8:57am on Day 11

Eleven days since the Covid-19 symptoms first reared their ugly head. 10 days since the first positive test.

I am really tired of this garbage, I’ll tell you that for nothing*. Symptoms are about the same right now as they were yesterday. I had a solid eight hours of sleep, which was a nice treat. I went to bed a little before 10:00pm last night. I just couldn’t stick it out any longer.

There is a part of me that wants to test again today. I know it will be a waste of time. The test I took two days ago was pretty emphatically positive. Maybe it might be a little weaker positive today, but it will still be positive. There is too much of a stuffy nose and too much of a lingering cough and too much fatigue for me to doubt it. I really want to see a negative test though. Really.

Okay, time to punch in to work. It’s going to be much calmer today. Well… the schedule is calmer than yesterday, I don’t know what the actual reality will be. Here’s hoping our customer base takes it easy on us today. Fingers crossed.

*That’s a Highlander quote. Might that be a sign that I am feeling a smidge better? I really hope so.

What is up with wordpress.com’s editor crapping out while autosaving? This is my second post today and it’s the second time I had to scrap it and start over because the Publish button was greyed out because the editor was frozen in an Autosave. Fix the bug, please.

Irish Heritage aka Stereotype

Daily writing prompt
What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?

I am going to answer this one honestly even though I don’t really have an answer and what I am going to say is just an embarassing embrace of a really dumb stereotype. I apologize to everyone I am about to insult and offend in advance. I truly am sorry for not knowing more about your history and culture and reducing your marvelous heritage down to something silly and stupid. I am so sorry. So very sorry.

My father’s mother’s family came to the United States from Ireland. I think I used to know where in Ireland but I don’t recall at the moment. Was it Clare? It might have been Cork or it might have been Kildare. I don’t recall.

My father’s father’s family came to the United States from Canada, Nova Scotia specifically, but prior to that they were in England. They don’t count for this discussion. Partly because I am not really interested in the English piece of my ancestry, but also because he pissed off in 1950 and my father never saw him again so the hell with that dude. Also, there is some portion of that family that may have come from France. I say that because my name, which is very English, appears to have originated in French. That’s too far back for me to have any real information though, so the French piece doesn’t really enter into the equation at all.

Both of my mother’s parents came from Newfoundland. At the time, Newfie was not technically part of Canada. It was an English protectorate, or something like that. Prior to that, both families were in Ireland. I have no idea where. I’m not sure my mother ever knew exactly where.

When I think of my heritage, I think of Ireland. Unfortunately, I know jack shit about Ireland, or Irish culture. I know that Gary Moore and Rory Gallagher were killer guitar players who are both no longer with us. I know that U2 is a great band even though there have been a couple of phases in their recording career where they went to places that I didn’t want them to go. I know that historically they have been kicked around by their English neighbors. I know that within my lifetime they underwent massive political upheaval that included home grown terrorism. I know that technically they are two nations when they should really be one.

So is there an aspect of my cultural heritage that I am particularly proud of? I don’t think so. I can’t really say either way. It’s embarrassing that I know so little.

No, the thing that I am most proud of is a silly stereotype. I am honestly very proud of this but yeah it is a stereotype when you connect it to Ireland. I’m sorry for this. Truly and seriously.

I am a red head and I am fiercely proud of it. Well… as proud of the color of one’s hair as one can reasonably be. Red hair is generally associated with Ireland, is it not? There are a ton of red heads in Scotland too, from what I hear, but no one ever tried to make fun of me by asking if i was Scottish or not. Nope, it was always har har you have red hair har har are you Irish? Well hells yes I’m Irish, wanna make something of it asshole?

When I was a kid I hated having red hair. I was picked on and teased and hassled and ranked on all the time. It sucked. As I grew up though it turned into something positive. Something other people (people with taste) were jealous of. Hells yes, I am a red head. Don’t you wish you were me?

So when it comes to my Irish heritage, there really isn’t anything culturally that I am particularly proud of. There is that one little insignificant genetic trait though. That one little blip in my DNA that gave me red hair (and amazingly at age 52 I still have it… though there’s a little more grey mixed in every day). I’m pretty freakin’ stoked about that little Irish bit, I tell you.

So again, my apologies to the great people of Ireland for reducing their history and culture and achievements down to the color of my hair. I don’t mean it to be a negative. I don’t mean to be offensive or insulting. I really should know more about where my family came from. Maybe I’ll start doing some research and read a history book or two. Maybe this is just the push I need to broaden my horizons a little.

After Work

I am so happy to have been able to punch out of work today. We got a lot of good stuff done today, but it was a long day. When I punched out and came upstairs I had these two monsters waiting for me.

I made a simple dinner for me and Jen. She said it was good. There was a second there when I was pretty sure I was going to have a full blown floamies incident but after a few seconds the mashed potatoes decided to play nicely and I was okay. Now I’m watching an episode of Severance and hoping that I don’t fall asleep until I’m ready for bed, which could be in about five minutes or so. It’s 7:40. Yeah, I am bushed.

4:50pm on Day Ten

I am toast. I don’t know that I have ever felt this exhausted in my entire life. I haven’t been physically active today, but I have been “on” mentally all day. I had a 2 hours and 15 minute meeting this morning followed by a 1 hour and 15 minute meeting followed by a very quick lunch followed by a 1 hour and 45 minute meeting and all time in between those meetings was spent catching up on the piles of messages that built up while I was otherwise occupied. My Covid brain has been reduced to the mushiest of mush.

I feel like I could punch out at 5:30 and go right to bed. Sweet Christmas has today been taxing. I would have been worn out without having Covid on top of everything else, but this is just nuts.

The plan for tonight is to make dinner for me and my beloved, nothing special just some chicken in the air fryer and some instant mashed potatoes, then maybe fall asleep in the comfy chair in the living room while pretending to watch 90210 with Jen or, if Jen wants to go to her computer and play some World of Warcraft, then fall asleep in the comfy chair while pretending to watch the Red Sox get trounced by the Devil Rays. Either option would be acceptable to my mushy brain.

Corporate Buzzspeak

This is a further response to today’s daily writing prompt. I am being sarcastic here. You can laugh along with me. You can flip the finger at the buzzspeak mentality with me. If you want, you can even be offended by this. It’s all good. Here we go…

I asked Google Bard to, “explain why the term brand is a meaningless corporate buzzword.” Here is Bard’s response:

The term “brand” is often used as a corporate buzzword without any real meaning. It is often thrown around in marketing and advertising materials, but it is rarely defined or explained in a clear and concise way.

One reason for this is that the concept of “brand” is complex and multifaceted. It can refer to a wide range of things, including a company’s name, logo, products, services, reputation, and even its culture.

Another reason is that the term “brand” has been overused and misused in recent years. It is now applied to everything from products and services to people and places. This has led to a certain amount of confusion and cynicism about the term.

Here are some specific reasons why the term “brand” is often a meaningless corporate buzzword:

  • It is often used in a vague and unsubstantiated way. For example, a company might claim that its brand is “innovative” or “customer-centric,” but it may not provide any specific evidence to support these claims.
  • It is often used to sell products or services that are not actually that different from the competition. For example, two different brands of toothpaste might both claim to be the “best for your teeth,” but there may be little real difference between them.
  • It is often used to create a sense of artificial exclusivity or superiority. For example, a luxury brand might claim that its products are “only for the best” or that they are “the epitome of style.”

In short, the term “brand” is often used as a marketing gimmick rather than a meaningful way to differentiate a company from its competitors.

Here are some examples of how the term “brand” is often used as a meaningless corporate buzzword:

  • “Our new product is designed to help you create a more authentic brand.”
  • “We are committed to building a strong brand that resonates with our customers.”
  • “Our brand is all about innovation and creativity.”
  • “We want to be the world’s leading brand in our industry.”

These statements are all vague and unsubstantiated. They do not provide any specific information about what the company’s brand actually is or what makes it different from the competition.

To be truly meaningful, the term “brand” should be used to describe a company’s unique value proposition and the way that it differentiates itself from its competitors. It should also be backed up by specific examples and evidence.

https://bard.google.com

7:50am on Day Ten

The relapse is in full swing. Sort of.

I definitely feel worse than yesterday, but I’m still much better than I was at the worst of this Covid-19 experience. Obviously I’d prefer to be all better, but if I have to slide back a bit, here’s hoping it doesn’t get much worse than this. Fingers crossed.

We let ourselves oversleep a bit this morning. Maybe an hour or so for me. Will that help? Probably not, but it was worth a shot. I have a super busy work day scheduled so a little extra rest before kicking things off will hopefully be a good thing.

My nose is stuffier than it was last night. Not too much, just a little. I’m also coughing more than I was yesterday. It’s a wet, phlegmy cough where it used to be a dry cough. Does that make a difference? Who knows.

Okay then, I have had my morning vitamins and 16 ounces of water (Crystal Light Lemonade, to be precise), and I’ve had a protein bar breakfast. It’s time to get the day rolling on. Wish me luck, it’s going to be a tough one.

I Hate That Term!

Daily writing prompt
What brands do you associate with?
View all responses

I friggin’ HATE the term “brand”. Talk about your arrogant asshole corporate buzzword speak. We’re not a soulless corporation out to put profit over the wellbeing of the people, we’re a brand. Oooooh. No, screw you, jerk-wads, you’re a friggin’ company and no you are not people and no you do not deserve to have the freakin’ vote!

UGH! I HATE THIS TERM!

To answer the corporate buzzword bullshit question though…

Gibson guitars, specifically Gibson USA. I can’t afford anything from the custom shop. I own four of them (a Les Paul Custom, a Les Paul Standard, an ES-335 Pro, and an SG Standard) and am constantly drooling over the idea of owning more (a Firebird, a Les Paul Junior, and a Les Paul Standard with P90’s).

Apple. I’m quite the fanboy as I type this on my MacBook Pro while wearing an Apple Watch and looking at my iPhone 14 Pro Max sitting on the desk next to me, and knowing that I have an iPad sitting on a charger in the next room, and a pair of AirPod Pro Max next to it, and lamenting that my little AirPods fell out of my pocket at the airport the other day.

Still… I absolutely loathe the term brand. Fuck that noise.