Staying In Touch With Friends During the Pandemic

Two of my best friends are Pat F. who lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and Don McK. who lives in Philadelphia. 


In normal times Pat and I visit Don in Philadelphia.  Don has lived in a cooperative in center city Philadelphia that has a guest suite.  Pat and I rent that guest suite in the spring and fall. This year Pat and I will not be visiting Don for our schedule visit at the end of next month (May).  This will be the first spring in five years that we will miss. Hopefully we can still visit Don next November, where I plan to join the celebration of the defeat of the Criminal in the White House.  The operative word here is "hope" to visit.  In the meantime we're staying in touch by FaceTime.


Pat and I have been FaceTiming since we met in 2013.  Just recently we figured out how to do a three-way by FaceTime.  Sometimes it's tricky to make it happen but somehow we stumble into it.  Last night was one of those times. 


Don is quarantined in his tenth floor apartment. He gets out once a day to go to Target for grocery shopping. The rest of his day is spent on lockdown in his condo unit watching TV.  


Pat is ensconced in his luxury fourteenth floor condo in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He goes out most days for a walk on the mostly deserted streets of Hamilton.  Pat spends most of his day listening to his favorite music on his Sonos channel or vintage records on his vintage records player. Pat also watches action movies on his Netflix account.  No more live hockey games for Mr. Hamilton Canada. 


And me? I blog.  And of course take Bill out for his daily ride.  And I cook, yesterday stuffed shells and lemon sponge pie (yum!)   


Today is a nice and sunny day so I'll be outside doing yard work. I'm lucky that I can get out and enjoy the sun and weather. Both Pat and Don live in the center of major cities that have a lot of restrictions. They can get out for a walk, keeping their distances from others,  but not much chance of getting down on their knees and pulling weeds.  I'm very lucky and I know it!


Stay safe everyone and have a great day!

Staying In Touch With Friends During the Pandemic

Two of my best friends are Pat F. who lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and Don McK. who lives in Philadelphia. 



In normal times Pat and I visit Don in Philadelphia.  Don has lived in a cooperative in center city Philadelphia that has a guest suite.  Pat and I rent that guest suite in the spring and fall. This year Pat and I will not be visiting Don for our schedule visit at the end of next month (May).  This will be the first spring in five years that we will miss. Hopefully we can still visit Don next November, where I plan to join the celebration of the defeat of the Criminal in the White House.  The operative word here is "hope" to visit.  In the meantime we're staying in touch by FaceTime.



Pat and I have been FaceTiming since we met in 2013.  Just recently we figured out how to do a three-way by FaceTime.  Sometimes it's tricky to make it happen but somehow we stumble into it.  Last night was one of those times. 



Don is quarantined in his tenth floor apartment. He gets out once a day to go to Target for grocery shopping. The rest of his day is spent on lockdown in his condo unit watching TV.  



Pat is ensconced in his luxury fourteenth floor condo in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He goes out most days for a walk on the mostly deserted streets of Hamilton.  Pat spends most of his day listening to his favorite music on his Sonos channel or vintage records on his vintage records player. Pat also watches action movies on his Netflix account.  No more live hockey games for Mr. Hamilton Canada. 



And me? I blog.  And of course take Bill out for his daily ride.  And I cook, yesterday stuffed shells and lemon sponge pie (yum!)   



Today is a nice and sunny day so I'll be outside doing yard work. I'm lucky that I can get out and enjoy the sun and weather. Both Pat and Don live in the center of major cities that have a lot of restrictions. They can get out for a walk, keeping their distances from others,  but not much chance of getting down on their knees and pulling weeds.  I'm very lucky and I know it!



Stay safe everyone and have a great day!

Coronavirus Pandemic Update April 26, 2020

New proposed airline seating arrangements

These days of sheltering in is feeling like Ground Hog, very repetitive.  As much as I have complained about living in a tourist area of the country, I have to admit I wish I would see that onslaught of vehicles speeding down Route One to  Rehoboth Beach.  I miss the energy.  Even though I avoided most of the seasonal tourist craziness, I did get a peripheral enjoyment of witnessing (and making a living at the hotel) of all the folks taking a few days (or weeks) off to partake in our coastal delights from the many and varied restaurants, shopping outlet stores and of course, the warm sands and gently rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean. The few times I did partake was perhaps a occasional late Sunday afternoon when the weekenders, headed back north and west back to their jobs, gave up the boardwalk for a few hours to us locals. 

These pandemic days the only jobs left are first responders, grocery check out clerks, and here in Delaware, liquor store clerks, and skeleton staffs (no pun intended) of some restaurants doing take out service. The other jobs are landscaping, contractors and, of course, chicken processing plants.  Even my local favorite garden center is open but my last two visits I was the only customer in the store. With my mask on, I felt like I was going to rob the place.  I told that to Alyssa, who checked me out. She said she didn't recognize me with my mask on but did recognize my voice. Hey, who DOESN'T recognize my voice, the bane of my existence? 

I'm getting used to my new routine. Sometimes I do have some difficulty remember what day it is which is a new experience for me. I miss my Monday and Thursday anchor days when I used to work at the hotel.  

I am lucky that I am collecting unemployment insurance payments. Even though it was a long process applying online, I didn't have as much of a problem as others are having in different parts of the country like Florida and New York. While I do enjoy my job, it is necessary for me to help pay the bills. For that I am extremely thankful.

When will this shutdown end? I don't know but I suspect we will be living under restrictions for a long time, at least a year or more. However, I do think some of the restrictions will have to be lifted.  We cannot continue to live like this indefinitely. 

It is interesting that restaurants and airlines will have to discontinue their practice of cramming people in small spaces to maximize their profits. That's a good thing. Nobody wants to sit in that middle seat on a six hour flight to California. Hey, maybe booths might even return to restaurants.  Remember booths? Lately restaurants have been tearing them out and replacing them with long tables with chairs to cram more people into their restaurants. Time for readjustment airlines and restaurants.

One thing, my landscaping is getting a lot of attention during this shelter in place. However, our home isn't getting more attention, yet. Which reminds me, time to do some housecleaning and end this posting. 

Stay safe everyone!

Tipton Family Genealogy 52 of 67 Pigeon Roost Tour April 29 1996

Taking a break from my usual coronavirus pandemic update posts here folks.  

What I'm posting today is an old VHS video that I took in the Spring of 1996 when I visited the mountains of western North Carolina, my father's hillbilly roots. Not much has changed since he left that Appalachia area in 1930 with his parents and eight brothers. He was ten years old at that time.

The video I'm posting is raw, no fancy intro title or ending, just my shaky, huge, should hugging video camera.  

After I left my job at the Philadelphia bank where I worked, I flew down to Atlanta Georgia to apply for a job at Sun Bank. While waiting for an answer after my job interview, I took a sideline visit to my brother John and his wife who lived (and still do) in Greenville, South Carolina. John only lived about two miles from Pigeon Roost, North Carolina, near where our father was born.

On this trip we visited a distant cousin, Horace Tipon and his wife Margie. At their house we looked at a video that was taken by Frank Tipton, whose father Adgie was Horace's brother. Frank never knew his ancestry until he came to one of my Tipton Family Reunions. He told me that his father would never talk about his family. I talked to him and found out he had a brother Horace.  I contacted some of my southern sources and found Horace lived in Micaville, North Carolina. I reunited Frank with this previously unknown branch of his family which is what the video on their TV (which Frank gave them) shows.

After visiting the Horace Tipton's we visited one of the many cemeteries in those beautiful North Carolina mountains, looking for my Tipton headstones which I recorded for my genealogy information. We also took a long ride up Pigeon Roost Rood, also known as Green Mountain. 

Since that visit twenty-four years ago, I've visited several times, the last time being in 2013.  I met my cousin Bob Tipton and his wife Marie to show him our common family roots in those North Carolina mountains. I was going to introduce him and his wife to Glenn and Wanda Renfro. Wanda was the granddaughter of my grandfather Fieldon Tipton's sister Pansy Tipton. Unfortunately that visit never took place because Glenn's son found out (probably through my blog) that I was gay.  He called me the night before the planned visit and asked me "Is it true that you practice the gay lifestyle?"  I responded "If you're asking me if I'm gay, yes I am."  He responded "Now get this bud. If you put on step in my parent's house you'll have me to deal with.  You got that?"  Well, I took that as a threat. Homophobia alive and well in those beautiful western North Carolina mountains along with blatant racism (Glenn referred to President Obama in the most offensive racist terms and of course there were no people of color who live in those mountains). The next day we (cousin Bob and his wife) did take a ride up Pigeon Roost road, the same as shown in this video but we, of course, didn't visit our cousin Wanda. Haven't been back since folks. I know when I'm not welcomed. 

This video is over an half an hour long, and probably not of much interest to most of my blog followers but I'm posting it anyway, part of my legacy in case I don't survive this pandemic and for sure after I depart this world where there is no longer any degree of hate that I experienced like I did during my last visit to this mot beautiful part of our country.

Stay safe every one!

Ticked Off Vic: A Message to the Government | VicDiBitetto.net

Yesterday on Twitter I happened to come across this video which expresses my feelings exactly about how the government and big business is handling the coronavirus and helping the average person get through it. 

As I've said before, I am very fortunate in that I am only suffering some inconveniences during this shutdown of our economy because of the coronavirus pandemic. Our home is paid for, we receive Social Security payments as a base income. I have a few small bank pensions to supplement our Social Security income. I'm even receiving unemployment benefits for a few months. I just can't imagine those people who have families to house and feed. Meeting mortgage and or rent payments. Small business owners trying to hang onto their businesses in which they worked so hard to be successful. 

I think back to previous episodes of my life when I did live from paycheck to paycheck. What would I have done if I lost my job? 

This morning I was thinking of my eight weeks of Army basic training at Ft. Dix New Jersey in February of 1960, housed with thousands of other young men like myself. What are they doing now?

When Bill and I plunged our whole life savings into buying that row house in Philadelphia in 1969 with a twenty-year mortgage and then all of a sudden we both lose our jobs?  What would happen to our home. What would happen to us?  

Folks, the worst is yet to come. We're not going to get through this anytime soon. I predict we won't even see any light until next year. We're going to continue in lockdown, except for those stupid red states who are insisting on opening up so Trump can go to his rallies again, throughout the whole summer. I wish it wasn't so, but I am only being realistic. This is going to get worse. Prepare yourself. And the big businesses like Shake Shack and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse who were first in line to grab the millions from the first government relief package, there is a special place in hell for people like you. 

Trump will probably get a few more of his rallies in and hundred and perhaps thousands will die as a result. But he won't be reelected. He will have to be dragged out of the White House because he is a sociopath.  

I wish I could be all sunshine and cheer today folks but I know what's coming.  Watching this video, which I have watched numerous times already, gives me a sense of relief.  By the way, I wish the presumed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden would show as much passion. 
Biden is going to get reelected, make no mistake about that but it's going to be ugly. 

Cornoravirus (Covid19) Pandemic Update Monday April 20, 2020

My homemade rubber band biker kerchief mask

Bill and I just got back from our weekly shopping expedition. This time I had to get some rubber bands for make my face mask out of my biker bandanas. Click on the link below for instructions how to prepare your own no sew bandana face mask.

No sew bandana face mask instructions

My blogger buddy, Dr. Spo very generously sent me a face mask for which I am very appreciative. Very stylish and safe but it kept falling off my face because I had to tie it with strings on the back. 

I have several of these biker bandanas that I brought at Royal Farms several years ago. I've always liked these bandanas, they brought back memories of my bar hopping days where you put a certain color bandana out of your back pocket to indicate what kind of sexual activity you were into sexually. Red kerchief in the back right pocket, one thing and same red kerchief in the back left pocket, something else. You can look up the different meanings on the web. Since this is a family blog I won't repeat them here on this sacred site.

I had to go out this morning to get rubber bands. I didn't have a whole lot of rubber bands around Casa Tipton-Kelly.  I was about to find two but they were old and ready to snap.  Now I have a whole bag, ready to last me for a long pandemic.

While I was down Route One I decided to take a ride to Rehoboth Beach and check out the pandemic restrictions. They're in place. No boardwalk walking for exercise or dog walking. Of course no beach. They were open early on but too many people showed up thus defeating the social distancing requirement to help bend the curve of this pandemic.

We are so fortunate where we live here in our neighborhood where there is walking without restrictions. We have an acre backyard in which we can get outside and enjoy the fresh air.  And of course our home is very comfortable for sheltering in. However, I rarely go through a day that I don't think of those who aren't so fortunate. Those who depend on a weekly paycheck to buy food and pay their rent or mortgage. I try to imagine if this pandemic happened when we were just starting out. It staggers my mind on how we would survive. I see these scenes of thousands of cars lined up at food banks, people who never in their lives before had a need to use a food bank just to feed themselves and their family.  Even worse I think of those families who have lost their loved ones to this killer virus that knows no social limitations. The really cruel aspect is that they couldn't even be with their loved one as they drew their last breaths. 

Right now I'm watching on TV the Trump Deplorables demonstrating at Harrisburg, PA capital for the Pennsylvania governor to life restrictions for people to go back to work. The past several days these same Stupids were demonstrating at the Michigan, Virginia and Minnesota capitals to "go back to work" after being encourage by Trump Tweets that said "LIBERATE MINNESOTA, LIBERATE MICHIGAN, LIBERATE VIRGINIA". 

A brave health care worker stopping one of the Trump zombies who wants to go back to work in spite of the health risk to her and others she may infect - true Trumpian philosophy - selfish and only think about tthemselves and care nothing for others

Trump, the Criminal in the White House, is more concerned with resuming his ego feeding rallies than people's lives. Trump was counting on the economy to get him re-elected. Got news for Trump, he isn't going to get re-elected and these Deplorables can crawl back under their rocks and continue to bemoan the fact that they lost the Civil War. Their day is over,  less than two hundred days until the presidential election. 

People are not going to go back to work in any significant way until testing is great expanded and contract tracing is put into place. Trump and his sycophants and Deplorables can whine and holler as much as they want to but the fact remains, the majority of people in this country are more concerned about their lives than Trump's chances for reelection. 

I'm still having a hard time getting used to the science fiction all streets deserted scenes I see when I venture out. Hardly anybody in the parking lot at the shopping strip where I went to Staples to get my rubber bands. All the people with face masks resembling a band of robbers looking for a train to rob. Every time I pull up my face mask over my nose and mouth before I enter the store, I feel like I'm getting ready to do a stick up. When will this change? No time soon I fear, in spite of all those Tea Party types waving their upside down American flags and trotting around their guns (Second Amendment!) to intimidate every one else who doesn't see the world through their narrow Trumpian view of the world. 

Stay safe every one!

The almost empty parking lot this morning when I went to Staples for rubber bands

Coronavirus Pandemic Update Friday April 17, 2020

Me and Bill face masked at Ace Hardware

Trump wants to open up the country to get the economy going again. He's convinced a thriving economy is the only way he can get reelected. Of course he doesn't care how many die by sending people back to work before we have stopped the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump only cares about himself and getting reelected. The only way we're going to get the economy going again is testing. 

TESTING! TESTING! TESTING!

We need testing and tracking. That is the ONLY way we're going to get back to normal. 

Now that I have had my say, let's take a break from this all consuming coronavirus news, which is scaring us all to death. 

A few months ago I came across a wonderful cucumber salad recipe which I will share with all of you now.  I discovered it as a leftover salad from an event at the hotel where I used to work.  Where I hope I can go back to work someday. Yes, I do miss working at the hotel even though at times I didn't feel like going it. Working two days a week at the hotel gave my week structure. Often now I'm not sure what day it is.

Marinated Cucumber Onion Tomato Salad

1 cup water
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon fresh, coarsely ground back pepper
3 cucumbers, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 onion, sliced and separated into rings


1) whisk water, vinegar, oil, sugar and pepper together in a large bowl until smooth; add cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion and stir to coat

2) Cover bowl with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours

Marinated cucumber, onion and tomato salad