?`s and ANNEswers

Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Leap Day

Posted on February 29, 2024

The media is all over Leap Day. This morning Facebook featured a woman who turns 100 today, but is celebrating only her twenty-fifth birthday. CBS News provided a lengthy historical perspective on the need for Leap Day every four years. It has to do with the rotation of the Earth’s orbit around the sun. And the Associated Press gave me some facts about February 29.

For example, on this date in 1892, Britain and the United States agreed to arbitration over their dispute regarding seal hunting in the Bering Sea. (Bear in mind, this is not the same thing as settling the dispute.) In 1940 Hattie McDaniel became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award. And in 1968, the 5th Dimension won the record of the year award at the Grammys for “Up, Up, and Away.”

Today President Biden and former president Trump both visited Texas and ramped up the rhetoric about the border crisis. I wonder if this event will be remembered in Leap Days to come.

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Cutting to the Chase

Posted on February 28, 2024

You’ve all had experiences when you called a major company and gotten into the automated queue where Robot Voice first suggests we go online to resolve our issue. Believe me, if I thought my question was that easy to solve, I would go online. But usually it’s not. You’ve also had the experience where Robot Voice wants verification “to get you to the right agent.”

This is the point where I take affirmative action. Usually it consists of hitting “0” umpteen times in a row, which confuses Robot Voice and often puts me at the front of the line to speak with a human. Hitting the pound sign can also do the same thing.

Today this didn’t work with Xfinity (aka Comcast). When I hit “0” several times in a row, Robot Voice politely said “Goodbye.” I was not deterred. Dialed the 800 number again; listened to the same yak-yak, asked for an agent. Robot Voice asked if I wanted to resolve this issue online. “Please answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’”

Now normally I approach these glitches with calm resolve, because I believe you get further by being pleasant, even if it’s to a robot. But after an hour on this project I’d had it and yelled, “No, no, no, no, no” as loud as I could. Guess what? I moved to the front of the line and spoke with Human Agent Daisy who solved my problem in an instant.

It really doesn’t matter what the problem was; this blog isn’t about that. It’s about how you get a human. Just add yelling “No” more than once to your list, especially when you need to communicate with Xfinity.

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Michigan Primary Today

Posted on February 27, 2024

Today are the Republican and Democratic primaries in my state. To vote, in advance you had to declare one party or the other and then get the ballot for which party you declared. It isn’t at all like the national election in November.

Biden and Trump will most likely win their parties’ nominations. There isn’t anyone formidable on either ballot. Still, there are issues.

The Republicans in Michigan are in disarray. So are the Democrats for different reasons. If you want to study this, there is ample opportunity online. My bottom line is that this primary could be a proxy for what happens this November.

In my lifetime, I’ve seen nominations for presidential candidates evolve from the various conventions to every state having a primary to determine the nominee. I’m not sure which I prefer, because each has pros and cons. What I do not prefer is lobbying, advertising, false testimony, vicious accusations, cruel acronyms, and lack of polite discourse.

And between now and the general election in November, I shall be subjected to all the above.

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Our Missing Hearts

Posted on February 26, 2024

I rarely post book reviews, but the selection for last night’s Great Book Club (aka The Buddy Book Club) deserves comment. Written by Celeste Ng (pronounced Eng), Our Missing Hearts is her third novel. It was reviewed by Stephen King (yes, that King) for the New York Times, so I’m reviewing it for you.

Set in the future where things are dire, the story revolves around eleven-year-old Bird, whose mother disappeared three years before. Much of the novel is about Bird’s search for his mother to learn why she left.

These bones have been fleshed out in many other YA and adult fiction, but Ng’s take is unique in my opinion. Besides being a good writer, she has meticulously created a plot that is intricate but believable (provided you accept the dystopian society Bird and his contemporaries live in.) You almost have to read it twice to get how tightly the story is woven. The three questions Duchess asks Bird to verify that he really is Bird are not out of the blue. That the Duchess inherits a technology company seems irrelevant, until it isn’t. And even the mother’s name is symbolic.

I read Ng’s first book, Everything I Never Told You, and liked it a lot. Her second, Little Fires Everywhere, did nothing for me. But with Our Missing Hearts, she is back on my list.

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Chopin’s Waltz

Posted on February 25, 2024

I’ve been working on playing the original score of Chopin’s Waltz for a couple months. I don’t particularly like it, just as I didn’t like “Moonlight Sonata,” but there is so much to be learned from these pieces that I persist. In Chopin’s case, it’s the fingering in various measures.

I have a small hand, which makes things beyond octaves difficult. Chopin doesn’t care. I researched the internet and learned Chopin didn’t have a very large hand either, but he made the most of what he had. Which is why he cavorts all over the piano. I’m not good at cavorting.

Tomorrow I go for my monthly piano lesson, and I’ll play the Chopin piece and ask for more time to make it better. And I believe I can. Will never cavort, but can at least trill.

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Drive-by Goodbye

Posted on February 24, 2024

I was talking with C. yesterday; his week included what I call a drive-by goodbye from a client he’d had for over four years. This client sent him a text that her firm had hired someone else for their online marketing and could C. send her all the appropriate passwords and delete his contact information from their website and any other materials.

I suppose that’s proper protocol, the passing on of IDs and passwords, but the protocol for letting a vendor go certainly wasn’t proper in my book. It was, however, an example of a growing trend.

People no longer take time to say “Goodbye” in person. In this case, I don’t necessarily think a formal face-to-face meeting was necessary, but I do think the client owed C. the courtesy of a phone call. And a thank you for the years of good work. If I had been C. the manner in which this transition was handled equals a burning bridge.

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Scary

Posted on February 23, 2024

Years ago, before the infamous Wall came down, I was invited to visit Berlin. It didn’t take long to decline the invitation, as I was concerned about my safety. I had a vision of being in a café with a friend, opining about politics, being overheard by some government agent, and escorted away for questioning.

I feel the same way about Alabama.

On February 16, that state’s supreme court ruled that frozen embryos created and stored for in vitro fertilization (IVF) were children. One result of this ruling is that parents can sue for punitive damages when their child, in or out of a uterus, dies. Another result is that some of the eight clinics in Alabama that provided IVF services are pausing their programs for fear of prosecution if something goes wrong.

Personally I am not convinced that IVF is a good thing. There are moral implications, medical repercussions, and economic considerations. At the same time, I don’t believe a state government should make such a ruling, just as I don’t believe the Supreme Court of the United States should have rescinded Roe v. Wade.

A good law or a bad law, it was the law of the country that accepted various religions and peoples who had differing views about conception. It was inclusive in that regard. And if your religion forbids abortion or IVF, then why can’t you follow that without insisting others with differing opinions do the same thing? It’s scary.

One other question: If frozen embryos are children, who gets the tax deduction?

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Three Restaurants

Posted on February 22, 2024

I’ve been to three local restaurants in two days, and the upshot is that my own cooking will be on the menu for the foreseeable future. Eating out just isn’t what it used to be before the pandemic.

Case in point: The first restaurant, Clementine’s, boasted a lobster roll for its luncheon special. The server said it was made in-house with celery and mayo and served on a hoagie bun. The traditional New England style lobster roll is served on a bun that is slit on top and has sides that are flat for toasting. Hoagie has nothing to do with it.

Still, one doesn’t get a lot of opportunity in the Midwest for a lobster roll, so I ordered it. The traditional New England style lobster roll is filled with fresh chunks of recognizable lobster meat along with the aforementioned celery and mayo.

It’s true the server didn’t describe the lobster itself as chunks. But since New England style lobster rolls are the only kind I’ve ever had, my imagination took over as I waited eagerly for my meal.

The hoagie was very large and split in half. Nothing was toasted, but I hadn’t expected it would be. The lettuce and tomato were superfluous, but they could be picked off. The lobster “chunks’ were the size of cooked rice, giving the entire sandwich the consistency of ham salad with essence of lobster. Most of it stayed at the restaurant when we left.

My second foray was at Plank’s, a restaurant in a high end hotel in town. For my taste the food has always been hit or miss. And I’m sure you already know from the tone of this blog where this going. The grouper sandwich was a definite miss. It’s only saving grace was that I shared it with my friend, which reduced the pain of the $20 price by half.

Finally, Earl and I went to Cracker Barrel this evening with a gift certificate. We’d always gone for breakfast in the past, so I was prepared to order eggs if nothing else looked appealing. The local CB now offers a small assortment of beers and wines which is how we started our meal. It did help set the mood.

And to our surprise both our entrees were good; not gourmet cuisine but solid comfort food. To our second surprise, the gift card was generous enough that we can return, have another before-dinner drink, and another meal. You just never know.

I realize I’ve fixated on food these past few blogs. Maybe it’s because there’s not much  palatable in the daily news. Even in small bites.

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Fish Fry Finale

Posted on February 21, 2024

You could call it beginner’s luck, since I’d never cooked perch before. But our dinner last night was a culinary success. I managed to have all three methods of cooking the fish get done at the same time and arranged them on a platter alphabetically; that is, the baked on the left, the broiled in the center, and the fried on the right. (I’m quirky that way. I even alphabetize my soup cans.)

They all looked moist yet crispy. Not the stiff deep-fried kind of crispy; rather the kind that Clementine’s, a local restaurant, serves and is the gold standard around here. However, they all tasted the same regardless of which side of the platter they came from.  Which means the next time I cook perch, I’ll do one recipe only.

Long story short: we ate them all. Same for the bread. The salad went untouched.

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Fish Fry

Posted on February 20, 2024

The local supermarket had a sale on perch, those little fish fillets that fry up crispy and tender. I’ve never cooked perch, but the price convinced me to buy a package and try it.

At home, I discovered three different types of breading for fish lurking in my cupboard. How they got there, since I don’t fry much, is beyond me; but perhaps Earl, the resident grocery shopper, was lured (Pun intended) to purchase Andy’s Red Batter, Drake’s, and one other whose name was ripped off the packaging.

It’s questionable how long these breadings have been in the cupboard, but tonight they are front and center as I try three different recipes: fried, baked, and broiled. Timing seems crucial, since the fillets are small and thin and cook quickly. Each recipe says they are done in about seven minutes.

Which means organization is key. The table is already set; the French bread is wrapped in foil to warm, the lemons are cut, and the salad is almost dressed. All that’s left is to tend the fish. I’ve breaded all three recipes, have the oven at the proper temp, and am heating the oil in the fry pan.

Will let you know tomorrow what happened next.

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