52 Things I Enjoyed About 2020

2020 was a tough year. We were more fortunate than others considering as of now we and our extended family have maintained our health. Still, I lost my job, the kids lost time with their friends, we lost our big trip to visit our friend Megan in Switzerland, both kids lost time at school and we lost a sense of community that we love in Bexley. But there were positives. Below is a list of of 52 positives from the year. This isn't a full ranking and I certainly wouldn't try to order it, so instead I grouped it into categories. For those of you who don't care about my random sports teams, feel free to skip that section

The Election

The results of the 2020 election

• What needed to happen, happened. I went into this a lot more in my last post, so I don't need to get into all the reasons why I wanted Joe Biden to win. This could easily turn negative and I have debated writing down my thoughts on how 74,111,419 voted for Trump or the impacts of disinformation or the basic unfairness of the electoral college or how Republicans have acted during all of the baseless election claims from Trump or a myriad of issues we have in our country. All of that is true. All of that makes talking politics with even friends I agree with to not be enjoyable. Still on a gloriously warm Saturday I got a text with the results (a text from a close friend who was up until this election very apolitical) and I almost dropped to my knees. I don't want to be overly dramatic and little about that day changes my overall thoughts on democracy in this country, but still the text, buying Johnnie Walker Blue and then popping champagne with my close friends was amazing and for that one day all was well. 

Volunteering to be a Poll Worker

• I'm mostly a "political hobbyist" meaning I read a lot of news and opinion articles and can speak intelligently on most subjects....but I don't actually engage in politics. The one exception this year was signing up to work the polls on election day. I had a few online trainings, an in person training, setting up for the election and then working a 15 hour day (starting at 5:30am) for the election. It was a little concerning doing this during COVID, but still it felt good to do my civic duty. (Also, seeing the pride people take in voting makes me even more outraged over undemocratic actions like gerrymandering.) I'm not sure if I will do it again (I think I will) or how else I can get involved, but I was happy to do a small part in this election.  

Finances

Getting 97% of our money back for the Europe trip

• We were booked to fly to Europe over Spring Break - this included booking hotels, an Airbnb and train tickets. Some of those were non-refundable. Then when COVID started going bad we made the decision to cancel our trip. In order of ease of getting money back to not easy it went hotels (a simple click of the button on Expedia), Airbnb (a very easy to understand policy when I called and then a click of the button), Rail Europe (they made me take pictures of the tickets and mail it to them before giving us our money back) and then Delta (first they gave me vouchers and then after multiple calls and many hours on hold they finally gave us our money back). Anyway, we lost out on some transaction fees, but still I took it as quite the accomplishment to get 97% of our money back. 

Saving Money

• It turns out that when there isn't much to do and you can't travel it is very easy to save money. On our budget Travel was down 93%, Dining out was down 53% and entertainment was down 27%. We spent more money on our home, but still from a budget perspective we have never saved as much as we did in 2020.

Food

New recipes: Chicken Fried Rice and Beer Battered Shrimp

• Being stuck at home meant we tried out a few more recipes than normal. One of my favorites was a simple chicken fried rice...and mixing it with yum yum sauce. I found out that it only worked when you had all the ingredients (sounds obvious) and included the egg, carrots, peas, chicken and rice. Also, at the start of the pandemic I bought one of those big rice packages and found out that as long as you have time (and working from home meant we had time) it is much better to make the long cooking (20-25 minutes) rice. Another favorite was the McCormick Beer Batter Seafood mix on shrimp. Somewhat randomly our youngest child really likes this and overall it is a great option for cocktail hour. 

Box Wine

• Am I proud of this one? No. But the quarantine plus being stuck at home meant a semi-regular switch from bottles of wine to box wine. The quality isn't bad and I don't feel as embarrassed when I take out the recycling now. 

Takeout

• Takeout in terms of quality and operations has improved so much. Maybe it has always been that way, but really we have gotten much better about ordering online and having a nice professionally cooked meal in the comforts of our own home. 

Picnics

• At a garage sale a few years ago I picked up a picnic basket and somewhat surprisingly we use relatively frequently even before COVID. During COVID though this because an especially great purchase because picnics were the perfect COVID activity.

Home

Painting the basement Green Apple

• Before COVID started we planned on working on our basement with a new couch and by painting it. We picked a light green color (Green Apple) and instead of hiring a painter did it ourselves. This turned our remarkably well and the light green color in the basement makes me happy during family movie time. 

Home improvement projects

• We got a new fence, new computer and a basketball goal for the garage. That combined with the revamped basement (we added on some furniture, changed whats hanging on the walls and got a new TV) made for an improved home. 

Kids

Animals

• This year was likely the start of our live with animals. As I write this I can look over at our fishes and snail....and I can see into the future and see so many more animals. We might have briefly adopted a turtle, bunny and worm, but soon I know we won't be able to say no to the dog question anymore. (We aren't saying no because we don't like dogs, but because our youngest has been afraid of dogs and we are waiting until that is over.)

Cooking with the kids

• The kids (unless they are in one of their moods) really enjoy helping us cook and I feel like that is both a useful life skill as well as helping them try new foods. 

The age 4

• Each age has its own pros and cons, but for my money there might not be a better age out there than the age of 4. Up until 4 there are naps, diapers (or potty training) and meltdowns. Up until 4 it is very hard to have a rational conversation with a child. But then slowly things change and before you know it you are having somewhat normal conversations with your child instead of just waiting for the inevitable meltdown. That happens around the age of 4. Also, one nice thing about the age of 4 is that you can have these normal conversations, but 4 year olds still have the confidence to go to Target wearing a princess costume.  

L and our neighbor (Heidi) walking Heidi's dog

• Our across the street neighbor has a dog that L absolutely LOVES to be around in any capacity. It is cute to see and also a reminder of how great our neighborhood is. 

The kids playing together

• Both M and I grew up with siblings and always knew we wanted to have more than 1 kid. One big reason is that we wanted each of them to have someone to play with. This takes awhile to happen, but it really has blossomed this year and what a perfect year for that to happen. They really enjoying playing whatever games exist in their head and it gives M and I a little bit of a break that isn't TV related. 

Movie marathons with the kids 

• We have watched all 4 Shreks, the first two Home Alones and the first two Beethovens. It's nice having the new basement and that the kids are old enough that we don't have to watch Daniel Tiger. (Not that Daniel Tiger was bad.)

Picking up J at 3:30pm

• Without a commute or having to be in the office at certain times we have changed J's school pickup to 3:30pm. This has given our family a nice routine where we can pick her up and she can play with L and watch a tv show before getting ready for dinner. I've very much enjoyed this routine.

L running a 5k

• One of the more amazing athletic accomplishments of the year was watching my oldest child run a 5k with M. Just writing that sentence seems crazy to me, but J and I followed them along the entire run and I saw it myself. L has really modeled her behavior after M (who really likes running) and I was impressed she could do that.

Misc

Walks / Fitbit

• One of the best things I've ever bought in my life has been a Fitbit. It helps motivate me to get outside more and my daily walks helps me catch up on podcasts (Ezra Klein, fantasy football, Colin Cowherd) or books (see at the end of this post). At one point I walked 10,000 steps every single day for 109 straight days (4/11 to 7/28). I've since had a few days under 10,000, but still I am doing pretty well overall and currently have walked 57 more miles than I did last year (and I felt like last year was a pretty good year)

Drawing logos

• For the Super Bowl every year we create a big Super Bowl poster and hand draw the logos of each team. I won't pretend that I am very good drawer, but I have enjoyed that in the past. This year I've expanded it by periodically turning on music and working on a random logo while L & J draw next to me.

Exploring the city parks of Columbus

• The city parks of Columbus are well-run, pretty and provide a perfect COVID activity in that it's outside and socially distant. That was a common activity this year and one that I would like to continue even when COVID is gone. 

My blue Kevin Garnett retro jersey

• I saw this was on sale the other day and pounced at the opportunity to buy what has to be one of the prettiest jerseys ever. 

Sports

Obi Toppin & the Pine Club

• One of my last "normal" nights before Covid shut things down was a February 28th Dayton basketball game where I went with one of my close friends to see Obi Toppin. Wow. Toppin was dominating and at one point he dunked it on 3 consecutive possessions and each one being better than the one before. Dayton is a truly great place to watch a basketball game....and afterwards getting a steak at the cash only Pine Club is well worth it. I ended up buying an Homage Pine Club shirt as a way of remembering life before COVID. 

Duke at Unc

• Much like Buddy the Elf it was hard not to excitedly say "I know him" when Wendall Moore hit the game winning shot against UNC. The entire comeback and Tre Jones missed free throw turned into tying jumper sequence as spectacular, but seeing Moore (who I met at K Academy and seemed incredibly friendly) hit the shot at the end of the game was special. 

The Dolphins drafting Tua

• There have been two perfect draft matches for the professional teams in my life. Deron Williams to the Jazz in 2005 and Tua to the Dolphins in 2020. The Dolphins started a complete rebuild last year and "Tank for Tua" became a thing. The plan was to lose every game, get the 1st pick and draft the best QB prospect since maybe Andrew Luck. Well it didn't really work out that way as the Dolphins actually started winning games, but then Tua injured his hip and Joe Burrow had maybe the greatest college year ever for a QB....and long story short the Dolphins drafted Tua but in the 5th spot in the draft. That was the most exciting Dolphins draft pick since I became a fan. 

Believing in Brian Flores

• It is nice going into a game and feeling like you have the better coach. It is also nice feeling like the long-term direction of the team is in good hands. As a Dolphins fan I feel absolutely thrilled to have Brian Flores as the coach

Donovan Mitchell in the playoffs

• The NBA moved to a bubble for the playoffs, which overall I think was a net negative. I missed the fans and I missed the hype before a big Jazz home playoff game. However, there was one huge positive that I might be discounting too much and that is the quality of basketball seemed to be significantly higher in the bubble than in previous years. That resulted in one of my all-time favorite basketball series between the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz. The matchup was absolutely perfect (the complete opposite of the Rockets / Jazz from years past) and it didn't get much better than seeing Donovan Mitchell compete against Jamaal Murray. Mitchell averaged 36 points per game on better than 50% shooting and was truly a joy to watch. As I watching Mitchell dominate I kept thinking about how he was eventually going to have a statue outside whatever they call Vivint Arena

Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert signing long term deals with the Jazz

• Mitchell and Gobert are the modern day Stockton / Malone and with so many star players jumping around (I'm looking at you Lebron, Durant, Kawhi) it is nice to have the same players to root for every single year. I look forward to seeing both players continue to grow and for the Jazz to hopefully take the next step

Derrick Favors resigning with the Jazz

• I'm not sure if the Jazz or really any of my favorite professional teams will ever win the title and I am not sure if a move like resigning Derrick Favors helps that. However, sometimes it is just nice to root for players you like and Favors is a true professional and a very good player. He played for the Jazz for 9 years, left for New Orleans and now is back for this 10th year. 

The Dolphins defense - led by Xavien Howard

• Last year the Dolphins started the year off by giving up 59 points. This year they are the best defense in the league in terms of points against (18.8 per game). I can't believe the turnaround. It's been an entire team effort, but I have to point out how amazing Xavien Howard has been at cornerback. He has 9 interceptions and could win defensive player of the year. 

Watching the Houston Texans lose

• Maybe my most controversial sports opinions is that no team should own their own draft pick. It isn't natural to hope for your team to lose, but sometimes the incentives work that you root for the tank. That happened last year as the Dolphins tried to tank for Tua. This year has been so much better because I could root for the Dolphins to win AND also hope for a top draft pick. Before the 2019 season the Dolphins trade Laremy Tunsil to the Texans for a lot of draft picks...including the 1st and 2nd round picks in this draft. All of that meant Dolphins fans would be rooting against the Texans in every game this year in hopes of getting better draft picks. And the Texans lost, and lost and kept losing. As I write this they are 4-11 and the Dolphins would get the 3rd pick in the 1st round and 2nd round. Every week I text my fellow Dolphins fan about who the Texans are playing and we try to figure out how that team can win. It's fun having two games and two teams teams (the Dolphins and whoever is playing the Texans) to root for each week.

Alvin Kamara and my fantasy team

• Alvin Kamara was the best running back in the league all year and led my fantasy team to top points and a 3rd place playoff finish.

The Ryan Fitzpatrick no-look pass

• Just when the Dolphins season looked to be over Ryan Fitzpatrick completed the most ridiculous pass I have ever seen. I don't know how anyone can throw the ball so far and so accurately while having their helmet ripped to the side by a 300lb lineman. That pass saved the season and provided the kind of joy that makes you just randomly laugh and text friends pure joyful gibberish. 

TV

Mrs. America

• Mrs. America was a 9 part mini-series on Hulu that mostly tracked the life of Phyllis Schlafly as well as other political figures during the fight to pass the ERA. It was incredibly well-acted and covered a time period (the 1970s) that I don't feel like I learned as much about in school. 

Emily in Paris

• If Mrs. America was both fun and educational, then Emily in Paris was just fun. I don't care how unrealistic it was or any of the other criticisms this was the perfect show for COVID.

The Great

• In a show that had absolutely nothing to do with our current (and soon to be former) President, the Great reminded me so much of him. Peter is selfish, cruel and demands 100% loyalty from his subjects. Seeing Peter interact with Catherine was probably the best possible two person interaction I saw all year on TV. 

Trips

New Orleans

• I can't always predict what trips are going to be ok and what trips are going to be great. New Orleans seemed like one of those trips that might be less than ideal because what people normally like about New Orleans (great food and drinking on Bourbon Street) doesn't really fit in the family friendly category. However, it easily was one of our best trips. We got a nice hotel that was close to the French Quarter and had a pool. The kids loved the pool and the various forms of transportation we took including J's first taxi ride, various pedicabs around the city and then finally a train ride from New Orleans to Jackson. M and I both really loved the nice meals around the city including going back to this place (Deanie's) we went to (and really enjoyed) a decade ago. And my favorite was the Pelicans / Jazz game where Brandon Ingram scored 49 points and Donovan Mitchell scored 46 points. It was a dramatic, well-played game that we watched from the 10th row. Anyway, the trip had something for everyone and is something I would definitely enjoy doing again with the family.

Bloomington, Indiana

• During the summer we took the proper precautions (quarantining before) and decided to meet up with two close college friends of mine in Bloomington, Indiana. Why Bloomington? My friends found a place with an indoor pool and I will now say that when you have small kids an indoor pool increases your happiness by at least 73%. Anyway, I remember thinking after the trip about how it was good for our souls and even know I don't think that was hyperbole

Pensacola Beach

• We debated and debated and debated going on this trip, but after much discussion we decided to quarantine before meeting up as a family down in Pensacola Beach. This wasn't our normal location, which was fine since it wasn't a normal year. (We had a normal trip planned but that was canceled during the first peak of COVID). Anyway, despite the very strange middle part, I really loved hanging out with my family and going to the beach. One positive about most things being closed is that the trip was actually a lot more relaxing because there was no "fear of missing out." Sometimes M and I can go to a place and try to check off as many main attractions as possible, but with this trip it was just the pool, beach, cocktail hour and family time.

Lakeside

• The kids love to go to Lakeside for the golf cart rides, donuts and being able to hang out as a family. In a year with most things being canceled it was nice to have a normal trip.

Work

Finding a new job

• Retail is a tough industry to be in right now and trying to find a job remotely is another hurdle. I feel fortunate to find another comparable job as what I had before at another large (but not as large) retailer her in Columbus. 

Getting paid for your vacation days

• I don't recommend getting let go and I also don't recommend not using your vacation days....but....if that does happen it is really nice getting an extra large paycheck paying out the vacation days you rightly accrued. And as I told HR on the day I got let go, that day itself was supposed to be a vacation day but I wasn't going to count it since I called into the two appropriate meetings. 

Meeting new coworkers (virtually)

• I have two new coworkers in general that I really like and feel like I can trust with various observations / complaints. It's a testament to the power of technology (Teams calls, emails and texts) that I can already feel a strong bond with two people I have never met before. 

Writing 

Anything by Wright Thompson

• Wright Thompson is so good....his book of sports, his article on Archie Manning are great and I am going to guess that his new book on bourbon will also be very good. 

Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein

• I love listening to and reading Ezra Klein and his book this year did not disappoint. It really helped me better understand where we were as a country.

The Victory Machine by Ethan Sherwood Strauss

• I love pretty much anything Ethan Strauss writes, but really his ESPN articles chronicling the rise of the Golden State Warriors were must reads. This book is more of the same about the Warriors and while it is somewhat short is is very compact and extremely fun to read (or in my case listen to). 

The Wax Pack by Brad Balukjian

• I love 1) random concepts 2) sports 3) baseball cards 4) road trips so yeah this book was perfect for me. Brad Balukjian searched out the players from a single pack of baseball cards to see what happened with their life. He made me care about players I never heard of (the pack was from a time before I followed baseball), but really I just appreciated his commitment to such a crazy and unique idea.

It Was All A Lie by Stuart Stevens

• Stuart Stevens is a fellow Mississippian and he writes with clarity of someone who has been in politics a long time and can see the issues we are having with the Republican Party. I remember reading his book about going to every Ole Miss football game with his Dad and loving his writing style....and while this book isn't nearly as fun it is probably even more necessary

Three Ring Circus by Jeff Pearlman

• I never have liked the Lakers - as a Jazz fan that is somewhat to be expected because the Lakers often beat the Jazz in the playoffs, but I really enjoyed this book about the Shaq / Kobe Lakers. I could even get over the fact that the person reading the book absolutely butchered the names of multiple NBA players. 

Joe Posnanski's Browns Diary

• I lived with 3 Browns fans in college and it was enough after that not to be a Browns fan. That being said one of my favorite things to read is Joe Posnanski's weekly diary on the Browns. He is a very logical sports fan and provides a great perspective.

Glass House by Brian Alexander

• This was a recommendation from a writer I like as a great way of understanding the collapse of the American Dream as told through the small town of Lancaster, Ohio. I loved pretty much everything about this depressing American story. It turns out private equity and the "greed is good" culture helped destroy a company (Anchor Hocking) and a city (Lancaster, Ohio) that is just 30 minutes southeast of where I write this. 

Can't Even by Anne Helen Peterson

• Continuing the theme of a Glass House, this is a good summary of what ills the "millennial" generation. I really enjoyed her perspective on technology and work. 

Anyway, I doubt that anyone made it this far in the blog, but if they did congrats on making through a blog that was almost as long as 2020. I am glad to turn the page on this year, but I am also glad that if we had to have a forever quarantine it was with M, L and J.

Why I am voting for Joe Biden

On Friday, October 9th I waited in an hour long line at the early voting place here in Columbus, Ohio. It was a pretty day outside and I was able to listen to the new Jeff Pearlman book about the Shaq / Kobe Lakers. Overall it felt good to do my civic duty, but also I felt a sense of dread about this upcoming election. One candidate is so extreme that almost everyone agrees that there is a decent chance that one candidate won't accept the election results or won't participate in a peaceful transfer of power. There is one candidate who so clearly has and will prioritize his own needs over the needs of the democratic system of our country. There should be little doubt for any rational person that one candidate would lie, cheat, steal and do whatever it takes to win. On Friday, October 9th on a nice day in Columbus, Ohio I voted for the other candidate. I voted for Joe Biden

And yes to start my vote was more of a vote against our current President than a vote for Biden. Some might level the criticism against me that I am more voting against someone than for someone else. I kind of get it and it was also mostly true in 2016. Still I feel like voting this particular person is a rational response and I will try to back up my thoughts on that.

Trump is bad. He is bad when you consider his personality, his policies, his words and his actions. He is a bad role model for our children. He was bad in the past, bad in the present and the odds are high he will be bad in the future. Bad is such a simple word, but in this case you don't really need anything complex in describing him. Here is how I reached that conclusion with a partial but certainly not full list of things I abhor about Trump:

Personality - Certainly some (a lot?) of Republicans like his combative personality and that he "isn't a politician" but from the Republicans I know they concede that personally he is a narcissistic bully who is a bad role model. (In my mind that should be enough for most people to not vote for him.) The way he talks and tweets about a wide range of people shouldn't be tolerated. There are almost too many examples to count, but really just turn on one of his rallies and if you aren't offended then I am not sure we are watching the same thing. (A month ago on September 18th he asked his 99% white audience if they were "having a good time with your refugees." He pushed a conspiracy theory about Congresswoman Omar marrying her brother. He said it was "the most beautiful thing" about a journalist being hit by a rubber bullet.) Seriously - any one viewing of any random rally should be enough to make you run to the polls to vote for Biden. 

Those examples aren't policies he is pursuing. His speeches / tweets seem to fluctuate between culture war issues (ex. football players kneeling), attacking a diverse group of female Democrats called "the Squad" (not about policies, but about them hating America or listening in while his audience chants "send them back") and grievances against the media, his political opponents or whoever was the latest antagonist on Fox News.

And the strange thing to me is that his attacks in the last paragraph truly seem to be a big part of what drives Republican voters. I had recently spent a weekend with a Trump supporter. During that weekend we didn't talk about climate change, gun violence or even really COVID. We did talk about NFL players kneeling and how this lifelong football fan was going to be personally boycotting the NFL this year. Now let's say this was something I disagree with (it's not) then still I can't imagine kneeling NFL players would make my top 100 issues in this election. 

Policies - Some of those same Republicans excuse his personality because they like his policies. Normally that means lower taxes, less regulation, conservative judges and anti-immigration. I will take those one by one:

Taxes - the big legislative achievement for Trump and the Republicans was the tax cut they passed in 2017. It is not controversial to say this tax cut primarily benefited rich people and that it 100% hurt the federal deficit. (Remember when Republicans cared about the federal deficit. It was amazing to me that with unemployment going down and the economy in a decent position, we saw such an increase in the federal deficit under Trump. The federal deficit has gone up every year under Trump after seeing year over year declines under Obama. Not that anyone cares about the federal deficit, but there are some amazing charts showing how it gradually declines under Democrats like Clinton / Obama and increases under Republicans like Reagan / W / Trump.) 

Personally I liked that the tax cut doubled the standard deduction, which makes filing my taxes easier since I no longer need to keep up with charitable giving. I didn't like how the IRS asked for companies to deduct less from our paychecks, which meant that my tax bill at the end of the year was higher than expected. (Overall my taxes did go down thanks to the tax cut. I looked at my last 7 tax returns and it is clear that after the 2017 tax cut the %s went down. When Republicans make the point that Biden will raise your taxes then it is a fair point for me.) Anyway, I believe that it is patriotic to pay taxes in order to support schools, social services and general public welfare. I wouldn't do what Trump (or others) did and try to figure out all the loopholes to get as low a tax bill as possible. I didn't decline or donate the money I saved in taxes thanks to Trump, but I would rather taxes go up for me (and others - specifically people much richer than me) and for those taxes to help make this country truly great / fair. 

Less Regulation - I don't always knows what specific regulations people want to get rid of when they say this, but taking it at face value I think it is fair to say most conservatives want to lower regulation. I am not sure if that means less environmental regulation, but that seems to be a constant theme from the research I've done. For me I would prefer more not less environmental regulation and it's not really that close. (I am by no means an expert on what that means, but protecting the environment seems like a worthy goal and I don't really trust Trump to do that.) Another regulation that seems like it would help the common American was the "fiduciary rule," which regulates that financial planners work in your best interest. Trump got rid of that. It seems like something so basic that any argument against it seems like a stretch. I wonder if there are conservatives who are "anti-regulation" who probably would benefit from more regulations on the companies that pollute the environment and financial advisors who sell shady products that make them money at the expense of their clients. 

Conservative judges - this will play a little bit into the next bullet point, but I am completely against conservative judges limiting our democracy by excusing gerrymandering and striking down the Voting Rights Act. Normally I think the "originalist" intent is just bs that allows judges to make whatever argument they want. Also, I was alive in 2016 when Republicans were very clear about allowing the US public to have a choice in filling the Supreme Court seat. They didn't give a moderate / relatively old judge (Merrick Garland) a hearing after Antonin Scalia died 9 months before an election. They were clear about their reasons. Now in 2020, they were completely ok confirming a much younger / much more conservative judge after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died less than 2 months before an election. It is worse than hypocrisy. It is pretending that people don't remember what happened 4 years ago. I would still be upset, but not as angry if they just said they had the power and that is how they were going to use it how they see fit. However, they try to come up with elaborate reasons on why this is ok, when they have to know that they have damaged if not destroyed the Supreme Court. (Since 1968 Democrats have won the popular vote in 7 out of 13 presidential elections, but have appointed just 4 out of 19 Supreme Court Justices. It is not fair. It's not fair especially when considering the Supreme Court helped W win, which then led to Supreme Court decisions that led to Trump winning that led to decisions that might allow him to win again. It's a cycle that reinforces itself)

Democracy - The biggest issue for me is Democracy in general. It is amazing to me that people will justify certain votes being worth more than others or that voting in general should be tough. Personally one of my strongest political beliefs is that voting should be easy and fair. Currently there is a ton of evidence that Republicans don't believe that. You can see it in their words about "real Americans" or in their actions. My home state of Mississippi doesn't allow for early voting, which is a pretty clear sign of voting suppression. What happens if on election day your car breaks down or you are sick or the voting line is too long and you need to get to your job - well you are disenfranchised in Mississippi. And people not only are ok with that, but are actively working to make sure that remains the system. Thankfully we do have early voting in Ohio, but that doesn't mean my vote for Congress matters. Ohio is an extremely gerrymandered state, so that a roughly 50/50 state goes 12/4 for Congress thanks to the wonderful work the GOP did in 2010. Gerrymandering makes votes not count. That is wrong. Another thing that makes votes not count is the electoral college. For some reason getting rid of the electoral college is now considered an extreme position....but I am really not sure why my vote should count more if I live in Ohio than if I live in Mississippi. I don't know why we would set up a system where 500 votes in Florida are more valuable than 500,000 votes in the rest of the country. Or where 70,000 votes in the Midwest would count more than 3,000,000 votes anywhere else. The electoral college is at best quirky and at worst undemocratic. 

Doubt - 

I have a lot of doubt about what is in Trump's tax returns (his audacity to say they are still under audit is amazing). 

I have a lot of doubt that he truly cares about the country and almost zero doubt that he cares about himself more than the country. 

I have a lot of doubt that he wouldn't work with foreign governments in hurting an opponent or helping himself. 

I have doubt that he hires the "best people" when so many people that worked for him end up in jail. I have doubt of his competency as a leader when the people that don't end up in jail write books and go on TV talking about how he is a narcissistic madman who is bad for the country. 

I have doubt that he is a smart person. 

I have doubts (thanks to the Bob Woodward tapes) that when it came to COVID he really wanted to do what is best for the country and that by "intentionally downplaying" the virus he didn't lead to more people dying in America than if we had picked another more truthful path. 

I have doubts that he is truly the "religion freedom" candidate when one of the first things he tried to do was ban an entire religion.

I have doubts on his record on the environment, when he doesn't seem to truly address the issues with Climate Change and stories have shown that "less regulation" often means more pollution. 

I have doubts that Mexico is paying for the wall. 

I have doubts that he has a healthcare plan.  I have zero doubt that he is being absurd when he says Republicans will protect people with pre-exisiting conditions when that only happened in this country because of President Obama's administration. 

I have doubts that Trump fired the FBI Director (Comey) for the right reasons....just like I have doubts about Trump firing the inspector generals. 

I have a lot of doubts about the ethical moves of Trump's personal decisions. 

I have doubts on most of the conspiracy theories Trump throws out there and I don't know if he thinks they are true or if he knows they are false but thinks they might help him out. 

I have doubts that he is the "least racist person" with a history that includes the Central Park 5, birtherism and refusing to rent to Black tenants in the 1970s. I have doubts that it speaks highly of him that the best argument against him being racist is that he is just a jerk to everyone.

I have doubts that he is the best candidate against "cancel culture" when he routinely is asking people to boycott things and has talked numerous times of canceling people, companies, etc. 

I have doubts that that the rest of the world thinks more positively about America with him as our leader. 

I have serious doubts about reducing immigration or reducing the number of foreign students (either directly or indirectly by making America less appealing) in our colleges won't have serious consequences to our economy and world standing

I have doubts on Trump sticking up to China and doubts that his tariffs have helped our country. 

I have doubts on his critique of socialism when his subsidies to farmers seems to be (by most conservative's definition) to be socialism. 

I have doubts that if he wins we still will be a democracy and won't fall into some authoritarian country where voting no longer matters and is strictly ceremonial. 

I have doubts that I would be able to look my children in the eye if I voted for such a terrible person who I believe puts himself over our country.

Final- Do I have doubts about Biden? Yes - that section would be a lot shorter and also more picky. Overall he seems like a good person who is moderate left and will hopefully bring the temperature of this country down a little bit. I don't want to care about politics as much and I think a Biden presidency would be a lot less of pretty much everything. I don't want to be shocked by what my President writes on Twitter or says on TV. I would like to elect a relatively normal person that can help our country get back to a more normal time. Trump unfortunately has brought out the worst in a lot of people and has made me question things about this country that I previously took for granted. Biden is at worst a generic politician, who will give boring speeches and not make much of a change. Unfortunately that is a huge improvement over our current situation. I have gone from "hope and change" to just hoping my (and others) vote counts and that we will continue to live in a democracy. It's quite the shift, but the best thing about a low point is that hopefully there is no where to go up but up. 

Layoffs

For 9 years I worked for L Brands and just writing that sentence in past tense is strange for me. I didn't think I would work there forever (common wisdom was that nobody retires from L Brands), but still after that amount of time it is still strange for it to be over. I had worked worked in Pink MP&A, Store Operations and for the last 4 years in Finance. I was promoted twice (with the last promotion happening one year ago) and during my time I had seven different managers. The job gave me the opportunity to travel from from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean and see about 200 malls in between. I was there long enough to see our paternity leave policy change from nothing (for the birth of my first child) to two weeks (for the birth of my second child) to six weeks (which I didn't take advantage of). I was there for the rise and eventual (but certainly not complete) fall of Pink. I was there in 2015 when LB's stock reached an all-time high of $100, and I was there when during the middle of COVID it dropped all the way down to $8. 

Unfortunately I am using past tense becausse I was part of the layoffs that impacted 850 of my coworkers. I knew there was a chance get let go during this round, but obviously I hoped for the best. I had been lucky to survive the great recession and then the layoffs at L Brands in 2016. I have worked for 3 large corporations for 15 years and it was my time for bad luck.

The layoffs happened obviously during the middle of a pandemic, so it had to be through Microsoft Teams. And it just so happened that it was when I was on vacation in Florida, which made it stranger. It all started with an email the night before announcing that 1) layoffs were happening tomorrow 2) people would get "transition meetings" on their calendar, which could mean anything from being let go to getting a new job or a new boss. I didn't sleep well that night - especially since I got a "transition meeting" for 11am. I thought (correctly it turns out) that an early morning meeting was bad because normally companies do layoffs first in the day. We also had an 8:30am meeting, where our department leader explained that yes layoffs were happening. (Thanks for compounding my lack of sleep with an early morning meeting that reinforced the thing we already knew.) So I listened in on the 8:30am call and then just waited. My family went to the beach. I waited. The "good" news is that at 11am I knew immediately that I was let go because the two people on the call (my HR partner and my boss's boss) both look very sad. I tried keeping my composure and asked the questions that I had just googled (it's not a good sign to be googling "what to ask if you are let go"). And then I went to the beach and tried to enjoy my time with my family and forget what just happened.

I wish I could say I handled it all well, but I had many sleepless nights rehearsing questions that would likely never be fully answered. Also, I had a brief panic attack after thinking about the challenges of finding a job during this job market. I'm not one of the people who believes "everything happens for a reason" and I was really struggling with the "why me" part of the layoffs. I had been doing a good job (again I was just promoted last year) and i worked in a critical area for the company. But eventually I picked myself up and started reaching out to contacts. It's not that I was sad about losing my job, but I still needed to try and find a new job.

Thankfully things seem to be working out on the job search standpoint. I recently accepted a Senior Manager of Testing role with DSW. I am thrilled for the role and the opportunity to build out my own team. It will be a new company with a new group of coworkers, but thankfully the role itself is familiar. I wish I had some big way of ending this, but I don't. There is no grand lesson, but a lot of smaller lessons I've learned through this whole thing. Those lessons will have to wait for another blog post.

Coronavirus update

It's really strange because both a lot of things seem to be happening and nothing seems to happen at the exact same time. Since the last update two months from now the big family update was that we decided to send L & J to camp. It was a different camp than normal with rules to prevent the spread of COVID and for a long time things worked out great! We would drop them off at 8am and pick them up at 5pm. They enjoyed camp and we enjoyed being able to do work during the day.

And then their camp counselor tested positive for COVID and camp ended. Here is the timeline:

• Thursday, July 2nd - the last day L & J were in camp with the counselor who ended up testing positive
• Friday, July 3rd - because it was the day before the 4th of July we took them out of camp in the morning before they went back that afternoon to participate in the "water games." We then got a call and an email saying that their counselor "has been in the same facility as someone who tested positive for COVID-19."
• Sunday, July 5th - we got the following email:  "We wanted to make you are aware of the counselor in the program who got tested for Covid-19 on Friday’s results, unfortunately the results came back as positive." That email ended camp for L & J. They would need to be quarantined for 2 weeks and then we were going to pull them out the last week as an extra precaution before our trip to Florida with my parents and sister's family.
• Wednesday, July 8th - we take the girls to a parking lot at Nationwide to get tested for Coronavirus. After waiting in a car line for about 45 minutes we got L tested....it was supposed to be both girls, but for some reason the hospital didn't have the test request for both L & J, so we could only get L tested. This was not a fun experience for L. They put a swab in her nose and scraped around for 10 seconds. Everyone was rewarded with ice cream after.
• Friday, July 10th - we got the call saying Lucy's results were negative! This was great news even though the two caveats were that there is a good chance the the test could be a false negative (and she actually is positive) and it didn't matter in terms of going back to camp. We were told that both girls still needed to stay away from camp for the full 2 weeks of Quarantine. Nothing like paying for a full 7 weeks of camp, while only getting 4 weeks. We've had a lot of experience in paying for things (CMEC and camp) that we don't end up using

Anyway, we are now doing the work / kids at home balancing act like before. The good news is that after we make it the next two weeks, we will have some time off in Florida.

This whole thing has been so weird. On one hand it was great that we were able to get L tested (and that her results were negative) and that the results came back in only two days (I've heard its a lot more in other areas). The bad news is that camp was still canceled and the potential for a false negative is still scary. People could get a negative result and then go around infecting other people. This virus and entire situation is just so strange to be dealing with and I just hope that it ends soon.

Cold Turkey

It's just different. I was listening to a podcast the other day between Bill Simmons and Chuck Klosterman (two writers I enjoy reading) and Klosterman was making the point that this is the first national story that has ever directly impacted his day to day life. The three big national events since I turned 18 were:

1. 9/11
2. Hurricane Katrina
3. 2007/ 2008 Financial Crisis

I am not including elections in the above list, but you could include the 2008 and 2016 elections if you wanted to expand this to 5. Regardless those 5 events changed how I thought about certain things / people and certainly had a major impact on our country....but my day to day life was essentially unchanged. Now I understand that by writing that I am highlighting my good luck and privilege, but it is also the truth. Nothing really compares to this current moment. It's just different.

There are so many differences that it's hard to even know where to start. I keep going back to the feeling like this is just one big "cold turkey" experiment. What would happen if we gave up dining out, traveling, sports, school, working in the office, etc? If you had asked me to give up any one of those things for Lent, I would have immediately balked at the suggestion. And now we are giving all of those things up all at once? It's been quite the life change (my daughter is brushing her American Girl doll one foot away from me as I write this) that brings up more questions than answer. Here are the top 5 questions:

1. When will this end?
2. What will post-corona-virus world look like? 
3. How many people will die? 
4. Will there be an analysis on what we as a country did well and what we could improve upon next time?
5. What are the big things that I am not even thinking about? 

I don't really have a good answer to any of those questions. There is an ongoing debate between continuing to practice social distancing versus reopening the economy. People engaging in this debate seem to be very confident about their argument. I am much less confident. I am extremely worried about both the health aspects of the virus (and thus the need for proper social distancing) and also the economic and mental health issues that come from social distancing. I don't know the right answer for and just hope that leaders (ex. Governors, CEOs, etc) are getting accurate information and are making decisions that appropriately measures risk. (I purposely didn't include our current President, because he seems completely ill equipped to deal with this crisis. Every single day he does or says something that boggles my mind.)

In terms of our family, M and I have gotten into a routine and we have no plans to change that in the near future. I go on a long walk every day while listening to either book or a podcast. We generally watch a movie at night. We try to get the kids to go on a bike ride or a walk. During the week we both work while also trying to entertain / teach L and J. This is tricky. We have 3 meals a day from home...breakfast is normally cereal, lunch is either leftovers or sandwiches and then we try out a meal for dinner. I feel like our cooking has been pretty good and I am pleased with how that is going. As a treat during the weekend we order out (pizza, sushi and tacos). We have seen a few people from 6 feet apart, but really our interactions with people are much, much lower than in the pre-quarantine world. We are acting like we have the virus and basically are just staying at home.

Now how will I think about this in 10 years? That was another interesting perspective in the Simmons / Klosterman podcast. Klosterman brought up that in 10 years we will be getting all these opinion pieces in 10 years about how the quarantine had many benefits since families got spend a lot of quality time together. In some cases we don't even have to wait 10 years to get some articles like this one from The Atlantic: My Family Needed A Reset, Quarantine Gave Us One. I wonder how I will think about this. Will I look back on this fondly? Will this be a pivot point where so many things change? (Examples that have been brought up: universal basic income, more working from home, medicare for all, change in retail / restaurants) Will this be just a minor blip and we as a country and individually as a family revert back to normal? As of now there are just significantly more questions than answers.

Life during the Coronavirius

Time for another update! Not much has really changed, since my last post. We are still in quarantine, which means work, play, home cooked meals, bike rides, movies, etc. I can't tell if time is going quickly (it's been a full month of this) or slowly (is it only 9am?). In some ways time doesn't really exist besides the fact that Monday - Friday are still work days for the grown ups and school days (well at least partial school days) for the kids.

Anyway, I've been reading a baseball writer from New Albany named Craig Calcaterra a good bit. He is very active with twitter and is doing a daily Pandemic Diaries. I can't come close to keeping up with a daily diary....despite the fact that I am not doing anything away from home, I still feel plenty busy enough with work, playing with my daughters, cooking at home, going on bike rides, movies, etc.  Anyway, I liked the question and answer portion from his post last week and thought I would play along:

When was the last day you went in to work?

Monday, March 16th. The week before was one of the strangest week's of my life and I tried to go with the day to day recap in my last post. L Brands hadn't officially made the call for all of us to work from home, so I was at work on that Monday. I had an idea it might be my last day at the office, and sure enough when I left work that day I took my monitor and my docking station, so that I could set up a proper home office.

When did your state or city order everyone to stay at home?

March 23rd - but by that time nothing really changed for us....we were already home quarantined

Has there been a particular change to your lifestyle that has been difficult to make or accept? 

So the options would be travel, sports, dining out, working from home and hanging out with friends. I feel like the decision comes down to the final two. I miss traveling with our family (and canceling our Spring Break trip wasn't fun), but this just feels like one of those times where we in between trips. Dining out is also something I miss, but I enjoy cooking and sometimes with young kids it is just easier to have meals at home. Sports is obviously a huge part of my life, but I can watch old Duke games and read plenty of articles on the NFL draft and retrospectives on favorite players, games, etc. So it comes down working from home and hanging out with friends. All things considered working from home has been the most difficult to accept. I generally like my job / coworkers and miss the normal work life. Also, it is tough to do my job, support M with her job and have both of us try and teach / play with the kids. 

What do you miss the most?

I definitely miss hanging out with friends. Bexley is a close community and it is really tough not having dinners and time with our friends in the neighborhood. It is hard for the kids to tell them to be socially distanced from their friends. I would give up travel, sports and dining out before I gave up just normal interactions among friends. 

What is the most unusual thing you have noticed since this crisis began?

I am not sure if this is the most unusual thing, but a random observation is seeing how my kids handle the situation. My 3 year old will sometimes lead the family prayer before dinner and almost always ends it with something like "and I hope the coronavirus doesn't get us." Also, she will talk about how she wants to travel to the beach "on the first day the coronavirus is gone." She doesn't seem to be negatively impacted by this quarantine, but she definitely has an understanding that something unusual is happening now. I find it fascinating how she is processing this situation. 

Do you know anyone who has COVID-19?

Yes - someone I went to high school (and the brother of a friend) as well as someone on my K Academy team. When I found out about those two people having it, it really hit home more than just reading about the virus. 

Do you know anyone who had died from complications related to COVID-19?

No

How long do you think it will be before the stay-at-home order is lifted in your community?

No idea - I would be thrilled if life was back to normal by Memorial Day.

Will you immediately return to your normal routine after the stay-at-home order is lifted? Or will you wait before returning to normal? If you’ll wait, how much longer will you do so?

I can't imagine any of this will be like a light switch, where it goes from abnormal (or the "new normal" as so many people keep saying) to normal. I feel like it will be gradual. 

What’s the first thing you want to do when the stay-at-home order is lifted?

I am going to cheat and say 3 things: 1) go on a date with M and without the kids 2) plan a new trip using some of the credits we got from Delta 3) go play basketball with friends - I had been on a pretty good routine playing basketball 1-2 a week and would love to get back to that.

Have you been ordering food out from local restaurants (carry-out or delivery)?

No. We have thought about it, but haven't ordered any food out in a month. Normally we have enough food from our large grocery store trips. 

How often have you been going to the grocery store?

Once a week. We generally buy a lot, but still feel like we need replenishments after about 7 days.

Will you wear a mask when you go out?

Yes - I didn't the last time, but would like to try and be cautions

Do you think other people have been taking this crisis seriously?
Yes - there seems to be some people who have downplayed the virus initially, but most people seem to be taking it seriously. Of course I talk to a lot less people that before so who knows if my sample size is large enough.

Do you think people have been over-reacting to this situation?
I'm not sure, but I don't think so. When so many different people and organizations come to the same conclusion it seems like either one big example of group think or everyone is reacting appropriately.

How many people do you think will eventually die from COVID-19?
I don't really want to guess that. 

Do you think schools will re-open yet this year?

I just found out that they wouldn't....but we kind of have been anticipating schools would be closed for the year. 

Do you think that summer sports like baseball will occur?
Yes - in some capacity. There will likely be games with no fans first.

What is one thing you have done since this crisis started that you don’t usually do?
Good question....I still do a lot of the same things I used to do (cooking, walks, playing with the kids, etc) but now I just do more of it. Essentially any home activity has increased.

Is there anything that has changed in your life since this crisis began that you hope to keep after the crisis ends?

Our personal budget is pretty amazing from a spending perspective, and I would love to keep that going in the future. I am hoping that this slows life down a little bit and that we can find a happy medium between our old life (trips + dining out) and our new life (saving more money, but with less experiences). It's going to be tough to balance because experiences are really fun (and presumably could be good for the children), but I do like the idea (at least in theory) of running a tighter budget.