2020: Exit, stage left—and get lost!

As I write this post, there are less than 24 hours left of one of the worst years in recent memory. Just about everyone is fed up and wants 2020 gone for good—and ASAP. Even I ended the year in trouble of sorts. If you read this post, then you know about my car trouble. That was a week ago; I still haven't been able to get it to a shop for diagnosis of the problem and repair. I'm out of money and not so well physically, either. I almost had to miss seeing one of my oldest and best friends because of this. But Bill's brother was kind enough to bring him out to the house. Thank you, Bob! When all is said and dumb, none of these unfortunate situations are 2020's fault. It's just fun to pin the blame on the thing we've been picking on all year. We're certainly a society of misfits, aren't we?

Every year I say that things will improve and be better overall than last year. Whether it actually happens is unknown, but by December 31, 2021, we'll know for sure.

This time around, we have a different president in the White House. We also have our first-ever female vice-president. And they're from the other party this time, so things are definitely changed up in the political arena. We're still fighting the ongoing worldwide COVID-19 pandumbic and will be for awhile, though we have at least two seemingly reliable vaccines available now.

I could continue my whinefest, but I'm going to keep it short for now. To all of my family and friends, I wish you the very best possible 2021. Keep helping each other out and we'll all be better off for it. Eric's Planet will be back next year to bring you a twelveth year of fun, merriment, and anything else I might dig up around here.

Why I needed a police escort on my way home from getting dinner

At times I like to get a bite to eat from a restaurant instead of whipping up something at home. I can cook just fine, but sometimes just don't feel like it. Tonight was one of those nights. But it didn't exactly go the way I planned it would. Who in the world could have guessed that the simple act of getting a bite to eat would involve the police? Well, keep in mind who we're dealing with here and none of what happened should come as a surprise.

While I was heading toward the freeway I still wasn't sure whether to stop at Carl's Jr here in town or go up to Tommy's in Ventura. Once I got on the freeway and had reached the exit where Carl's is, I decided not to run all the way to Ventura since I was there just last week. I got off in town and went right into the drive-thru lane at Carl's. Heading back home, I got onto the on-ramp, which at this spot is one of those cloverleaf types where you can't build up speed and have about 30 feet to get up to freeway speed. That means some pedal-to-the-metal action to reach freeway speed and not disrupt traffic. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the yellow Check Engine light on, and the engine let out a cough, hesitated and sputtered up to speed. Not good. I kept it slow with the flashers on till I could get somewhere to pull over. After getting off the freeway, I found a spot across from a longtime favorite Mexican restaurant, parked, turned off the engine and sat. At this point, I was just a mile from home, but wanted to check my oil before proceeding. Thinking about this, all I could smell was the distinctive odor of "expensive"—something that I really don't need right now.

I noticed a car pull up behind me and got out to see who it was. It was an SUV with a funky black-and-white paint scheme and a red and blue light on top. A man wearing a uniform with a badge reflecting the lights stepped out. He asked if I was OK and I told him what was going on. He said he'd stick around as long as I needed. (I wanted to check my oil level and add oil as needed.) Oil was a bit low; my five-quart bottle of Mobil1 had only a few ounces of oil left in it, but would have to do till I could get more or get my car in for service. With over 250,000 miles on it, it's certainly due.

After putting a few tablespoons of oil in my car, I told the officer that I was close to home and would he follow me in case of trouble. He was glad to oblige and I got home safely with my food. Before heading inside, I thanked the officer and dismissed him from Project Escort Eric Home. Once inside, I put my now-cold food into the microwave to revive it. Thank heaven for microwave ovens, and police officers who are always ready to serve.

Will 2021 be a second helping of 2020?

Now that we're getting close to the end of the year that made taking a turn for the worse a national pastime, it raises the question as to whether next year will simply continue the nonsense. We've lost a lot of celebrities—which is actually quite normal—but we've lost a lot of family and friends as well. Living through a global pandemic with plenty of restrictions put on us limiting our movement and activities is new. California has the highest number of cases of COVID-19, the dreaded novel coronavirus disease, in the nation, while New York leads with the number of deaths. I'm no scientist, but I expect the trend to continue well into next year.

There are a few reasons for this and I'll get into it in a bit. Not everyone reading this will agree, which is fine because this is my blog and I get the final say as to what gets published. Not trying to be an ass, but if I'm going to write anything, I'm going to write what's in my heart and soul. Disagreement is OK around here as long as no one gets violent. In such a situation, agreeing to disagree is usually the best course of action.

Earlier this year, I wrote a Facebook status update encouraging my friends to wear a face covering. A now ex-friend took offense and wrote a reply essentially disagreeing with my post. (Fine, it's her opinion.) However, a bunch of my friends replied to her post and pretty much tore her to pieces. In response, this now-former friend deleted her post, which took all of the replies with it, and clicked the Unfriend button. ¡Adios, muchacha!

The CDC recommends that everyone over age two and anyone with no breathing problems wear a cloth face covering properly positioned over the mouth and nose any time they're out in public. The idea is that the mask contains the bulk of tiny water droplets released by the wearer during breathing, thus preventing them from getting into the mouth or nose of others. Fairly simple concept, but so many people find wearing a mask to be inconvenient or uncomfortable (I don't, honestly, despite having asthma). With so many people wearing masks improperly or not at all, it's no wonder this disease isn't slowing down. People are gathering in large groups, which increases the risk. I can only hope that in addition to properly wearing their face coverings, people are sanitizing or washing their hands as often as they can. Everything helps.

But even without COVID-19 and its effect on the world, 2020 seemed to be the banner year for things to just plain old go wrong. Unemployment has sharply risen, people are losing their homes and businesses left and right, though some of those things are likely due to the pandemic.

Really, about all we can do is say our prayers and hang on for another wild ride in 2021.