2195 Woodlawn Road in Northbrook: $1,899,000 | Listed on Mar. 14, 2020
This 5,506-square-foot home has six bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms and custom millwork. The kitchen features white cabinetry, granite counters and an island with a sink. A fireplace completes the family room. Heated floors, a tub and shower can be found inside the master bathroom. The master bedroom includes two walk-in closets. The lower level has a recreation room, 1,200-bottle wine cellar, wet bar and game room. Outside there is a covered patio with a ceiling fan and gas fire pit.
Every day, at around four pm central time, Donald Trump holds a press briefing. It’s his opportunity to update the nation on the coronavirus crisis. This is the type of content we are getting from the current president of the United States:
“Did you know I was number one on Facebook? I just found out I was number one on Facebook. I thought it was nice. For whatever it means, it represents something.”
Good to know, Don. Most of America is scared shitless right now. We’re doing all we can to stay alive and this is the inane mindless narrative you’re spouting? By the way Don, Obama is still way ahead of you on Facebook. How does that make you feel?
It’s this kind of crap that cause me to stop watching his daily show. Yeah, there’s usually a piece or two of useful information, but it’s tough to sort that out from all the useless information. It’s tough to sort that out from all of his self-aggrandizing chatter. I figured it was easier to get that when I watch the news and they show a recap. You save yourself from a couple of hours of dead brain cells each day.
I hung in as long as possible. Even when we all knew what Donnie was telling us were lies, I stuck around. The lies were nothing new. We’ve been hearing them for more than three years. It’s just more of the same old, same old. I thought the key information we were getting was worth dealing with the lies. I admit to being wrong.
There were a few things that drove me over the edge:
It started when he attacked Peter Alexander of NBC News. Pete asked him a simple question. It was a softball that Trump could have used to assure an anxious nation that we were on the right track and that all would be okay. Trump went in the other direction. He attacked Alexander, the media in general and went into his fake news bit.
Next there’s Mike Pence. This is the guy who is supposedly the leader of the Coronavirus task force. He does have a calm way of speaking that is almost reassuring. He also occasionally gives relevant infomation. But, he loses all credibility because he can’t stop his constant sucking up to Trump. It’s as if he’s programmed to say “at the direction of the President” or because of the leadership of this President.” Hey, Mike…it’s over the top, dude. It’s way too much. You’ve already got the job. Have a little self-respect, although that went down the drain when you attached yourself to Don in 2016.
The worst was when he banished Dr. Anthony Fauci from a couple of the briefings. The one person who stands at the podium who has any expertise on the subject and he’s not there because whenever he speaks,Trump’s ego takes a beating. If Fauci isn’t there, there isn’t a single reason to watch.
So that’s the gist of why I stopped watching. Apparently I’m not the only one. CNN and MSNBC have stopped full coverage of these gabfests. They only broadcast what is relevant and will even break in when Trump tells a blatant lie. Fact checking in real time. Our local stations have also stopped televising the briefings. That must really hurt Trump because the reason he set the time for the late afternoon was to have this shown on those channels instead of the real news.
However, when I decided to write this, I decided to give him one more chance. I have to be fair, right? So I watched Wednesday, until he came up with the Facebook thing. That was enough for one day. But, then I came back the next day. One final chance! It started out fine. Steven Mnuchin gave very important information about the economy and the checks we’re all supposedly going to get in the next two weeks. I’m a bit skeptical about that, but we’ll see. But then Jared Kushner hit the stage. Why? What qualification does he have to be anywhere in this administration other than he sleeps with Ivanka? In a life or death crisis, we’re getting direction from Jared Kushner instead of Dr. Fauci, who was missing in action again?
That was the final straw. I turned off the television and went for a walk.
That’s it for me and the press briefings. I gave Don every possible chance and he failed…again. I suppose it shouldn’t have been a surprise. It’s nothing new. Fool me once, yada, yada, yada. I know there’s something better to occupy my time. One of our local stations has an hour of the Family Feud. Hmmmm…Steve Harvey gushing over ten people he’s never met has to be better than the briefing. At least there will be two good families on stage. That’s much better than the one horrible family pretending to save our lives.
My so called friends think it’s time to edit this section. After four years, they may be right, but don’t tell them that. I’ll deny it until they die!
I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for four years.
It started as a health/wellness thing and over the years has morphed to include so many things that I don’t know how to describe it anymore.
I really thought this was going to be the final year of the blog but then Donald Trump came along. It looks like we’re good for four more years..God help us all!
Oh yeah…the biographical stuff. I’m not 60 anymore. The rest you can read about in the blog.
With coronavirus causing most people in Chicago and the United States to stay at home for the foreseeable future, streaming services have become more popular than ever.
On Netlix, “Tiger King,” a documentary series focused on Joe Exotic and other characters in the exotic animal world, has captured the attention of the nation.
Take a look at the best tweets from Chicagoans about the series below.
When I heard the news that Chicago was being asked to shelter at home, the first thing I did was check out my home inventory. It comes as a shock to many people but this organizer is bulk shopper. I am fortunate to have quite a bit of space in my condo building. Running a business and being very social leaves me little time to shop and run errands. I make a monthly trek out to Costco and an amazon order each month. And yes, I go to the grocery store once to twice a week.
Instead of running out to the store and blindly buying everything in site(who is hoarding the bisquik?), take a moment and evaluate what you really need. Here are some tips to help your manage your supply.
1. Take a look at your toiletries. What do you use everyday? What do you need to buy? Its a perfect time to use up all those random supplies that you have been stashing away. You know what I am talking about. Put those little samples of lotions and shampoo into rotation. I am using up my hotel soap stash!!
2. Paper supplies. I switched to cleaning rags and cloth napkins years ago. This drastically cut down my paper usage. I do keep quite the stash of TP which is a commodity now.
3. Food- Its the perfect time to use what you have in your pantry. We are all spending more money on groceries since we are eating all our meals at home. I am a big fan of meal planning. I am been trying to make recipes to use up some of the items that I have in stock. I have been stocking up on what I can when the stores refill. I know this can be frustrating. I had to borrow flour and sugar.
4. Share when you can. We all have needs right now that cant be filled. Help each other out when possible!!!
We are all in this together! This is new to all us of. Stay busy stay sane! I am off to make banana bread!!
I’m Jerry Partacz, happily married to my wife Julie for over 40 years. I have four children and eleven grandchildren. I’m enjoying retirement after 38 years of teaching. I now have an opportunity to share my thoughts on many things. I’m an incurable optimist. I also love to solve crossword puzzles and to write light verse. I love to read, to garden, to play the piano, to collect stamps and coins, and to watch “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.
It’s a little tiring to hear the repeated attacks on President Donald Trump, accusing of paying oh-so-much attention to the stock market. As if everything he does is designed to boost the markets. To boost his own wealth.
He’s not clever enough.
Besides the markets are hugely important–for you and me.
First, it’s where so much of yours and mine pension fund money is invested. By the hour, the day and the week, pension funds are taking hits, big ones. All those people with defined benefit pensions need to be concerned. Especially Chicago and Illinois government employees, whose pension funds are at least $140 billion in the hole. Likely a lot, lot more now.
And those with defined contribution pensions mostly depend on the markets to increase or at least safeguard their investments. Retirees and those who are about to retire are seeing the quality of their life diminished. Or worse.
Second, the average American is an important part of the market. Consider this:
Individuals Own Stocks. It is households that own equities, 37.6% of total equities in the U.S., and equities represent households’ largest financial asset holdings at 38.2%. According to the Federal Reserve, 52% of HHs in the U.S. own stocks (65 million households), which shows the figure is greater than one percent of income earners (estimated at 1.6 million households). Our analysis inside this section shows that the low balance reported by the Federal Reserve – median value of $40 thousand for a household’s stock holdings – demonstrates a much wider universe of Americans own stocks.
In the interests of an even-handed approach to the pandemic, I’m linking to an article in the Bulwark that closely looks at how President Donald Trump and his administration responded to early warnings about the danger that America faced:
One thing we hear too little of during the COVID-19 quarantine crisis is the serious mental health consequences of social isolation.
How this is being left out of the public health equation is puzzling and certainly dangerous. Maybe it’s a media reaction to President Donald Trump’s raising the mental health issue, including his warning about increased suicides. You know how anything Trump says is automatically discarded as a lie or the product of a crazed mind.
Neuroscientist James Coan especially worries about those individuals requiring medical care during this pandemic, either for COVID-19 or some other condition. Many hospitals are barring visits from loved ones which makes sense to prevent the virus’ spread. But that also reduces touch when people need it most, says Coan of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. His work suggests, for instance, that handholding can reduce physical pain.
The social and economic disruption caused by isolation on a national and global scale is unprecedented and unstudied. We’re flying blind when trying to estimate the threat of the coronavirus to public health. It’s time to start considering all the consequences, some of them unintended and unseen, of such a desperate and radical change to our life style.
During the current crisis, my schedule includes “musts” like brushing my teeth and “lesser musts” like taking the dog for an official “walk,”complete with time outs for sniffing and a visit to his favorite fire hydrant. There’s a grocery store less than a block away, but I haven’t been there in two weeks.
Taking stock, I have apples and oranges in the fridge, along with some cheese, yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, milk and low-fat (but really good) peanut butter. Add some basic condiments, canned goods and a few ready-to-use Chinese sauces, and that’s about it. The freezer is well stocked, as long as you’re in the mood for cod or chicken.
I defrosted some of the cod for dinner last night. It’s a mild flavored fish, which is a nice way of saying it’s a bit bland. That can actually be a plus, if you’re planning to pair the cod with an aggressively flavored sauce or pasta. I’ve also used cod in soups and stir-fries, since its sturdy flesh doesn’t fall apart after it’s cooked.
With time to spare, I browsed some of my favorite cookbooks, beginning with two written by Donna Hay, an Australian who knows how to format a recipe and make it doable, even for cooks with limited talent or time or both. A lot of her recipes use Asian ingredients, which feeds my passion for dishes from that part of the world, but she also does recipes rooted in the cuisines of Italy, Australia and the whole of Western Europe.
I’ve made her recipe for Caramelized Lime Fish before. The recipe calls for nesting the cooked fish on a bed of fresh cilantro, sliced scallions, and cucumbers sliced into ribbons. Scallions, cucumbers and cilantro aren’t part of my current inventory. Neither are fresh limes, although I do have some bottled lime juice.
As for the soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar and chili flakes, those I have. Fish sauce is a must-have condiment for anyone who has any interest in making Southeast Asian food, a list that includes Thai and Vietnamese. It keeps well, and it’s widely available in mainstream grocery stores.
My pantry does include rice, so I simply used that as an accompaniment, along with some frozen veggies. I’ve always cooked with the idea of freezing or refrigerating what’s left and using it for another meal. I recently read an article that advised against freezing rice, but I’ve never had a problem. Frozen in serving-sized packets, it’s like money in the bank.
Caramelized Lime Fish
Serves 4
2 pounds firm white fish fillet
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon chili flakes (optional)
Plating
3 small cucumbers, sliced into ribbons
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
4 green onions, sliced
Cut the fish into large pieces.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat.
Add the oil and fish, and cook for one minute on each side or until brown and sealed.
Combine the lime juice, sugar, fish sauce, soy and chili (if using).
Add the sauce to the pan. Cook, turning the fish once, for 4 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the reduced sauce is sticky.
Plate on a nest of cucumbers, cilantro leaves and green onions (if you have them). Spoon the remaining sauce over the fish and veggies.
From “The Instant Cook” by Donna Hay (Fourth Estate, $34.95) Fourth Estate is an imprint HarperCollins/Publishers
Pantry-to-Plate is a food-focused blog written by a lifelong foodie with an insatiable curiosity about the interaction between food, history, and culture.
Thank you, Dennis. This is a great find and a public service.
What is the haunting music in the background? It creates just the right mood of ominous emptiness. Thanks…
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