Halfway thru 2022...

 I've been very neglectful of this blog... So much has happened since I last regularly posted, and I'm proving to be quite the stellar procrastinator! 

Well... It is July 2022, and where I live in Coastal Southern California you could walk around thinking that the COVID19 pandemic is long over with. Masking isn't even required on public transportation (buses and trains) anymore. I've had 3 shots of the mRNA vaccines, and will have the 4th one when I become eligible. I still mask up going on buses and trains, and when in a crowd. 

Despite all the cycling I do, my immune system is suboptimal, and there is a couple of friends that I visit now and then who have no immune system to speak of (cancer survivors dealing with chronic genetic disease). The last thing I want to do is to bring them that (or other) bug. Sometimes I do get curious looks, but nobody has given me a hard time about it. 

To be honest, it's been difficult trying to post things without adding to the negativity that seem to permeate the air the last few years. There was supposed to be a big relief when the final result of the 2020 presidential election came in, but as everyone knows... that last president we had did his best to screw the whole country over on his way out. It doesn't help that my chief roommate of the last 5 years is a big supporter of his (I live with a family of 5, and their living room TV is on nearly 24/7... tuned exclusively onto Fox News). We don't talk politic in the house, but it's there just under the surface. I haven't been out of my room much when I'm in. All the devious nonsense coming out of that TV all the time is a big deterrent.

Don't get me wrong, I make it a point to rotate my news channel through out the week, one of the seven days being on Fox News.... The last thing I want is to become detached from reality by staying cozy in my own little echo chamber. It doesn't make me a smart cookie, but it does deter me from becoming certifiably delusional. But... Fox News days are just horrendous days where I can feel my limited supply of brain cells dying by the millions. It's hard to believe that the anchor people there can be so determined to turn everything they report into anti-liberal (or even anti-centrist/moderate) propaganda. 

La Dolce Vita by Vincent Figliola

There has to always be this 'us against them' slant... And the 'them' is not some real threats like the more and more hostile to humans climate, the real infectious diseases with high morbidity rate (that render many people unable to return to normal function/work), the Putin-led Russian army that is destroying a neighboring country out of pure spite, the hostile agents that are always trying to hack our various systems, or even the minority faction of Americans who are trying to do away with our separation between church and state in order to turn this country into a theocracy, etc. The 'them' for Fox News anchors are nowadays basically anyone who refuse to grovel at the stinking toes of Donald J Trump. You know it's dire when refusing to side with Trump (even when not siding with his opposites) is regarded as the same as being his enemy. 

Not all cyclists are the lycra-cladded speedsters.

In a way, they remind me of a division in the cycling community these days. Only a small fraction of cyclists are rabid vehicular-cyclists who think everyone should drive their bike the way they drive their car on the street (so that there is no need for bike infrastructure to make separate and relatively safer room for bikes to get around town with), but, oh boy, are they so hugely disproportionally loud compared to the more muted majority. And... they also echo-chamber the heck out of themselves into believing that there are the field leaders that everyone else ought to look up to. 

But they aren't. The not-so-eager-to-make-noise majority is actually more sensible and sane, and not so deluded in some delusion of grandeur (probably why they aren't so loud despite of their numbers)... It would be so nice if they are more compelled to speak up and shatter some delusions when it counts. Like... at election times, or when the various government agencies (like SANDAG or CalTrans) ask for feedback for their upcoming public mobility plans.  

Speaking of which, SANDAG is looking for feedback for their Comprehensive Multimodal Corridor Plan (CMCP) for the Southbay to Sorrento Valley portion. We the public have until July 15th, 2022 to provide the feedback on how they are planning to make this busy commute corridor safer and more efficient for all modes of transportation (automobile, bikes, public transportation, foot, ..., hooves? Anything but teleportation!). The plan can be reviewed and feedback provided HERE. 

Have your say, or forever hold your peace.... Or something like that.