Category Life

Prepping for Phil

Michael Leave a comment
 

Phil

Happy Groundhog Day Eve! I’m not gong to try to post links of all the GHD related posts I’ve written.  There aren’t enough electrons and bits or E-ink or whatever makes things visible on these screens to do that.  Trust me that there have been a bunch and you can search for them, even the one that actually is moderately educational. Okay, so there is one link for you.

 
Here’s another link for you. You see, unlike some of the more “intelligent life” on this planet, Punxsutawney Phil knows the danger of going out in crowded conditions and is encouraging everybody to celebrate his coming out for 2021 remotely. You can see him accurately predict the coming of this spring livestream on the Visit PA site starting at 6:30 am EST, Tuesday, February 2. (My prediction is six more weeks of winter.)
 
Come back here tomorrow for a special Groundhog Day  post, Real Reality style, 2021 edition.
 

Sing With Med

Michael 6 Comments
I was all set to write a light hearted, much about nothing, give serious the week off type of post when it happened again. I read the headlines. I’ve got to stay away from headlines. They invite animosity and foment divisiveness! What was the headline that’s about to set me on my latest rant? “Are Air Fryers Healthy!”
 
Ignoring the fact that I like my air fryer and for 50 of my 60-some years I considered the four food groups to be french fries, corn dogs, deep fried Snickers bars, and beer (you have to stay hydrated), the air fryer may be one of the healthiest appliances in your kitchen. Why? Because it’s an oven! Duh
 
America has to be the only country where we call things anything but what they are and honestly believe that just because we say so, it is so. Just as for instance, the entire world (the entire English speaking world) (and some parts that aren’t) calls the last letter of the English alphabet “zed.” Americans say “zee.” And do you know why? Well, come down memory lane with me.
 
Back in 1780-somethjng Wolfie Mozart penned a ditty to accompany the words to a French nursery rhyme, “Shall I Tell You Mother?” Of course it sounds better in French. Anyway, unless you are French you probably don’t know the nursery rhyme but you most certainly know the music. It’s the same tune as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and the same tune the Charles Bradlee, American, used as the music for “The Alphabet Song,” a most American phenomenon that taught little Americans their alphabet since 1835. If you’ve never heard it, the words are quite simple, they are basically the alphabet. Unfortunately the alphabet has only 28 syllables (w, remember) and the music had 14 notes remaining. Bradley filled them up with “Now I said my A B Cs, Next time won’t you sing with me.” Perhaps more unfortunately “me” does not rhyme with “zed.” No problem, he just changed the letter to “zee,” copyrighted his new work and Sesame Street had serious competition 76 years before it came to be. And you thought American arrogance was a modern phenomenon.
 
Now about that air fryer. Yes it and sir frying are healthy, or at least as healthy as baking or roasting. In other words, it, like a fryer, depends on what you put in it.
 
Tune in next week when we’ll discuss why the Department of the Interior is in charge of everything outdoors.
 
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Have a Little Faith

Michael 2 Comments
 
Over the weekend my daughter and I were discussing how people are no longer allowed to change their minds. Well of course, they can, and many do, but the world in general doesn’t like change. It may have to do with how many people can no longer think for themselves. Not that they don’t want to think for themselves but that they’ve lost the ability to do so. So many have gotten so used to doing whatever they are told, including what to think, they have lost faith in their own ability to reason. 
 
Reason says there are things that happen of which we are aware and we can explain and we have to adapt to survive. Sometimes those are physical things. People who study the earth’s geological history know that even in the absence of man the earth is getting warmer. The sun is getting hotter, the earth’s orbit around the sun is changing, the speed of the earth’s rotation is changing, and instability deep within the earth the leads to volcanic eruptions continues. Just as the earth moved from its ice age to a state that can support human life it will someday move beyond that point to be uninhabitable by man. That doesn’t mean we don’t do what we can to lessen man’s impact. We can and should make changes, and many, many billions do make changes to preserve the environment. But we should not be so arrogant to think we’ll always have the climate we want and are comfortable with. We may have to change because the earth is certainly going to whether we believe it or not and that change is going to have an impact on us.
 
Reason also says there are things we cannot explain but they happen anyway. These are the changes we have a harder time with globally. Christians throughout the world recognize the power of change in the life of St. Paul of Tarsis who changed from persecutor of early Christians to one of Christianity’s greatest evangelists. His change was one taken on faith,  hearing words heard by no one else. Arguments can be made that Paul saw that it was “better” that he serve the way of God rather than that of Caesar but then one has to make the argument for what constitutes better and how far one goes to make one’s point and no matter how you defend or attack those arguments it doesn’t change the fact that somebody changed his mind and in his mind the change was for what he considered better. He did not let what he was told earlier in his life prevent him from believing what he was told later. Regardless of what you believe, he believed and changed and that change made an impact in the world. 
 
Over the last year we’ve heard what could be construed as conflicting reports on everything from what to use to wash your hands to how and when to wear your masks to whether it is safe to play sports and at what size does a gathering become a risk. That’s not to say that if we were told something – by experts – in October of 2020 that contradicts what we were told – by experts – in March 2020, that what was said earlier in the year was wrong. It means the experts learned something new about something that changed. Something became different, something that is measurable and addressable. You may not like that the virus mutated and that it might be best addressed by re-institution of isolation procedures but the mutation happened and just not believing is not an option. You can decide to not isolate but that won’t change that a mutation occured. And that others also probably will.
 
This is probably why, unless it has stood the test of a couple thousand years like the words of Paul, we should probably not “take as gospel” things we hear and may even ourselves say. But like Paul, we should recognize that even though we firmly believed something yesterday we can be open to believing something completely different tomorrow because whether you believe or not, the world will be different tomorrow.
Having a little faith in what you hear today, and believing in the change you make tomorrow, might make a big difference and have a great impact in your world.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Happy Anniversary?

Michael 1 Comment
It’s not every day we see two momentous anniversaries. Actually that has to be untrue. I am certain a bazillion things happen every day that are momentous to somebody. Today there are two that are momentous to me. I’m sorry, that’s an untruth also. One I could care less about but it makes for an interesting contrast to the other.
 
On this date in 1972 the world’s first Star Trek convention was held in New York City. Wait, also untrue. On this date in 1972 the first “major” Star Trek convention was held in New York City. Who determined “major” I do not have a clue. I suppose “major” like “beauty” is in the eye of the beholder. Or the Spock ears. I enjoyed Star Trek but not so much that I made a trip to the Big Apple in full Star Fleet regalia. Apparently 3,000 people did enjoy it to that extent and showed up for it. No data regarding how many were in uniform. That’s a lot of people to pay homage to a TV show that had been off the air for 3 years by then and seven years before the motion picture would spawn an entire new crowd of crazies, errr fans. Remember that number though. We’ll get back to those 3,000 people in a moment.
 
January 21 commemorates another obscure occurence. It was in this day in 2020 (that was last year for those with short memories) that the first case of SARS-CoV-2, better known now as CoViD-19 was diagnosed in the United States. Since then 2,438,723 cases have been confirmed (as of Jan.20, 2021). That averages to over 6,000 cases per day. Twice as many people every day on average(!) get CoViD (that we know of) as those who flocked to NYC in their version of starship NCC-1701. 
 
If you are having trouble picturing 2.4 million people that’s about the population of Chicago (2.7 million) or more than twice as many people in all of Rhode Island (1.1 million). That’s also about how many people have died from CoViD in the world since it worked it’s way into people some 14 months ago (2.06 million).
 
Let’s go back to the first Star Trek convention. Picture those 3,000 people milling about, some in Spock ears, and now imagine each person’s best friend who couldn’t make it to New York and is waiting back home. Now you have all 6,000 people in your mind. Well, that’s how many people die every day (on average(!)) from CoViD in the last year – in this world.
 
Do you think you could wear your mask now please? Spock ears optional. 
 
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Strength to Love

Michael 5 Comments
 
Boy I had a time coming up with today’s post. I started thinking I should do something lighthearted. It’s been a while since I’ve been particularly light about anything and the world certainly could use a break from its self-seriousness. Then I thought I should do something for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the second of many reasons each year for banks and post offices to close while the rest of the country celebrates by buying new washer/dryer combinations or king size mattresses for the price of a queen. Then there’s the whole inauguration protest combination thing going on this week. Personally I think Twitter was about 1400 days late in pulling that particular plug and it goes to show people will believe anything they read online. And how can we let a week go by without paying homage to the real ruler of the world, Orthocoronavirinae betacoronavirus-2. In the end I decided to do what I do best and just ramble.
 
Let’s start with the good reverend doctor. Although I have not yet today opened a paper, wood based or electronic, I’m certain somebody somewhere has managed include the word “dream” in a headline, photo caption, or lede. Dr. King said more than that one phrase we associate with him almost to the exclusion of all others. I particularly like “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy” from Strength to Love, a collection of his sermons published in 1963.
 
The whole idea of of needing strength to love is so appropriate for today. Nearly 50 years after it appeared in print we are still struggling with how we mark the measure of mankind and the concept of loving our neighbors (no exceptions). We are clearly in a time of challenge and controversy and if you want to rise above the pack of animals – or crazy people dressed in animal skins – that man has become, you must accept the challenge to rise above the controversy, set it aside, and move on.
 
So I’ll offer a challenge that I know many if you don’t even need to hear. Let’s get through this week without saying anything negative about somebody who you don’t agree with or who doesn’t agree with you, whenever discussing anything stick to the facts rather than “alternate facts” and think three times before committing anything to writing – particularly electronic writing, smile at a stranger even knowing they can’t see it under your mask, and love your neighbor.
 
Can you do that? Do you have the strength to love?
 
 
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Getting It All Wrong

Michael Leave a comment

A friend of mine can’t call her children. They won’t answer a call but they will respond to a text message. Another friend refuses to text her children saying if they will speak to her “like they did when they were 16 and wouldn’t shut up.” My own daughter and I do both. Text for text worthy messages and announcements (I’m going to store do you want anything) and call for real conversations. My friend on the other of the country and I communicate almost exclusively by text because of the time difference being able to ask questions and answer them or recount a story and groaning and rolling eyes over it while comfortably on the right side of the meridian to preserve our respective circadian rhythms.  Four different approaches to communication, none of them right or wrong, just different.

For some reason there has been an increase in proclaiming any and all activity as either right or wrong, often both by opposite sides of the line, or as we also are seeing an increase in, by opposite poles of a spectrum. The middle ground which has anchored most of life on this planet for a few thousand years is shrinking, tolerance is only found in the dictionary, and I swear even Mr. Rogers would find it difficult to be neighborly to some folks.

Yes/No, Right/Wrong don’t have the same physical absolute as Up/Down or Left/Right. You can’t mistakenly fall up. You can mistakenly be right. Ask anybody who ever did not score 100% on a test why they intentionally answered some questions wrong. Of course they did not mean to be wrong. They believed their answer was correct and most often understood where the wrong entered their equations although there are times when even the most convincing argument can’t change the perception of right. Or wrong. One is more problematic.

Consider this. I’m not sure 18 year old are old enough to vote, I never did, certainly not when I was 18 (which by the way was when 18 was not old enough to vote). Its okay for me to think that. It’s not right in the sense that in the US, 18 year olds can vote and even though I am entitled to my opinion and can even publicly admit my thoughts (as I just did), that opinion and those thoughts will not change the fact an 18 year old can vote here. I can be wrong about being right and as long as I recognize this it is the right way to be wrong. However,  if I were to station myself outside a polling place and prevent all people younger than 21 from entering to cast their votes I would be wrong and I would be being wrong in a wrong way.

wrongLet’s consider another example. In my state, although decriminalized, marijuana is illegal except for medical purposes and then not by inhalation. I do not necessarily have anything against the logic of using cannabinoids medically or perhaps even recreationally but I do have a problem with the systems in place. One thing I believe they got right was the prohibition against smoking it when those who did the drafting drafted the regulations. My argument in logic is combusting the substance makes it available to those who do not wish to inhale it. Just as second hand to account smoke will cause heart and lung disease and cancer (not may, not can, but will), so will second hand marijuana smoke cause measurable levels of THC in nearby non-smokers (not may, not ca….you get the idea). I may not want to be randomly tested and come up positive because my downstairs neighbor enjoys sitting on his patio toking up every night, even though it is illegal I can’t go down to his place and confiscate his property. I’m right but that’s the wrong way to be right.

The point is that now it is becoming more difficult to be right. Unfortunately it’s easier to be wrong. I recently read an opinion piece that posited we have always had “the crazies” but now with instantaneous, worldwide communication at everyone’s fingertips it is easier than ever to transmit and receive that craziness. With that I would say it is equally easier than ever to transmit, receive the wrong ways to wrong or right.

Perhaps instead of concentrating so much on whether we are right or wrong, we should spend more time on how to be – whichever we are.

Found Money

Michael 4 Comments
Oh you dear people. Everybody wondering “how much be,” then complaining “it’s not enough,” and now wondering “will there be more?” Well not me. I hit the jackpot! Yes I hit it big! I broke the bank! Citibank that is. I got me me a check from them. Me! A big ole check to start the new year. Yes, me! Do you want to know why? An error was made in my favor and they admitted it. In writing. And sent it to me. In a check. They sent me a check for (are you sitting down?) (you should be sitting down) for thirty-five dollars and no cents. Yep, 35 bucks.
 
Schmucks. Thirty-five freaking dollars. That would be 44.55 Canadian. Or if you’d rather — 28.58 Euros, 45.40 Australian Dollars, 26.50 Pound Sterling, 349 Venezuelan Bolivar, 2,588.23 Indian Rupees or 2,600.40 Russian Rubles  Thirty-five freaking dollars. Wanna know more of why? They charged me a late fee on a Home Depot credit card account they should not have. In 2014!!!!!!
 
In July of 2014 they charged me a late fee even though they had credited the payment to my account 3 days before its due date. No explanation why they charged me a late fee when the payment wasn’t late. I saw when it happened six and a half years ago. Actually I saw roughly 30 days after it happened 6-1/2 years ago when I recieved the following month’s statement showing the activity. I brought it to their attention but they couldn’t take my word for it. I referred them to their statement but they wouldn’t take their word for it. I was told they would need the date, amount, and drawing institution of the payment, the confirmation numbers of my on line payment, a copy of the acknowledgement screen or email of that payment, and proof that the payment was actually debited from my bank account and recieved by them. Upon receipt of all that they sent a very nice letter saying they would begin their investigation. And that was the last I heard from them. 
 
That was that was the last I heard from them until January 2, 2021 when slipped into my mailbox was a letter and an attached check for $35.00. A letter that said there was an error. No explanation. No apology. No word that was even the incident provoking this action. Maybe the whole world is getting 35 bucks and I’m not special at all. No mention they would be notifying the credit bureaus they misinformed them of a late payment 6-1/2 years ago and no freaking interest on my $35.00 that you know darn well they would have charged me had I owed them $35 for 79 months. Just $35.00. 
 
Hmm. Well, it’s found money. I should splurge with it. $35.00. I’ll get dinner! Take out dinner. Wait. $35.00. Better make that lunch.
 
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Happy Old Year

Michael 2 Comments
Thirty days ago I issued a challenge. That sounds pushy. Let’s say 30 days ago I made a suggestion and intimated I would do it too. “It” was recall one positive, happy thing that happened this year each day during December. The purpose was to demonstrate that although 2020 might not be the poster year for The Best of Times, it is far from The Worst of Times.
 
Did you? Were you able to recall a mere 30 happy memories of all your recollections from this year’s 366 days? I did and I was. The only change I made from my proposed plan was instead of starting the day with a happy memory, I wrapped up my day with the positive reminiscence. I was thus able to share it with my friend every night. To being able to tell somebody else about the positives of the year animated those memories and kept the memory machine in tune for the following day’s offering. Another happy side effect of holding my pluses until day’s end was that it gave me the entire day to decide which memory I was most interested in sharing that day. Yes, by the second week I found myself in the unanticipated although hoped for position of having multiple merry memories. 
 
This year was one nobody expected regardless of what your Facebook friends tell you. They nor anybody else, except perhaps a handful of world class immunologists saw this year’s great pandemic coming. That same group of friends, unless they also doubled as meteorologic oceanographers likely didn’t expect 46 storms across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. (Thirty for the Atlantic, its most active recorded season and 16 in the Pacific, its least active.) Even the most studied sociologists couldn’t have predicted protests in every state and many nations against over a dozen different issues and conditions. Yes, this year was filled with misfortune. Still, there were the fortunes of 2020. The difference is that the majority of the good times were held individually although if individuals got together and pooled their happy times that would be a powerfully positive pack of people.
 
I hope you spent December recalling the good of 2020. Spending the month knowing at least some part every day would be a spent thinking happy thoughts may be the most positive memory I’ll have of 2020. And a significant challenge for 2021!
 
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2020 In a Word, or Three

Michael Leave a comment
Ah, were getting close to the New Year. The way people have been saying they can’t wait for this year to be over you would think there is an expiration date on “the virus.” I put that in quotes because that seems to be how most people are looking at it. At least that seems to be how American people are looking at it and at most other news of the year. A character, a reference, a headline. It didn’t matter how complex a matter was, all of 2020 was a slogan. Health, welfare, politics, social justice, social injustice – all were condensed into a few words, small enough and simple enough to read as a headline, fit on a protest sign, or look spiffy behind a hashtag. Every cause must have hired a PR rep to ensure its message got across to the people without all the distracting stats, explanations, and sometimes facts.
 
Would you like proof?
 
Let’s start with the election, that solemn activity undertaken with thought and due consideration for all issues. If yard signs were any indication of the thought that was taken this year we are in big trouble. We could have chosen between “Keep America Great” or “Build Back Better.” What does either mean!  But this is not unusual. Spiffy easy to remember slogans are a staple with elections. “I Like Ike” and “All The way With LBJ” didn’t rate very high on the infometer either. What was unusual this year was the trite sloganeering continued, er continues. It morphed from “Get Out and Vote” to “Your Vote Matters” to “Count Every Vote” to “Count Every Legal Vote” to “Stop The Steal.” Duh. Well, “You Can’t Fix Stupid but You Can Vote it Out.”
 
Protests lend themselves to spiffy slogans. They have to be short enough to fit on a sign in letters big enough to be legible when captured by the news cameras and catchy enough to be remembered after the cameras leave. “Silence Is Violence” is a great example. The pity is how many people did not know the origin of the phrase or its original context. Then it was confounded when the same movements adopted the “Muted” campaign. Think about that.
 
Lack of context could not stop a good protest throughout the year. We were intent on ensuring others knew we knew that various things mattered, that many peoples names needed said, that just about every ethic group was strong and that we should make America a variety of things again. We wanted to “Defund the Police” but still “Back the Blue,” and we let the world know our demands included “No Justice No Peace” then telling ourselves “Whatever It Takes.”
 
Neither could lack of facts stop a good protest. Marchers across America on Columbus Day carried signs to “Make America Native Again” or “Columbus Didn’t Discover America, He Invaded It” oblivious to the fact that Columbus never made it to any part of mainland North America on any of his four voyages.
 
And that takes us back to “the virus.” For almost the entire year a CoViD story was front and center on your favorite news source. We learned how to “Wash Your Hands” even if we didn’t know why we did it that way. We included “Flatten the Curve” in as many conversations as we could then we switched to “Business on Top, Pajamas on the Bottom” when it became clear that curve was tougher than we expected. If we did find ourselves in an intelligent conversation about CoViD and how to deal with it yet still uncertain of how to deal with it, we could fake our way through by looking thoughtful then declaring, “Corona, It’s Not Just a Beer Anymore!” Any attempt to break quarantine was met with “[Fill in the blank] IS Essential” and if that argument failed we turned to “Quarantine the Virus, Not the Constitution.” Apparently logic was what ended up in quarantine.
 
I will be glad to see 2020 come to an end but not because I think we will finally have put the issues of 2020 to bed. No, I’ll be happy to see it end because then I can finally stop having to listen to people say “I can’t wait for 2020 to end!”
 
Boy I can’t wait for 2020 to end!
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