by Kevin Burton
Within my general and ongoing shameless plea for readership, I got specific two months ago.
On the occasion of Mexican Independence Day I lamented that nobody in Mexico had ever read Page 7
(“Happy Birthday Mexico, Please Read This,” Sept. 15). That hurts, because I used to live in Mexico.
I worked as a teacher, taught English, learned Spanish, saw the city of Puebla once or twice. I did some growing up there.
So I made the case in writing for somebody, anybody, in Mexico to check out the blog.
The WordPress software tells me how many people from each country tune in every day. It tells me for example, that I have 59 views each this year from the Netherlands and Ecuador.
Well I can’t say that my plea was heeded per se, because it did take two whole months, but I did get my first two views from Mexico Tuesday. That felt great! I can only hope it’s a trend.
So there is a happy update, let’s roll with some more updates or recent stories.
Former Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich has filed a 34-page appeal to the school, after his Oct. 18 firing for defying the State of Washington’s Covid 19 vaccine mandate (“High Profile Vaccination Firing At WSU,” Oct. 22).
Rolovich had been seeking a religious exemption from the mandate based on his Catholic faith.
“The appeal is considered the next necessary step in a formal process before a wrongful termination lawsuit is filed,” writes Dan Wolken of USA Today.
“Rolovich and four assistant coaches were fired with cause for not complying with the mandate, meaning they were not paid the balance of their contracts. Rolovich was in the second year of a deal that paid him an average of $3.2 million annually.”
“In the appeal, Rolovich claimed that Chun was ‘openly hostile’ toward the coach’s beliefs in several meetings about the vaccine beginning in May, a few months before Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued the mandate for state employees,” Wolken wrote.
Rolovich accused WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun of violating his First Amendment rights and interfering in the university’s process to consider religious exemptions in the appeal, made public by Rolovich’s attorney Nov. 4, Wolken wrote.
You got a bit on an update on my fantasy football team yesterday, tucked into my story about the Cowboys imploding in a game against Denver last week, (“Cowboys Kool-Aid, Bottoms Up?,” Nov. 5). Here’s another wrinkle.
I got a terrible fantasy game Thursday from both the Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore defense. That makes it even more likely that I lose this week to the team that I consider the best in the USA Legends fantasy league.
I went to bed Thursday night thinking what a bummer it is to be pretty sure you’re going to lose the week, on Thursday.
Then Friday I woke up to the news that my waiver claim for running back Miles Sanders was accepted.
That improved my disposition considerably.
I was twelfth and last in the waiver pecking order, meaning any other team owner who wanted Sanders would get him. And my running backs room was looking pretty bad.
Sanders is on injured reserve, but he’s coming back maybe as soon as week 11. That’s soon enough to help me compete for the fourth and final playoff position. If week 10 is a lost cause, week 11 now looks more promising.
The cat update is a work in slow progress. Cat acquisition will come only after we sell or give away my mother’s leftover belongings from her downsizing this summer (“Preparing For Grace, Our New Cat Daughter,” Oct. 20).
Having all that clutter around would just be too much temptation for a young cat. Getting rid of it also closes a chapter for us.
There was progress on the decluttering front this week. We gave two carloads of things to the local secondhand store Thursday.
Outside of laying a small area rug down in the basement, to designate where our new cat’s food and water will go, we hadn’t done anything before Thursday.
My great friend Mex died two years ago this week. I raised her from a kitten and had her for 19 years. I can no more forget her than any of my human buddies who have gone on before me.
But I finally think I’m ready for the new cat.
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