Expanding on part of yesterday’s post- Media Aware

In my last post I postulated that I have become aware that I’m a character in a series of stories after reviewing my life and realizing that shit like that doesn’t all happen to the same person outside of fiction. And that my writer(s) are apparently a bit on the hack side as writers go.

As a f’rinstance my wallet showed up in the mail today with my ID and everything still inside it. The only thing missing was the $10 bill, because I need the ID to sell my plasma and start making a steady income of sorts. It showed up in a padded mailing envelope with my full deadname and no return address. What makes this suspect was the timing, yesterday I posted that I needed a source of income but I couldn’t do it without my ID and today there’s my ID again, in a padded mailing envelope with no return address. Now most people would just thank their luck and continue on with their lives, but them most people haven’t been hit by trucks and survived 3 times when the trucks didn’t, haven’t gotten caught in a shooting revolution that one side wanted to kick you out of the country if you survived, haven’t learned to fly, haven’t built race cars and bicycles… See what I mean? One or two of those things is an interesting life, this is a character in a story.

And part of the reason I know I’m a character in a story is I’m a writer so I’m more aware of things like that. I read fiction, I try to write fiction, so I recognize the things that happen in fiction that don’t happen in real life. Like someone getting killed and “waking up” when they are scraping the body off the pavement. Like money just dropping into my life at particularly opportune moments and running out at precisely the time when it would make a plot point. And a whole bunch of other things I don’t want to relate because I have a hard time believing it myself.

So, our “real life” is someone else’s “storyland”, and I suspect the reverse is true hence the entry in TVTropes. And as soon as I finish this post I’m going to ride my bike. I have been stretching my hip, the tires are pumped, the weather is nice, so Ima go for a bike ride.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable

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Grocery day again, and the Feed

I did a resupply run this afternoon. Picked up some ramen, and frozen pizza, some hot fried chicken and canned green beans, plus the usual milk and yogurt supply. Also I picked up supplies for game night. We decided that having water in bottles was equally as important as having caffeinated beverages so I picked up a case of water to go with the other stuff that was on a serious sale this week. We don’t want to have any more people passing out from dehydration or getting buzzed on sugar and caffeine, like we did today. That’s right, we played another RPG today. I’m getting more socialization this month than I usually get in a year.

There is precedent for charging the driver in that head-on wreck in NYC with murder. When a Driver Had a Seizure and Killed Two in Manhattan, It Was Murder The driver in this wreck was very similar to the driver in the wreck this week right down to neglecting to take his anti-seizure meds before the wreck. It all hinges on what the DA thinks about the value of a cyclist’s life.

More on that wreck mentioned above. Beep calls for safer roads around Barclays after cyclist killed in crash As I said on another article about the wreck, given the circumstances about the only thing that would have prevented this death was installing jersey barriers between the bike and motor vehicle lanes.

NOLA has a problem keeping killers in prison. Widow of Ironman cyclist outraged as husband’s killer paroled after 14 months Fourteen months on a 60 month sentence for killing a person with the judge’s statement that he wanted to make it longer on the prisoner’s record. And don’t forget that the driver injured the other cyclist who was in the street with the deceased cyclist then left the scene. More Man who killed 1 cyclist, injured another is released after 14 months

The previous paragraph doesn’t make me sanguine about getting real justice for the murder killing of this cyclist. Man wanted in death of New Orleans cyclist surrenders I am glad he was at least put behind bars initially…

Two nearly identical wrecks in the same intersection in less than 2 weeks tell me there is an infrastructure problem with that intersection. Second cyclist injured in car crash at same Janesville intersection Both cyclists ran the stop sign at the bottom of a hill in front of a car that did not have a stop sign… Maybe a 4 way stop? I really don’t know, but there is obviously a problem here.

A swoop and squat road rage attack on a pair of cyclists in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Sanibel cyclists allege road rage in crash video The doctor admitted to using his vehicle as a weapon against the cyclists but that was before he had been Mirandad, so the statement could not be used in court. But it still can be used against him in a civil suit.

This would be the perfect time to fix this broken infrastructure instead of make it like it was before but with a better surface. Crandon Boulevard repaving, bike-safety improvements to start on Key Biscayne There needs to be a barrier that can stop a car between the bike lane and the motor vehicle lane(s), not paint and a rumble strip. How much does it cost to replace a human life? Less than putting up a barrier that can stop a drunk driver from entering the bike lane?

This is a very misleading headline. Gov. Snyder signs bill to drink wine, beer while biking This has nothing to do with drinking and cycling, it is about being the engine to a large open vehicle for many people and allowing ethanol as a fuel for what is essentially an HPV bus.

This does not seem familiar at all to me… United Airlines Employee Accused in Hit-and-Run That Killed Des Plaines Bicyclist I wonder if he was related to the low-life that hit me.

The cyclist was not at fault in this wreck. Austin Robert Gilliam: Family of cyclist killed by semi-truck pleading for drivers to be cautious And cue the troll in the comments ranting about “Bikes don’t pay taxes!”

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: More fallout from fatal Gardena police shooting; Lance calls the Froome kettle black Yeah, glad I’m not covering that rotten kettle of fish…

There are still a lot of good people out there… NDSU student bikes cross-country to raise money for brain injury victims

From West Canuckistan. Driver arrested following hit and run accident involving cyclist Funny but I never see any articles about “Vehicle used in hit-and-run seized by police to be destroyed after trial”.

From Jolly Olde road.cc has an article on the coroner’s inquest for one of the cyclists killed in London this year. Cyclist’s death down to ‘moment’s lapse of concentration’ says coroner And if the infrastructure is such that a “momentary distraction” can kill you, your infrastructure sucks.

And finally I’m done. Gaahh! [slump]

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Tired

I have sorta recovered, and I don’t stink anymore, and the Feed

Yesterday’s gig to repair an adult tricycle damaged in transit was lots bigger than what I posted in the haze of exhaustion and body funk I came home with. There were 2 wheels that needed truing that I couldn’t put on the truing jig because they didn’t have axles after removing them from the back of the trike, so I had to do the best I could on the trike, there was a persistent noise from one side that would not go away no matter what I did, that I traced down to the outer bearing on the left side (I think it no longer has any lubricant in it but I can’t get to it without taking it to a shop with more tools than I have). There is also an intermittent banging from the drum brake on the drive side wheel that nothing I do will make go away for more than a block or two, but goes away on its own after a mile or so. I think that is the brake drum hitting the brake band, because I don’t see any other sign of contact in the brake. And of course there was the dented fender that had to be repaired without damaging the powdercoat because the entire trike would have to be repainted it match the color if I damaged the coating enough to require a re-paint. That meant the dent could only be mostly taken out because there was nothing I could do to shrink the metal that was stretched in the original incident. As I posted yesterday the normal way to do that is to apply heat to a dull cherry color, then hammer and dolly smooth and quench to complete the shrinking process. I was just lucky that the back of my extra-large Crescent™ wrench was the right contour and had sufficient mass to work out that dent leaving minimal wrinkles behind.

Today we are having beans and rice, which means I’m cooking dinner. I so enjoy this particular vegan entrée that I taught myself how to cook it because nobody else would make it. I don’t know why, it’s tasty, completely nutritious (you could live on it and some leafy greens indefinitely) and aside from being time-consuming to make is not hard to cook (I mean I’m making it, how hard could it be?). People who eat it and don’t have to be nice to me say they like it, so why is it that I’m the only one making it? I guess that is just one of those mysteries. I know I’m going to get lots of chances to eat beans and rice when Mrs. the Poet goes to see her relatives in Upstate NY without me this year…

Up first is a link to the Wales edition of the World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR). Naked cyclists were a shock on the street – but all in a good cause

The “Big Story” is the Oz sportscaster getting a gentle caress on the wrist for deliberately running down a cyclist during a road rage dispute. Mark Bosnich handed 12 month good behaviour bond after ‘clipping’ cyclist’s back wheel with his BMW in road rage collision also Premier League – Mark Bosnich escapes conviction for running down cyclist in his BMW I mean really, what amounts to deferred adjudication for an assault with a deadly weapon, with injury? TANJ!

A little happy infrastructure news from NYC as a 167 YO bridge is reopened to pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Photos: Hurrah, The High Bridge Reopens After 45 Years I’m glad it wasn’t torn down during the time it was unused, because any street space in NYC that isn’t overrun with cars is a blessing, a bridge triply so.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Completing deadly Rosemead Blvd; Times seeks video of police shooting in Gardena bike theft

And Part numero dos. Breaking news: no sentencing in Eric Billings case today; driver found with narcotic drug behind bars

And also in L.A. Driver Sought in Hit-and-Run Crash That Killed Cyclist in South L.A.

A little good bike news from the city next to WoaB. Richardson Texas Gets Recognized As A Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community The Beautiful Suburbs of Hell are not even on the list for “Nice Try”.

Down the road a day’s ride from WoaB. Teen cyclist killed after colliding with car in East Austin The road is described as “narrow” yet the cyclist was blamed for “swerving” in front of the weapon vehicle. You can’t have both, either the road is narrow and the cyclist controls the full width of the lane, or it’s more than 14 feet wide and there is (barely) room to pass with 3 feet of clearance.

Next state over a pedestrian pushing a broken bicycle is hit at the side of the road. LSU professor, struck and killed while walking her broken bicycle, described as a distinguished, beloved faculty member

And I can’t tell if this person is trying to get more people on bikes, or warn those already riding to stop. Letter: Cyclists encouraged to be safe

One of the problems (as always) is infrastructure that varies in quality from crap to lethal. Cyclists urge drivers to share the road

Another academic is killed riding a bike, this one in KS. Washburn grad: Glenda Taylor was ‘a champion of students’ and Area art, academic community, cyclists mourn fatal accident

Many questions but few answers for the survivors of an AL hit-and-run victim. Family of woman killed while riding bicycle looking for answers And Stoopid comments about why she got hit.

UK cyclists are pretty steamed about the (lack of) quality in their infrastructure. ‘Die-in’ staged for cyclist killed in Camberwell and Cyclists hold ‘die-in’ vigil for Esther Hartsilver after fatal crash in Camberwell That was a very loud, very eloquent protest with very few words used.

Not every driver in the UK is a homicidal maniac all the time. Injured cyclist thanks Good Samaritan who came to his aid in Trowbridge Most are not (homicidal maniacs) som are for a small amount of time, and a tiny minority are full-on raving batshit crazy 24/7. The one that stopped to help was in the majority that is the first category.

And someone wrote a book about bicycle couriers in today’s London. On Your Bike Life expectancy slightly better than a soldier in a war zone, with crappy pay that sometimes gets stolen by the company you work for to pay the “rent” on required equipment.

It’s a good bet that the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell will never see any of this money. 7 Cities Get $375,000 to Work on Bike-Share Equity In order to study bike share, one must have a bike share to study.

Update on a WI bike wreck. Bicyclists killed in crash were longtime Northwestern Mutual employees What got left out was they were also extremely experienced and safe cyclists, but they still got killed.

Update on a MA bike wreck, as the victim gets buried. More than 1,000 mourn Mansfield teen killed in bike crash

Last link, a FL media outlet asks if cycling over the age of 70 was worth the risks. Biking over 70: Do the rewards outweigh the risks? Well if you live outside of the most deadliest state in the US to ride a bike (and also walk) maybe…

And I’m (finally) out of links. This has been a terribly long day.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Did lawnmowing things &tc, and the Feed

My contribution to the lawn mowing today was walking the mile and a quarter to buy the gas, and mowing the fence line and up beside the house where you need more upper-body strength than Mrs. the Poet can muster even on a good day. I still have problems with my back when I walk too much, and between getting the gas, mowing the fence lines and going to the bank to get grocery money without having to pay an ATM fee at the store I came real close to maxing out my available miles. I had a little lay-down after I got home from the bank and meditated for a bit, then pulled the steri-strips that had come off my back off of where they had gotten stuck to my shirt. There aren’t many of them left over the incision site, but I haven’t noticed any pain or leakage from the incision so I guess we are still good on that. Speaking of pain while the little sharp pains from the edge of the dent are still there they were less noticeable than even yesterday, so that is also good.

I managed to get Blue moved to a cleared space in the garage where I could get some tools on him which also cleared access to Francis/es to allow it to be used if needed. So far the only work I managed to get done was changing the seat cover on Blue, but as I wrote earlier I had things to do away from the house that kinda drained my energy, so maybe I’ll get more done tomorrow.

Up first, I have a link to the PDF version of the FHWA guide on segregated bike lanes. Federal Highway Administration SEPARATED BIKE LANE PLANNING AND DESIGN GUIDE WARNING, this is a gov’t document written by engineers who were paid by the word and it comes in just over 99MB.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: 3 important bike meetings, 1 last endorsement in WeHo, and what to do at CicLAvia Pasadena

Another example of why FL kills more cyclists than any other state in the US. UPDATE: Cyclist hit in Sanibel crosswalk listed in fair condition Note the response of the LEO representative: “Sanibel police chief William Tomlinson said bicyclists in Sanibel’s 25 miles of mixed-use pathways have the option of riding crosswalks, but suggested that walking a bike is safer.” The cyclist was hit crossing with the signal after one vehicle had stopped to let him pass but the weapon vehicle failed to stop. The driver that hit the cyclist did not obey a traffic control, but the cyclist should have walked his bike because… damned if I know.

Over in Jolly Olde while the infrastructure is sometimes truly awful, it is marginally safe if the drivers of large vehicles look out for and don’t run over the people on bicycles. Two lorry drivers face court over deaths of cyclists killed in separate crashes at City blackspot

And idiots with a badge are not limited to the state of Florida or even the US. CTC critical of police response to death of Merseyside cyclist Cyclist had a measurable amount of alcohol in his blood post-mortem so the other drunk that drove nearly 200 feet on the wrong side of the road to hit him was initially let off the hook.

And this guy walked away from what was initially believed to be a minor collision with a cyclist, then died a few days later. Peter Craig: Super fit newlywed killed after freak collision with cyclist while in marathon training DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS! Seriously, do everything you can to not hit pedestrians, then exchange information after if you do hit one. Not saying that was what happened here, just general advice.

The cyclist video recorded “jumping” a red light and hitting a bus had equipment failure. Bus driver defends cyclist filmed crashing into his double-decker after jumping red light Broke the front brake and locked the rear on slick pavement and WHAM, there’s the bus.

There are still good people in the world, they are just sometimes hard to find. Members of public tried to lift vehicle off trapped cyclist Unfortunately there were either not enough people or too much SUV to get the car off the cyclist without heavy specialized lifting equipment. Fortunately the fire crew that showed up for the call was so equipped and the cyclist was extricated and sent to hospital.

More on that ride in the Great White North to protest cuts in Workman’s Comp. Injured Workers Stop in Kingston During 600 km Bike Ride to Draw Attention to a Compensation System Being Dismantled by the Liberal Government Are the Koch brothers active in Canada too?

And another wounded/injured veteran ride, this time in Jolly Olde. 100 wounded heroes lead cycle races Note to reporter/headline writer, these are social rides, not races. There are no winners except the people served by the money raised. There are no losers except the people who could but don’t choose to participate.

And I’m out of links again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

I still have the lump on my neck, and the Feed

I had to call and cancel my MRI because we don’t have the co-pay. So I had to put off the MRI to a point late in April when I should have money to cover the co-pays for everything. The co-pays on this policy are out of proportion to income. Seriously, the ER co-pay is like 50% (+/-) of my monthly budget without medical expenses. The co-pays for a visit to the PCP, the MRI, the consult with the surgeon, and the surgery itself combine to about 2 months of my income, about half of which will not apply to my Out Of Pocket (OOP) maximum. This is one of the results of Gov. Goodhair deciding that Texans would not get expanded Medicaid. Rick, I hope you can sleep at night knowing that there are people who will die because of your decision, that’s all I have to say.

After that heavy intro, something light. The bike lanes in NYC are some of the heaviest used in the US. Including this guy. Ain’t he a hipster?

And as always there is one law for the plebes and another law for the elite. De Blasio’s Position On New Car Idling Bill Remains Hazy

Our Daily Ted almost didn’t make the post today. April Fool-free Morning Links: Maintaining Griffith Park for the many; traffic planning problems in Calabasas Those pedestrian crossing flags are about the stupidest thing I have ever seen, not because they aren’t needed, but because someone thought they were.

Simpsons ride many bikes. #ciclavia

What’s worse, losing $341,000 a year in parking meter revenue, or killing a cyclist or pedestrian a year? Comm. Ave. bike lane plan draws ire: ‘Outrageous’ loss of parking

Portland is using every source to embrace Vision Zero. Bike/walk advocates unveil plan for Oregon to zero out road deaths

And even car-crazy Houston can haz bike lanes. Biking through downtown Houston just got easier thanks to new protected green lane

One of the more dangerous places in NYC is getting an overhaul. “Boulevard Of Death” Will Get Protected Bike Lanes, Pedestrian Walkway

Sounds like this woman missed her Pikes Place latte that morning. Seattle Driver Blocking Bicycle Lane to Cyclist: “I Literally Don’t Give a Fuck About Anything You Say” And instead of just moving one car width to the left to get into the parking lane, the bike lane parker drives off without doing whatever it was that made her park in the bike lane in the first place as she leaves in shame.

Well, what do you know? Finnish drivers don’t yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk either. Police step up surveillance of pedestrian crossings And they also don’t yield to cyclists using the crossings when there are MUPs connected to the marked crossings. Yep, they’re drivers alright.

London’s financial elites are switching from sedate golf to more active cycling, but the roads are still a problem. Bankers swap golf for bicycles but still fear London’s roads

And one of the reasons why they are uneasy “sharing” the roads. Stars’ fashion designer deliberately knocked cyclist off bike after he kicked her Audi TT She cuts off a cyclist, cyclist kicks in the side of her car, she chases down the cyclist and commits assault with a deadly weapon, measured and reasonable responses to the situation. /s

Is it really “bike friendly” if it’s only friendly to commuters? The Web Monkey Speaks: A “Bike-Friendly” city? Let’s redefine that

I liked the comment someone made about this stuff on another link: Like a fraternity selling rape whistles. Cyclists Shine at Night Courtesy of New Reflective Spray This is victim-blaming, pure and simple. It enables drivers to drive faster than they can stop in the distance they can see clearly at night.

All you graphic designers who participated in my tattoo contest might want to get involved in this. IT’S BACK … USA PRO CHALLENGE OFFERS FANS CHANCE TO DESIGN OFFICIAL COMMEMORATIVE POSTER FOR 2015 RACE AND WIN VIP RACE PACKAGE Yeppers, a $50K or more design contest with a grand prize worth a few hundred to a couple grand tops, travel not included… Well if you were going anyway, might as well enter the contest.

Moots restores one of their bikes involved in a fatal wreck. Forever Forward: Sally Bell’s bike rides again If it was anybody else’s bike it would have been scrapped.

And I’m outta links again tonight.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the (very poor) Poet (I’m still an unkillable badass though)