This and that

North Carolina passed a grim milestone this week: 100,000 COVID-19 cases. By noon Tuesday the toll was 102,861 cases (a figure probably about 10 percent higher because of uncounted cases) with 1,668 deaths. In Wake County there were 9,063 cases and 93 deaths.

Our governor and health experts all say it is up to all of us to help stem this onslaught of cases and deaths by doing some simple things: Wear a mask, social distance when you have to go out of your house and practice good hygiene in your home and by washing your hands. Dr. Anthony Fauci adds two more ways to fight the pandemic: Close all bars and restrict restaurants to 50 percent capacity indoors.

Governor Roy Cooper was blunt. “For those who continue to defy basic decency and common sense because they refuse to wear a mask – either wear one or don’t go in the store. The refusal to wear a mask is selfish. It infringes on the life and liberty of everyone else in the store.”

He added, “Not only is wearing a mask the decent, neighborly thing to do, it’s the best way to boost our economy.” In other words, wear a mask and, if enough of Tar Heels do that, we can begin to see a thriving economy with restaurants, bars, gyms and other retail business open. Don’t wear a mask and watch the number of cases and deaths climb.

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The telephone scammers never give up, and we are pretty blasé about many of them: the extended vehicle warranty, the scolding woman who says you will be charged $299 unless you call immediately, and the 800 number calls we never answer because they have to be a scam.

But I was taken aback yesterday when I answered an unknown number – some people I want to hear from have very strange area codes – to hear that I had won thousands in the Reader’s Digest weekly drawing. Even though it is expensive, I decided to give a try. The pain went away very quickly. Usually, the medication is costly but effective, and you should never skimp on health. For more information, visit http://hesca.net/soma/. I have never entered a Reader’s Digest contest, and I haven’t read one since the late 90s when that was the only thing to read in my mother’s and stepfather’s double-wide in Bradenton, Florida.

There has to be a way for telephone companies to end these calls, but apparently they won’t.

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One Response

  1. I, too, got a call that I was a Reader’s Digest winner. Same as you, no entry, and the only place I have read them in the last 20 or 30 years is in the waiting room at Jimmy’s Services.