Being Prepared

I felt a bit of dread at coming upon this article, which warns of product shortages. Because of the giant container ship that was trapped in the Suez Canal and a shortage of containers themselves, shipping will be disrupted again. The warning that affected me the most was toilet paper. Well, suffice it to say I'm not going through that again. I never ran out last year, but it was a stressful time indeed. To prevent a recurrence of such an ordeal, my order of a 32-pack of Charmin is scheduled to arrive today. Combined with what I already have on hand, I should be well set for the rest of the calendar year. Take that, Forces of Darkness!

On the French front, I've been doing reading, listening and a reading/listening combo with testing. I think I have a handle on it as far as my new routine goes. It interferes with writing, but if I can get the right French certification, I could do translation work. I have to go with what pays. Nevertheless, I've been getting a little done on the writing front and expect to increase the amount I'm doing, which has been nothing to brag about.

Part of what I'm working on will be a project with more of a commercial appeal. Most of what I've done until now has fit into a certain niche. I need something that the wider market will embrace. At the same time I need to get the rest of Messengers out the door, including the space novel set in the time period when Kayley went into the future to save the miners. The goal now is to figure out how to get a writing routine that juggles both the commercial project and Messengers. And maybe juggles Avatars, too. There's never enough time for everything.

Have a great weekend.

Tired

I'm a little too worn out to do a blog post today. In fact, I'm taking the rest of the month off.

Have a great weekend.

Oh, Canada

Last week I neglected to mention a video I watched on https://apprendre.tv5monde.com/. It was about secessionist sentiments and talked about some region in Italy that wanted more autonomy, etc. The woman in the video lives in Italy but was originally from Quebec, Canada. It's hard to describe, but she sounded like a country bumpkin/hillbilly/redneck. Imagine a French person speaking with a Hollywood fake Southern accent. It was a lot like that. TV5Monde's videos have speakers from various French-speaking countries. The difficulty of understanding them varies. The Canadian woman was understandable, but she sounded so weird.

Fun fact: As of the end of 2020, Canada had an estimated population of 38 million people. In comparison, California in 2020 had an estimated population of 40 million. Isn't the mind blowing? Canada is smaller than California. Canada is so big on the map, I've always assumed it had a lot of people living there. I was so wrong. Even small Mexico has about 128 million people.

I think California should secede and become its own country. If it wanted to take Oregon, Washington and Nevada with it, that would be perfectly okay. If Canada can make it in the world and stand on its own two feet, so can those western states. They should secede right now.

A few years ago, I thought of something to tell children like my niece and perhaps certain adults about Canada. It goes like this. Canada is so far north and is so close to the North Pole that the cities there are actually under ice that's a kilometer thick. (You have to say kilometer.) The ice slowly melts on the underside of what are essentially giant domes and drips down to form the rivers there, but the continual snowfall keeps the ice layer above the cities from ever melting. It's so dense that the bubbles that normally make ice cloudy get forced out. That's why pictures from Canadian cities have the sun in them. It's shining through the clear ice. After every snow the Canadian Department of Transportation sends out Zambonis to melt/refreeze the top layer to keep the ice clear enough for the sun to be seen. Airports have special corridors in the ice that planes have to fly through to get in and out. A lot of highways run through huge ice tunnels. The ice layer in Canada is so clear that you don't notice it in pictures, but once you're there in person, it's obvious that the pictures rely on an optical illusion.

Have a great weekend.

Homework

Instead of a blog this week, I want you to imagine a topic you really enjoy reading about. If I had blogged about that, what would I have said? Reach deep inside yourself and create a first, second and third paragraph. Include juicy tidbits and interesting facts. Think of a web site you would want to link to that topic. What draws you to that topic? Include little details that would make the blog fascinating and really hold your interest.

As part of my quest for a B2 or C1 certificate in French, I've been doing B2 French exercises on https://apprendre.tv5monde.com/. You watch a video and then do exercises. At first it was a chore, but as I got used to it, it became okay. I'm learning stuff American news doesn't cover. Last night I watched two videos in particular that I completely bombed the test on. Instead of answers, the answers were questions. It felt so abstract, especially the one for which I didn't know the topic. Sometimes, it doesn't matter how well I understand the video. The test part can be tricky with its synonyms and cultural obscurities.

Last night I also started a new book in French after finishing the absolutely dismal John Grisham book that made me quit John Grisham novels. It was The Chamber. The French title would be translated as Death Row. It was a piece of crap. At one point I set it aside and read an Isaac Asimov novel then later started it up again. It was about a lawyer trying to save a man on death row. He engages in unethical behavior, etc. At the end the man dies anyway. The whole thing was an ultra-liberal, bleeding heart liberal attack on the death penalty while almost completely ignoring the victims. As I read it, I kept asking, What about the victims?! The murderer was portrayed as noble, heroic and courageous. The attitude was that it's a darn shame about those victims, but the death penalty is the "real crime". Uh, no. We actually need to expand the death penalty to include child molesters. Well, that's it. I'm done with Grisham. I never read him back in the day anyway. The Firm and the Pelican Brief weren't bad, but I want politics out of my educational entertainment. I tried Grisham because I've been trying to read things I don't normally read. Maybe my horizons are broad enough already.

The new book I started is much better. Except for the onslaught of vocabulary and unusual expressions, that is. I'm having to constantly look things up and puzzle out the meanings of odd expressions. Combine that with the two failed video exercises, and it was almost a double whammy last night. But every new author brings a new set of vocabulary. If I can get up to speed on that, it should be much smoother sailing. The expressions I'm not sure about. I may have to learn to live with those. Maybe that's okay. It's enough of a page-turner to keep going to find out what happens next. One thing that disturbed me was having to look up a word that wasn't in my French dictionary or translatable by Google. https://www.le-dictionnaire.com/ told me it was a rare word. In YA? No, don't do that to me.

Have a great weekend.

Another Longevity Article

I posted an article the other day titled Human ageing process biologically reversed in world first. The treatment, which was putting a person in a hyperbaric chamber for 90 minutes a day for five days a week for three months while breathing 100% oxygen, increased telomere length and decreased senescent cell count. I was recommended another article called End of Ageing and Cancer? Scientists Unveil Structure of the 'Immortality' Enzyme Telomerase. Though the recommendation was new, this one dates to 2018 and relates how scientists were able to image telomerase as it was working. It was a breakthrough that should lead to more anti-ageing treatments. The article is a bit sciencey but not overwhelmingly so. The final paragraph is an important one to read.

The challenge today is to live long enough to live forever. But hang on. We see the word immortality thrown around a lot. My opinion is that that's nonsense. It's not just possible but inevitable that, short of divine intervention, we're going to cure ageing and all diseases. I concede that willingly. However, just because people won't die of old age or disease does not mean we'll be immortal. Healthy people will still die from accidents, murder, etc. We'll even be able to change our bodies to be highly resistant to injuries. Fall off a five-story building? No problem. Breathe underwater? No problem. Etc. That's still not immortality. No matter what we do, people will still be able to die.

Here's my test of immortality. If a person's body cannot survive being thrown into the sun, that person is not immortal. No matter how many times people use the word immortal, if it doesn't pass the sun test, it's not immorality.

Still. The possibility of being able to live indefinitely is awesome. Indefinitely is a long, long time.

Have a great weekend.

That Solves That

My state ended the pandemic lock down at the end of last May(June 12 for the elderly and medically sensitive populations). Since then, I've been seeing stories about other states with lock downs or restrictions, some of them quite bizarre like restrictions on outdoor dining when there's no science to support such a thing. Sunlight, it kills the virus. The wind, it blow it away. Part of all that was election year politics. Blue states were attempting to make the pandemic seem worse than it was in reaction to red states that wanted to keep things in perspective and push forward. I think both sides overdid it. Blue states had more restrictions than scientifically warranted, and red states seemed to be taking unnecessary risks with public health and safety. There were contradictions. In some blue states it was okay for a 100-person capacity bar to be open but not okay for a church of the same size.

I've been puzzled as to how blue states could keep restrictions going when those ended going on a year ago where I live. It's been almost nine months since the lock down ended. We still have mask requirements, but not everyone wears one. Nobody says anything about it. It's the freedom of personal choice. Masks are more like a "requirement". I wear one when I have to venture forth among possible plague carriers, but once summer gets here, it's going to be too hot for a 5-layer KN95 mask.

I think I've discovered why states like California still have heavy-handed restrictions. According to this article, California has a strain of the virus that spreads faster than the original virus and "evades" vaccine-generated antibodies and antibodies gained from prior infection. The California strain has "probably" been around since last May and is now the dominant strain in California. It might be the case that government officials there have known about it for a while, and that's the reason for the continuing restrictions. It's hard to know for sure. It's surged since about September. I wouldn't be surprised if other states have strains of which the public isn't being informed.

With vaccines here I've been more relaxed about the pandemic. Herd immunity seems to be on the way. However, vaccine-resistant strains like the one in California are something to keep an eye on.

Have a great weekend.

The French Front

Doing 15 to 20 hours a week on the French front has been challenging. I've been splitting the time among reading, listening and online lessons. I'm reading at least 20 paperback book pages a day of C1+ material. Before Covid I was trying to do 10. During Covid, a lot of days I'd do only a few or end up not doing it. I never stopped my online listening, but that's easier to keep up with.

Having a goal, passing the B2 or C1, has made a difference. My reading ability has exploded. I'm able to read and understand more easily than I was when I was doing 10 pages. I think part of it is that I'm having to look problem words up more often, and that seems to make them easier to remember. I think part of it is that even when not doing so much during Covid I was still learning with what I was doing, which included some reading online. I think the constant reinforcement of common words is helping a lot, too. My listening seems to be better. I ran across a learn French section on tv5monde.com and took the listening test. They rated me at B2. Last week I took a short test online that rated my reading level at B2. It makes me feel better about the B2 exam, but I know I still have a ways to go.

Udemy.com has courses for all kinds of things. I picked up a few of the French ones for cheap. One of them is a 12-hour course called French for you. French language course for English speakers. It claims to be A1 to B1. I thought it would be a great review and a chance to learn some grammar rules. The problem with reading books is that there aren't any grammar explanations. I need to know more of the rules if I want to pass a test on them. The course does have grammar, but I'm having a hard time seeing how someone could learn French from it. The first three sections feel random. Starting in section four, the lessons are taught in French. How could someone who doesn't know French possibly learn from lessons that are in French? Yes, immersion is great, but oh my goodness. I can understand it, but as a beginner I'd be completely lost. I give it two stars. Another problem it has is inconsistent volume level. I'm grinding through it.

I've mentioned Abebooks.com before and how it's possible to find books on there for $3, shipping included. Those are still there in English, but I'm having a harder time finding French books than I was last year. It's been a nightmare. Before Covid I found some books for $3+. Then they started being $4 or $5 or $6. Those are still there, but most of what I'm seeing is $10 and up. I've been looking online at French bookstores, etc. Eleven Euros for shipping. I've seen Canadian prices of $25 a book. I found a series on Amazon.com that cost $10.99 per Kindle book in French but started at $2.99 in Italian. It was even cheaper in Catalan than in French. I didn't buy it.

In France, if I could walk into a bookstore, the same books are $1 or $2 used in good or better condition, but they won't ship to the U.S. Amazon.fr's shipping to the U.S. for one book is $3+. French books should cost me $4 or $5 per book but don't. However, I found a 4-book series for $25 shipped plus $1 currency exchange fee and ordered that. $6+ a book isn't bad, considering they're 500+ pages long. If the cost of airfare hadn't exploded, it would probably be worth it to get a passport and fly to France and buy 100 books for a dollar each. At the prices I'm seeing that many books would cost at least $1,200 to $2,000 online, if I can't find cheap ones. A passport, airfare, hotel(two nights) and food, etc., would cost at least $1,021. It would be worth it just for the experience if I had the money to blow on that.

The solution to stores not shipping to the U.S. is to hire a shipping forwarder/freight forwarder. Instead of using my address, I would ship to the forwarder, and they would repackage and ship to me. Unfortunately, with all the fees the price still comes out to $25 to $30 a book. Can't do that. Maybe, if I keep searching, I'll find a bookstore that ships across the pond for the $3 that Amazon charges.

I'm thinking that maybe I could take the B2 in the summer instead of autumn. We'll see.

Have a great weekend.