Even Rotzy can’t avoid saying, “Covid, covid, covid.”
COVID’s Seven Worst/Seven Best
Got an email here at “F/N”HQ last mid-week that went beyond ‘interesting’, because I was totally unaware of the facts, and I wonder how many of our readers were/are in the same boat as Rotzy. The first part of the item listed the seven WORST countries in the world as to handling/dealing/coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic (*see below); and they were/are USA, Brazil, Russia, Spain, U/K, Italy and France, OK?….and then included a picture of each of those country’s heads of state. OK? Then came the seven countries in the world who were/are BEST at keeping COVID-19 under control, and they were/are Germany,Taiwan, New Zealand, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Denmark, OK?….and followed it by a pic of the leader of each country, OK? One thing that somewhat stands out, at least from a geographic viewpoint, is that, aside from the USA and Taiwan, all the others are in/near to Europe….even a good part of Russia. Oh, and by the way, another point that might perhaps catch one’s attention is that ALL of the leaders of the WORST countries are MEN….whilst the BEST countries are ALL led by WOMEN!! Imagine! You think there is some kind of a message there? Tyme to dig out the olde Helen Reddy call to arms ‘I Am Woman’ record?!
Q.O.T.W.
Yours truly came upon this week’s Quote Of The Week quite unexpectedly as I was just about to finish the latest book Miz. had picked out for me….’Anxious People’….A Novel….by Frederick Backman, a Swedish author we’ve both come to enjoy immensely, after initially encountering him with ‘A Man Called Ove’. Anyway, long story short, the way COVID-19 has everything totally screwed up these days (*see above) with people operating on short fuses that are getting shorter, this Q.O.T.W. more or less jumped right off the page at me!!! It went/goes like this:**Nothing in the world is so irresistably contagious as laughter and good humour!**….then the story mentioned ”it had come from some British author”. Well, a smiling Rotzy went to ”Google”*tm and indeed it did….Charles Dickens in fact (from A Christmas Carol), who in turn put them in the mouth of Ebenezer Scrooge. We hope it put a grin on YOUR face!
I Figure It’s About Tyme….
….for some funn, you think? Hence and without further adieu we’re pleased to announce ”The “F/N” COVID-19 Do’s And Dont’s Contest”. The ‘entries’ could/should be related to the pandemium/pandemonium….they can/might be funny or for real. Hell, they could even be from an actual experience you’ve encountered! We’ll maybe even run some of them in the column….keeping in mind the Times-Star is a family newspaper, OK? I’ll get some prizes lined up….for 1st, 2nd and 3rd….and I imagine top prize will be the All-Inclusive 2 Week Package at Sandals Spa And Resort in Honolulu. Never mind the ‘travel ban’….Rotzy can sort that out. We’ll run it for perhaps 2 or 3 weeks….starting this week OK?….so stay tuned. And send in your entries to jbrotz@bell.net. Maybe I’ll do a little ‘sampler’ here of what you could send in. *Under the list of ‘COVID-19 Do’s….”DO avoid people without a masque who want to talk to you….in particular the type who always have to ‘lean in close to your face’, as if you are deaf….and/or they have a rather serious ‘lithsp’ and tend to ‘spray’ the listener. I worked with a guy like that in the GM Car Plant….actually, I/we called him ‘Splash’ (not his real name), and he wore white coveralls that were ALWAYS covered with the black undercoating he sprayed on the Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles. But hey, you get my drift, right? And if you run into a ”Splash”-type person without a masque, avoid him/her like the plague….no pun intended. Now we’re looking forward to hearing YOUR thoughts and ideas!!
Our U.S. Neighbours….
celebrated their Thanksgiving last Thurs. I’d like to say ‘in style’ but the revelling was no where near what they’d call normal. They went ahead with Macy’s annual parade in NYC, which was very much ‘watered down’, covered one city block, with zero spectators. Dare I say the ‘V’ word? Virtual? Alas, it was up to the NFL to ‘save the day’! So…SO….what was on the day’s menu? Well, they had the Detroit Lions vs Houston, but the Lions played like kitty-cats and the Texans blew them outta the park. No problem….the Cowboys vs Washington in a FIGHT for First Place in the NFL East Division! No matter that both squads took a 3 and 7 record into the match!! Anyway, if anybody cares, the ‘Skins kicked ass whilst the Cowboys shot themselves in the foot….several tymes. And sadly, the ONE game that coulda/shoulda ‘saved face’ for the NFL was the nite game was the 9 and 0 Steelers and the Ravens from Baltimore (at 7 and 2 or 6 and 3?) but it got ”COVID-ED”!….’cancelled’ until Sun as several Baltimore guys tested positive….including their QB. Jeez, with all that negative s–t going on, and knowing how serious Yanks take their football, I wonder how many of ’em, being in such a terrible state, screwed up their turkey dinner??!! By the bye, I watched the first half of the NCAA game on Satur as Ole Miss was pretty much dismantling Miss State….and I’m guessing there were about 15-20,000 fans in a stadium that holds 60,000 or more. That’s likely OK, but the spacing/distancing was NOT good and Rotzy estimates that maybe 2-3% of them had masques. And the beat goes on.
Readers Write
And we’re glad that you do! Keep it up!! Here’s a COVID-related email from Clump. (not his real name) *I woke up this morning determined to eat less, drink less and exercise more……but that was a few hours ago when I was younger and full of hope.* This next one is quite like an ‘epitaph’ to outgoing US President Donald Trump. An ‘editorial’ if you will, in fact Keith (not his real name) refers to it as ”my two cents worth”. However, due to space requirement, I can’t run it here but will see if my Editor wants to run it separately. Anyway, as well as acknowledging ‘the nature of the beast’ (Trump) as rude, crude, bombastic, horrible at tymes….he goes to some lengths to mention a good number of improvements to/for/in the United States….which networks like CNN tend to avoid/look away from. Well, Keith (not his real name) isn’t alone as there are a number of our readers who shared/share the same thoughts. Also, there is some ‘septicism’ over how President-Elect Biden will fare in the White House….in some cases, even from those who voted for Joe.
*Thought Of The Day…When you’re at the checkout line and they ask ”if you found everything”?….say “Why, are you hiding stuff”?
