Monday, February 16, 2004

Family update

My mother called (from Berkeley) while I was away in the desert. She wanted to know 1. where I was and 2. if I had gotten her gift (=bribe) with the note urging that I vote for Dean. I was glad not to field that call because there really wasn’t an adequate answer as to why I was in Arizona and not in Berkeley California (so long as I was taking the time to be away from where I properly should be: at home attending to obligations). And as for Dean – if I wait until after the vote to discuss this with her, I can be evasive and not quite admit that Howard did not in the end get my support . But I first have to see if he gets at least one vote, otherwise she’ll catch me at my own game. I suppose Dean will almost certainly get at least one vote, but what with campaign staffers and chairmen dropping like flies, you just can’t count on it.

Bugs

A reader asked if I had encountered any odd looking bugs while in the desert (this past week-end: see posts below). Well of course. Where people go, so go the insects. Or is it: where insects go, so go the people? In any event, one specimen that crossed my path looked especially peculiar: it was almost translucent, with a body composed of many segments. I looked at photos online since my return and I have to conclude that it was not a scorpion. I fully expected to encounter a scorpion, since everyone said that scorpions are part of the landscape of southern Arizona, but In all honesty, I don’t think I saw a single one. As I said earlier: Polish speaking human beings? Yes. Scorpions? No. The desert was full of such odd surprises.

So it’s John?

I’ve been back in Wisconsin less than two hours and already I have picked up a handful of calls from John, Howard, John, and Dennis (it seems we are on first name basis: the calls are all very back-slappin’ friendly). I was almost convinced that Howard deserved an “I feel sort of sorry for you” vote, but a friend just talked me out of that line of reasoning, reminding me that “feel sorry for you” voting could have given us some unsavory leaders in the past.

Having eliminated Howard, my attention turns to the Johns. There is no doubt that I know more about the politics of the straggler John rather than the front-runner John – which is in itself interesting. My friend, who luckily was in a giving advice mode (though she offered no bribes, which was discouraging), reminded me that “military record” did not in the past swing voters (recall Clinton’s success), and would probably not be enough to pull Kerry forward. She also painted a very realistic picture of a debate where Kerry’s New England’s stiffness rubs everyone the wrong way. Finally, she made me admit that there were a great many voters who actually believed that GWB was a pleasing and sympathetic speaker (in an “aw, shucks” kind of way), and so it was vitally important to position someone who himself could be charismatic enough to off-set that sheepish little grin that seems to melt the hearts and minds of many.

Let me just say that my lines are open til at least midnight tonight. I could still be persuaded to abandon John the straggler, though less so with each minute.

Forgetting to obey the law

I was so impressed with the fact that my flight was taking off on schedule (the one from Chicago to Madison, which has an on-time departure rate of 2%) that I completely forgot to turn off my cell phone while on the plane. I am actually fairly certain that we weren’t reminded to do so, because I usually do half-listen to the front of the cabin instructions, just in case we are being told something important, like to bail out instantly, or that the plane has no functional lavatory. Still, after all that fuss in the Sunday Times about the rudeness of travelers and mutinies in airports and on trains and planes, I was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that if the phone would ring, 30 or 40 passengers could very well pounce on me with anger at my flagrant disrespect for the law.

To shut it down in mid-air would be a dead give away that I had failed to do so earlier, especially since Verizon plays a little jingle as it’s being turned off. There was nothing to do but remain confident that the law of probabilities would come through for me in such rough times. I gambled that since only about three people have my cell number, the chances of any of them calling during the 29 minute flight were slight.

I sweated it out, the phone remained silent, and I did not confuse the navigational system, because we did land in Madison. On time.

P.S. Two years ago I listened to an NPR interview with a guy who was a telecommunications expert. He claimed that there actually is no evidence that the use of cell phones during flights would have any impact on the navigational system or equipment. He speculated that the government had probably struck a deal with the airlines, who wanted to promote the use of their own in-flight phones rather than have customers pull out their cells. I always think of that interview when the flight attendant tells us that we are surely going to do great damage to the sophisticated navigational equipment if we use our electrical or cellular instruments. Of course, today I didn’t think about this at all, having been one of those spaced-out travelers who forgot that she even had a cell phone.