Author: Charles Dittmeier

Not ready for prime time?

WordPress has been threatening to change the editor used by people like me to prepare the posts that we publish on our websites. I was happy–mostly–with what I was using before but finally we are all forced now to use the new Gutenberg editor. There were some things difficult or impossible to do with the old “classic” editor but from my point of view, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. Gutenberg allows formatting like the colored background to this article—and large “drop letters” like the W above, but it also removes the capability to group posts into categories. I’ve seen there is a plug-in that allows one to use either or both the classic and Gutenberg editors so I guess I’ll have to explore that when I find some time.

Buses, but….

This is a Phnom Penh city bus on a regular route. It’s rush hour and notice that the bus is basically empty, just one or two passengers (not visible). Japan and China have both given over 100 buses in the last two years and the number of routes was increased from three to thirteen, but mostly the buses run almost empty. When the first route was started about three years ago, people were interested in the idea–and attracted by the free rides for the first couple months, but since then nothing successful has been done to increase ridership. Donors have given the vehicles; now they need to teach the government how to market and run an effective bus system.

Fainting

Faintings by factory workers are a regular occurrence here. They do all kinds of tests, improve ventilation, advise the workers to eat better, get more sleep, whatever, but I don’t think that’s going to change a thing. For whatever reason, it’s a cultural phenomenon with its own expectations. One young woman faints for some reason–or maybe just suggests that she feels funny or something–and that is the trigger, giving permission for everyone else to “faint” too. There’s probably no problem. It’s just what you’re supposed to do. I suspect the best response is to have a section of clean factory floor and just lay them side by side until they decide they’ve been on the floor long enough and them let them go back to work. Taking them to clinics, etc., probably doesn’t help and just perpetuates the problem.