April 20, 2020

Happy Weed Day!! I heard that Willie Nelson is doing a 4 hour 20 minute streaming concert today in celebration of his favorite hobby. I did some research on the origin of the term 420 and found many stories about this term that is celebrated around the world by pot smokers every April 20th. Who knows, who cares.

The missus was busy last week painting the guest bedroom at the hacienda, something she has been talking about doing for several years. Since we are in the middle of the “stay-at-home,” it seemed like the perfect time to get the project done. She did every bit of it by herself, as she knows I hate standing and watching paint dry. Anyway, it looks really good. Now maybe I can get her to go out and wax my truck (just joking).

If you will recall, in Saturday’s post I mentioned the beer bread I made that afternoon and that I was going to be making salmon chowder for dinner. Well, the bread was good and so was the chowder, and the missus did make a nice healthy salad. The wine I opened for the dinner was superb — Thurston Wolfe 2016 Reserve Petite Sirah. I went online to see if I could order more, but none left. They only produced 50 cases of this wine.

Okay, I’ve really got my bowels in an uproar. This weekend I read various stories about the despair small business owners are feeling as they are having to shutter their doors during this crisis. As I’m sure you are aware, Congress passed a $2.2 trillion package titled the CARES Act, the largest financial support package in U.S. history. Included in that Act was the Paycheck Protection Program, which was intended to help small business get back on their feet and survive these difficult times. Having been an independent restaurant owner at one time, and the missus having had a flower shop, I have often thought over the past month what it would be like if we still had those businesses at this time. I read stories this weekend of restaurants all across the country shut down and their owners not knowing if they will be able to reopen. What really got me going was an article that mentioned Ruth’s Chris Steak House getting $20 million in government aid, a chain that has 150 restaurants and is valued at $250 million. Shake Shack, a $1.6 billion chain, received $10 million. I did see this morning, however, after complaints from small business groups, Shake Shack has made the decision to return the money. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, more than 70 publicly traded companies have reported that they have received money from the program. The program ran out of money in the first week and some small business owners who submitted applications on the first day of the process have still not heard back from their bank. In typical fashion, just like the process for handling the coronavirus has been a disaster by this administration, the program intended to benefit workers at small businesses and nonprofit employers as a result of said coronavirus has been a cluster f__k by this administration.

As we continue to be “holed up” during this thing, emotions are going to get ramped up, as evidenced by the morons who were protesting this weekend. I am not opposed to peaceful protest, but what I saw at these events was an “in your face” mentality. The folks I saw doing their thing kind of reminded me of the movie Deliverance. You know, the ones who have stockpiled their beans and ammo and have been making preparations to get in their bunkers for the “big one”, but now have their panties in a bunch because they can’t go to their favorite tavern or TGIF’s. But hey, if you’re getting up there in years, consider this MAGA program,

Well, I have some reading to do, so I will bid you adieu. Stay healthy. Ziggyman.