QUARANTINE BLOG # 179

September 25, 2020

As a public service, I feel it important to tell you that as of today, you have only 90 shopping days until Christmas.  I thought you’d want to know.

👉  Tomas J. Philipson, a professor at the University of Chicago served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, says “The pessimism over a vaccine rollout and worries over widespread vaccination are misguided.  The most critical factor for a disease like Covid-19 isn’t the vaccination rate or how many people demand the vaccine, but who demands it.  Given that 85% of deaths have occurred in the 15% of the population above 65, the mortality rate would drop dramatically if high-risk groups such as seniors are vaccinated, even if the overall vaccination rate is low.  If these two groups were the only ones receiving a vaccine, the overall vaccination rate would be low but mortality would be reduced enormously.”

Makes sense to me.  And the sleeve is rolled up on my 73 year old arm.

👉  If you plan to move to California in 2035, and you want to drive a new gasoline or diesel powered vehicle, get it in 2034 because after that, you won’t be able to buy one.  California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an order Wednesday to end the sale of petroleum powered passenger cars in 15 years.  You will still be able to buy used vehicles, but don’t hold your breath that California, one of the farthest left leaning states in the Union doesn’t put a hefty tax on those.  Stocks of Tesla increased with the announcement.

👉  A grand jury indicted one of the Louisville police officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s fatal shooting – but on charges related to endangering her neighbors, not charges linked to her death.  Two other officers involved in the shooting weren’t charged.  Taylor was killed when police returned fire after her boyfriend fired first.  Protestors in Louisville responded to the decision by shooting two police officers.

Announcing the decision, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron insisted that the system operates on facts, evidence and the law, not “emotion or outrage.”  He also confirmed another fact that had been misreported: The police did knock and announce themselves, and they had a civilian witness to corroborate it.

👉  Let’s go to a website I’ve recommended before that gives fun, and sometimes useless information:  betterbe.co (that’s correct – there is no “m” on the end).  Today they offer  “20 Genius Duct Tape Tricks You Need to Know About.”

Use Duct Tape for Sweeping.  No matter how many times you sweep the floor, you always end up with a little line of dirt that doesn’t make it over the lip of the dustpan.  Place a strip of duct tape on the lid of your dustpan and stick the other half to the floor.  The duct tape will provide a smooth surface that allows all the dirt to make it into the pan. Either that, or just give the offending strip of dust a quick sweep out into the middle of the room.

Use In Place of Chip Clips.  Chip clips keep your snacks by blocking out any excess air.  If you can’t find your chip clips, use duct tape.  Take a small strip of duct tape and place it over your folded bag of chips.  Voila!

Repair a Leaky Hose.  If your garden hose has a puncture you can fix it with a duct tape.  Wipe the hose dry, and wrap a strip of duct tape around the problem area.  Also, be sure to press hard onto the duct tape and seal out any bubbles or excess air.


Here are all 20 tricks: https://betterbe.co/life/genius-duct-tape-tricks/.

Bonnie and I once fixed an Aeroflot jet liner.  Rule # 2 for flying inside of Russia – keep a roll of duct tape in your carry on.  Rule # 1 for doing almost anything inside of Russia – blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.

A ceiling panel would not stay in place.  The flight attendants would shove it up into place, but it would drop back down, secure on only one side.  After a couple of tries they just walked around the dangling piece.  Bonnie tore off a couple strips of duct tape, passed them to me and I secured the panel to ceiling.

We were rewarded with free mineral water, served in sections of rubber balls which had been cut in half.  Before you say, “Yuck!” they were easy to clean and reuseable (as was the old Soviet airline now renamed “Samara Airlines”).

Share your duct tape tricks in the comment section below.

👉  We have space for a few of funnies:

👉  Beginning today, and finishing Monday and Tuesday, I am sharing three “Lessons from Stone Waterpots.”  You recognize this as Jesus’ first miracle.  You can read the whole story here:
https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+2%3A1-11&version=NKJV.

Lesson One:

At a little home in Cana of Galilee, there were six stone waterpots.  At the command of Jesus the water in each one of them turned into the finest wine to ever touch human lips.

The Jewish regulations against uncleanness made it necessary to have large supplies of water ever at hand.  Without washing no one ate.  The feet of each guest were washed on arrival at someone’s home.  Cups and jugs and bottles were washed all day long.

The six waterpots each held between twenty and thirty gallons of water.  That would mean between 120 and 180 gallons of wine.  No wedding party on earth could possibly drink that many gallons of wine.

When the grace of Jesus comes to us there is enough for all.  No need on earth can exhaust the grace of our Lord.  There is a superabundance of it.  God’s grace is more than sufficient for every need.  Including yours.

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