Time Flies, but Penguins Don’t (except under water)

It’s been over two months since I last posted something new, so I feel proud that nobody has asked for their money back to this free-to-access site, though a little disappointed that one has noticed (especially in China, where my daily hits have not taken a hit).

It’s a clear sign of COVID online shopping fatigue that I’m considering buying a gold-leafed spoon holder.

My new thermal gloves with texting fingertips are disappointing, as they don’t text on their own, and still require the use of a phone.

I bet no one else has thought of eliminating skin problems by wearing a U-V clean portable sterilizer on their face in lieu of a mask.

I’ve gained a whole new appreciation for the witches in Macbeth as I try to create the perfect poultice to remove a stain in a granite countertop, without the mixture eating through to the unit below.

My new oversized silicone oven mitts might or might allow me to rush into conflagrations to save small puppies (the product disclaimer says not to try that), but they certainly provide me with a flow of self-amusement as I pretend, ala Jonathan Winters improvising on live tv, that they are everything from car mufflers to penguin flippers.

Trials and Tribulations

As everyone knows, a major COVID-19 vaccine study has been put on hold due to a suspected adverse reaction in one of the participants. While such holds are routine, I’m worried about the rumor I heard that the occurrence was the growth of a six-toed left foot out of the right side of someone’s head, and that the growth of a left foot from the left side or a right foot from the right side might not have caused enough alarm to shut down the trial given the rush to get the vaccine to market.

Despite the fact that such a growth has never before been witnessed in the known universe, the possibility that it was unrelated to the vaccine is being thoroughly investigated before any conclusions are drawn, because, after all, we know nothing about life on other planets.

Meanwhile, rumor also has it that some of the richest families in America are combining resources to buy out several large hotel chains that are on the verge of bankruptcy in order to use them to house tribes of students, under guard, who are being kicked off college campuses for ignoring COVID-19 rules, thereby keeping those imps from returning home.

On a related note, deans of the affected universities report that attendance has been much higher at campus parties than in classes, causing the deans to consider giving courses more attractive names, such as Physical Fun with Physics and Chemicals You Can Drink.

Coronavirus Glossary Additions (to April 11, 2020 Definitions)

Asymptomatic – on sale at bars through word of mouth, it’s easier to operate than the Veg-O-Matic, requiring no instructions, batteries, or the least bit of intelligence to add flavor to your friends’ lives.

Bursting the Bubble – the act of professional athletes sneaking out of their hotels for some late night fun, not to be confused with the little girl in the park spreading the virus by blowing bubbles that pop in your face.

Contact Tracing – America’s fastest growing occupation, the perfect fit for parents who are networking, while not working, and are unfit to home school their children after their kids reach the age of eight.

Incubation Period – the time between screwing around and experiencing the repercussions thereof.

PPE – personal protective equipment worn by athletics supporters as better protection than an athletic supporter.

Spanish Flu – what turned off millions of people in 1918, not to be confused with the emerald-green beetle, Spanish Fly, that is supposed to turn you on.

Super Spreader – the latest villain in the real (not Marvel) universe, not to be confused with the John Deere Tow Broadcast Spreader, which typically only spreads seed, lime, fertilizer, or sand, not virus.

Twindemic – pending a metamorphosis of the definition during the upcoming flu season, it currently describes the situation where siblings are laid off from their teaching positions at the same university due to its move to online studies and the determination that one professor can therefore teach all the school’s 30,000 students simultaneously via Zoom.

Inspired by a True Event

Welcome to a new live-stream, reality show, available on HBO Mini – Haircuts at House Parties in Highland Park.

Watch as six neighbors rotate hosting the discretionary income hijinks in their backyards, with a different local tonsorial artist each week (competing for the end-of summer Sweeney Todd Award), in an excuse to get together and have someone run his/her/its hands through their hair.

Each cut will be accompanied by a carefully selected wine and cheese combination, recommended by an online college, home economics graduate (whose degree is starting to look better) bagging at the local Trader Joe’s, and pretentiously described in unintelligible detail at the event by a guest, now otherwise out-of-work, incredibly desperate, five-star restaurant sommelier,

Each coiffure also will be shaped to coordinate with the design of the backyard garden, as explained by a lonely horticulturist from the nearby botanical gardens.

If that weren’t enough, the gathering will serve as a celebrity roast, with those waiting their turn in the chair making increasing snide remarks about the person going under the scissors, holding the viewers on the edge of their seats, as attempts at humor lapse into nasty allegations of infidelity, property encroachment, and tax evasion.

 

“I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.”

I was relieved to see that the CDC has not added chronic cynicism or sarcasm to its list of underlying medical conditions that increase the risk for severe illness from COVID 19.

And while the organization has not yet created a parallel list of conditions that might decrease the risk, I would think that chronic anthropophobia, the fear of people, which often results in avoiding social situations, would be an obvious starting point.

And misanthropy, which also leads to a relatively low degree of human interaction, thus limiting one’s potential exposure to the virus, unless you’re a politician, should make the list.

As we await a miracle vaccine that will allay our concerns about the virus, especially if it also saves the environment, we could start trials whereby one group (ala South Pacific) is “carefully taught to hate” (and later quarantined in Kentucky) and a placebo group is shown pictures of babies, puppy dogs, and ice cream.

A similar trial might be developed in regard to the virus itself. While there has long been discussion as to whether viruses are living organisms, that determination should not impact the ability to teach them to be repulsed (think ions of like charges repelling each other), much as we all are by the thought of yet another Batman movie, and therefore want to avoid, human beings.

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”

I thought it might make life more interesting (it doesn’t take much these days – I often rely on a sprinkling of crushed red peppers, using it like pixie dust, though, unfortunately, flight has not yet been attained) if I started speaking with an accent other than my own (as opposed to my previous idea of learning a nonexistent language), and change it each day.

But it occurred to me, after several days of concentrated thought, that I have no one with whom to speak, so I decided I should use two different accents every day, so that I can converse with myself, and satisfactorily represent both sides of the discussion (after obtaining a conflict waiver) without confusing myself any more than necessary.

With enough discipline, I can keep this up for well over two months (by which time I will have ingested enough hand sanitizer to ensure that I’ll never get COVID-19 and can, therefore, fearlessly start attending all-night raves) without having to learn another language, as there are, according to LingoHut, 160 distinct English dialects throughout the world.

As a side benefit, I may someday be able to work carnivals (subject to the CDC Considerations for Traveling Amusement Parks and Carnivals), accurately guessing people’s hometowns, and even neighborhoods, in a manner not seen since Professor Henry Higgins.

The Flesh is Weak

Following the dramedy of sports during Covid-19 is much more interesting than the games that haven’t been played might have been. Take, for example, the recent news about the NBA player who was photographed at a gentleman’s club after having been permitted to leave the league’s Orlando bubble for “personal reasons”. It doesn’t get more personal than that.

I, months ago, gave up on any dreams of socializing, in any manner, but have developed a craving for other forms of sustenance, namely one kind of food or another. And, though I’m pretty sure I’m not pregnant, based on researching Web MD, the urges are strong, and yesterday, I may have finally hit rock bottom.

Relying upon the wisdom of Phil Connors that “anything different is good” I bought, and actually ate, a fake milk vegan soft serve (made in a lab using genetically engineered yeast programmed with DNA to produce the same proteins found in cow’s milk, by scientists who might otherwise have spent their time curing cancer), covered with morsels that in shape and coloring, but I assure you not taste, resembled chocolate chips.

At least, unlike the basketball player, I wore a mask while making my purchase, and so should be safe from being outed on social media (since no one outside China actually reads this blog), though, unfortunately, Amazon only carries stomach pumps for fish and horses.

Rescue Me

While on my daily walk, I was struck by an obvious opportunity to create a profitable business to support myself when Social Security goes bust, and also do some good. To those ends, I have established the ASPCFM – the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Face Masks.

Everywhere I go, there are perfectly good, discarded masks on the ground. I rescue them, gathering them up while wearing gloves I purchased from Amazon’s hazmat collection, with the intention of giving the masks new homes.

I’ve opened a pop-up mask shelter in a space recently vacated by a now out-of-business merchant. I thought about getting a lease, but determined that there are enough vacant commercial spaces that I can move around as needed when rousted and not have to pay anything.

I wash the masks three times, because everything comes in threes, and then put them up for adoption. Because the older ones are harder to place, if I can’t find one a new owner within three weeks, I send it to China to be repackaged as new and sold to the U. S. government. which doesn’t actually put the masks into use, but rather stockpiles them in 3×3 crates in a warehouse in an aisle behind the Ark of the Covenant.

In Preparation for the Next (or Continuing) Phase

Because Whole Foods hasn’t been letting me bring my own bags, I already have accumulated approximately 40 of them (each one a double), stacked in a closet, which means that I can cut each one up into 4 x 4 squares to make 720 pieces of toilet paper, or 1440 of them if I’m willing to go with single ply, which I am in this context. This is equivalent to almost five and a half mega rolls, albeit not the ultra soft ones.

I also have, over the years, purchased numerous bamboo household items, such as garbage baskets, serving trays, wash cloths, face masks, sheets, and pillows. Although one must be careful of the fact that bamboo shoots contain a toxin that produces cyanide in the gut, I’m certain I can master the art of safe preparation before the next lockdown so that I can literally eat myself out of house and home if necessary.

With input and output covered, my only other concern will be keeping my mind occupied. Fortunately, I have discovered the annual National Adult Spelling Bee, which uses the Merriam Webster dictionary, and its 470,000 entries, as its principle bible, which means, at a word a minute, I can learn them all in less than year, and kick butt at the 2021 compitision, I mean competition.

An Apple a Day

You may have thought that Apple shut down stores for the safety of its employees and customers, but I believe it was because of a new secret project that required all hands on board to hit the market as quickly as possible.

Be prepared for the new iMask. No, not the one that squash players use to protect their eyes. (There are estimated to be over one-and-a-half million squash players in the United States, all of whom live within a fifteen minute drive of an Ivy League University.

And no, not the one with limited features conceived months ago as a joke by graphic designer Justin Ciappara.

The new iMask will come equipped with all the features of the latest iPhone, enabling you to make calls without removing it. Texts, email messages, and apps that need a visual interaction, like the new x-ray app, aptly named iSpy, will feed into your new iGlasses, Apple’s long-awaited response to Google Glass.

But the iMask is also much more. Upon command, it can take your temperature, and the temperature of anyone within six feet of you. This feature caused some delay, as early tests revealed an inability to distinguish between animate and inanimate objects, and who really needs to know the temperature of furniture, except officials in the five states that still offer the option of execution via the electric chair.

The iMask is a great gift iDea as it also has a self-locking device that prevents the wearer from removing it when it detects any body heat within six feet.