Monday, July 11, 2022

 

The laptop computer was slower even than usual to boot this evening, although it seems to have pulled itself together in the end. It must be getting on for ten years old. I really begin to wonder if…

 

Scotland has at last been given a share of the tee-shirt weather which has enveloped the rest of the island for the last fortnight. Michaela and I got out for a walk this morning, but didn’t reach the garden. My leg – the one attached to the faulty hip – wasn’t strong enough. Perhaps it was too soon after my morning exercises. Helen is overwhelmed with house-guests and didn’t come.

 

Nor did I get as much knitting done as I would have liked. Still, I did some, and the end is nigh.

 

Wordle: another toughie. I got it in six. Alexander and Ketki both needed five. Four for Mark.

 

I am not paying much attention to the all-consuming question in British politics, namely: who is to be our next prime minister? My choices would be Michael Gove, who doesn’t seem to be standing; or Rory Stewart, who isn’t even in Parliament since the last election. But I am pleased at the diversity of sexes and races among the actual candidates, and pleased that GB has so far abstained from commenting on the candidates from that point of view, and has also so far shown no inclination towards the American obsession with firstness. (For instance: Condoleeza Rice was the first black woman to be Secretary of State. So what? She wasn’t the first black in the post, nor the first woman, yet she was celebrated for that irrelevant reason. It seems to me to detract something from her merit to speak of her in those terms.) (Similarly Biden’s announcement in advance that he was going to appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court. It sounds as if he found a thoroughly worthy candidate, but I disapprove of finding the categories first.)

 

Oh, dear, will I be shot down in flames?

7 comments:

  1. Dear Jean,
    I live in hope we will come to a day, in my lifetime, when race, gender, and relationship to a man are irrelevant when discussing the accomplishments of any one. I am in agreement with you!
    Cam

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  2. Hear hear!
    Just murmuring....Wordle in 3 today! Simply by putting in a word at random with no expectation of it being correct!

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  3. =Tamar9:14 PM

    Can we add size to the irrelevancies to be ignored?

    Slowness to boot may possibly be related to wear on the drive, I'm told. Apparently hard drives [and I suspect SSDs too] slowly accumulate tiny bad spots, and getting past them becomes harder for the programs. A new disc drive can have the same programs reloaded and use the same hardware. It might be worth investigating.

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  4. I totally agree with you about this obsession with firsts and I always felt badly for Condoleeza Rice having to carry that label everywhere. My favorite hockey team has a player who is almost 40 years old and every time they talk to or about him that comes up; I know he gets tired of that. Most goals for a 39-year-old. How about discussing how good he is regardless of how old he is? Like how well we are all doing in Wordle!

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  5. Oh, Jean! Michael Gove? Rory Stewart I could understand but not Michael Gove... Of course, he was born in Aberdeen...

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  6. I agree that a person being appointed a vital role should be lauded for their knowledge and accomplishments, not their gender, race or other attribute.
    Wordle in 5 today. Doubly demonic with 2 letters repeated!

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  7. No, I won't shoot you down in flames either - comments about someone's gender or race are not in the least helpful. We get far too much of it here in Downunder!

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