We’re about halfway through 2021. Somehow.

I don’t see the effects of covid-19 in some of the places I travel to, while in other cities and towns, business are still dealing with limitations and lockdowns.

Some places people walk around with masks and others, masks are carried around “just in case” they are needed.

I usually have at least one if not two masks in the pockets. I invariably forget one in a bag or jacket or pocket. Thankfully with the cloth ones, if I forget in clothes, they’ll get washed anyway.

Flying can still be neurotic and I definately miss traveling to other countries and cultures. No one seems to be taking temperatures anymore.

It’s starting to feel a little bit more normal. The race to New Year’s is on. Will 2021 be missed or 2022 be sought after.

-SFA

I hate when the first post doesn’t upload and the draft doesn’t save either….

Today this country inaugurated a new 46th president.

For me this was over shadowed by things like school, covid-19, getting sleep.

I started to watch the inauguration but got caught up reading more articles than actually watching anything. I never actually saw the inauguration happen.

I assume it went ok.

I am definitely happy to not have read about mass violence throughout the country like what happened in DC earlier.

2021 is moving along just like 2020. That’s not a bad thing. I don’t care much to hold years accountable for the Life. It happens regardless.

I plan to keep just living every day like…. it’s a new day.

-SFA

2021 is just like another year, another day.
off to the hospital i go to work.

i live the day
i don’t forgive
i don’t forget
i have faith in myself

2021 will be just like 2020.

it will be a year when things happened.

sometimes they will seem good to me and others and sometimes they will seem not good. we decided in retrospect.

everyday is an opportunity for growth.

is the glass half full, half empty or the wrong size for what’s inside?

i am me, myself and i

i am not defined by a date or a calendar

i don’t draw hope from the outside but generate it from within so that it is mine and can be fanned versus being snuffed out by a passing ill thought.

being a realist helps me to navigate life’s bumps

“what will be will be but how i react is up to me”
-Nirav 2021

may a nucleus of hope dwell within you that you may persevere against the challenges you choose to face

Aloha, namaste and positive intentions given to the universe.

-SFA

Ah napping, how i love thee.

At least i used to but we’ve had an on and off relationship for quite some time now.

I will watch CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and read from the New York Times, the daily mail, the onion, and pretty much anything I can get my hands on when i want information. For me it’s important to know the differing views that are out there. I can’t claim that one organization is better than another. They all fail in their own ways. They all want clickbait. They all want sensational headlines. It’s what they do. They all fight each other and call each other names and say one is lying and the other is telling the truth. We tend to follow only that which we agree with and agrees with us. That’s human behavior. How many peer reviewed articles are based on bad data and bad analysis. Even the big journals choose craft articles and crap science. Everything goes with a grain of salt. Maybe sometimes a pound.

My nurses this morning told me I needed to step out of the hospital for lunch and go sit in the park and enjoy some sunlight. Slightly macabre but as I was sitting there reading and watching people out and about now that there was sunlight to enjoy, a thought crossed my mind to be thankful that this was at least not the beginning of a zombie apocalypse. If we couldn’t handle things the way they are now, I don’t think we would’ve managed zombies. I do however feel an increased desire to carry a baseball bat around with me now. You know. Just in case.

SFA

I’ve always thought of sports as a modern coliseum to distract the populace and give an outlet for emotions, a lot like reality tv. And while most athletes aren’t elite in their pay, i started to dislike sports even more a few years ago when i was reading a player, nba i think, went on strike or something and what he was losing each day in earnings was more than the average yearly salary of most people, possible families. That’s what we choose to put our time and money into. Not education or the growth of society, whatever that even means. We want our sports, even if children and adults are getting injuries but just less severe than before, we want our reality tv even though it’s scripted because we want to believe that the grass is greener somewhere else, and many of the people who sacrifice a lot are paid and supported the least. It’s also a distinction of trying to decide what does the individual matter vs what’s important to society.

I’m excited and scared at the same time. I broke at least one toe a few days ago while exercising, not the first time I’ve done so, and so scheduled an appointment to donate blood today.

Overall it was normal and uneventful. I think over my lifetime I’m close to 15 gallons donated. I started in high school.

What struck me today was the way profiling or the universe came forth. I was told to eat a slightly greasy meal with salt like pizza. What?! How well they know me. And then after, i was given a bag with water, fritos, peanut butter crackers and cookies. OMG! What precision and accuracy in the profiling. I’m ignoring the notion that the bag was already set up this way, as I’m going to believe that it was set up just for me.

If you’ve got time and you’re not planning on doing anything strenuous, go donate. Even though it’s a serious money making business, you might get free cookies.

Well, I soiled myself today after I realized my hoe wasn’t working. That’s just lost productivity and wasted time. And with everything going on these days, it was too late in the day and I couldn’t go out and pick up a new hoe to work with. So even more lost time and productivity. Without the help, I had to do it myself. What a mess! My back hurts and I’m even sweatier although exercise is good for you, even blue zone type of work. My hands. I may need to put plastic bags over them before I eat. Maybe I won’t eat for now. Even with protection (glove up and be protected!), I don’t know how long it will take for the smell to come out since I had to use my hands. There’s still a chance I could get something from everything I was in contact with but it’s unlikely. I scrubbed down already. Tomorrow I already have my eyes on a new hoe but I may instead just get a post hole digger. I know. Not for everyone but it has its niche. It’s about the quality of the hole, not the size. Ok. It’s the quality and the size. With a few quality holes I hope to be able to put in a system so the shafts can go in and out without much friction. The system will also be able to be plugged up so nothing gets in or out that shouldn’t.

Well, going to wash again and tomorrow hopefully get some seeds planted. Already starting to grow lettuce and basil. I think the radish has taken root along with the sweet peppers. Some of the cilantro is making it, some of it isn’t. The strawberries are out but not red yet. I also hope to plant some flowers.

Night.