QUARANTINE BLOG # 437

June 10, 2021

An editorial comment with which to begin:

Google is famous for its doodles that commemorate special events and people.  The name of the search engine has entered the vernacular – when we say we are going to look something up, we say we are going to “google it.”  We never use the name of Microsoft’s search engine, “Bing,” in that fashion.  Well, Sunday, D-Day, Bing scored a 10, and Google was -10 (that’s minus, negative 10).

On the 77th anniversary of the D-Day landings, this is what Google looked like:

Nothing.  Zip.  Zilch.  Narn.  Nadda.  Zero.

Meanwhile, Bing.com marked the 77th anniversary of D-Day with a picture of Pointe du Hoc, the spot on Normandy beach where Army Rangers had to scale the 100 foot cliffs to take out the German guns.

Google has featured a doodle of Yuri Kochiyama, a leftist American civil rights activist, famous for her association of Malcolm X, and her Maoist beliefs, her advocacy for black separatism, reparations for Japanese-American internees, and the rights of political prisoners; 

a doodle of Cesar Chavez, a leftist civil rights activist which appeared on Easter Sunday several years ago, and no mention of Easter (Fox News searched through 1,000 doodles for “Jesus” and found none);

and on June 1, 2021, a big splash about Pride Month, and since then frequent mentions of homosexual people and their achievements.  But on one of the most important anniversaries in history – the fact that we are all free and not under Nazi subjugation, is proof of that – Google mentioned nothing.  Shame on you, Google!

👉  We looked at 7 cars which wanted to be the car of the future, but never even measured up to being the car of the past.  Bad styling, bad workmanship, bad performance characterized those offerings.  But while it’s not really “everything that goes around comes around,” these old clunkers are new again and worth a lot of money.  As promised, I looked for current prices, and found an outstanding example of each vehicle.  Well, almost every one.

First, a 1960 Ford Edsel Ranger Convertible ground up frame off nut and bolt restoration listed in Hemmings Motor News for $99,500.  Highlights are a 2-speed automatic transmission, a factory Continental kit (the part that looks like a step holding the spare tire), and a single spot light mirror.  It is the only convertible of the 76 convertibles made for the 1960 model year with the factory continental kit and spot light mirror.

If you don’t want to spend that much there is a 1959 Edsel Villager Wagon, rare car, nice cruiser, newer paint, redone interior, 5 new tires, V8 auto, nice chrome and stainless moldings.  The seller says it “runs and drives” (well, I should hope so).  Price: $16,950.

Tomorrow, the Plymouth Prowler and the Renault Dauphine.

👉  My Aunt Veronica, a native of Ireland, transplanted to New Brunswick, NJ, did not like driving over bridges.  I never knew the source of that aversion, but she would change her route to avoid them if she could.  I wonder what “Auntie Vera” would have thought about the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway Bridge.  

The 24-mile behemoth connecting Mandeville, Louisiana to New Orleans sometimes requires a police escort for fearful drivers, and if fog rolls in, drivers must only drive in the right lane and refrain from passing.  When the weather gets especially bad, that’s when the auto incidents begin to stack up.  It’s only 16 feet above water, making it the longest over-water highway bridge. 

Then there’s the Hangzhou Bay Bridge.  

Stretching across the Hangzhou Bay, this bridge of the same name is the longest bridge crossing an ocean anywhere in the world.  It snakes in an “S” shape across the water, connecting several cities in northern China.  It is 23 miles in length, and also features a 476-foot tower from which you can do some sightseeing.

And there are more out there.

👉  Some Smile-A-While images:

👉  Today’s close is from New Life Daily Devotional.

No one is exempt from suffering.  Whatever the situation or whenever your heart is breaking, God wants you to give your grief and sorrow to Him.  He’s the one who mends broken hearts.

The prophet Jeremiah is a man who watched, as his nation was taken captive, ravished, and almost completely destroyed because of its refusal to surrender to God.  In the book of Lamentations he cried, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord. I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me” (Lamentations 3:18-20).

But look at the Scripture that follows.  What a great example for us. “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23).

We all get in to feeling sorry for ourselves.  But before you stay there, remember your hope: God’s love is unfailing!  And it never ends.

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