was the economy really as good as they kept saying it was???

 they have said for years how solid the economy has been under trump...except the economy broke down after only a few weeks really.  why is that?  i mean if the economy was really as solid as they said it was it should have been able to withstand a bit of a storm. 

 was it really just proof that the economy was actually just great for those who are/were in a certain economic situation. the economy was not great for everyone...i mean all those that were barely getting by were literally just a paycheck away from disaster.  if the economy is only good for a certain segment of the population is it really a good economy. hasn't this been what has been the line from the so called "fake news".  that the economy isn't good for everyone.  that many are living a paycheck away from disaster.  that many are holding mortgages that far exceed their earning power.

 our economy worked for those in a certain socioeconomic status.  most of the economy was being held together week by week for those living paycheck by paycheck. 

 so the Covi Kitty has had a rather productive week.  he got his neuter done...good thing because he also discovered the way to get through the dog door.

 the later came as i just finished up getting the outdoor kitty run all set up.  literally, as i headed inside to open the cat run he came out the dog door!! brat! i had seen him watching the dogs come and go. 

 mostly i think he just wanted to be with us.  i'm not keen on him being an outdoor cat but i can be okay if he just gets some outside yard time with us.  the first night i kept the outdoor dog run closed and he got himself trapped there in a bit of a rain...he didn't like it. 

 i think he does like being with us so when we are outside i think that is when it interests him. 

 i will attempt to train him to not use the door with the occasional surprise spray of water and i also think i need to make sure his indoor time is way more fun with lots of toys and interaction. 

 he digs his human and fur friends.  that being said, i'm not sure where he is at this very moment. 

 here he is on his first escape out the dog door.

 i had to do a lot of repairs on the cat run, new screening. i also finished painting that section of the fence.

 he came through the neuter fine.  i was a bit stressed that day.  anxiety is improved though.  our numbers of covid cases in AK have been stable and even declining.  they are opening the place up with a plan.  i laughed as there was a group in AK that decided to do their own protests..honking from their cars.  while i applaud the responsible social distancing, our state leaders had already announced a re-open plan so it seemed a moot point

 he was tired and lazy for a few days so i opted to be tired and lazy with him. 

 i did work last night in the ICU.  regular non-covid patients. the r/o's at least in the more critical care areas have all ruled out as of last night. so that was the first night i felt fairly normal working.

 i transferred one patient out and had a spare bed the rest of the night.  we had open beds and were good on staff.  tonight i am on call again.  not sure how long that will last.  the hospital was a bit more full than it has been of late.  they are talking of starting up with some of the elective surgeries. 

 here is a sleepy covid cat.

 the knee...it feels much better, though i do think i will need to think about getting it checked out as it does feel a bit unstable anytime i don't have the knee support on it.  i wear that all the time unless i am sleeping or showering.  so...either it just needs a much longer time with the support or there is something more wrong with it. i am happy that i can get around.  got sore last night.  more because the chairs in that unit are high so my leg ends up with more dangle time.

 i also finished up the front walk project and hosed it down.

 that was halfway covered with lawn before i started so it really does look nice i think.  the touch part is keeping it looking good.

 today i also took the time to bring out the deck chairs.

 introduced Covi Kitty to it.  not sure he loves it. still does seem a bit anxious outside, which i am happy with. 

 he does keep me laughing. above he is chasing Ivy's tail, below he's after a moth.

 another sleepy cat shot.

 i think he was happy to be home though.

 more work on the cat run.  at least Miss Breezy was thrilled to have this option. 

 never sure how long it will last.  the screen invariably gets broached by a canine...usually Ivy Rose.

 more sleeping cat

 i think Breezy missed her new feline sibling as she was fairly attentive when he returned.

 they play together and she was even caught giving him a bath.

 hoping she loses some weight and gains some confidence. 

 day of neuter nap time

 jumping was limited that first day.  animals do recover quite quickly from these things though.

 happy if he is going to attempt escapes he is at least neutered. 

 i prefer him inside anyway just to save the birds, save him from using others yards as a litter box and save him from attacks by dogs and others, cars and other cats. 

 it can be a rough world out there.

 isn't this sweet!

 i ended up stacking logs/rocks up to level the thing, i know i was supposed to dig out the area but i got a bit lazy in the end.  eventually grasses will grow around it and close it up more.

 not that it really matters at this point.  keeping it short and sweet since i am on call.  better go look for that cat.  he had better not escape and break my heart!!  i have fallen quite attached to the little guy.

thankful for A.  a normal feeling night at work  B.  a safe surgery for Covi Kitty and C. all the furs in my life...it would be a sad and lonely place without them.

baffling....

 that folks can believe conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory and look away from facts, science, medicine and reason.  but that is the current society we live in.  a segment refuses to even question what is true and reasonable.  that folks are already freaking out over these stay at home orders after just over a month is, imho, a sign of how selfish, impatient, and unkind our society has become.  immediate satisfaction, entitlement and zero concern for their fellow man...unless that man is a fetus i guess.  would they be more tolerant of the lock down if it directly took out fetuses...i presume so, but it's hard to know really. 

 yesterday i busied myself with yard work.  this area on my driveway has over the years become completely grown over with lawn.  it was a bit of work yesterday getting that much of it done.  perhaps after a little dog walk i will get this last bit done. 

 the dogs got a lot of tennis ball time in, in the yard as i worked out there and on the street as well. they were happily tuckered out. i think the other days beach day helped as well.

 Ivy chills last evening.

 later she brought her tennis ball over and began the usual ritual of trying to get me up and throwing the ball again.  she can be quite adamant.

 this little moment cracked me up.  Ivy was asleep on the couch after the beach day and was so tired that Covid Kitty literally fell asleep on her head and she didn't move.

 here they are in the yard.  i did another run of dog poop pick up.  no easy task.  there was a lot out there.  trash day today so i had a goal.

 here we are chasing the ball on the street.  they have been very well behaved and have gotten lots of positive comments from passersby. 

 of course, i can't say that they are as well behaved on leash.

 it's already nearly 1 and i'm not moving very quickly.  i have moved on from Northern Exposure and now watch the occasional episode from the bbc series of years ago, "all things bright and beautiful". loved those books as a kid.  they were not short books but i devoured them.  memoirs of a vet working in the 1930's in the Yorkshire Dales.  full of fun stories.  my knee is i'd say 80% improved. it does seem to like being in the brace for support when i'm up and moving with the occasionally down time to ice and elevate..thus the episodes.

 Covi Kitty is quite comfortable with his big dog companions.  he's made a few attempts to escape.  he seems keen on the birds outside and i think if i allowed him out i would begin to get a string of dead birds/shrews brought to me.  he may figure out the dog door...i have caught him watching the dogs.

 here he is chasing a moth that had come in. 

 He and his feline room mate are doing well too.  there is still the occasional hiss from Miss Breezy but they have been spotted playing together several times and sleeping near, even if not snuggled together

 tomorrow i will wake early and get him to the vet for his neutering. no need to make more kittens out there.  i suspect i will have increased anxiety with a trip to the vet and his surgery.  hopefully he comes through well.

 small groups of protesters across the nation.  the conspiracy theory crowd who are over it after just over a month. so they are mostly out there without masks and without abiding by distancing requests.  so i guess we shall know in a week or two if their little antics will create increases in the virus case load in the areas where they protested...they have made a bit of noise but mostly have made themselves into a science experiment for those who follow science.  i'd like to thank them for possibly sacrificing their lives for science and statistics. 

 there have already been folks who have been preaching on the internet or at pulpits that this virus has been over blown and/or a hoax only to die later...there is always a segment of any population that refuse to listen to reason i guess.  who will put their politics and ideology above others right to live. 

 our body count is over 40,000 in a short time period.  this may well be a large study of survival of the fittest or in our nations case survival of those who don't chase every conspiracy theory that exists.  i mean it just always seems irrational to me. there is just no possible way that so many conspiracy theories could co-exist and actually be found to be accurate.

 these are from the nest out on powerline.  this juvenile bird seemed to be encroaching on the nest.  the bird in the nest can be seen chewing him out.

 i have also seen swans and Canadian Geese out there.

 the government assistance was meant for small businesses, of course, the GOP made sure there were enough loop holes to ensure that larger companies could take advantage of whatever free money they could get.  socialism seems to exist in their minds for large corporations and farmers, mostly corporate farms (though they do a fine job of making small farmers believe they are doing it for them) .   anyway, the money was tapped out before many small businesses could get in there.  banks went with larger companies that they were already working with and that has shut out many small businesses that needed it.  the GOP is slimy as usual but they have their most loyal followers due to their big ticket items, abortion, guns and immigration...those folks seem pretty willing to look the other way at all the other crap they pull that actually hurts their loyal base. 

 the GOP is also always busy making sure that voters do not get to the polls.  i suspect this battle will increase as this drags on and trumps numbers get lower..hell, he's supporting these rallies and rebellion protests which may actually put his own loyal supporters into early graves.  that is the ultimate of voter suppression but it hurts the GOP mostly.  they are out to attack the post office...and mail in voting.  absentee and mail in by military has been done for years but one supporter seemed to think the constitution was against mail in voting.

 this young bird made several passes at the nest that day.

 only one of the mature birds was in the nest at the time.

 meanwhile these two just chased the tennis ball.

 the trails are a bit of a mess right now.  makes it more difficult to get excited to get out there. 

 the Canadians at Potters Marsh.

 8000 pounds of dog food were delivered to the villages for the remote dogs in our state...great to hear.  cruise lines out for the summer, fishing for locals should happen.  may be good for the fisheries to have a bit of a year off.  not great for fisherman and those who depend on tourism.  having a huge outbreak of covid would be terrible as well.  ships are tight quarters.  the train services will be delayed as well.

 this pair of swans was off of Nash Rd.

 a few from the big camera from the other day.

 the failure of leadership in this administration continues.  mixed messaging, crazy tweets, ranting.  no wonder his followers are stuck on the conspiracy track.  they watch miscreants on fox and on extreme right wing media. they have been programed to have total mistrust of science...really for no real reason except that the right has embraced that mistrust in order to battle against the climate change information. 

 opening the states and economy back up is the goal of all, it's not political though the right is politicizing it...because trump politicizes everything.  these daily briefings are no more than snippets of his beloved rallies.  maybe he can start having those again and increase the social experiment of covid.  he sure doesn't like having reporters ask him questions because the answers he has are just emphasizing the absolute failure of response.  he knew months ago and minimized and delayed any response. he's never taken any responsibility for any of this.  never accepted any blame, instead he does his usual game of blaming everyone else, finding scape goats and then using his power to try and destroy them. 

 it was just 4-5 days ago that our nations death toll was 28,000 and now it's over 40,000.  that is not the normal flu scenario. you will never be able to reason with the irrational though

 you must have testing and tracing well established and open slowly in order to watch for changes in the number of cases and hospitalizations.  if that happens then you need to scale back again.

 despite the small protests i believe that most the citizens do not want this nor do they want to bring this to their families. so despite those few protesting the majority of folks have actually been doing a fair job at doing the distancing.  masks are still only 60-70% used at most when i do my strolls or weekly grocery visit. part of that makes sense as trump has a extreme loyal base of 30-40%...i mean you can almost tell who are crazy trump loyalists just be seeing who masks up.

 was reading about the obesity factor in hospitalization rates of covid. we do have a lot of obesity in this nation.  i am feeling pretty obese at this moment....really need to get out there walking today.

 at least 18 are dead in Nova Scotia. this news has been lost a bit in the covid outbreak.  one of those shot was a mountie. the gunman was also killed.  the gunman was dressed as a police officer, he also set buildings on fire before dying in a shoot out with real officers. not much is known yet about what caused this man to go on this shooting/arson spree. there are at least 16 different crime scenes and 5 structure fires related to this one shooter. very sad story.

 sun does appear to possibly coming out again today.  looked drizzly out earlier. always a good day to be a bit lazy.  hopefully, i get a few things accomplished.

 eagle flew by while i was on the beach.

 was nice to get a little day trip in...i need to get some more stuff done at home.  the cats surgery will take care of the next few days and then i'll be headed back to work. 

 maybe my next stretch off things will have opened a bit more and i could ponder a few days in Homer.  who knows.  there is still hope up here and in other states of some opening up.  some states have growing numbers so pondering a change this fast is probably unrealistic.  people are impatient and angry in this nation though so deaths will continue to happen i fear. it's sad that so many put their own needs above the needs of an entire community.

 we shall see how that goes. 

 we are a free society so at this point there is no marshall law.  there is only so much our government will be willing to do.  people are free to endanger their own lives and the lives of others around them. 

 a second walk at the end of the runway in Seward.

 as you can see not many out there either.

 i thought this was a pair of loons but the ones head looks a bit more like a merganser. i am not a very good birder though.

 i hopped over this little waterfall to get around to the beach.  tall waterproof boots are a good idea when exploring out there.

 the beaches go on for a good long ways at low tide though. 

 and the views are nice in all directions

 a pair of swans out on the marsh there for a bit, then they flew off. i better get off the computer and get some crap accomplished.

thankful for A. low covid numbers in my state so far B. the entertainment of the furs C. that the knee is improving.