Healthy and Safe

[kyyote]

It kind of breaks my heart to see the Den empty.  I certainly understand.  It is hard to talk UTEP Miners sports when they are horrible, but even harder when the don't exist at all.  I hope that you all are safe and your health has not been affected by this pandemic or the related effects caused by it.  How does it go, Austintacious?  Patience Jackass, patience!  We are Miners fans, so waiting for good football teams has definitely taught us to have patience.  This situation will be over much sooner than we will have a good football tam, so there is that.  Right now, trying to keep things in perspective, stay safe, do your best to stay healthy and help make sure that others are able to, also.  Take this time to try and do something positive.  Don't dwell on the negative.  Maybe this is a lesson for us about Miners' sports.  Hang in there.  Look at things with a positive attitude.  I feel like Dimel hasn't made the team worse and time is ticking away on his term without him just raising my blood pressure and pissing me off, so that is a plus.  I mean, seriously, we are stuck with him for the immediate future because we can't buy him off, but right now I honestly feel that no damage is better than more damage.  We are simply losing opportunities and time for him to add his stink.  The air around the Durham Center is kind of like the smog in Los Angeles, the quality of it has improved.  The team hasn't been able to practice.  LOL.  That is probably a good thing.  If and when they play again, the losses, if they come will have a built in excuse.  And if we will, it will show that we do better when he can't practice the team.  A win win situation, for sure.  As for the Bball team, the conference gave up and went home after we lost, so that was kind of a f*ck "em  to the rest of the conference, and I am ok with that.  lol  None of those bastards can shove it in our face.  The way I see it, we have gone from darkness to not darkness.  No light, that is true, but we aren't still wandering in the dark, bumping into things and hurting our shins.  Soon, we will have some light.  Hand in there.  Oh, wash your hands and don't touch your face. 

[Minermojo]

Yep, it's a shame we don't have UTEP sports to biatch about. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder.

What are you guys doing to pass the time with your families and yourselves? I'm in the Spin Room every day because I can find out what's happening about two days before the news outlets give you a story or a fake story depending on who you watch.

Right now as in every spring I get into my planting OCD and start working on my yard. It's a job I love to hate and hate to love. Every year after spring my wife and I tell ourselves, "that's it, we're done planting we don't need any more plants", and every year we find something we like better and either replace it or add to it. I just removed all the rocks in the middle planter and cleaned it with a sieve of sorts to add to other planters where time has made it sparser. I just planted a three colored Bouganvilla in the middle that came in the mail this morning. I hope it takes. It's hard enough with plants you buy locally but this one came in the mail. We like buying our plants at Lowes and Home Depot because their warranty is for one year. Many times Eastside Nursery has a much bigger assortment but their warranty is only for 3 months on bushes and trees and none on regular plants so you take chances. It's funny that I complain about gardening but if it wasn't for that I'd be twiddling my thumbs and getting fatter. It's what keeps me active and "good looking". LOL When I come in after working on the yard my wife tells me I smell like a old wet rag and you guys (that physically work) know what I'm talking about, but I have to agree. I do stink but it's a good stink because I know that I accomplished something that I can see and enjoy throughout the summer and early fall. There's always something that needs to be done if you own a home, that is, if you do it. If you don't give a crap well then you won't worry about it. It pisses me off to see some of the nice homes where guys spend good money and don't give a crap about how your home looks. They say the way you maintain your home shows how you live your life.

One time growing up we lived in a tenement. My mother would get up and sweep the dirt, yes dirt. and then tamp it down with water. I asked her one time why she did that if it wasn't even our house and we didn't have grass. She told me, "mi'jo, it's one thing to be poor and another to live like a pig". Those words took in my heart and I've live by them all my life.

[SisyphusMiner]

We would be entering the long dark purgatory between basketball and football summer camp so it's usually pretty quiet anyway.

And the state of UTEP sports is depressing.  The light at the end of the tunnel isn't even an oncoming train.  It's the flames of Hell.

Hey, maybe Keitha would come coach the men's team on the cheap.  I feel like that would be an upgrade and get us lots of press.

[kyyote]

You can bet, the team could make a layup!

[Austintacious]

I'm busy teaching online.  Some anonymous kid draws a penis on the screen and I boot him out.  Another lays a profanity barrage and I kick him out.  Funny thing, only my students got the entrance code and these two won't be able to log in again to learn and do the assignments. 

I check the board and read it.  Sad, but true.  I read the EP Times and not much there.  Everyone stay home and be safe. 

[Minermojo]

You can bet, the team could make a layup!

Yep, one of my biggest gripes with Miners basketball. It's amazing that those tall guys couldn't make a simple layup. Heck, it was one of the most stressed shots when I played BB. We knew how to use the backboard to make the layup even at a fairly far distance. Not these Miners. They're like my grandson when he was in kids basketball he would just lob it at the direction of the hoop without using common sense.

[SisyphusMiner]

Maxey would just stuff it.  Forget shooting, just jam the damn thing in.

[kyyote]

That is what I want from our 7 footers.  I want them to let the other tam know that if they get close, their hands, wrists, or arms will be broken.

[liebestraum]

Like Austintacious, I have  been teaching online since mid-March.  Unfortunately, my college students have not been as, uh, interesting in their posts as his students have been.  I have experience teaching online - graduate classes - so part of the transition was not hard, but the big difference is the undergrads did not sign up for online classes, so the transition was hard.  Early on, I got quite a few e-mails from them worried about passing the class because they struggle with mathematics and worry virtual teaching will make things worse.

I will say I certainly never expected my last semester of teaching to end like this.  On a positive note, the university will award me Professor Emeritus status once I retire.  Getting this designation is not easy, but it is mostly honorary.  The title and $1.75 will allow me to get a soft drink out of the vending machines we have on our floor.

But I just stay at home mostly.  I am supposed to be high risk: over 65, diabetic, hypertensive.  I still do my daily walks, so I do not really have cabin fever.

As for UTEP sports, well, we would probably not be getting much right now, even if this were a normal spring.  Like the rest of us, I continue to hope for better times ahead.

Stay safe, folks.

lieb

[SisyphusMiner]

Happy Easter all.  Enjoy your family, and if this day has spiritual meaning to you, may the isolation enable some additional reflection on it, and how it can apply to uncertain times.  The apostles had scattered and were afraid, and then everything changed on Easter.

[FarWestTexas]

Congrats Lieb!

[Minermojo]

Good job Lieb. You deserve it. Enjoy your retirement. From someone who's been retired for, um, 18 years now you'll have to find a hobby or it'll be hard. I enjoy the back yard and fishing so there's two things. Now that my wife is sick  I'm her caregiver and takes up a LOT of time. So I'm pretty busy now.

[Austintacious]

Mojo, I hope your wife's illness is only temporary.  If not, you have my sympathy and prayers.  I was my father-in-law's caretaker.  I met all his needs.  He was 88 years old and needed help getting in and out of bed, preparing his medications and feeding him.  He passed last month but it feels like he's still around.  God bless you. 

[ATL-Miner]

From my own experience, I can say being a senior caretaker is one of the most difficult jobs.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Mojo, I hope your wife's illness is only temporary.  If not, you have my sympathy and prayers.  I was my father-in-law's caretaker.  I met all his needs.  He was 88 years old and needed help getting in and out of bed, preparing his medications and feeding him.  He passed last month but it feels like he's still around.  God bless you.