Safety belts, the postal ‘service’ and using technology – Antelope Valley Press

Every once in a while I like to remind folks of the need to wear safety belts in motor vehicles.

Lately I have been noticing more and more reports of people being ejected from vehicles, with fatal results.

Which almost always results from not wearing a safety belt.

I installed one of the very first safety belts in this region back when I was a correspondent for the Bakersfield Californian newspaper and a teenager.

The California Highway Patrol began installing lap belts in their patrol cars around that time, in the middle 1950s, when the Air Force discovered that they were losing more troops to auto crashes in the US that to combat in Korea.

Ford jumped on the bandwagon by building safer cars and installing the belts, with other manufacturers soon following.

Adoption was slow with the usual fear of and antipathy to change.

When shoulder belts were introduced, some drivers complained of claustrophobia.

There are always people who just refuse everything new and different.

Two things happen with not wearing safety belts you can get a traffic citation or you can die.

Which continues to occur.

Reading crash reports it appears that very young and older drivers seem to be the demographic most averse to wearing safety belts.

There seems to be a similar situation with COVID shots.

Kern County is at the bottom of the list in folks in California declining the COVID vaccine. I got my shots in the first week or two when they became available. At age 85 it seemed to be a good idea.

Aside from a sore arm for a couple days following the second shot, Ive had no problems.

What is interesting (and reassuring) is that for several weeks following the last shot I received a weekly short and voluntary questionnaire from the Centers for Disease Control checking to see if I had any problems.

To me its comforting that they are doing this tracking.

Since I am not one of those people who thinks the government is out to get me, I responded to the queries, which took all of about 30 seconds.

My experience working in government at several levels has convinced me that they would have a really tough time trying to get me even if they wanted to.

I have more problems with AT&T than I ever do with the guvmint.

Speaking of AT&T, it has one of the worst websites that I have ever tried to use, especially for a communications company.

I also would not have a problem with a COVID Passport, which seems like a good idea to everyone except the Republicans who seem to be opposed to just about everything these days.

This would be along the lines of something I have been advocation for eons, a health care system with a universal card that would eliminate much of the time wasted when seeking medical care.

Anytime I need to visit a specialist or have tests, etc., I spend more time on the paperwork than on the procedure.

My docs send me to have semi-annual blood tests, etc. I always go to the same lab but I still have to wait to have my records checked and then wait for the lady with the needle.

Which takes about two seconds, a little longer if she hands me a small bottle and sends me to the restroom.

Im a great believer in the adage that every cloud has a silver lining.

The latest example is the door to the Mojave Post Office.

Some mentally deficient criminals recently caused expensive vandalism to the post office, resulting in it being closed on Sundays, which was the day I usually visited it. (I also get mail at home.)

One of my silent complaints about the local PO has long been the doors.

I wont go into detail, but new doors have been installed and they are a big improvement over the existing ones.

My next complaint about the Mojave Post Office is its lack of adequate parking for the handicapped, a category I have joined due to the onset of what some jokers call the Golden Years, that great crippler of young adults.

Despite the large number of we elders, the post office has only one handicap spot.

Not only that, but the sidewalk at the PO is a bit of a high step for us old gals and guys.

Which means that wherever I park I must walk over to the ramp into the post office that is at ground level.

Since handicap parking rules originate with the Feds, you would think that a federal agency would follow them.

Yes, I know the USPS is a federal corporation in name only.

I spent time running the office of a member of Congress who was on the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and at OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration when we were in DC.

One of my jobs at OSHA was working with federal agencies to get them, like the rest of us, to observe OSHAs regulations, something many of them (including the Postal Service) chose to ignore.

On the plus side, snail mail is slowly disappearing as a way of transmitting information and stuff.

Speaking of change, when does the Mojave Public Utility District plan to join the rest of the world and allow its customers to pay their bills online? I was told about a year ago that they were waiting for a server.

I have only one other bill that requires me to write a monthly check which is, no big surprise, the Congressional Federal Credit Union in our nations capitol.

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Safety belts, the postal 'service' and using technology - Antelope Valley Press