I still need a job

I’m still unsuccessful at finding gainful employment. Hell I’m unsuccessful at finding people that would let me work for free.

To quote “Kim Possible” here’s the sitch:

I have brain damage. This means that I have difficulty communicating verbally which gets worse as I get stressed. It also means that my response to situations is not always logical, or even makes much sense. I sometimes come away from an encounter wondering what the hell happened. Interestingly this seems to only affect my interactions that require verbal communications, written and e-mail communications are not affected, and if I start to get stressed I can go get a cup of coffee or something.

Second part is I also have nerve, muscle, and circulatory damage to my left leg, which means I can’t stand, sit, or lay down for long periods of time IOW I have to be able to get up and move around as needed to keep my leg from becoming an overstuffed sausage skin. Sitting or laying down I’m good for about 2 hours before I have to take a break, standing about a hour max, with a 15 minute break for a brisk walk or bike ride. Sitting 2 hours I can get by with a 5 minute brisk walk to get the circulation back in my leg, but I do better with 5 minutes every hour. That also works out well with the “getting a cup of coffee” thing in the previous paragraph. Also ladders are right out, imagine how you would feel if you got halfway up a ladder or on top of one and all of a sudden you lose the sensation in your left foot, including the sense where it is in relation to the rest of your body. Yeah, I get scared and I’ve been scarred.

Third thing is I wasn’t very social before I was hit with a truck, and brain damage didn’t help that any at all. I can interact via e-mail and written communications but actually talking to people is very uncomfortable for me now, and not just because of the verbal communications issues. This is a pre-brain damage issue which made me more comfortable with machines than people.

So, there you have it. I only need part-time employment if that helps any, totaling about $7k/annum. I also need unlimited access to free coffee, a full pot or 2 a day. I used to drink 10 to 12 12 oz cups of espresso a day, actually they were lattes with triple to quintuple shots of espresso but you get the idea. I do have skills as a computer operator, I can weld and braze ferrous metals, I have a good working knowledge of electronics, I can do some Remove&Replace style auto mechanics, and I can build up a bicycle from a pile of tubing and parts, including building the wheels from a hub and a bare rim. I also have some skills that don’t get much call for any more like making explosives from common materials (I don’t like that, it makes loud noises and I don’t like loud noises). If you know of any jobs around Garland or Dallas that I could do, or even a job in DC (I’m still waiting to hear back from Obama’s people, the first message said to hang on until they get to me) but I would have to make a lot more working in DC as I would have to relocate and pay for an apartment.

PSA, Opus

After lots of filtering, the Feed

Yes the Feed was full of “stuff” this morning and required more than the usual amount of filtering to bring it up to my normal standards of purity. I know, “This is pure?” but you should see it “as delivered” and see what I reject as unsuitable for your consumption.

Up first is a disturbing report that a member of the executive branch of government has stated that there will be certain laws he won’t enforce because he doesn’t like the people these laws protect. Alderden’s opposition to bill rings hollow Yes, you read it right, the sheriff doesn’t like cyclists so he won’t enforce the laws to protect cyclists from criminal acts by motorists. In an earlier time he would have been against anti-lynching laws because he didn’t like the people they protected… Once again you have to love the comments section.

They are trying to pass legislation for bike safety in IN. New Indiana bike safety law makes headway Comments sections, what are you gonna do about comments sections? At least it gives LEO a tool in finding people that make threats against cyclists and matching them up to people that hit cyclists. Hmmm… I wonder about using the provisions of the Patriot Act to match up people that post things like “Bicyclists stay off the road and I won’t run you over” to people that actually hit cyclists to prove pre-meditation? After all terrorism is defined as violence or the implication of future violence to alter the behavior of a group or individuals, and telling someone you are going to run them over is implying violence against them as a member of a group. I love it when laws that were designed to take away my freedoms can be used to protect my freedoms.

And the final story is from the land of cheese, America’s Dairyland, WI. The blurry lines of cycling under the influence laws Yes people drink and bicycle. Sometimes they get hurt sometimes they get killed, and most of the time they get home, but that still doesn’t make it a wise thing to do. Repeated studies have shown that for 2 wheel drivers (bicycles and motorcycles) a BAC of as little as .05% (.03 under the legal limit) can seriously impair the abilities of the operator, but as a recent Mythbusters episode showed the aerobic exertions of riding a bicycle can accelerate the sobering up process by burning the alcohol off as fuel (after conversion in the liver to glucose). So if the ride is long enough you can start impaired but end up almost sober. Still, don’t drink and bike. You might hit a bump and spill some precious waters of life (the original meaning of the root for “whiskey”).

And that’s the whole mess from this morning. I have a religious gathering tonight (OK I’m going to beat on a drum and dance around a fire) so the next update will be after the hangover wears off in the morning, or breakfast, whichever happens first.

Billed @$.02, Opus

And another Feed, the hits just keep on coming

Yes, more stories from all over the world, with more dead and injured cyclists. I would gladly stop posting to this blog if it meant that there were no more cyclists being killed by motor vehicles, but that ain’t going to happen any time soon. So I’m here for the duration, as it were.

Another report on the 14 YO cyclist killed in MD, this one is more of an analysis of the factors that contributed to the wreck rather than a report of the wreck. Who is to blame in the death of a fourteen-year-old Maryland cyclist? As I said in my earlier response to this, the facts that the LEO bring up are not relevant to the discussion, the dark clothing and lack of reflectors make no difference until after dark and this wreck was 15 minutes before sunset. What did make a difference was the absolute total lack of any traffic control or bike/ped infrastructure at the intersection, along with running a highway through a residential area with the accompanying high speed limits.

Another report on the driver convicted of killing a cyclist and only getting 2 years probation. Man convicted of reckless driving in crash that killed cyclist As I posted in my earlier blog post on this wreck, the punishment was totally out of proportion to the crime. And this blogger agrees. Probation for killing a cyclist? What are we coming to when a killer is given only 2 years of probation and we celebrate that as a move in the right direction? What does that say about us as a civilization?

And in another indictment of UK (and systems patterned after the UK) media laws is this story from Ireland about a wreck that I covered in a blog that I was reporting to for someone else almost 2 years ago. Skip truck that killed cyclist ‘defective’ Defective mirrors and missing and defective taillights and turn signals, that I can see, but how could they determine that the bike’s brakes were defective given the amount of damage the bike must have sustained? I doubt the wheels could have turned and without having true wheels how could LEO have determined the brakes condition? And another thing, an actual report on who was going which way and hit what would be of enormous benefit in preventing future wrecks as an aid to education for cyclists.

A 6 YO boy is killed by a bus in the UK. Boy cyclist killed in bus crash I hate to disagree with my daughter but on this one it’s from Scotland and it’s crap. Any time a kid gets killed it’s crap. Sturgeon’s Law does not apply here, 100% of the kids getting killed is crap.

As a former dues-paying member of the VFW (Vowels For Wales) it pains me to post the link to this report. Friends pay tribute to cyclist who died on Caerphilly Mountain OK so I’m of Irish descent mostly, but there’s still some Welsh in the woodshed, and a cyclist there has died under unknown circumstances. Actually circumstances are known, but the people that know either won’t or can’t tell.

More on that cyclist killed in SA by a truck in the cycle lane. Family mourns passionate cyclist I wonder why that hasn’t been mentioned again after the first report, that the cyclists hit were single file in the cycle lane when they were hit with the truck? This would seem to be an important piece of information in favor of the cyclists, but I never see it mentioned in any of the follow up reports. It means that the cyclists were following the law when they got hit, therefore not at fault in the wreck, and that unlike the few cyclists that everyone sees “flaunting the laws” that don’t get killed, these were obeying them and did get killed. This is not peculiar to South Africa, but the examples seem more extreme there.

And the final story is from India, where road fatalities are common as flies, just more commented upon. 3 killed in road accidents I think the reason so little is done about making roads safe for cyclists and pedestrians is beyond the costs of making roads safe cyclist and pedestrian deaths are so common they are just seen as the price paid for being poor, as rich people drive cars and poor people ride bikes, and really poor people walk. That might be over simplifying things a bit, but that is certainly the appearance.

And that is the whole mess for tonight.

Billed @$.02, Opus