It’s that time of the week – to record some pleasantly random thoughts for the Pleasantly Random Blog Carnival over at Duane Scott’s place.
I’ve been doing more biking this week – sometimes in the mornings before work and sometimes after. The weather has been greatly cooperating – St. Louis seems to get a few days of unbelievably cool weather at the end of June and then – POW! – time to sweat buckets for July 4th.
We have no plans for the July 4th weekend. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Yay!
My dog turns 14 on Saturday. We got him when our youngest was in third grade. Our youngest just graduated from college.
I’ve been reading Forget Me Not by Vickie Hinze. I received the book in a giveaway by leaving a comment on a blog, and my name was selected. It’s a suspense/mystery with what is beginning to look like more than a dash of romance. It’s also one of those hard-to-put-down-because-I-need-to see-what-happens- next-type of books.
I’ve got five books that I’ve read that are sitting patiently, waiting for me to write the reviews.
I’ve been tweeting a lot about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I grew up in New Orleans, spent many a day on the beach on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and took several vacations (as a child and an adult) to places like Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama, and Pensacola and Destin, Florida. So far, the federal government and BP between them are proving that large organizations cannot handle disaster response. But Vice President Biden did manage to get in a photo opp in the Gulf Wednesday, so the day wasn’t entirely a loss. A spill cleanup worker who’d been in Gulf Shores quit her job after being told to clean only the visible contamination on the beaches.
I’ve already gotten two grandbaby fixes this week, and it’s only Wednesday. Monday night we babysat and last night we were all at a birthday party for a dear friend of ours and our son’s. The friend’s husband had arranged and pulled off a major surprise.
I got yelled at the other day on my way to work. A driver starting drifting into my lane, getting dangerously close. I hit the horn and she swerved back into her lane – and then proceeded to yell at me while she pointed to her cell phone. She was trying to call or text someone, and she was mad that I had interrupted her. I’m becoming a major fan of banning cell phone use while driving. It can be really bad if you’re bicycling. Car drivers don’t usually see you anyway, and using a cell phone while driving virtually guarantees they won’t see a bicyclist or a pedestrian until after they hit them.
This morning, I’m up early enough to do a bike ride. So, on to breakfast, then to Grant’s Trail, a former train line that starts about 1.5 miles from my house. Roundtrip is just under 20 miles. I’ve been thinking about a blog post entitled “The Community of the Early Morning Trail,” followed by “The Community of the Early Evening Trail.” Trail users are very different at these two times of the day.
I always find it reassuring to read others random thoughts -- I feel not so alone in my own meandering thinking that dashes from here to there and back again, observing and collecting data and images and ideas that seem so disconnected until I put them on the page and voila! There is a rhyme to my lack of reason!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of your Trails posts -- it's the same as running. There are different runners in the morning and in the evening. Unfortunately, my difference today is that I'm not out with them! Gonna change that. Yup. As soon as I make sense of why the squirrel just ran across the lawn dragging a large twig in its mouth. Do squirrels build nests? Nah. Perhaps he's building a tree house...
I agree with you about cell phones and driving. I have read letters to the editor that ask "What about changing the radio dial? What about eating or drinking in the car? Aren't these dangerous, too?" It seems to me, though, that I can change the radio station or have a sip of water at a stop light, and I'm done way before the light turns. It seems to me that calling someone on the phone is distracting for a longer period of time, and people don't even wait until they have stopped at a light.
ReplyDeleteA woman in my state is in prison for manslaughter because she struck and killed a pedestrian while polishing her nails.
I'd rather see drinking and station changing illegal if need be than for something like that to happen again.
Even your random thoughts are well organized.
ReplyDeleteI've got blue tooth in my car. If and when I talk on the phone in my car, both hands are firmly on the wheel at 10 and 2.
good randomness, i like this thursday thing.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was the only one with no plans for the Fourth! Maybe I'll come to your house..;-0
ReplyDeleteJay
Today marks the day that cell phone talking or texting is no longer allowed while driving in my state.
ReplyDeleteI have my bluetooth.
And I plan to listen to the authorities. Good rules, I tell you. Because I've been on that bike when the car doesn't see.
the early morning bikers are so different from the evening bikers and all are at the mercy of the texting drivers. be safe out there!
ReplyDeleteBoth my kids are heading to Lake Michigan for the weekend--different areas. We will be home while hubby studies for yet another dumb test. I told my daughter I really thought she needed to leave the baby at home. She didn't agree. I mean, I know I had her yesterday and Saturday night. But still.
ReplyDeleteNicely random. And... SHE YELLED AT YOU?! Sorry, didn't mean to yell too. :) That's pretty crazy though. People can be so strange (I should know, I'm a people).
ReplyDeleteThe time for your post reads: 3:11 a.m.! I am going to assume you were not up at that hour.
ReplyDeletePlease write the two bicycle trail posts! I'm an early morning rider and my husband is an early evening rider. In spite of that difference, we're about to celebrate 18 years together.
ReplyDelete