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March 24, 2024 — The limits of technology
“TV 2 is not responding. Please check your network connection and power supply again.”
A few years ago, when I joined AARP, the giveaway I was given was a piece of technology slightly larger than a hockey puck. It’s an Amazon Echo Dot, and it has allowed me to do things like control the lights in my living space, get weather reports, and turn on and off appliances through voice commands.
But a few weeks ago, the smart outlets I was using slowly started to deteriorate. At first, they were giving the message that the plug was not responding. I would grudgingly unplug the smart plug, wait 10 seconds, and plug it back in again.
Then, one of the plugs stopped working altogether: the blue indicator light was not showing whatsoever. Then another stopped working.
Part of the limits of technology is that, no matter how expensive or useful a particular piece is, it is subject to the laws of thermodynamics. Everything, from a car stereo to a cell phone to a flatscreen TV to a smartplug, has a finite lifespan. Components can overheat, wires can fail, and plastics can decompose.
Fortunately, they are easily replaceable. A trip to the hardware store resulted in a wholesale change of my four smartplugs. In less than half an hour, the four plugs were matched to the handy app and are responding to voice commands through the Echo Dot.
Having hard-wired an alarm system in our old house in New Jersey several years ago, I’m amazed at how quick and easy it is to now replace components in our connected environment. I’m pretty sure my parents would have been completely flustered at life with a wireless alarm system if they had lived long enough.
One reason that I’m touching on something as mundane as smart plugs is the fact that your Founder is going into the hospital tomorrow for cardiac surgery.
I’m a little apprehensive, as this is the second time I’m having an ablation in order to stop a condition called Atrial Fibrillation.
I’m hoping that my situation will get you to listen to your body and understand the signs of aFib, which includes a high heart rate, weakness, overheating, and shortness of breath.
If you have symptoms such as these, see your doctor.
This week, I’ll have some “best of” features when it comes to my 25 years of covering girls’ and women’s lacrosse. I hope some of these perspectives will tide you over until I recover from the procedure.
February 23, 2024 — Hard times in the journalism field
Earlier this week, Vice Media, a consortium of sites including Motherboard, Noisey, The Creators Project, Munchies, Refinery29, and a pretty good microsite called Vice Sports, announced that it would no longer produce content. The layoffs number into the hundreds.
Also, there were reports out of New York that the “files, computers and records, including information on privileged sources” of former CBS News reporter Katherine Herridge were being seized. Herridge, a senior investigative correspondent, was one of about 20 news staffers laid off amidst a round of cost cutting throughout the Paramount Global company.
And today, the NPR affiliate in Washington, D.C. made an announcement that it would be shutting down the hyperlocal news site DCist. Preceding the announcement, however, was a memo which detailed a complete shutdown of the station’s computer network and the complete automation of content on the radio station throughout the day.
It’s hard being a journalist these days, especially when many people indicate they get their information from sources other than television, radio, or newspapers. But the people running the current media have resorted to tactics which can be considered “draconian,” or excessively harsh and severe.
A couple of friends of mine from my old days in the dailies were confronted with harsh treatment when they were part of the media arm of a major sports league. The league was shutting down because of a labor situation, and that would affect the media arm.
And with it, several hundred programmers, IT people, writers, photographers, and editors.
As the story goes, an all-staff meeting was called in the main building where they all worked. They were then directed to their offices, where they would log into their computers. The result was that the user would learn whether or not they would be working for the company.
It’s an incredibly impersonal way to make changes to your staff. I know people who fell on either side of the divide, and that one event affected so many lives.
The harsh treatment, unfortunately, continues to this very day.
January 6, 2024 — What we saw
Today marks four years since an unruly mob of ne’er-do-wells invaded the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and occupied several offices before being repelled by troops and Capitol police.
Since then, there has been a never-ending campaign aimed at trying to tell the American people that what we was was actually not what we saw.
The latest entrant is a documentary paid for by the secretive Falun Gong organization from China, and whose very existence is trumpeted by social media networks.
But all you need to know is that there were several thousand people identified as being part of the January 6 insurrection. Many are in jail or have served sentences of various lengths for having committed the treasonous act of trying to overthrow an election.
No matter what the propagandists say, please keep a clear eye out, and understand the concept of the word “treason.”
Misinformation should not be allowed to win.
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January 3, 2024 — And making world headlines
Yesterday, Claudine Gay resigned her position as President of Harvard University, making her the shortest-tenured leader in the school’s history — around 185 days.
Her time at Harvard reflected some of the tumult of the nation and the world. Two days after taking office, the Supreme Court ruled on the affirmative action standards that Harvard and other schools have used to make a more diverse and well-rounded student body.
But a miasma of a response by the university to allegations of campus anti-Semitism and allegations of plagiarism doomed Gay.
There also seemed to be a farrago of targeted accusations coming from Congress, Substack users, and even on-campus student organizations.
To be fair, the resignation may have been forthcoming if any provost, chancellor, or president of a university or university system had been accused of an indiscretion. There have been several high-profile instances in the last few years including resignations at Liberty, the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse, Hamline, and Pennsylvania.
But Gay was a high-profile figure at the oldest university in America.
And as a Black female, the attention and scrutiny has been white-hot.
The choice of words is not unintentional.
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January 1, 2024 — A quiet night
*Beep-beep.*
A Fossil watch which I have sitting in a plastic receptacle near my desk indicated the change of the year.
No countdown, no ball-drop, no orchestra. At least not for me.
That’s because I had my first measurable atrial fibrillation in nearly two months. Since I became a part of a medical study in early November, I have taken at least two electrocardiogram measurements on my Apple Watch every day.
Yesterday, I took a long ride on the struggle bus. Though, in point of fact, I had felt symptoms since last Thursday. I felt a hot flash around my neck as I went to a burger joint near the hotel I was staying at while visiting family.
I had no appetite. I thought sure I would have more than the three bites I took. I also felt very weak, like I had gotten run over by a two-ton truck.
After spending the entire next day in bed, I was somehow able to get packed up and headed home on Saturday. The entire time, I didn’t measure any abnormal sinus rhythm.
Yesterday, I did.
Fighting fatigue and the heart palpitations, I shot emails to my heart nurse and the cardiologist, and took an extra course of heart medication just in case.
It wasn’t working until later in the day.
As I am typing out these words shortly after noon today, I’m a lot better. You might say, I’m now in “reporting shape.” But I’m mindful of the follow-up: “But, for how long?”
That’s a question for after my surgery in March.
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December 25, 2023 — Finding the meaning
Christmas day isn’t just about getting or receiving gifts, celebrating the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, or even finding time to be with family and friends.
The word came to me in one of the many emails I get each day: “hygge.”
Pronounced “HOO-guh,” it is a Danish word, meaning “a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment of well-being.”
A lot of the ideals of “hygge” can be found in some Christmas songs and their lyrics.
One mentions “a turkey and some mistletoe.” Others mention riding in sleighs in a small town. Other songs mention the collective action of caroling in a neighborhood. Others mention bells ringing, either in churches or outside.
So many of these kinds of community traditions are a thing of the past, either through climate change, or the fact that many people don’t know their neighbors anymore, or other people who still have (and justifiably so) the fear of COVID-19.
For me Christmas traditions are based on family. In my youth, it was all about having a Christmas breakfast with four elements: Cream of Wheat, rolled-out crescent rolls decorated like trees, orange juice with red sugar on the rim of the glass, and cocoa with peppermint sticks.
Later on, my sister’s family brought in the tradition of the “Christmas cracker,” those cardboard table decorations that make a noise when pulled apart, and contain some small prizes inside — a plastic toy, a paper crown, or even a written joke.
More recently (perhaps because of my penchant for buying several identical gifts for everyone at our family dinner), the tradition has been the Secret Santa, where we all get letters as to exactly who we are to buy gifts for, with a price limit.
I like this method, because you have to find out information about the person you’re buying for, and put some thought into the gift. It’s sometimes a challenge, but if you look into your heart and understand the giftee, you can come to the right answer.
Happy Christmas, one and all.
December 24, 2023 — A plea to end pleas
It’s four days off from the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, a day which can exacerbate the effects of seasonal-affective disorder.
Cold weather can do the same. Same with isolation.
In the last three or four years, a big emphasis has been placed on conversations regarding mental health in America. But it’s been a part of national conversation for a century.
When you read about “shell shock” amongst soldiers coming back from The Great War or World War II, or reading about people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) coming back from Vietnam, it is very much an ongoing narrative.
Friends in my social-media feeds have posted some amazing and personal confessions about events that traumatized them. And it’s more than just war. Mental health worries have come from abuse from parents or other relatives. There have been tales of spousal abuse, even one attempted kidnapping of a child to a foreign country in a custody dispute.
This time of year can be very hard on people who have suffered some kind of trauma.
They need a friend.
Be one this Christmas if you can.
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December 16, 2023 — When your field hockey life crops up in an unexpected place
I was in New York today to see the vintage subway that runs four times a year as the “Shoppers Special.”
As I was ascending the stairs to go over to the track, a voice and a face popped out from in front of me.
“Al!” I looked up. “It’s Kara Lentz.”
Kara Lentz is a former University of Michigan field hockey captain who has done great television work for the Big Ten and Pac 12 Network over the years. Seven years ago, she made it into my thought experiment for who I would like to see on an Olympic broadcast of field hockey if it was done right, with a studio show, a rules analyst, and someone in the mixed zone for interviews — pretty much done on a weekly basis on soccer broadcasts by USA Network, ESPN Plus, and the Golazo Network.
In a city of eight million people, you never know who you’re going to meet: once several years ago, I ran into a relative of U.S. vice-captain Lauren Powley in a park after the Dance Parade, the annual collection of people who literally boogie-woogie, salsa, or tap dance their way through the streets of lower Manhattan.
Mind you, I haven’t done the parade in years, mostly because of the effort involved. It’s hard on one’s feet, especially when you’re over 50 years of age.
But it’s interesting how many field hockey people you run across, especially given the relationships made over a quarter-century. It does my heart good that the culture of the game is strong, albeit still without a domestic professional field hockey league and a shameful lack of playing opportunities for persons with an X chromosome.
These are things that still need changing.
Dec. 6, 2023 — Norman Lear, 1922-2023
Norman Lear died last night. A producer of comedic classics such as All In The Family, The Jeffersons, and Diff’rent Strokes, he shaped television is so many ways during his career.
In fact, it is hard to find any show currently on over-the-air TV, first-run syndication, or streaming services that doesn’t owe its existence to Lear. In the 1970s, his shows ran counter to the sugar-coated sitcoms and slapstick comedy which had come to define popular television and pop culture after the Second World War.
If you see a gay character, trace it back to Hot_l Baltimore. If you see strong female characters, look no further than Maude or One Day At A Time. If you see lampooned news broadcasts, it was done in Fernwood 2 Night.
Lear’s shows took on issues such as racial bigotry, rape, gun control, business management, and segregation. He was also the progenitor of sitcoms centering on a particular issue — the “Very Special Episode.” Lear even cast Nancy Reagan in an anti-drug episode of Diff’rent Strokes.
Lear’s television career may have peaked in the 70s, but he still was winning Emmy awards at the age of 96. He had a certain touch when it came to figuring out which characters merited their own spinoff series. Maude and George Jefferson were characters on All In The Family. The maid from Diff’rent Strokes became a lead character in The Facts of Life.
But more than that, he made America and Americans look at themselves differently. It’s why five major broadcast networks will be broadcasting a short tribute to Lear at 8 p.m. Eastern time — the start of prime time.
It’s appropriate.
December 4, 2023 — Journaling towards better health
This morning, I was back in the hospital.
Before you all get anxious, I was, and am, OK. The visit was to a doctor who specializes in treating sleep disorders.
I have one.
Now, I had been trying to get my insurance company to pay for treatments for some of my shallow sleeping over the years. Even though two doctors in my care team have prescribed sleep studies over the years, my insurance company refused to pay for them.
That is, until about a month ago when I had a follow-up visit with my cardiologist. I had needed to change my medication a few weeks ago, and he wanted to see how I was doing.
At the end of the appointment, he said, “I’d like to see if you would like to join a medical study.”
Being where I am, near several medical centers, pharmaceutical companies, and the National Institutes of Health, I have seen numerous ads in the agate type of newspapers (at least, before they and their revenue dried up) for clinical study participants.
Average people in clinical studies are still critical to research and care in the wider community. Friends of mine were in more than one clinical trial for treatment and vaccines for the Coronavirus. I lionize these folks and what they did so that the rest of us could emerge from the pandemic, healthier and wiser.
A few minutes after my doctor left the exam room, the study director came in and laid out the parameters for the study. “If you’re chosen, you will be given a sleep study, a bathroom scale, a blood pressure cuff, and an Apple Watch.”
An Apple Watch? Sold! I thought.
Containing my enthusiasm, I asked about the length of the study, what I needed to do differently from what I did on a daily basis, and I was told I didn’t have to do much except keep track of what I did when it came to vital signs. In other words, being a journalist when it came to my own health.
Today, I added a sleep machine to my arsenal of stuff.
Here’s hoping.
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