Country statistics were sent to select people, prior to posting on the blog. Included are some of their responses (and mine to them.
She: You are a star, but we already knew you were.
Me: Wonderful to hear from you! It is pretty amazing all right. I know that Dad would have been proud.
She: Particularly loved St. Pierre and M.!
Me You gotta get ‘em where you can.
He: Oooooo
Me: Is that approval or astonishment?
Admittedly I did send the statistics to the strangest of people, it did seem a good way to get even with some. It was a nice, subtle way of saying: “Look at me Loser, if you stuck with me you could be famous too.” Anyone who knows me, even slightly, will know that subtlety is not exactly my strong suit.
Chris’ timely report also included statistics of a slightly different nature., this tracks numbers using different time frames. I am not remotely statistical nor mathematical so it is difficult to get my arms around these figures. The thirty days seem the easiest – guess I have enough fingers and toes to manage that count. But in one month almost 2,270 people climbed on board almost 6,800 times. That is a lot of people, that is all I have to say. Writers love to be read, no doubt about that but it seems almost like drowning in a sea of attention. I shall be brave and soldier on, fear not!
But back to the real world, These statistics are real but rather esoteric. Esoteric has many, many synonyms: abstruse, obscure, arcane, recherché, rarefied, recondite, abstract, difficult, hard, puzzling, perplexing, enigmatic, inscrutable, cryptic, Delphic; complex, complicated, over/above one’s head, incomprehensible,, unfathomable, impenetrable, mysterious, little known, hidden, secret, private, mystic, magical, cabbalistic. Abstruse and enigmatic have to be my two favourites. In all reality I have never been very active on the Federal scene as faithful readers may know. But I may be changing my tune – taking a preventative measure. Gavin the Governor, as I affectionately call him, has his crossed-eyes (just kidding) on the White House. As I see it (and many others do as well) he would be a version of Donald Trump – different political party, perhaps no spray-on tan, perhaps better hair – but the same thing. The arrogance is unbelievable, what is good (or bad) for the masses has nothing to do with Gavin the Governor’s exalted personage (so he thinks). So there is a new rallying cry: Down With Gavin the Gov!!! It has a certain ring to it, do you not agree??? So there is a movement afloat to recall the Gov which definitely would thwart his plans for higher office. Plans for tomorrow include a trip to the Marin Headquarters of Recall Gavin. At the very least shall pick up a petition or two and hand it to friends and the occasional stranger. Of course, blogging about the whole experience. It is all rather exciting in some ways. As one can tell I am between men, finding a recall movement exciting is a bit desperate, do have to admit.
The New Yorker had an excellent article written by a brilliant man. First of all, let me give you the link.https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/15/inside-the-worst-hit-county-in-the-worst-hit-state-in-the-worst-hit-country?utm_source=onsite-share&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=the-new-yorker. It centers upon, of all places, North Dakota. Now I know about North Dakota as I was born in Saskatchewan and would travel with my parents to the US of A – by car of course. I am old, but not that old and cars had replaced the horse and buggy. The author is Atul Gawande, one of the smartest man in the whole world as far as I am concerned. The article is an extensive examination of a community divided. It was of particular interest as it contained an effectively written face mask ordinance. The one in Marin is ridiculously unclear mandating the wearing of face masks “outside the home”. People wear face masks outside which is not necessary and can sometimes be a bad idea. The article featured an extremely intelligent political figure who was armed with her computer at a controversial meeting. “She pulled up Fargo’s mandate on her computer and read from it. It allowed for various exceptions—religious, medical, even athletic—but ordered people in the city to wear a face covering in settings where they would be “exposed to non-household members, and where social distancing of six feet or more cannot be assured.” Evans concluded, “I simply propose swapping in ‘Minot’ every time it says ‘Fargo,’ and I think it is a great, short, succinct, but impactful, mandate.” Moreover, it was an intelligent debate among officials. Here is the other side: “He turned to Lisa Clute. “Lisa, to have you tell me that I have to believe in your science because it works? Why don’t you believe in the science of all the other studies that say masks don’t work? I’m a believer. I’m a firm believer in personal responsibility. If you’re sick, stay home. If you don’t feel safe, stay home. It’s all on yourselves. Putting together a mandate without a consequence? What a waste of time.” So the article saw Minot, South Dakota in action which is, apparently the worst-performing county in the worst-preforming state in the worst performing country in the world. The author explained his motivation: I also wanted to learn about it because it didn’t seem unusual at all: the city was divided over what to do about the pandemic, and even what to think about it. I wanted to understand what made it so difficult for people to come together and address a deadly crisis.” I heartily recommend the reading of the article in its entirety, you have no excuse as I have provided you with the link.
Now do not want you to think that I am always serious. Therefore, two photographs are provided. One with my glamorous toes encased in my Pakistani sandals, gifts from Personal Driver’s family. Toes and fingers were manicured yesterday with much laughter. I did not get the permission of the own to mention the name of this delightful place but will ask at the next appointment.
The other picture is my most recent acquisition. Faithful readers will know I was gifted with a large inflated unicorn on New Year’s Eve 2019 by members of the Royal Family of Qatar, a Princess also deflated it so it could be brought home in my luggage. It was entrusted to Personal Driver for inflating but he broke the trust and somehow lost it. Been mourning the loss of that unicorn for months and months and months. But in the Town Center Rite-Aid a replacement was found. Definitely not as big but most fluffy and huggable. He has a nick-name, PhD, it stands for Pink Horney Darling. He was on sale for a mere seven dollars and fifty cents as he was a Valentine Unicorn and Valentine’s Day is over with for another year.
