The bicycle alternative to school buses. Panic mongers are still at it. Panic makes investment opportunities
20240130
I didn't mention bicycles in yesterday's piece on school busing. Bicycles were simply not an issue in Montgomery County, Maryland in the 1990s. None of my kids ever rode a bicycle to school. I don't recall that their friends did, or that they were bicycle racks. I, a bicycle commuter, was looked at in the same way as Calvin's weird father in Calvin and Hobbes.
The kids and I have bicycled to school since Eddie was in second grade. The route has changed due to the new bridge they are building. Eddie and I followed the route shown in yellow – the most direct way, and one which avoided automobile traffic. With the new construction we couldn't do that last year. Zoriana, then in kindergarten, rode her own bicycle along the route shown in green as I accompanied her with Marianna in the child seat. We of course always wore helmets, but I was still not comfortable riding with traffic. This year, with the bridge open, I hope Zoriana, Marianna and I will be able to follow the less trafficked blue route
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Although we mapped out a route whereby Eddie could get to his new school by bicycle, he never used it. He was recovering from an appendectomy in September and October, and by the time he would have been up to it the weather had changed. The route we have mapped out follows the dirt road marked in yellow for two miles in the other direction, then moves right over to the bank of the Dnipro River before coming up next to a bridge very close to his school. Eddie and I bicycled this route several times over the summer as he was taking the entrance exams and filling out his application. There is a traffic light and a pedestrian zebra to cross the one busy street. I'm looking forward to it – it will give him 6 miles' exercise every day.
That's how we will finesse the bus issue when the weather gets better, maybe one and a half months from now. For the time being Eddie rides on his own – one bus into town, another to the school. The girls and I ride the bus north up to the bus stop at the last hook in the green route and walk the remaining half mile. That is, when Mustang Sally, eager to use her newfound wheels, doesn't intervene and tell us she is driving the kids. I enjoy the 30 minutes or so together when I take them. Though it may not be absolutely top-quality parent-child time, we do have the opportunity to talk and I'm not distracted by having to drive.
Неrе's thе СDС trуіng (аgаіn, аnd аgаіn) tо раnіс us іntо gеttіng mеаslеs shоts. Аs І hаvе ԝrіttеn bеfоrе, І hаvе nо fаіth ԝhаtsоеvеr іn thеіr stаtіstісs. But еvеn іf 70 реорlе іn Еurоре dіd асtuаllу dіe оf mеаslеs lаst уеаr, hоԝ dоеs thаt соmраrе ԝіth thе numbеr thаt bесаmе аutіstіс оr suffеrеd оthеr аdvеrsе rеасtіоns tо thе vассіnеs? Ԝе ԝоn't knоԝ, аnd thе ԜНО сеrtаіnlу іsn't trуіng tо fіnd оut. Аgаіn, nо thаnks.
Неrе's а grарh shоԝіng ԝhо's gеttіng Соvіd jаbs thеsе dауs. Тhе рооr соuntrіеs nеvеr bоthеrеd, аnd thе hіgh-іnсоmе соuntrіеs hаvе slоԝеd dоԝn but hаvеn't gіvеn іt uр. Іn mу mіnd thаt's thе роԝеr оf раnіс. Тhе роԝеrs thаt bе соntіnuіng tо stаmреdе us, аnd sоmе, thоugh fеԝеr thаn bеfоrе, stіll run
Markets sometimes do curious things. I watch Bitcoin as a canary in the coalmine. I was surprised that after a Bitcoin ETF was approved, which should have increased demand and hence sent the price upward, BTC peaked at $49,000 and promptly fell 24% to below $40,000. Ah! This time, as is rarely the case, there is a reasonable explanation. One I can offer Eddie when he asks questions about these things.
He's getting interested. In an earlier talk about investing, he and I concluded that the analysts touting uranium were probably onto something. Green energy is a conspicuous bust throughout Europe. Windmills and solar farms are being abandoned right and left. Coal is still dirty, and "clean natural gas" unloved because it too results in CO2. Whatcha gonna do? Right – hold your nose and go back to nuclear. Eddie and I bought URNM at 36 and smile as it hovers in the mid 50s.
That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the strong man is back from taking the girls to school and the good-looking woman is giving an English lesson to Tanya and Galya, two neighborhood ladies who are preparing themselves to visit grandchildren in Canada and the US. That's the excuse. I think they just like to get out of the house and spend time with Oksana. Who, for her part, spends most of her free time improving her own English and preparing lessons. It is a good deal for everybody.