Sunday, October 29, 2017

Pandemic Legacy part 13

After treating all the strains in November and getting many areas vaccinated, a note was delivered to UNIT HQ. El Guapo was thanking us for making his plans to infect the world possible. He explained that our former quarantine expert, Ahmed Klinger, was stockpiling multiple variations of the CodA disease which will be used to change the world.

We were fortunate to find out that the stockpile was hidden in Atlanta but due to multiple outbreaks, finding it will be difficult as the research center was destroyed.. Since CodA has become the threat, that took priority over curing the other new strains of disease which meant that Medic Hunnicutt, researcher Pierce, and Scientist Houlihan were no longer needed. Immunologist Kathy McIntyre, generalist Charles Emerson Winchester V, and Cpl Edward O'Reilly were tasked to take care of this situation.

Before the team could get to Tokyo, there was an outbreak infecting many cities in the pacific rim. Fortunately the factories were producing vaccine provided many doses but there were significantly more cities than planned and with multiple outbreaks of the other three diseases, there was no time to search Atlanta. Even though the anti-vax strains was cured, UNIT had to step in and shut things down.

After things settled, the team was able to vaccinate all the cities even though an outbreak in Montreal scarred the generalist. The team eventually made it to Atlanta and located the secret bunker. However, all that was found was a note declaring victory and wishing us a Happy New Year in a whole new world.

Epilogue:

As El Guapo predicted, the new strains of CodA put the world into mass chaos in spite of the best efforts of UNIT. The war that followed left humanity devastated. Once it ended, there were just pockets of civilization that after a couple of generations were supplied by havens based in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. As the years passed, the communication among the areas not on those areas were lost and eventually supplies were becoming short as a new threat to humanity arose.

Eventually, new heroes were needed to be called upon to try to save what civilization that was remaining and to connect the world again.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Not so happy Friday

I hate work day Fridays. My body is tired and sore from working the previous days of the week. I've explained many times that my happy Fridays are the ones I am not working and that if I was not working, then no Fridays would be happy since there are not ones at work for comparison to make the ones that I am off happy. (Please note that there is not an apostrophe used.)

The following are a bunch of things others have said to me in response to my pain to help along with how I would want to reply:


Q: Take some "over the counter" medicine (from the cabinet).


A: I can't believe I have NEVER thought of that idea in the decades I have been in pain. Actually, I have tried that and the biggest reaction I get is within my digestive system.


Q: Why don't you take the pain medication that you have prescribed for you?


A: I drive fork lifts weighing up to and over 10,000 lb moving skids up to 23 feet in the air. I can't take that medication and safely operate the truck and taking it the night before has caused me to sleep through my alarm in the morning.


Q: Just drink a 40 and do a blunt.


A: I drive a 5 ton fork truck around you and you want me to do that stoned?


Q: I take this (insert supplement) and it works.


A: My father who suffered from the same thing I do became a test subject for all sorts of medications and supplements through the VA and I have taken him to the emergency room multiple times due to the reactions to what he took. I was in the ER last December since the medicine I take for my inflammatory arthritis (which was originally designed for chemotherapy) is an immune suppressant and leaves me vulnerable to illness.

My wife also ended up having major surgery based on a supplement she was taking with her regular medication so I am not going to risk anything like that for me.


Q: What about a massage?
A: I have tried them too and found that though they feel good at the time, I am worse once I get up as the problem is joint related and not muscular.


Q: Why don't you get your wife...
A: No.


Q: But she's your wife...
A: NO!


Q: Smile. You'll feel better.
A: No. Me smiling would make YOU feel better since you want me to appear to be happy. Since you are not my daughter nor someone who is directly responsible for me earning money, I am not going to do that. Deal with it.

Q: *Puts hand on my shoulder or back to comfort*
A: WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING ME?!

Q: You should be happy because of the blessed day God has given you. I'll pray for you.
A: FUCK YOU and your non plausible concept.

Monday, October 9, 2017

taking a knee

The National Anthem was something I was taught to respect as a child. Whenever it was played before an event, I would always stand in courtesy of the performance or playing often noticing all those who were not acknowledging it. Occasionally, someone would perform it their own way and in Chicago, fans in the Chicago Stadium started to make noise during it. Even though I felt uncomfortable the occasions I saw it there, I was still ok with it even tough I refused to make noise as the other thousands there do.

In January, 1991, my perspective started to change. The country sent troops to Iraq marking the first time since I was a small child that the US was directly involved in a war. Though it did not last long, it left an impression which today still bothers me.

Before the National Football League Championship Game, the anthem was played and the singing was the worst I ever heard. It sounded like a person strung out on cocaine with a vibrator shoved between her legs. The following days, I encountered the horror of people actually not just liking the performance but making the person who sang it a star from that. I had to constantly hear it on the radio at work over the next couple months even purposely coming in late so I would not have to hear it played at 9AM. Over the years, I would still hear it played before events and even had to put my fingers in my ears one time as it was played too loud for my comfort.

As life continued, I took pleasure in hearing bad things happening to her. When a Fark Headline in October 2005 read: "White Sox beat Houston 4 times in 5 days to win title. Bobby Brown says he did better." I was ecstatic. In February, 2012, a statement I made over 2 decades earlier while I was still a virgin came true as the day she was found dead in a hotel bathtub I attended a wild Barfleet party at Capricon that evening.

What I eventually realized was that the performance in 1991 sparked a desire by anyone performing the anthem at any televised event to try to duplicate the success by making it theirs. There are people today most notably in the United Center in Chicago who have taken a song that is designed to be treated with respect into something they are noted to sing even using it as a way to rile up a crowd.

Thanks to the second invasion of Iraq which has continued far long after those responsible for 9/11 have been caught, imprisoned, and executed, the military has pumped millions of dollars to create patriotism at sporting events in order to generate more soldiers to continue a war for which I have no idea why is still happening. To me an event that used to be of respect has turned into a corporate joke.

When I attend an event like a football game at my daughter's high school, I pause, remove a hat that I am wearing, and stand at attention. At events where there is money involved in the performance of it, I reluctantly out of courtesy stand for it. If I am watching a televised event where it is played, I pause the tv and fast forward through it.

Due to the corporate nature the anthem had become, how can I be bothered by those who use it for their own protest since many have used it for their own personal or corporate gain for over two dozen decades. I personally don't want them to do that since I want to watch and later hear others talk about a sporting event and not a demonstration before it is even played.

Another byproduct of the protest is the reaction by the fans who have bought into the overdone military presentations. There is a call for a full boycott of the NFL on the second weekend of November because of the player protests. I am interested in watching football. Unless I am playing disc golf, I will be in front of my tv on the 10th and the 12th watching the games and definitely on the 13th watching Miami at Carolina.

Due to the reaction by fans, another group of people are angry at the league since the first player who protested, Colin Kaepernick, was not signed by any team. Though he is not the player who took advantage of becoming a starter late in the season and having 1 1/4 great years, he is better than some players currently on rosters. However, the backlash of signing him is currently too great for any team willing to do so since unlike some players who have committed crimes and were signed, he is no longer an elite player.

I have seen a statement by Michael Moore talking about Kaep is still a viable player. To me that is the equivalent of Jenny McCarthy talking about vaccines. NFL defenses know how to stop the read option which he is good at. The year he was benched (before his protest) as well as the year after, he did not complete 60% of his passes which in today's NFL is bad.

All I want to do is watch football. I really didn't want to spend 45 minutes after work sitting on a computer getting these thoughts out of my head but I had to do it.