On World Mental Health Day

I recently started to get treatment for my depression and PTSD after suffering more than 40 years with it. As many posting to Twitter have mentioned about their depression, mine was initially dismissed as teenaged angst, then as “just they way you are” and “being serious for a change”. There was also the problem that more than 40 years ago when this mess started 1) there was no such diagnosis as PTSD 2) even if there was nobody would believe you could get it by changing schools several times at the wrong point in your life. I think that started some time in the ’90s when the DOD noticed that adults who had been military dependents as children had suicide, drug addiction, and alcoholism rates almost identical to combat veterans from Vietnam. I never went through any suicide attempts and couldn’t afford drugs or booze, I think that was the only reason I didn’t join that statistic. There was also the mistaken belief that young people couldn’t get depressed, mainly because at the time nobody knew that depression can happen to people not actually in serious conditions because it is a disease, a disease that manifests as an emotional state, not just “being real sad” all the time. To give an idea about how much I changed from before to after depression I got a “Motormouth Award” at scout camp for being lively and talkative and joking all the time. That was the Real Me (Not Depressed), in the 7th grade. By my senior year in HS, less than 5 years later, I had already had one major and countless minor bouts of depression.

So, several things here: 1) Mental Illness is a category of real illnesses, like heart disease or kidney failure. 2) Anyone can get Mental Illness at any age. Seriously, it’s like childhood cancers or Type 1 diabetes. 3) Having Mental Illness does not mean you have a weak mind or are morally deficient or any other negative stereotype, it means your brain is not functioning within design tolerances. Nothing more, nothing less.

Please share this with your friends.

PSA, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet.

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Laundry and grocery day, and the Feed

I have been shuttling back and forth between the washer and dryer, and my office, while trying to get the laundry cleaned before my son gets here to do his laundry and take me grocery shopping. I’m going to go minimal today and only get what I need to buy before Mrs. the Poet returns on Saturday so she can decide what to get when she does the shopping. I tend to get cheap frozen pizza and canned veggies I can throw in a bowl and heat in the microwave, she gets produce and more from scratch ingredients than I do. That’s mostly because when I bought produce most of it went bad before I could eat it, so why waste the money?

Up first because why not destroy your hopes and dreams right off the bat with Our Daily Ted? Juries, Judges and Your Bike Crash I still think that they need to be able to just remove every driver from the jury pool when a cyclist is involved, since the “other side” removes any cyclists in the pool.

A little infrastructure lament from CA. Same Old, Same Old Repaving a street is the perfect time to change the striping and do a road diet or other reconfiguration for free because you have to stripe anyway, doing bikeable lanes doesn’t cost any more to do than putting it back the same.

In the same state (CA). Sebastopol police seek hit-and-run driver in crash who injured cyclist All they are saying now is it involved some kind of turning movement on the part of the weapon vehicle, plus a detailed description of the weapon vehicle. If you see a white Taurus with a plywood passenger side window driven by an older male with long hair, call LEO and set your spike strips. J/K about the spike strips, sorta.

Another CA wreck at another intersection. Teen on ‘Fixie’ bike seriously injured in crash Apparently the cyclist was riding salmon into the intersection and the driver was not looking for a salmon cyclist.

Another fun time in MS. Ghost Bike Memorial Honors Pascagoula Cyclist As I read the article they think this was a buzz job gone bad.

A killer driver faces the first verse of the music. Chanute man in court for traffic accident that killed Washburn professor Now if some of my KS readers could just tell me what the penalty is for”second-degree reckless murder” we will be all set.

I have heard some reaching for a reason to harass cyclists, but a wreck from 7 years ago pretty much takes the cake. More warnings, tickets for Asheville cyclists, pedestrians I’m being serious here: Among cycling accidents, in 2008, a father of three was killed on a bicycle” so in 2015 that gives them cause to do stings against cyclists.

Good people in IL. Community Rallies for Family of Steger Boy Killed While Riding Bike If you are local, this would be a good place to not look too hard for a bargain.

A little CT infrastructure news. McCarthy Vahey: Bicycle safety legislation now law Biggest change? Going from “practicable” to “safe” on the exemptions to AFRAP, making it AFRAS instead. Next biggest would be narrowing lanes to reduce motor vehicle speeds and allow for a bike lane to be installed.

IL infrastructure news. Going against the flow: Chicago cyclist grudgingly supports Edgwater bike lane Good infrastructure WORKS. Hell even mediocre infrastructure helps like this stuff. It’s a long way from being CROW compliant, that’s for sure. Would a contraflow bike lane be a “salmon run“?

We are bike people, we take care of each other. Bicyclists pull for injured friend Even when you get hurt off your bike, someone is looking out for you.

Cyclist dodges death in the Great White North. Cyclist injured trying to avoid collision Sounds like a hook or a cross wreck that almost happened, except for the cyclist’s reflexes.

Still in the GWN. Cyclist Seriously Injured In Crash How does a driver hit a cyclist from behind at that time of day? Unless the driver was not looking out the windshield…

This guy is insane, in a good way. Cyclist rides the iconic Tour de France on a RALEIGH CHOPPER (but the 1970s classic left him with an injured ankle) Seriously, I think the only mods he made to the bike was an extended seatpost with a “normal” bike saddle, and moving all the controls to the handlebars. The original was much like the Schwinn Krate series with a top bar mounted T-handle shifter, which could change one’s vocal range in a wreck.

Another car parts supplier expands into the e-assist market. Car Supplier Brose Starts E-bike Motor Production This uses the motor that turns the steering wheel when your car is equipped with electric assist instead of hydraulic. This motor is designed to function efficiently when stalled.

And I’m outta links finally.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Mental Hygiene Day

Your Ol’ Blogger had to make a choice of losing his mind or enjoying his vacation, and keeping the mind and vacation won out. More posting later.

PSA, Opus