News

There is great news because three vaccines that protect a person from getting COVID-19 will start to be dispensed within the next few weeks. Even if they work as well as advertised, it still will take months for mass distribution. Nevertheless, it gives us hope that the nightmare of COVID-19 will be eliminated or reduced to a manageable level. However, presently in the country, it is the worst that it has ever been, in the numbers of positive tests and people hospitalized. We now have more than 250,000 dead and 12,000,000 individuals infected with the virus. I remember back in the spring when there was talk of 100,000 to 200,000 dead. I, like many people, thought it was an exaggeration. Unfortunately, they were overly optimistic. It is going to worsen, because not only are people traveling for Thanksgiving but many people who are flying are not careful in the airport about properly using masks. The CDC recommended not to fly. Also, many are getting together in family gatherings. People have COVID fatigue.

There are at least three approaches when dealing with a child who is having a temper tantrum: ignore them and go about your business, yell at them for having the temper tantrum, or justify their behavior.

It took a while, and it was a lot harder than predicted, but Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States. It is ironic that the media’s calling the election for Biden occurred on the same day that it was announced that Trump’s chief of staff tested positive for COVID-19. Trump’s handling of the coronavirus was a major reason why he lost.

I bet many of you were surprised that in last week’s paper, I did not make the case for why you should vote for former Vice President Biden. I was planning to do so until my wife said that people are tired of hearing about Trump and they have made up their minds as for whom they are voting. I decided to listen to her. There is a second reason why it did not make sense to discuss who to vote for: because it is expected that Biden will win New York. Since we have the electoral college, vote totals do not matter. In the majority of states, if the candidate wins by one vote, they will receive all of the state’s electoral votes.

Between April and October is the period when there are many bike events. I enjoy these events because I ride in locales that I would not have ridden on my own; it also forces me to ride longer distances. I use the time during bike riding to formulate what I am going to write about. It is one of the few times during the week when I cannot be distracted. 

It has been reported that President Donald Trump and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie both got the coronavirus from the same event. They were both hospitalized for a short time and it appears the two will make a full recovery. Yet, they have had different reactions as a result of the experience.