Vignettes

Is it just me, or:

• Are you, too, losing your resistance to the cold? I have no memory of winters this cold and unforgiving. I work for a hospital group and it seems our emergency rooms are all reporting increased incidents of patients with COPD, the same thing that killed Leonard Nimoy. I used to walk outside for exercise; not any longer. It’s all I can do to stay warm.

• ·         Is this a great idea? My wife and I take different freeways to work, but it seems there are enough people who dart in and out of traffic and text while driving to cover both freeways. My wife’s idea is to invent a screen that would fit over your front windshield and print what you say, in reverse type, so the person in front of you could read it in their rear view mirror. “Quit texting and drive, jerk” immediately comes to mind. I can see me getting into a ton of trouble with this, but having a good time all the while.

• ·         Are you going to vote NO on May 5 to increase the sales tax to fix roads? A gas tax won’t work either – the last time I read about a possible gas tax, Gov. Rick Snyder said it would be around 14 cents extra per gallon. A lot of people grumble about what they see as big government, but I think it’s time to send Gov. Rick to Washington to get some cash. Michigan, with economically inspiring news here and there, is still way behind other states in recovering from The Great Recession. We just can’t pay any more than we are and continue the recovery.

• ·         Did you snicker, too, when the Republican-led Congress in Washington failed to pass a bill funding Homeland Security? We all thought Speaker John Boehner had his troops moving in lockstep – what an embarrassment for him to find that he was presiding over a bunch of splinter groups.

• ·         Do you think the local media should have better things to do than report on Geoffrey Fieger being snubbed for membership in the Detroit Athletic Club?

• ·         Are you looking forward to the release of Harper Lee’s new/old book? I know I am, but since most people don’t read books anymore, I don’t know what kind of reception Lee’s book will get. As for me, I’m rereading “To Kill a Mockingbird” right now and finding that it has withstood the test of time. The last time I read it was in high school.

• ·         Would you, too, like to know who’s really behind these seemingly benign tests that pop on Facebook? Everyone complains about their online privacy, yet it seems the complainers are the first ones to provide answers to “Which State Are You?” or “What’s Your Real Age?” and then happily publish the results. My God. Go read a book if you still can.