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What Looms for a Small Town?

It’s been almost a month since I’ve posted to the blog. I’ve been busy living life, like most of you, I’m sure. But I’m becoming restless. Again, like most of you. Our most recent trip took place last September. We spent a week in Key West. If you can stand the heat and humidity, early September is a good time to visit. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale and drove south through the Keys on the Overseas Highway. We met my wife’s brother and his son which provided an added good time. One year ago just this week, we returned from a nine-day hiking trip in Provence. Provence was a bit of a surprise. Even though we read about the area beforehand, and we mapped out an interesting town-to-town walk, we were surprised by what we found. Provence is semi-arid to arid. Lots of agriculture, but a ton of drip irrigation too. We walked through more cherry and olive groves than I can count. We walked up and down more hills than we did in the Cotswolds. The walking paths were not up to the Cotswold
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Colleges, Universities, and COVID-19: Uh Oh!

Many, but not all, institutions of higher education will start their academic year by welcoming students back to campus this fall. For many reasons, colleges and universities have designed their buildings to foster a sense of community, facilitate group efforts, and improve communication and cooperation among students, faculty, and administrators. Arguably, a college or university’s physical plant works against efforts at social distancing. When indoors, the risk of community transmission exceeds that risk outdoors. Start with dormitories. Institutions of some age have a range of dorms each constructed with a different philosophy. Older buildings are (long) hallways connecting private and semi-private rooms and a limited number of shared restrooms. More recent buildings feature a pod concept where a series of private and semi-private rooms share a common living area, kitchens, and restrooms. Contemporary buildings are designed as a collection of private and semi-private apartments
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My Encounter with a Prostate Cancer Diagnosis: Postscript

I met with my urologist on March 13 th  to review the pathology report on the 48 tissue samples extracted during my prostate assay conducted on February 27th. I intended to report on the biopsy outcome, but a pandemic got in the way. I don’t have cancer. If you’ve been following my earlier post on this topic ( here ), you might be surprised. I know I was. My PSA score was a 12.5 after steadily climbing since 2016. The radiologist who reviewed my MRI stated cancer was more likely than not. My urologist was convinced as well—because the radiologist said so and my PSA score was a 12.5. So, on February 27 th , I reported to the hospital for an outpatient biopsy. The days between February 27 th  and March 13 th  were unpleasant. I wore a catheter for almost six days. That was ugly. Awaiting to hear that I did indeed have cancer was even worse. During the March 13 th  biopsy review, my urologist scheduled me for another PSA test on June 9 th —not here yet. He believed doing
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Thoughtless Patriot?

I have to be honest. I used to go to work when I had the flu. I never stayed home unless I was really ill—which was seldom. I’d load up on an OTC medication and gut it out on the job. I had ample sick leave, yet I’d infrequently use it. Sick leave was for the really ill people. I never gave any thought to the numbers of people I might have infected. I don’t know if any of them became seriously ill, required hospitalization, or died. I’ve thought about that a lot lately. When I was in K-12, we never stayed home unless we were seriously ill. Flu shots didn’t exist. We had aspirin, Tylenol, and cough medicines. If we were really sick, we might— might —get a Hot Toddy ( here ). My parents weren’t too thrilled about giving us whiskey in any form. Being honest, again, I never realized the connection between my personal liberty and public health authorities who recommended staying home if you were sick with the flu. Then again, I was never ordered by the government to stay at hom
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A Tale of Two Cities: Las Vegas, NV and Cedar City, UT

On Friday, we engaged in what has become a spring ritual for us: We moved from one home in Las Vegas to a second in southern Utah, Cedar City. Why? In all years past, the summer high temperatures in Cedar City can be twenty or more degrees cooler. Summer in Cedar City is hot. It has reached 100 degrees. We do have AC, and we use it. And, Cedar City is a much smaller place with a regional university, a population of 30K, and an agricultural, light industrial economy. The place is cute for days and within a reasonable ride to several national parks with great hiking and sights. There’s a substantial COVID-19 difference as well. YTD, Las Vegas has had 4,411 confirmed infections and 226 deaths. Nevada statewide has had 5,594 confirmed infections and 266 deaths for its 3.08M residents. So, Las Vegas has 79% of the total state infections and 85% of the deaths. By contrast, Cedar City has had 17 confirmed infections, and no one has died. Utah statewide has had 5,317 confirmed inf
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Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

We see the signs of an imminent second pandemic: Reopening Economies. A study recently released by two folks from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University suggest that increased COVID-19 testing is actually lowering the death rate. That’s simply true. Any time you increase the denominator (people who contract COVID-19) while holding the numerator constant (confirmed COVID-19 deaths), you lower the quotient (COVID-19 death rate). And, they argue with a lower quotient (death rate), the less we have to fear AND the more ill-advised the earlier decision to shut down the economy. In other words, we blew it. This argument even calls into question our nation-wide attempts to flatten the curve (COVID-19 infections) by isolation and social distancing. Why bother, so the argument goes, in retrospect the new testing data shows we over reacted. Indeed, even Tucker Carlson now opines that COVID-19 is not deadly. How stupid have we been? When I was in graduate school, we studied re
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Give Me a Haircut or Give Me Death!

This weekend, I saw video taken at a protest march. The protester interviewed complained about government overreach, store closures, and—I kid you not—his inability to get a haircut. Nothing speaks to the encroachment of the Deep State on our liberties than unruly hair. A Story: My father-in-law, Frank, used to complain bitterly about toll roads. As a member of the “Greatest Generation,” he served in WW II, but fervently believed that toll roads were an attack on “Live Free or Die—” the reason why he signed-up to fight the Germans. Had it been my father, I would have told him he was an idiot and explained why. You can do that to your parents. You can’t, however, say that to your in-laws. [Note: Not enough space here to explain why not.] I vividly recall the HIV/AIDS crisis. As long as you didn’t exchange body fluids with an infected person, you weren’t at risk. Violating the social distancing guidelines with a person infected by the Coronavirus can make you ill—this vi
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