Our DM is very good at TPK, and the Feed

Today’s post is getting a late start because of another game session with the Kinky D&D group. After getting my head pointed the right direction last time, after it was removed by another party member under a compulsion, my character was ready to take on the world, and plunder the dungeon. Unfortunately we ran into a pair of succubi, sisters as it happened, and once again we had a Total Party Kill. The only one to escape was my NPC apprentice, the half-elf bard, because she ran when she saw what we were up against before the first spell cast or shot fired. Which was good considering that my character was the only one to get a shot off at the succubi, causing enough damage and disruption to the one I hit that she was out of the battle for the rest of the fight, but in the meantime her sister managed to get all the other characters compelled to attack the other members of the party, which given how lethal our characters are is probably the best strategy rather than going toe to toe and slugging it out (except with my character, he can’t fight in melee and has to keep taking 5 foot steps back and casting defensively so going toe to toe with him is a good idea, and going toe to toe with him by compelling another character to attack is even a better idea). Where we made our mistake was not attacking the succubi immediately as they were being held prisoner and we figured they would prefer a unimpeded release to combat. We had a better than even chance to take them out had we just gone in shooting instead of trying to negotiate for their release. Anywho, the bard managed to find the efreeti outside the dungeon (that we had only entered in the first place because there was a tornado coming), and convinced him that it was in his best interests to revive the party so we could rescue his sister from the half-fiend, half-green dragon who was intent on using her as breeding stock. He honored her wish to revive the party and get all the treasure in the dungeon from the areas we had already cleared, and then we moved on to taking care of the efreeti’s quest to save his sister from being forcefully impregnated by the fiend/green dragon. At this point we all had to level up. My warlock is now level 9 and does 5d6 damage with his Eldritch Blast, has a +7 attack bonus against the touch AC at ranges up to 250 feet, and a +8 bonus at ranges inside 30 feet. My apprentice is now 5th level and no longer has to fork over 500GP to my character at every level after this, her apprenticeship is complete (but she’s still an NPC).

The Big Story comes from the Great White North, as a head-on wreck between two cyclists kills one and puts the other in hospital. Jacques-Cartier Bridge bike path crash kills 1 and Fatal cycling collision on Jacques-Cartier Bridge Basically, someone crossed the centerline before daylight on a blind curve (because of the walls that keep the cars out of the bike lane) and heads literally butted. Both cyclists had head injuries, and neither one was wearing a helmet. To prevent with built environment, same thing as I say for drivers, slow down to a speed that you can stop in the distance you can see clearly. To improve the built environment replace the concrete walls with heavy steel bollards filled with concrete and put a transparent wall on the bicycle side of that.

The other Big Story is on this side of the northern border as a suspected drunk driver drives on the wrong side of the road and hits a cyclist head on and kills him instantly. Cyclist killed after being struck by suspected drunk driver on Lookout Mountain and Golden dad out on evening bike ride killed by alleged drunk driver The only thing that will prevent a wreck like this with the built environment is changing the built environment. Driving drunk is already against the law, driving on the wrong side of the road is against the law, and passing more than one vehicle and passing on a double-yellow line are also both against the law. My change recommendation is public execution of drunk drivers and public destruction of their cars, preferably in a single step operation.

Closer to home a cyclist north of the Red River from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell while riding on the shoulder of a road to the right of rumble strips intended to keep cars from driving in the shoulder. Norman bicyclist killed near Purcell I don’t see how this could be avoided by the cyclist, he was hit from behind while riding about 4 feet to the right of the fog line on an 8 foot wide shoulder, about 2 feet to the right of the rumble strip. I suspect that the driver was impaired or distracted, and that nothing short of a barrier-protected bike lane could have prevented this wreck. The likelihood of getting barrier protected bike lanes on a semi-rural OK highway is slightly higher than the likelihood of a magnitude 6.5 quake in OK City.

Over in WI another cyclist is killed by another hit-and-run driver. Suspect in custody after fatal Germantown hit-and-run crash And Suspect in fatal Germantown hit-and-run crash released from custody He is impeding the investigation by refusing to give up the driver. Of course, since he’s probably the driver he’s protected against self-incrimination by the 5th Amendment. So, screw the 5th and charge him as the owner of the vehicle, which makes him responsible for what happens with it. That’s one of the things people are constantly harping about on bicycle registration, that it makes people accountable. Well, if registration makes people accountable, make this owner account for this wreck by going to prison.

And another hit-and-run wreck. Bicyclist injured in hit-and-run The cyclist was injured but the bike was undamaged, a strong indication of a buzz job or punishment pass. This is very similar to the wreck that killed Larry Schwartz outside Plano which precipitated the Ride of Silence in 2003. The main difference here is the cyclist was alive and semi-conscious when someone got to her a few minutes after the wreck. By the time someone found Larry, well that’s why we have a Ride of Silence.

Wanna bet this one gets solved ASAP? Wayne cop struck while training for charity bike ride Nothing on what happened aside from telling who owned the weapon vehicle.

Our Daily Ted (I bet you thought I forgot). Morning Links: Caltrans may remove dangerous Topanga Cyn reflectors; Vision Zero becomes official LA policy

And still in CA, another frikken hit-and-run. MAN ON BICYCLE KILLED IN MARIPOSA HIT AND RUN I am so freaking tired of hit-and-run drivers I could scream.

Last link is from Oz. Australia’s biggest bike-lane skeptic ‘wants to destroy cycling in Sydney’ Neanderthal, ain’t he?

And I’m tired, I have to get up early tomorrow, and I’m still very unhappy about that last link’s comments section.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet

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Grocery day again, and the Feed

Back into the fray I go after the physically draining experience of yesterday. This time is just grocery buying using my new phone to keep the list legible. Given that Mrs. the Poet’s arthritis has made her handwriting worse than mine, and that I was given the options of passing penmanship, passing typing, or failing 8th grade, you can see how having the list kept in a neat sans-serif font would be an improvement. Putting the list on the phone has one major disadvantage, our normal shopping strategy is a divide and conquer of Mrs. the Poet doing shopping for the “core” part of the store, and I get the stuff at the “edges”. But with the list on my phone, and Mrs. the Poet being such a Luddite that working an Android phone is emotionally beyond her (she’s smart enough to do it, she just doesn’t want to bother learning how), I have to be with her to read the list off the phone and also the particulars of the various coupons and specials we are getting. This means we take twice as long as before.

My take on what’s important today says the then-17YO driver who tested 0.101BAC% more than 2 hours after the wreck, and more than 8 hours after the party she threw ended, when she ran over a cyclist while driving backwards in her truck, is probably the Big Story. Documents: House party, drug use preceded DUI crash that killed cyclist and Anchorage teen who hit, killed cyclist in court Friday also Prosecutor: Teen used drugs, alcohol before hit-and-run collision that killed cyclist The party ended about 0300 more or less, the cyclist was hit at 1000 or so, the driver was arrested at 1030, the blood draw was taken 1250, and the sample showed 0.101BAC%. To get that reading more than 10 hours after the party supposedly ended means she had to have been completely blitzed at the party. And apparently the defense has never heard of second-hand smoke, or THC retention, because they are blaming the cyclist for getting hit by a drunk driving a truck backwards at a high rate of speed as reported by witnesses. The defense story of the cyclist riding on broken pavement up a false flat at 30-35 MPH would be comical if the cyclist was alive to laugh at it.

Just a few miles west of WoaB, another cyclist executed by another drunk driver. Bicyclist Killed in Hit-and-Run Crash in Haltom City The crime scene footage shows a mangled bike that is so badly damaged I can’t actually tell which way the cyclist was going when she was hit. When I can’t tell if a cyclist was hit from the side or from behind or even head on, that bike is wrecked. I’m kinda sorta not convinced the cyclist was hit from the side, but I can’t even state she was hit either from the back or head on with more than a 50% level of confidence.

NYC drivers be crazy. 82-Year-Old Woman Fatally Struck By Dump Truck Driver In Bushwick At this point facts point to insufficient time to cross the street allowed before the light changed, and the dump truck driver failing to make sure there was nothing in front of the truck before driving over the victim. That said I put at least 50% of the fault for this wreck on the infrastructure, and the fact that they allowed the truck in the city in the first place.

Upstate are not much better. Bicyclist killed after crash in Kingsbury identified This wreck sounds very similar to the one that killed Larry Schwartz, mirror to the back of the head. Helmet or not you are dead in this kind of wreck.

Yesterday’s Daily Ted. Morning Links: LA’s Mobility Plan 2035 passes the council, but the fight isn’t over yet; cyclist critically injured in OC You didn’t think I would forget, did you?

Today’s Daily Ted. Morning Links: Newport hit-and-run driver turns himself in, and more fallout from the new LA Mobility Plan

Another CA wreck. 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL ON BICYCLE STRUCK BY HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER IN NEWPORT BEACH and NEWPORT BEACH MAN ARRESTED IN HIT-RUN INVOLVING 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL Incidents like this are what makes me glad that hit-and-run carries the same minimum sentence as DUI homicide in CA. Maybe if this gets more publicity people would stay at the scene and call 911 so the victim has a better chance of survival.

Another wreck in CA, this was a bad week for them. Cyclist killed in El Cajon collision Yet another SWSS, you would think that by now LEO would be wise to this after the two wrecks with onboard video showed the cyclists riding in a straight line while the weapon vehicle failed to move over to pass. There was a comment that the driver failed to react until after the cyclist was hit and flying through the air that somewhat backs this up.

The cyclist hit by a driver on a CA frontage road is recovering. Bicycle accident victim recovering

The 30th anniversary of the seminal NWA album has spawned a meme that not even cyclists can resist. The Slow Bicycle Movement (what, you thought I would show that in my blog? Click the link.) 😀

More on the MI cyclist killed by a hit-and-run driver. Lawyer, authorities talk in Lake Orion cyclist’s death I still say the statement from the lawyer shows the driver did it on purpose. And Family members organize charity bike ride to remember Lake Orion woman who was killed in hit and run

Another MI cyclist died. Bicyclist struck, killed in Grand Rapids The cyclist was killed while riding in the crosswalk in front of a stopped vehicle that didn’t stay stopped while he was in front of the vehicle.

OK this driver needs to be lost in the system for a century or two. Cyclist hit by alleged drunk driver in Hancock Co. dies; Teen held for OWI and Police: Teen accused of OWI in cyclist’s death tested at four times legal limit this, too 1 cyclist dead, another injured OK killer driver was drunk and underage to drink, there should be a nice comfy place under the jail for him. DEEP under the jail.

More on the acts of terror against cyclists in West Canuckistan. Aggressive acts towards cyclists discredits drivers I guess acts of terrorism could be called “aggressive”.

This video is now part of the UK driver’s ed curriculum. How to overtake cyclists – the video all drivers should watch well the new drivers will have to watch it, we can only hope the current ones will as well.

Another driver cursed with a wreck in Jolly Olde. Drink driver injured teenage BMX rider and four-year-old boy I say let him rot, but since this is the UK he will probably get community service, and points on his license.

Crappy infrastructure proposed in Oz. Cycling groups urge Moreland Council not to adopt double cycle lanes on Sydney Rd Seriously, they are going to paint two bike lanes and allow parking on one set part of the time, which is when the other lane is active? What are they on, and can they share?

These guys need to share, too. Surgeons urge ‘more responsible attitude’ to bike helmet laws You know you would think surgeons would be a little more reality-driven. Are they sure this isn’t a conservative terrorist front group?

And I’m all outta links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet