Notes

Are there social distancing mutual funds, yet?

I worried that social distancing would mean Transit Driver Appreciation Day would pass unnoticed just when train operators and bus drivers deserve our thanks the most. But a quick look at #tdad and I found dozens of agencies all over North America celebrating.

Thanks, drivers!

“Der kapitalismus hat grenzen” is one of those German phrases that cannot be translated to American English.

https://twitter.com/Karl_Lauterbach/status/1239128184777592837

No surprise, poverty makes us stupid.

Then we’re more easily sucked into the “socialism is bad” narrative, which makes more of us more poor. It’s a viscous cycle of stupid austerity.

I’m hoping the Netherlands handles COVID-19 more like Japan than like Italy, but I’m a bit pessimistic, given our mercantile orientation.

But at least we’re certain not to bungle it as badly as the US.

Our old, just-replaced sofa had some wear but was still quite serviceable. Also, very difficult to squeeze down our stairs and too heavy for us to handle alone.

Thanks to Nextdoor, a neighbor sent some friends to retrieve it, saving us from having to disassemble and discard it. She sent us a nice photo of it deployed in her living room.

It gives me so much joy to see it re-used. Some combination of my “leave no trace” upbringing, “waste not, want not” habits from when I was poor, and local socialism makes me abhor preventable waste.

If everyone shared this personality quirk, I wonder how much our waste stream would be reduced.