Hello:
This past Thursday, March 11, was the one year anniversary of when the WHO declared the coronavirus a global pandemic, which I suppose makes March 11, the day that everything came to a halt.
I kind of believe that everyone has their day when it hit home. For someone who lost a loved one, it might have been the last time they saw that person, which could have been a couple weeks before or after. I know for Tara, it had to be that Friday the 13th, when she found out she was being moved from working Ambulatory Surgery during the day to working the ICU on the overnight shift.
I will never forget Thursday, March 12 in the afternoon.
I had finally made an appointment to see the eye doctor after my eyesight had been getting progressively worse over the years. I was sure he was going to tell me I needed glasses. I walked into the office with a mask on, there was plastic all over the place. It didn't take him too long to figure out how bad my eyes had gotten.
He also said he wasn't going to dilate my pupils, but he did so anyway. So as I left his office, I knew that my life was about to change no matter what. But now, with everything a blur, I heard the following news...
The NHL season was being suspended as was Spring Training. In the most shocking news out of sports, the NCAA was canceling the Men's Basketball tournament. That was easily $1 Billion down the drain. Schools were going to be closed and remote learning was going to be somehow implemented.
I realize now that with 530,000 dead Americans that this seems so trivial, but it really was when they canceled March Madness that it really hit home. I had heard the night before that they were suspending the NBA season, but I figured 3 weeks? A Month? Same thing with hockey and baseball.
But knowing how much money the NCAA tournament generated, knowing what a blow to the economy that was going to be, that's really when I knew this thing was no joke. Not that I ever thought it was mind you, but this just nailed it. *
The economy began to crash. The stock market twice had to stop trading because the Dow was dropping so fast. The combination of all this $h-t happening while my vision was still blurred made it one of the most bizarre days in my life. When anyone ever asks me when I felt the pandemic began, I will always answer March 12, 2020. For me, that's the day the day the world came to a halt.
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POLITICS: Cuomo in Trouble. (Part II)
Exactly one month ago, I wrote the very same words : "Cuomo in trouble". This was regarding Governor Andrew Cuomo and the mis-reporting of nursing home deaths due to COVID-19. So much has happened since then, that it can make your head spin.
Fist of all, multiple women have come out and accused the Governor of inappropriate behavior. Either unwanted touching and kissing, or uncomfortable comments. Several staffers, both male and female have accused him of being a hot-head with a bad temper who said vile and hurtful things to subordinates.
I was going to write about this last week, but I held off for a few reasons. First of all, this is a fast moving story. As I am writing this on Saturday afternoon, he is still the Governor of New York. By the time I post this Sunday night, or Monday morning, he could be gone.
Secondly. I know there are going to be people out there who accuse me of a double-standard. And while I will readily admit that I have a lot more respect for Cuomo than I did for Donald Trump, I also want to make it clear that I never demanded any punishment of Trump until everything was properly investigated. Same deal with Brett Kavanaugh. It pissed me off when I heard Chuck Schumer say that he believed Christine Blasey Ford even before he spoke to her. Do I believe Kavanaugh assaulted her? Yes I do. Did I say that before I heard her testify before Congress? Go back and look it up.
If a through investigation by Letitia James, the State's Attorney General, proves these women out, or at the very least doesn't discredit them, then Cuomo has to go.
The third reason I'm hesitant to get into this is because of all the friends I have in the service industry. I've told the story a million times. I was sitting in a bar listening to Tara talk about mutual friends of our she met while working in a bar. If not for all that, no marriage for me, no Timmy. I'm sure the overwhelming majority of you met your significant others in a bar or restaurant. I think of all my friends who either own, run or manage bars and restaurants, all my friends who bartend and or wait on tables, and my heart breaks for them, for anybody, who has struggled financially because of this pandemic.
And many of those people are blaming Cuomo and his decisions for their plight. And maybe they are right?
But I also know that many of the decisions he made when things were really bad here in New York, saved lives. The numbers don't lie, we were in dire straits here in NY starting around this time last year. Hospitals were filling body bags in unprecedented numbers.
He may have come off as an a$$hole, but I will always believe it was his decisiveness and his grasp of what was going on that got our numbers down. You want to tell me he should have opened restaurants sooner? I will listen to and respect your arguments, but I will also never take away his handling of this in the beginning.
Now having said that, let me be clear... If this investigation turns up that he harassed these women, and if the other investigations show that he deliberately hid data that showed that he mishandled the nursing home situation, than yes he needs to go. And I will support that decision as well.
Writing a book about himself and how great he was probably not the smartest thing he ever did either. That should have waited till the pandemic was over or he was out of office.
Unfortunately for him, the latter may be coming sooner than the former.
CELEBRITY COUPLES: What a week!
I'm going to be honest, I didn't watch one second of Oprah's interview with (the artist formerly known as Prince) Harry and Meghan Markle. I really wasn't interested in what they had to say. But apparently millions of people did.
I'm just going to repeat a few thoughts I've had in the past regarding the Royal family... 1) What is going to happen when 18 year old Archie finds out while working at Taco Bell one day that his grandfather is the King Of England (Presuming, of course, Queen Elizabeth finally departs) ? I mean he's going to be like, "What the hell am I doing here, then?
Now as Karl (the Ace) Ludwig points out, Harry and Meghan should have no trouble making money, so chances are Archie won't be asking anyone if they want fries with that. I still think Harry should put his name in there to be the next James Bond after Daniel Craig hangs it up. I think Meghan fancies herself another Meryl Streep, but her acting resume is awfully thin. Still she could get herself on another TV show and bring home some cash that way. I'm sure they will get by.
And once again, I am offering to replace either Harry or Prince Andrew, who is still on the outs because of his involvement with deceased scuzzball Jeffery Epstein. My terms are half of what Andrew was making (about 150,000£), moving expenses from Oceanside to London, and the option to chronicle my new gig here on social media. And have all my mail forwarded to Buckingham Palace.
Then there was A-Rod and J-Lo, who on Friday announced that their engagement was off. There were conflicting reports as to whether or not the attention starved duo had completely ended their relationship.
I mean, they have to stay together right? Where would either one of them go from here?
Yes, Jennifer Lopez is impossibly beautiful and in better shape than most women half her age, (she'll be 52 in July) but man, she's gotta be a handful. And Alex Rodriguez to me is just the most annoying man on the face of the earth.
If they don't work this out, the only logical person I can see A-Rod hooking up with is Kim Kardashian. She has the money and the spotlight that he craves. Would J-Lo hook up with Kanye? Again, he might be crazy enough for her liking. But other than that, it only makes sense that they somehow find themselves back in each other's arms. The fate of the world depends on it.
FAST FOOD- McDowell's for a Limited Time..
H/T to the great Professor Steve Butler for this tidbit.. New Jersey's Cherry Hill Mall will host a pop up McDowell's fast food burger joint to coincide with the movie Coming to America II release on Amazon.
In his Facebook post (but not mentioned in the accompanying NJ.com article), Steve mentions that the original McDowell's was in Elmhurst right off the corner of Queens Boulevard and Broadway.
They converted the Wendy's that was there for the movie. A number of us went to go checkout the new place when it went up in mid 1987, only to find out it was a mere movie set. It was almost as disappointing as when we found out when they were filming Kiss of Death in 1994 that the place across the street from the Pan-American Hotel wasn't actually a str..
I forgot we have kids reading this post.
But the McDowell's opening in Cherry Hill will actually serve food for a limited time. Amongst it's items are
the Big Mick (all the fixings of a Big Mac without the sesame seeds on the bun), Chicken Chunks (not nuggets), the Meatless Mick with an Impossible Burger patty, and the Magnum Mick featuring eight patties and eight slices of cheese on a long (non-seeded) roll.
That Magnum Mick is something that when I was younger I probably would have made the trip all the way down the Jersey Turnpike for. 8 Patties with cheese on each? $hit, I hope there's a cardiologist office in that mall. That burger is an MI waiting to happen.
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Marvelous Marvin Hagler, the middleweight champion of the world back when the middleweight division was the most exciting division in boxing, died suddenly on Saturday at age 66. His fight against Thomas (Hit Man) Hearns on April 15, 1985 was the most exciting 3 round bouts in boxing history. Several of you posted it on Facebook. Enjoy it here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ASe3GTXgC1o
Running for Rebecca Link: https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/HeartWalk/FDA-FoundersAffiliate?px=17407286&pg=personal&fr_id=5680
I know we're all a little groggy today. On the other hand, it's light until 7 PM now!!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday and Happy St. Joseph’s Day on Friday.
Stay Safe, Wear the Damn Mask...
and Have a Great Week
*Watching the Selection show today reminded me that the pandemic cost my Dayton Flyers a number one seed in the tournament last year. Again, in the grand scheme not important but still...
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