Nothing much to write for here

Been mostly staying alive and tweeting, depositing checks and stuff. As you do.

Most exciting thing this week was getting a massage, second was making beans and rice with a ham bone in the crock pot. Making beans is like get up, plug in the crock pot, put the ham bone in the pot, put the beans in the pot, pre-heat the water and put it in the pot, cover and stir every 3 hours until done, then fish out the bones and serve the beans. I added a whole lot of hatch peppers to the beans after the third stirring to give them time to work their way through all the beans, but as big a pot of beans as I make even adding a cup of roasted peppers doesn’t change the taste much.

Just checked and my video game controller is still somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, expected arrival date sometime between my Deathday and my birthday. The steering box likewise is not off the boat either. And since we are talking about stuff that has been delayed by the pandemic, the people who I get my writing gigs through haven’t sent me an email in a while either.

In other news I need to take stuff to my local Social Security office, but they aren’t open yet… It’s a good thing I know how to make tasty beans and rice.

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Shopping take two

I didn’t get out to buy butane and bolts today because Mrs. the Poet got a call to go to lunch with a friend and I had already started a pot of beans and couldn’t leave them unattended for the hours and hours they need to assume their beany goodness. So she went out and I stayed with the beans, and I will go shopping on Friday. NBD.

I’m sitting at my desk eating my last meal of the day, which is usually the sandwich and veggies Mrs. the Poet makes for lunch, but because she went out for lunch I had to scrounge up my own food today, after spending hours slaving over a CrockPot full of beans and ham bone. In such a situation my goto meal is usually something in the ramen family or cup noodles, this time microwave ramen bowl with veggies. It is just a constant source of amazement that that tiny packet of dehydrated veggies fills so much of the plastic bowl the noodles ship in. I mean the package is barely as big as two matchbooks, but after cooking there is about a third of the bowl full of veggies. The noodles hardly change at all, but when the veggies are rehydrated suddenly there is a bowl full of food in front of me. I don’t care what others say to me this is one of the miracles of the modern age.

So anyway while I was making sure nothing bad happened to the beans I had some time to think about the reason for the shopping trip. One thing I came up with was spending the extra money for a second ⁵/₁₆” bolt to make the jig for the roll hoops, since they are going to be identical now. And with the jig I could theoretically make a kit for converting the AMT T roadster kits into a Mini Sprint-T if that seemed like it was a good idea. Right now it isn’t, but that might change in the future, who can say? Certainly not me. My prognostication abilities aren’t that precise. When I was asked to look at the possible outcomes of Bush v Gore I saw battles and chaos and interpreted that as possible civil war or riots in the streets, not the Iran /Afghan wars.

Anyway, back to the car model, if I can find some good wood in the garage I can drill a couple of holes in it to put the bolts into that would be the right distance apart. Then after making the first bend I could use the second bolt as a jig and make the second bend to make the hoop the exact right size for the frame, using guide marks on the jig to get the angles right, which is almost a pun, because both hoops need to have their legs bent to a right angle to the top bar of the hoop. The design has gone through some iterations where this was not a true statement, but for the time being it is true. Both hoops are the same, same width and same angles, and when the frame is finished and painted the internal bracing for the rear hoop gets bolted into the 1:1 Sprint-T after the painted and wired body gets slipped inside the frame and roll cage. Technically that should be a slash (/) instead of the word “and” because the frame rails go around the roll cage which forms structural bulkheads in the frame and the roll hoop bracing becomes part of the triangulation of the frame. As I pointed out years ago now, frame stiffness is a function of d⁴ where in this case d is the average distance from the bottom of the bottom rail to the top of the top rail, and running the top rail over the roll cage increases d to the max it can be without making either the top or bottom disconnected from the rest of the frame. And it’s much easier to build the frame with removable sections than it is to either spray the body inside the frame a different color, or build the frame around the body without causing damage to the body or getting overspray on the frame or body or both. The tricky part for the model is getting that same effect without messing up the paint when gluing the braces in the frame. I think I might need to use cyanoacrylate for these joints instead of my usual Testors solvent cement because “assembled after paint” so these joints will require a bit more patience fitting together than the ones for the solvent cement. And it’s starting to get to be time to hit the sheets, so I’m cutting this one short here.

Bean day, and the Feed

Yep, it is another Bean and Rice day here at Casa de El Poeta, with ²/₃ cup each of lentils, black beans, and small red beans slow cooked for about 4 hours, then seasoned and spiced and the evaporated water replaced and a cup of brown rice added and the combination allowed to cook for another 2 hours or so until the rice is cooked through. Yum!

Up first is another “cyclist gets shot” from south TX. Man shot, killed while watching son ride bike and SAN ANTONIO MAN KILLED WHILE TEACHING SON HOW TO RIDE BIKE also San Antonio Man Killed While Teaching Son How to Ride Bike At this time LEO either don’t know or are not saying why the man was shot…

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bike parking loses to BBQ in Sunnyvale, bike rider shot in Carson, and more bike giveaways And there is yet another “cyclist shot” story.

Our Daily Ted Pt. 2. 81-year old cyclist killed in San Bernardino rear-end collision Well, it was a good run while it lasted…

Update on another cyclist shooting. Canadian cyclist shot in random attack qualifies for Paris-Brest-Paris Now that he has healed I wish him the best of luck in the P-B-P ride.

A bit of Infrastructure! news from SC. 5 ideas from transportation planner Gabe Klein’s Peninsula Mobilty Report I don’t think bike sharing is going to work until they get some decent (Dutch quality) bicycle infrastructure.

Some Infrastructure news from the UK. Police fail to fine a single illegal cyclist in Grimsby town centre pedestrian zone in a year And despite there being no tickets issued for a year, there were no reported deaths or even injuries, just a few near misses. Because bicycles are not as deadly or even injurious as cars.

Another link to that Volvo system to help prevent wrecks between Volvos and cyclists using the correct brand(s) of cell phone(s). Volvo promotes bicycle safety with vehicle-to-cyclist technology I wonder how many more links I’ll get to the same story?

And on a similar tack, a “smart” dash run by a smart phone. A new bicycle dashboard, inspired by Audi and COBI. World’s Smartest Connected Biking System. I wonder if a smart phone is smart enough to run the Volvo and COBI apps at the same time, or do you need to have two phones?

And someone wrote a book about the Wounded Warrior Ride. New Commemorative Book Celebrates CanAm Veterans’ Challenge Bike Ride

And now I’m fresh outta links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

It’s another Bean Day, and the Feed

Casa de El Poeta smells wonderful today as I cook up another batch of beans and rice. If the nutritional information on the packages is accurate this single dish is capable of supporting human life indefinitely, until the person dies from boredom which can be staved off with different applications of the 4 flavor enhancers in the recipe: salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Mrs. the poet can’t stand spicy foods so the amount of cayenne I normally put in is very small until she goes away, then I dump a truckload in the pot. The recipe makes 10 one-cup servings, which means we have leftovers for a while after I make a batch. I tried making smaller batches but they don’t work in this slow cooker. I have to use at least 8 cups of liquid to get the level over the heating elements on the sides of the cooker.

A man commits assault with a deadly weapon against a PA cyclist over some kind of dispute. Police: Man drove vehicle over boy’s bicycle after argument in Carlisle But in spite of the use of a deadly weapon (the motor vehicle) the driver was only charged with simple assault. Given the date of the offense and location I’m going to assume this was shopping-related, so there’s nothing I can help you with on how to avoid this one. And since it was in a parking lot that had to be passed through in order to get to the store infrastructure won’t help matters any, either.

An AZ cyclist was running the red when he was killed. Phoenix police: Bicyclist killed by truck was crossing against light From the narrative the cyclist was riding against the flow of traffic for the side of the street he was riding on while using the sidewalk and may not have been able to see the traffic light. Wrecks like this are why leading experts and I advise against riding on sidewalks, especially when you are riding against the normal flow of traffic. Besides the fact that drivers are not looking for traffic coming from the right at intersections, you can’t easily see the traffic light in most cases when you’re almost in the intersection.

A CO cyclist is injured when a SUV pulled across his path. Bicyclist injured in east Fort Collins crash From the narrative the driver must have just not even stopped at the stop sign and just pulled right to the edge of the intersection leaving the cyclist with no time to avoid the wreck. That makes intersection protocols moot as there would have been no time to employ them. As (nearly) always, get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Another victim of the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Bicyclist struck by van in Hollywood remains hospitalized SWCC wreck and if the location is accurate terrible sight lines at the stop sign until you’re about halfway into the lane. Intersection protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A serious wreck with political repercussions in Oz. South Aust judge Anne Bampton crashes into cyclist driving while drunk Fortunately this appears to have been a fairly low-speed wreck with minimal injury to the cyclist, but since there was no information provided about the mode or location of the wreck I can’t tell you what to do to avoid a similar wreck.

Infrastructure! news from the UK. Government ‘will not legislate’ for Mayor of London’s cyclist headphone ban Unless they also institute a ban on car stereos at the same time…

I’m a straight white male, but on my bike I still get harassed about being gay, Mexican, etc… How should bicyclists handle harassment? D.C. area groups teach empowerment tactics.

And I don’t know what to think of this story that actually quotes a driver as assaulting cyclists. Shifting Gears: Commuting Aboard The L.A. Bike Trains and this article that calls the driver out on her bad behavior. NPR covers L.A. Bike Trains, gives voice to sociopath

And those were all the links about bicycles that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Bean day so I get to cook, and the Feed

One of the joys in my life is when I get to cook I get to pick the menu. I like beans and rice cooked together, so that’s what I fix. I make 2 cups of beans mixed with a cup of brown rice (uncooked measures) with a mix of 3 different kinds of beans, For nutrition I use lentils and black beans, then add small red beans for more flavor, 2/3 of a cup of each. I put them in the slow cooker with 10 cups of hot water for about 4 hours, then add cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder and salt and allow to work for about another half hour then remove a portion for the person that doesn’t like rice in her beans and add the cup of brown rice to cook for 2 hours (sometimes a little longer so we don’t get crunchy rice).

Another cyclist is shot in what is developing into a national trend. New information released on 13-year-old shot while riding bike I have no idea how a person is supposed to avoid getting shot whir riding around the neighborhood. The good thing is that bullets are much less fatal than cars. This was in FL but that really doesn’t make any difference in what happened as FL does not appear to have any more cyclist shootings than any other state with lots of cyclists.

The most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike bolsters that reputation. Motorcyclist and Bicyclist Killed In Melbourne Crash and Owner of Suspected Melbourne Hit & Run Vehicle Contacts FHP I’m wondering about how they decided the cyclist was “crossing” the street instead of riding on it with one witness dead from a secondary hit-and-run and the cyclist unconscious…

Just one state up from the previous link. Griffin bicyclist on fundraising ride struck by van, killed in Glynn County Another blind driver hits a cyclist that was plainly visible from behind. The cyclist’s escape route was blocked by other cyclists in this case rendering the hit-from-behind protocols pretty much useless. Infrastructure to prevent, including making drivers at fault and criminally liable in hit-from-behind wrecks during good visibility conditions like in this wreck.

Another cyclist is killed in NYC. Cyclist Killed By Hit & Run Driver In Williamsburg There were pictures of the wreck scene and victim posted in the comments section, click that link advisedly. From the crime scene pictures it looks like a buzz job, so hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Among other things requiring LEO to search for all related video (see this link) and prosecuting all hit-and-run as homicides if the victim dies.

A MO cyclist is hit-and-run. Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run crash and Springfield cyclist killed in hit-and-run Intersection wreck so protocols might have helped depending on the speed of the weapon vehicle> Get the infrastructure right to prevent. Looking at the crime scene the infrastructure changes would be primarily a lower speed limit and legal changes to make drivers more leery of hitting a cyclist.

A PA cyclist is hit in a very similar wreck to the MO cyclist. Bicyclist injured in crash in State College In this intersection wreck the driver was running a red light in the initial narrative, so intersection protocols would be moot to avoid damages. Getting the infrastructure right might help prevent the wreck.

More on the driver arrested for a CO hit-and-run. Police arrest woman suspected in hit-run crash that seriously injured cyclist in Fort Collins and Woman arrested in Nov. 6 hit-and-run bike crash near CSU The callousness of this woman getting out of the car and talking to the bleeding victim unable to move from where he lay in the street is mind-boggling. And the fact that had she stayed at the scene there was no fault on her, and until she left the wreck was the cyclist’s fault…

A kid is hit in Las Vegas at an intersection. Police: Vegas boy, 12, hurt in car-bicycle crash Looking at the Street View of the intersection reveals that in order to be able to see oncoming traffic from the direction of the weapon vehicle the cyclist would have had the be almost in the lane of traffic where he was hit. Intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A hit-and-run in CA. Police: Bicyclist dies after hit and run in Ontario Hit-from-behind wreck, so protocols might have been helpful, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Ghost bike for a CO cyclist. Fort Collins cyclist, killed in October accident, remembered with ghost bike The cyclist was killed by a blind driver in a left cross wreck, why are they asking cyclists to be more careful? The deceased cyclist was one of the most careful cyclists there was and he still got killed because a driver went into an area he couldn’t see…

A VA town places more bike cops on the street and sees a drastic reduction in street crime. Police officers on bicycles can provide more aid Also the bike cops have a greatly reduced response time to traffic wrecks.

Lifestyle in CA. Memorial Bike Race Held for North County Cycling Victim

Infrastructure! news from the UK. Let’s make our cities a haven for cyclists I got some sad news for them if they think NYC is any paragon of cycling infrastructure…

Infrastructure in Oz. Uneasy riders as cyclists rattled by steep rise in deaths and Cyclist deaths hit nine-year high on Australian roads

Infrastructure in Enn Zed. Spotlight on cyclists’ deaths

Last links. This Photo Of A Cop Ticketing A Brooklyn Cyclist Has It All The picture says volumes, but this link screams. NYPD Ticketing People for Riding Bikes on the Willis Avenue Bridge Bike Path No that’s not a typo nor a mistake, NYPD was giving cyclists tickets for riding a bicycle on the bike path. The plainly marked bike path at that.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Another Bean Day, and the Feed

Yes, I have gotten the crock pot out and warmed it up and done all the prep and started the 3 different kinds of beans cooking at a slow simmer in preparation for serving Spicy Beans and Rice tonight. This recipe is Vegan, not because I’m adverse to eating the tasty animals, but because it doesn’t need animal protein to have complete protein. And it’s high in fiber, very low in fat, and a good source of complex carbs (the good kind of carbohydrate). It would be even better if we hadn’t run out of brown rice at the same time as the local grocery store we shop at. Brown rice is so much better as a source of vitamins than white rice, not to mention that I prefer the taste of brown rice. I used to call this Cajun-style beans and rice, but the seasoning has evolved and simplified so much that now I just call it “Spicy” and leave it at that.

In spite of having 2 full days of Feed to draw from I don’t actually have a lot of links to actual bicycle stories. I have lots of links to motorcycle stories because I also search for the word “bike” because many do not differentiate between bikes with or without motors. I used to get lots of stories about people falling off of bulls because they were paid to ride them for 8 seconds, but they fixed that so I don’t get those links any more. Unfortunately they didn’t fix people getting paid to ride bulls for 8 seconds, that still happens.

Up first a cyclist in NYC is hit by a second car after being cut off by an illegal move from another car. Cyclist Critically Injured After Being Struck By Car On 2nd Ave. This is another link to the wreck I mentioned on Saturday, where the driver at fault did not even get a scratch on their car, but 1 bike was totalled (there might be a few parts that can be recovered and re-used), a car was damaged enough to require a trip to the shop before driving it again, and a cyclist is in critical condition.

A cyclist gets a small amount of justice in the UK. £11k Compensation for Cyclist after Hit and Run Accident and Cyclist gets compensation over hit and run Notice that the driver did not get anything against him in a criminal court, not even an arrest recorded against him, because assault with a deadly weapon is just not that high a priority there…

A story that has me more than a little upset, the family of a man who was injured when a car costing more than $1m crashed into his bike at about 130MPH in an urban bike lane separated by a guard rail from the road (IOW the driver was so totally responsible for this wreck there is no question about it) are having troubles paying for the upfront costs of the surgeries he needs to recover/survive after the wreck. Kin of injured cyclist in Lamborghini crash finding it difficult to raise money for surgeries The driver died in the wreck, which I guess under Indian laws prevents the victims from recovering damages? I’m not sure how this works in India. I know in Texas the driver’s insurance would still be on the hook for paying damages, and that doctors would have to do any medical care required to save the victim’s life (not sure about restoring his ability to live as he did before the wreck) and then sue the driver that caused it for compensation. Even in the US it’s convoluted, but I have no clues about what it’s like in India.

A mystery wreck in Oz, where at least they can recognize that you can cause serious or even life-threatening injuries with a car without doing anything else to the rider or the bicycle. Cyclist injured in mystery Frankston South incident

A cyclist is killed in Enn Zed. Cyclist killed in Dunedin crash named They didn’t say anything about the mode of wreck in the article, but the picture showed what looked like a touring bike that was hit-from-behind at the base of a slight hill before an intersection, with HiViz covers on the panniers.

Something of an Infrastructure! story from the UK. Trauma study is first to show how cyclists are injured and killed on city streets Surprise surprise, helmets would not prevent the most common mode of death, uncontrolled bleeding. The severity of the injuries is no surprise to me, having survived a fatal wreck.(Yes, I died. Yes I came back. Read my About Opus page.) More Cycling injuries ‘treble in six years’ Roughly 20% of bike/motor vehicle wrecks were with HGV, but HGV are only 5% of the motor vehicles on the road, making HGV 4.75 times more likely to be in a wreck with a bicycle than a car. And per wreck you are 3 times as likely to get killed in the wreck with an HGV. I think I got the math right on that one.

In Oz cyclists are calling for their version of a 3-foot passing law after a rash of cyclists are hit-from-behind. More than 8000 Perth cyclists call for buffer zone I read about roads that are too narrow for a bike to ride a safe distance from the curb and get passed at 1m clearance, but really the roads are more than wide enough for bicycles. It’s the cars that are too big to use them safely.

LifeStyle in TX. Memorial ride planned for cyclist struck, killed by truck

LifeStyle in CA. Going on tour: More than 300 people ride in Tour de Ed, a fundraiser for injured cyclists and A Day on the Bike Beat

And if you think right-of-way issues are a (derogatory term for a female dog) now, just wait until driverless cars become common. Our car/bike/ped fights will get fiercer with driverless cars

More Infrastructure from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Can bike-car wrecks be eliminated? From what I have read about FL this would take a major reconstruction of just about everything in their transportation infrastructure from attitudes on up. The first place to have to change would be the attitudes that moving cars is the highest priority for streets, that streets are made for cars and not people, that the person riding the bicycle is always at fault in a wreck…

A pretty picture with bikes in it. Twin Cities Bike Picture of the Day: 3.5.12

And that’s all the links that give me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus