July 9, 2020

Several times over the past four months the missus and I have talked about how lucky we are to be retired and not have our former businesses to deal with during these crazy times. She had a flower shop and I had deli restaurants, both industries that have been hit hard by the pandemic. My career after the restaurants was in the field of education, retiring as a district level decision maker of a school district with a little under 11,000 students. Once again I am so lucky that I am retired and not having to deal with the many issues related to the pandemic and providing a quality education for students. With the start of school only about 45 days away and the current uptrend in coronavirus cases across the country, including Oregon, and the reopening of schools becoming a political game, I feel for my colleagues who have difficult decisions to make in a short period of time. The logistical and financial challenges related to opening the schools in September is huge, as they must make decisions related to people, space, time, and money. This in the midst of a president who claims that schools don’t want to reopen in September to hurt him politically and the Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos, basically calling education leaders lazy and weak if they don’t reopen. I always thrived on challenges when I was working, but at this stage in life I am happy to not have to be in the middle of this current educational challenge.

I have renewed faith in the Supreme Court after today’s rulings regarding Trump’s attempt to declare himself “above the law” by having “absolute immunity” as the president. It was pretty gutsy for Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, the two Trump appointees, to join the liberal judges to unanimously rule against him. Kavanaugh especially surprised me with his vote and I think it surprised Donnie also, as he went “ape s**t” following the announcement of the decision. It wasn’t a total win for the “good guys” since they cut him a break by sending the cases back to lower courts which will most likely keep his tax returns from the public until after the election. At least it got Don pretty worked up, feeling betrayed by Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, and with the way he’s been looking lately, this just cause him to tumble down the ramp.

Time to sign off for the evening, but here are photos of a couple of the missus’ creations. She finished the quilt she has been working on for a couple of months today, and made a bouquet with the flowers we bought at the Hoodland Farmer’s Market. With the cases of the virus climbing don’t forget to wash your hands frequently, wear your mask, and keep your distance. Ziggyman