Have you signed up for the Good Morning Polk! Newsletter yet? No? You’re missing out. Make sure to sign up here. Reminder: if you signed up and aren’t yet receiving it, there might be a good reason for that. Check your spam folder. Some folks have been seeing it there…
Daily grind
The grind. Essentially it is the same for everyone: you get stuck at a task and keep going at it days on end until you can’t take it anymore and have to stop. This is where I’ve been since the last newsletter, amid the grind. Sometimes it was working, other times it wasn’t.
The results of some of that work came to fruition Monday, and provided me with a milestone day: the first time Polk.Today had 10,000 users visit in a 24-hour period. Now admittedly, a lot of that was due to the Pizza Farm story I posted including the latest episode of Talking Points on Polk.Today.
However a lot has been going on in the background. Setup work that I deal with in between posting news content and on social media. Phone calls and meetings on all kinds of topics. People making requests of me in a variety of ways. Site stuff you would get a headache looking at. Audio and video editing that can take hours out of my day in a stretch if I’m not careful.
That’s what I’m used to dealing with as editor, a combination of roles my mind has to keep juggling and moving those bowling pins forward in space. Sometimes by a big jump all at once, other times in incremental steps. The grind is sometimes where you find the peace of getting work done and not worrying about the bigger picture.
This is where we are all at in a way, amid the grind. We aren’t there yet, but the work is ongoing. Moving slowly forward to where everyone can feel comfortable again. But still so much more to do right now.
For the first time in a long while, I feel like the world is slowly returning to a state akin to what we consider “normal.” COVID remains a threat, don’t be fooled. But it has definitely decreased in the short term in new cases with the return of spring. Compared to the start of the year, the numbers have truly calmed back down.
But at the same time, not enough vaccinations are complete to get us far along in large scale immunity to allow for something like stop wearing masks, or sitting close together for a friendly chat.
Don’t fully celebrate yet. But soon enough, we will all be able to kick back and relax.
Let’s also learn from how we handled this pandemic, give ourselves the opportunity to invest long term in our future by taking actions in our best interest. First on the list: actually fund research at the levels where they need to be for medicine.
Most importantly, let us not make the mistake of the 1918 pandemic and forget the hard lessons of the past on how we deal with pandemics from now on. We will at least have some better evidence than we did a century ago for future generations to understand where we are…
For now, the grind continues in this time and space. I’m going to keep at, so long as I have coffee.
– Kevin the Editor
Forecast coming up
Chances of rain are back (which annoys me since we just had a nice day Monday) and temperatures are supposed to stick around 69 for the day. Winds are supposed to be a factor, with gusts as high as 20 mph (yikes.) The wet weather increases in chance to 40% overnight, with a low of 53. Midweek, we have a 30% chance of showers and high of 72 per the Peachtree City meteorologists, and chances of showers and thunderstorms on Thursday with a high of 77.
It feels like spring, but not quite everything is in bloom weather.
Several people have expressed their desire to support Polk.Today via a contribution of some kind, but don’t feel comfortable using PayPal to do so. Those who do? Use the link. But you know what? I totally understand why you might not want to contribute via online payments. I have to have credit card processing of some kind, and it is convenient for me, but not so much for you. Totally understood. If you want to make a contribution of some kind to help keep Polk.Today free for all, you can mail a check directly to my office box at 113 N. Main St., Ste. 2, Cedartown, Ga., 30125. Those who give at least $60 will of course receive a free subscription to Kevintheeditor.com when it launches later this month. Thanks to everyone who has given so far! E-mail me at kevin@polk.today anytime you want to chat.
Something to Watch this Morning
Another mass shooting in Colorado. I shake my head in sadness and anger this morning.
Something to Read this Morning
A few brief links, and then onward to more important business…
I have a tendency to be able to find crazy, unbelievable stories. Here’s one from Los Angeles. Enjoy…
AJC: Small businesses still struggling to figure out the federal relief loans. Of course they are.
Hasbro is asking for the public’s ideas on updating Community Chest cards in Monopoly. (Why would they subject themselves to that?)
This is a problem that I think you should pay attention to, especially if you’re going to be smartphone shopping in the near future. Global chip shortages are reaching a ‘crisis point.’
