Endings
Coquille Point, Oregon, May 06 2020
It feels irresponsible not to talk politics even on my quasi-profesisonal blog.
"If you can imagine the scenario this fall or winter, maybe even early next spring, when the vaccine becomes available, there's no one company that can produce enough for our country or for the world. It's going to be limited supplies," Bright said. "We need to have a strategy and plan in place now to make sure that we can not only fill that vaccine, make it, distribute it, but administer it in a fair and equitable plan.
"We do not have that yet, and it is a significant concern," he said.
NBCNews.com - Ousted whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright unloads on Trump admin's coronavirus response
This is followed up by Bright's quote, suggesting that the mismanagement will lead to the "darkest winter in modern history". That's a ringing endorsement of DJT if I've ever heard of one.
It's impossible to disassociate from the absolute abject failure of Donald Trump. A common narrative is that Donald Trump opposes mass testing for fear it may hurt his re-election chances. If true, that means he's putting himself before the American people, yet again and again. He also opposes the United States Postal Service for fear of mail in voting when its the morally correct thing to do. I've had it almost the entirety of my adult life as an Oregon resident. This administration is getting people killed, and it should be referred to as Trump's Body Count. Now that I have that out of the way...
New office is no office
The Dalles, Oregon, April 11, 2020 and April 25th
It's been a bit since I've done a status post, but Covid-19 is the new reality, and it isn't going anywhere. The company I work for was in the state of switching offices even before the outbreak with the lease ending in April, meaning I haven't had an office now for more than two weeks as it had to be cleared out before then. I was the last worker, working from our office as it was located across the street from McMenamins's Crystal Hotel, and Jake's Famous Crayfish. I didn't like the layout of our office, too noisy and too much glass but the location was desirable as Powell's was two blocks away. O Our company is now officeless and has been a blessing as we're now virtual, and there's no overhead. Dealing with the reality of Covid-19, our company likely will not get an office until 2021. The owners have zero reason to believe that we'll return to normalcy by then, and I don't blame them. I don't either.
Streaming
Table Rock, April 26th, 2020
I've managed to get out of the house. Social distancing doesn't mean you have to stay indoors in a state as unpopulated as Oregon. While entertainment is at a standstill, I've discovered something. Some of Amazon Prime's TV shows are very good. I highly recommend Undone. I'm not into animation, but the rotoscoping is fantastic and compliments the uncanny reality of the show, blending a wonderfully human tale with elements of sci-fi. It also stars Bob Odenkirk. If that isn't a selling point, I'm not sure what is. Also, Fleabag was very good, Upload is fun and a little too real and the Jack Ryan series, is familiar but still entertaining.
While Amazon has been at the original content game longer than Apple, I have to say among the streaming services, Apple remains one of the least compelling. I'm more interested in CBS's streaming service than Apple's and they're a second-tier player. As it stands, Apple's entry to TV is still a mystifying one. Unlike its other digital media services designed to sell other people's content (Apple Music, Apple News, whatever-they-call-their-movie-rentals/movies sales/TV show sales), the only original content comes from: Apple Arcade, Beats One Radio and Apple TV+. Apple Arcade is Apple doing what it's always done: sell software. Beats One is free, and more about showcasing Apple Music content. Apple TV+? It's just weird.