Awakening

Being awoken by the commotion after the 2am bar closing is not an uncommon thing for us Thursday, sometimes Wednesday, through Saturday and neither are screams of “HELP” from drunks who think calling wolf is the peak of comic genius. So when I initially was startled out of unconsciousness by someone yelling “STOP, HELP!!” I simply turned over and pulled the covers tighter about my shoulders. Not until the words “I am backing away now just let me go” did I realized that someone might truly be in need of help, so I grabbed my phone and went to the window. From my vantage point all that could be seen was a cab with the driver door ajar, at which point I dialed 911. This scene gave two options as to what was going on since I could still not see the people involved but only hear the grunts of a struggle, either the cabdriver was getting robbed or some tool was trying to run out on his bill and the cabbie was not having it. Just as I hung up the phone I finally got to see the people involved as one guy bolted for the cab, got in and locked the doors while the other guy chased after him. He was too slow and once he realized that he was shut out he booked for the corner and took off running north. In an odd turn of events it appeared that it was the passenger, from now on to be referred to as The Tool, that had locked himself into the cab for protection, he was wearing a sport coat and jeans plus he sounded drunk when we could hear him speak later. So it was the cabbie who took off leaving his car behind which led us to believe it was not his medallion and/or he had no green card.

Either way he was long gone and missed all the excitement as one of Chicago’s finest came barreling down out street the wrong way with lights flashing and two other unmarked cars blocked the other end of the street. At this point The Tool got out of the car and started jogging towards the cops while yelling incoherently at which point the cops grabbed him, threw him onto the hood and cuffed his hands behind his back. I admire this approach cuff everyone, figure what is going on later. So The Tool starts screaming over and over “he bit my f*&king finger off man!! My f*&king finger” and so the cop grabs his hands, still cuffed behind The Tools back, twisting them into view and counts his digits. With all ten there and no blood to justify his rantings I think everyone, except the The Tool, was a little disappointed. In an attempt to get a better view I walked into the bedroom but by the time I got there all the cars including the cab where being driven away. Needless to say I was completely shocked and how quickly the scene had dissipated.

While staring at the now empty street I watched in amusement as a steady stream of cabs came driving by, stopping at the end of our block, getting out, looking around in confusion and then driving away.

3:13:42

The triathlon took me 3 hours 13 minutes and 42 seconds which is a whole 29 seconds slower then I did it back in 2005. Honestly I am very disappointed with my performance in this race, specifically in the swim. This time around I really worked hard on my weakness in the water and in the pool I went from someone who could barely do a length of freestyle to being able to swim a non-stop mile. So when I got in the water on race day and could barely manage more then a couple yards of freestyle before flipping over in defeat, it did not make for a good start. I have plenty of excuses for why I could not manage to swim that day; could not sleep the night before, freezing water, sick to my stomach but mostly I had just not properly become accustom to swimming in open water. It took me nearly an hour to finish the swim, by comparison the same distance was taking me 40 minutes at the pool. My calves cramped pretty badly about 100 yards from the swim finish which did not help matters either.The rest of the race went fine once I was out of the water with me doing about the same on the bike while I cut almost 8 minutes from my run, even with my calves being tense from cramping. Even though I think I could do better I have no plans on ever doing another triathlon. Even the reasoning I used when I signed up, it will make me work out, seems ridiculous since I would have worked out even without the triathlon looming overhead, maybe not nearly as much but adequate for keeping in shape. So here and now I pledge to never make the mistake of signing up to swim, bike & run a triathlon ever again.

The Cloud is Lifting

Illinois is set to be 19^th state to have a smoking ban in public places and I can not be happier.  SB0500 goes into effect on January 1^st, 2008 and I can not wait to go to a tavern without having to breathe toxic air just to get drink or hang out with friends.  Of course this is going to mean that near the entrances we will have to wade through a death cloud, though smokers are not suppose to be within 15’ of entry doors.

Now I do have friends that are not going to be rejoicing at the passage of this bill but it has not made smoking illegal, this is not a prohibition on cigarettes.  Many smoker’s rights groups make this fight a matter of their civil liberties but this is just not the case.  This law is just making it harder for smokers to contaminate the air that everyone must breathe.  Smoke to your lungs content in private just not in public places where your bad choice has become everyone’s bad choice.

Chicago Tribune Article

No Authority

So many things I mean to do, plan to do but never get around to. For this blog I have started numerous post but never completed them partly because I do not schedule or set aside the time to do them, additionally, when the topics deal with world events I get stuck questioning “By what authority can I write on subjects outside of my daily life?”  Of course there would not be much blogging if people were not willing to write endlessly about topics they do not have any particular deep knowledge. Yesterday is dead, God Indifferent, Turning Green – Part 1 and Whitecollar Death Sentence are the names of just a few of the post I have been meaning to write.  Almost have to write them now that I have made their existence known.

Eugene, OR?

So a comment received from somebody named Seiji, weird name for a Mexican, suggested that Eugen, OR is the true Springfield from the Simpsons. Citing the founder statue on the campus of the University of Oregon (Go!?! Beavers?) in Eugene’s resemblance to the statue of Jedediah Springfield on the Simpsons as proof. So lets see the pictures:

From the images above you can see a similarity but I think that would be the case with any depiction of a Daniel Boone like character. Since Matt Groening is from the northwestern United States it does seem probable that the scenes depicted in the Simpons bear a certain similarity in appearance but I think they idea that Springfield is wholly based on one real place completely unlikely.

Going to Springfield

Rarely do I head to the theater to see a movie any more, especially with Netflix delivering dvds directly to my home, but I am really excited about “The Simpsons Movie“. Heard on NPR that Springfield, Illinois lost the bid to premier the movie to Springfield, Vermont of all places. For many fanatics the question of which Springfield this fictional family resides I think this choosing of Vermont is as close to an answer they can ever hope.  Went to the Simpsons promotional site for the movie and tried my hand at making my likeness as a Simpsons character and you can see the result below.

NDE 1562

Near Death Experience #1562

Now I am going to start off by saying there are a number of things I could and should have done differently.

While riding home from work someone tried to kill me with there 2+ ton SUV. Now when I say tried to kill me I don’t mean the all to common occurrence of; someone pulling into my lane without looking, turning without a signaling, opening their door and then looking dazed when I have to dodge into traffic or slam on my brakes. It was none of those forgivable incidents rather I had pissed this guy off enough that he felt taking my life was proper punishment for cutting him off.

I have been riding my bike to work for a good two months or so and already have put 300 miles on the odometer. Yesterday was really no different other then the roads being a little wet from a recent downpour. Heading along my normal route, working my way between the parked cars and traffic while riding behind a fellow biker that I want to pass before the next light so I can get up to my normal speed. There is a gap in traffic and I look over my shoulder see a vehicle about a car length back as I pass the guy . HOOOOOOOOONK

Knowing what I know now, that the guy behind the wheel of this particular big black SUV is in dire need of an anger management course, I would not have done what follows.

There was plenty of room not only between my back wheel and his front bumper but also in the overall width of the lane which even while passing I was not taking up all that much room, though I guess when you drive such a large behemoth all traffic lanes must feel so minuscule. So I pull fully into his lane for all of fifteen seconds while on our way to the stoplight that is no more then 50 yards ahead. Seemingly after making my point I pull back over into my lane and start to slow up since there is a red light ahead. He on the otherhand guns his engine for 10 yards before having to slam on his brakes in order keep from driving into the car in front of him that is already stopped at the redlight.

Shaking my head and thinking to myself this guy is nuts when the light changes and I am off, at this point I think my encounter with this fellow is done.

In my mind I am already back in my normal routine trying to time the lights so I do not have to stop or put my foot down. I make the next light but can tell I am going to hit the next light so I slacken my pace. Almost to the cross walk and the black SUV is back and before I even know what is going on the guy behind the wheel is out of his vehicle and yelling at me; “You want to fuck with me asshole… do you want to fight asshole?”

I am just looking at him dazed thinking, he can not be serious. Why would anyone fight over something so trivial. Knowing though that he is more then serious I decide I need to get some distance from this guy and I look right to see if any cars are coming and I blow the light and race done the street trying to get some speed before he gets a chance to catch up.

Peddling faster I find myself vainly hoping that he has headed towards the highway rather then follow me but I know this is not true because I can hear the roar of his engine and screeching tires somewhere behind me. I have made a couple turns and hopefully gotten some space but the road up ahead is looking deathly vacant like main street at high noon and I know if he is still back there he is going to have room to catch up.

Already I am thinking I need to get off this road but before I get a chance is he up next to me. Yelling again this time through his open window “Can’t go fast enough, asshole. Not going to be able to run away from me, asshole.” This whole time he is yelling at me the gap between him and the parked cars keeps getting tighter as he makes small jerky motions with is truck in my direction. I look over at him as he looks back up the road and I get a gut feeling for what he is going to do next and I slam on the brakes as he veers hard over towards me blocking my path almost completely.

He starts to get out of his truck practically before it has completely come to a stop and I want to yell at him “You’re driving a lethal weapon, you even touch me and thats ‘attempted murder’ you psychopath!!”, but all the comes out is “Back the fuck off!!” as I spit over my shoulder onto his hood.

Now that was a particularly stupid move but thankfully my next maneuver was a little more thought out.

Up ahead I see my way out and jog between two parks car up onto the sidewalk. I need to get somewhere with more traffic so I use a east-west street to get over to LaSalle where I know there is going to be plenty of traffic to bog this guy down.

Once over into the relative safety of staled traffic I feel a small bit of relief but I am not taking any chances and I crank even faster down the narrow passage between stopped cars. After a little while I feel confident that if he did follow me he is a couple lights back not moving with the rest of the cars and I slow up to take a breather on the last couple blocks before home.

 

Hopefully I have learned a little something from the experience such as: don’t taunt the cars because even a Geo Metro is a tank compared to my little aluminum 2-wheeler and guys driving big SUVs are exactly what I have always thought.

 

No touchy

Coughed up the money for another road bike, a Lemond Etape. Thought about getting something used since who knows when this next one will be stolen or vandalized but I just wanted a bike that had all its shit together. With a used bike you never know how it has been treated or heck if it had been stolen from someone else.

It was nice being able to ride to work again and it gave me a chance to make adjustments to the seat position so I can get the most comfortable ride. Think it is all set so I am going to get a seat lock to up my security one more notch. Want to keep this bike around and all its parts around a little longer this time.

When am I going to learn?

After being sick with a cold and taking a break from biking to work I finally felt good enough today to climb aboard my trusty Trek and ride to the office, but, how do you ride a wheel? Just a wheel, because that is all I have left. Well a wheel and the krytonite lock that kept even that around.

With this latest incident that makes three bikes I have had stolen in my life. The first was custom made mountain bike I had bought from a friend of my brother and it got taken during my sophomore year of college. I left it leaning against the side of the house I was renting while I went inside to get a bite to eat. Admittedly a naive thing to do leaving it unlocked outside but the house was situated way back of the road so no one would be able to see it while just walking by but at the same time a apartment building loomed over the edge of the property.

I was so completely enraged by the fact that someone would walk off with my stuff. The apartments were accessed from a ring of balconies I walked along scouring into each unit as I passed just hoping to catch a glimpse of my missing bike. Not sure what I would have done but I honestly think I would have busted the door down and retrieved my bike, I was that blinded by anger. For a long time after I eyeballed every red mountain bike that passed me by on campus.

The second bike was stolen from inside the two-flat I owned with Derek.  They got in through a window, which is right of the front porch and next to entry, that had not been locked properly.  Derek had his bike and computer stolen as well.  Still miss that Lemond, it was a really comfortable ride.  At this time it was only a month away from the first triathlon that I participated in so I had to get a quick replacement and bought the Trek that is now no more.

Of all the bike I have bought for myself none have remained mine for more then 18 months which is really a sad statement.  I had two bike while growing up which I used until I out grew of rode into oblivion.  Did not even own a lock for them and when visiting friends I would leave it laying in the lawn just like every kid did.

Never will understand how someone justifies stealing to themselves.  What rational do they use in order to settle their conscious.  I just feel that if they put the effort into something constructive they could just as well make a living.  You can live and work with pride even in the most mundane occupation but there is no honor among thieves.

NPR Pledge Drive Me Away

I already gave money to NPR, so why must I suffer so.  Just recently I had come back to listening to public broadcasting after couple year hiatis and two weeks in they started their spring pledge drive.  I think this is what through me off listing on a regular basis the last time.  They have to raise money to pay for the programming that I like so much but there should be a way to bypass listening to them begging for money for the people that have already contributed.  Just hope it ends soon.