Charlie

Blush:oops:. Yes, I was a literary scholar, back in the days when Eliot was considered one of the greatest contemporary poets.

Plenty of straight men were raised by single women with no significant male figures in their lives. Freud's theories were interesting intuitions about patients in his personal practice, not scientifically grounded or supported by any rigorous research on his part. As always, correlation is not proof of causation. The fact that my spouse and his next younger brother are gay and their two younger brothers are straight, and all four were raised in the same household by a strong father and an equally strong mother, does not not prove or disprove anything about why the four brothers turned out the way that they did.

T. S. Eliot, "The Waste Land." "April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain." I used to be able to quote a lot more of it, but it goes on for another 400 some lines. "Shantih. Shantih. Shantih."

Actually, I was somewhat serious. Many elderly people in particular cannot groom their own feet, and need to go to nail salons to get their toenails cut. Leaving one's feet ungroomed for a couple of months is not healthy. Making an appointment with a medical professional for that kind of procedure seems inefficient.

When a close friend and former colleague died several months ago, I started trying to find former colleagues who I thought might want to know of his passing. Since he retired almost 30 years ago and I retired almost 20 years ago, and both of us then moved far away from where we had lived and worked, I had lost touch with many people. It took a lot of work to find some of the people I was most interested in finding, and many of them turned out to be deceased, too. For the latter, Ancestry.com turned out to be a useful source of information. For the living, Beenverified.com surprisingly turned out to be the most useful. Since my late friend and my spouse have the same first name, one of those I contacted by email sent me a lovely sympathy card and flowers before he realized his mistake.

Unfortunately, pedicures are not considered a reason for nail salons to stay open as an essential business. One can only get one from a podiatrist. One of my neighbors found a podiatrist available to do one for her the other day.

That should help with maintaining social distancing.

Purell is being sued by several plaintiffs who claim that the company has no scientific proof for their claims of killing 99%of viruses. Even the CDC says to to use hand sanitizer only when soap and water isn't available.

I saw a couple of articles today about people in rural areas becoming upset by the number of urban dwellers trying to escape to places they consider "safer" from the disruptions of COVID-19. They are afraid that a) they may be bringing the infection with them, b) they will use the limited resources available to locals, and c) if they become ill, they will overwhelm the scarce medical facilities in most rural areas. At Joshua Tree, the small town near the national park, people from LA are taking long term contracts on the rentals usually used by short term visitors to the park. You may find that the neighbors of that Virginia farm are not as welcoming as you expect.

I avoid the "senior" hours, because seniors are a majority of the population in my area. It's easier to shop at other times.

Eat breakfast Walk dog Read Internet Eat lunch Walk dog Get mail, pay bills Read Internet Walk dog Eat dinner Read Internet Walk dog Go to bed Two mornings per week I vary the routine by shutting off the computer and playing tennis with friends. Some afternoons I take a break from the news and play Rummikub with a neighbor. Shopping is erratic, depending on what I need.

How could I have forgotten the "rubber bands" hanging on the back of my bedroom door?!

I also used Premier back in the 80s and 90s, when they were in a couple of different houses in Center City, because they were more efficient and reliable than freelancers in Philadelphia. I tried Paramount a couple of times, but their guys were always in South Philly and much less dependable. In other cities I preferred independent escorts.

I discovered masturbation long before I knew how to spell it. I was about six years old when I discovered I could get a very pleasant relaxed sensation in my belly by rubbing myself against the bed at night. I did it fairly regularly until I was about twelve, when I was disturbed to ejaculate something. From then on I did it on my back, and made sure I had tissues available for cleanup.

That reminds me that I must still have dumbbells somewhere. In the closet? Under the bed?

I would hesitate to eat at a restaurant that seems to imply I might need a roll of toilet paper when I get home.

The players are all speaking Dutch.

My spouse lost his sense of smell a few years ago, but his neurologist said that is not uncommon when someone develops Alzheimer's.

One of my neighbors is alleviating her anxiety by baking. Yesterday she brought us and a few others some banana bread.

My tennis club is still open; the courts are outdoors, it an easy sport in which to stay 6 ft apart, and the only equipment that ever gets touched by other players is the tennis balls. So far we are still being allowed to play, and this morning I had a really invigorating 2 hour doubles match. I would think that golf has the same advantages, but some golf courses are being closed by the owners. I also have private courts at our HOA community, on which I can practice my serve if I have no one to play with. My 84 year old spouse, whose gym is closed, is having fun mapping out 3 mile walks, which he now does every other day.

The supermarkets here in Palm Springs have normally had free sanitizing wipes available at the entrance, until now. None of the stores I have been to in the past week have them anymore. Maybe they are afraid that someone will steal them.

Among my gay male friends who have brothers, it is generally the older brother who is gay. In my spouse's family of four brothers, the two older brothers are gay, the two younger brothers are straight.

Yup. It's still there.

I just stopped at my local Trader Joe's as I often do on my way home from my Sunday morning tennis, but there was a long line to get in, so I just kept on driving.

I went to my local Albertson's at noon today, and it was actually less crowded than usual on a Saturday. I found everything I was looking for--English muffins, bananas, low acid orange juice, Stouffer's frozen dinners, Dawn dishwashing detergent--and saw a lot of other regular items on my shopping list that I wasn't looking for today, like fruit, milk and eggs. No one at the checkout seemed to be buying large quantities of anything. Could the panic buying finally be subsiding?