Did you turn on your TV set this week and immediately reach for the antacid pills? I sure did.

We were all hammered by a flood of bad news. We saw a flock of awful stories, like the assassination of a former Japanese prime minister, a flood of stories detailing how a weird-o sniper turned a Chicagoland July 4 parade into a bloodbath. Last week, we learned how another nut job horrified a small Texas school community. Awful stuff.

Then there is the anticipated fallout from the Jan. 6 committee which threatens to turn our political climate upside down. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, they did the same thing.

Back home, the websites of my favorite local papers, the Boothbay Register and Wiscasset Newspaper, informed us that the price of home heating oil has darn near doubled. Like they said on Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming.

What is next? Will we see a meteor heading for Squirrel Island? A long-lost relative showing up at your door asking for a loan? Toe fungus?

But wait. There is more, something completely different. Last week we did get a bit of good news.

It was good news for me and you, but not for Brian or Carl or the heavy-breathing guy who calls us every day to remind us our auto warranty policy is about to expire.

You know the drill. The phone rings, you pick up, and a voice calling himself Brian, Carl, or something, says: “We’ve been trying to reach you concerning your car’s extended warranty. You should have received something in the mail. Since we have not gotten a response, we are giving you a final courtesy call before we close out your file. Just press #1 to be connected to someone who will extend or reinstate your car’s warranty.”

Who would not love to be connected with a warranty specialist? Right? Wrong-O-Mondo.

Three or four times a day, Brian or Carl or some robot pretending to be a human dials our landline and asks how we are doing. If we don’t slam the phone down, he, she, or it goes into the warranty spiel. It is so annoying that I have taken to just letting the call roll over to the answering machine where my own recorded voice asks the robot to leave a message.

Now, if the call is from a real human, like the guy from a repair shop who just last week promised to call me right back, they are asked to leave a message.

The good news is that the FCC promised to drop the hammer on phone companies, telling them to quit carrying the warranty robocalls. The FCC said the scammers sent eight billion robocalls (that is right. Billion, with a B) to our phones. The FCC said this scam has been going on since 2018.

“Auto warranty scams are one of the top complaints we get from consumers, and it is time to hold those responsible for making these junk calls,” said the FCC press release. “The (FCC) Enforcement Bureau will use all the tools at its disposal to protect consumers and U.S. telecommunications networks from the scourge of illegal robocalls,” said the press release.

OK, let me get it right. For the last four years, the auto warranty robocall scammers have made more than eight billion calls in an attempt to get into grandma’s wallet. And the FCC thinks July 2022 is finally the time to take some action, right? Why were they waiting? Do you think they might have done something about it after, say, seven billion calls?

I emailed the FCC press flack to ask what took them so long and what tipped them off to the scam, but they didn't call back. I am not going to hold my breath for waiting for a response. But it is good news that at least someone says they are doing something about the calls. I hope so.

My favorite local newspapers carried another bit of good news. Isabelle Curtis, one of our valued news contributors, told us how Brandon Wilkins, a Sea Tow boat skipper, rescued a kayaker whose craft capsized off Squirrel Island. Fortunately, the kayaker was wearing a life vest and had a VHF radio which helped Capt. Wilkins locate the kayaker.

This old scribbler has written thousands of stories about tragedy, death, and sorrow. It is a pleasure to read a story that features one of the English language's most magical words: rescue. Well done, skipper.

We all could use some good news.

Be well.