Failed craft

I seem to have failed in making plaster of paris which includes all of TWO ingredients, flour and water. I hid treasures in it, hoping it would harden into a brick that Jack could excavate after school today. However, it looks like a lovely Brie, and I don’t imagine Jack’s chisel and hammer are going to make much headway. Hmm…

Insanely stupid customer service

Ok, this might take the cake for dumbest aggressive behavior ever. We are daily NYTimes subscribers, and on Monday ours didn’t arrive. So that evening, I filed a “missed paper” note on the Times’ website. This morning I ran out, eagerly anticipating the Dining section. Did I find my paper? I did not. Instead I found an empty delivery bag impaled on my porch rail with a note inside that says “thank you for your paper complaint- they charge me $3 each complaint but I always leave your NY paper every day I don’t understand why you are complainting so wait your paper next day. Carrier”.

Is this guy serious? Did he not think I wouldn’t immediately call customer service and express my indignation? I wasn’t trying to get him in trouble, I just want my damn paper. But this is just stupid and offensive behavior, and you can bet I’m going to follow up.

The state of the U.S., history/future

I would say that David Brooks and I are on the same page about 50% of the time. If you can’t tell, I am left of him. Nonetheless, he is an intelligent man and surveyor of our times, so week after week, I enjoy or force myself through his columns. Today’s NYT piece about why Britain is working and we are not is one of our comings together, and I will take this opportunity to share my own thoughts about his general argument.

Per DB, Britain’s political parties have vast differences in opinion as do ours BUT they are able to acknowledge when the other party is right and are less likely (because their media and public actually respects fact and holds the politicians to facts) to lie, stonewall and BS simply for political gain. They are able to work on behalf of what their country needs.

I would add to this that Britain (and France, MANY other countries/civs around the world) is much older, has been through the ringer politically, in wars, civil unrest, and so forth for much longer and in much more strenuous ways -because of the lengths of their histories vs. ours- than have we. We are still a young nation, in many ways still being born. Really, we have pretty much only ascended since our inception. Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Rome…all were top dog at some point(s) or another and then fell, humbled and reminded of (or forced to acknowledge) the work it really takes, the outcomes one really must show, the positive influence one really must yield, to regain ascendancy.

The U.S. is a remarkable place. Our founders had already learned much from those they left behind, what they didn’t want in a country and government, what might work better than what had in the past. But much as we might glorify and/or deify them today, they weren’t infallible gods, but rather fallible humans with grand but perhaps imperfect visions. It is unlikely that the U.S. will remain the world’s dominant superpower -is it still? should there be one dominant vs several- and in my opinion, that is OK. Let us be open-minded and learn from our hubris, our mistakes and our partisan vitriol. If we can work though the anger, insecurities and uncertain times as a country instead of as tense factions incapable of even the most basic of political dialogue, perhaps we will emerge humbled but stronger, willing again to see the value in compromise, intelligent debate, science and idealism.

DB suggests today that some of those values are what strengthens Britain at  present. It’s worth considering seriously because we are not, as a nation right now, in any position to “feel smug or superior (Brooks).”