Even New York Times columnists dislike Windows Updates.....

It is always gratifying to be ahead of The New York Times, where I read Gail Collins' piece today on all the, ahem, "issues" that arise with updating our computers, phones, etc. so frequently. I wonder if I have even bothered with any updates since I posted on this topic a few months ago? Probably not--thank heavens! That's probably why my machine has been so stable recently......

Biking: to wear a helmet or not?

OK, so President Obama rode his bike without a helmet while on vacation on Martha's Vineyard (
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/features_julieshealthclub/2009/08/obama-bike-helmet.html). More power to him, I say! I usually wear my helmet when I ride, for sure, as you can see from various biking photos I have previously posted (for example, http://aneconomistdoesthelaundry.blogspot.com/2008/06/we-biked-driveagain.html). But honestly...vacation, on an island bike path, .....I mean, I rode the other day while on my New England vacation--riding an old, ill-fitting bike from our beach house's shed, wearing no helmet, as we didn't pack them for our vacation--and it was great! My family and I even rode along roads with cars--not a great idea, I suppose, but we were pretty careful and boy was it liberating to ride in such a pretty place, even if we didn't have all the equipment we are accustomed to.