Another way fate has been kind to us

A few days ago I attended a meeting for family members caring for a person with ALS that was organized by Heather Allen, the social worker at the ALS Clinic. Listening to the wife of a young man who is afflicted I thought, "There but for the grace of god..." When Wendy and I were in that age group, the thought didn't haunt me, but did occasionally cross my mind, that she and our (then 2) small children would have been left destitute if I had been killed or incapacitated during those immensely happy and scientifically productive years. Our only security was a puny life insurance policy; our family support networks were fragile and far away on the other side of the world. We survived on a scholarship stipend intended for a single man with no dependents, then later on a salary not far above the minimum wage, and there were no fringe benefits. In this way as in so many others, fate or chance or whatever it is that determines life's course have treated us kindly. No such calamity ever struck us when we were most vulnerable. That's another blessing to count at this sad time as Wendy's life ebbs away. Today for the first time her legs are too weak to support her and I had a hard time holding her up on my own during the middle of the day when we have no personal support worker. We are closing in on the time I'll need more help...

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As a compiler and editor of dictionaries I'm always interested in words. Today, reading the Guardian Weekly, I came across a word new to me, I suppose a rather new word from computer-speak, 'petafloppies' which from the context I infer to be a word signifying the speed at which a computer can process data (or the number of bits of data a computer can process simultaneously). I like the sound of it. The prefix 'peta' is a unit used to signify a very large number, 10 to the 13th power; and 'floppy' (as in floppy disk) means flexible or capable of being changed or transformed. I couldn't find the combined word 'petafloppies' in any of my shelves of print dictionaries. But I'm sure my grandson Peter will know what it means. And now David has told me that 'floppy' is an acronym, but I've forgotten the words so he will have to add them in a comment on this blog post. The word appeared in a news item: the Chinese have a super-computer that can process data and more bits of data, than anybody else ever has. It's yet another sign that China is becoming the top nation. I hope it won't require another war to establish that reality securely.