According to the Tucson newspaper, increasing numbers of bare-faced shoppers are showing up in stores claiming they’ve been vaccinated and should be exempt from mask requirements. Even assuming they’re telling the truth about being vaccinated, how can they not grasp the common-sense reasons for staying masked in public? How can they be so selfish, so uncaring of others? Oh, right … they’re Republicans. Never mind.
Today’s the 14th day since Donna and I got our second Pfizer COVID-19 shots. We’ve joined the ranks of the fully immunized. We can let our guard down a little now, at least with vaccinated friends and family, but we’re not going out in public without our masks … not for a long time to come, anyway.
I’m annoyed with Amazon Prime for dicking us around with a show they recently started streaming, Condor, a 2018 TV series loosely based on the 1975 movie Three Days of the Condor. Even though it’s not a new show, Amazon streams it in weekly doses, one episode each Sunday. We watched episode #1 three weeks ago, then episode #2 a week later. When we tried to watch episode #3 last night, we discovered Condor’s been moved from Amazon Prime to Epix … a “Prime video channel,” but one with a separate subscription fee. Bait, meet Switch. Switch, Bait. Guess we’re done with Condor.
We currently pay for a cable TV package from Xfinity, plus Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and HBO Max. We probably pay more for TV entertainment that other fixed-income retired people our age, but there’s a limit. I hope the heroin-dealer bullshit Amazon’s pulling with Condor doesn’t become the new thing, because we’ve hit ours.
Speaking of which, the deal I had with Sirius/XM for the satellite radio in our truck expired this month and the monthly bill, which automatically renews, doubled. I called this morning to cancel and they offered another annual deal, cutting the monthly fee back to what it was. This will be my third year in a row paying half the advertised subscription price. Strange business model those folks have. I wonder how many users pay the full rate?
In January, after the neighbor who was going to cut down the two dead mesquite trees on our lot disappeared, we asked a professional tree guy to give us an estimate. We liked the price he quoted, and last week, when the stimulus payments showed up in our checking account, gave him the go code. He came by yesterday for another quick look before starting work and balked on his earlier price.
Granted, these are two nasty, nasty trees. It’s going to be tricky to make them fall away from the cinderblock fence they’re up against, and being mesquites they’re covered in two- to three-inch steel spikes. Okay, not steel, but the way they go through shoes, boots, and tires they may as well be. The new price is still within our range, and we agreed to it. He starts tomorrow. We’re putting our stimulus money back into the economy like good consumers!
Sadly, when those trees come down a substantial portion of the local bird population will have to find new homes. When I went out back a few minutes ago to take that photo, I surprised two pigeons who have just started building a nest in a flowerpot on our patio. I’ll leave them alone, that is until they have chicks. I’ll take photos then and share them here.
One final update for today: a progress check on the goatee I started growing recently. I’d say it’s arrived, wouldn’t you? In fact, it’s nearly ready for its first trim!
And yes, before you ask, that is an Indiana Jones hat. It’s a Stetson Bullwhip Donna bought me in Alaska in the 1980s. I haven’t worn it in years, but after brushing the dust off it and wearing it the other day, I’ve decided to take it on our trip to the Grand Canyon next month. Along with a warm jacket. And my mask!