a wooden bench in a room
Photograph ©2020 by Brian Cohen.

Random Stuff On My Mind — June 2020

If you are looking for a trip report or review or seeking advice on collecting frequent travel loyalty program miles and points, this is the wrong article to read, as I am simply imparting some stuff — read random thoughts — on my mind.

If you do read this article, it is at your own risk. You have been warned.

Random Stuff On My Mind — June 2020

a sign in a field
Photograph ©2020 by Brian Cohen.

…so does this mean that disorganized sports are allowed?

If so, would that not be more dangerous?


I really do not care whether a tropical storm crosses from the Pacific region to the Atlantic basin — I believe that it should keep the same name throughout its life.

The following text is from The Weather Channel:

Flooding from former Eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Amanda and its remnants caused damage and killed several people in El Salvador the weekend of May 30-31.

Amanda’s leftover energy and spin played a role in triggering the development of Tropical Depression Three in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico Monday afternoon, June 1, which then strengthened into Tropical Storm Cristobal on Tuesday, June 2.

Cristobal became the earliest-in-season third named Atlantic storm – previously held by Tropical Storm Colin on June 5, 2016 – June 2 in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Last year, the “C” storm, Chantal, didn’t develop until Aug. 20.

Tropical Storm Cristobal should have kept its original name as Tropical Storm Amanda — even if it temporarily lost its tropical storm characteristics; and even if it does cause some havoc in the alphabetical chronology of hurricane season.


Speaking of tropical weather systems, the reason why I have not yet reported on them during the 2020 hurricane season is because airlines have not issued travel waivers for them — primarily because liberal cancellation and change policies are already in place due to the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic.

Should I continue reporting with articles on travel alerts for major weather events anyway? Would you find that useful?

All right — so this particular blurb did have something to do with travel…


Gasoline Pump
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

I paid $1.07 per gallon of gasoline several weeks ago, thanks to the reduced demand as a result of the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic. I sure miss that; and I do not know when I will see that again — if ever during my lifetime.

The funny part is that the $1.69 per gallon of gasoline that I now believe seems expensive would have been an obvious bargain only a mere year ago…


Hertz
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

Despite Hertz Global Holdings having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and facing an uncertain future, the stock price of the rental car company has increased by as much as 112.69 percent just within the past 24 hours; and increased from its low of 56 cents per share on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 to $5.53 per share on Monday, June 8, 2020 — which represents a gain of almost 888 percent.

What has caused its stock price to rise like that?

All right — so this particular blurb also has something to do with travel…


I keep seeing signs all over the place which strongly recommend that we practice “social distancing.”

How much longer do we need to practice “social distancing” until we become experts at it?


a sign with a broken phone screen
Photograph ©2020 by Brian Cohen.

That is nice that you fix phones while I shop; but why do I need to know that? There are plenty of people who work while I shop…

…and what if I am not shopping? Does that mean you do not fix phones?


license plate
Source: Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of New York.

I do not like the new license plate for New York. Not the typefaces. Not the colors. Not the images.

I liked that the last iteration — which is known as the 2010 base series license plate — was dark blue letters and numbers on a gold background, which have historically for decades generally been the official colors for license plates for New York.

At least the colors are not puke yellow on Pepto Bismol blue, like the license plate from the 1979 base series of New Jersey


a blue sign on a pole next to a yellow box
Photograph ©2020 by Brian Cohen.

“Box!”

“Hey, Box!”

“Where are yo-o-o-o-o-o-ou, Box?”

“Come here, Box!”


The lost articles of The Gate between Wednesday, May 4, 2011 and Friday, August 1, 2014 will be reunited here soon, as the current site for those articles has displayed the following message for several months now…

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.

…with no sign of it being fixed in the near future — if ever…


a bench in a room
Photograph ©2020 by Brian Cohen.

I am not sure what this means…


Summary

This article is the third of a loose series of articles where I speak my mind — no matter how strange and inane are my thoughts — and from here on in, I intend to limit each article to a maximum of ten thoughts…

…you know — for your own protection.

The first article is found here; and the second article is found here. Do yourself a favor and do not click to read them…

Graphic ©2016 by Brian Cohen. Unless otherwise noted, all photographs ©2015, ©2017, and ©2020 by Brian Cohen.

  1. Fun stuff and sorta travel related on some of it. I just appreciate the fact that you avoided affiliate links for non-travel related products like we are seeing from so many “travel” bloggers lately 🙂

    1. I do not necessarily fault those “travel” bloggers, DaninMCI — especially as I have been off the travel topic myself at times.

      Many travel affiliates have either suspended their links or terminated them altogether because of the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic; and one has to do what he or she can to weather these tough times…

      1. Eh, not sure I fully agree that “one has to do what he or she can to weather these tough times…” is always the best course of action.
        Without meaning to needlessly attack those who are legitimately having a difficult time in any industry that requires advertisers and/or affiliates – blogging being chief among those – it seems many other bloggers have taken to sensationalist clickbait articles, recycling the words or ideas of their fellow writers as their own, and the excessive merchandising of credit cards, etc during these ‘trying times’. I hope they realize that as much as their readers care for their well-being, we are largely put off by these tactics and we will remember. Thanks for not stooping to those levels at The Gate.

        1. Thank you for reading The Gate, NB_ga.

          I decided some time ago to use only trusted sources for information whenever possible — but sadly, even the most reliable sources are not automatically 100 percent trustworthy anymore…

          …and I would rather post fewer articles with more accurate information than churning out massive quantities of articles whose information is suspect at best…

  2. Interesting foray into the mind of (but not cliche Life of…) Brian.
    I can understand your dismay at the changing license plates but at least the New York one does not feature the out of proportion, peachy-keen pumpkin trees of Georgia.
    BTW, I filled up my car from dead empty for $3.68 during the crisis. Bring back those days! Maybe if we do master social distancing, the perks of empty roads and cheap gas from the glory days of ‘shelter in place’ will return?

    1. That is not enough information for filling up an entire tank with gasoline for only $3.68, NB_ga — which is absolutely incredible.

      How much did you actually pay per gallon of gasoline — and how did you get such a low price?

      1. Well… I have to give some of the credit to you and your blog…

        Using Gas Buddy (which I learned about from TheGate), I located a Kroger not too far from my house – close enough to be a reasonable journey plus the added benefit that it was quite near a favorite walking trail. I routinely purchase restaurant gift cards at Kroger for my every day dining during their 4x points deal on gift cards. Each $25 in gift cards equals 100 points or a $0.10 gas credit.
        Gas at this Kroger was $1.119 – already a fine deal by any typical standard. Using 800 Kroger points, I secured an additional $0.80 off that price. Therefore, I filled up 11.541 gallons x $0.319 = $3.68.
        *I do wish photos could be uploaded here as I am quite proud of my deal and have already widely shared the pump and receipt photos, much to the chagrin of those in my physical presence. 🙂

        1. I am thrilled that The Gate and I helped you save money, NB_ga!

          Wow…31 cents per gallon. That is amazing! You might have taught fellow readers who live near Kroger or other affiliated supermarkets how to save money on gasoline…

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