[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]
12/12/20
Aloha All --
A pretty quiet week here, as most are. However, we do have moments of what passes for excitement these days. Like the other day when Karen was exercising in the pool and a pair of mating Dragonflies (yes, they do it while flying) kept trying to land on her. Not sure what the motivation was – possibly the male wanted the female to lay her eggs there. Not the sharpest Dragon in the stable if that was it. Karen’s hat, swim suit strap, and face wouldn’t be the best spot, I would think. Anyway, this went on for several minutes, long enough for me to get a few pictures.
Speaking of the pool, we’ve been struggling to keep it at our minimum acceptable temperature. Even though we cover it with our solar blanket at night, it has been consistently dropping low enough (65d!) to cool down the pool to high 70's, low 80's. We’ve also had several cloudy afternoons that shuts down our pool’s solar warming panels so the water can’t warm up very much. Still, we’ve gritted our teeth and gone in anyway, but it takes a few laps at 79d to get rid of the initial sting. Hard life, right? (Heh, heh – I’ve been following the temps in your part of the county and I know the contrast with our weather).
Early in the week my handyman and I installed the new valve I talked about. This was about as easy as it gets. Shut off water, drain pipe, make two cuts and push the new valve onto the ends. Turn on water. That’s it. Period. No leaks, no fuss, no solder or flux or propane flames. The valve is part of a whole line of plumbing connectors that are made by the “SharkBite” company (there may be competitors but I haven’t seen them). According to the Lowe’s clerk who helped me, professional plumbers seem to approve them, and so far I do too. The valve and its joints are rated to 200psi, which is far higher than any residential plumbing line should be. Not only that, with a special $7 tool you can remove the fittings and reuse them. Of course 2nd hand testimony is hardly firm evidence. I’ll keep checking for problems, but so far I’m sold.
Had a good workout this week at Planet Fitness -- 12 other people plus 3 staff. Rewarded ourselves with lunch at one of our favorite in-town places -- Fish Hopper. Right on the ocean, open-air, and we really like their food. Our lunch was "Poke Nachos" and clam chowder with crabmeat in addition to the clams. The nachos are actually won tons and the poke is marinated raw ahi. The sauce is something made with a bit of wasabi and the whole thing is topped with strands of some kind of seaweed. Delicious. Of course, this lunch pretty well undid the benefits of our workout.
Our virus situation is pretty good, though we are getting a dozen or so new cases every day. The hospitals are handling it ok, unlike the ones on the mainland. Overloading hospitals is one predictable and inevitable consequence of the “let’s-just-forge-ahead-to-herd-immunity” approach. Another is that lots of people are dying unnecessarily and if the anti-maskers have their way it will take another 140 million cases to achieve herd immunity, with a LOT more deaths. Choosing not to wear a mask kills people. That’s a fact. It’s not fake. Just ask Rudy Guiliani. Of course, immunity can also be achieved through vaccination, but the latest polls indicated that 50 per cent of our “enlightened” populace say they won’t get vaccinated! Besides, even the most optimistic predictions about rate of distributing the vaccine suggest that achieving herd immunity that way will not be accomplished until late next year. How many more will die in the meantime if people refuse to take sensible precautions?
Ok, enough. I won’t comment on the other insanity that is rampant in our country, except to say that when I hear “stop the steal” I have to ask which side is doing the stealing, really?
Stay warm and safe.
2 comments:
Looks like you are suffering none too much.
You might like this clear-eyed argument about deniers as it relates to masks and denial of facts generally: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-climate-change-deniers-not-listen-to-the-facts-presented-to-them/answer/Michael-Barnard-14 Personally, I think it's like faith, where folks are sure and confident of their position and facts become unimportant once that decision is locked in.
I am tweaking a new blog and looking at yours reminds me of what I didn't get right yet.
Dennis -- This is a good article, thanks. I'd like to add/emphasize a couple of points. First, many people over-simplify the concept of confirmation bias by interpreting it as merely a matter of "motivated reasoning" where the thinker is purposefully only paying attention to confirming information. A lot of research suggests that it need not be consciously operating at all but rather a something that results from the way our brain processes the masses of information with which it must deal. This is a much more subtle and ominous phenomenon, not easily corrected by "education" or being presented with the "correct" facts.
Also, we liberal intellectuals may like to believe we are less prone to the bias, but this is not true. The very fact that we tend to most often see the deniers as the problem whereas "we" pay careful attention to logic and facts is evidence of our own narrow thinking. There are nuanced positions that can be defensibly derived from the same data which don't align with our own thinking and we tend not to see them.
Finally, I agree that social media has contributed to the splintering of our society, but perhaps without the nefarious motivation of bad actors. The AI algorithms that present the suggestions for the next video on You Tube or the next Facebook post are designed to keep our attention by feeding us more of the same. These algorithms may suggest slight variations in the direction and strength of position advocated as to what you might look at or read next. They then pay close attention to what you choose and repeat the process. Again, we liberals aren't immune to this. Convinced that the arguments of the other side are all simplistic and based on flawed logic? Consider that *those* positions are easy to refute and disparage, but we haven't been made aware of ones that are harder to criticize and dismiss.
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