But Muh Freedom!

We should be calling Karens what they are - garbage people. With or without the virus these people would be garbage. I don't care if people wear a mask. Don't we want all these Jenny McArthy bots out there seeing where the line is? Let them.

At this point I'm only sad it takes so long to see the results. But the question really is - who treats people the way the no maskers do? We all laugh at this stuff, but how is this acceptable at all? They don't give a fuck about freedom. They just don't want people telling them what to do.

Yet every time a Covid case pops up in a business - that place has to shut down and deep clean. WHICH COSTS THEM MONEY and lost revenue. How are your freedoms more important that that businesses freedom?

Or maybe you have a garbage Karen who throws everything in their cart on the ground. Now the business has to throw some of that stuff out.

No one likes wearing the masks. So I'm pretty sure there are going to be more and more people who are just tired of their shit.

"‘Exhausted’ by customers’ rage over wearing masks, California taco chain shuts down"

Your Sunday update.

I'm getting powned by truck mods, and I have nothing to show for it.

I've taken four stabs on the bed extender now. That .... is perhaps something I should have had a professional install. It probably wouldn't have been a big deal but I have an accordion bed cover which takes up space in the bed making it so the bed extender doesn't rotate to store inside the bed when you aren't using it. Yes - that is a run-on sentence. Don't care.

Now I have to use spacers and it's just a whole big project. I thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I've had way more complicated things take no time at all. You just watch a few youtube videos and off you go. This has a bit of an, obvious now, learning curve.

The only thing we can figure out is that maybe not that many people use this particular configuration of add on's? It's pretty stupid though.

Then I'm trying to install a dash cam semi permanently. So we get to play fuse roulette. Well sort of.

Of course you can't find the right fuse in town so we have to wait for Amazon. It's just ridiculous how unable to care for ourselves we are without China.

So..... zero checkmarks or pictures.

Great fucking job America.

US Sees 35,000 New Cases, Biggest Jump Since April, As Houston Warns ICUs Could Be Overwhelmed By Tomorrow: Live Updates.

To say I'm super mad is an understatement. You see... apparently we spent three months locked down for no fucking reason. The roving mob of Jenny McArthy's just couldn't keep their shit together. To say we recked our economy for nothing is fantasy, because it would have been wrecked anyway. But now they've made it so it's going to be wrecked for longer.

It's so typical that the minority rules the majority in America.  And so here we are. Back at square one. All we asked for is that people wear masks, so we could try to get some degree back to normal. But noooooooo. It's against your liberties. If there is anything I know about America - everyone thinks the rules do not apply to them. We have to be the laziest country on the planet. People can't even be bothered to wear a mask which is about the least amount of effort possible to try to get this tamped down.  People are such assholes.

I'm fucking pissed. I don't think people cared one fuck about the economy. They just wanted to form packs and thumb their noses at people. It just really sucks that Americans don't have to live by their bullshit ideas. It's super fucked up.

I don't even understand why people are blaming Trump for this shit. He only opened the economy because people were literally done with lockdown. Even before Memorial Day there was obvious lockdown fatigue. But on Memorial Day - every single house in my neighborhood had a home party. So here we are.

This was my weekend project.

It's still not in, but it did eat a lot of time. It's a bed extender. Sometimes you find out you need a part halfway through project.

I think this says something about the broader economy.

This weekend I popped into Fry's Electronics. Clearly no one cares about this subject anymore. I don't even care. But they have stayed open the WHOLE time. So I just had to see what was in there to sell. Mr S. is over my shit about this, so I went in by myself.

Interestingly...... they were selling masks and hand sanitizer. I often fantasized they might have a whole warehouse full of TP. But sadly they were not even that clever.

When I got back to the truck I tell Mr S. about the masks, and he asks - did they have anything else? I'm like - oh yeah! They have alcohol swabs! He's like - NO. Did they have any electronics?

We both laughed.

But it does make me wonder - how can a zombie company like this stay alive for so long? And how many others are out there that are doing a less bad job at faking it. Fry's doesn't give a fuuuck. They aren't even trying. But they continue to stay open.

In capitalist system, the free market would have had them liquidated a long time ago. But they must get easy access to credit or something because it's unexplainable.








Also, it seems they are selling lightbulbs. I'm only guessing these came from GE and are there on consignment. But I could be making shit up because I don't even care enough to google that shit.

Dog mode has its limits.

A month ago I was just happy to go anywhere. The store. Truck picnic. It didn't matter.. I affectionately starting calling this "dog mode" because dogs are just happy to be on the road. It doesn't matter where they are going. Mr S would ask if I cared which route he took and I'd be like - nope. Dog mode.

Then normalcy started creeping in. Going out in the real world didn't have the bump I'd hoped for. It's not exactly like things are normal. They are difficult. Every thing you do has a layer of extra.

I noticed it slipping in Middle California. At one point Mr S. turned to me and said - all of this stuff you've never seen before if boring you when just a week ago you were in dog mode.

I'm like - yep. That about sums it up. Now that things are returning to normal, dog mode is fading.

This is my advice to ALL restaurants.....

Be more like Chickfila. Except open on Sundays. Do everything in your power to mimic their model.

McDonald’s earnings fall 17% as coronavirus leads to restaurant closures, plunging sales.

Every time I hear a restaurant complain about the business climate I think - do you know who isn't complaining? Chickfila. It's astounding actually.  They are doing at least as good of business with NO inside seating. I was just in a line last night and I thought - apparently if you have good food and want to feed people the line will wrap around the BLOCK twice.

Chick-fil-A is now the 3rd-largest restaurant chain in America, and McDonald's and Starbucks should be terrified.

Yes... they... should. I don't know about Starbucks...... unless Chickfila gets into the business. They are just wiping the floor with restaurants right now.

Update - I also want to add that ALL restaurants should be rethinking their relationship with YELP in my opinion. YELP has been the opposite of helpful. When a restaurant won't even bother to update if they are open or closed. Or even update their hours so people don't have to call them - I just don't even know what to say.

But you know who is always open? Chickfila - except on Sundays. A lot of us tried to help them for the past few months, and we eventually just had to go to Chikfila.

You see where I'm going with this?

I forget how quickly the bad ass cars drop off as you get away from the Bay Area. I kinda take it for granted.

Escaping insanity.

I had to take some time off. The virtue signaling is off the charts and really starting to get to me. It's the craziest thing in the world when taking a a health crisis seriously puts you in one political category or another. I think we should do what China did - and just stop counting. What does it matter anyway?

I don't really think anyone wants to solve problems - they just want to fight about it. I think people don't really care about business as much as they want to show how good of a person they are by acting like they care.  They want your business - they just don't want your lawsuit. We are a very litigious country. It is seriously what every single business is weighing right now.

So America - YOU - DO -YOU.

I decided to hop out because I feel there isn't a zero percent chance they won't try to lock us down again. I am one of those people who has to outrun the demons in general. So the day Sensorio opened I hit that. I was a little surprised by how many other people were there. On a normal day they get 800 people apparently. I'm glad there were much less than that. I don't know how well you could avoid people with that kind of attendance. Everyone had to get their temperatures taken and sign a waiver. I think that would take a considerable amount of time for 800 people.



I don't think I've ever taken as many really bad shots as I did here. These are the few that survived. The level of difficulty was more than I expected. It's really dark out there and you really had to up your night photography game.









Then I tried to hop out to the beach. It's where my demons hide. But the beach was crazy windy. I have long-ish hair and if I have to spend more time getting hair out of my eyes than anything else - I'm not happy. We attempted a different beach, but that one was crowded and I'm not really doing crowds.





Morrow Bay was choppy as hell. Even watching the kite flyers was not fun because of the wind.





I honestly don't understand how any of the restaurants are going to survive. We've done a fair amount of truck picnics and it's fine, but it does get a little tiring. The places we stopped at pretty much ran the gamut. A lot of places don't have any outside seating at all. And when you have to cut the tables by half, there is no way these places can survive.

Other places were having staffing issues. One place lost half their staff. And some had worked there for seven years the guy said. They didn't want to come back. They were probably getting paid more than they got working so.... it's all pretty fucked up. I guess that town didn't have enough Jenny McArthy's to make up for the ones who don't want to work or are afraid to.

A burger place in Tracy on the way back in was generally the most lax. Notice how I didn't name it? It's one of my favorite burger places so I'm not narcing them out! But, no masks for staff, and they were refilling and touching everyones drinks.

Mask compliance is really slipping at this point which is not surprising. It's summer. But generally, most Americans always avoid the hard work needed for anything really. They were never going to do that long term.

My car sugar is low.

I don't think there is going to be a single car show this year. This plate made me miss the stereo competitions.

My idea for prison reform.

I am always a little amazed when white people say they have never felt threatened by the police. I feel like those people have never actually had any interactions with them. I am not saying police are bad, but I think they could do some things that would make life easier for themselves.

You see - as a white girl I have been through the system. I was taken away from my mom and was basically a ward of the court from the time I was seven until I became an adult. I spent a month in a children's shelter. So, naturally as a teen I wound up in juvenile hall for a crime that is now legal. i.e A victimless crime. But, at the time you could spend the rest of your life in jail. No exaggeration.

My family was a firm believer that if you were going to do time - you should do it as a minor. This is an obvious dysfunctional attitude because most parents don't want their kids to do time at all. Looking back it was the best advice they ever gave me. I guess my family just always expected we would all wind up in jail and reacted accordingly. I think it's sort of what all poor people think.

So, this is now how I see the world. The first time you wind up in jail - your path is set. Even in Juvi - they told me I would be back. And I was like - no... I'm just going to be better at not getting caught. But they were right to think that because once you get into the system, the chances of you getting out are slim. The first arrest aborts all of your chances at gainful employment. Which just continues the cycle of poverty and lawlessness.

We need to figure out a way to let people work to expunge some of their crimes so these people can work and have a normal life. We need to turn some of these crimes into "administrative issues" rather than prison issues. Prison isn't deterring anyone. It only creates more criminality. Young people make mistakes. They get into situations because of family dysfunctions. Sometimes you just come from a single parent household and get with the wrong crowd. I think if people could work for some type of restitution they can pay for their crimes that way instead of in jail which costs a lot of money for taxpayers.

I think the biggest issue with the police force these days is they dehumanize EVERYONE (even white people)  and it creates this vicious feedback loop. There is some thought that criminals should be treated like animals. I think this only creates more anger and lawlessness.

Now, not everyone will take the path to restitution. Maybe they won't do it until they are much older, but they all should get the chance to turn their lives around and expunge certain crimes. Just like in the juvenile system. I just think that the current system creates so much hopelessness that what does it even matter if you become a criminal?  "You are just going to be back anyway".

We need to keep people in the workforce because without that - they have no hope. Perhaps this would be a one time thing, so people don't take advantage of the system. And obviously this is not going to work for all crimes. But if we can just chip away at the less severe ones cops can flex up on the truly bad ones.

I'm not defending all the lawlessness right now, but I do sort of understand where it comes from. I do think that police need to be better at deescalating things. Maybe part of that is creating a system where if you do get into trouble, if you work hard, you can become a productive member of society.

Not feeling it - but it's all I got. Took it a couple of days ago when we were getting rain.

I have been laying low.

Almost all of us are under curfew as the burbs are now in the cross hairs. Updated - I'm now under curfew. Which is worse than the pandemic stay at home order. At least then you were free to move around. You were just recommended not to do so.

I was down in San Jose on Friday afternoon before things got crazy. We decided that we didn't want to get stuck in a conflict on the freeway so we have been avoiding that area. I also decided to dash cam up before we fully attempt that, but it hasn't been delivered yet.

The first sign things were weird was this notification yesterday. We are not anywhere near San Fransisco.

All weekend twitter had been filled with people from Oakland putting out the call to loot the burbs. They had mostly set their sites on the fancier ones. Then last night we went to the city next to me to get chicken from my Chickfila substitute. It's closed on Sundays, and Koreans do some pretty amazing chicken.

The police were blocking roads and freeway entrances. At first we didn't know that town was suppose to have a protest. You really have to be dedicated to loot out here. It's the burbs and things are pretty spread out.

The chicken place is right next to some car dealerships and they were blocking all the entrances with trucks. Apparently we were their last order and were told to close. Which sucks for them. They are already hurting from the lockdown.

Apparently there is suppose to be a protest later this afternoon. That city has a Best Buy and they are moving all the appliances off the showroom floor. Which is pretty impressive I have to say. That is a lot of work. The showroom is big.

I'm sure everything will be fine - but this far out I think looters would be somewhat surprised at how many 2A people live out here. Even Democrats are locked and loaded. I wouldn't call the town conservative by any measure, but they all think they are because they own guns. They will still spend all your money though.