Skip to content

Rethinking My Online Meetings Stance

I’m not much of a team guy. Well, that’s not true. I enjoy teams that are brought together by common interests. I’m not as fond of teams forced on me by organization charts.

I have a fairly large virtual team. I have five locations across the country. Each site has a leadership team that I have to work with. Each site also has an onsite engineering team. Each site also has an Operations team. I have to work with all three groups. I also have people at the client that are part of my virtual team. I also have people in our central IT team, a security analyst, network engineers, System engineers, Service Desk managers. Over all, there’s probably 80 people that I work with on a daily and weekly basis. These are my people. This is my tribe. Here is my team.

But, it’s a virtual team.

I also have a formal team. Other people who have the same job responsibility that I do. They are responsible for other clients. I don’t have a lot in common with them. Sure, they do the same tasks that I do. But, it’s like saying you share experience with your neighbor since you have a car and he has a car. We have a manager. We have a Director. But, while I know the members of my team, and I’ve actually met several of them, I don’t have much of a connection with them.

So, it was frustrating to sit through team meetings. I typically schedule 30 minute meetings and try to end early. Our team meetings are scheduled for an hour. The first 15 to 20 minutes are unstructured. And by unstructured, I mean they don’t discuss work at all. Football, movie trivia, TV show plots.

And it was frustrating. It was a waste. But, could I say anything? Of course not. To criticize would tag me as the dreaded, “Not a team player.” I’m a team player, but I just want to pick the team.

Fortunately, our meetings aren’t done using video. And my mute button works well. We do eventually get to team related issues. And the meeting generally ends slightly early. But, it’s still frustrating.

Or, at least it was. I’m begining to have a change of heart. We’ve all been working from home since the onset of COVID. It’s been about six months. And as much as I enjoy teams and team building, I completely failed to understand virtual teams. Not virtual like my relationships with the various sites I help manage. But, virtual as in “everyone works from home.”

It’s impossible to gather together. We can’t all head to the bar after work, or get together for a picnic, or go bowling or Top Golf. Why do we do those activities? To build team cohesiveness. The idea is if you care about your coworkers interests, or hobbies.

How do you do that in a virtual setting? You do it by giving the team a chance to chat. Maybe it’s awkward. Maybe you have to schedule time for them to be spontaneous. Maybe you have to schedule a 60 minute meeting when you only have 20 minutes worth of content and let your team members talk about football, or movie trivia or TV plots.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

Your Vote Doesn’t Matter. . .Vote Anyway, It’s Important

The right of citizens of the United State to vote in any primary or other election for Presidetn or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
– Twenty-Fourth Amendment, US Constitution

Did you know there is not a “you get to vote” section of the US Constitution. It’s such an integral right and yet, it’s defined in various locations in that document.

  • 15th Amendment: African Americans granted right to vote
  • 19th Amendment: Women granted the right to vote
  • 23rd Amendment: Voting rights granted to Washington DC residents and US territories
  • 24th Amendment: No poll taxes
  • 26th Amendment: 18 years and older can vote
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

In addition several important court cases established our voting rights.

  • Baker v. Carr (1962)
  • Wesberry v Sanders (1964)

With all that history, voting must be pretty important, right?

I got my ballot in the mail today. Utah has had vote-by-mail in some form or other since 2014. This year, every county has vote by mail. I’m not an expert, but so far, I haven’t heard any issues of widespread voter fraud. Okay, actually, I haven’t heard of any voter fraud. Seems like the biggest issue we have is missionary moms filling out the ballots for their missionaries serving outside of Utah. (BTW, that’s illegal. Don’t do it.)

But, do vote. It’s important. Even though your vote doesn’t really matter. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not some naysayer suggesting elections are worthless, or worse, rigged. One of the amazing things about the American election system is how safe, secure and fair our elections are.

First let’s talk about “the big one.” We had elections every year, but we put a lot more attention on the presidential elections. And while there are a slew of candidates for president on the ballot, the race is really between the incumbant and the democratic challenger.

Utah, of course, is pretty conservative and hasn’t voted for the Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 when Lyndon Johnson was runnign for reelection.

But, Utah isn’t a complete bastion of Republicans. Salt Lake City regularly votes Democratic and Representative McAdams, of the Utah 4th District is a Democrat.

But, when it comes to president, Utah votes red. Does it matter? No. And Yes.

Utah has six electoral votes. Whichever candidate gets the most votes gets all six of our votes. A candidate needs 270 of the 538 available electoral votes to win the election. Our six might not seem like a lot, but six has, in the past been enough to make a difference.

In 2000 the winning candidate got 271 and the loser got 266. Utah voted for the winner. Had they switched, it would have been enough to swing the election to the opposite candidate.

So, our votes do matter, right? Well, if you voted for the demcoratic candidate your vote for president didn’t really count, right? Actually, the Republicans who voted, didn’t really get to vote for president. Unless you were one of the six electors.

Yeah, they are real people. Our votes decide who those six people will vote for. And whether a candidate wins the Utah popular vote by a single vote or by a million votes, they get the six electors.

So, our votes apparently don’t matter, right? Of course they do. A beautiful beach is made up of a million grains of sand. Does a single grain make a difference? I think so.

But, also remember that there is a lot more on the ballot than who will be president. There are state House elections. There is a governors race. There are Utah state constitutional amendments. There are judges. State Auditor. State Attorney General.

Those local races are often decided by a few hundred votes. And, there’s the fact that if you don’t vote, you forfeit the right to complain later. You don’t actually lose that right, of course. But, if you aren’t part of the solution, you are probably part of the problem.

So, go vote. Whether it’s by mail or in person, it’s important. Even if it doesn’t matter.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

Gonna Be Startin’ Something

He said he wants to be an aauto mechanic. . .like his father

My lovely wife was repeating to me something one of my sons had said.

Was I a mechanic? Maybe. But, it was something betweeen a side hustle and a hobby. You get paid for a side hustle. . .I didn’t do it for the money. In fact, I refused to accept payment.

But, a hobby. . .a hobby is something you do for fun, for amusement. Something you do to take up time you might otherwise spend doing something useful. . .useful like fixing your kids’ cars.

Another one of my sons recently “gave” our family his car. He’s leaving soon to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He won’t be able to take the car with him.

He is not a gearhead. When he gave us the car back, it was barely running. And it became undrivable shortly afterthat.

It’s what us side-hobbiest do, right? The car needed a new power steering pump. And then, it needed a new serpentine belt. All together about $200 worth of parts and fluids. That fixed most of the problems. And what’s funny is that my son had paid a “professional” mechanic shop to “fix” some of his issues. $1100 later and they still weren’t working.

I’m not saying my repairs were better than theirs. I mean, given the state of the car, there were definitely multiple issues. Maybe they fixed some that I didn’t have to.

But, my son was mildly impressed that tinkering around in our driveway I fixed what the “pros” couldn’t, and at about 20% of the cost.

Funny, he doesn’t let my lovely wife cut his hair for the same reasons and gets the same results. She can do it better and cheaper, but he prefers to pay a “professional.”

Anyway, the new power steering pump got rid of the shimming. The new serpentine belt got rid of the squeeking. The only problem left was a slight noise when turning right. (I’ve worked on problems with less descriptive symptoms. But, not often.)

I asked my fellow-backyard mechanics. I got several suggestions. Wheel bearings. Short axle. CV boots. But, nothing definitive.

And then I did an internet search

2005 GRAND PRIX NOISE WHEN TURNING RIGHT

It’s worth a shot, right? There were lots of hits. They suggested the usual suspects: wheel bearings, short axle, CV boot and the starter.

But, of course, it couldn’t be the starter. Because the starter is what starts your car. (Sometimes, the names are obvious like that.) And there are indications of a bad starter. The most obvious is that “the car won’t start.” Followed closely by “the car has problems starting.” But, no where in the mechanic’s handbook does it say, “noise while turning left” when you look up starter problems. (There’ not actually a book, of course. But, there’s the internet.)

If you go get your starter replaced it will be cost about $300-$400 dollars at a professional mechanic shop. For me to do it, would cost about $150 in parts, and of course, my time.

Was it worth a $150 gamble that the starter was actually the cause of my “slight noise when turning right” problem? (You know what I chose, of course.)

That was today. The weather is gorgeous. It’s the perfect Fall day, slight breeze, temperatures a mild 70 degrees.

Here is the old and new starter side by side.

Funny, with this repair I didn’t even watch a Youtube video on how to do the repair. I found the starter, removed the motor mount that was in the way, removed the plastic mud shields, disconnected the leads (by feel since they were above the body of the starter.) And then I unscrewed the two 15mm bolts holding the starter to the engine.

Putting it back on was the same thing in reverse. It all seemed to go back together and fortunately there were no left over bolts. It all went back together, but would it start? And if it started, would it make a slight noise when turning right?

And what would you know? It worked. I took the car out for a test drive. In fact, I used the car to take back the old starter to recover the $20 core charge.

And that’s why I don’t consider myself a “real” mechanic. Would I have diagnosed a slight noise when turning right as a problem with the starter? Of course not. That would be crazy to even attempt to make that connection.

But. . .but, I did end up diagnosing the starter as the cause of a slight noise when turning right. Crazy or not, I guess, I was a better mechanic than I gave myself credit for. Maybe as good a mechnic as my son thinks I am.

I had no idea my son felt that way. I guess our kids really are always watching. My son has been out of our house for the past few months. He hasn’t been around to see me working on cars recently.

He’s 17 and trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. There are worse things than being a gearhead.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

The Exciting News I’m Scared To Tell You

Spoiler alert: I’m not going to tell you the exciting news. I’ll tell you about the news, but not the news itself.

I’m a paranoid security expert. I think you should be too. But, I probably won’t be able to convince you. I can’t even convince my own family to be as paranoid as I am.

I’m a certified computer expert. I have an entire alphabet soup of of certifications and citations. No one is impressed with a computer expert. You’re like the microwave oven. A complex piece of equipment that they want to use as little as possible.

Microwaves get no respect. Not like an regular oven. I think it’s because you can’t make bread in a microwave oven.

Anyway, as a computer expert, I know about computers, electronics, the cloud, Artificial Intelligence system, RFID tags, spoofing, hacking, phishing, spear phishing, whale phishing, viruses, malware, spyware, adware, software and vaporware.

And with that great knowledge comes great. . .fear. Ever talk to someone who worked at a fast food restaurant for more than six months? Do they actually eat at the restaurant? No? Why not? They know too much about how the food is made.

That’s IT guys.

I don’t have a smart doorbell. I don’t have a smart toaster. I don’t haev a smart car, or themermostat, or much of anything. I have a phone. (Can’t exist without one.) And I have a home network with two routers, and multiple firewalls that provide protection in depth.

Is my network unhackable?

No, it’s not. No network is.

And that’s why I’m paranoid. I don’t do Interent “surveys.” Sure what was your favorite dog? Where did you go to school? What year did you graduate? When were you born?

No thanks.

That’s why I can’t tell you my exciting news. My daughter had a baby yesterday. She’s gorgeous, both mother and baby. I have eight daughters. I’m not going to tell you which one had the baby.

And the baby’s name is beautiful. It means “to bloom” in Greek or “dew from God” in Hebrew. And the middle name is a family name. And I would love to show you a picture. I have multiple pictures of her, and my daughter and son-in-law.

So, here I am, a guy who loves my family and is super proud of them. But, the paranoid security analyst in me won’t share any of the details with you.

Because in addition to being paranoid, I believe everyone gets to tell their own story. Even if that story is only one day old.

Welcome to the world, (NAME REDACTED)

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

Quarantine Week Two. . .We SURVIVED!!

Well, most of us survived. One of my kids didn’t make it to the end of the quarantine. We all tested negative. That child is fine. In fact, we are all fine.

Two weeks and a day ago we were camping up Provo canyon with my lovely wife, several of my children, my son-in-law, and three grandkids. Fall has come to Utah. the nights are getting colder. The leaves are starting to turn And we decided to take one more family camping trip before the cold weather set in.

It was an enjoyable, laid back, kind of trip. On Sunday, my college attending daughter headed back early. She called us later that night to tell us her roommate had tested positive.

Then, she tested positive and we backdated our quarantine to Sunday. During the first week, my lovely wife wasn’t feeling well. She went to get tested with my son. The rest of us waited to be tested until Sunday. Apparently that’s the best time to test; seven days after your possible exposure.

We entered the second week waiting for our test results. My lovely wife got her results back first. She and my son were negative. The rest of us waited for our results. In the meantime we tried to not trip over each other.

Kids did online school. . .sort of. My college aged daughter was doing her won quarantine at her apartment. I have another college student at home. He kept studying and I logged in from home, just like normal.

We got our results on Tuesday. Everyone tested negative. It was a relief. My daughter was pretty sick. She ended up in the ER twice. Fortunately she’s doing better now and on the road to recovery.

At home when we got our test results, one of the kids decided they were going off the reservation.

I’m done with Quarantine.

And he was. He headed off to visit friends. I can’t say I blamed him. But, it was frustrating knowing that him visit friends was more important to him than finishing out the 14 days.

We all missed things. We missed another daughter’s wedding because we were in quarantine. We nearly missed a son-in-law’s baptism. Fortunately, it was right at the end of of the quarantine. We have three daughters who are expecting babies in the coming weeks. One in fact, is being born today. We worried we would miss it.

So, here we are on the backside of our lockdown. Everyone is healthy and happy. We got to know each other a little better. And we gained a greater appreciation for the millions of families who are suffering through the pandemic.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

What Keeps You From Hitting The Bottom?

Life is hard. . .and then you die.

We’ve all had stuff that hit us. That knocked us down. That made us want to give up. I know I have. I’m hopefully that your life was easier.I wouldn’t wish my trials on my worst enemy.

I’ve been through therapy for much of it. I use writing as a release. But, I also look for inspiration. There are times where I need a pick me up. Sometimes, it’s a song. Sometimes, it’s a talk with a friend. Sometimes, often times, it’s a saying.

When it’s at its worst and I feel worn down from day after day of worry, or bad news, or anxiety, I remember a line from “Sleepless in Seattle,”

You get up everyday and remember to breathe in and out.

Sometime success is measured in your ability to keep going. To get up when you are knocked down.

What works for me, may not, probably won’t, work for you. Each of us have to find our own way to find our inspiration. We each have to find our own motivation to keep going. And ultimately to excel.

I said this was my laughing place. You have to find your own laughing place.
– Brer Rabbit

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

Baseball And Politics And A Little Basketball

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the changing colors, the holidays, and sports. It’s a great time of year for sports. Fall sports: Football season is getting underway. Baseball season is headed into the playoffs. And this year, basketball is also holding their championship playoffs. (What do you mean by “hockey?” I’m not sure I’ve heard of it.)

And then there is politics. I love watching politics like some people love watching WWE professional wrestling. I know most of it isn’t real. And most of the speeches are for the cameras.

But, still I’m a fan.

Except not this year. My woeful Mariners performed exactly as expected. They were terrible. I knew they would be and they didn’t disappoint. Which is to say they did disappoint but in a non-disappointing way. The league championship series are currently on.

I find I don’t care. It’s the Yankees, Marlins, A’s, Astros, Braves, Dodgers and a couple of other teams. One of them will be the World Series champion of this weird pandemic shortened series.

But, my disinterest in baseball is dwarfed by my feelings about the presidential race. We have the Olympics every four years. . .well, of course, not this year, but generally we have the Olympics every four years. We also have the World Baseball Classic every four years. And I guess Soccer has a big four year tournament of some kind as well.

The point is that I look forward to the presidential election like folks follow the World Cup. It’s politics, but it’s also entertainment. The position papers, the speeches, the debates, it’s all calculated. And just like Super Bowl Sunday we have the first Tuesday in November. After which we have a winner.

I’m not really interested in baseball playoffs partly because none of the teams I like are in the playoffs. I mean, I really don’t want the Yankees to win, but other than that I don’t really care.

I find my interest in politics this year waning for the same reason. I really don’t want Biden to win, but actually, I’m not thrilled about Trump either. Sure, eventually the season will be over and there will be a winner. But unlike Super Bowl Sunday, it appears we won’t have our results the first Tuesday in November. It won’t even be worth it to stay up late and wait for the West Coast returns to come in. The results won’t be available for days or weeks, as we wait through a protracted count of paper ballots.

Ironic that during this period where I have lots of extra time on my hands, I’m not interested in spending that time watching my normal Fall entertainment.

Oh, and basketball? I normally enjoy basketball. This year? Not so much.

I found I don’t like mixing politics with my sports viewing.

Bring on Thanksgiving.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

FAN MAIL!

Don’t let anyone fool you. Writers LOVE fan mail. Doesn’t matter if you’re a blogger, or an novelist, or you write Hallmark greeting cards. If you put words on paper, it’s great to hear from those who read them.

One of the biggest reasons is because, especially in an online situation, it’s nice to know there are real people on the end of the WIFI link.

To this day I still remember the first time someone came and asked me to autograph a book.

Would you mind signing a copy of your book?

I tried to act cook about it, but I probably looked at giddy as I felt!

I like to write. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’ve written books, magazine articles, training manuals, and the scribbles on this site for the past seven years or so. I took pride in not missing a day. I was inspired by my friend Howard Tayler. He created his online comic Schlock Mercenary on June 12, 2000. He never missed a day during the entire twenty year run of the comic.

So, it was surprising to me when I missed not just a day, not just a week, but several weeks.

My sister died, unexpectedly in September. I lost my interest in writing. I lost interest in a lot of things. I was very close to my sister.

I kept thinking I was goign to start writing. . .tomorrow. Well, tomorrow never actually arrives. All we have is today. Obviously I’ve started writing again. The difference? Fan mail.

I don’t get a lot of fan mail for this site. I get some comments on articles that strike a chord. And if I paste the link on Facebook, I get a lot of responses.

But, true fan mail? Not so much.

That’s what made William Henderson’s email such a nice surpise.

From: William Henderson ([email protected])
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2020 7:44 AM
To: [email protected] ([email protected])
Subject: Best wishes

Hi Rodney,

I’m missing your blog posts!

But that’s a rather selfish view, and not the reason I’m writing. If you’ve just had enough of the blogging and hung up your keyboard, then fair enough – I thank you for the enjoyment and insight I’ve had from reading your posts these last few years. But given the lack of explanation in your blog or on your website – and the nature of your second-last post – I wonder whether at least part of the reason you’ve stopped is that life has thrown you another curve ball. If that’s the case, then I want to send my best wishes for you and your family. Be safe. Be healthy. Be happy. At least, as much as is possible under the circumstances.

Cheers,
William

William didn’t have to reach out. He had no way of knowing what I’d been going through. But, his email was the perfect inspiration at the perfect time.

I have responded to William privately and explained how much his email meant to me. And, of course, got his permission to share his words.

Thank you again, William, and thanks to all of you who spend a few minutes of your day reading the scribbles I put down. Hopefully it’s entertaining. But, whatever enjoyment you get, realize that I’m getting even more.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

Ingratitude And Poor Relief Pitching

The seven deadly sins are

  • Lust
  • Gluttony
  • Greed
  • Sloth
  • Wrath
  • Envy
  • Pride

I saw an old cartoon once that also induced included a manager talking to his baseball team who included

  • No relief pitching

The team reminded him that was eight sins.

“Scratch PRIDE”

If I were to add an additional sin, it wouldn’t be “no relief pitching.” Although my woeful Mariners have suffered that sin often enough. No, my choice would be ingratitude.

The seven sins, in my opinion, are personal. You might envy someone else. You might express wrath at someone else. But, your envy, your wrath, your lust? They don’t affect the object of your sins. In fact, you might not even know if you were the object of someone’s sins.

But ingratitude, like bad relief pitching, is obvious to those around you. And you can’t be ungrateful unless you first have something to be grateful for. Gratitude costs nothing. It only requires awareness, an understanding that someone or something helped you when they or it didn’t have to.

Ingratitude also takes something positive and turns it negative. Apathy, is much preferred to ingratitude. Apathy just means you don’t notice, or you don’t care. But, to choose ingratitude is to acknowledge the benefit and choose to set it at naught.

So, don’t practice any of the seven deadly sins. But, also remember to avoid ingratitude.

Oh, and hopefully next season the Mariners will repent of the sin of no relief pitching as well.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved

Quarantine – Week 1

You wouldn’t think that quarantine would be that different from your typical work from home schedule. Maybe it was a trick of the schedule. Maybe it was coincidence. But, our week was unlike previous weeks.

First, of course, was my daughter’s Jesica’s wedding. She married Julian Sanchez last Friday at 5:00pm in Payson, Utah. Payson is about 20 minutes from Pleasant Grove. We didn’t go.

Of course we had a few pictures.

And it was a small wedding anyway. But, we won’t be in those pictures. I love my kids. And I love my sons-in-law. And especially the new one. But, Quarantine took some of our memories.

My lovely wife got tested early. She was feeling poorly and went to get tested after only a few days. Her and my son who drove her. On the way back, she passed out. We had to help her into the house. She retreated to her room, quarantined inside our quarantine. Seventy-two hours for results.

Fortunately both she and my son tested negative. But, of course, she was still sick.

The rest of the kids are doing okay. They are trying to not fall over one another. It’s a big house, nearly 4,000 square feet. And the weather has been beautiful. Just the way you expect in the Fall. We’ve been limited to our own property.

I spent part of my free time last week working on my son’s car. I replaced the power steering pump. During a test drive (still quarantined if we never get out of the car!) we realized it needed a new serpentine belt. I ordered one from the O’Reilley’s web site. They had it at the store. My friend offered to pick it up and leave it on the hood of the car it was intended for.

Touch-less.

Sunday marked the 7th day. . .since we had been exposed. The virus is most contagious at 7 days. So, the kids and I loaded up the car and headed for American Fork Hospital and their testing center.

There were over 18 cars in line. The kids managed to spit into a test tube enough. Me? Nope. Couldn’t even spit correctly. I got the brain scrape. Now we wait. We should know the results in 72 hours. Wednesday or so.

And that was it for the week, or so we thought.

Sunday morning I got a call just before 3:00AM from my daughter at college. She is COVID positive. And she was miserable. In severed discomfort.

Do you have any Benadryl?

No.

How about hydrocortisone cream?

No, I don’t have that either.

What about oatmeal?

Why?

Well, you can dump some into a bath and it helps relieve itching.

No, I don’t have any oatmeal either. What am I going to do?

Don’t worry. I’ll bring you some.

And that’s how I ended up driving through deserted streets of Provo at three o’clock in the morning.

I felt like a drug dealer. I left a grocery bag full of drugs hanging on fire hydrant in front of her apartment complex.

And that’s how we spent our first week of quarantine. One down. One more to go.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com

(c) 2020 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved