After the Texas blackout of 2021

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The massive arctic blast that hit Texas this winter was so intense that the power grid almost went under. The car sat in the driveway for a few weeks until temperatures reached above freezing and finally the roads were safe enough to drive on. It turns out that I needed an oil change. I usually change our car's oil once every 6 months, because due to in-city driving, there are a lot of stops and starts at traffic lights and a lot of in-and-out driving in slow traffic. The power grid almost but not quite, went down in the lone star state. Thankfully, our car had a coolant freeze tolerance to about 20 above Zero degrees. The temperature in fact, got below that for several hours on one day when at the coldest point, a car drove across our front lawn, smashing a new tree and avoiding hitting our house by about 2 or 3 feet, leaving 4 tire tread marks in it's wake. It drove away and that was the last we saw of it. The bad thing about all of it was that the US Post Office was slower than molasses in the arctic circle in January. I had ordered a gallon of anti-freeze via Amazon Prime and that was before the temperature reached sub freezing levels. It took over 3 weeks to get that gallon of anti-freeze. So I was glad at least the temperature did not get down too cold for too long. Nobody in Texas was prepared for that sudden drop in temperatures, as it had been several years since we even had a winter with any snow or ice. Coping with COVID-19 and seeing America get vaccinated during a 4th Wave with the new variants, in particular, the South African Variant and Brazilian Variant, and Governor Abbott lifting the mask mandate in our state, I still feel a bit more optimistic. We got our 1st Covid-19 vaccine last month and will be getting a second vaccine shot in a few weeks. People are still buying large amounts of paper towels and toilet paper and bottled water. I think that, even when this Pandemic is over we can expect to see stranger weather and to top things off, in spite of that artic blast and a Capitol Insurrection by Trump MAGA radicals, I still remain somewhat optimistic. I have friends who still support Trump. Believe it or not! I have some friends who refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19. I for one got the vaccine shot. I am still using common sense when I go out in public by wearing a mask, but social distancing? Give me a break. No way will there be any social distancing. The stores now are at 100% capacity and even though most are still following the logic of masking, stores are over crowded, stores are experiencing panic purchasing and due to the Easter holiday weekend, long lines for shoppers are to be expected until the holiday weekend is over with. Good Friday was a bad Friday for us. We had to stand in Walmart to check out for over an hour then were told to go to another checkout line as the checker in our line was about to clock out and we went to another line and after 30 minutes of standing in line to pay for our items, were told the same thing. We finally got to a line where we could actually get our items checked out and paid for and by the time we got out of that store, the parking lot was maxed out and half the items on the shelves were being re-stocked. The store had never been this crowded or busy. Factor in the lifting of the mask mandate along with allowing businesses to work at 100% capacity and Easter Sunday coming up tomorrow, it is no wonder stores like Walmart, Kroger and CVS have seen a sudden upsurge in customers making purchases. The streets of Dallas TX are crowded and it looks a lot like we will be opening stadiums to greater numbers. The future looks better in my opinion but still we have yet to get children ages 12 and over vaccinated so they can return to public schools. At the moment, the US has had not quite 50% vaccinated at least one time and most will be getting a second vaccine, but herd immunity may never be reached so it might be actually, a few more years before the rates of infection go down to a level of normalcy. Normal? What am I talking about? Covid-19 is not normal. The political influencers are making it hard for some people to feel safe about vaccines. This has been a long up-hill battle for everyone. Hand sanitizers are being taken off the shelves not by consumers but by the FDA demanding it due to reports of Benzene contamination so as far as I know, the only brand that is supposedly 100% free of Benzene in the alcohol is Purell. Here is a link to an article about Purell hand sanitizer