Two recent stories

If you haven’t lived in Texas, you might not be familiar with H-E-B grocery stores. (Chris worked at H-E-B while in High School and up until his mission.) They apparently were prepared for COVID-19: Inside the Story of How H-E-B Planned for the Pandemic. The last time I went to H-E-B (last week; the pharmacy I use for my prescriptions is there) they had hand sanitizer dispensers at the single entrance they had open.

Also, R.I.P. Sen. Tom Coburn.

Tom Coburn, the 72-year-old physician and former Oklahoma senator who passed away Saturday, battled the prostate cancer that felled him the same way he battled big spenders and spineless politicians in Washington: with cheerful, unrelenting persistence.

If you’re ever seriously ill, Coburn’s life is itself an inspiration. He contracted melanoma when he was 28 and working as manager of his family’s optical-lens factory. He was given only a 20 percent chance of living. He beat the melanoma, and his struggle convinced him to enter medical school and become a doctor. Years later, he contracted colon cancer and conquered that, too. In 2008, he had brain surgery to remove a benign brain tumor.

Then in 2013, he was told he had a rare form of prostate cancer, one that only 1 in 100,000 prostate-cancer patients suffer from. While the disease convinced him to retire from the Senate in early 2015, he remained optimistic. He fought the disease the way a general plans a battle and told The Oklahoman that if his treatment was effective he would live for another “five or 10 years.” He ended up lasting almost seven.

In between his illnesses, Tom Coburn built a successful medical practice that made him the largest employer in his hometown of Muskogee, Okla. He delivered more than 4,000 babies during his career. And at age 46, he ran for Congress in a solidly Democratic district that hadn’t elected a Republican in 73 years. He continued to deliver babies while in the House, giving up only after the Senate Ethics Committee ruled that such outside work was banned.

 

More spring flowers

I can relate

America’s new paper of record, the Babylon Bee: Man Begs Internet To Stop Making Him Defend Trump

If this keeps up, Pavone says he may just resign himself to becoming a Trump supporter. “He’s the worst option except for everyone else.”

Spring

I believe Spring has arrived in Central Texas.

Addendum

I forgot to tell this story in yesterday’s post. Last Friday I got on the bus to go to work, and half way there I started checking my email. There were a couple of messages from the night before saying the University would still be open that day. However, the last message, which had been sent after the bus left, said to disregard the earlier messages and that the University was closed. So as soon as I got to work I turned around and went back home.

We were told we were still expected to work, but today the word is that Friday is to be entered on our time sheets as a full day of emergency leave due to University closure, and any time we worked will be counted as comp time.

At home

It looks like I will have to come up with reasons to leave the house for the foreseeable future. Work from home, church at home, etc., etc.

I suspect COVID-19 isn’t going to be as bad as everyone fears, but better safe than sorry.

I just hope I have enough books to get through this.