texas

Well almost a month has passed again, but we have plenty to talk about.

First, a few weeks ago NASA landed the Perseverance rover on Mars.  It was another amazing feat from the people at NASA, and it was so inspiring to watch the landing.  The amount of work it takes to land a vehicle on another planet is simply staggering, but NASA has proven it can do it again and again.

NASA is also one of the very few places we give money to where those funds actually trickle down.  Innovations designed by NASA have given so much to us and will continue to do so.  Dare Mighty Things indeed.

As you know from my last post, we were covered in snow here in Chicago with cold temps that kept all the snow from melting.  We had nearly 50 inches here, so it was pretty nuts.  But, for the most part everyone was okay.  Power stayed on, roads were cleared, and everything pretty much went on as usual, with mountains of cleared out snow everywhere. In sharp contrast, we have Texas. 

Texas also experienced a storm of epic proportions.  Their power grid failed, and people there went long periods without any power, heat, water and food.  Because they had no power, temperatures inside houses got low enough to freeze pipes, and cause major damage.  People died from exposure.  Everything was shut down.  It was pretty nuts.

Now Texas has their own electrical grid.  This was on purpose to avoid federal regulations and to maximize profits.  Power providers were told for years that they need to winterize their power infrastructure to make sure it kept going in the cold.  Since it seemed something like that could never happen, they chose profits over actually doing the work to winterize.  And when everything went down, they couldn’t get help from the federal power grid because they had isolated themselves.  In addition, to many people who actually still had power, they jacked up the rates in such a manner that people were getting $16K power bills.

We had the ingenuity and drive to land a rover on Mars, but Texas lacked the basic steps to winterize their power gear, because it saved them money.  It’s a pretty stark contrast. 

Next the company behind Mr. Potatohead, rebranded to just Potatohead to be more inclusive.  In addition, the company publishing Dr. Suess books decided to stop selling six books that included racist imagery.

Two companies trying to be more inclusive is a good thing, right?

Not according to conservatives.  They all latched on to this as cancel culture, and had a bunch of “What next?” scenarios.  They tried to get everyone so riled up and outraged over BUSINESSES choosing how they wanted to, you know, DO business.  Even moderate people were on FB thinking this was going too far. 

Are you fucking kidding me?  Seriously, no one “cancelled” Dr. Suess.  They made the decision to remove books that were fucking racist.  They own those books, it’s their right.  I’m so sorry you won’t be able to show racist caricatures to your grandkids.  I mean, what the fuck?  If you were really mad about Dr. Suess, or Potatohead, you are simply a fucking idiot falling for the racist faux outrage at this.   Seriously, there are much more important things going on right now. 

And shut up with your fucking “cancel culture” bullshit.  It’s CONSEQUENCE culture.  Do something shitty and you’ll get called out for it.  If it’s shitty enough, people will stop supporting you.  That’s how life is supposed to work.  How about don’t do the shitty thing, eh?

And also, there are people who bitch about companies being more inclusive.  Potatohead changing their name is a small thing they can do to make some people feel better about their brand.  How is that in any way offensive to you?  You can still buy a fucking Mr. Potatohead.  They still sell it.  How did their company name change affect YOU in ANY way?  The answer is that it doesn’t, but people want you outraged?  Why?  

People that claim inclusivity is dumb are the same people who have always been included.  If you are a cis white male, such as myself, how about you shut the fuck up and sit this one out?

On the vaccine front, Johnson and Johnson was added as another option, and it only requires one dose.  This makes it much easier to get more people vaccinated.

The whole process is a nightmare though, and unless you are on the computer hitting refresh hundreds of times at midnight, it’s hard to come by appointments.  That said, my wife is the vaccine hunter, and my family all has their first shots.  My second is the end of the month, and by mid-April we are all fully vaccinated.

There are a lot of things to still be anxious about, but my family being protected helps alleviate my number one worry.  We still have a ways to go before this pandemic is over, but the prospect of myself or my girls dying from this has subsided. 

I can sleep a little easier at night now.  Here’s hoping you do soon as well.