Is the Cure Worse than the Virus?

Our economy has come to a screeching halt, and there are some out there demanding that Trump suspend everything for an entire month (although I can't understand what more can be suspended.  Basically, the only things open now are grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies.  Shuttering those would lead to abject anarchy.)

Through this, tens of millions will be put out of work.  Untold thousands of businesses will not survive.  Our already outrageous national debt will balloon and our currency inflate.  We're flirting with a self-imposed economic depression that could last for a decade or more.

I understand smoothing the curve extremely well, but can't we do that and still leave the lights on?  The ones impacted most by this virus and the ones eating up most of the hospital resources are the old and the medically compromised.  Can't we just lock them down (and I mean really down - tight), and put the rest of the world back to work?

I don't say this as someone that pines for my old life back.  I say this as someone that is deathly afraid that the self-imposed emergency dive we've put our economic plane into is something that we will not be able to pull out of, and that our crash is just a function of when.

Is the cure worse than the virus?  We're all going to find out.

A Wing or a Weight?

Some good words for today's environment.

Long, but stick with it:

Stuff Just Got Real

It is hard to believe that just a week ago life was fairly normal.  Fast forward to today, and all sports are cancelled, schools are closed, the stock market has plummeted, and the next shoe to drop will include the closing of all public places short of grocery stores, banks, and pharmacies.  

Sheltering in place is the mantra, and this article provides the best explanation as to why.

In one week's time, I'm worried about our finances, worried about my job, worried about our economy (the ripple effect of all of these closings is going to be massive), worried about my family, and worried about my neighbors.  

This is 9/11, albeit in slow motion.  What took a morning then is likely going to take a month for us now.  We don't know what's real, what's hype, and what we don't know.  Most of all we don't know how bad it is going to be.  The fog of war is thick, and we're looking for some kind of stable footing.  Unfortunately, we're not there yet.  How long will it take?  Who knows?

What I do know is that this week at work will be a very hard one.  We have hard decisions to make, and they might even involve yours truly.  

I have no idea what the future will bring, but I do know things are going to get worse before they get better.  About all we can do at this stage is to keep our heads and pray for deliverance.     

Only in Minnesota

For months and months now I’ve been exiting the gym to the pitch black. Today I see twilight and I feel exactly like I just won the freaking lottery.

That's what life is like in Minnesota...

Herb Brooks Miracle Speech

Because it never gets old...

The Puppy Project

Deuce has been gone a couple of months now, and I'm really missing having a dog.  I'm fortunate that where I work, we've got dogs galore walking around, so I get my canine fix on a regular basis, but there's nothing like having your own dog.

Hence, I've started reaching out to start the process on landing a new puppy.  If I had my druthers, I'd land a yellow labrador female with a pointing pedigree that I could take home sometime after May.

I'll be sure to keep you posted.  In the meantime, wish me luck on landing my new hunting buddy.