Wang Chung Lung Review for August 2020

 

Well... it's August. If this were a normal year, schools would be open, my town would be full of college kids, I'd be sweating my ass off at races....

 But it's not a normal year, it's Covid-2020, and I'm just SO damn tired of it all. 

Personally and professionally, nothing interesting happened this month. No fun work stories. No gym. No walks in the park. Just the same shit... every single day.

For 10 days, between August 7th and August 17th, bikers converged on Sturgis, South Dakota for their annual bike rally. As you can imagine, liberals screeched and screamed about "super spreaders" but as of September 3, there has been only one death attributed to C19. 

Yes, each of those deaths are sad, but come ON! Look at the bigger picture!

Also on August 7th, Portland Mayor Wheeler said that violent protesters in his city were serving as political props for Trump's re-election campaign in a divisive election season where the president is hammering on a law and order message. Trump has tried to portray the protesters as "sick and dangerous anarchists" running wild in the city's streets. 

On August 10th, America passes 5 Million Cases of C19. Also on this day, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best quits after her police department budget was slashed by over 50% amid calls to Defund the Police. Of course, if you ask any liberal, "Defund the Police" doesn't mean they want to take money away from the police... they just want to divert it elsewhere. Funny, that still sounds like the police are NOT funded, or DEfunded. Words... how do they work?

Just days before the Democratic National Convention (held virtually, because cooties....boogah boogah boogah), Biden stood by his word and nominated a female, California Senator Kamala Harris, as his running mate. She had a terrible showing in the primary, many people hated her, and she couldn't even win her own state, but sure... what a great choice for Veep. She brings the "you can't say mean things about me or you're a sexist RACIST!" discussion to the table. 

On August 13th, the Postal Service announced plans to remove hundreds of high-volume mail processing machines from facilities across the country. Liberals freaked out, because it's right after Trump said he intended to block funding to USPS so that Dems couldn't expand Mail-in voting (not absentee) voting ahead of election. It was later explained that such machines are removed EVERY YEAR because of diminishing volumes of basic "letter" mail. 671 machines (10% of total machines in use) had been slated for removal in 2020, with 618 of them by August 1st. Later, it was announced that any machine that was supposed to be removed, but had not yet been removed would stay in service, but machines that had already been removed could not be reinstalled without approval from USPS HQ. 

Blue street boxes were being removed, freaking out liberals again. However, the Postal Service has been removing mail collection boxes as a cost-cutting measure for years — between 1985 and 2011, the number of mail collection boxes was reduced by 60% — so it remains unclear if the removals are connected to DeJoy's changes After photos of boxes being removed were spread on social media, a Postal Service spokesman said they were being moved to higher-traffic areas but that the removals would stop until after the election.

On August 23rd, Jacob Blake was killed in a fight between him and police officers, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Police were called to the location for a "domestic incident." The Girlfriend said that Blake took her car keys and wouldn't give them back. Blake also had a warrant for other multiple offenses (including sexual assault, trespassing, and domestic abuse) involving The Girlfriend. Officers attempted to apprehend Blake, and tased him twice, while screaming at Blake to drop the knife that he was carrying. Blake fought with both officers, putting one into a headlock, and because police couldn't gain control though less lethal means, they drew their firearms. Blake again tried to get into The Girlfriend's vehicle and was shot by one of the officers. There were three kids in the vehicle he was attempting to enter, all three belonging to The Girlfriend. Blake survived the shooting, and it was announced a few days later that he was paralyzed from the waist down. 

Protests soon began in Kenosha over the 'murder' of Jacob Blake by a cop. Protests continued in Portland, Oregon as well, as a part of the bigger "Black Lives Matter" protests across the country. This specific shooting also led to the 2020 athlete boycotts (including NBA, WNBA, MLB, NFL, and others). 

On August 24th, rioters in Portland cut the power to, and set fires in and around, the Police Station near Arbor Lodge Park. (I'm not sure, but I believe this was the same police department that "peaceful protestors" smeared concrete on exterior doors in attempts to lock cops inside.)

With riots (oh, excuse me... protests) entering their third month, activity ramped up in Kenosha on August 25th. 

So peaceful...

Aftermath of Kenosha Riots

Kyle Rittenhouse comes to Kenosha to help his neighbors clean up from the riots the night before. As the day went on, the protests became more violent, and Kyle chose to pick up arms and protect a friend's business. He is threatened by protestors, he is attacked by protestors, and has to defend himself with his AR-15, leading to the death of two attackers and the injury of one more. When the incident is over, he turned himself in and he was charged with first-degree intentional homicide the following day. 

On August 27th, at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump was formally nominated for President. 

Two days later, at a "Trump 2020 Cruise Rally," a member of the group Patriot Prayer was shot and killed. Aaron Danielson was part of a caravan that drove through Portland, displaying banners and signs supporting the President, and which eventually clashed with participants in the continuing protests. A few days later, after an exclusive Vice TV interview (yes, seriously...) the gunman Michael Reinoehl was charged with second-degree murder on September 3rd, but died the same day when he pulled a gun on FBI and US Marshalls who where attempting to apprehend him in Olympia, Washington. 

To put a cap on the month, on August 31st, the United States documents six million Covid cases.

  

 

 

 

 

Flashback to February! Gasparilla Half-Marathon (Virtual) "Race Report"

After Planet Fitness closed mid-March, and Depot Park parkruns were cancelled, and races were being changed to virtual runs - or being cancelled completely - I found myself giving in to laziness. My days consisted of waking up, taking Hubby to work, working from home, picking Hubby up from work/taking Kiddo to work, working more, cooking dinner (or, let's be honest, ordering pizza), and going to bed. I was simply existing. 

As April rolled into May, and then into June, I just stopped giving a fuck. I can't tell you the last time I got on my treadmill. Or the last time I went for a simple walk in the park.

According to MyFitnessPal, I've gained only 10 pounds since March (I've slacked off on even logging in to MFP, either...). The scale yesterday hovered around 245. Judging by the way my clothing fits, however, I would guess that while gaining weight, I've also lost a lot of muscle, meaning more of this weight is actually true fat. Does that make sense? 

 

Being so sedentary has also contributed to some nasty back problems over the past few months. 

I'm beginning to understand now how fat people get so fat and then feel like they can't get healthier. At some point, there's a tipping point from I'm too lazy to work out today to I'm too fat and in pain to work out today. I don't want to be that person. 

 So, what do I do about it? Well, obviously... I get off my ass. 

How do I do that? Physically, I know that I just... get off my ass. But how do I get my brain involved in this process? My brain doesn't care anymore. My brain is happy to sit in an office chair for 10 hours a day until it's time to get up and sit on the couch. 

Enter, the Flashback to February! 

Click on the photo for more information

At the end of July or the beginning of August, I saw a Facebook post by Gasparilla about a virtual run. I hate virtual runs. You know that. 

But... this virtual run would give me the chance to run any of their distances (5k, 8k, 15k, or half-marathon) for a low cost, and I would receive 2020 race swag to go with it. I thought about it for a few days and made a promise to myself: I will walk one mile every day for 13 straight days and earn this medal. Nothing more, nothing less. No running, if I didn't want to. I could do it on the treadmill every day. No park, if I didn't want to. I was hoping to use this as a springboard to get back into the swing of things. 

So a few weeks ago, I got my swag, which included a long-sleeve race shirt, bandanna, finisher towel, Publix reusable bag, and of course, the awesome hinge-jaw finisher medal. All for fifteen bucks (okay, $22, after tax and shipping)!

I also took advantage of some deep discounts to buy some leftover 2020 swag, including a running hat and a tank top. Both items were only $28 total, just under 50% off. I love the hat, but the tank doesn't fit as well as the race tees, so #goals, I guess.

I got the blue one

When my package got here, I kind of just set it to the side for a few days. I had to mentally prepare myself to do this. It was kind of pathetic, really. 

But after that, I was ready to go. I found that a good mid-day break for 20 minutes was good. I would generally get it done in the hour before it was time to pick up Hubby from work, or on days that he was home, I would do it around lunch time so I could eat afterward. 

I certainly won't win any Age Group awards for my time, but I was consistent. Except for one day when I didn't walk, I was on that treadmill every day. I even did a two-mile walk at the end (instead of dragging it out an extra day). I watched Parks & Rec and just enjoyed my time. 

Once I was all done, I was able to enter my results into their tracker, and lo and behold... even in a "pandemic"... I wasn't last!

Congrats to Belinda for gettin' it done!

It was certainly easier to earn this one than the one I got a few years ago...

So, I guess the question now is... will this new mindset stick? Or will I revert back to my lazy ways? Stay tuned...