I was just getting used to the phrase Social Distancing. Now, I’m processing White Privelege. All this uproar over the actions of one guy. Riots? Looting? I’m not sure I get the point. I can tell you, I support the police. I don’t support what that guy did. Why not put the handcuffs on the guy right away and get off him??
I should just stick to fishing. Fisherman’s Night is restarted. By popular demand. June 25th, the barbecue is going.
The fishing has been good. It is getting hot. The rains have started. The trout bite is easy. Pompano just haven’t moved in where I have caught them for so many years. Not sure why.
The internet: At my suggestion, a page created that is only for former pro umpires. It is the greatest face book page I have ever seen. Reconnected with guys from 25 years ago. Meeting guys that were after me. I will be hosting an umpires party at the house. The interest is very strong. The donations are going to be good. The Professional Baseball Umpire, edits for the third version, strongly impacted by this new page.
The Face Book Nazis, deleting posts on protests. I can honestly say, they have never deleted one of my posts. But this censorship is interesting. How do they come to the decisions they do? It’s the internet. It’s usually wide open. But apparently not if it makes the scum of the United States look bad?
The interaction of life: One former classmate shared an experience with Mrs. Hendrick. My input, she taught me to never say “a lot.”
Random thoughts. A space mission. My mother was glued to it. I had the TV on but didn’t have that channel on to watch it. I still haven’t even seen video of it yet. Lots of pride in this. I should have probably paid more attention.
Opinions, more and more, I keep mine to myself. Kobe Bryant. You don’t want to know. Martin Luther King, you don’t want to know. Trump, some of you would want to know but I’m not talking. Abortion? Assisted suicide?
TV is no help. “My 600 pound life.” Honestly, this is just one example: Who is watching this crap? Growing Up Hip Hop. Growing up minority and privileged would be better. Making millionaires out of people that might otherwise be in prison.
The rains have started. They missed here for a few days. Now, a forecast for rain nearly every day. My plants will like it. A tropical storm, center Gulf, we are on the wet side and it’s significant amounts of rain. After the months of the rain-less season, I like this.
The house, I found that under the dirt at the beginning of the driveway, there is cement below. I have started the dirty process of exposing it. Probably going to need a topper of cement after I get it cleaned out. My assistant in Indiana, talking about making a visit. It is always good to have good help. With the rain, it’s soaked. With the hose and the shovel I should get more dirt removed in the next few days. Then, once dug out good, more cement will be added.
My mother continues to plug along. She is 85. It isn’t easy anymore. But she is happy. Two weeks in quarantine. She spiked a fever. They confined her for two weeks, a room in the facility. Her two weeks up, she is back in her own room, which is a good thing.
The bars are still closed. I’m surprised that hockey and baseball haven’t been restarted. Protect the old people but get this country back on wheels. I’m just not very impressed with this virus. Wearing a mask is confusing to me. You have 20 people in a place and none of them have the virus, why is the mask necessary? I’m unimpressed with this virus.
It’s pretty much official, I stopped watching the news. Totally disinterested.
I still don’t understand hackers and spam. My email gets 20 to 40 spam messages per day. The program picks them up and folders them. Who does that? And why? Worse: Phone calls. For 20 years, I was fine. Now, I get ten to twenty bogus calls per day. I block the numbers after it happens. They still show up when they call again but the phone doesn’t ring. Anyway, why?? Over time, I have been blocking the numbers of these incoming calls. I think that is working. But how are they getting my phone number in the first place. Face book probably sold it to them.
“Every life matters.” Was it wrong that I said, “but I was trying to become black” ?
A rerun: Medical disclaimers. Do they really have to add in, “Don’t use if allergic to it.” Are people out there routinely using things they know they are allergic to??
The jerks are still out there: Blowing their horns because someone isn’t driving fast enough for them. Or, making a turn. I don’t understand it. Such anger. And why? To get to where you are going five seconds faster? I do not subscribe. An impatience I don’t understand. For Ken, he saw nothing but speeders on his walk today. People going 50 in a 25. Kids in their car. Just behavior that doesn’t need to be happening.
Back to fishing: It has been good. Start of summer, it’s likely to get tougher, but probably not for a while. Already days into June, the long stretch of summer is dead ahead. Some years the fishing stays pretty good, which I believe has a lot to do with the rain. We are in a very rainy pattern right now. Yesterday: Best rain of the year. The clouds, kept it cooler. All the species closures, the opportunity is a little better than in years past.
Also fishing: A group I joined, Fly Swaps. I went from becoming a contributor to running the next one. A guy, Bob, retired from it. Jay ran this one. I should get my flies in a few weeks. I’ve tied flies for the next two swaps. The spare time, being used. If you tie and you want to join in, let me know.
The schedule isn’t bad. Big trips. One four person. Two three person. Two two person and three solos. That’s good enough. I’m getting old. I don’t want to be out there every day. Through the virus I did better than most, if not all guides. I lost trips. All the out of state people that opted not to travel. But all of them said they would reschedule with me when it’s OK to travel again. Hopes are that the fishing stays the same for a while. Because it has been easy.
In the next edition, I will tell you how to balance your checkbook.
- The Neil Blog… - July 26, 2023
- The Catfish - July 26, 2023
- update - July 22, 2023
