8 March—On Be Nasty Day, let me start with Daylight Saving Time. When the whores in Washington should be legislating to have permanent Standard Time, instead they’re wasting their time and taxpayer dollars and crapping their pants—the Republicans, anyway—because of Donald Trump. You may recall that a few years ago when Marco Rubio was a U.S. senator he introduced the Sunshine Protection Act to end what he aptly called the “ridiculous and antiquated” practice of changing clocks twice a year.

Marco’s well-intentioned bill would have “locked the clock” on Daylight Saving Time, which was a mistake, of course. But it was a start. And it passed the Senate by unanimous consent. But Marco’s chronological legislation died in the House, in part because many thoughtful representatives argued that permanent Standard Time was the better way to go.

The next nasty is about HP computers and printers. I’ve lost count of the computers and printers I’ve had in the four decades-plus I’ve had computers and printers. So about 20 years ago I bought a highly touted HP laser printer. It broke down in less than a fortnight. HP service was disgracefully useless. So I returned the printer to Staples, no problem, and replaced the mother with a Brother. The Brother printer, which is old enough to vote, still performs admirably, despite Windows 11.

Windows 11 runs on my current HP desktop computer. Well, in the interest of accuracy, Windows 11 runs on the HP when the computer runs. A few years ago, when my custom-built 2013 Windows 8.1 desktop computer started showing signs of age, I replaced the old fellow with an HP, motivated largely by price. Long story short, it’s the lousiest computer I’ve ever owned or used. I shouldn’t quite call it junk, but it’s awfully close. And my senescent Windows 8.1 computer still works when called into service—and better on many occasions than the HP.

Hewlett-Packard’s anti-consumer business model certainly doesn’t help the brand. And it’s another reason I’ll never buy an HP product again.

Penultimately, Charter has bought Cox. Two of the most poorly rated cable-internet providers are now, pending a few more perfunctory approvals, a single entity and with some 38 million largely monopoly-captive customers have become the largest such operation in the country. Our hearts go out to Charter and Cox customers, who are bound to suffer even lousier cable and internet and customer service than before.

And last, Altice customers, like those of us in Litchfield, Torrington, Goshen, Morris, Warren, and Watertown, aren’t much better off than Charter and Cox customers. Because, while Altice’s cable TV isn’t rated all that badly, its broadband internet service—copper and fiber—is among the most poorly rated in the country. We certainly can attest to that . . .