Wednesday, June 1, 2016
High Camp is Alive and Well and Riding a Bicycle
Friday, April 15, 2016
Trumped Again
Daily Kos can be a cruel environment. Or... is something else at work? Have we all been Trumped?? Does The Donald have the last laugh???
Last night on Daily Kos, I riffed on the following phrase:
... did you mention "small hands", too? ...
The response:
{cruel, Puritanic criticism... not worth quoting...}
So I had to say:
Oh well… sorry. Never mind. Gads!! My attempt at assuming a Monty Python characterization failed horrifically.
It seems that every week yet another Trump deficiency rears its ugly hea… uhh... mmm... becomes apparent.
I’m becoming too influenced by the [pornographic??] low-brow over-the-top nature of The Donald’s discourse. I even glee-fully started to write lyrics — a parody of a Frank Loesser musical, How to Succeed in Real Estate Without Really Trying At All. I’m rotting… please stomp me with a boot and put me out of my misery! (And please don’t hum The Liberty Bell March before you do it.)
And I don’t even have a television! Internet radio streams — and an overactive mind’s eye — and overexposure — and those increasingly annoying ever-present NPR talking heads… dancing around in my dreams… circling around me... Oh God!! Never thought that I’d ever come to call NPR presenters and commentators annoying, but there it is. And, now, I can't get to sleep. Is death by political campaign my fate??
Next, you know: Pigs will fly. It’s a cruel world. Uggh. Blehch! Phffhtth!!
Such a unique political year. Unfortunately, a whole string of unique, back-to-back, one after another — endlessly strung out into the infinite future?? AAAGGHH!!
So — What's next? (henh, henh, {snort} hee, hee, hee!!)
What a woild.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
My Christmas Present — Hit By a Motor Vehicle while Bicycling
This past year for me has featured several significant events. And it ended with yet another one.
I got hit by a motor vehicle while riding my bicycle on Christmas Eve. One moment I was riding south around St. Nicholas and 122nd Street and the next moment — seven hours later — I was in Harlem Hospital's Emergency Room, with two cops standing in front of me asking me to describe my bicycle. Scrambled brains from a concussion don't do well in such a situation, and they left without giving me any information, even their Precinct location.
Fortunately, all scans were negative — multiple CTs, multiple X-rays, and an ultrasound; they were quite thorough. I received exemplary care from hospital staff during my one-day-of-observation stay (the food, too, was quite good!), and I was discharged on Boxing Day. And, if MetroPlus doesn't kick about not getting an NYPD incident report (see below), I'm fully covered for my healthcare.
To this day, I don't know exactly what happened. My discharge papers state my "All Treated Diagnosis" as "Assault by being hit or run over by motor vehicle..." and under "Hospital Course" states in part "...hit from the side by a low velocity SUV." My brain has blocked or has had erased any memory of the incident and the seven hours after it. My belief is that I may have been a victim of "hit and snatch". Whoever hit me probably wanted my bike or its head and tail lamps. But without proof of an investigation and the help of memory, I can't prove that.
I don't believe that an Incident Report was ever filed by the cops which, one of my friends says, is not unusual for bicycling/motor vehicle encounters. Nor was I in good enough condition to quickly follow up on my own once discharged. Also, it doesn't help that it was the Christmas/New Year's holiday period. However, a representative from Harlem Hospital's Patient Financial Services needs an accident report in order to file a no-fault claim, so I need to do some digging. Although the report (if it exists) costs nothing for me to obtain, apparently it is not automatically sent to me. Also, apparently the EMTs did not leave a report at the hospital, which they are supposed to do.
My prized road bike is gone, and I need to replace it, but I don't think I'll be able to retrieve it. But I've pulled out my receipt of purchase from 20 years ago, just in case it has been stored for me to retrieve. However, I'm alive, and thankful that I received good medical care. The only scars I have seem to be a few scratches, a bit of a sore right ear and, unfortunately, another realization that the NYPD needs an upgrade.
There are lots of bicyclists in New York City, most densely in Brooklyn. Queens presents more problems than Manhattan or Brooklyn. I think here (mostly east of me, away from Manhattan) and on Staten Island (the "forgotten borough"!), too many motorists still don't want to share the road. But they are going to have to get used to it — a lot more bike paths, lanes, and routes are planned, and there are more bicyclists doing their bit for the environment, their health, and to save time — really! Bicycling rather than taking transit, bus, or driving often gets you to your destination faster, especially when you're in shape.
New York has been praised as a "bike-friendly" city, comparable to many European cities. It's better than London, believe it or not, which embraced the automobile with a vengeance when North Sea Brent crude oil was discovered. That evaluation, however, does not take into account motor vehicle drivers' attitudes toward two-wheeled vehicles. Bicycles have a right to use the road in much the same way as motor vehicles, with some relatively minor exceptions. Enforcement of traffic laws needs to bear that in mind, accept that, and fight the perception that every bicycle/motor vehicle incident is always the fault of the bicyclist. It is not, period.
During the December holidays, stress seems to get to more motorists who act out on seemingly anything smaller or slower than they want to go. Rather more than a few are from out of town and don't know our bicycle-respecting customs (Tourist drivers! New Jersey drivers! Yuk!!). But that does not exonerate NYC residents who drive; they can be just as bad.
I'm out again, riding my "street bike", commuting and doing errands. It's a heavier, straight-handlebar mongrel, pieced together by a local bike shop so that I could have something that isn't terribly enticing to thieves and which can well take the abuse thrown at it sometimes by the streets of New York City. I won't stop riding a bicycle — still the most energy efficient form of transportation invented. It remains my main source of exercise and well-being — after making music, of course!