China Lied, People Died - Final Covid Update of 2020

I'm so tired of doing these... I want my country back. I'm angry that so many places are still locked down or forcing their citizens to wear disgusting cloth masks on their faces. I'm enraged at what mental issues our children face because of this year. I'm angered at every single story I hear about an elderly person dying alone because The Powers That Be won't let their family members come see them in their final days. 

I'm just so. fucking. tired.

On December 1, Florida exceeded one million cases (not deaths, cases) of Covid. We were the third state to do so, after California and Texas. Know what else we're 3rd for? Being the 3rd largest state in population, after ... you guessed it... California and Texas. 

On December 3rd, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Kyle Rittenhouse is ordered to stand trial for two (!) First Degree Murder charges, as well as Possession of a Firearm by a Minor, and two charges of Reckless Endangerment. If you recall, this is the kid who went to WI to help a friend clean up and protect his business due to citywide riots following the (justified) shooting of Jacob Blake. Multiple rioters came for Kyle, and he acted in self-defense. Now he's on trial for murder... 

In race news, Disney switched Star Wars Weekend, held in April, to a virtual race. This will be the fourth race that went virtual for them (the others being Star Wars Weekend 2020, Wine & Dine, Marathon Weekend 2021, and Princess 2021). Most people at this point are fed up with shit like this. I know I am. 

On December 11, SCOTUS denied a lawsuit to overturn Biden's victory in four battleground states, and Pfizer is granted FDA authority to distribute the first Covid vaccines (the first does are administered a few days later, on December 14). 

At a Stop the Steal rally in Washington, DC (which drew between 12,000 and 15,000 people), four people were stabbed, one was shot, and 33 were arrested. It's still not 100% clear why one person was shot (but his post, from Liberty or Death AC shows in detail what happened and that it was most likely defense of another person. Mr. Machala's charges were dropped a few days after his arrest, as well. CNN won't cover that, of course!) 

(Screenshot of a CNN article about the violence)

On December 14th, a sad day for our nation, it is declared that Biden won the Electoral College 306-232. I don't care what judges or SCOTUS say, we all have eyes for god's sake! We saw video on Election Night from numerous states of blatant violations. Cases were only thrown out because the lawyers (I'm lookin' at you, Powell, Lin, and Giuliani...) didn't do their work and build a rock-solid case. Many of the cases were thrown out solely because the evidence was weak. Not because there wasn't fraud! (But that doesn't stop Liberals on social media from crowing about being right). 

Julie Nolke put out her fourth installment of Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self on YouTube. Again, more political than previous versions (but then isn't everything at this point?)

On December 18th, the FDA authorizes the use of the Moderna vaccine. Vice President Pence and his wife, as well as Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell all receive Pfizer shots. 

It was first reported on December 20th that "a highly infectious new strain of SARS CoV2" is spreading throughout Europe and Australia. Great. Just what the media and government need... a new strain to lock us down further!

On December 21st, Congress passes the Consolidated Appropriates Act 2021, which is a 2.3 TRILLION DOLLAR Pandemic Relief AND Omnibus Spending bill. It is a whopping 5,593 pages, the longest ever passed by Congress. Oh, and only 900 billion is for Covid relief. (Meaning 1.4 Trillion Dollars is for pork projects and other governmental bullshit). Also on this day, President-Elect Joe and Doctor Jill Biden got their Pfizer vaccine shots. 

On Christmas Day, a suicide car bomb exploded in Nashville. Some guy detonated an RV bomb, killing himself and injuring 8 people, also damaging multiple buildings in the surrounding area. The RV showed up around 1:30am and for almost five hours, witnesses claimed to hear gunshots followed by a female voice on loudspeakers on the RV warning them to evacuate before the bombing. Odd. Because the bomber died with the bomb, a motive can never be confirmed, but he seemed to be a whackjob conspiracy theorist, at least according to the Mainstream Media, and wanted to kill himself because of "life stresses."  (Interestingly enough, it was near an AT&T Network Hub that some say was being used to audit the Dominion voting machines from the election.)

Worldwide, the number of Covid cases (not deaths, just cases) reaches 80 million on December 27th. 

 

So, as I said at the beginning... I'm tired of this shit. This will be my last Covid monthly update. The more I do this, the less it becomes about Covid and the more it becomes about how much I hate my local and federal government.

 

I am tired of letting it cloud my otherwise sunshiney days… Nothing I write will change things (there are many other awesome Conservative voices out there). I may continue to make a specific post, if something extremely newsy happens, but that’s about it. I’m going back to being lazy, going to the gym, and (eventually) running races really slowly. Bring on 2021!

(Oof, if you know, you know)

Gasparilla is ON! In person! With people! (UPDATE 3/2021: It's Gone Virtual)

I took a chance this summer, assuming that by February 2021, things would be at least somewhat back to normal, and signed up for Gasparilla again. I went big and signed up for the Stella Solstice Challenge (15k and 8k challenge), as well as the extra 5k... it seemed like a good idea back then.

Well, as we all know, things haven't gotten better. People are still stupid. Things are still locked down. 

 

But on October 21st, it was announced that Gasparilla was still a go!! I finally have a race to plan for!!!

 

Yes, there are limits that I'll have to deal with, such as smaller fields for each race, masking up, crowd controls and other restrictions.

 

"For now, the 44th Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic is on.

Barring another grim turn in the battle against the novel coronavirus, the downtown Tampa event that annually attracts thousands of runners will be held Feb. 20-21, executive director Susan Harmeling confirmed Wednesday morning.

The catch: a limited field for each race, and a series of stern precautions and protocols.

“If we didn’t think we could do this in a safe manner for the runners, we wouldn’t be suggesting that it could be done," Harmeling said. "And that’s why we’ve had it vetted at so many different levels. We’ve tried to cover every potential outcome with this thing.”

Each of the four races (15-kilometer, 5K, 8K and half-marathon) will be limited to 5,000 participants, though 1,000 more will be allowed for the 5K (500 for Stroller Walk, 500 walkers).

Each event will feature designated, socially distanced staging areas (with four lines of 125 runners each) and staggered starts, with only 32 runners crossing the starting line per minute. As a result, starting times for most runners will be later than normal.

“We have the support of the city and the community," Harmeling said. "They’re going to allow us to keep the roads closed a couple more hours on the back end, to be able to accommodate everybody. Without that support, we wouldn’t be having this race.”

Participants must wear masks in the staging areas before the race, and will be required to put them back on upon crossing the finish line. All runners will have their temperatures taken, and will be subject to a three-question health screening on race morning.

“They’ll be asked to wear their mask for no more than 45 minutes (inside the staging area),” Harmeling said. “No more than a weekly shopping trip to Publix.”

Water stations will be arranged along the course, but instead of handing runners cups of water, volunteers will set the cups on a table several feet from the course. Attendants even will be stationed in front of portable toilets (which will be positioned 8 feet apart), occupying tables with automated hand sanitizer.

No spectators will be allowed at the start or finish areas, and no post-race celebrations will be staged. Even if the race is forced to convert to a virtual experience, the annual race-weekend expo still will be held at the Tampa Convention Center.

Prize money still will be offered to the top local male and female finishers, with a caveat: The top 10 local finishers (each gender) from the previous year will be invited to join the first staging area at the front of the pack, and essentially will be racing one another for the purses.

“Just understand that this is a fluid situation,” Harmeling said. “To get the race on the roads for the runners, they’re going to have to do their part to comply with what we’re asking them to do.” "

But then....

Unfortunately, there's been a change; as of December 10, the race has been pushed back to May. I don't know yet how I'm feeling about the change... Florida is hot. It's hit or miss every year what the weather will be like for Gasparilla. But there's a 99% chance that May will be hot and humid. It's definitely not 15k weather, and certainly not 20k weather. 

Many people agreed that it would be too difficult to run this late in Spring, or otherwise chose not to participate because of it being Mother's Day weekend, or they're already signed up for other races that weekend.  Even Meb sounded like he was gonna sit this one out...

At this point, I don't know if I'll run in person or not... I haven't run for almost a year, so doing three races over two days in 80º+ weather is asking for problems. Do I want to put up with all the stupid Covid restrictions? Can Hubby get the weekend off? I just don't know. I have a little bit of time to make a decision...

But then...

Well, it looks like my decision has been made for me. As of February 22nd, the runs have gone virtual. Kind of.

The City of Tampa is still going to shut down Bayshore, and allow anyone who wants to run, to run on the road (instead of just the sidewalks). There won't be water, on-course support, mile markers, etc, but it's "still a small portion of the traditional Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic Race Weekend." 

They will also be hosting the Expo, where we can come in person to pick up all of our pre- and post-race swag. 

Unfortunately, like any race (and especially like any BIG race), there are no refunds and no deferrals.

 

The only thing that is annoying me is that I have to pay extra to have my swag shipped to me, if I choose not to drive down to Tampa. And because I'm doing a challenge and a singular race, it looks like I'm shelling out $35 for all my goodies.  Again, I knew going into this that there was a chance it would be made virtual; however, the extra cost of shipping seems petty and should be covered by PGDC. Many people on social media feel the same way. 

I've received my emails telling me how to selecting my PGDC swag options, but I let them sit there because I had other, more important things to worry about.

When I opened it today, I noticed this little caveat:

 

Oops. The deadline was four days ago (yes, I'm updating this in March 2021). After talking it over with Hubby, we're going to take the time off of work and head down that way for a weekend getaway. No idea yet what our weekend plans will be, but I'm looking forward to it!

Chop Fluey Covid Review for November 2020

Yeah, you guys... it might say it's a review of Covid shit, but it's not. It hasn't been for months, really. Why am I still doing this? 

So, we had an election. Kind of. Not really. 

If you believe the media, Biden won. But votes haven't been certified, so I refuse to say Trump lost until that happens. Am I holding on by a thread? Yeah. I knew the day after the Election that he'd lost. He didn't lose fair and square, but he lost just the same. Fraud isn't fraud if you can't prove it; it's just a conspiracy theory. If you're interested in reviewing said fraud, check out Louder with Crowder's "Fraud Week" series which covers Dominion Irregularities, Georgia, Nevada/Pennsylvania, and Michigan. I mean, I can see it clear as day... Not sure why no one else can  (oh, I know why...)

The election also had Oregon decriminalizing "small amounts" of heroin, cocaine, and LSD. That seems smart. Over in Arizona, they legalized recreational marijuana, as did Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota. 

The day after the election, Facebook (in one of many bans to come), shuts down a 300k+ member page called "Stop the Steal," which was being used by Trump supporters to organize protests. Zuckerberg stated that there were calls to violence by some group members. 

On November 7th, it was projected that Biden won the Election (even though at this time, there were still six states under recounts or lawsuits). Kamala will be the first female Vice President (much historic, so powerful). 

But the worst thing that happened in November (nee, possibly ALL of 2020)? Alex Trebek passed away on November 8th. He announced last year that he had pancreatic cancer, which is mean and deadly. We knew that he didn't have long (it's a fast cancer). But he was looking so well over the past month or so, I felt like it came out of nowhere. This was the message that was shown the next day. 

Apparently, he'd undergone surgery in mid-October, and returned to work two weeks later. He split his workload (5 days of shows) over two days, and those 5 shows would be his last. (Can you imagine being one of the three contestants on that episode?) His final show was taped on October 29, 2020. Thanks to quick thinking by the show-runners, they added in some reruns and tribute episodes so that his final show (fuck you, I'm not crying still!) was shown on Christmas Day. They ended with this lovely tribute video:

 
But I much prefer to share this one:
 

On November 9th, Trump filed multiple lawsuits alleging electoral fraud. While on November 12th, a "coalition of federal and state officials" declared the election "the most secure in American History" and said that there is no evidence that any system was compromised. Yeah, sure.  

Ten days after the election, Arizona was finally projected to be a win for Biden. 

Thousands (I'd bet a hell of a lot closer to a million) gathered in DC at the Million MAGA March to support Trump and the claims of voter fraud. 

Closer to home, on November 23rd, the Alachua County Mask Mandate was challenged in the First District Court of Appeal. Also on this day, Biden/Harris formally begin their "transition" as President-Elect, and Vice President-Elect.

Also, "closer to home" (figuratively), this post just made me fume. It's a Facebook post from an old school friend of mine. She's very liberal, recently got her Master's in Counseling & Development and specializes in serving "LGBTQIA, polyamorous, kink, and all sexual minority communities," and is working on her Doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy. She's a smart girl. Smarter than I ever expected, given her childhood. I read a lot of her posts, many of which are political, and let them bounce off of me (according to her, Republicans are ass-backward Neanderthals who couldn't find our butts with two flashlights), but this was just proof of how much of the Covid KoolAde people have actually drunk. A woman had the audacity to pull her mask down so that she could better serve a customer, and it's seen as rude and selfish ("the most blindingly selfish thing {she} could imagine"). 

Basically, this post represents EVERY. SINGLE. THING. I hate about what has happened to us, as a society, and as a community. I'm just so fucking OVER IT. 

On Thanksgiving, we all spent lunch with Mom in Ocala. She told me all about her bout with Covid, and we compared "This is bullshit, I hate this shit" stories. 

Later that night, Alex Trebek offered a posthumous Thanksgiving message to all:

Happy Thanksgiving ladies and gentlemen. You know, in spite of what America and the rest of the world is experiencing right now, there are many reasons to be thankful. There are more and more people extending helpful hands to do a kindness to their neighbors, and that’s a good thing. Keep the faith, we’re going to get through all of this, and we will be a better society because of it.

The United States passed 13 million cases of Covid on November 27th. Not deaths, just cases. 

On November 30th, in what may have been a stupid or too optimistic decision, I signed up for a race. It's Miles for Meridian, which I ran last February. Even as I signed up for it, I was skeptical that it would actually RUN, but it had a few things going for it... 1) it was only $14, 2) it has an amazing medal, and C) FREE deferral to 2022 IF it was cancelled or changed to a virtual (ETA: Future Lazy here... it was changed to a virtual, just as I expected.)

So that's that. The world is getting stupider as we go along. Many northern states are locking down again, or instituting more strict mask mandates again. People are ramping up the "OMG, we're all gonna die!" mentality again. And I'm over here just chillin', hating everyone, and finding it very hard to keep a smile on my face.

 

We'll see what December brings. I'm not hopeful, and honestly, I'm pretty sure I'm done with these "updates" at this point. I want to go back to a blog that's fun, and lighthearted, and snarky, and quirky. I'm tired of the hatred that I see when I try to keep up with the world. I dunno... We'll see what happens. 

Election 2020 - The Only Thing We Did on Election Day was Tell Them How Many Votes Were Needed on Election Night

After sleeping through an historic election in 2016, I was ready to stay up late tonight and usher in the second term of President Trump. I was truly hoping for an epic Mainstream Media Meltdown even greater than the first time!

I made sure that I had two huge cups of Pepsi to keep me caffeinated throughout the day! I headed to bed around 8, curling up with Fox on the TV and flipping through Twitter. Coverage was pretty uneventful until around 9pm, when I began to wonder why Fox wasn't calling Florida for Trump. It was obvious that the Sunshine State would go red again! Florida polls close at 8pm, and we count our Absentee Ballots before Election Day, so there were few of those left to tabulate... it started feeling a little hinky, especially when it got to be 10pm and Florida still wasn't called. 

And then, they didn't call Georgia, either? Oh... okay, there's a water line break. Which just so happens to be located at a polling site in a strongly Democrat district? 

 
Around 10:30pm, Philadelphia stopped counting all mail-in ballots. Like, okay, guys, let's head on home and pick this up in the morning, mmmmkay?

Then, Fox (when even CNN didn't) called Arizona, with only 50% of the votes counted, as a Biden state, while Florida and Georgia still hadn't been called? What the actual hell is happening right now?

 

Following Philly's lead, the entire state of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin all stop counting, too! I feel like I'm in the twilight zone! 

At this point, I'm frustrated, I'm angry, and frankly... despondent. I believe that what I watched is blatant and actual cheating that will get Biden into the White House. I can't believe that in America, in 2020, that it would even be possible. I was seething, and I knew that if I didn't go to sleep, I would be up all night, getting madder and madder. I turned the TV off at 1:30am but couldn't get to sleep until around 2am. 

 

I woke up at 9am, and pried my crusty eyes open, expecting to see "President-Elect Biden" in my newsfeed, but I didn't, so that was a glimmer of hope! Instead I saw things like "too close to call," "recounts," and other encouraging phrases. After grabbing a very large soda for the day, I settled myself at my desk to see what I missed.

Boy, I missed a lot! 

As of 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, we were waiting on the outcome of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Alaska, and Nevada. At that point, I just sat at my desk, listening to the daily Chicks on the Right Facebook Live video, watching Louder with Crowder's 8-Hour Election Day Live Stream, and being absolutely pissed off at states who don't know how the fuck to count Absentee Ballots before the fucking polls close, like how Florida does it; Florida starts counting as soon as they are returned to the Supervisor of Elections so that by Election Night they aren't swamped by millions of ballots.

I got absolutely no work done on Wednesday... I was watching my country be taken from me, right from under my feet, while seeing Liberals on Facebook dance with glee. It was horrendous! It reminded me of 2018, when DeSantis was running against Gillum for governor, and Scott was running against Nelson. Broward County and Miami-Dade County kept just magically finding random boxes or bags of ballots, and gee, they are all for Democrats... how lucky!

It's happening all over again but on a National scale. Rahm Emmanuel once said "You never let a serious crisis go to waste," and boy howdy, Covid is the biggest crisis we've seen in years. They scared the country for months, ensuring that people would fear leaving their homes and be horrified at the thought of being within 10 feet of another human. People can't possibly vote in person! We will die! 

Enter the best gift to the Democrats... Mass-Mailed Mail-In Ballots. 

Mass-Mailed Mail-In Ballots are ballots that are mailed to every single person on that county or state's voter rolls. No checking to see if the person is alive, dead, a felon, no longer a resident, or otherwise ineligible to vote. Nope, just here's a blank ballot, do with it what you will! 

How do these differ from the Absentee Ballot that YOU used, Lazy? Well, there's a big difference. An Absentee Ballot is requested by the voter, and can only be requested after becoming a registered voter of the county one lives in (hence, they already have your info and know that you are an eligible voter). These types of ballots, at least in my county, must be re-requested after a certain amount of time, to ensure that you are still an eligible voter. 

On the other hand, no one is verifying that any of the people that are receiving Mass-Mailed Ballots are still eligible. They just see a name and mail it. Many people posted on-line throughout the Fall that they got ballots for people who don't live at that address anymore, ballots for dead people, multiple ballots for the same person, and the like. So now, in addition to ballots being sent to people who shouldn't be able to vote, we have ballots that are most likely just being thrown in the trash... and ANYONE can root through the trash, fill out a  ballot and send it back in. We assume that there is someone on the other end doing a signature validation, but we don't know for sure. 

So, now we have a population of voters who will vote by mail. On top of that, we have multiple states (such as Pennsylvania, again) who changed their election procedures without including the State Legislature. The biggest changes involved how those Mail-In Ballots can be received... Some states said that ballots received by midnight on Election Day can be counted. Some states said that ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted. Some states said that ballots postmarked a week after Election Day can be counted!!! 

Okay... so now that we know the difference between ballots (especially because the Media likes to conflate the two, or combine them into one type), let's continue on with this shit show that is the day after Election Day. You can catch up with Crowder's Tuesday Night/Wednesday Morning Live Stream with election updates and video of election fraud. 

 

By about 3, I was frazzled... I couldn't focus on anything, so I closed all of my Social Media tabs and tried to get some actual work done.