Version 2.107

The saddest thing about the Trump Presidency is the fact that people have become secondary -- and this assessment is flattery on my part. A few days ago, 100 miles per hour winds hit the middle of the country over a path of 700 miles, stronger than a category one hurricane, and leaving thousands of people without electricity and hardly anyone noticed. Yes, it was on the WashPost, but nobody paid attention because everyone is so freaked out with the prospect of four more years that all that is talked about is politics for the sake of politics.

Even hurricanes proper, people don't seem to notice: the deaths of hurricane Maria were logged at less than 70 for about a year and then, low and behold, we learned that over 3000 people had perished--how do you miss the death of 3000 people? Then the following year, the M hurricane struck again. I have not seen a final tally on hurricane Michael, but I suspect that once we switch administrations we may find the truth is a lot worse. But who cares if people die a few months or a few years before their time? Everyone has to die. It feels like the last 120 years have been so successful at keeping people alive that we don't value it anymore.

Anyway, on to a less morbid topic, but not totally chipper 'cause I've been told I ain't that kind of person: today I learned that CTT lost my two books, which I had purchased on Bertrand online -- the tracking had them stuck in Lisbon for over a month, so I sent a second email inquiring on their whereabouts to Bertrand and, to be on the safe side, an email to CTT also. Bertrand asked me again to wait longer -- they need to hire someone from Amazon to teach them how to work; CTT told me they could not locate the package, so they'd just issue a refund. It's like Frank Smith, the CEO of FedEx, said two years ago: the post office is going to disappear. 

What I don't get is why now. More tasks are automated, packages are tracked with computers, people are stuck at home with limited access to stores, there's online shopping, so I'd think regular mail would be able to take advantage of this crisis to show what a great service they could provide. Alas, people don't care about the quality of the service now. What if it had been something essential, like medicine or a medical device? Let's all just die already, it's only a matter of time. Might as well be good at something.