My Christmas/Yule wish list

Yep, that time of year again. My family wants to know what I want for Christmas, besides my own private road where no cars are allowed that always goes where I need to go.

Well I still need a real bike headlight , not a flashlight held onto the handlebars with a pair of hose clamps, and a real taillight to go with it. Of course there are cheaper headlights and taillights available on the Internets. You can also get headlights and taillights locally as well. Lighted wheels make the bike much more visible from the side. Wrist bands with blinky LEDs make signalling turns at night much more visible.

Clothing I need a new reflective vest. I need new long sleeve jerseys like the red one in the tall 2XL but the yellow or orange in 2XL regular will work almost as good (the jerseys I have now are more than 6 years old and are riding up my belly when I lift my arms). I also need new tights because you can see through the knees of the tights I have now, but you can get tights cheap locally from the running shops because I don’t need the crotch pad of cycling shorts/tights. I need the 2XL tights from the link, without the pad. I don’t know what that translates in running tights sizes, but I have a 37-38″ waist.

On non-bicycle related front I really need a new computer . Don’t worry about which flavor of Windows is installed, I’m going to wipe it and install Ubuntu. So a used notebook with WiFi will do the job, assuming it actually is capable of doing the job. I need enough CPU and memory to handle having as many as 20 browser windows open with all that Flash and other things that web sites use now to slow down your computer. I really need to be able to watch Vimeo and YouTube videos so I can get all the information about news stories, that I haven’t been getting lately because the computer I have now does not handle Flash Audio properly. So I need a new ‘puter to do what I do here better.

Other things I need? Way too long a list. The bath for the master bedroom needs to be remodeled as the shower is literally falling to pieces. The fence needs to be replaced or removed. The main bath needs to get a new faucet and the shower fixed. The oven won’t get to temperature or hold the set temperature when it does get to temperature. That’s kinda bad because I bake bread for spending money to get stuff for my family. I could also use some help with building my travel camp trailer to haul behind my bike, like the tent part. I have the design, just not the tools or expertise to turn the idea into reality. The dishwasher won’t let the water in when it runs (hard to clean dishes without using any water). The list is just endless.

So, that’s my list for this year.

PSA, Opus

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Strange results in my site stats, and the Feed

In spite of all the links I put up to the case in Eagle CO where the rich guy hit on a bike by the super-rich guy in a Mercedes and the driver might (!) get a slap on the wrist if that much, most of the people that came to my site were looking for information about Tasha Borland? OOOOO-Kayyyyy. (wanders off, confused)

OK I’m back. Most of the Feed this morning is individual links from the page I was sent yesterday as more people clicked on them to validate their status, but there are a few nuggets in there anyway…

Up first because it’s closest to WoaB World HQ in the suburbs of Hell is a report on a cyclist right-hooked by a garbage truck. Cyclist Killed by Garbage Truck Driver making a wide right turn hits a cyclist crossing the street from the cyclist position on the road on the right side of the outside lane and the driver claims to have not seen the cyclist prior to hitting her, the why did he swing wide before turning? And why were no charges filed against a driver that killed?

In Brooklyn (yes, that Brooklyn) there were 2 bike-motor vehicle wrecks that escaped being tragedies by fractions of an inch. Bikers beware! Two more cyclists hit in as many days From the comments it is discovered that one of the motor vehicles was in a street that was forbidden to that class of vehicle (tour bus on 5th Ave.) and in the other wreck it was felony hit-and-run as the other (non-bicycle) vehicle left the scene without determining if the operator had been injured. In the 5th Ave wreck the driver hit the cyclist with the left side of the vehicle in a clear case of driver negligence.

In what has turned into an awesome case in VA, a person hitting a cyclist was caught in the act by a red-light camera. Red light cameras help convict man in Virginia Beach This is the first case of prosecution against someone who hit a cyclist in Va. Beach that I can remember. For avoiding this kind of wreck as a cyclist, well you can’t except to not be there when the driver runs the red light. I might have added a comment or 3 to the discussion since I’m a subscriber to the online edition.

Waiting for something akin to Justice in WI. Wait for prosecution weighs on cyclist’s family Note that there was not one, not two, but three cases involving cyclists killed in hit-and-run wrecks waiting adjudication in this article…

The deputy that hit and killed a cyclist has displayed violence before. Fact Finder: Deputy facing possible charges also involved in violent brawl Why am I suddenly reminded of the Pogan case? Pogan had had a history of violent behavior before joining NYPD…

Over in not-so-jolly Jolly Olde they’re putting a truck driver that killed a cyclist on trial. Lorry driver ‘over limit and talking on mobile when he killed cyclist’ Let me put that into perspective: the driver was legally drunk, and was talking on a cell phone without hands-free while driving a truck that was loaded with trash. who had been stationary alongside the cyclist for almost a half-minute waiting for the light to change, and claimed to have never seen the cyclist he crushed to death under his back wheels after first running her over with the front wheels. As for what you could do as a cyclist to not find yourself in the same situation, not much. The cyclist in this case had been following intersection protocols and was properly positioned in the lane when hit from behind.

Even as the trial goes on the effects on the driver are being debated. Does the law treat killing a cyclist seriously enough?

And the investigation continues on another cyclist/truck fatality. Leeds cyclist killed by lorry – inquest This is the equivalent of a right hook in the US.

The lead investigator of a cyclist killed in a road rage wreck wins an award for protecting other road users. Officer praised after efforts to secure road rage death conviction Five people were convicted in this death including the drivers of both cars and 3 of their passengers. I think this was the wreck where the occupants of the 2 vehicles were having an argument over the price of a puppy.

In Oz a cyclist loses control of his bike and is killed. Cyclist killed on roads Police are unsure how a cyclist could lose control over a bicycle in that location and are investigating the possibility that another vehicle was involved.

An absurd ruling against a cyclist hit crossing the road in Darwin. Double whammy for cyclist Did you see the absurd part? “Adults were exempt only when riding on footpaths.” So if you’re riding on the footpath (sidewalk in the US) then you still have to wear a helmet if you want to leave the block you live on, because you have to have a helmet when you cross the road.

A sleeping driver is sentenced in Enn Zed. Driver who fell asleep, killed cyclist sentenced Yes it is against the law to drive while asleep in New Zeeland.

And after several hours of painstaking filtering, the post is finished. We had much more outside North America content than usual.

Billed @$0.02, Opus