Month: July 2020

Tuesday, July 21

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 269 (+7)    cases 15,139 (+292)

The number of Oregon residents who have been tested for COVID has risen to 352,000, which is about 8% of the total population. As of today, the overall positive rate since March 30 is 4.37%.  The volume of testing has increased greatly over the last four months. In April, Oregon reported an average of 1,407 test results per day, in May the daily average was 2,435, in June it was 3,605 and so far in July it has been 5,216. 

Michaelsday, July 22

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 271 (+2)    cases 15,393 (+254)

A lovely day today. M got to install a new induction cooktop. First the electricians came and installed the new wiring, then M put it into place. Besides sawing and drilling, this process involved a lot of cursing and groaning, so we know he was having a good time. 

Meanwhile E went to a doctor’s appointment and got some good news. Part of it was that the doctor saw no need to fire a laser torch at her big toe. That’s always nice to hear. Another part is that he gave her a couple of those individually packed squares of Ghiardelli chocolate, which is also nice, especially during those times when your dentist is temporarily unable to give out cupcakes. 

Today’s food was generally excellent. Our tertulia with J&R was at Bodhi’s Bakery and we were able to sample their version of chocolate chip scones while seated outside on a nice cool morning. Hearty and delicious. Then there was that smoked salmon for dinner followed by Chambers sized pieces of birthday chocolate pie from the 57th Street Grill, aka Taylor Street Ovens. (Which is to be found neither on 57th St. nor on Taylor, of course.)

Later we watched two hours of Intersection, a.k.a. I Am Blind, our Turkish soap opera. Pediatrician Naz and race driver turned businessman Ali Nejat have been engaged for a while now. As far as we know, they haven’t had sex yet. The Pandemic Diary stylesheet says to avoid the expression ‘have sex’ and prefers ‘slept together’ cuz it’s classier. But Naz and Ali Nejat have slept together in the same bed several times. It’s just that in all cases adorable little Kaan slept in the same bed right between them, which has made adorable little Kaan very happy but has made E start to worry a little about just how they’re going to deal with this kid in the long run. 

But there’s been a lot more going on besides that little triangle. Naz’s mother Ayşen, who runs a real estate business, is becoming involved with Ali Nejat’s friend Ayhan. Ayhan is a cheerful and charming restauranteur who has been married four times. He mentioned this to Ayşen early on, saying something along the lines of “I’m trying hard to be a good guy and I think I am, but I have to tell you that if you talked to my ex-wives you might get another story.” That was a wise move on his part because Ayşen is smart enough to have already figured out some of that for herself. 

There has been a lot of action involving Ali Nejat’s sister Feyza and his father Tarik. Feyza, whose young son was killed in a car accident that occurred when Ali Nejat was driving, has just got engaged to the sinister Murat, who has gotten all chummy with her father and has dragged them into an investment scheme that promises Tarik a new level of wealth and power. Ali Nejat has come to distrust Murat and will have no part of it. He has sold his shares in the family business, which has estranged him from both sister and father. He continues the warn them about Murat, though, from time to time, which just angers them both. 

Feyza’s ex-husband, Enver, has returned from a long exile in Dubai. He had fled Turkey several years ago when a warrant was issued for his arrest for something or other. Resourceful fellow that he is, he has somehow arranged for the case to be dropped, allowing his return. The motives for his return to Istanbul are unclear. He has, in the past, been a mentor for Murat. But he has told Feyza that he still loves her and wants, more than anything, for them to be together again. So there are two men who say they love Feyza, but can she trust either of them? We in the viewing audience have started rooting for Enver, as we see more and more sliminess from Murat. 

And here comes another figure from out the past–Ali Nejat’s first love, Eylül, who happens to be Enver’s younger sister and who has been living in Germany working for a design firm, the same firm that–oh lord never mind. Needless to say, she still carries a torch for Ali Nejat and he’s not entirely over her either. And what about Gokçe and her boyfriend Emre, he of the white Porsche Panamera? Lots happening there. She dumped him after one of her friends texted her a photo of Emre kissing another girl. But Emre refused to accept dismissal. We will always be together, he says, until I say we’re not. He confronted Gokçe’s friend who sent the photo and roughed her up a bit. Then, a few days later, he really let loose on Gokçe herself, punching her several times, cutting her lip and bruising her cheek and left eye. Gokçe is in shock and doesn’t want anyone to know, especially her brother Umut (Naz’s ex) because she thinks that if he finds out he’ll just kill Emre and then have to go to prison. She knows, as do millions of viewers, that impulse control is not one of Umut’s strengths. But she finally does tell Genco, Umut’s old friend and assistant mechanic. Genco immediately wants to have some direct conversation with Emre, but Gokçe begs him not to do anything because then he will get into trouble. At this point Gokçe knows that Genco is in love with her and she’s starting to wonder how she feels about that. Anyway, Genco tells her not to worry about it and that nothing’s going to happen. He tells her he’s got to go off to work, but instead goes and finds Emre, stuffs him into the trunk of a borrowed car, and drives back to the garage where he works. After putting up the closed sign, he takes Emre out of the trunk and into the back room where he proceeds to spend some time beating the crap out of him, pausing when he gets winded but then going right back at it. (Or so we assume–not all of this is shown. But the initial blows were fairly graphic, as were the several blows that Emre dealt Gokçe.) To see what happens next, we must go on to the next episode…if we can find the strength.

Thursday, July 23

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 273 (+2)    cases 15,713 (+320)

It’s 4:33 in the afternoon and M is having difficulty concentrating amidst the raucousness of the Laughter Yoga class that is Zooming into the living room. Part of today’s lesson seems to be How to Imitate Animals Laughing.

Friday, July 24

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 282 (+9)    cases 16,104 (+391)

As this is the 120th day of PD record keeping, it’s time to update the Oregon curve chart. Grim news today on the virus front. There were nine deaths reported, the highest total ever for the state. Deaths per day in the last ten days averaged 3.8, also a record high, as you see.

Saturday, July 25

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 286 (+4)    cases 16,492 (+388)

In the fantasy world of I Am Blind, Naz has broken off her engagement to Ali Nejat. Lately it seems that she has been more of a baby sitter for Kaan, while Ali Nejat goes off and does what he does, which includes things like finding out who murdered his nephew, trying to save his father’s company, and, just by the way, having soulful conversations with former lover Eylül, whose intention of leaving Istanbul and returning home to Germany has first weakened and then finally dissolved. Hmm. Now, Eylül is taking care of Kaan–that was quick–while Ali Nejat goes to an important meeting. Kaan, the fickle little beast, thinks Eylül is wonderful because she took him to a stable so he could ride a pony. 

Umut and Genco were pretty pleased with themselves for beating up Emre and then dumping him in a vacant lot; but now they’re nervous. When they dumped Emre off, he may have been much the worse for wear but he was very much alive. Later that day, though, he was found very much dead by a vagrant searching through a nearby dump. Darn it! Why does life have to be so complicated? 

Sunday, July 26

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 289 (+3)    cases 16,758 (+266)

A nice Zoom meeting today with with the three J’s: Jim, Joanne and John. E took her iPad out to the back yard and we sat under the apple tree for a bit. At one point Joanne noted that we should all be going out for ice cream, a sentiment of which we all approved. We also got an update on John’s new little house at the lake, which now has plumbing and an appliance or two. He claims that a Certificate of Occupancy may be signed within the week. Hopefully, we will be able to travel sometime and go see it. Also during the meeting we picked up the iPad and gave a quick tour of our yard, in the course of which we noticed that our wireless signal reaches to the farthest corner of the garden and also that the our rhubarb patch was flourishing. Well. After the meeting E went out to pick some and then later in the afternoon she turned around and baked a pie.

Tuesday, July 14

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 244 (+7)    cases 12,805 (+367)

This is the 110th day of our record keeping, so it’s time for another update of our Oregon curve graphic, now based on 11 consecutive 10-day averages. As you see, the latest ten-day average is equal to the previous high back in early April. Looks like a second wave to us.

Wednesday, July 15

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 247 (+3)    cases 311,111 (+276)

Tertulia in our back yard this morning. We baked scones. And because it’s berry season, we filled our scones with luscious semi-sweet chocolate chips. Yum. Later a little yard work, a little sewing, and a little reading. A warm summery day. It was nice to stay indoors for most of the afternoon. We did some searching online and ordered E a stand for her iPad mini. She’s been doing a lot of Zooming of one kind or another and her cobbled together holder had finally failed. For dinner E arranged take-out from Ba’s in Albany. Ba’s is run by a wonderful young couple who offer what they call Vietnamese comfort food. It’s delicious. After dinner we watched a little of our Turkish soap, but then moved on to a new jigsaw puzzle.  

Thursday, July 16

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 249 (+2)    cases 13,509 (+428, new Oregon record)

Nice day, definitely summer. Errands and a short hike in the morning: first Bottle Drop, then the Shell station, thence up the road to the Calloway Creek trail. It was still cool in the forest in the late morning. After the hike M donned his gloves, picked up some cutters, and went out to our sprawling blackberry bush to see if he could bring it under some semblance of control. It’s a native variety, very thorny, one that is used to surviving in hostile conditions. In the relatively benign environment of our garden it becomes very enthusiastic, sending out ridiculously healthy new canes in all directions, including up over the fence, where it could threaten the physical safety and mental tranquility of the entire neighborhood. Hence, action was required. 

Friday, July 17

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 254 (+5)    cases 13,802 (+293)

Last night we went out around 11:00 to see if we could see the comet Neowise. We knew that we wouldn’t be seeing it from our house because the comet was low on the northern horizon and there are wooded hills just north of us. So we drove to a place where the land was flat to the north and sure enough there it was, dim but visible to the naked eye, and even more visible through E’s binoculars. It was pretty cool. Neither of us could remember when we’d last seen a comet–if ever. Neither of us had been out after eleven for a while either. 

Oregon COVID news continues bad with little sign of any impending improvement. Fatalities have now reached 254, a rate of 5.91 per 100,000. 

For reference, total Oregon fatalities in the 1918 influenza pandemic totaled 3,675. Oregon’s population at that time was approximately 781,000, which yields a fatality rate of 471 per 100,000. That rate is far higher than any reported figures for COVID anywhere in the world. One explanation for the large differential is that the influenza virus caused its victims to develop a number of fatal secondary infections and conditions for which no treatment was available in 1918. COVID can cause similar secondary problems, but in the intervening 100 years medical science has advanced, and many of these associated conditions can now be managed.  

Saturday, July 18

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 257 (+3)    cases 14,149 (+319)

M’s birthday looms on the horizon. A birthday present has been ordered and there has been discussion about ordering a pie. Before that, though, we’re having guests over for dinner on Sunday. E is planning another paella, out on the patio of course. And speaking of food, we have now gone more than a week without pain au chocolat. It’s all right. We’re OK. And our take-out meal today was from Sybaris–such a lovely restaurant. E loved her brie and almond croquette over salad greens; M had deviled chicken, which consisted of half a bird, mostly deboned but still in one piece, the whole thing roasted in coarse crumbs. It was served with a salad of warm white and sweet potatoes with fresh arugula, green beans, snap peas, and summer squash, all with a Gubbins sauce dressing. Awesome. Has M now fallen in love with Gubbins sauce (made with cream, tarragon vinegar, butter, and English mustard?) No, he has not. But just this once, it was grand. 

Sunday, July 19

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 260 (+3)    cases 14,579 (+430)

As we continue documenting the pandemic, here’s a photo showing two different consumer items that are all the rage these days. First, jigsaw puzzles. Everyone from NPR to WSJ has noted the jigsaw puzzle shortage. Puzzle makers cannot keep up with demand. “We have never seen anything like this,” said one manager. “Oh my God, how could we have been prepared for this?” asked another. Both of those comments translate as “If only we’d stockpiled 500,000 more units, we’d be rolling in it!” E and M have contributed to the surge in demand, having bought this puzzle a month or two ago, picking it up curbside from an otherwise closed bookstore. It has turned out to be a good puzzle for us, 1000 pieces and just challenging enough. 

And then there is the market for Zoom-related doodads. Plenty of those being purchased. E just got herself this tabletop stand. She found a dizzying selection of stands and holders, but fell in love with this one, partly because it seemed sturdy and flexible and mostly because it was the best looking of the bunch. 

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Now she wants wireless earbuds. 

Monday, July 6

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 215 (+0)    cases 10,395 (+165)

E did some grocery shopping today and mostly had a good experience–sensible procedures and few other shoppers. She found everything we wanted except one. It seems that the entire Adams natural peanut butter selection has gone missing. There was no creamy, no crunchy, no you stir, no pre-stirred. There was plenty of Jiff, which is sold by the same company as Adams, and plenty of Skippy, but none of the good stuff. Hardly a critical moment in world history, but it’s the kind of thing that’s been happening around here. Last week E was looking for low-sugar recipe pectin. We ended up checking every store in town. They all had regular pectin in the yellow box, but the pink boxes of the low sugar type were nowhere. How about online? Well yes it was there, but at three times the usual price. Bleh. Very annoying at berry picking time.

Speaking of shopping, we remember back at the beginning–oh so many months ago–we were all told to stay home and to minimize our trips to the grocery store, especially if we were over sixty. We were supposed to grocery shop just once every two weeks.. We have to confess that we never managed that. We did stop going shopping together as we used to. Now we take turns going alone. But the longest we ever lasted between store visits was a week and now we’re much worse. It seems to us, however, that around here it’s not just about how often you go, it’s also about when and where. A crowded store seems like an outbreak waiting to happen even if you go into it only once. A well-managed store when it’s mostly empty seems very different and doesn’t really scare us. E’s experience today was typical. She went at ten in the morning on a Monday, got in and out quickly, and was never closer than eight or ten feet to anyone except the checker who was behind a barrier. 

Tuesday, July 7

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 220 (+5)    cases 10,605 (+210)

Today was M’s turn to go grocery shopping. Both TJ’s and Mother of Markets were almost empty between 9:00 and 10:00 and everyone he saw was masked. The haul? Wine and dried fruit from Trader Joe’s, fresh vegetables, canned soup and two take-and-bake baguettes from the other place.

Later M also had to go to the hardware place–again–because it turns out that when he went the first time he had not bought enough cedar for his footstool project. He realized this only when he was staining the component pieces that he had cut out and sanded. During that process he was able to determine, by means of counting, that he had not provided his stool with a sufficient number of legs. Kuçuk problem vardı. E, with her unreasonably high standards, would likely object to using a two-legged stool.

In the evening, there was more Turkish TV. Remember how Umut jumped off the jetty and everyone–except for a few million television viewers–thought he was dead? The writers brought him back in the very next episode. Jeez.

Wednesday, July 8

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 224 (+4)    cases 10,817 (+212)

We met J and R for tertulia this morning at the coffee shop. We sat at a table outside. It was a lovely morning, mild and partly cloudy. What an odd time this is. Everyone puts on a mask just before entering a shop, and then, instead of robbing the place, they pull out credit cards! 

Later M worked on his wood project and E spread bark mulch and planted Zinnias. There was leftover paella for dinner. Deluxe.

Thursday, July 9

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 230 (+6)    cases 11,188 (+371)

All bad news today from OHA, lots of new cases, high rate of positives, and the day’s death toll was among the highest ever. 

M had two medical appointments in the AM, then went for a drive in the country to unwind. Best driving music of the day was Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Ragged Glory. Loud enough to hear at speed with the top down. 

E’s Zoom enabled exercise class did drumming today. Improvised equipment consisted of a drum made from a large cardboard box set up on an upside-down laundry basket. Two wooden spoons served as drumsticks. Great fun. Afterward, Eve, the laundry basket and the spoons were all fine, but the cardboard box–which had underlying health issues–did not survive.

That was in the morning; later she had her first session of Laughter Yoga. She says that it was pretty easy. Just sit in a chair and laugh.

Friday, July 10

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 232 (+2)    cases 11,454 (+266)

Saturday, July 11

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 232 (+0)    cases 11,851 (+397)

Take-out from Tacovore for dinner. Tacovore is one of the best restaurants for these times: online ordering and curbside pickup. Other good places that we know of include Pastini’s and Burgerville in Corvallis, plus Sybaris and Ba’s in Albany.  

Sunday, July 12

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 234 (+2)    cases 12,170 (+319)

E and M have both been re-reading West With the Night by Beryl Markham. It’s a wonderful book that is filled with love for and insight into some of her favorite things: Africa, dogs, horses, and airplanes. The book does not deal much with men, but apparently she loved them too. She was married at least three times, though one source reports six. Husband #2 was Mansfield Markham, whose name she took and stuck with. Husband #3 was a journalist who at one point claimed to have written most of West with the Night. Beryl Markham’s biographer, Mary Lovell, is unconvinced. If anyone inspired the book, says Lovell, it would most likely be Antoine de Saint Exupèry, to whom Markham was not married, though they did spend some quality time together. Markham also idled away a certain number of hours in the company of the Duke of Gloucester, the son of King George the 5th. This relationship, so it is said, was broken up by the Windsor family who were so eager for her departure from the scene that they granted Markham an annuity. A few years before that, Beryl had stolen Robert Redford away from Meryl Streep. How many women can say that? Or was it Denys Finch Hatton that she stole from Karen Blixen? Or did she take up with Hatton only after Blixen was done with him? Hard to say from here. The only thing we know for sure is that while Blixen was played by Meryl Streep in Out of Africa, Markham was played by Stephanie Powers in a TV movie called In the Shadow of the Sun. Score one for Blixen there. 

But never mind all that. Beryl Markham was, for years, a pioneering aviator in Africa, flying in primitive, and radio-less, machines over uncharted expanses. She was the first person to fly west from Europe to North America–a more difficult feat than Lindbergh’s because she had to fly against the wind. When not flying, she was a successful race horse trainer.

Wednesday, July 1

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 208 (+1)    cases 7,817 (+275)

Both of us have been reading a book called Something Wonderful. It’s about Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein and the era when they were such a large presence in American musical theatre. We’ve been reminded that their first mega-hit was Oklahoma! in 1943; their last was The Sound of Music, which opened in 1959. In between came Carousel in 1945, South Pacific in 1950 and The King and I in 1952. Because neither of us was very familiar with Carousel, we decided to have a listen to it, and, after a brief argument with Siri, we were able to hear the soundtrack of the 2018 Broadway revival. It turned out that we did recognize one song from the show, or at least one particular line of that song. The song starts like this:

The memorable part comes just a little later:

You can probably guess which line it was that seemed familiar. But something else seemed familiar, too. The song is about spring, something that happens every year in temperate climes, but it also serves nicely as a metaphorical foretelling of the great Pandemic of 2020, at least as it transpired around here. Just add the interpretations in parentheses below:

The song about June goes on for several more verses. One verse is about rams and ewes, one of them is about fish (fish?), one is about human romance, and there’s one more about saplings bursting with sap and suchlike. Great stuff. Something Wonderful is an interesting and thorough book. We lukewarmly recommend it.

Thursday, July 2

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 209 (+1)    cases 9,636 (+363)

We’ve finished Episode 12 of our Turkish soap, whose Netflix title is Intersection and whose original Turkish title is Kördüğüm. We naturally thought that kördüğüm was some fancy word for intersection. But it seemed weird. Intersection is a noun, but in Turkish üm is a verb ending. So finally we looked it up, only to find that Kördüğüm does not mean intersection at all and is not a noun. It’s a sentence, and it means ‘I am blind.’ Now you may well be asking, “How can one word in Turkish be a three word sentence in English?” That is of course a very excellent question, so we want to try and answer it, even though it is technically off topic. Alas, even though we kinda know the answer, we are not the best people to ask. What you should do is take some basic Turkish lessons. You can do that online here. In fact, we are looking for two more people to study with, because you need four people to make an actual class, which is much cheaper than private lessons. If you are, for some bizarre reason, interested in this, starting in August, please let us know. We have details on pricing and schedules. We know the instructor and he’s good.

But now back to unreality. How did Netflix get from I Am Blind to Intersection? We don’t know. Does the original title relate to the fact that some of the characters are blind to the machinations of the treacherous evil doers who claim to be their friends? Possibly. For example, we are getting to know a new character named Murat, an old childhood friend of our handsome and good-hearted hero, Ali Nejat. Murat appears very wealthy and wants to help Ali Nejat realize his long held dream of starting up a business to make beautiful cars. Will Ali Nejat accept his help? We sure hope not because at the end of Episode 12 we found out that Murat’s real goal is the total destruction of Ali Nejat and all his dreams. But why?

Meanwhile, Ali Nejat has just spent a lovely and leisurely day alone with Naz at the family dacha in the hills somewhere around Istanbul. This is the first time they’ve ever spent a whole day together and they are both smiling. They were smiling a little bit a week or so back, after Naz separated from Umut. But then Naz found out she was pregnant. The child was Umut’s, of course, because all that Naz and Ali Nejat ever do is smile and look longingly at each other. Given how determined they are to be good, it may be all they ever do. So is Naz still pregnant? No. What happened there is that when Umut heard she was pregnant, he begged and pleaded for another chance and swore that everything would be different. Naz finally sighed and said something like “Okay, but do you know how hard this is going to be?” which turned out to be an understatement. After 24 hours of being the loving husband, Umut freaked out and started throwing things and breaking windows and stormed out. The next day he came back to apologize but ended up yelling at Naz and knocking her down, causing her to have a miscarriage. Not surprisingly, Naz doesn’t want to see him anymore. Ah, but someone else does want to see Umut. The mysteriously evil Murat wants to see Umut. Whatever he is planning, it can’t be good. 

Friday, July 3

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 209 (+0 )    cases 9,636 (+342)

As with in many U.S. states, there were lots of new COVID cases in Oregon this week. The daily number of tests continues to increase, so that would explain some of it. But the test positive ratios were also high this week, ranging from 4.63% on Monday to 8.35% on Friday. The overall positive ratio since March 30 is 3.78%.

Saturday, July 4

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 213 (+4 )    cases 9,930 (+294)

It’s been 100 days since the Pandemic Diary began its record keeping. It’s time, then, for the tenth entry to our chart of average daily fatalities per 10-day period. in the first 70 days the daily fatality rate went up, down and back up a little. In the last 30 days it has been essentially unchanged: 1.7, 1.9, and 1.8. 

Sunday, July 5

Oregon Health Authority:  deaths 215 (+2)    cases 10,230 (+301)

Nice visit with Andrea today. She drove down in her new Leaf, which has three or four times the range of her old one. Andy was off fighting wildfires. We had never thought of it before, but of course the 4th of July weekend is one of the busiest times of the season. Andrea says that the fires so far have been small ones, but there are a lot of them.

E made paella for the occasion and we had a COVID protocol dinner outside on the patio. Ice cream and homegrown berries for dessert. Lots of fun for us. Later on we checked in with I Am Blind or whatever it is. 

We watched Umut and Naz (left and right in the picture) as they went to court to finalize their divorce. It was an interesting scene with just four people in the room: the judge, the court recorder, Umut and Naz. The divorce was uncontested and they had both already signed off. As a last step they had to appear–without lawyers or any other supporters–and re-affirm orally that each agreed to the divorce. The judge asked each one in turn. Naz said yes without hesitation. She’s too practical to have come all the way downtown just to start waffling in front of the judge. Umit has told her a number of times that he definitely wants a divorce. But, being an idiot, he is mostly saying that because he expects her to beg him to change his mind. It’s not clear whether Naz realizes this or not, but it doesn’t matter at this point. She’s done. When the judge asks Umut the question, we get one of those very long dramatic pauses that are one of the hallmarks of Turkish style soaps. You many think you have seen a dramatic pause or two in your lifetime, but I’m telling you these Turkish ones are at a whole nother level. Anyway, Umut eventually says yes, at which point the judge reads the decree into the official record and the divorce is done. Is that how it really happens in Turkey? We don’t know. We met a few divorced Turkish women while we were there, but we didn’t get into the mechanics. Mostly we just listened to how very pleased they were to have escaped the hell of being married to a Turkish man. 

That night Umut started drinking, put an automatic in his pocket and went to Ali Nejat’s house to kill him. He had a good bead on him through a window and then, after a really long pause, into the scene came oh so adorable Kaan to give his dad a goodnight hug. Umut just couldn’t do it. His pistol fell from his hands. He went back to his shop and got some gasoline and then went to Ali Nejat’s fledging car factory and set fire to it. He then finished his bottle, drove his new Range Rover to an extremely picturesque jetty near the Bosphorus bridge, and threw himself into the sea. A surveillance camera recorded the scene. Currents are strong in that area, say the police, and body must have been swept away.

Umut’s family is crying and carrying on and Naz feels terrible. More terrible than she needs to feel, in our opinion, but maybe that’s just us. It’s interesting that everyone seems positive Umut is dead. Don’t they know they’re in a soap opera?