My best friend is not fond of the heat and is not an early riser, so we usually take walks late at night. It’s quiet, peaceful, cool, or at least cooler then it is during the day and, as long as you’re not scared of the dark, a great time to walk. The other night we came upon a car on a deserted stretch of road that was occupied. Although it was a while ago, I was young once and thought I knew what I was likely to see as we walked past, and I was right. I saw two young people fondling the object of their affection – something that at the moment they may have loved more than life itself.
Yes, the young couple in the car each had their smart phone in hand and were furiously communicating their thoughts and desires with the rest of the world. Who knows, perhaps they were communicating with each other in the way they felt most comfortable.
It made me wonder if the human race would endure.
*****
I recently read a column about the grammar, or lack of same, Trump uses in his tweets. Grammarians hate to hear it, but writers came first and then the grammarians. Long before a single grammarian existed, people were speaking and writing. Much later grammarians came along and made up rules to define what in their opinion was the proper way to write. Even the strictest grammarians have to admit that the rules of grammar and usage change. If a usage that grammarians have deemed wrong becomes common, overtime the grammarians fall in line with reality and change the rule.
Words have meaning, but that meaning is not necessarily the one found in the dictionary. If the majority of people start “misusing” a word, the definition is changed. Dictionaries are always a couple of steps behind writers and speakers.
An example of a phrase that has been misused so often in the past couple of years that it has taken on a new meaning, even by the staid and conservative (as far as grammar goes) New York Times, is “to beg the question.” The meaning of to beg the question used to mean to make a circular argument. Now it means to ask the question. Another that seems to be on the same path toward acceptance is “I could care less.” The proper expression is “I could not care less.” I could not care less makes sense. I could care less does not but has made its way into the vernacular in such a way that those of us who insist on the “not” being including are forced to put our editorial foot down and pull rank on writers.
*****
It’s probably a good move for Say Yes Guilford County to separate itself from the national organization, but at some point there should be a reasonable explanation about the Say Yes bait and switch. The bait was last dollar scholarships for every graduate of Guilford County Schools; then, after one year, came the switch to means tested Say Yes scholarships.
Is there not anyone associated with Greensboro, Guilford County or Guilford County Schools who can do math? The original promise was absurd to anyone who can count, add and do simple multiplication, but everyone went along with the pie in the sky promise. So what happened? Were the local supporters of Say Yes in on the scam? Or did the national Say Yessers have them bamboozled as well?
*****
It makes you pause when you realize that you are too old to even be considered for a nomination to be a justice on the US Supreme Court. Forget about the lack of graduating from law school, passing the bar, having a stellar career and all of that. I always think of Supreme Court justices as being really old and wise, or at least some of them are wise.
But one of the finalists on President Donald Trump’s list is in her 40s and all the rest are in their 50s. Presidents want to appoint a Supreme Court justice who will likely be able to serve for 30 years, so they aren’t appointing people in their 60s. On the upside, that’s one less thing I have to worry about.
*****
I know why the polls are so far off, and with the primary win of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, we have further proof that the pollsters have about as much idea on who will win an election as your average 3-year-old. In fact, by flipping a coin you could make better predictions than the pollsters have done in the past five years.
But I found out what is causing the problem. I was talking to my mother this weekend and she told me she had been polled three times during the previous week, all about the race between Congressman Ted Budd and Democratic challenger Kathy Manning.
I have been polled exactly zero times in the past four or five years. My mother is 90. She has a landline and answers her phone. She even talks to recordings. I am 64 and don’t have a landline. I answer my phone, but at that first long pause, I hang up. I don’t talk to recordings.
So according to my very official and data driven poll, the average age of those being polled is 90 while the median age of Americans is about 38. If the average age of those being polled is 90 and the average American is 38, you can see where the polls might be off more than a point or two.
If the pollsters could get more 3-year-olds on the phone that would average out the age discrepancy and the poll data might be more accurate.
*****
Guilford County launched a new website on July 2 and announced the launch of a new website after 5 p.m. on July 9. Why would you launch a new website and a week later announce that you have launched a new website? Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to warn those who regularly use the website that you are launching a new one and that they will have to wait an interminable five seconds for the new website to load.
Last week, I was looking for some information about candidates running in the November election. It’s not listed under “Candidate Information” on the new website and I couldn’t find the list. Scott Yost told me the list of candidates is not under “Candidate Information,” where some people might expect to find it, but under “More Information,” and you can find it if you scroll down the list of more information.
Going to a newly designed website is like having your spouse decide to reorganize your closet, with the result being you can’t find anything. You assume most of the stuff is still there but have no idea where it might be since it isn’t where it is supposed to be.
*****
Congratulations to High Point University President Nido Qubein for being named honorary chairman of the Wyndham Championship for 2018 and 2019. Qubein has transformed High Point University into one of the leading small universities in the region and this is a well-deserved honor.
The Wyndham PGA tournament is played at Sedgefield Country Club and will be held August 14 through August 19 this year.
For newcomers to the area, if you hear folks talking about the GGO, what they mean is the Wyndham Championship. The PGA tournament started in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open and has been through numerous names over the years as sponsors changed, but it is still called the GGO by some folks.
It’s like the directions you get from these same folks where they say, “Just go down here to the Old Wachovia Building, then you turn right there where the Merrill Lynch used to be, you go on down past where the Bishop Block was and you can’t miss it.
*****
I periodically subscribe to online editions of major newspapers around the country and subscribed to the Los Angeles Times for a while. It was interesting to get the West Coast perspective on issues, but when I realized I hadn’t been reading the LA Times much lately I cancelled my subscription.
They want me back and want me back bad. The current offer is 25 cents a week for six months. I’m really curious to know how low they’ll go. I’m thinking when they get down to 10 cents a week, I’ll take the bait. I think even at 10 cents a week they’d make a profit because I don’t think it costs them anything for me to access their paper online.
