Author Archives: oregonmikeruby

Life for many of us seems to happen in phases. As infants and young children we are concerned primarily with our physical needs and limitations. We go to school and now we are concerned mainly with mental pursuits (some of us, anyway), although the physical has not disappeared away. We get older, make friends, maybeContinue reading “Evolution”

It’s spring in the Pacific Northwest. Road cyclists like me are chomping at the bit, ready to hit the pavement on all-day adventures that don’t require heavy winter gear or a large hot Irish Coffee to get through. The problem is spring can be a mixed bag weather wise in this region. The forecast mightContinue reading “Spring Road Riding: the Things I Can’t (and Can) Ride Without”

Pandemic Holidays; Outdoor Challenges; New Lifeways I have decided this will be the last of my blog entries under the title “Covid Journal”. This is not because the novel coronavirus global crisis is anywhere near over. Rather, it’s because at some point we will need to accept that life for us has changed forever, regardlessContinue reading “Covid Journal: Entry the Last”

Holiday Guard-letting and “Spreader Math” With the Pfizer vaccine now being administered in the U.S. and other vaccines on the way, with Christmas so close it’s extremely tempting for folks to “cheat a little” on social gathering rules after almost a year of Covid, thinking that somehow the danger is past or that the short-termContinue reading “Covid Journal: 305 days in (212 protest nights)”

Vaccines, or America Is Lagging Again What do the United Kingdom, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, China, and India have in common? They are all leaps and bounds ahead of the United States when it comes to vaccinating their populations against the coronavirus. Not that it matters much when exactly the United States approves andContinue reading “Covid Journal: 299 days in (206 protest nights)”

No Job To Do; No Relief From Shame I firmly believe in the adage that if you give people two things, at least half of the people will pledge themselves to you and do anything for you, up to and including unspeakable atrocities against their fellow beings. These two things are 1. a job toContinue reading “Covid Journal: 296 days in (203 protest nights)”

This Too Shall Pass Right now there is a lot to celebrate, and also a lot to grieve. The golf-playing reality-TV show host is on his way out of the White House. The new Administration is already taking steps to reverse the current one’s racist and classist policies. There are three COVID-19 vaccines on theContinue reading “Covid Journal: 288 days in (195 protest nights)”

For a quick break from all the death and mayhem going on, I’m just going to write briefly about all the self-improvement articles you see out there on the web, in your email news digest, etc. What is it with the headlines for these articles? There is usually a number in them, and the readerContinue reading “Headlines for Being the Best You You Can Be”

A Quarter Million Dead. Vaccines Likely on the Way. Yesterday our country surpassed the 250,000 death mark from COVID-19. A year ago, the thought that any single thing could kill that many Americans in a matter of months was inconceivable. But even more unbelievable than that, would have been the notion that such news wasContinue reading “Covid Journal: 278 days in (185 protest nights)”

Four-week Pause and the Return of the So-called “War on Christmas” COVID-19 case numbers are exploding across the country, and my state is no exception. Since the federal government with its lame duck President continues to do shockingly little beyond a “pray it away” policy, the Governor of my state has declared a four-week pauseContinue reading “Covid Journal: 276 days in (183 protest nights)”