Silenced by Technology

My hard drive ceased to operate.  I have heard of such disasters but never thought it would happen to me.  The Dell help line has been helpful.  My husband has spent many, many hours with technicians.  We have retrieved many important files.  I believe that all will eventually be well, but not yet.  Phrases such as "wiped clean", " hard reset" and "clean install" have new and sobering meaning.  We elected "repair" instead.  We now have enough duplicate copies and multiple installations of programs that I have virtually no CPU left.  My husband is a long suffering man.  He will prevail. 

Rest in Peace

I read the obituaries in our local paper every day.  I read them in any paper that I read, at home or when I am travelling.  I am not looking for someone I know.  I am getting to know someone new.  These essays are a gold mine of good stories and wonderful writing.  "They were together for 63 years, and sang grace each evening with their meal."  That sentence alone is a short novel.  It has characters, action and an ending.  I am heartened by the goodness of so many.  I am saddened by the loss of a child.  I meet women like me, except that their luck ran out in their fight against cancer.  I look at the pictures.  Some families choose to present their loved one in the bloom of youth, perhaps in wedding gown or military uniform.  Some choose a more recent image.   I rarely skip my read.  I like knowing that so many lives are filled with family, friends and community.  I am enriched. 

What is Safe?

We want our children to be safe at school.  We want a foot bridge to be safe when we cross.  We want food to be safe to eat.  And so much more.  What are we thinking?  Does safe mean without risk?  Major highways are designed to achieve a risk level of one in a million passes around the bend or over a hill. Is that safe enough?  It is well documented that people do not have an accurate understanding of risks associated with activities.  Chain saws are much more dangerous (likely to cause harm) than nuclear reactors, but feared less.  We don't communicate clearly about risk.  If you are playing musical chairs, and there are 99 chairs for 100 people, it is certain that one person will be left standing.  On the other hand, in a large field pocked with gopher holes,  100 buffalo run across. Perhaps, one, two, ten or none will trip and fall.  Which activity is riskier?  We protect pedestrian crossings to varying degrees of security.  Sometimes a cross walk, sometimes a crossing guard, sometimes a pedestrian overpass.  Is each method appropriate to the risk of being hit by a car?  Of course, all risk assessment is relative to the circumstances but all fear is not.  Our fear as individuals and our collective fear expressed in public policy and law is often not proportional to the actual exposure to harm.  I will have plenty of time to think about this soon when I take a flight to Philadelphia.  I'll have to wait in a long line just to take off my shoes.