COVID-19 Shutdown Diary
As a postscript to an earlier journal segment on annoying cable TV commercials, it seems the annoying Medicare Coverage helpline ad featuring Joe Namath has been updated to emphasize stay-at-home benefits like telemedicine visits, "even home-delivered meals".It's still annoying.Pro wrestling without fan reaction is rather boring. Even if you disregard the kerfuffle of whether wrestling is an essential business, there is the operational complications of enforcing social distancing policies. The heuristic I've heard rumors are arenas up to 25% of fan seating capacity. But at earliest the WWE won't implement it until after this Sunday "Money in the Bank" PPV, which is already canned
I'm rapidly growing fond of Lidl, a German concept supermarket with a recently (year or so) opened nearby location. I've probably mentioned them in a recent journal post. There are certain quirks, like you bring your own bags or buy some at checkout. I usually bring the strong garbage bags I had bought from Sam's Club.
One thing I recently noticed (it may have happened before) but they had a middle-aged employee spraying and wiping handlebars for returned carts. Nothing really earthshaking, but I almost ran into family megapacks of toilet paper at an unexpected aisle corner display, away from the paper goods shelves. So it helps to keep one's eyes open while shopping. I was annoyed for not shopping earlier; they were promoting some grass-fed ground beef bricks at around half-price, and they were sold out; they did have others at regular price. They still have very good prices on grass-fed steaks (including round); I still go to Walmart to pick up grass-fed roasts. But probably the most notable supply issue was fresh chicken, totally wiped out.
I did a brief Walmart run while writing this segment (I do up to 2 a week, primarily because I have a mini-refrigerator/freezer). The last time I was there the frozen veggies were pretty wiped out; so that's been replenished. Like Lidl, Walmart didn't have any fresh chicken, but there were plenty of frozen chicken parts bags (e.g., wings, leg quarters, and breasts). For the first time since the crisis, I would say they had a decent supply of toilet paper, especially 4-roll packs, although a mere fraction of their pre-crisis supply.
Finally, it's interesting to see what captures one's attention if not working at home. One of my niece /goddaughters pushed a song title game on Facebook. I guess you can say I got obsessed with 3 entries:
One of my nieces posted a song title game. Here are my entries. Some friends may actually remember these songs:
WEAR -Forever in Blue Jeans
DRINK - Margaritaville
PLACE - Heaven
ANIMAL - Shannon
NUMBER - In the Year 2525
COLOR - Gold
GIRL’S NAME - My Maria
BOY’S NAME - Big Bad Leroy Brown
PROFESSION - Son of a Preacher Man
SOMETHING IN YOUR HOME - 57 Channels (and nothin' on)
BODY PART - Legs (ZZ Top)
CURRENT MOOD - Happy (Rolling Stones)
"Shannon" was written about the death of Beach Boys member Carl Wilson's Irish Setter of the same name. While touring with the Beach Boys in 1975, Gross visited Wilson's home in Los Angeles and in conversation said he owned an Irish Setter called Shannon. Wilson replied that he had also had an Irish Setter named Shannon that had recently been killed by a car.Round two...
WEAR -Bell Bottom Blues
DRINK - Tequila Sunrise
PLACE - Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
ANIMAL - Ben
NUMBER - One (Three Dog Night)
COLOR - Blue (Patsy Cline)
GIRL’S NAME - Billie Jean
BOY’S NAME - Big Bad John
PROFESSION - I Shot the Sheriff
SOMETHING IN YOUR HOME - Man in the Mirror
BODY PART - Open Arms
CURRENT MOOD - Blessed
Round 3...
WEAR - Sharp-Dressed Man
DRINK - Lime in the Coconut (Nilsson)
PLACE - Please Come to Boston
ANIMAL - How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
NUMBER - Two out of 3 Ain't Bad
COLOR - Lady in Red
GIRL’S NAME - Gloria
BOY’S NAME - Abraham, Martin and John
PROFESSION - Please Mr. Postman
SOMETHING IN YOUR HOME - Photogrsph
BODY PART - Hands
CURRENT MOOD - Only the Lonely
