Is a write-in vote ever a responsible choice?

Back when nine candidates were running for Chicago mayor, I wrote about not supporting any of the front-runners. I voted for someone who the polls showed didn’t have a chance, knowing I’d face the dilemma again in the runoff election.

Now it’s time to decide between the two candidates who advanced to the runoff. Paul Vallas is former head of schools in Chicago and elsewhere and former Chicago budget director. Brandon Johnson is a Cook County commissioner.

A different twist in chiropractic

You might be surprised if you go to a chiropractor for the first time.

When standing straight and getting out of a chair became difficult, I decided to take advantage of the free chiropractic sessions my Medicare Advantage plan provides. 

I entered the office of Dr. Michael Luban on Chicago’s Pedway expecting to lie facedown while Luban twisted, pushed, and pressed my spine into alignment. 

In fact, Luban manually manipulated my spine only once for less than a minute during the four times I saw him. He mostly treated me with a high-tech instrument called a Pro-Adjuster 360.

Vacationing within 300 miles of home

Many of us have travel bucket lists, maybe including wows like New York, the Grand Canyon, Paris, a non-Western country, an African safari.

Cincinnati probably doesn’t make your list. Neither did it mine until a brief visit to my two early-20s nieces, who each landed her first post-college job there. I intend to go back. Because of an aunt’s funeral, my sister Pat and I had to cut short our visit. We didn’t get to the top attraction on my list, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. There wasn’t time for a tour of Over-the-Rhine, whose more than 1,000 historic buildings make up one of the country’s largest, most intact 19th-century historic districts. Both attractions meet my criterion for worth seeing: one of a kind, or nearly so. 

That outing reminded me that there are unvisited places within driving distance of Chicago that would interest me. After a trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in September, I expect to be content to take less breathtaking vacations nearby.