Time for a rant

It’s time for a rant, so get ready. I’m not presumptuous enough to think that I’m the only person in America who has suffered gravely this year. But I’m widowed and have nobody to vent to, so here you are.

In May of last year, I lost the best job I ever had — best in terms of money, respect, and allowing me to write and create — just so that the company could tell its shareholders that they were beheading the employees who had the most tenure and salaries.

Months of job-hunting led to, at best, a few “pre-interviews” that went nowhere. Then my wife started the year by going into the hospital one more time for the many maladies she suffered.

We thought it would be just another of her inconvenient hospital stays. She remained in the hospital for two months and then died, just two days prior to our 31st wedding anniversary. She left behind a small business that my daughter has had to maintain, and little else.

Job-wise, the best I could do since then was my current job, as a cashier at a local convenience store. A monkey could do my job. Yesterday, my daughter tested positive for COVID-19. I just had a test done myself today, and it was “indeterminate.”

That means I should be safe rather than sorry and, at the very least, not leave the house for two days before I get another test. I am sick and tired of this effin’ year.

I have always despised politicians who use their office to hoard more power and money, rather than helping their constituents. You can imagine how I feel in this, the year of Trump & McConnell.

Yes, I know I sound like a self-pitying Job. But for the past year-and-a-half, I’ve done everything I can to keep things going, only to be kicked further down the hill like the proverbial can. I DESERVE AN EFFIN’ BREAK.

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R.I.P., Alex Trebek

So sorry to hear about the death of Alex Trebek after his long-running battle with pancreatic cancer. My late wife and I always made a point of sitting together to watch “Jeopardy!” every evening. He was about as comforting a TV host as you could ask for.

“Jeopardy!” was only one of his many game-show triumphs, having hosted several other shows in the 1970’s and ’80s. One of those was “High Rollers,” a “rolling the dice”-based game which he co-hosted with actress Ruta Lee. Just as my wife watched “Jeopardy!” with me, my otherwise crusty stepmother enjoyed watching “High Rollers” with me in the 1970’s. She said she thought Ms. Lee was very kind and helpful to the contestants.

A few years ago, I discovered that Ruta Lee was a member of Facebook. I wrote her a short IM/fan letter in which how much my stepmom and I enjoyed her on “High Rollers.” She replied to me that she and that show were once a “Jeopardy!” clue, and all of the contestants were too young to remember the show, so they didn’t even try to guess the clue. I wonder what Ms. Lee is thinking tonight.