The work of Dr. Scott Nelson is crushing. It’s crushing in the numbers of people he’s treating in Haiti since the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country was leveled by a magnitude-7 earthquake on Jan. 12.

Ten thousand. That’s the number of meals the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County will be able to offer its clients thanks to a donation of 3,270 pounds of beef from the Hearst ranches in San Simeon and Shandon.

Minnesota: Land of 10,000 loons. That’s my nomination for a bumper sticker to best describe the state in which I was conceived (only to be born at Camp Roberts).

It was 120 years ago this July that a tent was pitched at Higuera and Nipomo streets in San Luis Obispo and a “… great celebrity for many years in the East, and all over the world in fact …” set up performances. Yes, Jo-Jo the dog-faced boy was in town.

If you’re hustling around the downtowns of San Luis or Paso Robles in the few remaining days before Christmas, here’s a reassuring thought: You probably won’t get run over when you cross their respective streets. Let me explain.

Gil Stork has been named interim president of Cuesta College, and that’s a gift to the students, faculty and community at large. Stork’s nothing short of a gem — personally and professionally. I’m qualified to say that, having known the man for the past 50 years.

So Tiger Woods likes to play with Barbie dolls, or, more specifically, Playboy centerfold-like women with appropriate hair, corresponding facial features and proportionately outsized bods;

On its face, it seems absurd: A Teacher of the Year having his curriculum cut, bouncing him out of the classroom that he loves and where he’s been effective.

Around 50 A.D., a Latin poet named Persius Flaccus wrote: “The stomach is the teacher of the arts and the dispenser of invention.”

For the most part, I’m a pretty thankful guy. As noted previously in this space, I have a great partner of 37 years — The Lovely Sharita; a beautiful daughter in Caitlin, who’s blessed us with a grandson, the über handsome and even-tempered Crouton, and a menagerie that includes a pug, lemon beagle and congenitally fat cat.