Doc started his 20-year sabbatical this week so I’m taking Fridays off for the next month (I’d joke that I wish I could be off the whole month, too, but work just had a round of layoffs). Anyway, some links and a quote that made me feel better.
1. An insider view of why buying a car is SO scammy and bad (and a reminder that “how to buy a car over email” WORKS, I helped my friend do it).
2. I didn’t know our Swoly Father Arnold starred in Japanese commercials until my friend shared a compilation. Amazing.
3. From The Marginalian: “One man sent a distressed letter to E.B. White…lamenting that he had lost faith in humanity.” Here’s the whole reply because it was a high point in a weird week:
Dear Mr. Nadeau:
As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.
Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.
Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.
Sincerely,
E. B. White