Good Saturday morning to all. Finally I spotted a viable sign that normalcy is coming back and no, it’s not the Robins – these have been around for weeks. No, for the first time in a year, I spotted the welcoming signage on a Bloodmobile, idling curbside and open for business.

I bet that you thought I’d bang you over the head with some insight on the Wu-Flu pandemonium. Noooo, I am not. Other than a bit of disgust that the Canada/US border remains closed; and it appears it’ll remain so for some time.

Well, actually it is gratifying to see people who believe in science and realize that Covid will easily spread through the iCloud. Hence we can see, as Professor Saad says to; “our Unifying Man of Science, thank you for promoting an ethos of science”, by wearing a mask on Zoom.

This week, after waking up with 2.7” of snow one morning, spring is really here (after we get through an all-day rain today).

Beer, oh foaming Beer – I have always known that with its German heritage our town is a beer town. What I didn’t know was to what extent. Cincinnati Magazine recently wrote: “According to the WPA Guide ₁, a stretch of Vine Street measuring less than two miles, between McMillan Street and the Ohio River, boasted no fewer than 113 drinking places during the 1890s. In the block between 12th and 13th Streets alone, there were 23 saloons or beer gardens.”

“….anti-booze and temperance firebrand Carrie Nation during her 1901 visit to Cincinnati spoke to packed houses and toured the local dens of iniquity; she did not smash a single window nor shatter even one barroom mirror. Asked why, Nation allegedly replied, “I would have dropped from exhaustion before I had gone a block”.”

1. During the 1930s, in the United States, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the Federal Writers’ Project [to produce a guide for each State]. This project was to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture.

A First Ever – This past week I made time to watch NASA’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, take it’s first flight. The very first time ever that a packaged aircraft was unloaded, made ready, and took flight with a subsequent perfect landing all on another planet millions of miles away. Even the fact that we were able to watch this whole event in real time was amazing.

As Vince and I would have said to each other while high-fiving; “this is Yuuuge!”

The Climate Hype continues – John Kerry is our Climate Tsar. Recently, representing us during Biden’s Global Climate Summit (4-22-’21), he expounded on the old bugaboo – CO2, stating; “we need to get Carbon Dioxide out of the atmosphere.”

What a clown; such nonsense! Such ignorance! Such drivel!

Photosynthesis; want us all to starve and die? Life on our planet as we know it would not exist were it not for a benign trace gas called CO2.

While we’re hard at work pledging ‘goals’ tied to crippling taxes and knee-cracking power reduction, our current administration is thrilled by China’s President Xi Jinping as he re-affirmed commitments to peak emissions before 2030 and go carbon neutral by 2060.

Remember, this is the same China that reneged on all promises with Hong Kong as it got screwed over by them! The same China, which through its ‘hand-maiden’ the World Health Organization’s complicity stuck us into the massive pandemic.

Boogie-Woogie – Having unleashed (rant?) a bit, I should remember that it’s springtime. It’s a time of renewal, warmth, brightness; its foot-stomping time. Who better to get that going than the pairing of Jools Holland and the late Dr. John as the “”Boogie Woogie Twins”; Fabulous!

Vaccines – Last evening the CDC, FDA ended the pause on use of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. Whew, now Marcia and I won’t be touted as the neighborhood ‘whack-jobs’. Yup, we are part of the “one shot and you’re done” group. Once again, we’re ‘legit’.

Fini –
• On Thursday’s exercise walk cutting through the Xavier campus I spotted this animal. For some unknown reason I found myself humming the song; “Waltzing Matilda” all the way home.

• This past week via Zoom was the 15th workout session with my brothers. Totally enjoyable and I am noticing subtle changes. One of those changes in my effort doing the Plank – and then holding it for a period. I thought I was doing pretty well and the Kirstin sent me this photo. I now have a new goal.

• Subterfuge has been around forever (almost). Today in 1184 BC (traditional date) the Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse

• On the sad news side is the Virginia Department of Education. They are eliminating all Accelerated Math Courses as part of their Equity Plan; this year American greatness has to be coupled to ‘equity’ according to the ‘new-think’. We must pay attention to equity across the board. Under representation (due to lack of ‘equity’) is rampant across our society; too few Dutch immigrants on Death Row, too few hearing impaired airline pilots, too few Tibetan members on our city council, no accommodation for city dwellers who require access to traditional Yurts for their housing, should I go on?

• How quickly things change. Today in 1962 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sent a TV signal by satellite for 1st time: California to Massachusetts. And in 2018 streaming music services overtake worldwide sales of CDs and vinyl for the first time according to IFPI

• Every so often I’d catch sight of a striking Red Jeep flying by; the Kentucky Rebel Wranglers “Firecracker”.” On a walk this week I happened on it and even up close it’s striking.

• And yes, the corner of ‘Chaos and Mayhem‘ is active and well.

Make it great week people, keep the peace, be happy, stay safe, be healthy and follow the science!

Dirk