0715 - Rota

Those Readers who waited patiently by their computers all this weekend, thirsty for their OO column, were disappointed at the delay. Here’s what happened. Over the years, the OO has been taking more and more pills for blood pressure, all under skilled medical advice, and with good success. But, it is always possible to overdo a good thing. Apparently, too much is too much, and the BP (as we familiarly call it) fell too low. Result, the OO stood up suddenly and then, woozy, fell to the ground, creating a small compression fracture of the right trochanter [please note the classy medical term.] This results in about six weeks of waiting for mending, hobbling around the Observatory with a walker [French name is “ambulatoire”, for your trivia file], no driving, and dependency on friends on island for shopping, driving about, and delivery of dinners.

Yes, Readers, you may live in the big cities, with department stores, malls, movies, theaters, and all other glittering artifacts of civilization. But, when in need, do you receive a Rota? The OO did. A Rota is defined as: “ a roster ... cycle of duty ...” [Yes, Rotarians know that, but do they know there is: “Rota (Chamoru: Luta) also known as the ‘peaceful island’, is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ...”?] Anyway, a most efficient friend created a Rota of friends and neighbors, and now there is a daily cycle of food delivery, often accompanied by brisk conversation from the well-informed though eccentric Expats of Anguilla. The OO is most grateful to his Rota, and particularly to his excellent and caring doctor, who visits, takes BPs, and delivered dinner last night (a nice Chilean white wine accompanied). Does your doctor do that?

As further consequence of this medical happening, the OO and the entire Staff will be off to Atlanta in mid-October for many fancy tests, a family conference, and a small medical procedure, long-scheduled. While splendid quarters are reserved (a suite!), this may mean that you Readers will have to rely on less reliable news and commentary from other sources for one or two issues. Try to be brave.

One result of watching a lot of television during football season is the opportunity to savor the wildly varied names of the players. There is much chatter now in the U.S. about immigration, quite a few workers having filtered across the border from the South. The U.S. Government position has been for years that these people are breaking the law, but meanwhile please cut the lawn and build a wall along the driveway. Well, if you look at the jerseys of any football team, you will see the benefits of a country of immigrants. [New names of players detected: “Smelley” and also “Fagg”. That toughens them up.] We see no benefit from the constant twaddle of those who hope to be elected by spouting nonsense about immigration. We do believe that anybody applying for U.S. citizenship should be proved fluent in English, not because English is the only good language, but because if you don’t speak it well you won’t get a good job or a good education. We also believe that if you have a law you should enforce it, assuming you have an Administration capable of doing anything well.

Just so you don’t run out of opinions, we want you to know that our policy is that owning bull mastiffs should be illegal, and do not send e-mails saying that there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. We are tired of stories about doggie depredation. We are also tired of hearing about the benefits of having lots of hand guns available so students can be shot conveniently. And, we don’t see why a responsible Observatory owner cannot own a Taser gun for home defense on Anguilla. If you disagree,, again, don’t write: you are wrong. Sorry.

Next time: BureauWater [OO #716]

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