Well I have a bunch of places I need to go today after I finish the blog post, I have to go swap the toilet fixtures that don’t fit for ones that do fit, drop the mortgage payment at the bank, and then at the end of the day I need to go to the church for Full Moon services, after which I will be working with the ritual team to get the service ready that I’m doing this Sunday. I’m down to just a few services a year now because of the brain injury getting worse with age. This one is on the theme of making Luck work for you in the new year. As some have intimated 90% of luck is being there for either good or bad things to happen to you, with actual random chance only accounting for about 10% of what we call “Luck”. As an example, winning the lottery is random chance, but when was the last time you saw someone win without buying a ticket? Effort must be expended to enable random chance to benefit you. And sometimes, like in my case, effort must be expended for random chance to stick it to you.
I have only one link from North America today. Bicyclist killed in Monroe hit-and-run The cyclist appeared to be crossing legally as there were 3 vehicles stopped in a line at a traffic light. The first vehicle to hit her was the third one in line as the driver went around the first 2 to hit the cyclist, then the other drivers reacted to the driver of the weapon vehicle by moving forward only to strike the cyclist. So this poor woman was hit three times. Intersection wreck, but the protocols don’t really help much when previously stopped traffic waiting for you to cross decides to stop waiting before you finish crossing. Infrastructure would not have been of much use here either as it depends on drivers waiting their turn at intersections between bike and motor vehicle infrastructure. Only completely separated infrastructure would have prevented this wreck. Well that and mandatory destruction of motor vehicles that kill vulnerable road users. If drivers know that hitting a cyclist or pedestrian will cause loss of their vehicle (that may not be paid for yet), they might be a tiny bit more careful around cyclists and pedestrians. Naahhh! Another thing to notice in this article is the balance of people that thought the driver of the tan pickup should be executed for killing the cyclist. I thought I was reading a Texas comment section for a minute they were so bloodthirsty.
A later link with more information on the Japanese tourist killed in Russia. Japanese cyclist killed in northern Russia The cyclist was on a severe weather leg of an intercontinental bicycle tour from one end of Russia to all the former Warsaw Pact countries in the west. Still nothing about the mode of the wreck other than it was “an accident”.
Last wreck link, a cyclist is hit head-on by a driver on the wrong side of the road in South Africa. Cyclist killed in Mandela Avenue crash Not much a cyclist can do when you’re riding the shoulder on the correct side of the road and all of a sudden there’s a car in front of you coming straight at you. Separated infrastructure might have prevented this wreck.
Last link is a late LifeStyle notice from sunny SoCal. Dec. 29: Frisbee Golf Fundraiser for Injured Cyclist Korenthal (Video) This guy has been advocating for better bicycle infrastructure for SoCal cyclists for years, shortly after the first wreck where he lost his left leg below the knee. The most recent wreck was so severe that the steel pin used to secure his prosthetic was bent…
And that’s all the news that gave me fits today.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 