Boosted

Today my wife and I both got our COVID booster shots!!  We got same day scheduling at the pharmacy in our local supermarket.
Six(6) months and two days after receiving our second original vaccination.
No ill effects to speak of other than a slight soreness at the shot location which passed after a couple of hours.  (That was me.  Hil had NO effects.)
If everything works out, we should be good to go until next year when they’ll probably have an annual regime in place.  Time will tell…
If you have not received your vaccinations yet…  Get on it!  Protect your health and let’s get living our lives back to normal.  If you have received your initial vaccinations, but not your booster shot – get it scheduled as soon as you are eligible.  Life (and health) is too precious to risk losing it over politics.
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On This Day In:
2020	Three Down, Four To Go
	Twenty-Four ‘Til You
2019	Two Down, Five To Go
2018	Year One, Done!
2017	First Day Of Retirement!
2016	Revere And Criticize
2015	Global Climate Change May Test This Statement
2014	Adaptability Won
2013	Disappeared
2012	Fuller
	Life On The Range
	More Classics
2011	Stoned Again?
2010	Insubordination… And That’s Why I Love Her!
	Losing – Week One

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Strong Women Make Them Too

Happy Birthday, Bec!
Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities.  Seize common occasions and make them great.  Weak men wait for opportunities;  strong men make them.
—     Orison Swett Marden
Well, on this latest trip around ol’ Sol…  You’ve gotten engaged and started buying the first home of your own.   Take time to enjoy these early days.  Make memories to keep for a lifetime.  Carpe Diem!
We love you always,
Mum and Dad
XXX 00 X
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On This Day In:
2020	Another Opportunity
	Stand Up, Shout Out
2019	Birthday Gifts For Our Daughter
	Feeling Age
2018	Seeking To Make A Difference
2017	Happy BD, Bec!
2016	BD Quotes
2015	Princess
2014	Optional
2013	Happy Birthday, Rebecca
2012	Be Not Old
	2012 National League Western Division Champions!!!
2011	What Kind Of Work Do You Do?
2010	Another Loser… And Come November

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Practically Worthless In Every Way

A friend posted this word on Facebook and I (jokingly) replied I’d have to use it in a future poem.  He replied:  He would look forward to it.  So (okay), then I had to write a poem / ditty…  It’s a joke people!  It’s just a joke…  (Apologies to Disney and Mary Poppins.)
Floccinaucinihilipilification*
I knew a few Republicans
When I was just a lad,
They would call me Democrat
And tell me I was bad.
And then one day
I learned a word
That ended their derision,
The biggest word
They’d ever heard
And this is how it’s said…
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Oh, hum dil a lay ly,
Hum dil a lie
Hum dil a lay ly,
Hum dil a lie
I traveled all around the states
And every where I went
I’d describe Trump Republicans
With never a dissent
They labeled me Antifa
Because we disagreed
But they could not pronounce my word
Because they could not read
Oh, hum dil a lay ly,
Hum dil a lie
Hum dil a lay ly,
Hum dil a lie
They’re killing their supporters
By saying not to mask
They say we can be great again
By living in the past
Their candidates are laughable
Their policies bad jokes
They’re labeling us as communists
And trying to stop our vote
Oh, hum dil a lay ly,
Hum dil a lie
Hum dil a lay ly,
Hum dil a lie
Oh, floccinaucinihilipilification
Floccinaucinihilipilification
[spoken]
Over course they could try to say it backwards
Which would be…
Cation – pilifi – hili – ni – nauci – flocci
But that would be as ridiculous as expecting Faux News or The (Donald) Biggest Loser to tell the truth…
Now, wouldn’t it?
*   (pronounced:)  fläksəˌnôsəˌnīˌhiləˌpiləfiˈkāSHən/
Noun:  the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
I believe the word is actually a combination of latin roots which mean (roughly translated):  hairs or fibers of little substance gathered together (like a pilling or a ball of lint).
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On This Day In:
2020	You Too?
	Six Degrees
2019	A Branching Stream
	Day 9: One Day At A Time
2018	Pity The Nation (Part 2)
	Day 1: Redux
2017	Good Blogs, Too
2016	My Prediction For #AmnestyDon
2015	Worth A Try
2014	I’m Feeling It
2013	May I Have A Little More, Please?
2012	Increasing Doubt
2011	You Can’t Touch This

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Learning Stages

Over the weekend, I had another music / guitar lesson from my brother-in-law.  He has a degree in music, plays saxophone professionally, and has been teaching music in public schools for over twenty years.  Part of the lesson was to think about “learning performance skills“.  Here is a modified version of his lesson (with supplemental info from Wikipedia)…
The four stages of learning skills are:
Unconscious incompetence  (You don’t know that you don’t know and you don’t know what you don’t know.)
The individual does not understand or know how to do something and does not necessarily recognize the deficit.  They may deny the usefulness of the skill.  The individual must recognize their own incompetence, and the value of the new skill, before moving on to the next stage.  The length of time an individual spends in this stage depends on the strength of the stimulus to learn.
Conscious incompetence  (You know that you don’t know something and recognize you don’t know it.)
Though the individual does not understand or know how to do something, they recognize the deficit, as well as the value of a new skill in addressing the deficit.  The making of mistakes can be integral to the learning process at this stage.
Conscious competence  (You know what you know, but you have to concentrate on it to do it well.)
The individual understands or knows how to do something.  However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires concentration.  It may be broken down into steps, and there is heavy conscious involvement in executing the new skill.
Unconscious competence  (You don’t have to think about what you know how to do in order to do it.)
The individual has had so much practice with a skill that it has become “second nature” and can be performed easily.  As a result, the skill can be performed while executing another task.  The individual may be able to teach it to others, depending upon how and when it was learned.
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On This Day In:
2020	Come Laugh With Me
	Make Life Be Life To Me
2019	For Your Consideration…
2018	Brown’s Rules
	Day 23: Fasting Visualized
2017	Still Trying To Make It
2016	One Lucky Man
2015	Food Change ==> Health Change
2014	10 Commandments Of Logical Arguments (Fallacies)
2013	Sociology Of The Future
2012	1010
	There In The Sunshine
2011	Not Enough Time

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Families

…
The nuclear family, in its brief heyday, was fundamentally an economic strategy, one that made it easier to control the supply of workers and organize childcare and domestic work so that women were doing as much of it as possible for free.  This arrangement no longer makes economic or emotional sense — and millennials know it.  Almost half of us, after all, grew up with parents who were divorced, or in single-parent households.  But the nuclear family remains the only form of family with cultural legitimacy.
…
Here’s the lesson I had to learn:  “Traditional” nuclear families today are no more stable or secure, no more or less likely to lead to lasting happiness, than “alternative” households.  In “The Sirens of Titan“, Kurt Vonnegut spends hundreds of pages coming to the conclusion that the purpose — or at least a purpose — “of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”  The problem with found families is exactly the same as the problem with every other sort of family.  There is no perfect structure, no single set of rules, that can guarantee that people will always be decent to each other, will never have growing up to do, and that nobody will ever get their heart broken ever again.
…
And that, I suppose, is what family means.
It means you love whoever is around to love.  That doesn’t mean you have to like them all the time.  Love takes work.  Living together takes work.  Sick and tired of waiting around in the antechamber of socially sanctioned adulthood, millennials are setting up home right here.  We are not waiting for our “real lives” to start.  We may never have the security or stability we were raised to desire, but we can still have commitment and community.  For me, this is my real life.  These are the households and relationships where I have grown up, learned how to take care of myself and other people, had my heart and brain and favorite mugs broken.  These are our real lives, brief and beautiful, stupid and unlikely, and we would live them far better if we were given permission — beyond the wish fulfillment of fiction — to believe in them.
—    Laurie Penny
From her article: “Live Wrong And Prosper: It’s The Future Of Families“
Appearing in:  Wired Magazine, dtd: July / Aug 2020
Online at:  https://www.wired.com/story/live-wrong-prosper-covid-19-future-of-families/
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On This Day In:
2020	A Message To Optional Trump Supporters (Basically Everyone)
2019	Bigger Jaws
	On The Other
2018	Hoping For A Blue Wave In November
2017	Garden Dreaming
2016	Well, Maybe Not “No” Talent
2015	An Appetite For Life
	A Trip To The Library
	Great Expectations
2014	Pass The Soul
2013	Zapping Music And Art
2012	Not Quite Fantastic
	That Kid Is Back
2011	Wolves At The Door
2010	I’m Feeling Patriotic… (Well, more than usual, anyway.)
	Beating the Heat…

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Now You’re 31…

I may not have been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolutely sure about what didn’t.
—    Albert Camus
At 30 a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his defects and qualities, know how far he can go, foretell his failures – be what he is.  And, above all, accept these things.
—     Albert Camus
[Happy Birthday, son.  Listen to your heart and stay true to it…
Love Always,
—    Mum and Dad]
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On This Day In:
2020	Make A Fuss
2019	Hopefully, You’re Learning To Forgive
2018	Enjoy The Sunsets As Well As The Sunrises
2017	Enjoy
2016	I Got A Feeling
2015	Fiction Leading To History
2014	A Self-Correcting Process
2013	None But He Knows
2012	99% Are Demanding
2011	All In The Family
	Take Your Pick

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Stopped Counting Decades Ago

It’s like deja-vu, all over again.
—    Yogi Berra
[Happy Birthday, Sis!!   It’s not the age in the mirror that counts;  it’s the youth in your heart.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	To My Idealistic Sister
2019	Respect For My Sister
2018	I Trust Cows
	No Boundary
2017	Don’t Sink Now
2016	A Burning Passion To Teach Freedom
2015	Before Debit (And Credit) Cards
2014	Herding Cats
2013	Ooops!
2012	Understand A Great Truth
2011	Start Here…
2010	Random Acts of Vandalism On Easter Weekend…

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Maybe Faith Is Based On Hope

Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism.  It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.
—    Václev Havel
[Happy Birthday, Mom!
You raised me with optimism, hope and faith…  Love, Kevin]
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On This Day In:
2020	Thank You (To Those Who Serve)
	Hanging In There
2019	Her Job, Too
2018	Just Another Song I Like
	Earlier Still
2017	Ten To Go
2016	Unstable Emergence
2015	88
2014	Some One-Liners Are Too Easy
2013	Greatness
2012	Memories Of Arlington
2011	Wake Up

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Staying Young While Getting Old

I don’t have any solution, but I certainly admire the problem.
—    Ashleigh Brilliant
[Happy Birthday to me!    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Still Measuring
2019	Living On The Couch
	Who Am I – One Interpretation
2018	A Gardening Goal: Feed The Flowers
2017	Freakishly Happy Cowboy
2016	One More, Please
2015	Infinite Adventure
2014	Unpaved
2013	Headstones
2012	Keeping Young
2011	Lessons Well Learned

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Masked Countdown And Gratitude

Today my wife and I received our second COVID-19 vaccine doses.  We both got the Pfizer version.  Now we wait fourteen days for the full effect to kick and and then we will be able to resume fairly “normal” life.
Saying that, we anticipate wearing masks in public until summer of 2022.  Wearing masks IS NOW the new normal until scientists can advise about the various strains of COVID and the effectiveness of the current vaccines against them.
What’s different then?  We anticipate “some” travel restrictions will be lifted and we’ll be able to visit family in Liverpool and go other places (stores and restaurants) without too much worry.  We also are looking forward to more casual and comfortable visits with family members (summer BBQ’s, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners).
We have lost friends and loved ones and we are grateful to have gotten through this pandemic by the grace of God, the luck of fate, the hard work of all the scientists and first line care givers and other critical staff who have worked throughout this crisis, and (probably not least importantly) by wearing masks, social distancing and washing our hands.
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On This Day In:
2020	Democratic Aspiration
2019	Soul Before Will
2018	Small Things
2017	Clear And Warm To Me
2016	Ripple
2015	Amazing Or Full Of Wonder?
2014	Are You Confused?
2013	But The Odds Are Against It
2012	Far Better Off With Books
2011	Timid And Fainthearted

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Show A Brother Some Love

I just want to thank everyone who made this day necessary.
—   Yogi Berra
[Happy birthday, Bro!  And, yeah, I still need my little (younger) brother…  Love, ya.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Especially You, Bro
	Words Without Explanation
2019	Enjoy!
2018	Happy Birthday, Bro!
2017	Love Can Change The World In A Minute
2016	60, Little Bro!
2015	Vision and Courage
2014	58 – Little Bro
2013	New Adventures And Old Hopes
	Caving In
2012	Bits And Bobs And Birthdays
	Always Hope
2011	Wet Snow And Long Hills

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Aging Well

Burn old logs.  Drink old wine.  Read old books.  Keep old friends.
—   Alfonso X of Spain
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On This Day In:
2020	Always
2019	#45 Is More Of A Piddle Than A Puddle
2018	Found Out
	A Message To The “Wanna Be” Dictator On Leadership
2017	Still Waiting…
2016	Same Old, Same Old
2015	Shout!
2014	I Hear Voices
2013	Ethics And Standards
2012	Swing Higher
2011	Convicted For Life

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Step By Step Find Strength

We do not have to become heroes overnight.  Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.
—   Eleanor Roosevelt
[Sarah, Happy Birthday!!
Congrats on your recent certificate!  Keep taking your steps.  We are proud of you!!
Love Always,
Mum & Dad]
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On This Day In:
2020	Giving Thanks
2019	One A Day
2018	Try
2017	You’re Starting To Make Us Feel Old
2016	Focus
2015	Challenging Legacy
2014	Happy 21st Birthday!
2013	Expectations
2012	Trust Him Smile
2011	Why Change?

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Roses And Chores

For the last week, it’s been in the mid-to-low 70’s to high-60’s here.  So my better half decided yesterday that our front yard needed it’s first cutting of the year.  The gardener / laborer (me) took care of that while the chief chef and bottle washer (her) went off for some groceries.  While I was doing the mowing I noticed we got our first rose of the year in our front path.  We have a series of miniature rose bushes on one side of our front path.  There on the smallest bush, was a tiny rose barely the size of the tip of my thumb.  I mentioned this to my wife and she said there is also a single rose out in the backyard.  And, below are the two of them…
2021 First “mini” rose on the front path…
2021 First rose in the backyard…
The backyard (red) rose is not a “mini”, but it’s also not a normal size of one from a florist.  I guess it is still too early in the season for that size.
I apologize for the fuzzy images, but I’ve never claimed to be a decent photographer.  When I tried to shoot between breaths, I could feel my heartbeat shaking my arms / hands.
To paraphrase some quote I’m sure I’ve read somewhere:  “Enjoy the moments of beauty and the days of your life will take care of themselves.”  (Okay, maybe I made that one up.   —  KMAB)
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On This Day In:
2020	Which Is Which
2019	Were You Saying Something?
2018	Ethics Lesson
2017	May I Have Some More, Please?
2016	A Little Lost
2015	This High Place
2014	Elected Madness
2013	Well Written
2012	Related Parts
2011	The King Is Oscar
	Better Reputation?

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That Was A Shot In The Arm

This afternoon, my wife and I both got our first COVID vaccine shots!  We’re also scheduled for our 2nd shots towards the end of March.  Two weeks after that we should be “fairly” safe from COVID.  So far (after 6 hrs), the only after-effects are a little shoulder soreness at the injection site.
It is important for everyone to understand: the vaccines do NOT prevent you from getting COVID or from developing long-term  COVID related illnesses OR transmitting COVID to others.  The vaccines are only supposed to prevent you from getting “seriously” ill and dying.  We got the Pfizer version which is 95% effective at preventing “serious” illness and was 100% effective preventing deaths during trials.  We still do not know how long the vaccines remain effective and / or if we will need periodic boosters (like the annual flu shots).
The bottom line is that even after we have reached some level of local / state / national / worldwide herd immunity, we will probably need to keep wearing masks and maintaining “some” social distancing.  We just don’t know enough yet and we will have to follow the science / data when it becomes available…
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On This Day In:
2020	Decide, Support, Vote
2019	Aware Some
2018	Know Any Christians?
2017	The Only Thing I Can Give…
2016	Wiser But Less Cocksure
2015	Not Today
	Wicked
2014	…Am Too
2013	Credible?
2012	Both
2011	Risking Hidden Linkage

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