Monday Musings - March 30, 2020

1. It is the last Monday of March and the month had effectively slipped away. Spring arrived, but the country has effectively been shut down by the coronavirus. 

Pool Refurbishment
Elkridge, MD
March 29, 2020

2. A team of three dedicated workers attacked my 27 year old pool yesterday with the intent of getting it ready for new plaster. While I was happy with how diligent they were in finding the bad places, I was appalled at the totality of the work. It will be ready for summer, of that I am sure.

3. Well, the baseball season has not yet gotten underway, but the good news is that the Orioles remain tied for first place in the American League East. 

4. It was a very busy Sunday around the house, the pool workers arrived shortly after 8 AM and I had to have the water on in the pool house and hoses ready for them--meaning, I had to hook them up after the winter. 

Tractor with Carburetor
Elkridge, MD
March 29, 2020

5. As part of the busy Sunday, my job was to clean the carburetor on my tractor and preform the springtime maintenance. The parts I needed arrived during the week and I had prepositioned the tractor in the garage. Let the fun times begin. I made one small mistake with the carburetor, I missed getting one of the jets back in properly and had to correct that problem, but everything came out OK in the end. 

6. The news about the coronavirus spread is not encouraging. We each need to continue to do our part to be safe, but it is becoming apparent that the actions we take today cannot erase the indiscretions of last week. With testing running a week behind for results, the virus remains ahead of the healthcare system.

7. The year 2020 is definitely off to a rough start. With a quarter of the year gone by, the stock market has crashed, there is a pandemic that is shutting down business, and people are afraid and sheltering in their homes afraid of their neighbors. Perhaps it can only get better from here.

8. Today in History. On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by a deranged drifter named John Hinckley Jr.

The president had just finished addressing a labor meeting at the Washington Hilton Hotel and was walking with his entourage to his limousine when Hinckley, standing among a group of reporters, fired six shots at the president, hitting Reagan and three of his attendants. White House Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the head and critically wounded, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy was shot in the side, and District of Columbia policeman Thomas Delahanty was shot in the neck. After firing the shots, Hinckley was overpowered and pinned against a wall, and President Reagan, apparently unaware that he’d been shot, was shoved into his limousine by a Secret Service agent and rushed to the hospital.

Headlines

How Much Should the Public Know? - The New York Times

Rich Europeans Flee Virus for Second Homes, Spreading Fear and Fury - The New York Times

President Trump extends social distancing through April 30th - OANN

Saudi officials stop 2 ballistic missile attacks - OANN

Russia weighs nationwide coronavirus lockdown after Moscow acts - Reuters

U.S. crude dips below $20 as lockdowns hit demand - Reuters



Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD