It's almost '20

I am grateful that in our own corner, in our own family, there is nothing negative to report. It is a beautiful day, today -- sunny and cold -- just like a winter day should be. I wish for health and happiness for all our friends and family.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020

I've been seeing people posting about it being the end of the decade. That's the popular way of thinking of decades, but I always learned the 10 came after 9, and the decade started with 1. But, I can see the counting as starting from 0 -- babies' ages are counted in days and months in year zero and you don't say 1 until year one is finished. One meme that I have seen points out that we should not write our dates on checks and other sensitive documents as 01/01/20. We need to write out 2020. If not, someone could add digits and transform what we want '20 to 2019 or 2021 or any other year of this century.

A lot has changed since 2010, but then again, a lot changes all the time no matter where you put the starting point. It is not an optimistic time, generally speaking. The fires underway in Australia, following the fires in the U.S. Pacific states just a few months ago or the fires in Portugal seem to highlight climate change. It's certain that weather patterns seem to be changing with hotter summers, heavier droughts followed by heavier rains causing heavier damage. Severe winter cold blasts that make Eastern U.S. states and Canada colder than Alaska. In Europe, it seems to me, there's recognition of the problems and the need to curb carbon and methane output, although the move from needing to do something to actually doing it is slow. 

Some of the actions seem ridiculous. Getting people to move from fossil fuel consumption to wood-burning stoves and furnaces is still releasing carbon, isn't it? The endless phone calls we get from companies wanting to install solar panels on our roof is nerve-wracking since we know (and it has been confirmed by the electricity distribution company) that our roof orientation is not good for output. I feel that instead of installing insulation around the house, changing the windows from double-glazed to triple, installing solar panels on a north-westerly oriented roof, the best solution for whoever buys our house one day is to demolish and build a new house. The cost of all the possible improvements to the current structure outweighs the cost of a new eco-friendly building.

Politics -- well, the strike is still on in France and the gilet jaune movement is still around, though not as forceful as last year. In the U.S., Trump has been impeached but we are still wondering how the Senate trial will go. There are still a lot of candidates among the Democrats and the Republicans still only have Trump. AARO is gearing up its "get out the overseas vote" campaign and I'll be working on that. Refugees are still pouring into Europe, though at a slower pace, and trying to reach asylum in the U.S. There is still war in the Middle East and outbursts elsewhere. There are still terrorist attacks.

All that negativity. I'm sorry. We all need to check Gapminder from time to time to keep things in perspective. https://www.gapminder.org/ Take the test. We all need to feel a bit more optimistic.