Travel

Rose Mula writes: I’m lucky I don’t have children who want to take my car keys because they think I’m too old to drive. However, not having kids to restrict my independence doesn’t mean I’m off the hook, because Mother is threatening to confiscate my keys. Wait. I need to amplify that statement as well. I’m sure you’re thinking if there’s a question of my being too old to drive, how can my mother still be in the picture? That’s because I didn’t mean my mother; I meant Mother Nature, who is forecasting a miserable winter, complete with semi-weekly blizzards. more »

Jo Freeman Writes: The press said there were 25,000 members of the National Guard in town. I believe it. They were everywhere. The day before the inauguration, chartered busses were bringing them in in droves. Some individuals were friendly. Some just wanted me to scoot. I’ve been to half a dozen inaugurations, though I only had press credentials for 1993. Usually you can find someplace from which to watch the parade. This year I watched it all on TV. Overall, law enforcement went from under-response to the January 6 riot to over-reaction. They closed things down as though they were expecting an armed invasion and not just a few hundred cult fanatics. more »

"The negative economic effects of the pandemic come from two sources: capital obsolescence and belief scarring. The pandemic and lockdowns forced consumers to work and consume differently, which can generate persistent changes in tastes and habits for years to come. Capital obsolescence reflects this long-lasting change in the economic value of installed capital. For example, in the post-pandemic world there might be more online shopping instead of in-store purchases. Hence, some installed capital, for example, commercial real estate such as shopping malls, could become obsolete." more »

Research partners from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Texas A&M University have found that older adults are more likely to use ADAS if they are taught how to use these technologies through interactive videos rather than through manuals or live demonstrations. “Older adults have a higher rate of vehicle crashes because of degradations in physical, mental and motor capabilities,” said Maryam Zahabi, assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and director of the human-system interaction (HSI) laboratory. “With ADAS, some of the mental workload related to driving can be taken off, and we’ve shown that instructional videos are the best way to introduce ADAS to seniors. more »