April 16, 2020

Happy Thursday, the day after “hump day,” weekend just around the corner. Woo Hoo! Because we are up here “off the grid,” we don’t have high speed internet; no cell phone service; can’t do zoom video conferencing; can’t do skype doctoring; no Netflix, Disney, or any of the other streaming services for movies and TV shows. We do have satellite for our internet and that gets us by, as well as Dish Network for television. The current situation we are in has amplified the need for everyone in America to have access to the internet from home, not just for entertainment purposes, but for everyday essential living. I recently received a postcard from the Census Bureau with a passcode for doing my census return online. Their assumption is everyone can do the census questionnaire online. Business programs on television and investment publications are touting stocks and companies that are geared for doing virtual doctor visits through video conferencing for your medical needs. I have received several written communications during this pandemic from medicare, my healthcare provider, and my medical insurance company informing me to avoid going into the doctor’s office or a medical facility as much as possible during this coronavirus. “Feeling sick? Visit with an online doctor from the comfort of your home and get expert advice, a treatment plan and a prescription if needed.” Schools are closed, but are providing teaching lessons through the internet. That’s great, but the kid’s who live in my “neighborhood” are kind of “up the creek” without internet. Anyhooo, where I’m going with this is that I will be communicating with my senators and representatives that preparation for the next big event needs to include developing the infrastructure for reasonably high speed internet for every household in America. Yesterday I spoke of a new normal as we come out of this. The new normal is probably going to include more “work from home;” more video conferencing for medical and other personal needs; greater social interacting via technology than before the pandemic; less attendance at sporting events and concerts in person, but rather watching from your computer. There will undoubtedly be many displaced workers as we work to rebuild the country and economy, so I am proposing that we need a modern day Civilian Conservation Corp, similar to FDR’s New Deal CCC that followed The Great Depression. Rather than building trails and parks, the focus would be building a technological infrastructure for all Americans. Pretty grandiose, huh.

The food section today contains a recipe I posted in 2011 from my previous blog. If you are looking for a nice comfort food and you’re out of meat in the refrig, make yourself a big pot of Ziggyman’s mac and cheese.

6 oz package of Cavatappi pasta
1 onion
2 cloves garlic minced
3 Tbsp butter 2 Tbsp flour
3 cups whole milk
1 cup cream
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon dry mustard
cayenne pepper to your taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
Grated cheese (I used Trader Joe’s gruyere/cheddar mix, parmesan and a cheddar chili from Grocery Outlet) Use as much as your little heart desires.
Salt and pepper
Panko

Saute onion and garlic in butter. When soft, add the flour. Cook about a minute. Add milk and cream, nutmeg, mustard and cayenne pepper. Simmer until thickened, stirring often. While doing this, cook the pasta al dente. When sauce is thick, add your cheeses and salt and pepper. As you can see, I put my pasta and sauce in a heavy casserole. I grated more cheese on top and then covered it with some panko . Baked in the oven at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. Deliciossso!

See, I made it through this post without talking about Donnie or any of his sycophants. I could have rambled about the staggering unemployment numbers posted this morning, or the senators who sold stock in companies that would be affected by the coronavirus just before the pandemic brought the country to a standstill, or stimulus checks being held up because they had to be printed with King Don’s signature, or Dr. Oz suggesting that school’s should reopen because “only2-3% more could die,” or the Paycheck Protection Program out of money already. I was being a good boy today. But ponder this, comrades,

Have a good evening! Ziggyman