of humans, it was two Canadian Geese.  They way they fight is to grab hold of the other in the area of the neck with their beaks so they are holding on to each other.  Then they just keep swinging their wings at each other.  It looks quite violent.  They then spilled into the lake where I thought one of them might be held under, but one of them finally gave up and flew to the other side of the pond.  A side of nature you don't often see.

Time To Get A GPS?

    
Last Friday I went down to Bennett Indoor Sports Complex in Tom's River to watch the Indoor Track State Championships.  I usually stop on the way to grab something to eat since I will be on my feet for about six hours watching the races.
    
There is conveniently a Mickey D's about a mile before the complex.  I was shocked to see that it was now closed for renovations.  I needed food so I decided to drive further south past the complex to find another fast food place.  And I figured I would re-trace my route to avoid getting lost.
   
Well, after several turns which I hoped would get me to a populous area, I was semi-lost.  I finally got on Route 37 which I had crossed previously.  Luck was shining on me because White Castle was one of the many fast food restaurants on the highway.
    
After throwing down some sliders, I started to head back to the complex.  To get back to the desired road, I would have to turn around which required two jug handles.  Traffic was heavy at that time of day, so I went down a road which looked like it ran parallel to my goal road.
   
In my life, every once in a while, if I am in an area I am unfamiliar with, I challenge myself to get to my goal by driving on back roads in the direction that I think will be successful.  I did that last Friday but it took longer than I thought, and at one point I thought I would be driving around for hours.  
    
I finally got to the complex but was 30 minutes late and missed the 400M races.  So the moral of the story is improve my trip plans or get a GPS (or put my Hagstom Maps back in my car!).