Strange news from the hormone fronts, and the Feed

I got some good news from the LRK about my testosterone levels. Since they had to adjust my BP meds as the result of one of the previous suppliers dropping out my testosterone levels had to be tested before my prescription for HRT could be renewed after the last time it ran out. I ran out about 3 weeks prior to my visit, so supposedly whatever my levels were would be reasonably similar to what they would be completely without HRT, and the test results were, incredibly, slightly lower than normal. That is much higher than expected after being on HRT for close to two years, which should have resulted in zero testosterone. But my healing ability seems to have kicked in and caused my hormone levels to be in the normal range for a man of my age not taking testosterone antagonists. The doctor is at a loss to explain this beyond my previously demonstrated ability to heal from injury and illness… Now all I need to do is wait on the PCP assigned by my Obamacare provider to give me a referral to a surgeon to take this lump off the back of my neck so I can get back on a bike and be able to see where I’m going. The word from the PCP is he will be taking more new patients after January 1. I have put in a request for an appointment ASAP.

Up first is a legal infrastructure report from Houston. Trial begins in cyclist’s hit-and-run death Notice the “rapist’s defence” blaming the victim for the clothing she was wearing. This has got to stop, the driver did not hit-and-run because the cyclist was wearing dark clothing, the driver hit-and-ran because the driver had no morals and left the victim to die in the street. The clothing the victim was wearing should have no more to do with that than the clothing of a rape victim.

And if it hadn’t been for the TX trial this would have been my leadoff link. Cy Vance Files Homicide Charge in Lower East Side Pedestrian Death This is noteworthy for two reasons, the first being that filing criminal charges in motor vehicle deaths is rare to the point of being mythical in NYS, there being only 2 such charges in more than 150 pedestrian deaths in 2013. The second reason is charges were filed so quickly in the process and there were no aggravating circumstance like DUI, while the victim was a homeless man staying in a shelter nearby.

Another jurisdiction lowers the speed limit on bicycles on an MUP lower than the speed limit for motor vehicles in a school zone. 83-year-old killed by cyclist prompted speed limit drop on Washington trail, website reported Still trying to find out if the speed in school zones is higher than the 15 MPH speed limit for bicycles on the MUP. I’m betting it is 5 MPH faster.

Moving to CA LEO are using some sense in handing out tickets for bicycle safety. Santa Monica Police Take Steps to Curb Bicycle Accidents “Special attention will be directed toward drivers speeding, making illegal turns, failing to stop for signs and signals, failing to yield to pedestrians in cross walks and similar dangerous violations.” IOW all the things that get people on foot or riding bicycles killed or injured.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: More on Sunday’s CicLAvia, Santa Fe Springs bike rider shot, Dubai site doesn’t get Bono joke

Bonus Infrastructure! article from Ted. Guest Post: Deep data analysis reveals the real causes of LA bike collisions I’ll take cars for a thousand, Alex…

A similar campaign to the CA ticket blitz in Oz. Police blitz Sydney Rd cyclists in Brunswick And predictably, they are targeting the victims instead of the people doing the killing, like the woman wearing the helmet improperly. Wearing a helmet has never caused nor prevented a wreck, helmets are post-wreck injury factors.

Still in Oz, a serious fine for a serious offense. Motorist Paul Faulkner convicted and fined $1200 over cyclist who hit car door and later died

If there is any doubt that people’s lives are secondary to corporate profits… Lorry safety change faces 10-year delay I have a compromise: Let the manufacturers have their delay of safety regulations, on the provision that any cyclists killed or injured by trucks made during the delay are compensated 100% for medical bills, lifetime lost income, and pain and suffering, or their heirs. Sure you can delay meeting safety regulations, so long as they pay for the damages caused by not meeting those regulations.

And those were all the links I could scrape up today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

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Good news and bad news after visiting the Lab Rat Keeper, and the Feed

I got dropped ot the Ride of Silence, and no Feed

I have been all over the eastern end of the Metromess today, with multiple trips to court and a trip to the northern parts of Richardson so Mrs. the Poet and I could attend her 25 work anniversary award dinner. The dinner was lovely with a hearty salad and rolls to start out, and some kind of chicken in a cream sauce and capers over linguine with yellow squash and zucchini on the side, with a choice of chocolate cake or raspberry cheesecake for dessert with water and unsweetened ice tea as beverages. As a person that experiments with breads from time to time I strongly approve of the rolls, they were superb. The squashes were a little bland, I think because they were pan-fried without breading, or quite enough salt. It’s possible that I needed more salt because of all the walking I did in the heat of the day.

Getting to the walking in the heat of the day I had to go to court this morning, then back to court this afternoon. I went to court this morning because the codes guy never actually told us what was the problem with the “fix-it” warnings for branches, landscaping, and trash until he wrote the ticket for the broken branch and sent a picture of the branch that we could not see from inside the property. There was a broken branch in the ash tree that could only be seen if you stood on the sidewalk across the street (or in the street close to the curb). Even the prosecutor thought we had trash in the yard from looking at the ticket until I showed the pictures that were sent to the house with the ticket. We spent months chasing trash off the fence line only to get a ticket for a broken branch we could not see from the property. Getting that taken care of was why I went to court in the morning. The reason I went again in the afternoon was Mrs. the Poet signed a check for me to fill out for whatever fines or costs we had to pay, and the clerk would not take the check because I was not the person that signed it, because even though the ticket was dismissed we still had to pay court costs (even if you win you lose). So I had to go back with Mrs. the Poet to show her ID and get everything paid for.

Now we get back to the headline of the day, I got dropped from the Mother Ride of the Ride of Silence. Francis/es it has already been established is somewhat less aerodynamic than a brick with its largest side facing the wind. I mean seriously it’s a truck, it’s not a racer. Combine that with strong headwinds for the backside of the loop around White Rock Lake and a balky IGH that did not want to stay in gear and not hydrating before the ride and having to wear a helmet I could not raise my head enough to see around and I was cosplaying Powdered Toast Man by the time we went past the Stone Tables area. Shortly before I got to the bridge before Garland Road the cramps set in but by that time even the cops doing sweep had dropped me. I walked a bit and rode a bit and walked a bit more then finally rode into the finish at least 15 minutes after the ride was over and everybody was socializing. I managed to get some water and started to feel more like a higher life form, but not quite human yet. I managed to get home about 2230 after leaving before 1800, and grabbed my dinner from the microwave, then checked to see what the 2000th post had done for clicks, and fell into bed exhausted with a throbbing neck. Now it’s over 24 hours later and my neck is still going between throbbing and twingeing a bit, so I think this is a good time to call it quits and end this post.

PSA, Opus