Rick Bradford's Retirement: It Ain't Easy

 I'VE BEEN SHOT! I was out yesterday minding my own business when I got shot. Yeah, it was only a shot in the arm and it was the first of two shots of the Moderna vaccine against COVID, but I try to bring a small smile to everyone's face when talking about it. Hahaha...my second dose is scheduled for March 12. I had seen a posting from friend Joan Pettijohn on Facebook that she had received an email from the City about various clinics around the city administering shots to people 65+ and was for specific zip code areas. Luckily for me, my 94112 was included. I arrived about 10am, checked in and had my shot within 15 minutes; had to stay for another 15 minutes to make sure I didn't have an adverse reaction (which I didn't), so overall, it was very easy-peasy. My arm was a little sore last night, but other than that, I'm fine. I'm also just about fully recovered from my urinary tract infection; taking the rest of the antibiotics as you're supposed to use the w...

 URINARY TRACT INFECTION Early last Friday evening around 5pm, I had the urgent need to go to the bathroom. I thought of it as driving down the freeway and seeing a sign that said "next rest area 50 miles" and my thought was "Oh shit, I am not going to make it that far." After going to the bathroom, the same thing happened about a half hour later. This went on all night long; I did not sleep at all because I had to keep getting up to run to the bathroom urgently. At Martin's urging, I finally relented Saturday afternoon to go to the ER, as you can't reach the doctor on a Saturday. Because we use public transportation, I knew I'd never make it as it would take over an hour on the bus to get there, so I called Lyft and it only took ten minutes. As soon as we entered the ER entrance, I asked if I could use the bathroom because I had to go "real badly" and after taking my temperature, they allowed me to use the restroom. We then went to the check-i...

 ODDS AND ENDS It's a lovely day in San Francisco, low 60s with sun all over the place. Took the bus down to Best Buy to get my new copy of Turbo Tax for 2020. Whether we like it or not, still have to file those taxes. I've been thinking about the upcoming trial of the past president, who the House impeached last month after inviting his supporters (how can anyone really support that asshole?) to march down to the Capitol and have a lovely riot. Having the Senate convict him looks rather unlikely but I keep hoping that maybe for once, the Republicans will do the right thing. Fat chance, but I am the eternal optimist. And then there's Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia...after her meeting with the Minority leader of the House last night, and with all the other House Republicans, they did nothing. Even with a secret vote, they still would not strip her of her committee settings. We truly are turning into a one party country as the party of insurrectionists have ...

 DEREK DELGADIO'S "IN AND OF ITSELF" I hope you have Hulu, because if you do, you are in for a treat. I heard about this movie when Derek and the director Frank Oz were on Stephen Colbert's "A Late Show" last week. When talking about it, neither of them could describe what the movie was about, and Stephen agreed (he is also one of the Executive Producers). There really is no way to tell you about this movie without spoiling what happens but I will try to give you some hints. It is a movie that you must sit down and pay attention. There is actually a disclaimer at the beginning which says something like "turn off your phone, get quiet and pay attention." Not the exact disclaimer, but pretty close. The movie is a filmed version of the play "In and Of Itself" that was a one-man show for Derek. It ran for 552 performance on Broadway. When you get to the theater, there is a wall of "I Am" cards, stating things like "I Am a Teach...

 JANUARY 20, 2021: HISTORIC DAY Yesterday was rather historic, to say the least. I'm not a person who gets moved easily, but yesterday's ceremonies throughout the day literally moved me to tears. I have never really liked our national anthem, but when Lady Gaga sang it yesterday, I had tears in my eyes. A rather rare occurrence. I'm not ashamed of my reaction, just somewhat surprised. She really made me proud to be an American again. The last four years have been a shit-show, to say the least, and I'm quite pleased that he is finally gone. I'm hopeful that the Senate does their job and convicts him over his impeachment, and then votes to make sure he is never allowed to be a part of a national campaign for office again. Let's just be done with him and let him ride off into the sunset, never to be heard from again. It's the least that can be done. The entire inauguration was truly wonderful in my mind. Historic in its scope. Kamala Harris being the first fema...

 INSURRECTION IN WASHINGTON DC I've been holding off for a few days before writing about what happened last week in Washington. As far as I'm concerned, it was a mob encouraged to do as much damage as possible by the current President and his minions at the rally just prior to the riot. Encouraging them to go beyond peaceful protest and take violent action into their own hands. Of course he told them to march to the Capitol, stating "I'll be going with you." But of course I guess his bone spurs got in the way and all he could manage was to go back to his bunker at the White House. His usual cowardice on full display. Some of the videos coming out since it all happened are very disturbing; the "hang Mike Pence" chants, the rioters with plastic hand ties that they use for handcuffs, which indicate to me that they wanted to take some hostages. I love the fact that these idiots were taking selfies, doing videos showing what they were doing, making it quite e...

 RECIPE FOR MY BOW TIE PESTO PASTA (VERY VEGETARIAN) I posted this photo on Facebook the other day, and people have asked for the recipe. So here goes: Boil the pasta per the directions on the box. After draining in a colander, don't rinse the pasta, just put it back into the same pot. I use a minimum of one jar of pesto, but at times I'll use one and one-half jars just to kick it up a notch. Each time I add an item, I stir the items together. The other ingredients are crumbled feta cheese, grape tomatoes sliced in half, and sun-dried tomatoes (I use the dried strips) but you can use a jar if you want. Heat to whatever temperature you prefer. It can be served hot, warm, room temperature, or even cold from the refrigerator. That's all the ingredients that were called for in the original recipe, but I've started adding other items, which makes this recipe very adaptable. I add garlic, olives sliced in half, salt & pepper, dried oregano, Italian seasoning. Anything tha...