January 15, 2021
Dear Everyone:
A couple of months ago, I was doing something
in the kitchen. I needed a
small (officially Quart Size) plastic bag.
When I went to the drawer, the box was empty.
No problem: I simply went to the storage closet for a new box.
And discovered that I was fresh out.
How on earth did that happen?
And with the Shelter in Place Order, I couldn’t
exactly just romp over to the grocery store to get more.
Not to mention not having the time just then.
I needed that plastic bag right then.
What to do?
Then I remembered the Emergency Supply Box (ESB).
I had placed boxes of storage bags, in a variety of sizes, all
inside a Really Big Storage Bag, inside a plastic box out on the patio*.
In my opinion, this certainly qualified as an Emergency.
Technically, an Emergency is when you need
something right away. There
doesn’t have to be an earthquake, or a hurricane, or a tornado, or a
wildfire raging right across the street.
When the TV remote suddenly stops working, you need new batteries
right away.
Of course, if you’re someone like me, you have
a battery supply close to hand.
The batteries in the ESB are for when you can’t get to the nearby
battery supply, possibly because you’re in a designated Emergency
Shelter. In which case, the
TV remote is probably not the most important thing on your mind at the
moment.
Be that as it may, I could certainly “borrow”
plastic bags from the ESB, and make a note to replace them on the next
regular trip to the grocery store.
Lots of people use the ESB as a temporary supply depot.
The important thing is to replace the item(s) as quickly as
possible. In the middle of a
real Emergency is not the time to find a bunch “IOU” notes in place of
whatever you need.
[*More recently, I have relocated the ESB from
the outdoor patio to an indoor closet.
It’s much easier to access and doesn’t require putting on shoes
to get to it.]
In more recent news…
Now we get to the “historic” 2nd
Impeachment of President Donald J. Trump.
Just to put things into perspective, how many
times has the word “historic” been used in regard to the Trump
Presidency? How about
“unprecedented”? Facing
facts, Trump has been smashing his way through precedents and normal
behavior for years.
Gleefully doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to do it.
He puts me in mind of a toddler who gets into
his Daddy’s toolbox. First,
he drags out the hammer.
Holding it awkwardly with both hands, he swings it one way, then the
other, slamming it into the floor, the walls, Mommy’s cherished Ming
vase. It makes a loud noise
and gets him lots of attention.
Since he isn’t actually punished for it, he concludes that he can
go ahead and start taking things apart with Daddy’s screwdrivers.
Now the Toddler-in-Chief is being threatened
with having his wrist slapped.
Even a few Republicans are joining in the fun.
But not all, of course.
Many are complaining that it’s “going too far” while
simultaneously complaining that it’s not worth the effort.
After all, Trump has less than a week left in office.
(Query:
How many nuclear missiles can one over-the-edge/top person launch
in less than a week?)
You could easily make this into a drinking
game. Every time one of the
Republicans bleats “…put the People before Politics…” take a drink.
Assume that you are running a business.
One of your employees abruptly announces that he is quitting.
Then you discover that a few days ago, he backed a truck up to
the door and emptied your supply room.
Do you just “let him go”?
Or do you call the police and file a complaint that leads to his
arrest and conviction?
Would that be “punitive”?
Love, as always,
Pete
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