I went to the dentist on Friday and was told that I have a cavity completely filling one of my teeth. I have to have it drilled today. After it’s been drilled, I’ll find out if I get a filling or a root canal. I can handle this. Buy why, oh why, do people keep telling me that maybe it’ll teach me to take better care of my teeth? I knew I had a cavity. I had an appointment to have it filled but it was cancelled because my dentist was sick. The second was cancelled because my dentist died. I found a new dentist who took my insurance a month later but it took 5 months to get an appointment for a cleaning and x-rays. Once they saw the x-rays, they told me it was urgent that I have it fixed ASAP. I saw my x-rays 6 months ago. The cavity was nowhere near as big as it is now.
On the good side though, the hygenist complimented me on my brushing and flossing and the dentist told me that my tooth enamel is actually very strong. It’s just the inside that’s a bunch of crap.
In other gripe news - I’m bored. I have nothing to do at work. This wouldn’t be a problem if it was a rare occurance but it’s not. I’ve had nothing to do for 3 weeks. I’ve used up one and a half days of vacation time going home early because I have no work. I hate being bored. It just gives me time to dwell on my toothache.
But, all this is ok because my obnoxious house guest of 6 months left yesterday. He’ll be gone for at least 6 weeks and once he gets back, he’ll only be with us for 3 days out of every 3 weeks.
I also got Mr. Congo City of Heros for his birthday and it’s so COOL!!!
Today, what’s bugging me is Amazon.com and their aggressive advertising. Specifically, they’ve decided to implement a little drop-down advertisement * right in the middle of the page * , so that when you go to their home page, it drops, verrrrrry sloooowly, and then verrrrry sloooowly retracts and moves to the corner. Only when it moves to the corner does the “go-away” check-box appear. Up until then, clicking on the ad just sends you to a new page for some useless new department that they’re pimping.
I hate that ad so fucking much. I won’t buy from Amazon until it goes away. I’ve sent them mail telling them this. And I have a bunch of things in my wish list that are going to stay there, apparently for a good long time.
I had a desk full of pens just a few months ago, and they have all dispersed to parts unknown. It’s worse than socks at the laundromat.
No, I don’t want to download “ClockSync”, or vote in a phony Net poll on gay rights or electing GWB. Stop trying to foist your sleazy spyware on me.
And to the police chief in Backwater Prairie, Wisconsin (on the shore of Lake Michigan), who had three bodies wash up in his jurisdiction tied together and weighted down with bags of sand, who opined that the deaths were “suspicious”:
I just went to feed my beloved daughter, Spudette. After a couple of spoons of mushed up banana - mushed up by my own fair hand, I must add - she lost interest.
Then her eyes crossed, her face went a funny shade of red and she started making grunting noises.
There followed a rather disgusting sound that originated from her butt. This sound was followed by a stench that can only be described as akin to the smell of a dead cow that’s been in a water-logged ditch for 3 weeks. In the summer. After you’ve prodded its bloated belly with a pointy stick to see what happens. Or maybe my socks. I’ll have to ask Washte.
After 10 minutes or so of this eye-crossing, red faced, grunting, stench filled display, little Spudette passed out. I nearly did too, what with the stench and all.
I can’t say I’ve ever ridden abreast, but I can understand why they might do it. If they weren’t doing that, folks might try to squeeze by where there is not sufficient room for one bike and a car. Sometimes personal safety comes before legal arguements.
And technically you’re not supposed to pass slower vehicles until it is safe to do so. Guess that rule doesn’t count.
A. It’s illegal to ride two abreast in Massachusetts.
B. It’s stupid to do so anywhere unless you have a 20 foot wide bike lane. And even then it’s discourteous to other bicyclists who may want to pass.
C. This is one of those cases where physics trumps righteousness. If you’re in the middle of the road going slowly on a blind curve, all the legal rights in the world aren’t going to help if a motorist doesn’t see you. What’s going to help you is * being as far to the side of the road as the roadside permits *.
Hot wire. Run a strand of electric fence wire around the entire inside perimeter of his pen, just high enough to clear any vegetation, just far enough from the fence not to ground out on it, smack dab in the space he’d occupy when digging. Friends of mine used that with their German shorthair pointer and it worked like a charm. If there isn’t a handy electrical outlet from your house, there are solar chargers. You can find all you need at any store catering to farmers and horse people, and probably at a large hardware store.
Finagle, thanks for pointing out the reasons why I find inconsiderate bicyclists annoying. I’m a damn sight more respectful toward bike riders than a lot of motorists I see around here, even when the bicyclists are not obeying the law.
Trust me, bike riders – I understand your frustration at motorists who pass too close, too fast, endangering you. Try experiencing that when you’re riding a horse – a large, powerful animal with prey-animal instincts and lightning-fast reflexes. A horse can spook sideways several feet in less than a heartbeat, and if there happens to be a car zooming by at the time, well… let’s just say, if the driver survives the wreck, and I’m not too crippled by the crash, I will have vengeance.
And yes, you motorists who are getting all steamed about those damned riders: we do try to stay off the road whenever possible. We do keep off the road, on the shoulder, if there’s one available. We do prefer to ride on trails as far away from you as we can. We do try our best to desensitize our horses to vehicles and scary noises from the underbrush. The rest is up to you. SLOW DOWN AND SWING WIDE – the life you save may be your own.
Oh, and bicyclists? When you’re zooming up behind people on horses, it’s a smart idea for all concerned if you’d holler out “Bikes coming up behind!” as soon as you’re within earshot. That enables the riders to turn their horses toward the approaching object, rather than having it loom suddenly out of their blind spot. A horse spooking at what its instincts tell it is a predator leaping can bolt ANYWHERE, including right into your path.
That’s nice. That would not stop me from doing it if it meant preventing idiots from trying to pass under unsafe conditions. Or is passing unsafely legal in MA.?
Its not stupid if it prevents cars from performing dangerous actions in the first place.
No, what this prevents is idiots from trying to pass you under conditions that do not allow for safe passing in the first place. In my experience, motorist will try to pass you at any time, including a blind curve on the top of a hill. Moving out into the lane can prevent them from trying in the first place. The ‘around the curve suddenly a bicycle’ (also illegal, BTW) does happen, but far more common is the car that has already seen the cyclist, but simply does not care and tries to pass wherever he or she pleases.
Yeah, that one is a tad frustraing. I try to give warning at all times, but sometimes the voice ain’t there. Some folks (not horseriders by any means) I just learn to whiz around because I know that if I call out “on your left” they will turn their head to look and walk right into the open area I was going to pass in.
I hate that the Orioles keep losing and the Yankees keep winning. Fucking Orioles. Fucking Yankees.
The weatherman has predicted a “Major Warmup” this week for my area. It’s going from 81 to 85 degrees in 3 days. That does not constitute a major warmup to me. Stop sensationalizing wimpy weather trends!
I hate the jogger this morning who was running in the street, merely inches from a beautifully maintained jogging/biking trail that our county has spent millions building and keeping up, just to appease people who complained there weren’t any safe paths to jog and bike on.
Someone left their cell phone on ringback and has apparently left their desk for a 6 hour meeting. My head is going to explode from hearing that incessant ringback every 17 seconds. Why set it on ringback if you’re not going to be around to hear it ring back?
The woman in front of me at the drugstore this morning seemingly had coupons for every single one of the 47895669 items she was buying. And had a problem with every price that rang up. And had a credit from a previous purchase. And wanted to write a check. And the trainee on the register had to page the manager every 13 seconds for each of these issues. I very nearly slammed both of their heads together.
I love Pavement’s EP Watery, Domestic. It’s a band at the height of its songwriting power putting together four songs that just fit together perfectly, and it reminds me fondly of a particular time in my life. Today, I was listening to the third song on the EP “Lions (Linden)” while I imported it into my work iTunes and I realized it’s literally just a song about college football. And the lyrics are kind of dumb. Not kind of dumb–really dumb.
Now, I like college football. And I like Pavement. But I thought the song was about Big Things. But instead, it’s just a song about college football. What a letdown.
And I’ve been listening to the song for over ten years. How did I miss the words for that long? I knew I was stoned in the early and mid 90’s, but I didn’t think I was THAT stoned.
(a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:
(1) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
(2) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
(3) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a “substandard width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
(4) When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.
Which is, ultimately, the decision of the bicyclist and therefore ends up being pretty much the same as having the use of the whole lane when needed.
Technically, neither of you is “wrong”, here. The bicyclist should be closer to the edge under ideal circumstances, but has the right to the lane as needed to avoid objects and bad road conditions (and there a lot of them to a cyclist). The problem is those who read only section (a) and assume the cyclist have to have their tires scraping the curb at all times.
People who smoke while I’m eating! I know you have the right to poison your body and although I wish you wouldn’t do that to yourself, I guess it is your business. But smoking in a restaurant while I am eating is just rude. Larry Mudd said it well in another thread when he said: “When you’re obliged to occupy a public space with someone, all parties concerned should be mindful of others.” If you can smoke without ruining my meal, I say go for it.
Yes, when needed, but not just because you want to. Saying it’s the decision of the bicyclist is like saying it’s the decision of a killer whether it was self-defense or not. Just because a law is subject to interpretation doesn’t mean it’s not a law.
That doesn’t give you the right to ride 2 abreast. That’s an awfully loose interpretation if you consider your riding partner that you choose to ride next to as a road hazard. In California anyway, it is incorrect to say a bicyclist “has the right to one FULL AND COMPLETE lane”
Uh, no. Wrong here, and that comparison was idiotic. It is always the judgement of the cyclist as to when he requires the use of the full lane. It is my safety on the line and I certainly am not about to let a cager make that decision for me.
I for will not take the lane for spite, and neither will most cylclists. But in heavier traffic, or in conditions where passing is judged (by me) to be too dangerous, then I will position my bike to prevent someone from pulling a lane-splitting squeeze move on me. I will also move myself to take the lane if there are hazerdous conditions on the right side. And there are a lot of them. The law you quoted seemed plenty clear on that the bicyclist has the right to use the full lane when needed.
