Hey!! Get outta the way!!

OK, today's message is strictly for the bicyclists out there. More specifically the riders that insist on riding down the middle of the road....in front of me. Guys, I know you pride yourself on being able to ride from here to the moon and back without stopping. I know that you do it to exercise. I know that the women out there throw themselves at you at the end of a ride. But do you have to tie up traffic while you are doing it?

Some of the roads that I travel on are barely big enough for two vehicles to pass. Inevitably, one of these cyclists will be crusing down the middle of my lane. Now no matter how hard these iron men peddle, the truth is since I don't drive a Hugo (remember them?) they get in the way and slow me down. Of course, since their ride is so much more important than the line of traffic building up behind them, they make no attempt to get out of the way. And my goat is espically gotten when one of these fellows (or ladies) do not follow the rules. I have seen these people run STOP signs, turn without signaling, and dart out into traffic without looking. Of course, as if to rub it in, they all drive cars with the "Share the Road" bumper sticker on it.

Cyclists, if you want to play with the big boys than play by the rules. I know that your puny little legs are no match for Ford's finest & 87 octane so stay to the side of the road, not the middle of it. If you see a STOP sign then STOP!!! If you don't want to obey traffic signs then get on the sidewalk.

You know if you rode one of those stationary bikes we wouldn't have this problem. After all I don't drive through your living room, do I?

Heeding Warnings

Watching the news this morning I was surprised and dismayed at the number of people in Texas who didn't heed the evacuation warnings when Ike came to town. One would think that when the National Weather Service issues a "get out or die" warning people would listen. Though I am probably not one to talk.

When it comes to warning signs I often have trouble paying attention. For example, a couple of years ago I was in Joshua Tree National Park. Some friends and I were wandering through the Cholla Cactus Garden and taking pictures. Though the signs clearly indicated that the wise move would be to stay on the trail, I didn't listen. The result is pictured below.

But when it comes to life and death warnings I listen and listen clearly. For example I don't stick my tongue in electrical sockets, I don't look down the barrel my handguns, and (for all you Jim Croce fans) I don't "mess around with Jim". To me the Ike warnings were on this level. The National Weather Service didn't issue a "get out or experience a little discomfert" warning, they issued a "get out or face certain death" warning. Newscasters everwhere were talking about how bad this was going to be. Property was going to be destroyed and the lives lost of those who stayed was not worth it. Life is just too valuable.

My sympathies go out to all who suffered through Ike. They will be in my thoughts and prayers over the coming days. I encourage everyone to do likewise. Peace out.

Washington VS Hanson - Washington by a Knockout!

Hello everyone! I haven’t posted in a while and I thought I’d bring you up to speed on how my reading through the Presidents of the US is going. Well, simply put it is going at glacial speed. Truth is, when I stop reading a book for a while I find it hard to pick it up again. Between the move, work, and other escapades going on in my life I put the book on good old George down for a while and haven’t picked it back up (despite having read two other books in the meantime). So the project is on a bit of a hiatus until I can get myself motivated again.

Meanwhile, when I first announced that I was going to read one biography of each of the Presidents I had more than a few noble souls try to tell me he wasn’t the 1st President. You see a while back someone who wasn’t a real historian, but did spend the night at a Holiday Inn, argued that we should count the 7 “presidents” under the Articles of Confederation as presidents before Washington. Now I don’t know what this individual had against George, but his argument is a little specious.

Without going back to civics class to pry apart the differences between a constitutional government and a confederation, let’s just stick with the easy understanding that one creates a collection of entities united for a common good (confederation) and one creates a new entity altogether (constitution). In addition, the Articles of Confederation didn’t create a position “President of the US” but merely a president of the Congress – someone to run the meetings. Now with all this in mind, can we please stop the silliness and let George be the first president??