“…the days drift by, they don’t have names…” — Jimmy Buffett, “I Have Found Me A Home”

This is gonna be a quick post because, frankly, I’m tired.

So here I am in the middle of my six-day deep-drive into pool supply retailing. My left knee hurts from all the standing I’ve been doing while doing water tests and register work, but it has been both interesting and rewarding work. I’m part of a three-man team that runs the store, but I’ve already been accepted as part of our little team. The gig itself couldn’t be more different than my previous life and job: I’ve got a fifteen-minute commute (all service roads), and I now wear khakis and a t-shirt with a name badge as my “professional wear”. Sure, the pay sucks – just a little bit over minimum wage – but the pay isn’t why I took this job to begin with. It has felt great to get out of the house and learn something new. When all is said and done, I’ll be working ~ 6 1/2 hours a day, four days a week, but right now it’s the equivalent of basic training: instead of six weeks at like, say, Fort Bragg, Georgia, I’m basic training in the Arizona equivalent of a California surf shop. It’s got the same kind of laid-back vibe and chill – the clientele couldn’t be more different than my previous job, they’re actually happy and nice- but it still demands the same kind of inside knowledge that only comes from experience. It sure is a whole lot different than what I used to do for a living! I’m really enjoying myself.

I’ve heard the same stories about this kind of thing from others around here. If it’s because of supply chain issues, fine – but it’s wrong to blame your cost increases on the COVID-19 shutdown and expect people to pay the increases because a lot of their clients have also been impacted as well.

I’ll say this: you you won’t catch me at a sit-down restaurant while those serving me are wearing masks and gloves. I’m just not interested in buying into the hysteria over COVID-19. The fact is, the models were wrong, the so-called “experts” were wrong, the CDC and FDA have been wrong, our public health officials employing a “one size fits all” lock-down remedy that would have been largely averted and tens of thousands of lives saved had care and concern been focused on nursing homes and long-term care facilities, and Democratic and (in the case of Massachusetts) RINO (Republican in name only) governors acting like third-world despots shutting down individual rights and freedoms in the name of “science” that doesn’t exist. It’s pathetic, and it’s a joke I want no part of.

…as a result, I’ve decided to cancel my scheduled trip back to Massachusetts for July and Goodboys Invitational weekend (if it is even held). I did this after the Jet Blue person couldn’t assure me that I wouldn’t have to wear masks and gloves from the point of entering security at Phoenix Sky Harbor to departing security at Logan Airport. F**k that! I’m not wearing a mask and gloves for the better part of eight hours. I’d rather stay home and do pool retailing.

…besides, Massachusetts has gone nuts. I’m not interested in being immersed in the kind of insanity and tyranny going on in “blue” states. Those people are nuts, and I’m not having anything to do with it.

…which is why I’ve decided to put golf on hold until the fall, ditch the Sam Summers I would normally be drinking for Boston Lagers, and just focus n enjoying my so-called “early retirement”. Nothing seems to be the same anymore, and I’m OK accepting that. I know I still need time to decompress from my old job and prior existence (my body is telling me that in any number of ways), so I’m just gonna roll with this right now and take it as an opportunity I could never have imagined just two months ago. It’s all so very bizarre.

A couple of final things:

Yeah, I know if you are using Google Chrome to view this site the Exec-Comm pic at the top of the page is displaying sideways. I don’t know what that is, I need some time to look at why the orientation is off only with Chrome.

Does this mean liberals care about borders after all? Just wondering…

I keep thinking the Joe Biden campaign (which is already running on fumes and propped up solely by mainstream media only the most fervent Democrats and liberals pay attention to – something I’ve heard from certain “folks in the know” I trust from 2016 who got it right), but now there is this – and from Yahoo! News, no less. Honest to God, you can’t make this crap up.