There Are Stories Every Time We Breathe

Today's another too many blog reminders there are stories. There is a story every day. There is a story every second. You don't have a story every day; for example, you don't write to your parents you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I don't have a story every day. 99.9999% of the daily stories the world doesn't know. There are too many. You don't know them all. I don't know them all. 99.9999% of the 0.001% of the daily stories the world does know the world doesn't care. Almost all of the 0.001% are boring--not newsworthy for anyone's time. Feedbacks, responses, and reactions are opinions. Regardless, live your life by creating stories. Do you best to create intelligent stories.

Update On A Past Blog

Perhaps, there are stories can be another life guarantee. I wrote a blog titled My Six Guarantees on Dec 11, 2021. Benjamin Franklin said two of my six guarantees which are death and taxes. My four guarantees are everyone is weird, everyone changes, everyone has problems, and there are 24 hours in a day and seven days a week.

Emotionally Draining

The 2023 Major League Baseball playoffs saw all three teams with 100 or more regular season wins eliminated in the best of five divisional rounds. The 90-win Philadelphia Phillies defeated the 104-win Atlanta Braves 3-1. The 90-win Texas Rangers defeated the 101-win Baltimore Orioles 3-0. The 84-win Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the 100-win Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0. The Dodgers and Orioles were the first time multiple 100-win teams who didn't win a postseason game. The Orioles were never swept during the regular season.

In addition, the Rangers defeated the 99-win Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 in a best of three wild card round. The Diamondbacks defeated the 92-win Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 in a best of three wild card round.

Full disclosure. I watched zero innings of the wild card and divisional playoffs. I'm not a professional sports journalist. I share my intuitive opinion. I believe winning 100 or more games was too hard. The 2023 season was emotionally draining. There are past 100+ win teams winning the World Series; for instance, the 2022 Houston Astros won 106 games, the 2018 Boston Red Sox won 108 games, the 2016 Chicago Cubs won 103 games, and the 1998 New York Yankees won 114 games. According to Wikipedia List of Major League Baseball 100 win seasons, 116 teams won 100 or more regular season games in a season as of the end of the 2023 season. 68 of the 116 teams played in the World Series (.586). 38 of the 68 teams won the World Series (.559). 38 of the 116 total teams won the World Series (.328).

The three 100+ win teams experienced winning emotional fatigue. The winning high was over when the postseason began. The winning feeling was over when the postseason began. Supplemental emotions or auxiliary emotions were required to reach 100+ wins. The three teams clinched a postseason spot. The 100+ wins meant nothing if the teams couldn't win postseason games. I'm sure physical fatigue and mental fatigue were nonfactors. Winning inspirations were jaded. No winning emotions feelings. No championship.

Emotional energy is unsustainable. Emotional energy depletes faster than physical energy and mental energy. Emotional energy is the easiest to achieve maximum. Emotional energy is the easiest to achieve empty. Physical and mental are more important than emotional. Skills, abilities, and knowledge are more important than feeling good. Is motivation or desire an emotional feeling? Is motivation or desire a spiritual feeling? Or is motivation or desire mental for which motivation is a state of mind? I have said motivation is more important than intelligence. I may have contradicted myself.

Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.

Human Influence

Another possibility is rigged games. Las Vegas casinos and sports bookies influences the games for which the underdogs won the series.

The National League Championship Series best of seven Phillies lead the Diamondbacks 2-1. The American League Championship Series best of seven Astros and Rangers are tied 2-2. Both series standings are as of today's blog.

Full Information Acquired

A person feels good when everything is fully understood. All information acquired. The person has the knowledge. The truth is known. All lies are called out. The feeling is free. Relaxation. Relief. Acceptance. It's like small claims court television shows. The judge knows the facts. The judge issues a judgement.

Regardless, the person must keep the door open. Investigations, research, job assignments, plans, due diligence, and learning are examples. New information can be discovered. The full information is incomplete. Mistakes are made. Changes are made. New opinions are expressed. Circumstances alter the knowledge. Facts are questioned. Always keep the eyes, ears, sound, taste, and touch senses open for anything new.

Too Much Fun Is Too Dumb

Minimal brain thinking is needed for most fun activities. The purpose of fun is resting the brain. The purpose of leisure is relaxing the brain. A brain is not needed to watch TV, watch YouTube, play video games, and browse social media. There is a limit on fun. A fun life 24 hours a day is not fun. A fun life 24 hours a day is counterproductive. A fun life 24 hours a day the brain becomes dumb. Intelligence decreases by eating too much processed foods, having too much sex, and accumulating fun junk. Although, there was a Seinfeld episode titled The Abstinence where George became smarter when he couldn't have sex with his girlfriend due to mononucleosis; on the other hand, Elaine became dumber because she didn't have sex with his boyfriend to help him successfully pass his medical licensing exam.

How does a person live an intelligent life and live a fun life? My answer is fun and intelligence are the outcomes after work is completed. Work is done. Daily goals are successful. Intelligence is either maintained or increased. However, don't work to maintain intelligence indefinitely. Find new work to increase intelligence. Fun is rewarded. Furthermore, physical fitness is required, plenty of sleep is required, and financial discipline is personally enforced.

Ignorance is bliss. On the other hand, use your brain or lose your brain.

Boredom Is Better Than The Alternatives

Good health, decent shelter, books to read, a bed to sleep eight hours, good intelligence, and no debt. These are boring. These boring are better than alternatives. The alternatives include bad health such as chronic sickness, shelter too cold during the winter, illiteracy, less than six hours of sleep, poor mental comprehension, and rolling debt into debt.

The assignment is complete. The project is final. *fill in the blank* is successful. The task is finished. Take everything one at a time. The process is not boring looking back. The process is not boring connecting the dots backwards.

Boredom is better than doing nothing. Motivation is not boredom. Motivation is better than doing nothing.

Update On A Past Blog

I posted my Inspiration Cheer Up on my webpage. Click Inspiration Cheer Up File to download the .pdf format. The file is as-is with explicit edits. I mentioned the Inspiration Cheer Up at Why Do I Pray? on Aug 3, 2014. I mentioned reading the Inspiration Cheer Up is part of my spirituality at My Spirituality Discovery on Jan 11, 2015. The Inspiration Cheer Up is my personal bible.

Some Poor People Wake Up Early To Get The Worm

The early bird gets the worm is a common life wisdom. Some successful people believe poor people sleep late at night and wake up late the next day. Some rich people believe poor people are lazy there's no need to wake up in the morning. The sleep late and laziness are incorrect.

Money is a motivator. Lack of money is also a motivator. Some poor people wake up early to get the sale. Some poor people arrive early for assistance. The early bird gets the worm applies to all people. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, coupons, limited supply, grand openings, pandemics, and YOLOs. It's life.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog September 2023

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. COVID-19 positive rates increase. Mask mandates are coming back. People tired of the summer heat are looking forward to cooler weather.

Mon Sep 4. First lady Dr. Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time. Mild symptoms. President Joe Biden tested negative. The first lady was isolated at their home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The first time Dr. Biden tested positive was Aug 16, 2022.

Tue Sep 7. Watched the fourth quarter at the five minute mark of the first 2023 NFL season game Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs.

Fri Sep 8. Shopped for books at Books, Inc.

Sun Sep 10. Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted no huge hospitalization and death rates given the recent increase in COVID-19 infections. Fauci said the chances are low because of vaccines and immunity. Fauci was formerly the White House pandemic adviser. He's currently a professor at Georgetown University. Fauci doesn't believe the government imposes mask mandates.

Mon Sep 11. The Food And Drug Administration (FDA) approved updated COVID-19 vaccines Pfizer-Bio N Tech and Moderna which targets the omicron variant XBB.1.5. The two vaccines are approved for people age 12 and older. The two vaccines are approved for emergency use for children age 6 months through 11 years old. These vaccines use messenger RNA which teaches cells how to make proteins triggering an immune response against COVID-19. The vaccines don't target the current dominant variants; however, the vaccines provide protection against the current dominant variants. EG.5 or Eris is the dominant strain mutated from omicron or a descendent from omicron representing 21.5% of all cases. XBB.1.5 is declining.

Vaccine manufacturers sell their vaccines to private markets instead of the federal government because the US COVID-19 public health emergency ended in May 2023. Private insurers and government medical programs such as Medicare pay for the vaccines. 17% of the US population received the Sep 2022 booster according to the Center For Disease Control (CDC).

Wed Sep 12.The CDC approved the latest COVID-19 vaccines for people age 6 and older.

Shopped at Lucky supermarket.

Sat Sep 16. Shopped at Lucky supermarket.

Tue Sep 19. Shopped at Lowe's, Costco, and The Home Depot.

The CDC reported hospitalizations increased 7.7% from 19,068 in Sep 9 to 20,538. The last time hospitalizations reached 20,000 was Mar 2023. Hospitalizations was 150,674 on Jan 15, 2022 during omicron.

The Sonoma County health officer Dr. Karen Smith ordered health care workers who work with patients to wear face masks starting Nov 1, 2023 and ending Apr 30, 2024. The facilities affected include hospitals, clinics, and any indoor patient care building.

Wed Sep 20. American households can receive at-home COVID-19 tests for free. Each household requests four free tests at covidtests.gov. President Biden said the administration provided $600 million for 200 million more COVID-19 tests.

Thur Sep 21. The federal government isn't paying for the COVID-19 vaccine. Some people said their insurance isn't covering the $125 to $190 vaccine cost. One suggestion is contact the insurance company for a reimbursement. The federal government can pay for the vaccine for people who pays a co-payment or for the uninsured with the Bridge Across Program for 2023. Some counties offer free vaccines at clinics for those who qualify. COVID-19 vaccines should be covered by insurance.

New masking orders in the Bay Area. Masks are required for all health care facilities except for children under 2, people with pre-existing medical conditions, hearing impaired, or wearing a mask creates a work risk problem in Santa Clara County. Masks are required for all health care facilities and jails in San Francisco County. All people in health care facilities must wear masks in Alameda County. All health care workers in all health care facilities must wear masks in Contra Costa County; however, patients or visitors don't need to wear masks. All people in health care facilities must wear masks starting on Nov 1, 2023 in San Mateo County. Masks are required for all health care facilities, homeless shelters, and jails in Marin County. Napa County and Solano County follow the mask mandate state guidelines.

Sat Sep 23. Quick errands at O'Reilly Auto and Chevron.

Mon Sep 25. A scientific research published in Nature found differences in blood for long COVID-19 patients compared to non-long COVID-19 patients. Long COVID-19 patients have lower levels of the cortisol hormone. Cortisol makes a person feel alert and awake. Long COVID-19 is a biological illness. 18 million Americans experience long COVID-19 in 2022 according to the CDC.

Merck's antiviral drug Molnupiravir can cause the virus to mutate. The drug was one of the first available to doctors. The drug weakens or destroys the virus and reduces the amount of COVID-19. However, COVID-19 can survive treatment resulting in mutated versions spreading to other people. Molnupiravir is sold under the brand name Lageviro. There is no evidence the drug produced more COVID-19 variants. The study was published in Nature journal. Worldwide sales dropped from $1 billion in the third quarter of 2022 to $200 million in the third quarter of 2023.

Wed Sep 27. The Department Of Health And Human Services announced medical insurance companies pay for the latest COVID-19 vaccine. The companies said technical problems caused their clients to be charged for the vaccine.

Thur Sep 28. Masks are mandatory in hospitals and nursing facilities in Marin County starting on Nov 1, 2023 and ending on Mar 31, 2024. Children under the age 6 and people with valid medical reasons are exempted. Masks are recommended in medical clinics and outpatient health care settings.

Fri Sep 29. Shopped at Smart & Final and Costco. There were more shoppers at the 10am hour. More people wore masks.