Sunday update

Oh, man. Yesterday opened my eyes to something.

The Safer at Home order, or the house arrest as I called it, lasted over 40 days. During that time, basically the only face-to-face human interaction I had was with cashiers. It was not fun, especially the first two weeks, but I got through it.

But… what about the people who life revolves around who’s having the pool party this weekend… when is the next trip to Vegas… which club we’re all going to on Saturday and what outfit I’m wearing and how it’s $20 to get in the VIP area but so-and-so knows the DJ so he’s going to get us on the list… and how such-and-such person and I have a BFFs appointment Friday afternoon to sip champagne and get our nails done… and when are we going back to the beach… and how we all want to try that new sushi place in Germantown… et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

THOSE people had to spend 40-plus days with nothing to do.

I can’t imagine what they did to fill the time. Flipping through the pages of a celebrity gossip magazine is as close as that crowd comes to reading a book. As for watching movies, what’s the point if you can’t tell people who you went to go see the movie with, and what you wore to the theater, and who you met up with after the movie, and where you went after the movie, and what you had to drink?

All right. I’m tired of thinking about it. Let’s get on to the news.

For those of you who are still bored at home and looking for things to do, you can now tour the entire Salvador Dali museum online.

Service industry jobs are hard to come by during a pandemic, but Westy’s announced recently that they are looking to add staff to their team.

The drag racers  treat Downtown as their own personal NASCAR track on Sunday afternoons from about 5 to 7. Perhaps we should all get a to-go drink from one of the nearby restaurants (maintaining proper social distancing while placing our order, of course) and then walk over to Front Street to watch.

Some restaurants are implementing a COVID-19 surcharge to pay for additional costs related to the pandemic. Right now, restaurants have to place every order in a to-go box, and they have to provide plasticware with every order. If you order a drink, they have to pour it in a disposable cup or pouch. All those things are not free for the restaurant to provide. A surcharge of a buck or two is entirely reasonable.

More employees working from home are being asked to install spyware on their laptops and phones. This software can track your keystrokes to prove you’re really in front of the computer. It can record what websites you visit during work hours. It can turn on your webcam and send alerts if you’re away from your computer too long. A phone app can track your location to prove you are really at home. It is perfectly legal for them to do all this, by the way.

What I’m reading this morning: The Confessions of Marcus Hutchins, the hacker who saved the Internet. This is a story of a hacker with a criminal past who turned good (to use the lingo, he put on the white hat) to save the public from the WannaCry attack. WannaCry cost the public millions of dollars, and even threatened lives since some computers infected were in hospitals.

Did you know that Lansky Bros., Clothier to the King, has a YouTube channel? Of course they promote the goods in their store on there, but recently they have added videos of local musicians who would appreciate your watching their performances and tipping them while the pandemic has put them out of work.

Sunrise Memphis with a little brunch action:

That’s it for this post. Back later today or tomorrow with more.