Just Sayin': Contingency plans needed for EVs

Contingency plans needed for EVs

Imagine Florida with electric vehicles and a hurricane approaching Miami. The governor orders an evacuation, and thousands of cars head north. They all need to be charged in Jacksonville. Has anyone thought about this?

If all cars were electric and caught up in a three-hour traffic jam with dead batteries, then what?

If you get stuck on the road all night, you’ll have no battery, no heating, no windshield wipers, no radio, no GPS (all these drain batteries). Try calling 911, but roads are blocked, and police cars probably will be electric, too.

Same problem during summer vacations with miles of traffic jams. How many tow trucks will provide charges before returning to home base for their own recharging? Where will dead batteries go?

Has any thought been given on how to handle any of the problems that electric vehicle batteries can cause?

— Bob Riccuiti, Farmingdale

Selecting a few words on ‘pumpkin picking’

I’d like to air a pet peeve: the difference between “pumpkin picking” and “pumpkin selecting.”

Maybe I’m a grammar geek, but when I see pictures of people standing in a field of loose pumpkins, I take issue with the statement that they are pumpkin picking.

Back in the day (he says while wagging his cane), pumpkin picking meant taking them off the still-connected vines. I realize there aren’t many farms that still offer that thrill, but where’s the fun in walking over to a pumpkin and selecting it from many others that are ingloriously lying about? That’s it, done.

Kids, in particular, don’t learn anything about how they grow. Most of them probably think pumpkins grow in bins at supermarkets and home improvement stores, or just magically appear on the lawns and fields of other sellers.

Let’s start calling it like it is.

— John Del Grosso, Islandia

Our voices and votes can make a difference

We face many issues in this country. Regardless of your views, we share a common goal. Americans want to take care of their families, live a life with freedoms and protections, and be able to leave the next generation with a future filled with promise and hope.

I am a person who has always believed in using our voices to promote goodwill. Peaceful protest, speaking up for what we believe is right, and practicing what we hold as truths are all ways that we can make a difference.

The most important way we can use our voice is to vote. Register, learn about candidates and exercise the basic tenets of our democracy. Be mindful of the impact your choice will make.

I once read that voting is not only our right — it is our power.

— Brenda Ferrante, Lindenhurst

In search of just one mailer of value

One has to feel for the U.S. Postal Service as it sorts and delivers tons of useless mailings. It seems of late that almost all the mail delivered to my home comprises companies wanting to buy or renovate my home, be my secondary health insurance, lower my property taxes, or sign up at a gym. I would almost welcome a bill at this point.

— Mike Baard, Merrick