SURFING SOAPBOX:Neuter or nurture

Even with today’s technology, human error is alive and well.

Most weeks when I am writing my column, I have it in on Wednesday morning, which gives time for my editor to make any changes and/or corrections.

However, with the City Council election taking place last week, my deadline was moved to Thursday morning to allow for all the votes to be counted, since I was to write about the election.

What made this even more complicated was that I was traveling up the coast to Ventura that day for a surfing commitment.

Deadlines have never been a problem for me, however, in the moment of crunch time there is still time for human error.

Translation, it was my error, my mistake, even with a spelling and grammar check that I use on my Apple I-Book and an editor to boot.

I still made it.

In my last column, Nov. 10, I wrote:

“To me, [City Council candidate] Verna [Rollinger] symbolizes the good, old-fashioned neighborly type smile that Laguna use to have more of, and [Council candidate] Toni [Iseman] will once again say how important it is to have the sick sea lions nurtured before returning them back to their home — the ocean.”

I began to hear about my blunder first thing the day my column came out. Of all people, of course, I was hearing it from my dad. In an e-mail of all things — and I didn’t even know that my dad knew how to use e-mail.

Just the same, here Dad was writing to let me know about my big blunder. “Nurture: to care for — that is a good thing! It is a pity you didn’t learn to spell. Next time try neutered. Dad.”

I nearly fell down laughing, it was so funny. Getting called out by my father like that, in a true-to-form classic e-mail response. Just like a bad joke teller, I messed up the butt of the joke and became it.

It was humiliating.

Almost as humiliating as new City Councilmember-elect Iseman going on record and stating that sea lions that are rescued and nursed back to health should be neutered before being released back into the ocean.

Now that’s a joke.

Peace.