onthebounce replied to my photo: Plague, Inc. is my new game. I’ll review it…
You’re the second person I know that’s playing this. So, it’s…spreading?
I was talking to my board gaming friends who are highly knowledgeable and competitive when it comes to that sort of thing (I stress myself out regularly on Tuesday getting slaughtered by them).
Anyway, one of those guys is playing Plague, Inc., and he approves of this game, which reassures me that it’s 99 cents well spent.
On my way home I saw two cars driving in a bike lane, one car jump a light to fight another car for dominance in the narrowing lane, four cars blow through a red light (ain’t no way those lights were yellow, or even orange), and I startled a guy who almost doored me when he didn’t look back before opening his door into traffic.
The two cyclists I saw at intersections were waiting for their signal.
I used to run a blog that just outlined every time I saw motorists breaking the laws, but it just got too tiresome and actually kind of depressing, because in order to run it I had to hold on to the memories of these injustices for the rest of my ride so I could log them.
I gave up shortly, opting instead to just have fun riding my bike.
Re: My previous post (since Tumblr won’t let me link via the app).
ariverisariver replied to your link: What You Need to Know About Pushing the ‘Walk’ Button | Where We Are | SoCal Focus | KCET
I don’t have any problem with cyclists and pedestrians crossing the street at a red as long as they’ve come to a stop and looked for traffic. But hoo boy does it irk me when a cyclist just barrels through.
Don’t I know it! Don’t most cyclists know it! Don’t most cyclists actually don’t do it…er…something.
But you know what irks me even more? You probably see this coming. It irks me even more when CARS do it. Why? Because they pose a significantly higher threat to the community than anyone else. If a cyclist barrels through a red light the chances of them hurting or killing anyone (besides themselves) are insignificant by comparison.
And consider that while cyclists might behave unpredictably on the roads, most are generally governed by the laws of self preservation. If you ask a cyclist how many times they have accidentally put themselves in danger by running a red versus the number of times a motorist has put them at risk you will likely get laughing as the answer. Motorists have a built in protection, are clouded by velocitization, and are disconnected by glass, engine noise and music. That all adds up and blunts their risk homeostasis (or risk compensation), so their actions tend to put more people in danger.
And hey, look at this: “There’s no evidence that cyclists’ rule-breaking (archetypally, red light-jumping and sidewalk riding) is more widespread than motorists’ tendency to speed and pay insufficient attention. There’s plentiful evidence that cyclists’ misbehaviour causes less harm to others than motorists’.”
Open your eyes to it. I see it all the time. I see motorists running red lights. I see motorists speeding. I see them talking on their mobile phones, blow through stop signs, driving drunk, driving without their lights on, not stop for people in a cross walk, and have fucking loud, annoying car alarms that go off in the middle of the night and don’t stop for whatever god damn reason.
So instead of getting angry and fighting the good fight against people who aren’t really doing anything, can I suggest you put your energies into fighting distracted driving, advocating for health and exercise, fighting more and wider and spendier freeways, bettering public transportation and access to it, increasing the number of off-street bike paths, tightening our drunk driving laws, lowering speed limits, and championing self-driving cars (see, I don’t hate all cars).
Plague, Inc. is my new game. I’ll review it further a little later, but the important thing is that you get to name the plague who’s mission it is to kill the entire human race.
2. …The button makes the “walk” signal appear. Maybe. If the system is set to skip the pedestrian cycle, pushing the button may result in display of the signal, depending on traffic volume and time of day. But the signal won’t display sooner if you push.
In Los Angeles and many other communities, sensors in the roadway (those circular loops about two yards from the crosswalk) communicate with a traffic control center. Monitoring traffic flow allows lights to be synchronized and cycle times to be adjusted.
A button that will cause the “walk” cycle to run may work under some conditions of traffic synchronization and not under others. For example, if vehicle traffic is light, some systems delay the pedestrian signal through another complete cycle despite the button having been pushed…
There is a Walk signal in Walker’s Point that cycles irregularly, but it will count down as if it cycles regularly. If you don’t push the button, after the countdown completes it will skip the Walk signal and resume the Don’t Walk signal. So you have to push the button and wait even longer to cross the road.
I think there can be an argument that bicycles should follow most of the rules of the road, but it will be hard to convince me that pedestrians should ever have to give up their right of way in the world.
l3fan-o-rama asked: hey - i have a raleigh carbon fiber (MCC-8) mountain bike. it is in great shape, but since i don't ride offroad anymore i was thinking of selling it to get something a little more road friendly. i have a brand new pair of road tires on the original rims as well as the knobbies for offroading. all equipment is original (shimano, rock shocks judy). any thoughts on what a starting price on craigslist? i want to see if it is worth trying to sell or if i should just keep it.
Man, I honestly don’t know a whole lot about carbon fiber and suspension forks, and that’s partly because the industry has evolved SO MUCH since these elements were introduced. It’s a pretty safe bet that the older stuff hasn’t aged well.
If the bike is larger than 21 inches you’ll probably have a harder time finding a buyer. Smaller bikes tend to sell faster.
Madison has a bigger demand for bicycles, but there is probably a lot more Trekbros. stuff in that market as well.
I’ve found that people generally don’t care how new the tires are. If you spend $100 on new tires but the bike looks like a $150 bike, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to sell it for $250, so that may be a sunk cost.
You may still be able to find someone who is looking to get into carbon for cheap, though and a $400 bike might be tempting.
So you’re looking for something more road-friendly? What happened to that Stella?
Finally, a cargo bike load to make On The Bounce proud.
Moving day doesn’t always have to be a drag. I was able to load up my Yuba with four boxes from Brew City Boxes, plus a box of wine glasses on top (not a great idea for my first time out), PLUS the Yuba Go Getter bag down the middle.
I purchased some ratchet straps in the 15 foot sizeway which was a bit overkill. I should be able to haul a couple of barrels now.
As for the ride quality, the load wasn’t strapped down solidly enough, so it was a little wobbly, but once I got rolling there was less to worry about. It was the stopping and getting start again that scared me. But I managed to get everything there in one piece.
The bottom two boxes were also lighter in comparison to the top, so the balance was off. Can’t wait to help my next friend move and see if I can get the load a little better situated.
Also, Brew City Boxes was TOTALLY worth it. They drop off as many boxes as you need, you pack ‘em up, move ‘em over, and then they come pick them up. Their uniform size is easy to manage and stack. They’re made of heavy duty plastic, so they’re reusable and easy to slide in a truck bed.
Plus they’ve got dry erase labels on them, so you can wipe them clean when you’re done. By far the easiest part of the move was moving everything that was packed in those boxes.
As an added bonus, since you have to give the boxes back it gives you extra incentive to just unpack everything, instead of let it sit around, mouldering in cardboard boxes for a while.
onmilwaukee: The folks over at real estate blog Movoto have come out with another list, this one ranking the cities of the nation based on their “sinfulness” relative to the Seven Deadly Sins (lust, pride, wrath, envy, greed, gluttony and sloth).
Apparently by these standards, Milwaukee comes in No. 5.
Movoto analyzed data that included strip clubs per capita, number of cosmetic surgeons, violent crime, theft, amount of charitable giving, obesity and level of residents’ physical activity.
If you think Vegas, Sin City herself, came in No. 1, you’re wrong…
Continue reading “Milwaukee is the 5th most sinful city in America, says Movoto” on OnMilwaukee.
I got a funny little shout out in this article. I do what I can, to keep God’s favor shining on the city.
