Cordelia's Mom, Still

FURLOUGHED: Week Twelve (Final Episode?)

Posted on June 5, 2020 by cordeliasmom2012

“OLD LIVES MATTER, TOO!” – I think someone should put that on a protest sign.

By now, the entire world has seen video of a 75-year-old white man (later identified as Martin Gugino) being pushed to the sidewalk by Buffalo, New York police. Mr. Gugino is shown lying unconscious on the ground with blood flowing from his ear while dozens of cops simply walk past him. One cop who does try to stop to help is ordered by his colleagues to move on.

Mr. Gugino’s “crime” apparently was that he didn’t immediately leave the area after a peaceful protest when the 8 pm city-wide curfew took effect. He is shown in the video approaching two police officers and gesticulating, and is then shoved, falls, and hits his head.

The rally had been organized to protest against police brutality. Ironic, right?

Thankfully, Mr. Gugino survived, regained consciousness, and was able to converse by phone with New York’s Governor Cuomo. I have no idea what was said in that conversation. The two policemen involved have been suspended pending internal investigation.

The ongoing violence on both sides makes me want to never leave my house. The continuing saga of the COVID-19 epidemic makes me want to never leave my house.

Unfortunately, I have no choice in the matter. If I want to pay my mortgage and other bills, I need to work – and I am returning to my office on Monday. Definitely not looking forward to it. Not looking forward to wearing that hot mask every time I go in and out of the building and every time I leave my private office within the building.

But we all have to do it.

With luck, maybe I won’t have to do it for the rest of my life. Government-subsidized housing which fits into a budget solely supported by Social Security is starting to look real good right about now. Perhaps it’s time to start checking out some of those places, as I hear they have a waiting list of 5 to 7 years. Heck, by then maybe my house will have finally been updated enough to sell at a profit. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Meanwhile, I have other issues to deal with. There’s work, there’s health, and …

For whatever reason, both my personal and Cordelia’s Mom Facebook accounts have been royally f*d up. I can’t log in to either and can’t find any way to contact tech support to resolve the problem. So, for those of who you follow me on Facebook, you might want to switch to Twitter. That account seems to be functioning just fine.

Happy Weekend, Everyone. Stay safe and healthy.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Image by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Covid-19, Health, Relationships, That's Life | Tagged Buffalo NY, Covid-19, police brutality, protests, violence | 23 Comments

Civil Unrest and Curfew

Posted on June 2, 2020 by cordeliasmom2012

The COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t chaotic enough? At this exact time, must we also have civil unrest and legal protests which subsequently turn violent?

This is really weird. I haven’t had a curfew since I was 16 and living at home. I think I had a curfew until I turned 18 and moved out on my own. That happened to be during the late 1960’s after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I remember those times well, and the current riots and looting remind me of those days.

Today, we are under curfew in all of Erie County, New York due to rioting and looting after nightfall. While it has been bad here, it’s been so much worse in other areas of the state and the country. I’ve seen the videos depicting violence against people and property; I’ve watched videos of policy brutality, videos of peaceful protest followed by videos of violence and rampant looting, videos of unnecessary aggression by police against protestors, and videos of aggression by protestors against those police who are trying to do their job to control the chaos.

Have we not learned anything in the last 50 years? I find it hard to accept that there is still so much racial tension. I tried to raise my kids to have no pre-conceived notions about anyone, whether black, white, brown, yellow, rainbow colored, or green. In fact, at least one of my daughters didn’t know the meaning of the N word until she heard it in elementary school from one of her classmates. I then found myself in the sad position of having to explain not only the N word, but also many other terms maligning people of other races and from other countries (which words had also been heard at school).

Sure, there are lots of people I don’t like and have no interest in being cozy with, for whatever reason. But those particular people have, in fact, given me a specific reason to dislike them, and it isn’t because of race or nationality. At times I have been known to utter derogatory comments about other drivers, but those tend to be more towards the F word, and often the A and B words. As we all know, those words can apply to any race or nationality – we can all be equally annoying to others, can’t we?

Sometimes I don’t want to be friendly with anyone. That’s just my way.

The majority of the protestors (a variety of skin colors and nationalities) are peaceful, and most of them go home when the legal protest is over. I understand there are outside agitators whose sole purpose is to use those legal protests in order to create mayhem, and I understand there are a few people in power who think such mayhem is a great launch platform to be used for furthering one’s own political goals.

It has to stop. This is not the 1960’s. We do not live in Nazi Germany. This is America – we are all Americans. By coming together during 911 and during the COVID-19 crisis, we have already shown that we can join together as Americans.

I am not a political person; I do not support any particular party or candidate. But I do think it’s time for all Americans to band together and exercise their voting rights to assure that we have leadership which does not use natural disasters, health crises, and civil unrest as the basis to further their own political ambitions.

I’ll get off my own platform now. It’s time to prepare for my return to work next week, and there’s so much to do. You know, all those things that I planned to do and procrastinated about because the pandemic went on for so long that I thought I had a lot more time. Well, time is about to be up. Gotta get moving on some of those little projects. Gotta get Puppy Cody back on a workday schedule.

I imagine that despite the curfew, a “real” photographer would use this opportunity to get some awesome urban unrest photos. Thank heavens I’m not a “real” photographer. I’ll stick with Puppy Cody photos and rebuilding photos.

The closest I’ll come to danger is this photo of a potentially electrifying situation:

(Don’t worry – it’s just an optical illusion. There’s actually distance between those wires and that construction vehicle.)

BTW, remember those disposable masks I ordered from China? They finally arrived today! Ordered April 24, delivered June 2. But at least they got here. The disposable gloves are still in China, as far as I can determine.

Peace, everyone – wherever you are and whoever you are.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Covid-19, Health, Relationships, That's Life | Tagged civil unrest, Covid-19, pandemic, politics, protests, riots, Western New York | 24 Comments

FURLOUGHED: Week Eleven

Posted on May 29, 2020 by cordeliasmom2012

Slowly, but surely, we’re getting there. The COVID-19 pandemic is slowly, ever so slowly, going away.

Five regions in New York State are entering Phase II of their reopening as of today. Phase II includes most office workers and some retail (with restrictions). For many, it seems the most important aspect of Phase II is that hairdressers and beauty salons will reopen (again with restrictions). Blonds can be blond again, and none of us will be forced to cut our own hair (or shave our heads, as some men have done).

I live in Western New York, which is still in Phase I. The question now is: When will we reach Phase II? Western New York may, or may not, reach Phase II on Tuesday of next week, depending on how many COVID-19 hospitalizations there are in this region over the next few days.

The good news is: I have been in contact with my employer, and even if Western New York officially reaches Phase II on Tuesday, I won’t need to return to the office until Monday of the following week. I am in the high-risk group for infection based on my age and health condition, and there are still issues in the office building which need to be resolved to be in compliance with the state guidelines for reopening.

As you all know, I am in no particular hurry to get back to work, especially under these circumstances. I’ll be happy to take a few days vacation or unpaid time while everyone else gets their acts together.

Meanwhile, here in the backyard, nothing has changed. The weather alternates between sunshine and monsoon-like rain. Puppy Cody patrols the perimeter looking for bunnies and squirrels:

View from Under the Crabapple Tree (see Cody over by the fence?)

Mr. Rabbit, Where Are You?

I tried numerous times to get Cody to pose for me (“Cody! Be Pretty“), but no dice. She was simply too intent on her “job” as she sees it.

Of course, Cody decided her security duties ended when The Boss got home from shopping:

Dad’s Home!

I should rate such enthusiasm. But then, I wasn’t returning from the store, maybe with treats.

Hope all is well with all of you. If you’re in the Northeast, things are probably improving; everywhere else, you may have a long road ahead of you. But in any case, this pandemic will end eventually for all of us.

Hugs, Everyone.

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Posted in Covid-19, Health, That's Life | Tagged Covid-19, employment, furlough, pandemic, Puppy Cody, work | 22 Comments

FURLOUGHED: Week Ten

Posted on May 22, 2020 by cordeliasmom2012

The end is near.

The COVID-19 pandemic is coming under control. At least for the moment, the infection and hospitalization rates are declining.

Here in Western New York, we have started reopening by phases; currently, we are in Phase I, which includes manufacturing and construction. Should all go well in Phase I over a two-week period, we will then reach Phase II, which includes pretty much everything except restaurants and large entertainment/recreational venues.

Phase II means I will have to go back to work. I’m not sure I want to go back to work. I’m enjoying my time off.

Of course, one of the reasons I’m enjoying my time off is that I’m receiving New York State unemployment as well as the enhanced Federal unemployment benefits. Once Phase II arrives and I am asked to return to work, if I don’t return to work, those benefits will terminate.

Like everyone else, I have bills to pay. So I guess I’ll be returning to work within the next couple of weeks.

Just my luck that reopening occurs when the weather has finally gone from winter to late spring. Just when I was thinking how nice it would be to spend time outdoors with my camera. Maybe even somewhere other than my own backyard.

Busy, busy, busy.

On the other hand, a return to work might be a good thing. It would get me out of the house (finally) and give me something to do other than baking and playing videogames.

The good news is, I received an email from my employer indicating that I do, in fact, still have a job and my return to the office will be welcome. It’s always nice to be wanted.

Meanwhile, I’m busy, as I said, cooking, baking, playing videogames – and catching up on my backlog of reading materials. This week, I even volunteered to beta read a couple of soon-to-be-published novels. Normally, I get paid for beta reading, but hey, we’re in a pandemic and no one has extra cash floating around. Am I good person or what?

REMINDER TO READERS: You can still hire me to beta read/proofread. After the pandemic, I’ll be running an introductory sale – your first beta reading/proofreading project is free; after that, my rates are very reasonable and well below the current market. My email is cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com. Go for it!

BTW, you might want to clarify who you are when you send me manuscripts; too many of you have similar names and/or email addresses, which can be confusing especially if two of you similarly named people send me manuscripts at the same time (as recently happened). In all cases, it would be wise to email me before sending any materials, to check on my current availability.

Anyway.

This is Memorial Day weekend here in the United States. Hopefully, people won’t go crazy, ignore social distancing, and refuse to wear masks. Such negligence would likely result in a resurgence of the virus and force us back into lockdown.