What a Mess!

A man I didn’t know well but who was a good friend and business associate of the son-I-wish-I-had died in his sleep at 51 of still unknown causes. He owned the auction house where we’ve been sending stuff from my house as I’ve been downsizing and where I had planned to send at least two more loads---one before the end of the month with some furniture and miscellaneous antiques and another before listing/selling the house. Tim is still in shock. He’s says the auctioneer had no known health issues, worked hard every day and was very fit. Better than half of Tim’s livelihood depends on having access to an auction house since he deals in closing out estates. Banks call him, real estate agendas call him. People like me downsizing call him. At this point in time, it doesn’t look like anyone in the family can take over the business---even temporarily to deal with the advertised auctions in the queue. He had four brothers, two teen daughters, a contentious x-wife who cheated on him and no will or other paper work to give anyone a legal standing to take charge. What a mess!

It affects me, yes. But at least I have plenty of time and I have confidence that Tim will find another auction house to work with before the spring when I have to switch gears and start getting the house and yard ready to list it. I had decided before hearing this news to quit all my e-Baying except for a few first edition books and send whatever collectibles I still have worth selling to the auction house. I quickly reversed that idea so now it looks like I’ll still be e-Baying until the end of the year even though I'm thoroughly burned out on doing it. Ya, I can hear the voice out there in cyberspace saying, “Why don’t you just donate what’s left?” and to that I’d point out that I just sold a beaded Victorian purse for $49 on e-Bay and I have a few things left like a German built pencil sharper from the 1800s that will sell for over $300 and I’m not willing to let a picker shopping at Goodwill to buy stuff like that for a song then resell it when I still have time left to sell it myself. Down the road closer to the move I will donate, sure, but not now.

This week I met four of my Gathering Girls pals at the Guy Land Cafeteria for a two and a half hour lunch. We decided that we’ll meet two more times this fall, then suspend our bimonthly tradition until the end of January. With flu season coming and holiday and family parties that could turn out to be super spreaders for Covid-19 it seems safer to avoid public places. We always have such a great time and I wish Zoom meetings were an option for us but half the ladies aren’t computer literate enough to even do a Facebook Group chat---we tried that already---so Zoom would never work. Life goes on, and my social life sucks.

I was disappointed to see the manager/chief cook at the Guy Land Cafeteria wearing one of those little 2-3 inch wide plastic shields that rides on your chin that don’t look like they’d contain germs, and germaphobic that I am I asked him if he thinks that style mask does as good of a job as those all the other employees were all wearing. He said the health department approves them and I have no reason to think he’s fibbing about that. I've been going in that place for nearly two decades and I know the guy well enough to have that conversation but at the Breakfast Only Café across the street, where I also stopped this week, I wasn’t as civil. Three of their five employees were wearing their masks with their noses hanging out and when I paid my bill, I said to the cashier, “When you have three people walking about with their noses hanging out of their masks it doesn’t inspire people to come back until after the pandemic has past. You might want to pass that on to our boss.” (Usually I just think these thoughts and never speak up.) She glared at one of the waitress’s near-by who had her nose hanging out, and replied, “I will.” I could tell it bugged her as much as it made me mad. I was mad because I’ve missed going to this place and I wanted to feel safe there. 

However, I'm not sure for how long any of us in my state are going to feel safe going forward. When I got home I heard on the news that the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that our governor "lacks the authority to extend or declare states of emergency in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic." Every thing Governor Whitmer put into place to prevent the spread of the virus---mask requirements in public places, social distancing, limiting capacity in certain businesses, etc., etc. Out the window. Now Democrats are scrambling to stop the reversals of her mandates by rewriting them as health department mandates and you know those will get challenged with new cases working their way up to the state Supreme Court. Some people are determined to live in a super spreader environment. Time to donate to her legal defense fund. They are burying the governor in lawsuits. What a mess!

And in late breaking news: the FBI just arrested thirteen militia members for plotting to kidnap Governor Whitmer then put her on 'trial' for treason followed by executing her. They pooled their money, bought explosives, a high powered laser and even did a couple of practice runs while other militia members planned a takeover of our state capital in an armed insurrection. She's a gutsy woman, though. After the plot was publicly announced she called Trump out for encouraging the militia groups involved when he tweeted "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" He gets daily briefings on all threats foreign and domestic. He had to have known about the plot when he sent that tweet out a couple of times, which makes me wonder how anyone can doubt he dog whistles to the darker side of humanity. Why he does it is the only question in my mind. What a hot mess America is in right now! ©