Our country house came with an enormous custom-made canvas awning over the veranda. I was so excited to replace the decrepit one with a green and white striped one. This was a large expenditure–$3,000 in the day, in today’s dollars, $6,500.

The wonderful Hudson, N.Y. awning man said that if we didn’t mind replacing the awning every year, [gulp], he’d steer us against that choice. Between berries, leaves and bird droppings that would stain the white stripe, the awning would look shabby in a year. He knew his awnings. His company picked up awnings all over the county in fall and returned them cleaned, in spring. Installation was complicated. We took his advice.

We invited three window replacement companies to provide a proposal for a co-op we bought. We learned valuable information from each. We made the right choice with the company we chose. Our rep oversaw the project like a hawk and kept us updated. The company was not the one the super recommended.

One of the things I learned when a job went very bad when we were in our late 20s and a target for a slipshod contractor. For recommendations by a potential vendor’s clients, ask for the names of the LAST three—not the names of three customers chosen by the contractor. For us it was an expensive and stressful lesson learned.

So, who cares?

I suggest that the president heeded none of these basic tips or life lessons for the reflecting pool remodeling project. The American Flag Blue he fell in love with was like my dream of a green and white striped awning that the awning man warned would mean having to change it every year. Not a practical idea. Why wasn’t he advised that the dark color of the pool caused the water to become hot and inviting to algae? The peeling paint shouldn’t have happened so soon. Plus, he chose one contractor instead of interviewing and checking out a few, learning from each which is standard. It seemed like amateur night at the Dixie Theatre.

Have you picked up useful remodeling tips along the way?

   

There are some vintage films and TV series that consistently warn my heart. In the former, just a few are “Out of Africa,” “The King and I,” “Moonstruck,” “Brief Encounter,” “A Little Romance,” and “Roman Holiday.”

I’m having a wonderful time rewatching “West Wing,” on Netflix. The script, acting and plot twists can’t be beat. “Downton Abbey,” and the original “Law and Order,” especially with Jerry Orbach, also top the TV list. “MASH,” if I’m in the mood, “Mike and Molly,” in small doses and “Cheers” are fun to revisit.

Among new series I look forward to episodes of “All Creatures Great and Small,” “Grantchester,” and “Lincoln Lawyer” and I mourn when the series are done.

I wonder if the directors and screen writers knew that they were producing such special films/series. What are your favorites–old and new?

   

Some rules and laws make sense, others don’t.

New York City public pools opened this weekend. I saw the list of rules for swimmers on Copilot Search. Most are standard such as No hats in the water; No sneakers; No urinating or defecating; Bathing suits only; No glass bottles, to name a few.

One stood out: “Plain white T-shirt allowed over bathing suit; no other colored shirts.” It seemed so arbitrary yet it’s there for a few reasons.

The rule has been around since about 2008, according to Copilot Search. It was “first introduced as an anti‑gang measure after a shooting at Highbridge Pool in Harlem in 1989 that killed a 13‑year‑old girl. The idea was to make it harder for gang members to identify each other in the pool area. Over time, it has also been cited as a way to help lifeguards spot swimmers more easily, since white reflects sunlight better than darker colors.”

I’d never have guessed this!

Here’s another curiosity–a law–that is counterintuitive to me.

Why are we kicking out of our country 330,000 Haitians and Syrians who have worked here legally for 10 years or more? Last week the Supreme Court ruled it was legal –but is it smart? The ruling opens the door to kick out 1.3 million others from all nationalities as well as for rescinding the citizenship of naturalized citizens.

Apart from the mean-spiritedness and cruelty of such initiatives and how it shows our word is worthless, is there a plan to replace these workers with others or is this yet another shortsighted move that adds to the growing pile that might be filed under DUH–the Iran war; the reflecting pool to name two? Who will do the work they do from health and elder care and farm work to meat packing?

What rules or laws surprise you in a positive or negative way?

   

I went to a private school that didn’t offer some of the New York State tests most others took which was good as I was the worst test-taker.

I was intrigued by the written 4-hour philosophy exam I read about in The New York Times that all French 17–18-year-old high school seniors take with the exception of those in vocational programs.

A philosophy exam?! Reporter Catherine Porter in “What Does It All Mean? Once a Year, French Students Try to Explain,” had a good time describing the program. “The students, who have spent all year taking a required course in philosophy, have to answer one of two questions, or dissect a philosophical tract. This year, the tract came from Friedrich Nietzsche’s 1878 book, ‘Human, All Too Human.’”

The questions: “Can one be happy when others are not?” or “Do we have control of our words?”

Porter wrote: “The exam is such an important part of French education that local news outlets commit live blogs to it, beside their rolling updates on the wars in Iran and Ukraine, and invite philosophers to discuss their own responses to the questions on the radio and television and in newspapers.”

The exam, Édouard Geffray said, “actually says that we are a country in which we have chosen to put the examination of opposing views and debate at the heart of education.” He is France’s education minister.

Philosopher Frédéric Worms is one of many radio program hosts who cover the subject. He heads the École Normale Supérieure.

Porter reported “Work is one of 17 interwoven concepts that are the pillars of the course’s curriculum. Others include freedom, justice, truth, language and happiness. Teachers can design their courses as they see fit, dipping into a huge list of philosophers along the way.” In the article she described a two-hour class she attended.

“The philosophy course is widely considered the most difficult of a student’s final year. The average grade in 2025 was 10.8 out of 20, 2.3 points below the general grade point average.”

The education minister’s press secretary said his grade was an 8. Security outside his office said she was a policewoman because she failed the exam. Taxi drivers share their grades with Worms if he tells them what he does for a living.

Can you see something like this in American high schools? Would you be able to answer any of the questions? Is this an appropriate focus for kids in the days of galloping tech?

   

I was part of a PR team entertaining a client’s advisors as they gathered from around the country for a yearly meeting in New York. A Broadway show was on the schedule. It was “Sunday in the Park with George.”

The client was an alcoholic, and he had indulged at the dinner before the musical. He yelled out disparaging remarks constantly during the first act, upsetting the audience members around him and embarrassing us. When he exclaimed, at the intermission, that he was leaving as the show was so terrible, he did so to applause. We dropped the advisory board idea the next year.

I had a friend who scheduled business meetings before lunch because during afternoon meetings, the department boss would sleep after daily alcohol-fueled lunches.

Have you noticed the frozen expression of dismay on Marco Rubio’s face when he stands behind the president at the mic? Is the secretary of state reacting to the words he hears or thinking of the work on his plate?

Did you tolerate a difficult, unfiltered boss or client?