It’s Saturday night in rural Douglas County, and I have a puppy at my feet. I’m watching an old BBC show, and looking at ways to compare one of the characters on this show to an urban fantasy series I started listening to by (I hope I get this right) Benedict Jacka, featuring a character named Alex Verus, and it seems to be set in the same universe as Jim Butcher’s “Dresden Files” series.

It was a long night last night with the new little one, and I’ll be the first to admit that I did not sleep well. I hope tonight goes a little better, but it’s only his second night here, so I have to manage my expectations.

I’m probably going to call this a little early tonight. Like I said, I didn’t sleep as well as I would’ve liked last night, thanks to Odin.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day, and another holiday will pass under the coronavirus lockdown. I’ll call my mom and do what needs to be done here to give my wife a decent Mother’s Day as well.

My son also asked me to do something for him… run a one-shot game him, his girlfriend, and my oldest daughter next weekend. I’m going to have a little fun with that.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

We have a new member of the family tonight, and the little guy isn’t real happy about our sleeping arrangements. He’s crying pretty hard in the crate/pen we have set up for him in our bedroom, and right now Lucy is not real happy with the little guy either, barking at him and letting him know that his whimpering isn’t doing much for the evening mood.

I’m probably capitulate and sleep out on the chair with the little guy. He was sleeping earlier, cradled in the crook of my right arm, and down in my lap earlier.

We named him Odin, calling him Odie. He’ll probably end up all of 6 or 7 pounds fully grown.

I finished up my class today, and I’d say it went pretty well, all things considered. No class is ever 100% perfect, and we always have opportunities to learn and grow from the experience. This week was no different than any other in that regard.

Good news of the weekend… Bonnie will be home on Thursday for a few weeks. I am thankful for that.

Time to think about heading off to bed. Might be getting up a few times in the night with Odie. There’s a new baby in the house, and new babies need some attention.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

It’s Thursday night in rural Douglas County, and I just remembered that I need to get the trash out for pickup tomorrow morning. Can’t forget that…

I have an box of trash in the sun room that I need to get out for pickup. There are some other bags I probably ought to get out too. That’s kind of the norm these days. We have more trash around the house just due to the fact that we’re doing so much more round the house. Lots of things being added to the household tool list just to accommodate the changes to our lifestyle.

Tomorrow I’ll finish up my Azure class for a big financial services company. Two of the topics on the docket are two newer topics, or one newer topic and another being addressed in much more detail than it had been in previous iterations of the course. I have an understanding about container services as part of Azure Container Instances and Azure Kubernetes Services, but I don’t have as much experience as I would like to have with either. Hey, when you don’t have the experience, go get the experience, right? I’ve spent a significant part of the last couple of weeks trying to address some of my weaknesses, and I’m hoping that pay off as I close out my first solo class with this new version of the curriculum.

Tomorrow might be a special day. I think we’re going to add a new member to the family, a male morkie pup that we’re going to name Odin, or Odie for short.

I’ll post pics.

I hope the world is treating you better than deserve.

Peace y’all.

For the life of me, I have no idea why any company, in the post-“Breaking Bad” era, would ever choose to use the song “Crystal Blue Persuasion”, by Tommy James and the Shondells, was ever a good idea.

It’s a Wednesday night in rural DOuglas COunty, and Bubba has a little writing to do. Last night I sat down following a full day of training Azure, and I knew I was going to write. I’m trying to practice a little discipline, and get back to that regular commitment to myself.

Fact is, last night I was pissed off.

We had decided to patronize a local restaurant on Cinco de Mayo. We placed an order through a local service for pickup, as very few restaurants deliver out to rural Douglas County. A few do, and we’ll try to order hem on what we hope is a slower night.

Anyway, we ordered food for three people, and I went in to town to go pick it up. Put on my nitrile gloves and my mask, and then stood in the parking lost of the restaurant for forty five minutes waiting on the order.

Then… the manager came out to tell us that the service through which we placed our order cancelled a bunch of orders… and, of course, my family’s order was in that bunch. I feel for the other folks that had their orders cancelled, too. Not a good look for the ordering service or the restaurant.

I did a little running around, and eventually ordered some bacon double cheeseburgers and tots over at Sonic. I may have over-tipped.

I’m having a good class. We’re a little behind where I would like to be right now, but we’ll get through the material.

About time for me to think about heading off to bed. I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

It’s a Monday night in rural Douglas County, and I am weary. It has been a busy day with meetings and preparation for my class stating tomorrow. I’ve got about twenty students, and it’s an introductory administration course that I’ve had some involvement with for awhile. I’m confident of a positive delivery.

I’m watching a documentary on CNN about the Pandemic and the President. It’s pretty sad, as it goes through the timeline of the coronavirus. It’s not an enjoyable journey. The missed opportunities, the obvious telltale signs ignored by an administration more eager to avoid blame than accept responsibility for the wellbeing of its constituency.

I need to wrap this up a little early. Might not make it to two hundred words tonight, but I am going to keep myself disciplined and make a better effort to slap out two hundred words per day.

This is an interesting and dangerous time in world history. It’s kind of scary. I’m trying to avoid this virus as well as I can, and I know my wife and son feel the same way. We don’t have a lot of control about the interactions Gracie and Bonnie have. They have to take responsibility for thier own interactions

I’m going to call it a night. I hope you are safe and secure, away from this pandemic.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve,

Peace y’all.

Good evening, my future grandchildren, it’s old Grampa Bob talking about my day. Nothing too interesting, but that’s the way it’s going to be some days.

It’s been a day. A Sunday in May of 2020, the first Sunday of the month, a week before Mother’s Day. People are still dying of the coronavirus, and Trump is still a moron, with tweets insulting stalwart members of his own political party. What do you expect… the guy is a moron, with no sense of the situation beyond his own nose.

I worked a bit today, getting ready for my solo this next week. I’ve taught the new class twice in the last two weeks, but this next week, I’m got the room. Called my mom to see how she’s coping with the situation – she’s going well, dealing with some inconveniences, like rescheduling hair appointments.

This evening, Dane, Lisa, and I gathered about the television for a movie, and wow, what a movie – “BlacKkKlansman” by Spike Lee and KU’s own Kevin Wilmott. Incredible movie.

I’m not going to tarry to much over this. The dogs are restless about not being restfull… our pooches want to go to bed and get a snack, and who am I to stand in their way. Get these pooches some Greenies!

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

OK, so I’ve been thinking about my writing absence, and, part of the reality is… I just didn’t feel like writing much. It’s kind of a depressing time in my life history, and I’m dealing with it as best I can, and sometimes that translates into being a little more selfish. I’m not in the mood to share, and that’s probably a big part of my story right now. I could spend quite a bit of time talking about the things that have me down about the current situation, but the reality is, “So what?”. I’m not special. Everybody is dealing with the challenges of the current world situation.

Now, let me tell you what I do expect… there are a number of states that are starting to relax on some of their social distancing restrictions… and I’m going to bet that a few of those population centers will see some bump in COVID-19 cases and fatalities.

This isn’t some joke, people. Two professional friends of mine have lost family. Another coworker told the tale of hos experience contracting the coronavirus in Westchester County, NY. The guy was a D-1 football player, and he talked about this bug shutting him down like a Packard Bell 386-SX running Windows for Workgroups 3.11.

That’s about enough of a rant for me for tonight. I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.

Peace y’all.

Time to get this thing cranked out, right? I’ve been doing a little thinking, and at this point in time, I’m going to take another run at getting this post cranked out on a daily basis. April was not a good month for me. To be honest, it hasn’t been a good month for a lot of people.

So, I’ll write. It’s the first day of May, in the year 2020. It was a nice, albeit windy, day. Lisa and I spent some time together addressing some needs, and I got a little work done. Had two after hours virtual social events, one with my team at Microsoft, and another later with a group of longtime MCT friends.

I’m staying busy, there’s little doubt about that. Lots of classes. I find myself wondering when I’m going to find the time to get my studying in for the certifications I’m pursuing.

So, the bad news. We’re still dealing with the coronavirus and COVID-19. More people are dying. It looks like there might be one drug that might get the green light as a treatment, as the trials seem to indicate that recovery gets accelerated, and victims gets back on their feet sooner… at least the one’s that recovery. The fatalities dropped a little, but that whole margin of error thing… meh.

I’ve got another Azure class next week, a four-day that runs from Tuesday through Friday.

I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve. She’s treating me pretty well right now.

Peace y’all.

I have had a bad month. I have not written, and even today, I’m going to take the easy way out. I’m working a lot, with classes moving to an online delivery environment. I’m actually spending more time in class now than I did when I was traveling.

I am going to copy in a couple of other links, though, and the stories. I need to get a word count up to get to my goal, and that’s about the only way I’m going to get there. Like I said, I’ve had a bad month for writing.

Right now, the White House is focused on who to blame… or, more correctly, who to defer the blame to someone other than Trump. To that end, here’s an article from Thoughtco on the origins of the term, “scapegoat”.
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Definition of Scapegoat, Scapegoating, and Scapegoat Theory

The Origins of the Term and Overview of Its Use According to Sociology

By Ashley CrossmanUpdated August 02, 2019

Scapegoating refers to a process by which a person or group is unfairly blamed for something that they didn’t do and, as a result, the real source of the problem is either never seen or purposefully ignored. Sociologists have documented that scapegoating often occurs between groups when a society is plagued by long-term economic problems or when resources are scarce. Scapegoat theory is used in sociology and psychology as one way to intercept conflict and prejudice between individuals and groups.

Origins of the Term

The term scapegoat has Biblical origins, coming from the Book of Leviticus. In the book, a goat was sent into the desert carrying the sins of the community. So, a scapegoat was originally understood as a person or animal that symbolically absorbed the sins of others and carried them away from those who committed them.

Scapegoats and Scapegoating in Sociology

Sociologists recognize four different ways in which scapegoating takes place and scapegoats are created.

1. Scapegoating can be a one-on-one phenomenon, in which one person blames another for something he/she or someone else did. This form of scapegoating is common among children, who blame a sibling or a friend for something they did, to avoid the shame of disappointing their parents and the punishment that might follow a misdeed.
2. Scapegoating also occurs in a one-on-group manner, when one person blames a group for a problem they did not cause: wars, deaths, financial losses of one kind or another, and other personal struggles. This form of scapegoating may sometimes be unfairly blamed on racial, ethnic, religious, class, or anti-immigrant biases.
3. Sometimes scapegoating takes a group-on-one form, when a group of people singles out and blames one person for a problem. For example, when the members of a sports team blame a player who made a mistake for the loss of a match, though other aspects of play also affected the outcome. Or, when someone who alleges an assault is then scapegoated by members of the community for “causing trouble” or “ruining” the life of the attacker.
4. Finally, and of most interest to sociologists, is the form of scapegoating that is “group-on-group.” This occurs when one group blames another for problems that the groups collectively experience, which might be economic or political in nature—like blaming a particular party for the Great Depression (1929-1939) or the Great Recession (2007-2009). This form of scapegoating often manifests across lines of race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin.

The Scapegoat Theory of Intergroup Conflict

Scapegoating of one group by another has been used throughout history, and still today, as a way to incorrectly explain why certain social, economic, or political problems exist and harm the group doing the scapegoating. Some sociologists say that their research shows that groups that scapegoat occupy a low socio-economic status in society and have little access to wealth and power. They say these people are often experiencing prolonged economic insecurity or poverty, and come to adopt shared outlooks and beliefs that have been documented to lead to prejudice and violence.

Sociologists who embrace socialism as a political and economic theory argue that those in a low socioeconomic status are naturally inclined to scapegoat due to the unequal distribution of resources within the society. These sociologists place blame on capitalism as an economic model and exploitation of workers by a wealthy minority. However, these are not the viewpoints of all sociologists. As with any science involving theories, study, research, and conclusions—it’s not an exact science, and therefore there will be a variety of viewpoints.

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That’s nice…

The other thing I wanted to bring up for historical purposes is the status of the coronavirus outbreak on the planet.

I follow the Johns Hopkins coronavirus dashboard. As of today, worldwide, there have been 3,247,648 known cases. There have been 229,447 fatalities recorded worldwide.

No country can match the level of death in the United States. We’re 61,547 lost lives in, and I don’t see where this will stop. We have yet to plateau.

And some idiot governors are opening up for business… I thijnk it’s way too soon. I get it, though. People want to get back to work. Millionaires and billionaires need people to get to work – you don’t accrue that sort of wealth just doing things on your own. There are other cogs in the machine, and the way it works is that those people work, a portion goes to the company, and a portion of it turns up in the workers paycheck.

OK… getting closer.

Oh, it looks like there might be some good news, with at least one treatment drawing some positive results…

From USA Today…

Here’s what we know about remdesivir, the drug being tested as a coronavirus treatment

N’dea Yancey-BraggElizabeth WeiseUSA TODAY

A drug being developed to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by new coronavirus, is reportedly showing some promise but there’s no guarantee initial reports will lead to a commercially available treatment. 

Experts have been racing to find a treatment for the illness that’s killed more than 60,000 Americans and sickened more than 1 million. The experimental drug remdesivir has emerged as the first possible scientifically proven treatment.

Early data from a global study released Wednesday found patients given remdesivir recovered faster and may be less likely to die. However, another study published the same day in the British medical journal The Lancet found no clinical benefits to the drug. 

Here’s what we know about the drug:

What is remdesivir?

Remdesivir is an experimental antiviral drug from the American biotech firm Gilead Sciences. It was originally tested as a treatment for Ebola and other coronaviruses including SARS and is now being tested as a possible COVID-19 treatment. 

The drug impairs the ability of the virus to replicate, according to John Scott, chair of the department of pharmacology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

“You’re decreasing the degree of infection so the immune system can fight. It’s like taking fuel away from the fire,” he said.

Dr. Aneesh Mehta, lead investigator for the portion of the remdesivir trial at Emory University in Atlanta, stressed the drug and other antivirals are not “silver bullets” that immediately get rid of an infection and the damage doesn’t just “all go away” when the virus is gone.

Are coronavirus patients being treated with remdesivir?

Remdesivir has not been approved anywhere for any use, according to Gilead, but is being given to patients in six clinical trials to determine if it is an effective and safe treatment for coronavirus.

Outside of clinical trials, Gilead also has implemented programs that provide emergency treatment access for children and pregnant women with severe symptoms of COVID-19 and is trying to expand emergency access beyond these two groups. 

Fauci said a U.S. federal trial showed ‘proof of concept’

Early results released Wednesday from the global study conducted by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases found patients who received remdesivir had a 31% faster recovery time than those who received a placebo.

While not a “knock out,” NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci said at an Oval Office meeting Wednesday the study results were “a very important proof of concept.”Get the Coronavirus Watch newsletter in your inbox.

Stay safe and informed with updates on the spread of the coronavirusDelivery: VariesYour Email

Study: Remdesivir appears to speed recovery times in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

The NIAID study involved 1,063 hospitalized COVID-19 patients whose lungs were affected. A subset of about half those patients who got remdesivir had a median recovery time of 11 days while patients who got a placebo had a median recovery time of 15 days. Recovery was defined as being well enough to be discharged from the hospital or able to return to normal levels of activity.

The patients given remdesivir also had a lower mortality rate – 8% of them died compared with 11.6% of the placebo group. But researchers said we don’t have enough data to know if that number is statistically significant.

Study out of China was less positive

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at 10 hospitals in Wuhan, China, found no statistically significant difference in how quickly patients improved, according to the study published in The Lancet.

Though a higher number of patients receiving remdesivir showed a faster time to clinical improvement the numbers weren’t enough to be more than chance.

The race to stop COVID-19:Remdesivir shows some promise but there’s still no proven treatment

‘Drawing any conclusions at this point is premature’

Last week, early data from a Chinese study was prematurely posted then removed from a World Health Organization website. It did not appear to show any difference in outcomes between patients who got the drug and patients who didn’t.

Another study not yet been peer-reviewed found patients on a 10-day remdesivir treatment plan and a five-day treatment plan showed “similar improvement.” Gilead said.

A study published April 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine found the majority of people who got the drug improved, but there was no control group.

This month, medical news site STAT reported early and incomplete results from a remdesivir study being conducted in Chicago. The University of Chicago issued a statement saying that “drawing any conclusions at this point is premature and scientifically unsound.” 

What is remdesivir?Gilead Sciences drug reportedly shows promise treating coronavirus

Treatment options the U.S. is considering

Remdesivir is one of several drugs touted recently as possible coronavirus treatments.

Hydroxychloroquine, convalescent plasma and immuno-modulators like tocilizumab have been given to patients with COVID-19 in clinical trials, but remdesivir is the only treatment that has been shown to have even a potential effect on the disease.

Follow N’dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg

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And that’s what I’ve got for April… best laid plans of mice and men and all that.

I’ll try to be a bit more mindful, on this project.

Peace y’all.

Hang on, I better get a fresh cup of coffee before I dive into this effort.

OK, that’s better. Medium roast Tanzanian peaberry.

OK, let’s start off with the reality of the day. Coronavirus and COVID-19 are still in play, and everyone has been asked to continue social distancing, and there is a “stay at home” order in the state of Kansas, extended now through the first week of May.

Worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Dashboard, there have been 154,789 people killed by this virus.

I’ve been paying attention to that number pretty closely. That rate of “doubling” has slowed down. It was doubling about every seven days, and this past week it too ten. Maybe that’s good news, I don’t know. I have a feeling there will be another major surge in COVID-19 related deaths, though, as the number of cases in the US has skyrocketed, and we still don’t have adequate testing for the population.

Folks are getting antsy. The economy has shut down. Some folks are getting $1,200 checks, slightly delayed because Trump wanted his name on the checks, as if it was his money being given away – in reality, it’s more like Trump’s charitable foundation, where it’s other people’s money being given away, and he just wants the credit.

In the US, today, the Johns Hopkins dashboard reports that there are 706,779 known cases in the United States, far more than any other country. There is no doubt that other countries have addressed the issue much better than the US. By the time my grandchildren read this, who knows what people will be saying about this time in history. Hindsight is 20/20 (see what I did there?), and folks will certainly have quite a bit to say and write on regarding this time and this event.

I’ll try to be a little more diligent about writing in the coming days. This thing is getting to a lot of people. Maybe I’m more fortunate, as living out in the country makes it easy for me to stay away from people, but there is always a need to make a run into town for something – like a battery charger for a new tool that we ordered that came with a battery and no charger.

That’s enough for now. I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve. It certainly seems to be going that way for me.

Peace y’all.