As summer comes to a close, Rotzy becomes grumpier and grumps about some very ‘grumpable’ issues.
Now That I’m A Veteran….
….blood donor, I got through my SECOND visit on September 1st just fine, thank you. Five large vials (for various testing) and a bagful/unit of O-Negative. Readers may recall that I’d made my ‘debut’ on my 75th b’day (*see below) back in April at The Civic Centre. Well, it was much handier/closer this tyme, located at Hope Christian Reformed Church, about a two minute drive from here at #555 Harris Place….and just this side of Frankies Bar. I didn’t recognize any of the Canadian Blood Services staff from last tyme, except for the little lady who hands out the pop, fruit juice, chips and munchies when you’re done, and she seemed pleased when I mentioned that to her. I said “see you here Nov 3rd” as I was ‘re-booked’ soon as I got off the chair/lounge. If YOU are thinking about being a donor, give them a call.
Readers Write
This reader quotes from an interesting/informative item on functions of various parts of the human body….in particular the brain….and follows up with a personal quote. Check it out. *Your brain doesn’t stop working. It’s estimated that about 50,000 thoughts pass through it every day, though some scientists put the number closer to 60,000! That is a whopping 35-48 Thoughts Per Minute!! Unless your name is Trump, who is surely down in the single digit TPM!! (ouch!)
Priorities And Stuff like OAS
Rotzy heard the Prime Minister telling us Canadian oldsters about a forthcoming increase to Old Age Security last week on the radio. It WAS one of his many promises last election, but as he sincerely related last week, ‘other priorities’ keep on arising. And of course, along came coronavirus….hence our OAS got prioritized/backburnered again. Still. By the bye, J/T indicated it will/could be a 10% increase. Tell you what, Mr P/M….the current amount for OAS is badly outdated!! Ridiculously so, in fact. 10% is NOT enough, and it should have been applied 10 or 15 years ago (back before yours truly was even getting it!) but it ‘lost out to priorities’. And now you can use COVID-19 to hold off on it. S–t! Until the cows come home, eh? Well sir, I have a strong feeling that you’ll be using it in your campaign as a promise (again/still) in the upcoming election you clearly want quite badly. Wait a minute here….what about a nice big/fat ‘retroactive’ cheque?! to cover the last 5 or 10 years!! Or maybe take it one step further and send the $$ out ‘posthumously’?! and it could/would go to the families of those of us who didn’t hang in long enough to outlast the damned ‘priorities’. By the bye, Junior, IF you do get your election, good luck on securing much of the ‘olde vote’!
A Mask-ed Life Sentence?
I make reference to the potential of having to wear one until we are on the wrong side of the lawn, looking up, given the three possibilities that lie ahead. These ‘possibilities’ explore in detail what will/might happen when COVID-19’s SECOND wave arrives, and virtually (no pun intended) ALL the experts agree that it WILL….it’s just a matter of when, as well as how it plays itself out….altho ‘plays’ is perhaps a poor choice of wording. I heard this report one day last week on 92.9 F/M News, not from Dr Theresa Tam, but maybe from her counterpart with the Ford Gov’t who is trying to sort out how, when and where Ontario students will be educated in the 2020/2021 school year. It says here that the entire scenario (and not only in Ontario) is/will be a dog’s breakfast, especially in regard to ‘home schooling’, for a long tyme to come. However, the SECOND WAVE looms very real and large over anything and everything else. The following descriptions are what yours truly was left to sort out after I heard the news report, OK? They aren’t imminent and/or etch-ed in stone, OK?
#1 indicates the initial surge will be worse than last tyme….ditto for the follow-up event(s)….length of tyme not made clear.
#2 Initial surge rather sporadic…..follow-up appeared hard to pin-point as was the length.
#3….the overall severeness was kinda cloudy but it sounded to me as if it could/would be with us for a LONG tyme. Having said all that, Rotzy’s betting that if one looks around long enough, one is sure to find some reporter/news source who will question whether a second wave will even take place! And….if one keeps searching, I’m sure someone will surely surface guaranteeing there will be NO second wave!! Imagine. One thing has come clear this past week….the ‘masque issue’ in Canada/Ontario has come pretty well full circle! Remember when Dr Tam and her team were very clear on masks being of no value to anyone, hence no benefit in wearing one. Imagine that! Well, being olde I forget to slide my KN-95 on once in a while when entering a building….so do others!….and if looks could kill you’d be reading my ‘obit’ instead of “From Nakina”!! However, I am reading/hearing more and more often that going masque-less in certain situations (other than bars/restaurants) isn’t gonna get you in big trouble. OK, OK, OK…Rotzy’s NOT launching a ‘down with masques’ campaign here. Far be it from ME to break existing rules/laws, or to encourage others to do those things either.
Anyway, as mentioned earlier on, I’m currently 75 (*see above), and tho I have no idea how much longer I have on this earth, I have NO intention of sporting a masque for the balance of my remaining tyme. In fact, to tell you the truth, the ‘novelty’ of sporting one wore off about two months ago. Maybe three. Miz. Jo and Rotzy are hoping that our kindly keepers here at #555 Harris Place will rescind their late-to-establish rules sooner than later. In the tyme being, stay safe, stay well….and stay home, if you’re so inclined!
*Thought Of The Day…Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else.
