Category: 2010 and Beyond

The retired teacher was practicing proper social distancing while she cleaned her golf clubs and talked with her neighbors.  She was excitedly preparing for the beginning of her golf league, an opportunity to both play the game she loved and to experience a bit of normalcy.  There will, of course, be concessions to the illness.  Each golfer will have her own cart and the flags will be sitting on top of the greens.  She was also hoping that some of her golf friends, unlike her neighbors, will agree that this whole COVID 19 thing might be overblown and that President Trump is doing a great job.

There is a vast array of opinions on TV and online.  Some in the medical field express real fears about the Coronavirus.  Some, mostly those getting their medical information from political pundits, may not be nearly as concerned.  They are ready to tell you that xxxxx kills far more Americans.  At the very least, they will tell you that it is no worse than the flu.  That comparison doesn’t fly with the doctors and nurses working in the hospitals.  One of my friends, after a difficult shift, was clear that he didn’t want to hear, “this is just like the flu”.

I tend to read books and articles about government, insurance, and politics.  I don’t subscribe to Scientific American and wouldn’t have seen this article had a doctor friend not shared it on Facebook.  Comparing COVID-19 Deaths to Flu Deaths Is like Comparing Apples to Oranges  makes a clear case about the differences.  For one, when was the last time you saw refrigerated trucks used to remove the deceased from a hospital?  When was the last time we saw so many health care workers fall victim to an illness?  Minimizing the condition puts you, the first responders, and our medical providers at risk.

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One of the things I noticed this year during my annual trip to Washington DC this past February was the high level of security.  Heavily armed, some on horseback, they were on street corners and at the entrance to many of the buildings.  I told a friend that it reminded me of a trip to Paris in 1999 during a time of unrest.  I have been going to the US Senate and House of Representatives offices for years.  I visit the Ohio Statehouse annually.  Regardless of the weather, you stand in line until you access the checkpoint.  There you empty your pockets, remove your coat, and walk through a metal detector while your personal items are run through a scanner.  Pat downs are not uncommon.  So I have to express my shock of seeing armed terrorists threatening Michigan lawmakers in their Senate chambers.  How does that happen?  Who let them in?  The internet and TV news have identified some of the participants as known provocateurs from other states.  Here’s a few questions:

• The pictures showing them threatening law enforcement officers and the elected officials. Why were they not arrested?
• Who paid for the people from as far away as California to attend? What organization has “terrorism” as a line item on its budget?
• Was anyone surprised that these protests in various state capitols included Confederate flags and anti-Semitic signs?

There is a sickness infecting our country.  It has resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 Americans.  It has manifested itself in armed thugs storming our statehouses.  Please don’t say it is just the flu.

DAVE

www.againreally.com

Picture – The Hospital Parking Lot Is Full – David L Cunix

 

 

Dusty, the main character in Alex Bevan’s song Gibson Mandolin, looked up too soon.  Spoiler Alert: It does not end well for poor Dusty.  Letting your guard down too early can have dire consequences.

We are working hard to earn a solid B in this pandemic.  We haven’t locked ourselves in the condo, covered ourselves in bubble wrap, and limited ourselves to occasional trips to the balcony.  We are being careful and listening to the medical experts.

Our first masks were abject failures.  Sally attempted one from a bathing suit top.  It was stylish, Sally is always stylish, but it was too big and of little value.  I tried to make one from an old blue t-shirt.  The ear loops made from her ponytail holders were of little value.  Rubber bands hurt.  We were doomed.  We finally found a couple of masks for sale at Fresh Thyme.  We were on our way.    We scored a dozen organic cotton non-medical masks from Naturepedic.  The elastic ear pieces fit much better.  Having the basics covered, I even ordered two masks from our friend, New York fashion designer Michael Kaye.  We’ve got masks and we’ve got gloves.

The next step, once you’ve got protective gear, is to wear it.  I recently saw a post on Facebook from a guy laughing at people wearing masks while driving alone in a car.  Well of course we do!  I put on the mask and gloves before I leave my home.  There is a chance that I will come into contact with someone in the garage, at the store, or on my way into my office.  The goal is to put this on once, not to take the mask on and off.  Every time I put the mask on I am touching my face.  The gear is most effective if left on and kept on.  Is it comfortable while wearing glasses?  No. Do my glasses fog at times?  Sure.  But these are small prices to pay for safety and safety is the goal.

We have limited our trips outside of our home.  I haven’t cooked this much since the kids were little.  The side benefit is that we are eating well and may even lose a pound a two.  We are walking a couple of miles around the condo complex almost every day.  Our neighbors have been doing a good job of social distancing.   We’re all trying.

The malls are opening up this week.  Some states have decided that this is pretty much over.  I could use a haircut.  You could, too.  I miss eating out, and traveling, and meeting with my clients in person.  These are small sacrifices.  Will the barber, the store clerk, or the waiter universally practice social distancing?  Can they?  And can you get a test to find out whether you or they have or have had COVID 19?  The answer to all of these questions is no.

Dusty looked up too soon.  I hope to not repeat his mistake.

DAVE

www.againreally.com

Picture – Butterflies – David L Cunix

 

I had my first virtual medical appointment this morning.  The advantages were obvious:

• I didn’t have to drive to University Hospital and park my car
• No potential exposure to sick patients
• The magazines are new
• There was coffee before, during, and after the appointment

The disadvantages were more important.  My appointment was with the woman that I have entrusted to quarterback my healthcare for the last few years.  And though some of my doctor friends have scoffed, she is a CNP, a Certified Nurse Practitioner.  For almost four years she has answered every one of my questions, referred me to the specialists that I wanted to add to my care team, and interpret the results of my tests.  She has delivered good news and, thankfully rarely, bad news.  And yes, she has performed numerous physical exams.  That relationship, that trust, was built through one on one personal contact.  It would never have happened by video conference.

Medicare and our insurance companies have responded to the Coronavirus pandemic by increasing access to telemedicine.  It makes us all safer.  But true trust is built through connections.  And for me that will require the connections built through personal contact.

DAVE

www.againreally.com

Picture – The New Examination Room – David L Cunix

 

 

My routine blood test was scheduled for 8:30 this morning.  I was so excited to be going to someplace, anyplace, that I considered wearing a suit to the University Hospital building in Chagrin Highlands.  I didn’t.  Wearing a suit would be counter-productive to a blood test.  I may wear one tomorrow, just to sit by myself in the office.  The tie could be optional.

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I saw this on Facebook.  The woman was complaining about her governor, Andrew Cuomo, closing access to her country club’s golf course.  In a country where over 20,000 of our fellow citizens have died from a pandemic and at least 500,000 people are known to have been diagnosed with this terrible illness, this woman’s biggest problem involves a sand wedge.  Our doctors, nurses, police, and paramedics are rushing headlong into harm’s way, knowing full well that they lack the protective gear to insure their own safety.  Millions of workers have lost their source of income.  And small business owners like dentists, barbers, restaurateurs, and retail store owners have shut their doors with no guarantee whether they will ever reopen.   These people represent the best of us.  Wynton Marsalis recently said, “Let’s see if we are who we said we were before this”.   That challenge is today.

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Linked In has devolved into a second-rate Facebook.  The only difference, some days, is the lack of kitten pictures.  A recent Linked In post noted a $1,000,000 contribution to COVID 19 research from Dolly Parton.  You needn’t be a Dolly Parton fan, or even like country music, to know that Ms. Parton has generously donated to worthy causes for years.  And, a million bucks is a million bucks.  But it wasn’t enough for some people.  Instead of appreciating her effort, or simply ignoring the post, some felt it necessary to criticize the amount.  It wasn’t enough.  After all, Dolly Parton is very successful and wealthy.  She should be giving more.  You’ve seen these posts on various social media platforms.  Pick a name, you know them, Bloomberg, Bezos, Gates.  What are they doing and why aren’t they doing more?  Truly those are the wrong questions.  Bloomberg, Parton, et al don’t need to answer to us.  The right question is what are we doing?  Now is the time to step up any way we can.  Some of us will donate money to food banks, churches, synagogues, and other organizations that will get food and services to the people who need our help the most.  Others are sewing masks and helping health care workers and the most at risk gain greater safety.  Food distribution centers need volunteers.  There are a myriad of ways to help.

Jewish tradition teaches us that there are eight levels of Tzedakah, charitable giving.  According to Maimonides:

The highest form of charity is to help sustain a person before they become impoverished by offering a substantial gift in a dignified manner, or by extending a suitable loan, or by helping them find employment or establish themselves in business so as to make it unnecessary for them to become dependent on others.

 We each have the opportunity to help our fellow Americans today.  You don’t need to put on a suit.  And you won’t need a putter.

Stay Safe.  Stay Healthy.

DAVE

www.againreally.com

Picture – All Dressed Up And No Place To Go – David L Cunix

 

 

A Few Random Thoughts

It happened two Fridays ago (Yes, Friday the 13^th) at COSTCO.  The 70 something year old waiting for a liver transplant was shaking hands with the 65 year old cancer survivor who no longer has his spleen and one of his kidneys.  What were they thinking?  They weren’t thinking.  That is the point.  We aren’t going to do “Social Distancing” on our own.  It isn’t in our nature.  Should we have known better?  Of course.  Still, it was good to see him.

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“How long are you going to do this?”  I’ve been asked that question almost every week for the last few years.  My standard answer is that I have to be dead three years before I can retire.  The joke initially referred to the state of my savings, which may not be that far off base with the market’s recent plunge.  But in truth, my real concern was with the very thought of retirement.  For one, I love what I do.  No, not every day.  There are moments of great success and days of failure when I confront problems that I cannot solve.  I’ve been an agent for 41 years.  It is what I do.  It is who I am.  Worse, sitting at home this last couple of days is everything I feared about retirement.  Too cold to be outside for very long.  Limited in where I can go and what I can do.  I am not ready for this.  Thank G-d tomorrow is Monday.

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We are essential!  It is truly a strange world that needs its insurance agents to work, but furloughs its dentists.  In truth, I’m actually happy that my dentist friends are not in their offices.  Without proper testing, the idea of exposing dentists and their staffs makes no sense at all.  Of course they will be available for dental emergencies.  The dentists are losing money.  Their rents and their equipment leases will still be due.  And the dentists I’ve talked with today are still paying their employees.  I asked if they have donated any extra their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).  What I’ve been told is that when/if that becomes an issue in Ohio, the Ohio Dental Association will organize the donations.

We are woefully unprepared.  My friend Greg, a doctor in Wisconsin, reports that more and more health care workers are getting exposed and more and more staying home.  Health care workers and first responders are ill-equipped and under-tested.  They are playing golf in a thunderstorm.

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We are all doing what we can.  Museums are available for virtual visits.  Here is the link to the Cleveland Museum of Art.  While you are stuck at home you can access artists, comedians, and musicians who are tending to our mental health.  Local favorite, Alex Bevan, has been performing daily from his home.  He played for almost an hour today.  I’ve been a fan for years.  His efforts serve to remind us that we truly are all in this together.

Stay Safe.  Stay Healthy.

DAVE

www.againreally.com

Picture – Clean Office – David L Cunix

 

We’ve been told that there is an out-of-control train slowly bearing down on us.  It cannot be stopped.  We don’t even know if we could redirect it or slow its progress.

Using the word “know” is a challenge.  It is hard to say what we really know.  There are those who would have you believe that the people dying in China and Italy are just taking one for the team in a global effort to embarrass and defeat Donald Trump.  The other extreme have decided that a case of toilet paper is the first line of defense when the sky is falling.  Finding good information requires one to first learn how to disregard the bad.

The train, it won’t stop going.  Italy appears to be about 5 -7 days ahead of Spain and France who appear to be another 5 – 7 days ahead of us.  We can stand on the tracks and hope to stop it, or we can get as far away from the train as possible.  Social (physical) distancing seems to be a key element.  Since we have no idea who has the Coronavirus due to the testing failure, we must behave as if we are all contagious.  You might be asymptomatic.  You aren’t sick, but you could be dangerous to someone else.  There will be major inconveniences.  I have volunteered at an Alzheimer facility for the last twelve years.  That is on hold.  It has to be.  Many restaurants and other businesses have been forced to close temporarily.  Sadly, many will never reopen.

France closed its restaurants and clubs as of Sunday.  Ohio and other states have taken similar action.   Closer to home, churches, synagogues, and mosques are cancelling services in an effort to be socially responsible.  Acknowledging that the Lord helps those who help themselves is a wonderful lesson that transcends any particular faith or creed.

And then there is Fox and Friends.  Seldom has so much disinformation been packaged so slickly.  Last Thursday featured Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Geraldo Rivera.  Three years of serving as a Trump apologist only serve to reinforce the impression that Geraldo is still the same guy who broke into Al Capone’s vault.  Last Thursday he told a gullible national audience that they had nothing to worry about and didn’t have Coronavirus if they could hold their breath and count to ten.  Really!  If stupid was contagious, Geraldo would be Patient Zero.

Really don’t mind if you sit this one out
My word’s but a whisper your deafness a shout

There were six, seven, eight hour waits at our international airports over the weekend as Americans scrambled to get back home.  It had appeared that Trump was going to try to close the borders.  His message was, as usual, a word salad that failed to present any evidence of a well-prepared plan.  This was confirmed when we later learned that the mayors and governors had not been given any advance warning, nor had TSA been alerted.

Governor J. B. Pritzker (D-IL), who criticized the situation in Twitter late Saturday, appeared on NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday morning.

“We knew when the president gave the orders that European travel was going to be cut off, that there would be an influx of people traveling back to beat the cutoff,” Pritzker said. “What should have happened is they should have increased the Customs and Border Patrol numbers and the CDC workers on the ground. They did neither of those.”

There are daily press briefings with Dr. Anthony Fauci and a rotating cast of characters, many forced to uncomfortably remain silent as the president contradicts their messages and common sense.  One day this is all an overblown hoax.  The next day Trump is a nationally known expert who understood the dangers of the Coronavirus long before anyone else.  Trump’s political appointees and sycophants, Pence, Seema Verma, the Surgeon General, etc. nod their heads with every word he speaks.  The professionals and the military stare blankly and must silently pray for all of this to end.

Did Trump get tested for the Coronavirus?  His doctor said that he shouldn’t hours after he supposedly did!  Though I honestly hope that the US President doesn’t have this or any other illness, there is absolutely no reason to believe him.  And if you can’t believe him about this, you can’t believe him about anything.

The train it won’t stop going.  No way to slow down.

DAVE

www.againreally.com

Picture – Manchester Valley by Joseph Pickett

 

XM radio is counting down the top 1000 Classic Rock songs of all time.  I turned to Channel 30 when I got into the car and heard Peter Frampton’s Do You Feel Like We Do!  It was near the end, so I was going to hear who they rated as the very top songs.  The song ended as they introduced the next song, number 319, Taking Care Of Business.  Wait! How can there be 319 songs better than Do You Feel Like We Do?  Not in my world.

Facebook provides interesting insight as to what is important to each of us.  What is important in your little Kingdom of One may be as totally irrelevant to everyone else as my opinion of the top 1000 songs.  This looms large as we get closer to November and the big election.  Your issues may make one candidate better than the others.  Your issues may disqualify one or most of the candidates.  For YOU.  The rest of your friends may have prioritized the issues in a different order.

Look at the list.  Are all of those songs better than Frampton?  Not to me.  But in total, it is a pretty good list.  And when we get through the primary season and the conventions we will have two options.  They may not be who you or I would have chosen to compete for the #1 spot, the Leader of the Free World, but they will be our choices.  We will have to choose one of them.  There is an excellent chance that neither candidate will share all or your priorities.  I can guarantee that neither candidate will have those priorities in the same order as you.

DAVE

www.againreally.com

Picture – #1 Was No Surprise – David L Cunix

I had a dream last night. Our Senator, Rob Portman, was on a balcony, in a dress, addressing a crowd. The crowd was, of course, gathered to see someone else.

With sincere apologies to Andrew Lloyd Webber…

It won’t be easy
You’ll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
But I still crave your vote after all that I’ve done

You won’t believe me
I never really was that guy on TV
A congressman and trade rep
And hardly a misstep

But this is different
He might tweet nasty things about me
I should be braver
Instead I’ll just flee

Don’t cry for me Ashtabula
I don’t run again till twenty-two
You’ll forget by then
It’ll be in the past
I’ll ask for your vote
And bury this fast.

Ohio set the Guinness Book of World Records for most tomatoes thrown.

DAVE

www.againreally.com

Picture – Pre-tomato – David L Cunix

 

My quadrennial contest is now closed.  Twenty-one of us have made ten guesses about 2020.  Guesses.  None of us know who will be the Democrats’ nominee.  No one could possibly know how many regular season games the Indians will win this summer.  It is our willingness to predict, in advance, these outcomes that separate us from those who will share their expertise, always perfect, after the fact.

Yes, there is a certain amount of snark in this enterprise.  The contest originated in 2003.  Tired of the retroactive expertise, I challenged a local know-it-all to predict the 2004 election eleven months before the polls closed.  He declined, but others saw the fun in this and a tradition was born.

There is a secret to winning the Everyone’s A Genius In Hindsight Contest – humility.  This is a general knowledge game.  The winner will claim first prize with only three or four correct answers.  Entering the contest is an admission that you aren’t an expert in everything.  And, you are willing to be human, flawed and imperfect.

I found myself getting agitated this year as I got closer to the deadline for entries.  Social media, particularly Facebook, has forced us to interact with an increasing number of know-it-alls.  I had personally invited a number of them to participate in this year’s contest.  Just to be clear, I am referring to the people who post lots of memes, most of them easily disproved, but little to no original content.  These experts are happy to repeat the craziest of conspiracy theories or their (mis)understanding of the innermost thoughts of Democrats or Liberals.  As you may have guessed, none of them even acknowledged the invitation.

And I was getting agitated.

It is not my job to fact-check someone’s Facebook posts.  G-d knows FB abrogated that responsibility in favor of the revenue BS memes generate.  I already knew that anyone capable of posting a video of Nancy Pelosi, obviously slowed-down and doctored to make her look impaired, lacked the humanity to express fallibility.  That is just one example of why some of my friends have walked away from Facebook.  Yet, I still held out hope.  I started to imagine that my little contest was a lifeline, a path back to balance.

That was stupid.  In truth, my reaction to a group of know-it-alls stubbornly working to retain their imagined status was really an accurate reflection of my status – Exhausted.

It is time for me to step back and take a deep breath.  I will be in Punta Cana for the next week or so.  Sally will get a tan.  I will get some needed rest.

These are my answers for the contest:

1. The President of the United States December 30, 2020 ___Pence___________.
   2. The Democratic nominee will be_______Klobuchar__________________.
   3. The winner of the 2020 Presidential election will be____Klobuchar___________.
   4. There will be __9_ justices on the US Supreme Court on December 31, 2020.
   5. The winner of the February 2, 2020 Super Bowl will be ____49ers____________.
   6. The Cleveland Indians will win _93___ regular season games.
   7. The Cleveland Browns will win _8__ regular season games.
   8. The Academy Award for best picture will go to _Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood _.
   9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average will close December 31, 2020 at __23,500_______.
   10. A gallon of milk will be $3.79_ at Heinen’s Mayfield Village on June 30, 2020.

Tie Breaker: There is a song associated with every major city. For many of us, our favorite Cleveland song has our hero tell the story of how a decent model citizen is transformed by lust and thirst. Please name the song and artist __Skinny – Alex Bevan____.

Breathe!  It is a longtime till November.

DAVE

www.againreally.com

Picture – Ready! – David L Cunix