Late Thursday afternoon I did something I hadn’t done since long before the pandemic — I drove a car. It had been over three years and I wondered what it would be like after such a long layoff.
One of the reasons I stopped driving is my vision had become so bad by 2019 that it seemed hazardous to navigate San Francisco’s crowded narrow streets, especially at dusk. More than once, somebody dressed entirely in dark clothes had darted in front of my car on a skateboard or bicycle and I’d barely avoided hitting them.
My job was only four blocks away from my apartment so I could walk to work. My kids were all grown up and off at college. The coming of ride-sharing apps — Lyft, Uber, etc. — gave me options when I really needed to get somewhere.
So I just stopped. And sold my car.
Fast forward to this week and all of a sudden I started again. What changed in the interim? Eye surgery, the removal of cataracts in both eyes.
As it turned out, my first time back in the driver’s seat was to get to an appointment with my eye doctor. The news I got was not unexpected — my vision now is 20-20 and there is no need for glasses for driving, reading or anything.
The distance from home to doctor’s office was just under four miles and it took roughly a half hour each way in the late afternoon traffic. The appointment was over in 15 minutes.
For me, this experience took me back about 60 years when I first got a driver’s license in Michigan. It was a powerful experience then and it was similarly powerful on Thursday.
And no, I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything about driving. Muscle memory took care of that.
The News (31):
‘A severe chilling effect’: abortion bans will inhibit doctors’ advice to patients, experts fear (Guardian)
Draft Opinion Overturning Roe Raises a Question: Are More Precedents Next? (NYT)
Memories of pre-Roe America, from people who were there (WP)
Inside the 1970s Abortion Underground (Politico)
Louisiana lawmakers advance bill that would classify abortion as homicide (NBC)
Inside the unprecedented Supreme Court revelation with a POLITICO reporter who broke the story (Politico)
Putin’s Forces Battle in East Ukraine to Feed His Hunger for a Victory (NYT)
Pentagon: most Russian forces left Mariupol (AP)
How millions of Russians are tearing holes in the Digital Iron Curtain (WP)
The European Commission has proposed changes to its planned embargo on Russian oil in a bid to win over reluctant states, three EU sources told Reuters. The tweaked proposal includes giving Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic more time to adapt to the embargo, and help with upgrading their own oil infrastructure. (Reuters)
Chinese Tech Giants Quietly Retreat From Doing Business With Russia (WSJ)
U.S. Intelligence Helped Ukraine Strike Russian Flagship, Officials Say (NYT)
Ukraine prosecutors: 223 children killed in Russia's invasion (NHK)
Ninth journalist killed in Mexico this year as violence against media soars
Murder of veteran Luis Enrique RamÃrez – found in bag beside road – brings estimated death toll of journalists in president’s term to 34 (Guardian)
A drought so bad it exposed a long-ago homicide. Getting the water back will be harder than ever (LAT)
Wildfires burning through New Mexico could get worse this weekend. (WP)
Massive amount of water found below Antarctica’s ice sheet for 1st time (CNN)
Huge solar flare captured in stunning NASA image as it fires off from the sun (LiveScience)
U.S. regulators strictly limited who can receive Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine due to the ongoing risk of rare but serious blood clots. The Food and Drug Administration said the shot should only be given to adults who cannot receive a different vaccine or specifically request J&J’s vaccine. [AP]
Residents of Beijing fretted over dozens of new COVID cases reported daily and over the possibility of more restrictions on movements as China's leaders threatened action against critics of their zero-COVID policy. Meanwhile, the spread of COVID in compounds that have been sealed off for weeks is baffling Shanghai residents.(Reuters)
Nearly half of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide, survey finds (NPR)
The U.S. jobs market continues its strong comeback from the pandemic (NPR)
New San Francisco ad blasts Chesa Boudin over drugs. There's just one problem. It’s a lie. (SFGate)
An interview with Rodney King’s daughter on the 30th anniversary of the riots, (NPR)
On social media, Richard Whitehead is a warrior for the American right. He's praised extremist groups and called for public executions of government officials deemed disloyal to former President Donald Trump. He also trains U.S. police officers. Read our special report on the police trainers with far-right ties. (Reuters)
Then-President Donald Trump asked his defense secretary, Mark Esper, if the U.S. could fire missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs run by cartels, keeping the military action secret, Esper writes in an upcoming memoir about his time in the White House. Esper previously recounted a moment when Trump urged his top military officials to order troops to shoot protesters who demonstrated after the police killing of George Floyd. [HuffPost]
Mother Trying Her Best To Project Same Amount Of Insecurities Onto All Her Daughters (The Onion)
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