QUARANTINE BLOG # 31

April 30, 2020

I received a question from a blog reader asking about the time stamp at the bottom of each post.  He said, “You were up very early this morning.”  I was a bit puzzled, because I was not up early – I am retired, you know.  I laughed when he pointed out the time stamp.  “Oh,” I said, “That is Left Coast Time.”  Blogspot.com is part of Google, and Google is headquartered in Mountain View, California.  Only there was I up at 5:30.

👉 The District Superintendent of the Augusta District for the North Georgia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (holy cow, does he put all of that on his business card?), Greg Porterfield, sent a letter to all district clergy yesterday, giving directions to the churches for the days ahead.

Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson and her Cabinet met Tuesday, and after consultation with health care professionals offered the following guidance:  “Mindful of the CDC’s present healthcare recommendations and their forecast that the epidemic in Georgia has not yet reached its apex, we are asking that our churches not gather for public worship.  At present this guidance is through June 22nd.”

👉 The number of reported cases of Covid-19 (most news reporting agencies are now using the term Covid-19 as the disease which is caused by the coronavirus) in United States topped 1,000,000 on Tuesday.  The number of people who have died as of this posting is 61,514.  Confirmed cases in Georgia is 25,671.  1,098 people have died.

Listen, I am pretty much a stay-at-homebody anytime.  One of my kids saw me at a store some months ago – pre Covid-19 – and said to Bonnie, “What did you do to get him out of the house?”  I enjoy sitting at the computer and writing, this blog or cruise talks –  hoping I’ll get to do them again – or reading.  I’m currently reading three books, and I just finished one that would have made four.

However, even I am getting antsy, and ready to hit the road some place other than buying groceries.  Writing these “down memory lane” pieces about Garrett County has made me anxious to see places I haven’t visited in more than 20 years.  But it’s not safe yet!  It will be, but it is not yet!

Keep practicing social distancing.  Keep wearing a mask when you go into a store.  If possible, carry a bottle of hand sanitizer when you are out and use it frequently.  Stay safe!

👉 And now let’s get in the Way Back Machine and travel to a time that nostalgia and memory says were wonderful times.  And, indeed, they were.

Today Mr. Peabody has instructed his boy Sherman to set the Way Back Machine earlier than 1947 which is showing on the dial.  Instead we are going to 1873 when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad created a vacation resort in the mountains of western Maryland in the small town of Deer Park.  Wikipedia says the land was owned by former B&O employee and West Virginia Senator Henry Gassaway Davis.


Deer Park Hotel was heavily promoted by the B&O railroad as a place to escape hot city summers.  The railroad’s express train from Baltimore took 8 hours (3 hours today down I-70).  Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, and Grover Cleveland were among its guests.  William McKinley visited the establishment before he became president.

President Grover Cleveland spent his five-day honeymoon there with his new wife, Frances Folsom Cleveland.

On June 2, 1886, they were married in a ceremony at the White House. He is the first and only sitting President to marry at the presidential mansion. He was 49. She was 21.

The “cottage” where they stayed was built in 1884 and restored 110 years later.

Bottled water is not a new fad, and Deer Park’s spring water was one of the first to be sold to the public.  Deer Park Water is one of the oldest bottled water companies in America.  Bottles of Deer Park were served in the B&O dining cars.

When the 200 room Deer Park Hotel was completed, that spring water was featured in the dining room. Water from the spring, which gushes forth 150,000 gallons a day, has been bottled and sold as Deer Park spring water since 1873.  The original spring was bought in 1993 by the Perrier Group of America. It now belongs to Nestle.

The hotel offered bowling, billiards, a golf course, dinner dances, tennis, baseball, archery, trap shooting and a ladies’ parlor.  There were two indoor swimming pools, built in 1887. The men’s pool was nine feet deep, the women’s six feet (I don’t know why).

But that idyllic setting did not last.  As more and more people owned automobiles, fewer and fewer people rode trains, and Deer Park, Loch Lynn, Mountain Lake Park, and Oakland began to lose their luster.  The Deer Park Hotel caught fire in 1944 and was never rebuilt.  Only a few of the private cottages remain on the site.

👉 I have enjoyed these days traveling in the Way Back Machine.  If there is a place you’d like to visit in these blogs, or a subject you’d like to read about, put a note in the comments section, and I will put Mr. Peabody to work.

👉 Let’s sit again with David at the table which the Good Shepherd prepared, and experience his confidence that even bitter experiences do not take away from the beauty of God’s presence.

In 1980, the Church of England authorized an Alternative Service Book that churches could use, not as a replacement for the traditional Book of Common Prayer, but, as the title suggests, as an alternative.  They transformed “My cup runneth over” to, “My beverage utensil experiences a volume crisis!”

The Alternative Service Book lasted 20 years before it fell into disfavor.  It has been withdrawn from churches and it cannot be used without the express permission of the bishop.  A review of their version of Psalm 23 prompted a London editor to write, “Having read that, I assume the translators of the Authorized Version have adopted an ongoing burial rotation posture.”

Maybe I’ll put the whole alternate version of Psalm 23 in a future QB, and you can see why the editorialist suggested that the KJV folks are turning over in their graves.  But I like “my beverage utensil experiences a volume crisis.”  What a great way to describe the manner in which God pours out his blessings – in abundance, totally without stinginess.  The manifold blessings of God produce a volume crisis.

God is always with us.  Wherever we are, and in whatever condition we may find ourselves, goodness and mercy will find us there.  Unmerited favor, received not because of who we are, but because of who God is.  Praise God!

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 30

April 29, 2020

The “Blondie” comic strip below came the day after Columbia County and the city of Appling received a great piece of news.  Amazon is going to build a fulfillment center here, bringing in as many as 800 new jobs.  After months of speculation, and the announcement that Exit 183 was going to undergo major modification, the word finally came down – Amazon won’t have so far to go to deliver the books I order.  And any Dagwood who lives close, can breath a sigh of relief.

👉 Did you ever wonder why a cup of coffee is sometimes referred to as “a cup of Joe”?  I hadn’t given it much thought until Wheel of Fortune, America’s Game, had a puzzle – “Drinking A Cup Of Joe” – that spurred my research.  Pat Sajak asked the winning contestant if she knew why it was called a Cup of Joe, and before he could give his answer, she asked, “Because Steve was busy?”

Well, the real reason is Josephus Daniels, former secretary of the US Navy, tried to imbue the Navy with a strict morality. He increased the number of chaplains, discouraged prostitution at naval bases, and, most controversially, banned the consumption of alcohol.  Purchases of coffee were increased and Daniels’  name was attached disparagingly to the daily drink of millions around the world.  First called “a cup of Joseph Daniels,” it was soon shortened to a “Cup of Joe.”  And now you know the rest of the story.

** While researching yesterday’s trip down memory lane about Mountain Lake Park, Maryland, I learned something new about my home town of Loch Lynn, and found a view of the town from before my time.

First, Major Joseph Coleman Alderson purchased the property that is now Loch Lynn.  Major Alderson served in the armed forces of the Confederate States of America.

Second, the view below is from the Mountain Lake Park side of the railroad tracks, and shows the B&O depot to the left and the post office to the right (with a barbershop upstairs).  Across the tracks is “The People’s Store,” which was “Harvey and Reams” when I was a kid.  The building to the left of the store was replaced by the Loch Lynn Restaurant.

👉 Speaking of the Loch Lynn Restaurant, may I share a cruise story from our early days of sailing?  Bonnie and I were on the Norwegian Dawn, and it was the last night of the cruise.  We were sharing a table with three young women, and as you do on a cruise ship when seated with folks you don’t know, we began the conversation with names and where we call home.

We went first and then the ladies.  One of them said, “I’m from a little town in Maryland that I’m sure you’ve never heard of.”  I said, “We are both natives of Maryland.  Give us a try.” 

Well, of course you are there ahead of me.  She lived in Loch Lynn, and rented an apartment above the restaurant.  When she said that, I began to ask about specific local landmarks, my knowledge of which astonished her – the Amoco station, the small grove of pine trees across the road from the station, the house at 117 Shenandoah Avenue – and we laughed at our small world.

Oh, her two friends were from Mountain Lake Park (across the tracks) and Friendsville (23 miles away).  Small world, indeed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUdA2qBUDKM

👉 Well, this is my next-to-last planned trip back into the history of Garrett County, and today’s visit is to the Oakland Hotel, which was, of course, in Oakland, Maryland.  Oakland is the county seat of Garrett County with a population of slightly under 2,000 (it is today and was when I still lived with Mom and Dad).

A brief non sequitur.  Or a short detour.  Or a rabbit hole.  Dad worked for the Board of Education, and was once asked if he would assume the duties of the wood shop teacher at Southern High School (full name: Southern Garrett County Junior Senior High School – there were two schools in the county; the other was Northern, etc.).  Dad was an excellent carpenter and the boys would have benefitted from his tutelage, but he declined. 

When asked why he said, “Because one day I will throw a member of the Oakland 400 out of class and you will fire me.”  The Oakland 400 was Dad’s description of the “which of which there is no whicher.”  He never named them, but you knew they were there.

But back to the Oakland Hotel.  Early in the 1870's, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad realized an asset to its passenger train service would be having a resort hotel in Garrett County (the county, once a part of Allegheny County, was named for John Work Garrett, president of the B&O). The railroad  built the Deer Park Hotel in 1873, which proved so successful that in 1875 they started construction of the 300 room Oakland Hotel.

One of the unique features of the Oakland Hotel was the telegraph office in the hotel’s lobby. The telegraph office had a line that connected it to the lobby of the Deer Park Hotel. In the early 1890's the hotel-to-hotel wires were attached to telephones and became the first telephone line in Garrett County.

In 1900, due to dwindling patronage, the railroad sold the Oakland Hotel to a medical group for a proposed sanatorium. The venture was unsuccessful and hotel was torn down in 1909 for its lumber.

👉 Let’s return to Psalm 23 as we close out this blog.  The Psalm can be divided into three parts.  First, God is a faithful shepherd (verses 1-3).  Second, God is a reliable guide (verse 4).  Third, God is a loving host, and we, his sheep, are invited as honored guests to God’s table (verses 5-6).

In verse 5 David said, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”  Eugene Peterson paraphrases, “You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies” (The Message).  

Can you picture David’s enemies, and he had many, including members of his own family, surrounding him, ready to attack, when all of a sudden the Lord hosts a table for David?  Oh the envy.  The frustration.  How they would have begrudged David that moment.

Well, we, as well as David, are God’s sheep, and God invites us to take a permanent place at His table.  Eugene Peterson suggested a six-course dinner.  How about this menu?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 English Standard Version).

“At one time you were far away from God. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. He spilled His blood for you. This has brought you near to God” (Ephesians 2:13 New International Reader’s Version).

“God has freed us from the power of darkness” (Colossians 1:13 New Century Version).

“He brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:13 New Century Version).

“For through Him we have access to the Father by one Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18 New International Version).

“He has said, “I will never under any circumstances desert you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless, nor will I forsake or let you down, or relax My hold on you assuredly not!” (Hebrews 13:5 Amplified Version).

What are you waiting for?  Pull out a chair and sit down.  Your Host is waiting to serve you!

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 29

April 28, 2020

Bonnie and I met Jani on a cruise probably 10 years ago.  She and a co-worker, Cathy, were our table mates on the “Grandeur of the Seas” sailing out of Baltimore for two days at sea, two nights in Bermuda, and two days back home.  Jani wrote to me yesterday and asked us to pray for her sister, Kathy, who works in a nursing home, and has tested positive for COVID-19.  Her symptoms at this point do not include lung distress, but she has diabetes.  Please put Kathy on your prayer list and join me in asking Father for her healing.

👉 This next piece is an example of why you can’t believe everything on the internet.  People post things to their Facebook and other accounts, and readers, believing everything they see on the internet, pass it on.  And on and on.  And others, thinking if it’s on the internet it must be true, pass it on.  And on and on.

Carlotta Waldmann posted a picture on her Facebook account, accusing WalMart of, among other things, “supporting one world government,” and “one world religion.”

Take a look at the picture, captured from Facebook.

She is right about one thing: nWo does stand for New World Order.  After that, she is all wrong – no world religion, no world leader, no world currency, no world government.  nWo was part of World Championship Wrestling that featured Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash.  It was one of the best angles the WCW ever had.

Back in 2001, when I was doing my weekly column, “Not For Sunday Only,” in The Augusta Chronicle, and online, I wrote a piece entitled, “Hidden Meanings.”  It was a warning, particularly to Christians, not to believe everything you hear, and not to  repeat stuff until you have researched it.  I invite you to take a look: http://davidsisler.com/08-30-2001.htm


👉 One of the summer time entertainments back home was the 219 Drive-In Theater.  Once inside, we’d hang the speaker on the window and head for the refreshment stand.  Then back to the car for a double feature.  It was a great family place, and also a great date night place.

We would be sitting three across in the front seat of the ‘59 Chevrolet Brookwood station wagon, with Kyle riding shotgun, I was the driver, and my girlfriend was in the middle.  Occasionally, I’d tap my brother on the shoulder and he’d go to the snack bar while she and I had a private moment.

Many years the traditional theater in Oakland burned down, the drive-in was the only local movie spot.

Well, one of the positive things to come out of these times is the resurgence of the Drive-In Movie Theater.  There are more than 300 drive-ins in the nation, but the closest one to me is in Monetta, SC, an hour away.  Anyway, folks are beginning to take in a safe distancing movie in their cars.

Modern drive-ins don’t have a speaker that you hang on the window (and tear off the stand when you forgot and drove away).  Instead they pipe the sound in via your FM radio.

And snack bars will take your order by phone and deliver them to your car.

May I suggest you do not do one thing a group of my college fraternity brothers decided to do at the drive-in.  The driver and one passenger hopped in their respective seats, and as many as could safely fit into the trunk would pile in there.  After paying admission for two, the driver would park on the back row and open the trunk.  The trick worked twice, and then my brothers from Sigma Tau Gamma were banned for life.

👉 Continuing my trip through historic Garrett County, Maryland, which we started yesterday, let’s go across the railroad tracks to Mountain Lake Park.  MLP grew out of two American activities of the 19th century, the Methodist Camp Meeting which was aimed at spiritual renewal, and the Chautaugua Society, an educational and recreational assembly with lectures and concerts.

The 800 acres which would become MLP was purchased in 1881 for $4,672.  A 22 acre lake was constructed, and later expanded to 35 acres.  There was an ice house capable of holding 2500 tons of ice on the east side of the lake and a boat house on the west side.

One of the town’s main attractions was the Bashford Amphitheater which had a seating capacity of 5,000 (I have been unable to discover who Bashford was).  It was an architectural marvel, having no center post and therefore no obstructed views.  Speakers included President William Howard Taft, William Jennings Bryan, Mark Twain, and Billy Sunday.  The Amphitheater was razed in the 1940s due to a lack of money to repair the roof.

President Taft leaving the auditorium after making a speech.

In the beginning the MLP Association provided tents that could be rented for a season, and a building boom of cottages, hotels, and boarding houses soon followed.  Building lots were $100 each.  Houses had to cost at least $300, unless the builder was a clergyman, in which case the minimum cost was $150.  Gambling, card playing, dancing, and the use of alcohol was prohibited – even in one’s own home.

In addition to the Mountain Lake Hotel, visitors could find rooms at the Hotel Dennett, Hotel Chautaugua, Hotel Columbia, and Mountain View Home.

The Boardwalk that went from the B&O train station to the Amphitheater was still there when I was a teenager.  The building on the right side of the tracks is gone, but the train depot is still there – repurposed by Kelly Vance as a storage depot for his furniture store.

One more building.  The Assembly Building was known as the Tabernacle when I “coming up.”  The open air section was eventually closed in.  You can see the bell tower on the left, and closed circuit for the JAMM Kids, your Skinny Pappy and some friends “borrowed” a farmer’s cow, led it up the stairs to the top of the tower, tied the cow to the bell rope, closed off the platform and made their escape.  The townspeople knew something was amiss when the bell continued to ring.

👉 Psalm 23 begins with David’s declaration, “The Lord is my shepherd.”  Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd; and I know my sheep” (John 10:14).  In Isaiah 49:16, God said, “I have written your name on my hand.”

Do you get the idea from those verses that you matter to God?  It is tempting to think that mattering only counts with the major things – like the coronavirus pandemic.  Those “big” things matter, of course, but also the every day, day to day, hum drum things of life.  The flat tire.  The leaky dishwasher.  The backed up sewer.   A crashed hard drive.  A spat with your spouse.  Bad grades in an important class.

You can keep that list going, but the truth is, everything about you matters to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He knows your name.  In fact, He has written it on His hand.  Did you ever tie a string around your finger as a mnemonic device, or write a note on your palm so you wouldn’t forget something?  Jesus didn’t write your name on His hand so He wouldn’t forget it.  It is there as a constant reminder to you that He loves you, and He cares for you, and He is concerned about what is happening inside of you and around you.

Now, whatever it is, can you trust Him with it?

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 28

April 27, 2020

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has called for a Day of Prayer today from 10 until 11 a.m. in the rotunda of the Georgia capital building.  The Governor said in these trying times it is needed that everyone comes together to pray.  To ensure adherence to social distancing guidelines, the Day of Prayer service will not be open to the general public.  Participants are invited to join in on Gov. Kemp’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/GovKemp.

👉 Two of my readers have asked me the meaning of the symbol with which I close each blog: -30-

It comes from a time when reporters would use a teletype machine to file their reports.  It was an efficient way for the receiver at the other end to know that the message had been concluded.  Kind of like saying on a Citizens Band Radio “Over and out.”

👉 In other news, if you like reading on your electronic device, Amazon has a special right now for you.  Sign up for Kindle Unlimited and get 30 days of unlimited reading, or listening, for free.  After that, if you decide to continue, it will cost you $9.95 a month.  I have downloaded several books to my Xoom, my Kindle Fire, and my phone, but I still prefer it the old fashioned way – holding the book and turning the page.

👉 The comic strip “Pearls Before Swine,” by Stephan Pastis has an interesting observation on our current world situation.

If I got squares.  I got no cares!

👉 There is an old expression for Garrett County, Maryland: “If you want to sin, go to Loch Lynn.”  The town where I was born, and where I grew up, Loch Lynn, Maryland (or Loch Lynn Heights – depending on the mood of the town council on a particular day) once had a hotel and recreational hall. 

Across the railroad tracks (we always maintained that we were on the right side of the tracks) is the town of Mountain Lake Park.  MLP was started in 1881 by four West Virginia business men who bought the 800 acres that would become the town.  MLP was established as a Methodist resort founded on Christian principles.  Unlike nearby Loch Lynn Heights, the sins of vice, including dancing, drinking, and gambling, were forbidden.  The full quote with which this paragraph begins is “If you want to sin, go to Loch Lynn, but for Jesus’ sake, go to Mountain Lake.” 

The Loch Lynn Heights Hotel and its Casino were among the earlier, and more important structures in the town. The original hotel was destroyed by fire in 1918 (the year my Dad was born) and the Casino building was demolished in 1987.

The Simmons family owned the Casino building for as long as I can remember.  Blair Simmons converted the front into living quarters (which went back to the 2 windows on the right side).  He covered over the indoor swimming pool and bowling alleys and made the back a chicken farm.  His daughter demolished the old building – long empty – in 1987 and built a modern house.

This two penny postcard is postmarked June 21, 1918, and was mailed to Miss Ethel Hodges of Washington, D.C.  Sometime after that, the hotel – the left of the two buildings – burned down (or did it burn up).

👉 How would you like to live in a town where WiFi is illegal, and there is no Bluetooth, or cellular phone service?

That town is Green Bank, West Virginia, home to a super powerful telescope that needs electromagnetic silence to do its important research.  In 1958 Green Bank Observatory opened as the nation’s first national radio astronomy observatory.  Any  close-by, man-made radio frequency can completely overwhelm outer space signals.

In Green Bank you may have internet, as long as it is ethernet – from a cable attached to the wall.

The West Virginia legislature passed a law in 1956 to protect GBO, and it provides for a $50 fine for a violation and $50 for each day the interfering device is operated after a written notice is received.  Almost 80 years later no notices have been written and no fines levied, but if you walk into a local convenience store 1.5 miles from the observatory you can get a WiFi signal on your smart phone.  When a reporter for Popular Mechanics magazine told the clerk it could interfere with important search like looking for gravitational waves, detecting massive neutron stars, and even extraterrestrial intelligence, the clerk just shrugged.

The Green Bank Telescope has been searching for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) since 1960.  If anyone has phoned from home, the public has not been informed.

👉 Speaking of Popular Mechanics, it was one of two magazines that Dad subscribed to when I was a boy.  The other was Popular Science.  Dad always pronounced both names with the “U” silent.  Poplar.  This is the same man who told his wife for the first year of their marriage that he could not say p-e-o-p-l-e.  He pronounced it “peepees.”  Mom caught him talking to a friend when he didn’t know she was in hearing range, and the joke was over.

👉 One of the magnificent statements of Psalm 23 is in verse 4: “Thou art with me.”  The God who created heaven and earth, the God who notices when a sparrow falls to the earth, David discovered was with him regardless of where he was – pasture, wilderness, or palace. 

The Lord is with us!  That is an important discovery every day, and how much more do take comfort in this day of the coronavirus.  To know that the Lord is near makes everything different.

Whatever you are facing, the Lord, the Great Shepherd is with you.  If you are facing unemployment, you aren’t doing it alone because the Lord is with you.  If you are having struggles in your family, you aren’t struggling alone because the Lord is with you.  If you are facing debt, you aren’t facing it alone because the Lord is with you.

The writer to the Hebrews told his audience, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Those who expertly study New Testament Greek tell us that the original sentence has five nevers in it.  “I will never never never never never leave you!”  Can you trust a God like that?

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 27

April 26, 2020

I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet.  I am the son of a carpenter.  Nor am I a “Chicken Little” who announces to all who come within range of my voice that the sky is falling.  It isn’t, by the way, although it is rather cloudy.

This line of thought started when I read Judges 2 as part of my morning devotions (I am using The One Year Bible published by Tyndale): “So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Now Joshua ... died ... and they buried him. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. (Judges 2:7-10, selected verses NKJV – emphasis mine).

A generation who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.  I know the United States is not mentioned in Scripture, and the U.S. is not Israel, but we are a nation which has been uniquely blessed by the Lord.  Regardless, we are increasingly moving away from the title “Christian nation.”  A preacher in whom I have total confidence said that he sees a day coming when Christianity will be outlawed in the United States.  It already is in Canada he said (for example, if you preach that homosexuality is a sin, you will be arrested and charged with a hate crime).

We are on that downward slope. 

Businesses lose court cases when they are charged with discrimination for refusing service to those whose lifestyles contradict the teachings of the Bible. 

Entertainment becomes more and more promiscuous. 

Language becomes more crude, more obscene. 

Disregard for the laws of the land is becoming prevalent – with recreational use of marijuana still a federal offense, 11 states have nevertheless approved it. 

The generation in Judges who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel were overthrown.  “So the Lord ... handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He let them be defeated by their enemies, so that they were no longer able to stand up to them” (Judges 2:14 Common English Bible).

I repeat, I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet.  But I am deeply concerned about the future of our nation.  Pray saints!

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 26

April 25, 2020

We begin today with a happy reminder from our “Good News Department.”  There are only eight months until Christmas.  And I will bet you a dollar to a donut my first born child has her shopping done.  I know we’ve been in quarantine for a month, but I’m pretty sure she started on December 26, 2019.

👉 President Donald Trump agrees with me.  He criticized Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to allow many businesses to reopen yesterday, saying the move was premature given the number of virus cases in the state. The President said, “I think it’s too soon.”

👉 More news from the cruise industry.  Two of Carnival’s subsidiary lines won’t set sail again until August 1 at the earliest. Cunard and P&O Cruises were originally planning to restart operations on May 15, but now say the postponement of fresh voyages will continue through July 31 because of official warnings about the COVID-19 hazards associated with travel.  Cunard has also canceled the entire Alaska season, and all departures of the vessel Queen Elizabeth are halted through September 8.

👉 Let me conclude the saga the “Pacific Princess.”  As you know, she docked in San Pedro on April 20, and the 119 guests on board were finally on their way to homes on dry land.  Almost.

The disembarkation process was one more hurdle to overcome.  The 119, who were completely free of the coronavirus, went through a medical check, passport control, and then went back on board to await transportation which had been arranged by Princess – no private arrangements were allowed by California officials.  The actual process took two day to complete.

Oh, and when one couple finally arrived in Fort Lauderdale, they discovered that their luggage did not make their charter flight, and was still in the City of Angels.

👉 Who’s in charge here?  The government of Pakistan gave in to clerics’ demands that mosques be allowed to stay open during the Islamic holy month.

Ramadan, which began April 23, is the holy month in which Muslims crowd into mosques and fast all day, holding feasts after sundown with family and friends.  Those are ripe conditions for the coronavirus to spread, and imams around the world are asking people to stay home.  But in Pakistan, pandemic or no pandemic, hard-line clerics are overriding the government’s nationwide virus lockdown.

“Muslims wait for this month for the whole year so that they can earn maximum rewards from God by fasting and offering our prayers,” said Hazrat Ali, a worshiper in Karachi.

A New York Times report https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/world/asia/pakistan-coronavirus-ramadan.html says, “While clerics acknowledge that their mosques are perfect vectors for the coronavirus’s spread, they say they have to protect their bottom line: money and influence.”

Maulana Ataullah Hazravi, a Karachi-based cleric, said “Mosques depend largely on the donations collected during Ramadan.”

👉 I told you in an earlier blog (QB # 18) about Melitta Bentz who invented the coffee filter.  Not only has she made coffee better tasting, she may have discovered the Fountain of Youth.  Well, not the FOY, but a way to live longer, according to a long-term study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

The study followed over half a million healthy Norwegian men and women between the ages of 20 and 79 over a 20-year period, and determines that filtered coffee is better for you than unfiltered coffee.  That’s bad news for lovers of coffee made with the French press, or cafetière, or those fond of strong Greek and Turkish brewing methods.

Boiling coffee or using a coffee press can actually increase your risk of heart disease because, “Unfiltered coffee contains substances which increase blood cholesterol.  Using a filter removes these and makes heart attacks and premature death less likely,” said study author Dag Thelle. 

I do like coffee from a French press, but I think it will go in the next family yard sale, and I will stick to Keurig.  Dr. J, it sounds like the Nespresso machine is safe, too.

👉 In Psalm 23:4 David said, “I will fear no evil.”  How could he make such a statement?  Because he knew where to look.  Walking through the valley of the shadow of death, David was not looking at his surroundings, or at his circumstances.  He was looking at his Shepherd.

“Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”  The Shepherd’s rod is a small, strong weapon to fight off those who would threaten the sheep.  His staff is that familiar long stick with the crook on the end that guides the sheep, and pulls a wandering sheep from danger to safety.

“You are with me.”  If we experience the deepest darkness imaginable there is no need to be afraid because God promises to be with us, to protect us, to comfort us, to make us secure.

The psalmist confidently declares, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6 NKJV).  The David Sisler paraphrase says, “Because the Lord is on my side, there is no need to be afraid,” but that same paraphraser also knows there are times when he is afraid.  During those times, he relies on another of Israel’s songs: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” (Psalm 56:3 NKJV).

Let’s wrap this up with a worship song based on Psalm 56:3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gFQCQcLVpM&list=RD2gFQCQcLVpM&index=1

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 25

April 24, 2020

The House of Representatives (boy should that name be changed – they no longer represent “we the people,” they only represent “us the politicians”) voted yesterday to set up a powerful new committee to probe the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.  Federal response?  Change that to the Trump Administration.  Nancy Pelosi and her cronies put us through an impeachment farce, and now in the middle of a pandemic that has claimed the lives of 50,000 Americans and almost 200,000 people world-wide they are going to start another partisan battle at a time when we desperately need statesmanship, not partisanship.

Speaker Pelosi abruptly made the decision to move forward with the vote after she decided to postpone a vote on an unprecedented change in the House rules to let members vote remotely, saying the matter needed to be reviewed further (and she’s the one who said just pass Obamacare, we’ll find out later what is in it).  Further review?!  Because of the need for social distancing, only a select number of members can enter the House floor at one time, and instead of letting the vote go forward to protect the members, Madam P decided to stage another attack on President Trump.

👉 Carnival’s entertainment department reports that the vast majority of the entertainment team are home.  New global restrictions last week on commercial air travel made it difficult to finish their plan. To help get everyone home, Carnival will be using their cruise ships for repatriation trips.

👉 One of our readers sent me an email after my description of WalMarting.  He  described shopping with his wife: “She keeps getting lost in a supermarket. They have time warps and women disappear. Watch and see men, lost alone at the end of aisles, awaiting the time warp to spew out someone’s wife.”

👉 In case you missed it, the National Football League began its annual draft of college players last night.  And they did it while keeping to the social distancing guidelines.  Teams did not invite prospective draftees to an interview, medical check-up, and work out.  They did it all electronically. 

The first pick went to the Cincinnati Bengals who picked LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.  The Bengals earned that dubious honor by finishing 2-14 last season (and without a winning season since 2015).  Burrow is viewed as a potential franchise quarterback.

The Steelers (8-8) traded their first round draft pick (#18) two games into last season to get defender Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Miami Dolphins.  So they’ve already had their first rounder.

Three networks – ABC, ESPN, and NFL Network – are broadcasting it.  There is way more interest in this than I can understand.  But I offer this as a public service.

👉 Yesterday in a reply to a comment about my Jeopardy! reference I said, “I miss Art Fleming!”  And then I took a trip down memory lane.

In the show’s first incarnation the Jeopardy! Round began with $10 and went up to $50.  

Double Jeopardy! was $20 to $100.

The answer is – “5,000 episodes of television programs and 48 motion pictures.” 
What is Art Fleming’s resume?

The answer is – “2858.” 
How many shows of Jeopardy! did Art Fleming host?

The answer is – “Too easy, the pace has changed, and only one winner.” 
What three reasons did Art Fleming give for turning down the revival of Jeopardy! in 1983?

For an expanded explanation of that last answer (every time Alex Trebek says “Clue,” I say “Answer,” and one of my offspring says she is going to put “Answer” on my tombstone) check this clip from “Later with Bob Costas.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E26Mz6o2oY Start at time marker 2:53.

👉 Reverend Mickey Moss, pastor of Macedonia United Methodist Church, has been emailing a daily Psalm during this coronavirus crisis.  Notably, he has been doing it without personal comment. 

Mickey and I are both graduates of Erskine Theological Seminary, where we studied under Dr. Donald Fairbairn.  I remember setting up straight in my chair the morning Dr. Fairbairn said, “The most important thing your people will hear when you preach is not what you have to say about the text.”  He paused to be sure he had our attention, then he continued, “The most important thing your people will hear when you preach is your reading of the Word of God, not your comments about it.”  It took a while for that to sink into my pea brain, but it finally did.  So good on you Mickey for just sending the text.

I’m going to step away from that to comment on one verse of yesterday’s Psalm from Macedonia.

“Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4 New King James Version).

We spent a few days meditating on Psalm 23 – and will again, that’s the beauty of it – and here the psalmist returns to that metaphor.  Jesus is our Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd, and we are His sheep. 

The Lord keeps His people as a shepherd keeps his flock. A shepherd keeps the sheep by feeding them, by supplying all their needs, and also by guarding them from all their adversaries. Both by night and by day, the shepherd takes great pains and the utmost care to preserve his sheep. If you are one of His people, if you are one of the sheep of His pasture, rest assured that He will take care of you.  You are well kept.

Now, read the whole Psalm, and this time, without comment https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+121&version=NKJV

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 24

April 23, 2020

Now that virtually all cruising has ceased and ships are either docked in ports around the world or idling at sea, each night at 7:30 p.m. ET, all of the ships anchored around Grand Bahama Island are sounding their horns at the same time https://twitter.com/halcruises/status/1241518971804946433 in solidarity.

Celebrity Cruises’ Captain Kate McCue said, “We sound our horns, to let our crew and the world know that while we are strong, safe, and healthy on board (currently over 250,000 crew members are onboard around the world), we are thinking of those at home and hoping the same for them. Until our safe returns to our home ports, we wish them fair winds and following seas.”

👉 The Alaskan cruise season has been suspended until July 1, according to current plans.  Approximately 1.5 million cruise passengers were expected to arrive in our 49th state this year, bringing nearly $800 million in local spending with them, aboard a total of 43 different vessels making over 600 sailings.

Ports of embarkation and disembarkation – where most vessels are provisioned, bunkered with fuel, and made ready for the voyage ahead – will also see an economic impact.  A port call generates hundreds of thousands of dollars; a turnaround port call generates millions.  Each ship that turns around in the Port of Vancouver provides $3 million to the local economy. The Port of Seattle receives $4.2 million in economic benefits from each vessel turning around at its cruise terminals.

👉 While watching Jeopardy the other night (Answer!) I learned that I suffer from a disease called “tsundoku” – a Japanese term used to describe a person who owns a lot of unread literature. 

The term can be found in print [ironic, I think] as early as 1879, meaning it was likely in use before that.  The word “doku” can be used as a verb to mean “reading.”  The “tsun” in “tsundoku” originates in “tsumu” – a word meaning “to pile up.”  So when put together, “tsundoku” has the meaning of buying reading material and piling it up.

I don’t think I am the only person connected with 233 Woodland Drive who is afflicted with this disease.

Professor Andrew Gerstle, who teaches pre-modern Japanese texts at the University of London, says while this might sound like tsundoku is being used as an insult, the word does not carry any stigma in Japan.  Nor at 233.

Now, what is the term for Lego Star Wars ships, Jedi, clones, and droids which are laying, unplayed with, since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Augusta?  See the above picture.

👉 In case you don’t have enough to worry about, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield said a second wave of coronavirus cases would likely coincide with the flu season, and this second wave could be even worse than the first.  Mr. Redfield stressed getting flu shots as soon as they are available.

👉 I don’t know if this is sarcasm or not, but at least one good thing has come out of this pandemic.  Vladimir Putin, Russia’s dictator-in-chief, had planned to try to push a bill through the Duma (their legislative branch) to deconstruct the Russian constitution (I guess the polite term is “amend,” but where Rootin’ Tootin’ Putin is concerned “deconstruct” is closer to the truth).  If successful, the measure would have allowed him to remain in power for two more terms.  Because of the coronavirus, the ballot was postponed.  May it never reappear!  Both that ballot issue and coronavirus!

👉 I am usually a patient man, a very gentle man.  May I borrow from Professor Henry Higgins?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQGH9zereFc “I’m a very gentle man, even-tempered and good-natured who you never hear complain. Who has the milk of human kindness by the quart in every vein. A patient man am I, down to my fingertips. The sort who never would, never could let an insulting remark escape his lips. A very gentle man.”

But some folks make it hard. 

The CDC has issued guidelines for the public to wear masks when outside one’s home and to practice social distancing.  But these guidelines are not laws, which allows some people to think they can ignore them with impunity. The level to which people follow the guidelines has varied.  New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, calls the people that don’t or won’t police themselves “knuckleheads.”  Maybe he should call out Henry McMaster and Brian Kemp.

But what about the people you meet at the grocery store or other places where you venture these days?  During World War II citizens were cautioned not to talk about military matters because “loose lips sink ships.”  Here in the 21st century, loose lips may not sink ships, but they could get you a poke in the nose. 

The writer of Proverbs offers wise counsel for those difficult times.

“A soft and gentle and thoughtful answer turns away wrath, but harsh and painful and careless words stir up anger” (15:1 Amplified).  

“Wise people use knowledge when they speak, but fools pour out foolishness” (15:2 New Century Version).

Sometimes a rebuke is necessary: “A quiet rebuke to a person of good sense does more than a whack on the head of a fool” (17:10 The Message).

Some people will respond angrily or defensively, no matter what: “Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool; you’ll only look foolish yourself” (Proverbs 26:4 The Message).

To the person standing maskless and too close in the checkout line, perhaps a gentle, “Would you mind taking a few steps back.  I want to be sure I am protecting both of us” will be effective.

There have already been outbreaks of unsocial distance violence, fist fights and name calling.  How about a blessing instead an unkindness?  “Here’s hoping you and yours remain healthy and stay safe.”

Stay safe.  Or as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus used to say, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkbBfqA6-4Y “Let’s be careful out there.”

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 23

April 22, 2020


Thank you, Governor Andy Beshear.  Kentucky’s governor said last Thursday that he will rely on the expertise of public health leaders to make any determination as to when Kentucky will reopen [emphasis mine].

Gov. Beshear said, “We owe much of our success in flattening the curve in Kentucky to the sacrifices our families are making. And while we continue to aggressively battle COVID-19, the moment we can begin to take action to reopen parts of our economy, we must do so in a way that ensures every sacrifice made is not squandered.” [emphasis mine].

👉 I wrote yesterday about South Carolina’s governor, Henry McMaster, reopening his state and I said it was too soon.  I still believe that.

But I missed that at the same time, Governor Brian Kemp announced plans to restart the Georgia’s this week as well.  And Tennessee plans to let businesses begin reopening as soon as next week.

Georgia’s timetable, according to AP’s Jeff Amy, is “one of the most aggressive in the nation.” It would allow gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors to reopen as long as owners follow strict social-distancing and hygiene requirements. By Monday, movie theaters may resume selling tickets, and restaurants limited to takeout orders could return to limited dine-in service.

Like McMaster, Kemp is ignoring federal guidelines to see 14 consecutive days of decreasing cases of coronavirus before reopening businesses.  If the current rate holds, Georgia will only have 10 days on Friday when these openings are scheduled to take place.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top authority on infectious diseases, warned again yesterday that resuming business too soon risked a fresh spike in infections.

👉 Dolly seems to understand the care which needs to be taken to protect us all from corona virus better than our elected officials.

👉 I have told you, haven’t I, that I don’t like to shop?  I once bought brand new car,  called a salesman I knew, told him what I wanted, went to the lot several hours later, signed the papers and said, “Oh, by the way. What did I buy?”  I think Jeff Bezos created Amazon.com just for me.

Well, yesterday the bride of my youth invited me to accompany her on a grocery and prescription pickup run to WalMart.  It was something we could do together, as if for the last several weeks we have not been doing everything we’ve been doing together since we are under quarantine.  And we’ve been doing a lot of together for coming up on 52 years – good times (actually it started when we met on January 19, 1968, so it’s already been 52 years – and a story for another time).

The shelves featured, although not with abundance, an item that has been missing every time we’ve been in since the quarantine started.

Seeing a very small supply of toilet paper immediately reminded me of a song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YusHyd-duQ by The Surfaris, a California surf rock band with two hit songs.

I was pleased to see that about 8 out 10 folks at Sam Walton’s big store on Washington Road were wearing masks, a great improvement over out last visit.  And every WalMart employee I saw were mask wearers as well – except for the three who had their masks secured around their ears and tucked under their chins.  I wondered what viruses were going to attack their chins and leave their mouths and noses alone.  If it was a fashion statement, it didn’t work.

👉 Speaking of wearing masks, I have noticed that wearing a mask makes me hard of hearing.  I repeatedly must ask people to repeat themselves.  But hey, maybe that’s why those three WalMarties had their masks under their chins – they could hear better.  Insert shoulder shrug emoji here.

👉 If you are looking for something different to wile away your time during these days of shelter in place, and you like Broadway musicals, checkout a new YouTube channel called “The Shows Must Go On.”  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmPjhKMaXNNeCr1FjuMvag The site gave no indication how long this freebie would last.

Every Friday at 7 p.m. BST (British Standard Time – a.k.a. 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) and continuing for 48 hours, you can watch full-length films of some classic musicals.  Many shows are from the great Andrew Lloyd Webber.  I’m waiting for the original “Cats.”  It is one of my all-time favorites – I’ve seen it live on stage 14 times, and have worn out two cassette tapes of the sound track.

👉 You say opera is your thing.  Then you’ll be glad to know that the Metropolitan Opera https://www.metopera.org/ is streaming a different performance every night at 7:30 p.m., and that show will be up for 20 hours.  Their collection of high definition  performances spans 14 years.

👉 The Pacific Princess reached the Port of Los Angeles on Monday for its remaining passengers to finally disembark. 119 passengers will exit the ship in the days ahead. The disembarkation process in San Pedro may take several days, as the cruise line is coordinating homeward travel plans for all of the guests.

There were no positive cases of COVID-19 onboard. 109 passengers were deemed, under International Air Transport Association medical clearance guidelines, to be medically unfit to undertake a long-haul flight back to the United States from Australia (for reasons unrelated to COVID-19).

👉 As of yesterday at 5:00 p.m., https://www.google.com/search?q=worldwide+covid+19+deaths&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS778US778&oq=worldwide&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l6j69i60.8061j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 the death toll in the United States from the coronavirus was 44,342 – that’s not numbers, that’s people.  The death toll worldwide was 174,336 – that’s not numbers, that’s people. 

And from 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon until 9 o’clock this morning in the U.S. 1,031 additional people died.  Worldwide 4,035 additional people died.

In times like these, whether dealing with death or with life, people increasingly want to hear is what God says.

We don’t have to guess.  The Apostle John wrote it down for us: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going” (John 14:1-4 English Standard Version).

“If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” 

If I can put words into my Savior’s mouth, I think during this pandemic he would say, “Trust me with your life.  Don’t be troubled.  Trust me more than you trust social distancing.  Trust me more than you trust the mask you wear in the grocery store.  Trust me.”

Speaking prophetically, Isaiah said about Jesus, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart” (Isaiah 14:11 New International Version – emphasis mine).  Are you afraid?  Snuggle down close into Jesus’s arms and listen to the beating of his heart as he holds you close.

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 22

April 21, 2020


Yesterday I closed with Lamentations 3:26, “It is good to wait quietly for the Lord to save.”

Spiritually, waiting for God is also the best course to follow.  How many times do we “take matters into our own hands” and end up with a result far worse than were we started?  When the Apostle Paul was giving his testimony in Jerusalem he was recounting his conversion experience, leading from the moment of the Damascus road experience until he was in the house of Ananias.  At least three days had passed between the first incident and the second, and then the word came to him, “And now why are you waiting?” (Acts 22:16).  Paul had been given direction to move.  Now was the time.  Not before.

To the Ephesians, Paul wrote, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand, stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:13-17 emphasis mine).

Having done all to stand, stand.  When the word is given, move out.  If the word is not given, stand.  Wait quietly for the Lord.

I don’t know anything harder to do when following the Lord.

👉 Speaking of waiting, and not on a spiritual matter, but one purely personal, some of you have heard the story of the first Color TV I purchased not long after Bonnie and I were married.  For those of you who haven’t, you may share my agony.

Here in 2020 it is almost impossible to remember a time when televised images were all in black and white, but believe it or not, there was such a time.

And then networks, like NBC, began to tantalize, “The following program is brought to you in living color.”

A musical bit would be cued and the peacock would spread his tail feathers like a rainbow. (That was back to a time when a rainbow only meant God’s promise to never again destroy the world by a flood).

The peacock’s predecessors had shown the first color program, “Premier,” on June 25, 1951.  It was a one off broadcast, but then two days later, CBS began airing the first regularly scheduled color television series, a travel series, “The World Is Yours!”  Four cities received it, but by 1968, the time of my debacle, color television was everywhere.  Except in our rented apartment at 174 West Main Street, Frostburg, Maryland.  And I wanted one.

I read the ads.  I went to the stores.  Finally after showing Bonnie a gozillion of both, I found the perfect one, an Emerson TV – great reviews, great price – and I showed the ad to my bride.  She said, “Well! Go! Buy! It! Then!!”  So I did.  She claims she didn’t mean it.  She was being sarcastic, she maintains.

For the first year, I carried it back to the shop at least once a month, preceded by a loving “I told you so,” from Alvey and Dot Carter’s oldest daughter.  It was a hard lesson learned.

👉 Throughout these blogs, my position has remained unchanged – wait until the medical experts say it is safe to begin reopening the nation, then start.  But not until then.

Gov. Henry McMaster announced yesterday that South Carolina’s beaches may be opened at noon today, if the local mayors and city councils give the go-ahead.

He also announced that effective at 5 p.m. yesterday, non-essential businesses that were earlier restricted to curbside pick up or delivery may reopen.  They, and big box retailers, must abide by earlier announced regulations of a restricted number of people  per square foot allowed inside.  Executive Order No. 2020-21's limits are set at five customers per 1,000 square feet of retail space, or 20% of the occupancy limit as determined by the fire marshal, whichever is less.

Responding to a reporter’s question about the earlier announced White House guideline of 14 consecutive days of decreasing cases in order to reopen, Dr. Linda Bell, an epidemiologist for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, said South Carolina has had “ups and downs” and “no consistent decline.”

Gov. McMaster said, petulantly it seemed to me, those White House guidelines are “guidelines, not rules.”

And so South Carolina begins to reopen.  With 64 new coronavirus cases yesterday for a statewide total of 4,439.

👉 I’m going to give the keyboard for today’s closing piece to my pastor, Rev. Linda Birchall of St. Mark United Methodist Church.  During these quarantine days she has been sending a daily devotional to her flock as well as a video sermon on Sundays (and attending almost daily online Zoom video conferences, and webinars – bless her, Jesus!).

Today’s devotional begins with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-23 (New Revised Standard Version). 

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Linda says, “I took this photo from a campground near Seward, Alaska, where I stayed in 2005.

“The sunlight glimmering on the water always makes me think of hope and joy.

“Sometimes, it’s hard to be grateful…no doubt about it.  But as these words remind us, we are not called to be grateful FOR all our circumstances, but rather IN all our circumstances.  Even when times are tough, like now, look for the good: the good people, the good food, the good books, the good thoughts.  There is good around us, and we can be grateful for it, even when we are in the throes of a pandemic.”

Amen!

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QUARANTINE BLOG # 21

April 20, 2020


I missed this one – a much more observant fan reminded me.  It happened on April 17, 1955.  That was the day that Roberto Clemente, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, made his debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Roberto signed out of the Puerto Rico leagues to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers on February 19, 1954.  The Dodgers moved him to their top minor league team in Montreal to play with the Royals, and tried to hide him so no other team would steal him in the off-season draft.  For weeks at a time, he would sit on the bench and never play.  But a Pittsburgh scout, Clyde Sukeforth, saw him, and that’s how Roberto Clemente became a Pirate.

Even though it’s four days late, Blog # 21 is a good place to mention the Great Roberto.

On September 30, 1972, the day this picture was taken, Clemente hit a double in the 4th inning off Jon Matlack of the New York Mets at Three Rivers Stadium for his 3,000th hit. Only 32 major leaguers have accomplished that feat.

** On Saturday, I received an email which said, “Your Payment Is Coming Soon.”  It went on to explain that as a member of class action settlement of In re: VIZIO, Inc., Consumer Privacy Litigation, Case No. 8:16-ml-02693-JLS I will be receiving money soon.  The total settlement, not my part, is $17,000,000. This largess is coming my way because I have a Vizio TV that was connected to the internet between February 1, 2014 and February 6, 2017.  We won because my Smart TV “collected, stored, and shared viewing habits of smart TV owners without their knowledge or consent.”

This is not the first time I’ve been a member of a class action lawsuit.  The first happened when I bought two 1959 Chevrolet tail lights from eBay.

I was going to mount them in an attractive fashion, put lights behind them and wire them to work off of a battery.  The completed display was to have been be mounted in my office – now known as The Lego Room.  The completed display was never completed, in fact, I never opened the package, and sold it years later at a family yard sale.  Below is the picture of my check from the eBay class action.

The award was for 47 cents.  Postage to mail the check to me was 44 cents.  You can see how much money I made.  The Vizio lawsuit promises an award between $13 and $1 – out of the $17 million.  How much did the lawyers get?  One call, that’s all.

** The following two reports come from our “The Potential Good News Department.”

STAT, April 16, 2020: “A Chicago hospital treating severe Covid-19 patients with Gilead Sciences’ antiviral medicine remdesivir in a closely watched clinical trial is seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week ... In a statement, the University of Chicago Medicine said ‘drawing any conclusions at this point is premature and scientifically unsound.’ Asked about the data, Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, described them as ‘encouraging.’”

Yahoo News, April 17, 2020: “Preliminary results from government lab experiments show that the coronavirus does not survive long in high temperatures and high humidity, and is quickly destroyed by sunlight ... A briefing on the preliminary results, marked for official use only and obtained by Yahoo News, offers hope that summertime may offer conditions less hospitable for the virus, though experts caution it will by no means eliminate, or even necessarily decrease, new cases.”

I’ve read more like these, but everyone of them, while offering a glimmer of hope, snatch the optimism away, warning: the studies are preliminary, the results haven’t been duplicated, we really just don’t know.

** National Review reports, “Americans who attend church have turned to televised or online services. They have been praying for an end to the pandemic. And the prayerful include Americans who do not normally pray.”

** Protesters in Texas converged on the steps of the Capitol building in Austin on Saturday to call for the reopening of the state and the country. Other people also defied isolation orders by protesting on Saturday in Indianapolis, Carson City, Nevada, and Annapolis, Maryland. Protests have also appeared in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Utah.

By merely assembling, the protesters were in violation of the stay-at-home orders replicated across the United States in a bid to save lives.

The photograph below is from the protest in Austin.  I counted the number of people wearing masks.  I came up with seven.  And every expert, every medical person, says keep your distance and wear masks.

After announcing on Thursday, guidelines for how the nation’s governors should carry out an orderly reopening of their communities on their own timetables, President Trump seemed to switch sides on Friday, tweeting, in all caps, “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!”

A Pew Research Center poll released on Thursday showed that two-thirds of Americans expressed more concern that the economy would reopen too quickly and allow the coronavirus to keep spreading, rather than that it would open too slowly, causing undue strain.

Google's message today: "Stay home. Save lives. Help stop coronavirus."

** No specific relationship to the coronavirus pandemic, but for the first 65 verses of the Old Testament book called Lamentations, 37% of the entire book, the writer describes the calamities which Israel has experienced, and the book certainly earns its name.  It is not until the middle of the third chapter that any bright light is seen: “The Lord’s love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning ... I say to myself, ‘The Lord is mine, I hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to those who seek him. It is good to wait quietly for the Lord to save” (emphasis mine – Lamentations 3:22-26 New Century Version).

Tomorrow, let's talk about it.

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