There were point-shaving scandals in the 1950s and 1960s. (And, I see, 1970s and 1980s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_shaving).

Didn't Dykstra say that what one needed was mathematical maturity and the ability to express oneself well in one's native language? Shouldn't a decent education in the liberal arts provide or at least help with the latter?

Don't lead off your question with a capsule autobiography (unless relevant), and do not frame your question to let the rest of the audience know how much you know.

My fiftieth college reunion (if I were to attend--I'm not planning to) is not far away, so a lot of things have changed.

But yes, it was worth it. It would have been more worth it had I taken more mathematics and foreign lannguages.

I look and form unfavorable judgments on new construction here and there in my neighborhood. Do I count?

Also, I think that "sidewalk superintendent" deserves a mention. That one I heard from a contractor who worked on our house.

I don't think there's a substitute for listening to your body. I came to this conclusion after trying to run through a sore knee 45 years go. Somehow the memory faded, and about seven years ago I ran myself into a painful case of plantar fascitis. Runners tend to be that way.

A friend has a watch that seems curiously judgmental, and has rated runs of his as sub-par or the equivalent. I told him that I'd put such a watch on the driveway and run it over.

A family friend was a Discalced Carmelite nun, ergo a member of a cloistered community. She later, we heard, became a hermit. I imagine that she had quarters of her own on the convent property, but I don't know.

Do you live in a metropolitan area, and if so, which? I know a number of places one can volunteer where I live, but if you are on the other side of the country, that wouldn't be much help.

Given that you have an anxiety disorder, you might look into volunteering with animal shelters--dogs are said to be calming.

Or, just walk into the vestibule of a church. In many cases there will be a bulletin board with a notice of volunteer opportunities, or a Sunday bulletin with the same. Note that this does not imply any religious commitment. Nobody's going to ask for your baptismal certificate if you're volunteering to sling hash for a dinner program.

I don't live in a metropolitan area, which is probably part of the problem. I'm not rural either.

The local animal rescues around here all ghosted me back then. I also fucking hate dogs with a passion (dirty, noisy, annoying, infuriatingly needy) but I do love cats.

I never thought about looking at a church bulletin, so thank you for that suggestion at least.

My recollection--from Ohio, Colorado, Maryland, and Washington, DC--is that in the US the property owner is generally responsible for the sidewalk.

We are wary of salt, having damaged a stretch of sidewalk in a rowhouse development by heavily salting it one winter. Others, and the city of Washington, will put down salt at the least probability of snow.

I found out that, as I thought, I'd probably rather have read Frederick Law Olmsted on his travels in the antebellum South than Tony Horwitz (Spying on the South) on Olmsted on etc.

I found out that falling out of bed is not just for children, and that bringing an adult's body mass is not an improvement. I don't suppose that I'd fallen out of bed since LBJ was president.

I found out that YouTube has some interesting notions about me: the opening ad on a rather bland video was anything but bland, astonishing even a jaded old man.