Sliding up on 4000 posts

I checked my WP dashboard and I have 3820 posts not counting this one. Dang that’s a lot of work. But it has also been a long time, since 2008-11-23 to be precise, back when this blog was a mirror to my blog on MySpace because MySpace was censoring the blog for excessive links. That’s dangerously close to 15 years of putting stuff to bits and bytes. That makes this the longest “job” I’ve ever had. My previous record was ~10 years for Texas Instruments, with nothing over 2 years before that.

I’m still minor league obsessing over 3D printing, watching tutorials on YouTube, reading online articles, and generally absorbing everything I can about the subject. And going off on a completely different tangent I was trying to see if “World Domination for Dummies” was an actual title because I saw one in a webcomic and stumbled across this! which would also make an excellent gift for mad scientists.

So, anywho 3D printing. Since the only things I absolutely know the dimensions and contours of are the things in my head that haven’t been built yet, I guess that means I have to figure out how to get OnShape to work for me to create the .stl files I need to run the printer. The problem I’m having is getting the things out of my head and describe them in such a way as to get the CAD software to put the objects where I want them to go. I want to tell the program that this part is made from that stock, and gets bent here, here, and here to this radius, and gets this, this, and this part welded to it (or bonded if it’s a composite material). My problem is I still haven’t mastered the translation protocol. And it’s not like I’m stupid, it’s more that I’m not getting the syntax right. That’s right, I’m treating this like another language I need to learn to pidgin… Given my TBI I’m not sure if this is the best tactic or not, but it’s how I’ve always done it before…

When saving $30 on a Lyft means 3 hours longer transit time

The shortcomings of Dallas Area Rapid Transit were displayed again today after I finished jumping through the hoops to get the exact same medication I tried to get my regular doctor to prescribe 3 weeks ago. That would be Gabapentin 300 mg, take one before going to bed. It took less than a half-hour to get that done because that’s literally the first thing doctors go to when dealing with pain from neuropathy…

But that was just the beginning of the fun. I decided to spend $3 on a day pass and walk to the closest bus stop. Google Maps claimed it was just over a mile away. They lied. After hobbling around for almost a mile and a quarter because of having to detour around missing sidewalks and cross a major stroad 3 times (yes that’s a real word, look it up) that had 3 lanes of travel in both directions and multiple turn lanes (seriously, one intersection had 2 left turn lanes and a right turn lane, another had the same number but swap left and right), plus deal with one intersection that did not have crosswalks between any of the corners I would have taken (seriously, no crosswalk of any kind between corners located in different towns so nobody is responsible for one).

Then after finally staggering to the bus stop it was a 25 minute wait for the bus that was actually on time (I was shocked, too) and 3 buses and 3 hours later I staggered to Casa de El Poeta just shy of 4 hours after I left the doctor’s office. I pondered stopping at Harbor Freight and getting a box of nitrile gloves for working with the epoxy to repair the broken mug I showed earlier, but by that time I was on the road for over 2 hours and would have had to tack on another hour of travel time to catch the next bus to make it 5 hours from the doc’s office. I was tired, and more than a little hungry by this time.

When I got home I was dealing with swollen feet and left leg plus the balance issues I get when my legs get tired, but I managed to not fall down this time until I got to the couch, so it didn’t count. If I don’t hit the ground or the floor, it doesn’t count as an actual fall.🙃🤕

Addendum: I heard there is some research on gabapentin for relief of tinnitus that might explain why I didn’t have the tinitus until about a year after the wreck which was a few months after they stopped using Neurontin because I had seizures right after the wreck (in the ambulance and in the ER).

My sleep got messed up and I faceplanted into the keyboard 3 times trying to write this headline

Usually I sleep pretty soundly, but something was making noises like someone trying to break into the house shortly after sunrise this morning and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I spent most of the day running around taking care of banking, buying cat food, and paying the phone bill. With temperatures in the mid-90s and “feels like” temps in the low 100s I was dehydrated again, and between dehydration and exhaustion I have been bouncing my face off the keyboard. I’m going to take a nap and come back to finish the post.

OK it’s 4 hours later and I’m feeling better, not great but better.

As you might imagine I got no work done on any projects what with all the time spent running around. That’s OK I can’t do everything. I did find some information about lightweight OE replacement spindles that I could use for an IFS. There’s the MII/Pinto spindle that comes in at 17.8 pounds per pair or 8.9 each, and there is a forged aluminum ’60s GM F-body spindle that weighs “half of stock”. And there is also the late ’60s VW balljoint spindle that is also slightly lighter than the MII/Pinto spindle, but is tricky to find outside of eBay and even trickier to find big brake kits for. The biggest brakes I have found for this spindle top out at 11″ diameter. Another lightweight candidate is the Wilwood MII modular replacement spindle at 9 pounds each but massively strong and the steering arms can be replaced for more lock/quicker steering/bump steer correction.

And now I’m hot and sleepy again, so let’s end this and park my butt in front of some AC and get more sleep.

The hone is here, and I’m exhausted

I’m watching the 24 Hours of Le Mans since shortly after the start at 0700, when I couldn’t get to sleep until after 0530. I keep falling asleep and faceplanting in the keyboard. And I just got back from my Father’s Day dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, where I had a Bacon Cheeseburger that must have weighed at least a pound total, 1020 Calories plus 400 Calories of steak fries. So besides being tired I’m dealing with a Food Coma.

So now Imma go have another lie-down. I get my present tomorrow.

The meds are working

My antidepressant in particular. My body is starting to get acclimated to not being depressed which is reinforcing. As I get used to not being depressed I feel less depressed, which makes me feel better so I feel less depressed… A virtuous circle rather than the vicious circle. And I’m actually getting other emotions that aren’t depression or anger. Some of them seem unusual to me, like fear, real compassion instead of the intellectual compassion I felt in the past.

Speaking of my body becoming used to not being depressed, my BP has changed. The systolic is still up there, but the diastolic, the measurement of how much my heart relaxes between beats, is the lowest it has been in over a decade. My body is remembering how to relax again. Even when I’m upset and there has been a litany of things to be upset about the last two weeks at Casa de El Poeta, I’m still mostly relaxed now. My heart is working more efficiently, it is having to beat less because every beat moves more blood with a more complete relaxation phase between beats. That is one of the big things happening as my body adapts to not being run by a depressed brain.

On the bike pump front I have been approved for a refund, contingent on my returning the broken pump by 3/31/17. Here’s where the problem is on that: I have to print a return label for the box they shipped it to me, and I don’t have access to a working printer. I have a printer but it doesn’t have any cables to connect it to my laptop. Some time between my youngest getting the printer for herself and putting it in her garage because she never had to print anything with it and giving the printer and a bag full of printer cables to me for my birthday the cables for that printer went bye-bye. So I’ll take any assistance I can get on that one.

On the hot rod front I found the actual weight of the Mopar 3.8L pushrod V6 – 413 pounds compared to the 545 pounds for an iron head SBC or 458 for the LS. The 41TE transaxle splits the difference between the TH350 and the 4T65E at just under 200 pounds by one source or between 150 and 200 from several sources. So for weight comparisons 3.8L/41te Mopar just over 600, 350/350 Chevy 675 plus 120 pounds of rear axle or just shy of 800 total, and the LS3/4L70E combo come to 625 plus that 120 pounds of rear axle for about 750 total. So assuming the 1700 pound dry weight for the Speedway kit is accurate my mid-Bucket will hit the scales right at 1500 dry.

And I’m running on 3.5 hours sleep because someone (coughmrsthepoetcough left the bedroom door open and Clint came in to snuggle about 90 minutes before I had my alarm set. I have been falling asleep all afternoon/evening even while I was trying to write this, which might explain the disjointedness of the composition as I was in a different frame of mind every time I woke up. I fell asleep 3 times typing the paragraph prior to this one.

Night-night, Opus the Unkillable

Another late night coming, and the Feed

Yep, I know this one won’t get out until after Gigi loses her Internet access (sorry Gigi) at 0300 CDT. I don’t know what time of day that is for her, but that is a strange time of day to lose Internet access, you know what I mean? And I’m still puzzled over how she’s getting on the Information Superhighway, seeing as how she lacks fingers and thumbs to use a standard device, and had serious difficulty expressing herself verbally without resorting to certain 4,7, and 13 letter words that are generally not used in polite company (some that I didn’t use around her, I don’t swear in Yiddish). So how she gets online is a question that may never get answered.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bike collisions down across LA, hit-and-runs up in IE, and special offer on a new lighted backpack That’s a nice backpack, shame I hove zero chance at it.

Still in CA. PUBLIC SAFETY: Number of Inland area hit-and-run accidents soaring Make hit-and-run fatalities equivalent in punishment to murder and raise the budget to investigate the deaths so that it would be highly unlikely that you would not get arrested, and require that all vehicles used to commit hit-and-run be destroyed in the most public way possible, and in short order you would get people deciding that staying and taking the lower punishment and keeping your car would be the wisest course of action.

I still say this person was riding in the inside lane in preparation to make a left turn when she was hit from behind. Cyclist killed by car was loved by many

Also still in CA. Two die in separate gang-related shootings in Santa Ana Avoiding this is about as easy as avoiding a flat-black car running without headlights at night and at high speed from behind you. You literally can’t see this coming.

A little closer to home, they found the lowlife who killed a cyclist and ran away in NOLA. Driver arrested in fatal hit-and-run that killed Monique Massey, NOPD says and Police make arrest in crash that killed bicyclist There is some dispute about the color of the weapon vehicle, but that is just an example of why eye-witness testimony is so unreliable, /especially when one of the witnesses was close to being another victim.

Just two days ride south of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Cyclist injured in hit-and-run; police seek driver Left cross, minor traffic ticket. Leaving the scene of an injury wreck, felony with mandatory prison. Watching an idiot get abused by cops for being an idiot, priceless.

Another link to that story of the cyclist hit in WA that used an internet comment section to identify the weapon vehicle. Cyclist has life-threatening in hit-and-run crash Again, a hearty “Thanks” to the readers of Jalopnik for their outstanding contribution to solving this crime.

Down the coast a bit from that wreck, infrastructure news from America’s Copenhagen. Surprise! Gasoline sellers dominate funding of campaign to stop Portland gas tax

This is just soooo Portland. City preps for Bernie Sanders rally with extra bike parking Yep, Bernie’s coming, better get the bike valets ready… 😀

The DIY DoT in Portland calls itself the Portland “Transformation” Bureau, and they have been busy. Portland ‘Transformation’ bureau unveils a new trick: ’20 is Plenty’ signs

Somebody ran a stop sign in Casa Grande. Bicyclist struck by car in CG flown to hospital If I’m looking at the Street View of the wreck right. the cyclist was on the through street and the driver ran the stop sign.

On the other coast in CT. Cyclist clipped and injured on Route 107 The narrative suggests a buzz job or punishment pass, either way use the hit-from-behind protocols to prevent or reduce injury.

It isn’t even officially open yet, but it has been wrecked twice? Updated: Driver damage to bike lane barrier now at $15,000 You know bicycle infrastructure would be a lot cheaper if so much work wasn’t required to keep people from driving on it.

Flori-not-duh. Miami-Dade Merges Public Works, Transportation Into One Agency They both work basically the same place. I mean think of it, how many times have you seen street built and made perfectly smooth, and then 6 months to maybe 2 years later they tear it up to repair or replace the sewers or water mains or maybe the storm drains, when if they had done that while the streets were already torn up while they were replaced it would have cost less and when they got done the streets would stay smooth an in great shape for many years to come. When they patch the street after doing work months or years after the street was rebuilt the street is never as smooth and it jut keeps getting worse and worse at the edges of those patches until they have to get repatched and then potholes start forming and long before it should be the street needs to be rebuilt again.

Another LEO acts like bike helmets protect children from getting hit by cars. Trooper donates helmets after student’s bike accident Kids being kids there will probably be a few wrecks, and maybe one or two kids will not get hurt as bad because they had a helmet on. Also kids being kids a large number will get disgusted at wearing the helmets and stop riding bikes and develop some kind of disease caused by inactivity. And the number of kids who quit will greatly outnumber the kids who didn’t get hurt because they had a helmet on.

I had to look up where this was to figure out why a large group of Americans would be riding bikes there “Belize is a country on the eastern coast of Central America. It is the only country in Central America whose official language is English.” Wikipedia. Five Cyclist Injured on Highway in Western Belize

Humorous infrastructure from Jolly Olde. ‘This cyclist is mortal’: acerbic T-shirts warn drivers of their behaviour Dying is not so bad, it’s that bit between the injury that kills you and actually being dead that is a B*tch. And then the part where you come back alive after being dead? Mother %*$(#$ that hurts!

Oh come on! Hunt for Vic hit-run motorist and Do you know this car? Police release image of car wanted over Ballarat hit-run This was no “accident”, this was attempted murder. No way for a human cyclist to avoid a wreck like this.

Still in Oz. Two cyclist hurt in Vic hit-and-run crash This is another link to that 2 out of 3 wreck I posted on yesterday.

And I’m finally out of links. See you Sunday.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

More stuff about making model cars, and the Feed

OK I don’t know how much you have been paying attention to the Mini Sprint-T build, but the exhaust that came with the engine kit is going away for something more like what the real thing will have. What the 1:1 Sprint-T will have is what used to be known as a Tri-Y header or now as the 4-2-1. The main reason for that is what I’m going to be using the car for and how. The car will be used for SCCA Solo and Goodguys Autocross racing, plus transit between races and general around town grocery-getting (that’s why I’m including a trunk with a locking lid). The “how” is the car will be geared to hit 60 MPH in 1st gear so no shifting during a run in Goodguys and very little in SCCA Solo, just gas, brake, steer (or gasbrakesteergassteergasbrakesteer…). The reason for the Tri-Y over the cheaper and easier to find 4-into-1 is torque curve, specifically the curve below the peak torque. Tri-Y headers use an effect of resonance to get more torque below the peak without hurting power above peak torque. They are also not the best-looking thing to have on an exposed engine, but I can fix that during fabrication.

But to do that I have to make a set of scale headers to fit the car, and to do that I have to decide which cylinders to pair up for most equal flow. On the SBC there are 2 cylinders on each bank that are right after each other in the firing order and would interfere with each other if they were on the same branch of the second Y of the header. So the trick is to set them up with a second cylinder that is as far apart as possible in the firing order so there is no interference (actually there still is unless you have a flat crank or a straight 4 engine). That is easy to determine, just write the firing order vertically twice in a row so that you have a column of 16 numbers. Even numbers are right bank, so you put a tick mark on the right side of the column next to all the even numbers, ditto the left side on the odd numbers. You will easily see the adjacent cylinders because there will be two tick marks in a row on the same side of the column.

Now the almost-tricky part. Since there are 4 cylinders per bank you have to start with one of the adjacent cylinders, and pair it with the non-adjacent cylinders and count how far apart they are in the firing order, then do it again for the other cylinder, then do it again twice more for the other adjacent cylinder. You will find there are two pairs that are 5-3 or 3-5 and two other pairs that are 2-6 or 6-2 and that if you pick the 5-3 pair for one adjacent cylinder then the other adjacent cylinder is 3-5 with the remaining non-adjacent cylinder. You now have which cylinders to pair up when you build the headers.

The tricky part after that is making it look good where the primary tubes join the secondary tubes, and not like a bundle of unhappy snakes. What I’m going to do is put the secondaries side-by-side so that from the side it looks like a short-tube 4-into-1 header.

Now if I had a big budget I would build 3 sets of headers, one using 3-5 5-3 pairs, one using the 2-6 6-2 pairs to see if there is any difference, and a third 4-into-1 with super long primary tubes to see what running the longest primary tubes I have room for will do in comparison. And maybe I would also build a pair that had the adjacent cylinders on the same branch just to see if what everyone says is true about the adjacent cylinders interfering with each other and killing torque. Because if it didn’t make any difference I would run the tubes the way it packaged easiest. Or I could do the same thing with different slip-on collectors for the 3-5 and 6-2 headers and the 4-into-1 and build a separate set for putting the adjacent pairs on the same branch. That would be a lot of header swapping at the dyno, but it would be an interesting experiment.

Up first is a wreck in TX. Bicyclist killed in Crosby, family seeks assistance Nothing about the mode, but with no intersection mentioned nor salmon cycling it seems like hit-from-behind is a good candidate for the wreck. If you have the inclination I suggest going ahead with the goFundMe donation.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: LA River bike path closed through Memorial Day, and biking & walking are booming in the US

Still in CA. Operation Firefly shines a light on night-time bicycle safety I am a big fan of lights for riding at night so you can see wheere you’re riding. Also because drivers are generally blind as bats and will run over anything not lit up like Times Square on NYE. And sometimes even if it’s lit like Times Square on NYE.

How in Hades’ name do you run into 4 cyclists waiting at a red light unless you aren’t watching the road in front of you? Two dead, two injured in Northwest cyclist involved collision Oh, he was chemically impaired, that’s how.

So the kid got hit because he wasn’t wearing a helmet, or because the driver was going too fast to stop in a residential area or? 8-year-old boy killed while riding bike in Indian Land The wreck scene was two turns inside the residential area and should have been traffic-calmed with a low speed limit since there were childrren playing in and near the street.

Not that the vote would change things as the petition was disallowed for lacking valid signatures, but the outcome was unexpected. BURLINGTON VOTERS SAY ‘NO’ TO KEEPING FOUR LANES ON NORTH AVENUE, SCHOOL BUDGET PASSES Really, who in their right minds puts a technical infrastructure upgrade to a popular vote?

CT wreck LEO are blaming on a salmon cyclist. Police: Wrong-way cyclist seriously injured in crash OK the narrative sounds really dodgy on this one, he was riding against traffic and then crossed to the opposite side of the road to get hit from behind? Does this sound like the wildest SWSS report since the cyclist hit on the right with the left side of the car after “swerving” from the right shoulder in Texarkana?

Hit-and-run in NYC. Hit-And-Run Driver Knocks Elderly Man Off His Scooter In Brooklyn Not a bike, but there was a bike nearly hit by the driver during his escape. You can see it in the video. Also sending healing to the victim on the mobility scooter.

Some parts of NYC are being dragged into the 21st Century kicking and screaming. The Boulevard of Life, Phase 2: DOT’s Plan for Queens Blvd in Elmhurst And people are fighting this because parking will be lost?!? How many lives is a parking spot worth? How many broken bodies?

Hard to make change in car culture when you still devote massive amounts of space to storing cars. Guest opinion: To make paradise, stop putting up parking lots

Another blow against automobile-centric hegemony by the DIY DOT. ‘Agents of transformation’ help spread traffic cone activism in Portland

They are trying to change things in FL. 3-Mile Bike Ride With Mayor Haynie Seriously, 2 years ago I would have dismissed a story like this as an opium dream, now it’s reality.

The country of Bermuda is too poor to stop killing people. Making roads safer ‘cost prohibitive’

Rider down in Jolly Olde. Father-of-three killed in cycling crash ‘after hitting pothole that had not been repaired despite repeated warnings’ The first report of this pothole was filed in 2009, seven freaking years ago. How many broken bodies can be attributed to this hole? And now a life has been lost.

How is killing someone while driving drunk “careless” and not “dangerous”?!? Van driver jailed for seven years after cyclist killed in multi-vehicle crash How many vehicles did this doufus hit and how many hit the cyclist?

This was a hard video to watch. Not because of the content, but because by the time I pulled this link up my laptop was stopping and eventually crashed while trying to load the video. I heard a lot of bleeping profanity, but the video wouldn’t show. Cyclist crashes avoiding pedestrians who were crossing when they shouldn’t have been

You’re riding your bike wrong, say scientists. How to ride a bike the right way, using science

And it’s almost 0400 and I’m feeling like I was run over. And believe me I know what that feels like, at least 3 times. Time for bed. If I hadn’t been tagging this as I composed it there wouldn’t be any tags.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Taking care of business before Mrs. the Poet leaves, and the Feed.

I was running all over town to take care of things like utility bills, phone bills, and paying for the storage unit, after I did my duty as a citizen and voted in the Super Tuesday primary. This was a great endeavor that took many hours to complete because of several missed connections with DART. This time the missed connections were not DART’s fault, unless you count a lack of headway as “their fault”. Seriously I finished each stop I would leave just in time to see the bus go by in the direction of my next stop and I would have to wait 45 minutes to an hour for the next bus. So I spent 2 hours actually doing the things, and 5 hours waiting on the bus to get there.

Up first is what should be Our Daily Ted. Today’s post called on account of pain Get well soon Ted.

FloriDUH! driver hits cycle from behind, blames cyclist for being in the middle of the lane. Man on motorized bicycle killed in crash And I do not see what the criminal record of the victim has to do with this wreck, again… Message to LEO, if the cyclist was hit from behind then speed DEFINITELY has something to do with the wreck.

New Portland bike infrastructure had been open less than 24 hours before someone in a motor vehicle screwed it up. New Sellwood Bridge opens with a “Dang!” I see a vehicle that needs to be recycled. Into bicycles.

Compare the above incident to what has been going on near a school and see if you can tell me what the difference is. Southeast Portland elementary warns parents about unsafe cycling near school Agghhh! those cyclists going almost 10 MPH through a stop sign are a menace to everyone! But the pickup truck driven by a drunk driver with suspected drugs in the cab on a MUP closed to motor vehicles, that’s just a chuckle. Except the “chuckle” closed the MUP for most of the day and the adjacent traffic lanes for more than 6 hours.

Some good infrastructure news from Portland. First Look At Nike’s New Path Through The Woods Pretty, so pretty I forgot to copy the headline before deleting the page and had to reconstruct it from memory.

More on the hit-and-run rampage in NYC over the weekend. Hit-And-Runs Kill 3 Within 4 Hours in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx Nothing new here.

More from CO on why the bike hate? Joe Clement: Why the aggression toward cyclists? Why? Simply put cyclists are Others and part of human nature is to Hate Others, not in your group.

Another cyclist hit up in West Canuckistan. Teen cyclist injured in Maple Ridge crash Drunk and almost killed a cyclist, and the driver is out of jail before the cyclist is out of ICU.

Here’s another feel-good story, this time from Jolly Olde. Paralympic gold medallist Dame Sarah Storey leads group of cyclists in Grimsby to highlight pedal power

A victim’s mother complains about crap infrastructure in the UK. Mum of tragic Bobby Colleran in new call for drivers to take more care

And the wars have started in Oz over the draconian new fines against cyclists. Bicycle commuters surveyed as new laws come into place in New South Wales and New cycling laws: One of the first bike riders hit with $319 fine for not wearing a helmet All I have to say is what is the fine for rivers not wearing a helmet? Buehler?… Buehler?…

And there will be a race from one of the two series the Sprint-T is designed to compete in this month over in Ft. Worth. Goodguys AutoCross This will be in 2 weeks at the Texas Motor Speedway north of Ft. Worth and literally just a hop, skip, and a jump away from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. The only problem would be I still haven’t picked a tire/wheel combination that fits the rules yet, the Hoosiers are not UTQG wear graded and are not really made for dry grip. I would have to go with a 17″ rim diameter or larger to get high performance tires in the required UTQG rating, because they just don’t make high performance summer tires to fit 15″ rims these days.

And It’s getting late and almost time for Mrs. the Poet to get up and get ready to go to NY for her sister’s memorial service(s).

Billed@€0.02, Opus

I finally made it to get my hair cut on Grocery Day, and the Feed

My wavy locks have once again been forced into behavior and disguising my spherical noggin as something a little more human-shaped and less like something that escaped from a billiard table. While my spherical skull and super-dense bones helped me survive getting hit @ 60 MPH, I really would like to look less spherical. I’m self-conscious about it, OK? And we just topped off the foodstuffs this week because that was all we needed. Yay! having enough food!

Up first is a story from AL about a 2 car 1 bicycle wreck. Robertsdale bicycle rider dies in Baldwin County 3-vehicle accident and Robertsdale man killed on a bicycle in Baldwin County traffic accident this, too Cyclist killed, 2 drivers injured in crash in Spanish Fort and also Cyclist killed in south Alabama crash One thing that leaps out at me about this story: The driver swerved after he hit the cyclist. That right there combined with the total lack of blaming the cyclist for not being “visible” tells me the driver of the weapon vehicle was not watching the road in front of him. Simply put, from the evidence we have now the cyclist was there to be seen (and avoided) by the Honda driver.

LEO have tracked down the weapon vehicle used in a attempted murder hit-and-run in WA. Car found in hit-and-run that seriously injured cyclist Unfortunately the vehicle was reported stolen days before the wreck, so unless they can get a positive DNA match from the steering wheel or find a good fingerprint the assailant will most likely get away with it. I do have some questions that should be answered: How far from the wreck scene was the car found? How far from both the wreck scene and where the car was found does the registered owner live? The reason I ask is I’m a little gimpy and I make regular walks to a grocery store a mile away (actually 1.01 miles) so it’s possible that the owner or a friend participated in this assault and then just walked away to another car.

Another cyclist hit in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Port St. Lucie police: Girl, 11, injured when bike, car crash They can’t even get which street the driver was on at the time of the wreck right, stating the cyclist was westbound on one street in an intersection and the driver was northbound on the same street, not the crossing one…

I think this one is from CO. SUIT ALLEGES WRONGFUL DEATH OF CYCLIST Most of the article is behind a paywall, but I think this was a cyclist who was right-hooked by the trailer pulled by the truck.

Scary wreck in S.F. CA, Apparent Road Rage Incident On Russian Hill Leaves Cyclist Injured I’m moderately pleased to report that the bicycle did significant damage to the weapon vehicle causing it to leave bits that can be linked to the weapon vehicle and identify the owner. I use that instead of “happy” because there is nothing “happy” about someone getting dragged underneath a car or truck.

A little legal infrastructure news from America’s Copenhagen. Police and transportation bureaus team up for enforcement on SE Clinton tomorrow (2/10) I wonder how many drivers trying to go around the diverter they arrested? I noticed from the comments there were two ninja cyclists cited on the PM shift.

Still in OR they are working on filling a major gap in the legal infrastructure. ‘Negligence gap’ bill passes committee 4-1, now heads for Senate vote “If you find yourself being angry about this possibly becoming law, worried about about how easily you could end up in jail for just a “tiny accident”….
YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.” q`Tzal February 11, 2016 Hear, hear!

Physical infrastructure changes proposed for America’s Copenhagen. Here are six locations where Portland could create protected intersections

And want to get some data for a protected bike lane? Make a temporary one. A closer look at the ‘Better Broadway’ pop-up protected bikeway Voila!

NYC shows why they are a hellhole, again. Truck Driver Fatally Runs Over Grandmother In Washington Heights Crosswalk

And still in NYC. Hit-And-Run Driver Kills 16-Year-Old Girl In Queens They seem to have it in for people crossing in the marked crosswalk.

Infrastructure in GA. Atlanta Envisions a More Pedestrian-Friendly Future Infrastructure that’s less deadly to pedestrians tends to be likewise for cyclists unless they do something stupid like exclude bicycles but not motor vehicles.

Another wounded veteran ride. Intense Cycling Adventure for a Group of Wounded Veterans

Cyclist down in Jamaica, mon. Two Killed In Separate Road Crashes I can’t say what happened from the narrative since there was so little information given.

I would say the author of this piece was not in a generally cheerful state of mind. Why do drivers get away with attempted murder? The incident pictured with the article was an apparent deliberate wreck from behind and then leaving the scene. Remember that one? They couldn’t determine who was driving since nobody showed up to testify which of the two was driving so they let them both off for the assault. TANJ! “In the meantime, the release of the Litvinenko Report reminds me of joke that did the rounds when Russian involvement was first suspected in the spy’s death. Why, people asked, did the FSB go to the trouble of poisoning Litvinenko with polonium? If they’d just run him over in an SUV, they’d have got a £100 quid fine and three points if they were unlucky”

UK infrastructure work. London Considers a More Bike-Friendly Truck Design Yep, a window in the bottom half of the door so the driver can see what’s next to him. Or her.

More on the legal action being taken in Jolly Olde over a crappy investigation. Family of killed cyclist demand driver blood test results Either they never did the test, or someone lost the results.

There is starting to be some pushback on who lives in cities and who can’t, with emphasis on what they use for mobility. Pissed-off anti-gentrification activists smash and burn rich people’s cars This was the incident reported originally as a “gang of masked cyclists” burning the cars by working in pairs, or larger teams with some smashing windows while others followed with incendiary devices to set the interiors ablaze so that an entire block of cars can be immolated in a few seconds.

They’re dropping like flies in Oz. Two cyclists injured in separate Brisbane crashes

Enn Zed is still talking. Christchurch cyclist killed after being struck by train was ‘a really good musician’ And interestingly enough, still not blaming the cyclist ofr getting hit by the train. Something is up here.

I don’t know why you would want to, but you can recharge your phone when you ride. Bicycle USB Output I guess if you are using your GPS and mapping programs to navigate unfamiliar territory you wouldn’t want to lose that unexpectedly, or even expected but at a bad time.

And last link is an e-assist bike show. WELCOME TO THE ELECTRIC BIKE EXPO!

And it’s 0417 and I’m having problems keeping my eyes pointed in the direction I want to look, so night-night.

Billed@€0.02, Opus

Long day protecting my stuff, and the Feed

Today was a bit of a bust as far as getting things done. I had to do a bank visit, then the post office, then a haircut, and winding up with a trip to the hardware to get black iron pipe for the other rail for the back steps at the church now that we know this works and doesn’t cost too much. The kicker was that Mrs. the Poet was clearing out my stuff from the bedroom to my office, but she has been saying that she was just going to throw everything out instead of moving it to my office. So to prevent that I had to stay and keep an eye on my stuff instead of going to the bank et al. When Mrs. the Poet and our friend decided to quit for lunch I could finally take my leave, about 1:45 later than planned. I managed to get the bank and post office trips taken care of, but the haircut and the trip to the hardware were both derailed because of being late and missing the lady who knows how to cut my hair the way I want it so that I don’t look like a psycho serial killer or a homeless person, which is what I look like when I cut my own hair, from the day of the cut until it’s time to do it again respectively. Somewhere in the middle I look like a decent human being for a couple of days. The trip to the hardware for the pipe was derailed because by this time I had been on my feet for a couple of hours almost straight with a few minutes of sitting on the bus, and my feet were feeling like overcooked bangers (as in “about to explode”) so dragging 10 feet of iron pipe plus fittings home on the bus was about as appealing as smashing my feet with a hammer. Plus if I wait until later I can get 10% off the costs of the parts.

Up first is a bit of the old Daily Ted. Morning Links: Glendale bike rider attacked by SUV driver, and guilty plea in 100 mph Orange County DUI case

And Daily Ted part 2. An open letter to the LA Planning Commission about bike lanes on Westwood Blvd and Central Ave

Those happy rainbow crosswalks might be illegal. Feds Say Some Crosswalk Art Violates Guidelines There was research noted in the article that says it might not matter one way or the other because drivers don’t look for crosswalks before hitting pedestrians.

In far West Canuckistan. New West police investigating deadly crash From The narrative indicates that the locals feel that sub-standard infrastructure was a major factor in this wreck as a major corridor for cyclists was left without any room for cyclists and drivers just didn’t display any patience whan passing cyclists.

People actually ride to work all year round even in places not as warm as TX. International Winter Bike to Work Day February 12th 2016 Don’t forget your woolies out in the cold.

A bit of UK infrastructure. World’s first ‘park and cycle’ among multi-million pound plans for new Cambridge ‘western orbital’ This is how you eventually get completely rid of cars in cities. Sure some people will “have” to drive to get to the city, but we don’t have to let them drive “in” the city.

One has to wonder what the difference is between “careless” driving, and “dangerous” driving causing death. I always thought that causing death was the definition of “dangerous” driving. Derby cyclist’s family say they are ‘paralysed by grief and pain’ – as lorry driver admits guilt I suppose that the “careless” designation was to get more guilty pleas with the reduced consequences for being “careless”.

An almost entirely botched investigation absolves the driver of guilt in the death of a cyclist. Family of killed cyclist Marc Dunk in blood test demand The driver had been consuming codeine but the levels in his blood at the time of the wreck were unknown because there was no blood draw at the time of the wreck or right after.

UK paper covering a wreck in Oz? ‘They’ve stitched his head… he’s battered and bruised’: Avid cyclist Matt Tilley is hit by a car AGAIN after serious accident five years ago I know the feeling, I was hit several times after the one that killed me in 2001.

Keeping in the EU for the moment. Five cyclists injured daily in collisions Portugal isn’t that big, we got counties with more people and area than their entire country. Not both at the same time mind you, but both. Getting 5 cyclists a day hit hard enough to cause injury that is noted for report to higher authority is a lot.

Back in Oz, that guy that was “mysteriously” injured died. Man, 88, dies from injuries sustained in crash at Henley Beach I still don’t get why they aren’t calling this a hit-and-run.

Still in Oz a cyclist has been threatened for training on a deserted bike path that routinely gets overrun with pedestrians most times of day. Keen cyclists hit the Fernleigh Track before sunrise to train at speed despite fears for personal safety | video

Also in Oz. Cyclist killed metres from his home OK, bad joke incoming. If this is Townsville, why didn’t Blossom, Bubbles, or Buttercup save the day? Now that that is out of my system, why was a tandem trailer semi routed through a residential area? The cyclist never had a chance to avoid the wreck.

Moving on to Enn Zed. Christchurch cyclist killed after being struck by train My usual is to reiterate about how easy it is to avoid a train, but the article as it read when I filtered made it sound like this was something that the cyclist couldn’t avoid, and that the wreck had severely impacted the witnesses from the Girls High School so they couldn’t be more explicit.

And more news about the cycling group hit from behind by a drunk driver in South Africa. DJ’s cycling joke backfires and Phoenix plumber charged for cyclists’ death Yes, there is a Phoenix in Africa, several of them as a matter of fact.

And it’s late again, and I’m exhausted. From reading Gigi’s last review she’s going to get mad at me again for posting after her internet goes down. I mean seriously, what kind of person turns off their WiFi at night?. What if they wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea for a story and don’t want to lose it waiting for the WiFi to boot?

Billed @$0.02, Opus