Pastors And Protests

I am so saddened to have to write this post. In a better America, a saner America, there would be no need for me to do so. But we live in an America where far too many of us are ignorant and proud of it. An America where far too many of us, down deep inside care only about ourselves and no one else.

I was raised up in Baptist churches. The first two my family belonged to were fairly progressive

in their beliefs and actions. More importantly, most of their members practiced what they preached.

They truly did unto others as they would have others do unto them. 

The third church was much more old line. Very conservative and headed up by a pastor

who was in his late sixties and wanted things to be just the way they had always been in his younger years. He was an unpleasant and bad person. He retired not that long after my family joined his church and was replaced by a much younger, much nicer man. 

This man quickly became a very good friend to my late father. A friend who gently helped my dad, for an all too brief period of time, become a much better person. 

When that second pastor left, Dad found it all too easy to regress. He had lost a very good friend, and that hurt him a lot. 

When my parents separated, Dad and my brother stopped attending church services. I joined a

church that was very good and continued attending it until I moved several miles away.

Why am I telling you this?

I am telling you this because over the last few weeks, I've seen just about every church, mosque

and synagogue in my area suspend services or move them online. I am glad to see that. 

Also, I thought it'd be nice to give you a little background information on myself.

And also, because I want to, need to, express my disgust at those ministers who insist

on holding services in person. It comes to no surprise for me that every single one of them I've

read about remind me of that much older pastor who was, as I say, not a nice person. 

In other words, I know their type, all too well. They are among the worst of the worst. 

If one is to know them by their deeds rather than their words, consider carefully for 

those deeds speak clearly and loudly. 

For they choose to break the law by placing themselves and those around them at great

risk. 

They rant and rave about being persecuted, which is one of the sickest, saddest things I have ever witnessed. This is not the former U.S.S.R. where preaching the Gospel could easily get you thrown into prison or committed to a psychiatric ward.

This is the U.S.A., where state and local governments have shown a remarkable measure of restraint when dealing with flagrant and repeated violations of stay-in-place and social distancing orders.

Orders which are under attack by well organized groups. Those attacks have been sanctioned, and sadly, even praised, by the President. 

One such group even has ties to the Devos family and may have received funding from it. That's Devos, as in Secretary of Education Betsy Devos. That group staged a protest in front of the Michigan Capitol building where many of those present were openly carrying loaded firearms.

I honestly believe it's just a matter of time until these protests turn violent and some idiot
opens fire on a police officer or unarmed bystander. That will make for a defining moment in
terms of just how open insurrection will be dealt with.

More Thoughts On Our Current Crisis

As we continue to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, a few things have become clear to me.

The federal government failed to act in a timely fashion because Donald Trump ignored
the warnings he was given. As the death toll mounts, let us keep that in mind.

The American economy is taking a hard hit and a full recovery will neither be easily accomplished
nor happen quickly. Though neither has been officially declared, I consider the economy to be in recession and headed for a depression.

For as bad as things are, they'd be much worse if not for the stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits. I will state, for the record, that I have received my $1200 payment. I will also state, again, for the record, that I am currently receiving unemployment benefits.

State and local governments have been starved for cash for decades. Now, when their actions are needed desperately, they simply can't get the job done.  I applied for SNAP benefits fifteen days ago.

Broome County Department of Social Services finally mailed paperwork to me two days ago that I received yesterday. It was the landlord form and nothing else. So, once they get that back, I'm looking at another week at least, to have a decision made on my application.

By that time, I'll quite possibly have enough cash coming in that I won't qualify for benefits. But in the meanwhile, those benefits would have helped me out a lot had I received them. I've had to apply for benefits a few times over the years, and the entire process never took more than three days.

I'm sure that the people who work for the DSS are doing the best they can. It's not their fault that
the number of applications has far outpaced their capabilities.

I'm just relieved that I am in good financial shape and will be for the next few months, at least.

And to you, dear reader, I wish safety and happiness.

The Times We Live In (Part 3)

So, here we are, in the middle of a crisis that is worsening every day. I'm doing fairly well, myself, but I know that far too many of us are not. Too many of us are looking into empty refrigerators and empty cupboards. Reliable data indicates that one out of every three people who have been to a food bank to get food this month have never done so before.

Right now, unemployment is sitting near 10%. Industry estimates peg the number of restaurants that will close permanently at anywhere from 15% to 25%.

The response to the situation is a patchwork of actions taken by local and state governments. Some governors have done a great job while some others have failed miserably. Even those who have done very well have come up short in various ways. I, personally, would like to see Governor Cuomo take action to do more for those of us who are out of work.

Due to his extension of his "New York State On Pause" order, which was set to expire on April 20th, but will now remain in place until at least the 29th, I will be out of work for several weeks.

I applied for unemployment insurance twenty-three days ago and no decision on my claim has been made as of today.  The New York State Department of Labor said they needed more information from me; forms that were dated March 26th and March 30th were mailed to me on April 6th, which is the main reason for the delay. The forms came in yesterday's mail.

I am very grateful to one of the staff members in the housing program here at the Binghamton YMCA. She took the time to fax the completed forms on my behalf, and also attached a cover
letter explaining why I had not completed and submitted them any earlier.

Earlier this year, when we had three paychecks in January and I received both of my income tax refunds in February, I took all my extra cash (which totaled just over $1200) and put it into my savings account.

As of today, all of that is gone. I used it to pay my bills for March. I used it to
buy a few things I needed (no lie, I had three pairs of headphones all stop working in the same week, which was a real "you've got to be kidding me" experience). I stockpiled several weeks worth of food, dry goods, shaving cream and other necessities.

I used some of it to buy music, because I need music, now more than ever. There is just one compact disc that has the full mono version of "Leader Of The Pack" on it, so I spent $20
for a copy of it. It's titled "The Best Of Tragedy" and still shows as having copies for sale
on Amazon. It was worth the money I spent on it, for that song and a few others also on the disc.

A week ago, I applied for SNAP benefits, and as of this afternoon, Broome County DSS has yet to assign a case worker to my case. So, I'm waiting for someone to do something, because I do qualify for benefits.

I have not ordered any food to be delivered as I simply can't justify the expense right now.
I have, to be honest, purchased a few meals from restaurants as take-out orders, because some
of the dishes I love the most I can't prepare at home. So once or twice a week, I treat myself
to something nice like fried chicken or lamb over rice with a side salad.

I ran into Lauren today, while we were both waiting for the #5 bus. I miss Lauren, and I miss Mike, as well. Both are very capable and good co-workers. Lauren said that without us being there and without the cafe side being open that things are very boring for her.

The daily count for the daycare program has taken a real hit, as expected.

She has very little work to do in terms of actual cooking. She told me that she has done a lot of extra cleaning she really never had time to do before.

I told her that I miss working with her, because I really, truly, do. It was nice to just see her for the short time we waited for and rode the bus together.

As always, dear reader, wishing you the best.

I Just Need To Do Something Normal

As we all continue to deal with the current crisis, I feel a great need to think about something else. Something more pleasant and enjoyable.

So, I'm going to reminisce about what it was like going to summer camp for me from the year 1979 to the year 1983. All of those years, I attended a camp in Smithville Flats, New York that is named Camp Bayouca. The camp is still there, and still active, though goodness only knows if there will be a camp season this summer.

The first year I went I was thirteen years old. It was just the second time I had been away from my family for several days. The counselor whose cabin I was assigned to was nice, and every year after that I also had good counselors. That first week I learned two things. One was how to scale a wall. The other was how to use a bow and arrow. 

Another thing that happened that week was when my counselor got permission to take all of us in his cabin to play miniature golf at a nearby course.

To my surprise and joy, his car was the one my father had just sold the year before. I looked at the service record on the left front door to be sure, and there I saw where Dad had recorded oil changes with his initials and the dates. The man my dad had sold the car to had given it to his son, my counselor, as a college graduation gift. So I got to ride in it two more times, which was a real blast for me. That car was a 1962 Ford Fairlane that was white with red trim and red interior.

The next year, in 1980, I learned how to use a trampoline and I met two guys my own age who were friends from the Syracuse area. We were reunited the next year, and the two years after that, for the full week. We also got to see each other two other times, over Labor Day Weekend when the camp had its annual 2-day retreat for older campers in high school.

I remember that every year I had a fair amount of spending money while neither of them had any money. They were always so grateful when I would buy sodas for all three of us.

The third year, the trampoline was gone because the premiums on the insurance policy for it had become too expensive. But that week was still fun, because I hung out a lot with those two guys, and I also spent a lot of free time with a very sweet girl that I had developed a crush on. We played a lot of what was then called "Frisbee" golf that week.

Now, let me talk about this before I forget to do so. I am grateful to the two churches I attended because in three of those five years, my fees were paid by those churches. In fact, the fifth and final year, I thought I wouldn't get to go. The fourth year was the year my Dad was able to pay for everything.

But our youth pastor and his wife came up with the money out of their own pockets that fifth and final year. He surprised me by coming to our home a few hours after Sunday services to tell me. He even took a half day off from work at his second job to drive me to camp, and gave me spending money, again, out of his own pocket.

One of the other things I remember are the first time I was allowed to be the one to ring the bell that rested in a tree in the middle of the campgrounds. I remember playing softball and scoring the winning run in one game. I remember the female counselor who took a risk while we were playing "Frisbee" golf by ourselves. She kissed me (she was 19, I was 17) and told me I was the nicest guy she had ever met.

I remember a few nights when it was warm enough to have night time sessions down at the lake we used. I never learned how to swim, but the lighting was adequate that we were allowed
to canoe short distances with a counselor in the canoe. I remember making a few small donations to help the camp build a swimming pool.

Some of the other activities were classics, like seeing how many people we could fit into a 1960s era VW Beetle. Some were more 1980s oriented, like doing a trust fall.

I would have gone one last week in the summer of 1984, as the age limit was eighteen, but I had graduated high school, which made me ineligible to attend.

I had fun every week I went. The food was actually quite good and the facilities were clean and well maintained. The camp had a nurse's office that I only had to use once for a sprained ankle.

Good memories.

The Times We Live In (Part 2)

So, this is a quick update on things. The relief bill that should be passed soon by Congress is still not perfect, by any means. But in its final form, it's much better than it was initially. Stimulus checks are set at $1200 per individual and $2400 per married couple with $500 more for every child under the age of 17 living at home. Individuals whose 2019 income was $75,000 or less will qualify for payments.

The $500 billion fund that the Treasury Department will set up will have Congressional oversight. It was initially proposed that the department be allowed to do as it wished with those funds, while
not releasing any information on how money was to be spent for six months.

A flat increase of $600 per week to last four months and 13 weeks of extended unemployment insurance is also part of the final bill. This is just amazing and I'm so glad that Senator Schumer of New York fought so hard for this. I've already phoned his office and left a message thanking him as one of his constituents that will be helped immensely by this.

It's not perfect, as I say. But it's a good start.

As always, dear reader, wishing you the best.

The Times We Live In (Part 1)

Hello, dear reader. My absence from this blog is one I really don't want to talk about very much. Suffice it to say, I'm back. I'm currently out of work and will be for some time, I fear. There are more hours to fill than I can handle, and this will help pass the time.

As I write this, Congress is on the verge of passing a Coronavirus relief bill that needs a lot of work.

It's a gift to corporate America that doesn't do enough for the people of this nation. It appears

that cash payments to citizens will be one-time payments ranging from $600 to $1200. These payments will not be universal in nature. They will be means-tested and honestly, I have no idea

if I meet the criteria to get a payment. 

The cafe at the Y.M.C.A. closed last Monday, March 16th. 

I had the day off because I was scheduled to work a double shift on Wednesday. I did work two hours on Tuesday, which consisted of cleaning, putting away the food order, and panning up seventy meals that were given to my fellow residents.

At the end of those two hours, I thought that was that, as the saying goes. But I instead received

an offer to assist Lauren with the day care food service. 

I accepted that offer and thanked Tania (Lauren's supervisor who was mine as well, originally) for the offer. 

That lasted all of three days, during which I worked nine hours in total. 

On Monday of this week, I was informed that I was no longer needed, due to the low count of kids in the class rooms. I took this news as graciously as I possibly could, I believe.

I then wished Lauren good luck, and I said that I hope to see her back on the job when this is all over.

Yesterday, I filed for unemployment benefits. Getting through to someone in Albany was not easy.

But I did manage to get to talk to someone, and if my claim is approved, my first check will be for this week. 

I also went to a branch of my credit union, to do a couple of needed transactions. The lobby is closed, but tellers are on the job to process deposits made using the ATM. 

For the time being, Broome County Transit is still running most of its routes and allowing passengers to ride for free. Riders are being asked to board using the back door and police tape has been used to block anyone from getting near the driver. So I took the #57 bus to the Campus Plaza where my credit union branch is located, and then took the #47 to Wal-Mart.

And what an experience being in Wal-Mart was. I have never seen it be so empty on a weekday afternoon. The shelves were partially stocked with requests posted asking customers to not buy excessive amounts.

Some items, such as toilet paper and napkins, were sold out. All of the cleaning supplies were sold out, as were disinfectant sprays and wipes. I bought only what food I needed to last one week. 

I took great care to not purchase any WIC-approved items, because that's the right thing to do.

Parents and young children who rely upon the WIC program are in no position to improvise the way I can.

Everyone I passed in the aisles gave everyone else a wide berth. 

I am going to apply for food stamps later today. I will qualify, according to the benefits calculator

on the official New York state website. Being able to pay for food won't be the issue for me;

finding food to buy will be.

I mean, a lot of the things I normally buy just weren't on the shelves when I looked for them.

I normally buy a lot of all natural and organic products, but yesterday, I put into my cart whatever I could find that looked even halfway decent. 

Ramen noodles? Check. Knorr pasta side dishes? Check. Pop Tarts? Check (the new

all-natural variety that use no artificial colors or flavors). I "scored" a pint of Haagen Daz ice cream, and a submarine sandwich that was reduced in price because it had to be sold by the end of the day. 

Such are my victories, these days. Small ones that I still take pride in.

I am free of the virus, as far as I can tell. I am limiting my personal contact with other people

at all times. I have Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Video as my online streaming services.

I am, in summary, fairly well equipped to ride things out (with the exception of my credit card payments, which are just going to have to wait). But most of us aren't. Most of us are stuck at home, worrying about the next mortgage payment, or how to keep the kids from going stir crazy, or how to put food on the table.

Right now, our government is failing us. If we are able to vote in November, let's make everyone pay for that. 

This, That And The Other Thing

So, where were we? Has it really been seven months since my last post?

I miss being here, a lot. I've been so busy with so many other things that this just kind of fell by the wayside, as it were. Most of what I've been busy with has been good. I'm much closer to getting my catering business started, and I will be a vendor at a local bridal show in September. I've done everything I need to with one exception and I'll be taking care of that sometime next month.

My health continues to be good, for the most part. I am just now getting over a bad sinus infection though after three weeks. It's the first really bad one I've had in several years.

Work has been going well, with the café having its operations transferred to a different department a few months ago. That meant Mike and I got a new supervisor. He's really doing his best to learn how we do things, and to help us, I think. Some of the changes he had us make have been really good ones. A few, not so much, but he realized that and had us go back to doing things the way we had before.

The world of online radio has seen a couple of major changes recently. Radionomy ceased its operations in the U.S.A. as of May 31st. Streamlicensing shut down its operations two weeks ago, or so. That leaves net casters with fewer options than ever, and I restarted my Live365 service last week.

http://streaming.live365.com/a23147

That's the direct link to listen. I'm running things in Auto DJ mode right now, with several songs from the 1960s. I do have some simulated, vintage style airchecks ready and will be running them in live mode over the weekend.

That's all I have for now. As always, I wish you well, dear reader. It's good to be back.