Doctor's letter

[trebor]

I got a letter. Also got a medical ID card made.

 

[Kurt in CT]

I may be around your age or possibly even older. I am sorry that you had a major cardiac event and glad that you have survived it and are changing some of the lifestyle contributors that may have caused it. My parents, 88 and 90, are still living and in relatively good shape. I don't blame them for any of the bad stuff their generation passed on to us, and there was a lot of it. Yes, they did have a work ethic and that's good and it's sorely missing in millenials. Yes, some of them fought in wars that saved the world. But I digress.

The reality is that my/our parents' generation(s) gave us pay-as-you-go Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlements that can't be paid for now. Decades ago, Social Security started to pay out about 2 years before the average recipient croaked; that is no longer true because people are now living longer. The only reason it seemed to work back then was the demographic pyramid present at that time, with lots of young worker bees for every old fart. These same parents of ours procreated like rabbits, but unfortunately later generations including mine/yours did not. The result is that we now have a lot of old farts and not enough young productive people to pay for our senescence.

The current financial situation our society (US; but some others like Japan are even worse) has almost nothing to do with it becoming fashionable to cut taxes and government. That might account for 2% of our present predicament. The other 98% of the cause is that we have an inverted demographic pyramid with too many old people living off too few young people. If there is a reason to be ashamed, it is because people like us just didn't f*ck enough to produce enough young worker bees to support us in our old age.

Regarding taxes, you all bring up interesting points. Refreshing to hear a cerebral conversation around this. I suspect both points of view have merit. Clearly however, our country‘s finances are clearly out of whack... in deep s*it. No money for anything progressive or forward thinking. The tax cuts, I have no idea what that accomplished.

Personally, I’m with Alaskan. Somebody has to pay for the roads. I may hate paying the taxes, I’m proud to do it as a small price to pay for the environment that allows me to make money in this dynamic and free country. I know there will always be a certain amount of waste in freeloaders as part of the system. But certainly wide open to minimizing that, and certainly cutting costs all over so we can reinvest properly.

I’ll spare you my volatile thoughts on where cuts need to be.

 

[trebor]

The tax cuts, I have no idea what that accomplished.

It doesn't need to accomplish anything. It is just a matter of not confiscating money that people earn to give away to others.

When you tax people, you virtually hold a gun to their head - because they will go to jail if they don't pay it, and if they refuse to go to jail, a gun will be held to their head. So yeah, do it for building roads, providing for the common defense, infrastructure, etc. But for everything else, think about if you would take the money by force from your friends and neighbors.

Why do we forcibly take money from people to give to PBS and NPR for example? With so much free content on YouTube, we don't need public broadcasting.

 

[Feliz]

I'm 80 and after several strokes and learning to walk again I started riding eBikes, it's really helped me with my fitness and balance. I also have neuropathy and I'm without feeling in my legs which complicates matters. It's never occurred to me to ask for a letter and I never would.

I enjoy the technology of eBikes as much or more than I do riding them. I also look for challenging bikes to ride and do all my own maintenance and assembly if required. I competed in mountain biking back in the early days, the early eighties so I was old then, and I'm in the throws of purchasing an EMTB so I can get back in the hills and do some real riding Good luck to all of you who ride while dealing with impairments.

 

[Daffyh]

As an MD myself I would have a hard time giving a letter recommending an eBike. Riding a bicycle is a surprisingly complex activity, requiring the proper function of many centers of your brain, your inner ear, your spinal cord, all the peripheral nerves, proprioception, and muscle strength. For all that to work sufficiently to ride an ebike (or a bike), you have to be in pretty good shape. In fact, riding an eBike is more demanding than driving a car or a motorcycle. I can not see a situation where someone is fit enough to ride an ebike but not drive a car.

I would be happy to give a letter recommending a gopher electric vehicle though.

More demanding than driving a car doubt it.
I have 2 diagnosed disorders and dont drive a car as its unsafe for me or anyone else on the road.
I rely on my ebike to get around, i rode motorcycles for half my life as well.
From personal experience riding an ebike is not on the same level as a car etc, however i rarely go over 25klm/h because my brain doesnt function properly and i cant process all the input fast enough to make the right decisions.
Well here i am, not fit enough to drive a car, but get around on my ebike plenty.

 

[AHicks]

I ride an e-bike because without the electrical assist we can't (won't) ride. It's that simple. We live in a very hilly area, and on a normal bike, the wife and I can't even get out of our neighborhood without exhausting and over heating ourselves in just a few minutes.

No, I'm not the fittest guy in the world, and frankly I have no interest in becoming "fit". The wife is a very fit 70 and works at staying that way. We both ride to enjoy the outdoors, and the exercise we get while doing that doesn't hurt a thing.

We're doing no harm to others while riding the e-bikes. There is no logical reason in the world we shouldn't be able to continue.

 

[FlatSix911]

Here is another story of using an eBike as part of the rehabilitation process after a serious cycling accident:

User Profile | Competitive Cyclist

www.competitivecyclist.com

 

[Dionigi]

WOW there has been a lot of political chatter on this form, from climate change tax credits. I agree with @Alaskan about the negative social impact of specialized tax credits. Voodoo economics has put
this country in insurmountable debt. As a country we don’t have the funds to repair a crumbling infrastructure let alone build needed public transportation systems that would include inter-urban bike trails. Wouldn’t all of us pay higher taxes (or tax the people who benefit from privileged tax breaks) for safe bike “roads”?