chelsea headingIt took over an hour and more than one try to get out whatever bugs were in my system. I called Cox tech people and one guy gave up and put me with another person. We almost got one email program working. The next day I called and that male person was more lost than me so he said he would ask someone as it was not in his area. Now? Now I wonder if he had an area. Then, as I sat there for a very long while holding a dead phone, a female voice came on and started sounding as if she knew nothing about me or my problem. So I told her my problem and of the person who was allegedly finding help and I thought she was that help. Ready? She said, “Oh, they do that when they don’t know and sometimes the supervisor tells them to hangup.” I am paying Cox a bloody fortune and this dude just leaves me hanging? AND** I didn’t even get an evaluation form. The female voice fixed two of three and it only took many tries and an hour or so. My guess she was as tired of the mess as I was. My iPad worked but I cannot send andfurthermore from it. That was then and this is now. I left town for a cupla days to get away from computers and have less stress. Have you ever had that feeling? We got it going so here I am.
Very recently I heard Garrison Keeler on NPR and he talked about today in history. That got me thinking about several things as in this morning’s newspaper (remember them?) there was another interesting small bit about the history. There has been such divisive political news that most of what I have seen or read totally skipped Groundhog’s Day. No, not the movie but the real thing. Today, as I finally get a few seldom interrupted minutes, is time for the poor little groundhog (Punxsutawney Phil) to be abused so all of the U.S, could say it was going to be more or less winter. Poor ol’ Punnx, with global warming his job may be redundant. But he saw his shadow today and that means it either will or won’t be longer to actual spring. But some things are back on track or will be getting better. President Trump asked the National Prayer breakfast to pray for Arnold Schwarzenegger because his TV show ratings were going in the tank. One thing you must know before going further, our national leaders keep their priorities straight so we can worry less about everything. As George Orwell told us years and years ago, we should not worry.
There are many historical events which happened in february and you can concentrate on the good things instead of the dreary - unless you are in Sydney and it is hotter than measurable. The U.S. war with Mexico ended on February 2, 1848 and for $15 million the U.S,. acquired California, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Texas. and a great deal more land. Can you imagine what our two countries would be like if Mexico had kept California and all the rest. Probably Mexico would be shouting about all those illegal immigrants taking land away from them and putting up border patrols to stop wagon trains.
Another very important event was the passage of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution that gave every citizen the right to vote. It went into effect and immediately every person in the USA could vote and did so. OK, so that part is a lie. It took extra-ordinary courage of many women to get the right to vote even though it was guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. It took even longer for people of color to get to vote without being hung on a tree. Not a good time for our national psych. But better news happened in February. On February 10, 1910 the Boy Scouts of America was founded by William Boyce in Washington, D.C. modeled after the British Boy Scouts. This marvelous organization has been guiding boys to lead a good life, be morally upstanding and patriotic since day one. It is one of the brightest of many, many bright spots in our history.
Yessir, I have two Eagle Scouts of who I am extremely proud and now one grandson Eagle. Many people use Boy Scouts as a foil for their sarcastic humor. Here is the Boy Scout Oath/Promise for you to see why we need more of this: “On my honor, I will do my best, To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.