Happy Anniversary?

January 21, 2021Michael 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.

Selfish Is and Selfish Does

December 7, 2020Michael 4 Comments

I’ll start right up front apologizing to all my non-US readers. You’re too kind and don’t deserve to play the innocent bystander but you should know from the start that this is not going to be pretty.

Now for the rest of you, my fellow Americans, just how incredibly selfish is this country getting! Not the people in this country. The whole darn shooting match. It’s now a national pastime to do whatever you want regardless of consequences. Go to parties, get on planes, play football, go to happy hour. If you’re reading this you are more than likely among to ever shrinking quantity of intelligent, courteous individuals but you probably know more than a few handfuls of whiny, reckless, selfish bastar…er, jerks. I don’t know how it is where you are (which is the polite way of saying things are getting out of control everywhere) but around here, things are getting out of control. For example:

Every day for the past 8 days the morning paper headlines have been [State, County, City] Sets New Record for COVID [Infections, Hospitalizations, Deaths] (they rotate the where and the what so you don’t think they just re-ran the same story). Someone on that same front page is the other inevitable headline [Party, Candidate, Congressmen, Senator] [Claims New Voter Fraud, Decries Latest Fraud Claim], sometimes all the above! While the world is falling apart, these imbeciles are busy engaging in playground “did so, did not, did too, make me!” games. Children have more sense than these disgusting, miserable, adolescent excuses for human beings. (Too rough?)

It’s gotten to the point that now I personally know seven people who have been tested positive for CoViD-19 and one who died from the infection. Once removed (as in know someone who knows someone) the numbers are greater than 70 infections, over a dozen hospitalizations, and 2 deaths. There were all cautious, all held fast to safe prevention practices, only one was a nursing home resident (one of the deaths), 18 were health care workers or first responders (including the other death), and a handful of other essential workers. These aren’t great numbers when you consider my state is reporting over 424,000 cases and nearly 11,500 deaths but these “numbers” are people I know. They are people I have shared space and time with, who over the years have been to the same church or party or store or hospital as I have been. They are friends and neighbors. They are not Democrats or Republicans, they are not maskers or anti-maskers, they are not cowards or daredevils. They are people. People who relied on public servants to serve their public rather than serving their egos.

So, what can we do about this? I’m staying calm but taking names. Oh sure, today I’ll write a couple letters to my so-called representatives in between checking in on friends and relatives to see how everyone is doing and that my “numbers” aren’t going up. But some day those so-called representatives who today are busy representative themselves will surely run for office again. That’s when the real letter writing campaign begins. That’s when I will start reminding everybody that when they should have been meeting in chambers, representing us working on health initiatives, equipment and vaccine allocations, or financial assistance packages, our so-called leaders were instead meeting in courtrooms and TV studios representing themselves and working on undermining the security and confidence of the country – all in the name of “did so, did not, did too, make me.”

I’m sorry, it wasn’t a very pleasant post today. They made me do it.

Odds On Favorites

February 13, 2014Michael 3 Comments

The PowerBall and MegaMillions jackpots have been up again. The Super Bowl was just a little while ago and word has it that in Las Vegas you really could bet that the first score would be a safety. Around here everybody is betting on whether the weather will ever rise above freezing again. What do these things have in common? They all have odds of winning, or in the case of the last one, not freezing.

Once upon a time we took statistics to determine odds and what’s significant and what isn’t. In fact, He of We recalls an assignment that required the fledgling statistician to determine the odds of him or her passing the course. That was cruel but the odds weren’t all that bad.

When the PowerBall people reconfigured the number of numbers available to draw, the odds of winning went from something like one in a gazillion to one in infinity. Yet people still win. That got us to thinking. If you stop to think about what are the odds of something happening the odds are pretty good that you will end up with a headache. Don’t even think of gambling. Just think of life. What are the odds you’ll get to work on time every day next week? What are the odds that you won’t slip on an icy sidewalk? What are the odds that you’re next paycheck will be in the bank before you next have to fill up your car’s gas tank? Everything has a chance that it will or will not happen. Not that it might or might not. It either will or it will not.

That led us to a most profound revelation. The odds of anything happening are 50/50. Or even of not happening. Everything in life boils down to a 1 in 2 chance. Either it will or it won’t. It doesn’t matter if some world class statistician determined the odds that the first play from scrimmage in the Super Bowl would result in a safety were 6,000 to 1 or that the odds that Finland will win the women’s hockey gold medal in the Olympics are 16 to 1. There’s a headache starting to happen. There are only eight teams in the women’s tournament so shouldn’t the greatest odds be 8 to 1? It doesn’t matter. The real odds are 50/50. Either they will win or they will lose.

So now that we’ve shared our profound revelation with you, you can bet with confidence on next year’s Super Bowl, this year’s Olympics, or tomorrow’s weather. Everybody deserves the good odds and you can’t get much better than 50/50. Actually even that can be reduced to some pretty good odds. Either you will or you won’t.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?