The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.

Headlines To Ponder V.2

Paul McCartney thinks The Beatles were better than the Rolling Stones. There is no doubt that from an innovation standpoint, The Beatles led the explosion of music worldwide. Looking at a comparison from a pure music standpoint, in my mind the Rolling Stones are way out in front. Charlie Watts is a much better drummer than Ringo. Darryl Jones is better than Paul on the bass. All four guitarists in the Stones were better than the three guitarists in the Beatles (and Mick Taylor was better than almost anyone else alive at the time) and Mick Jagger is the greatest front man in rock and roll history. In full transparency: my opinion is a bit biased as I have never been a fan of The Beatles. This is partly due to my older brother who did not like The Beatles’ music at all. Growing up, I never had a choice of music as we shared a very small bedroom with a very loud stereo system. My brother was very large and known to mimic Dusty Rhodes’ moves seen on Gordon Solie’s Championship Wrestling. Enough said.

Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney
Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney

Alex Cora Issues Statement On Suspension; Red Sox Unlikely To Rehire Him. I know people make mistakes and I believe in second chances, but how could the Red Sox spend ten seconds thinking about rehiring Alex Cora?

Richard Gere, 70, welcomes his second child with wife Alejandra Silva, 37. I don’t know if I am cringing or just envious?

Richard Gere and Wife Alejandra Silva Expecting Second Child ...
Alejandra Siva with husband, Richard Gere.

Americans could possibly inject disinfectant into their bodies to help fight the coronavirus. It really does not matter who said it. What matters is that it was suggested in the first place.

U.S. CDC says the second wave of infections could be worse. Cut this statement in half, and half again, and nothing about that statement is positive.

Possible coronavirus vaccine enters human testing trial. There is a lot about this statement that is positive.

Packed flight to NYC surrounded by people not wearing masks. No. Not acceptable to: 1) have a plane at capacity 2) not require passengers to wear a mask. This is a photo from last Thursday’s American Airlines flight from NYC/LaGuardia to Miami. We revert back to: nothing about this is positive.

american airlines flight
An American Airlines flight from NYC to Miami on April 23, 2020

Bundesliga gears up to be first professional sports league to return after pandemic shutdown. On Thursday, the German Football League announced the top divisions are planning to resume their seasons as early as May 9, pending final approval next week from the German government. A glimmer of hope for sports fans – will the NBA, MLB and MLS follow in their footsteps?

Is the talk about Kim Jong Un being sick — or worse — true? I know he is the leader of North Korea. I realize that his demise may lead to some instability in that region of the world. I also get that their military have long-range ballistic missiles at their disposal. With all that said, Kim Jong Un’s health and welfare, with the world fighting a pandemic, is not exactly top of mind. Yes, I realize the photo below may violate my no religion, no politics guideline, but I could not resist.

Tesla Owner Implants Chip In Hand To Unlock Car. I guess he was tired of losing his key fob?

Georgia is reopening hair salons, gyms and bowling alleys despite a rise in coronavirus deaths statewide. This went into effect on Friday. How do you social distance in a hair salon or tattoo parlor? Let’s all hope that this decision is the right one.

Woman dating a chandelier has discrimination case thrown out. The woman, pictured below, sued a newspaper, stating that an article was ‘pejorative to her sexual orientation’. She also made it very clear that she was not married to the chandelier but merely in a relationship with it. You cannot make this stuff up.

Woman married to chandelier loses discrimination court case picture: Caters LOW_RES
Amanda Liberty says she is in a relationship with her chandelier

In last week’s post, I was critical of some NFL general managers who I felt went over the top with their chest-beating regarding their ‘work from home’ technical setup for last week’s NFL draft. I am not going to walk back my comments but I will give kudos to the NFL for pulling off the entire draft in a virtual way. I only watched a few minutes of the 1st round and I was impressed with the production. Well done.

Adios, pay it forward, be safe, and remember that Mother’s Day is two weeks from today!

Random.

Mail This. The NFL Feels Great – About Themselves. Bear Smart. Jackie Robinson. One World. Biopharma.

The United States Postal Service (USPS), like many service organizations, is suffering financial gloom – but is it only due to the Covid-19 pandemic? The answer is no as the USPS, for many years, has suffered massive financial losses. Postmaster General Megan Brennan says the agency will lose more than $22 billion over the next 18 months and as much as $54 billion “over the longer term.” Without a bailout, the postal service, he says, “will run out of cash this fiscal year.” The systemic failure of the postal service is due to many factors so I will ask this question of all of you: What impact would a 3-day business and home mail delivery have on your lives? I have not seen a financial study on the net effect of a 3-day delivery, and I do realize that many people rely on the USPS to receive checks and prescriptions, but at a baseline it seems plausible that three days instead of 6 days would cut their costs across the board. Three-day mail delivery….give me your take.

I am not sure why but millions of National Football League fans are pumped up about the NFL draft which starts with Thursday night’s first round selections. Don’t get me wrong as I am forever a fan of the NFL. I get that the draft will be a distraction from the Covid-19 pandemic. I realize that with no live sports there is massive pent-up demand for televised sports of any kind. What I don’t get is the hype surrounding how the NFL will conduct this year’s draft. Many teams, including the NFL team I support, have gone into the chest-pounding mode promoting their preparation to hold the draft virtually . Hey NFL: guess what? The rest of us have been conducting business the way you are handling this draft for many years, especially now with the ‘work from home’ mandate. Virtual meetings – what a concept. We have a fight on our hands to keep people alive, prevent people from contracting Covid-19, saving and reopening businesses, and getting people back to work…then I read about NFL general managers gloating about their ingenuity to hold a virtual meeting. NFL: get over yourselves.

Denali National Park in Alaska, like many national and state parks, was forced to shut down and subsequently furloughed most of their support personnel due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Luckily, Denali National Park was able to secure some support personnel to handle ongoing maintenance of the 92-mile highway that cuts through this massive park. A very smart use of natural resources.

Support personnel at Denali National Park, Alaska

There have been many incredibly intelligent and quick thinking people on Jeopardy. Once in a blue moon, a contestant goes against the grain and we witness a puzzling answer to a sports question. I get that this contestant is a very young college student…..but:

Last Wednesday was the 73rd anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier.

Yesterday’s One World: Together at Home event to salute and support the Covid-19 front line workers was well done and a welcome relief to the ongoing news coverage of the virus. The six-hour livestream was capped off by a two-hour televised event with some of the world’s best entertainers. Great stuff for a great cause.

Lady Gaga and Andrea Bocelli.  (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
Andrea Bocelli with Lady Gaga.

My thoughts and prayers to all who have lost family and friends to Covid-19. Last week we heard that we need to increase testing and tracing – I am still not sure how tracing helps in the long run (see more info below) but for now I am good with anything Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx come up with. I am cautious with my desire to get the economy going again as the last thing we need is for the infection rate (‘the curve’) to rise once again. With that said, I am looking forward to “stay at home” mandates being relaxed, to businesses once again doing business, which allows the millions that are now unemployed a path to getting back to work. Let’s hope Gilead Sciences and other bio-pharmaceutical companies come up big…and quickly. https://www.wired.com/story/apple-google-contact-tracing-strengths-weaknesses/

Adios, be safe, pay it forward, and have a nice Sunday.

Random Thoughts For Mid-April

Let’s Think Positive. The Top Five.

I heard a quick interview with Bill Gates last week, I think on CNBC. I respect Bill Gates, especially with his generous support of the less fortunate. He is obviously off-the-charts smart, aggressive, and usually provides a solid go-forward outlook on many things. In this interview he was a not very positive, as he feels that the “get-back” economy coming out of the Covid-19 issues will be very slow. He feels that though the supply will be there, the demand will take many months. I disagree with Bill Gates….which is hilarious as Bill Gates and I, at least at the intelligence level, are polar opposites. While the economic mechanisms of the USA make take a bit of time to come back to pre-virus levels, I feel strongly that we are the ultimate consumers and when the ramifications of the virus finally diminish, the pent up consciousness of most Americans will stimulate both supply and demand. I realize this issue is completely different than the after effects of the 9/11 tragedy – and very different from the 2008 financial crisis. My positive outlook stems from the American mantra of consumption and resiliency – after the market crash of 1932, the World Wars, and 9/11, the citizens of this country rallied to get back to the things that stimulate our economy, and it will happen again. Yes, the drivers for this recovery are in most ways directed by the healthcare specialists and their ability to bring a vaccine to the market. This will happen, maybe not as fast as we all hope, but it will happen. At the first glimpse of the virus subsiding and a vaccine in the horizon, this country will once again rally – with a great deal of demand to satisfy.

Top Five Things I Think

  1. Amazing that people and their drama still make headlines with everything going on in the world. For one, Lori Loughlin and her unyielding effort to preserve her innocence after scamming her daughter’s way into USC. The scheme is shameful but at this point in time, with our country in such dire straits, who really cares about Loughlin and her designer husband?
  2. Heroic does not come close to describing the front line healthcare workers and first responders who are working tirelessly to help thousands of people around the country. Ron Howard should produce a docu-drama saluting all of these heroes.
  3. If you are bitching about having to work from home….stand down and be thankful that you are still employed. Take a minute of your valuable time and think about all the millions of people that would be happy to work from home right now. Yes, the dynamics are different and your kids may be driving you crazy….but be grateful to be employed.
  4. I find it funny when I hear someone announce that they don’t miss sports. Maybe these events will happen late summer or into the Fall, but you cannot tell me that you are good with no March Madness, The Masters, the opening day of baseball, the NBA playoffs, French Open, or the quarters, semis, and final of the Champions League. Even my Atlanta tennis people are inconsolable due to the cancellation of the ALTA season……especially one of them.
  5. Last but not least: if you want to forget about Covid-19 for an hour, feel way better about yourself, and admire a 60-minute freak show, watch the added-on eighth episode of Tiger King. Yes, Netflix airs this episode starting today. Can’t wait.

Adios, pay it forward, stay safe and have a nice Easter Sunday.

W.F.H.

Rules & Regs When Working From Home.

The Covid-19 protocols to combat the virus have more than ever resulted in people working from home (WFH). Many of my friends and associates, due to their position or location of their home office, have worked from home for many years. The issue is the millions of workers who are programmed to endure their commute, feel comfortable in their office, and have long adapted to their office culture, are now working from home. Now that most employers have directed their employees to work from home, all of us have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly resulting from the WFH mandate. The dynamics of working for home for many have dictated an “at-home” work space – one that appropriately deals with everything you do day in and day out. The reality, especially with children home due to school closings, does not always lead to productive parts of your day:

Many executives, sociologists, psychiatrists, and pundits have offered up too much information surrounding ‘how to work from home’. The following ten suggestions, some of them obvious, were offered up by some forward-thinking person at one of the country’s largest insurance providers. I have also offered up my take on each of these:

1. Have a separate work space. Don’t create an office in your bedroom, because that will look bad on video calls. What is ‘bad’ these days? With everything that is going on do we really care if we see an unmade bed, clothes spilling out of empty drawers, or a view into the bathroom because the door was left open? 🙂

2. Put in a door. And shut it. If you’re living with other people, you need to be able to shut them out of your professional life. Another ludicrous suggestion – put in a door where? In your kitchen? Or in the living room? Since suggestion #1 was to avoid your bedroom – just put in a door somewhere. Moronic.

3. Shower. Just take a shower. Every day. Same time. It really does have a psychological impact. A ‘psychological’ impact? How about just saying the impact of maintaining law and order with your hygiene in general!!

4. Eat lunch out.  No, not happening unless you live in Belarus, one country that still allows thousands of fans to gather to watch their national soccer league.

5. Do not keep files. If you want to pave a quick road toward divorce, then be sure to have lots of papers, files, and folders lying around. That’ll do it. With the virus killing thousands of people this suggestion correlates work files to divorce. You can’t fix stupid.

6. Do other stuff while talking on the phone.  Sure, while you are on the phone with a client, load your dishwasher, hit start on the microwave, and vacuum. When multi-tasking while on the phone – you might want to close the video portion of your Zoom video call at certain times:

7. Get rid of the baby and the dog.  Because DFCS and the Humane Society don’t have enough to do?

8. Never, ever turn on the TV.  Never is a bit harsh. I agree that having the TV on while working can be irritating but never is going a bit too far. A replay of Two and a Half Men and Modern Family is a productive hour.

9. Invest in lighting. I set the mood with lighting depending on the time of day, the weather…even the season. If you have time to adjust the lighting in your home office based on the time of day or weather you need to find another job.

10. Nap. Go ahead. You earned it. No one’s going to know. It is obvious that the person from this insurance company who wrote these work at home suggestions has pictures of the CEO in tenuous situations – otherwise they would be fired. Take a nap – at home, while you are working from home. No, and No!

Adios, pay it forward, stay safe, and have a nice Sunday!