Quiz #84. 3 Emails, 3 Snail Mails and 1 Special Note
Why is Instagram sending me emails--and why am I worried about it? Plus, Lucky Charm breakfast bars and new music from the man behind "Runaway Sue" in Steve's Coronavirus Quiz for September 22, 2020.
Tuesday morning, September 22nd. I woke up, got my coffee and read my email.
3 emails stood out.
1. An email from Instagram
First, Instagram sent me an email, asking me to check out the latest photos that my “friends” had posted.
I usually don’t get emails from Instagram--and that’s no doubt because I usually check Instagram (and Facebook and Twitter) at least several times a day. It’s a way to stay connected with family, friends and co-workers--especially during these socially distanced times.
And yet, I hadn’t looked at Instagram in 3 days. Why? Saturday night, Sara and I watched “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix. It’s a must-watch--and it’s got us trying to reduce our social media in-take.
“The Social Dilemma” is a documentary-drama hybrid about the undue influence of social media. It features dozens of interviews with former lead developers in social media, all worried about the power and influence of the monster they helped create. Their central point is that social media is fundamentally designed to get you to engage in more social media. They helped create algorithms that track your every click and know what--and who--you like. Those algorithms fill your feed with the things that you like, when you like them and from like-minded people that you like, constantly working to get you to engage even more in things that you like. Their warning is that the artificial intelligence of the algorithms that have been created is smarter than your brain can handle, appealing to your core brain functions like a slot machine at a casino. Will the next post you see be the one that makes you smile and feel less alone? Just try to stop.
The drama part of the documentary-drama is that in between the alarming interviews with social media experts, “The Social Dilemma” follows a fictional family, showing how they’re dealing with the impact, draw and addiction of social media. For the male teenager, the filmmakers show a sophisticated control room, staffed by three engineers, all hitting the teen with notifications, posts and ads to keep him drawn into social media. When he tries to take a break from his smartphone, they send him an email, trying to entice him back in. In the movie, the drama of the fictional family feels odd at first, but this part of the movie was very effective. I think we all understand that we’re being tracked and that our social media feeds are being controlled to show us more and more of “what we want,” but we dismiss it as benign and impersonal. If it were a team of active people doing it, I think we’d feel differently.
And so it was that this morning after just 3 days off Instagram, I got an email from Instagram, reminding me of what I was missing. Read the fine print, “Instagram sends you updates like this to help you keep up with the latest from Instagram.”
2. An emailed newsletter from the New York Times
Second, I read “The Morning,” the daily briefing from the New York Times for Tuesday, September 22nd.
The headline could not be any clearer: The fall surge is here.
Public health experts have long been worried that the end of the summer — as some students returned to school and the weather cooled — would bring a surge in coronavirus cases.
That surge appears to have begun.
The number of new daily confirmed cases in the U.S. has jumped more than 15 percent in the past 10 days. It is the sharpest increase since the late spring, and it has arrived just before the official start of autumn, which is today.
As noted in Quiz #80. Waiting on August 16th, I have tried to step away from predictions about the coronavirus.
Someday, it will all be over--but to me, there are no signs now of how this will all end and go away.
This is it--and I am waiting.
Waiting for all this to be over.
One month later, I’m simply amazed that the NFL is still playing football. I’m also worried that many students have gone back to college campuses--only, in some cases, to return home after infections broke out. Here in New Jersey, the infection rates remain low, but in my own hometown, I am worried that children--and my daughter Betsy--are back in elementary school classrooms.
While we all wait to see how this will all end, the virus is still here--and it’s just waiting to spread. If the fall surge is here, I fear it will soon be followed by an exponential burst of new cases in the coming weeks. Sara and I remain hunkered down. We don’t leave the house unless it’s essential and we limit all our social interactions, wearing masks and keeping our distance. Waiting.
3. An email from my fantasy football league
Third, I checked my email this Tuesday morning for the final results after Monday Night Football for Week 2 in the DFS Style fantasy football pool that I am running in 2020. Week 2 was not a great week for my team, Lewis Oil.
As commissioner, each Sunday morning, I check the league site to see if there are any owners who have not set their weekly lineup. This week, I sent out a Sunday morning reminder to the 6 out of 34 who had not set their lineups--and every one of them (except one) submitted their lineup by 12 noon, an hour before the 1:05 pm cutoff with the kickoff of NFL games. That exception was my stepson, Will. I texted him and called down to him in the basement. He said he was on it. At 12:59, I positioned myself in front of the TV to watch the NFL Red Zone and checked the league site. Still no lineup from Will. He posted it at 1:01 pm.
As noted in Quiz #82. Promise Made, Promise Broken, I created a chart for when to pick which 144 players over the entire 16-week season. It worked quite well in Week 1 when I finished second in the league for most points scored. For Week 2, I took at least an hour each day to change, map and track my 2 picks. I finished 29th our of 24. Will took a few minutes to set his roster. His team, Team Will P, finished 2nd out of 34 in Week 2. What’s more, Will is the leader in the season-long contest so far. Remember my second-place finish in Week 1? Team Will P. was the only team to top mine.
As noted in Quiz #73. 3 Things from Steve, I like to use “3 things” to let readers know what to expect in an email from me. It’s more interesting than a couple of things--and not overwhelming like a longer list of 4 or more. So, in keeping with that approach, I also want to tell you about 3 things I’ve gotten in so-called snail mail in the last week.
1. Childhood mementos mailed from my sister, Ginny
My sister, Ginny, has been cleaning out closets, drawers and boxes during the pandemic. She sent me an envelope with a few treasures including a letter she had written to me on July 27, 1964. She was 11 and I was 7. She was visiting our grandparents and I was home. On the back page, she’d added this post-script.
Timmy was our dog.
In the envelope, she also enclosed an undated writing sample I'd brought home from elementary school.
I think I’ll name my next dog Spot.
2. Lucky Charms Breakfast Bars mailed from my sister, Susan
As noted in Quiz #81. Tremor, I've stopped my morning diet of Lucky Charms because of concerns about an elevated glucose count. Having declared my love for Lucky Charms in past editions of this quiz, my sister, Susan, spotted some Lucky Charms breakfast bars in a store, bought them and mailed them to me. They arrived last week. So far, I’ve only eaten one of the bars. They’re quite good, but they do not do justice to the sweet taste of milk-soaked, multi-colored marshmallows.
You can say many things about oatmeal, but “magically delicious” is not one of them.
3. NJ Mail-in Ballot arrives in the mail
In the mail last Tuesday, on September 15th, Sara, Will and I got our mail-in ballots from the county board of elections. In New Jersey, voting by mail could not be any easier. Sara and I signed up for mail-in ballots several years ago, but in 2020, mail-in ballots are being sent to all registered voters in NJ. Each county has drop-boxes at secure locations so you can vote without relying on the US Postal Service. The same day that we received our ballots in the mail, we also got our copy of Bob Woodward’s book “Rage” from Amazon. It’s a must-read to understand the inner workings of the Trump White House.
The nearest drop-box is two blocks away at the public library. I have filled out my ballot--either way, I do not know how anyone can be undecided at this point--and I will be dropping off my ballot some morning this week.
1 Special Note
One final, special note. On Sunday, September 20th, Sara and I had a socially-distanced dinner on the back deck with friends, Tim and Laurie. I first told quiz readers about Tim on April 14th in Quiz #28. Shakespeare. Tim and I have worked together over a span of more than 30 years.
After 44 years in TV news, Tim has now retired and his last day of work was Monday, September 21st. To mark the occasion in the time of COVID, we ordered a contactless delivery dinner which Tim, Laurie, Sara and I ate, seated more than 6 feet apart, as the sun set on a crisp but delightful Sunday evening.
Tim had put together a 2-minute video of his career which he had emailed to co-workers and friends. It was set to a song that we’d never heard before. In Quiz #45. “Strange Condition,” I indicated that college friend Brooks had recommended that I include music in this quiz. Here, then, is the song that Tim used for his retirement video.
I asked Tim where the song had come from and he explained that it was from Dion. It’s called, “I’m Ready to Go.” Dion is Dion DiMucci and Tim explained that most people likely know him from Dion and the Belmonts with their hit song, “Runaround Sue.” In his later years, Dion’s turned to the blues. Sara, who’s better at hearing lyrics than me, noted that the song is the ultimate anthem for retirement—especially for Tim. The lyrics really are perfect.
I like what I like
I know what I know
I don't know 'bout you babe
And I'm ready to go
I like what I like.
I know what I know.
Good luck, Tim.
What did NOT happen?
A. To mark Tim’s retirement, I served him a whiskey sour. My recipe is 1 part bourbon, 1 part fresh-squeezed lemon juice and 2 parts simple syrup (sugar and water). Tim’s assessment was that it was too sweet. Next time, he recommended that I stick to the rule of 3’s and go with 3 equal parts of bourbon, lemon juice and simple syrup;
B. After lunch today, Sara told me to check Instagram to see video of our 11.5-month-old grand-daughter Marin walking;
C. For the second time now, Sara and I are trying to get into watching “Schitt’s Creek.” We’ve seen the first two episodes twice over the years, but we are now into the 8th episode of Season 1. Does it really get that much better?;
D. On Will’s recommendation, Sara and I are watching “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV. Will’s right. It’s good and almost sweet with an overall message of kindness and caring for others;
E. Each Sunday night since August, Sara and I have watched an episode of “Game of Thrones.” We get the hype.
Want the answer?
Answer #84. 3 Emails, 3 Snail Mails and 1 Special Note
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Want more?
Here’s the next quiz in the series: Quiz #85. Do the Math.
Here’s the previous quiz in the series: Quiz #83. Essential Fantasy.
Here’s the first quiz in the series: Quiz #1. Stella and Social Distancing, March 13, 2020
Here is an archive of all the quizzes.
The quiz is explained here: Steve’s Stay-at-Home Coronavirus Quiz.
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