Why I rather despise the World Day of Rememberance 🚲 ☹️
The Albany Bicycle Coalition strikes me as an organization that is more anti-bicycling then is pro-bicycling. While their goals may be noble, two of the things they promote – ghost bicycles places where people have died in bike crashes – and the World Day of Rememberance for Lost Pedestrians and Cyclists is decidedly anti-bicycling.
In many ways the Albany Bicycling Coalition reminds me a lot of some of the gun control groups – whining a lot about the lost of life for cyclists and how tragic it is – while not doing much to make cycling safer or better beyond suggesting cyclists and pedestrians don’t belong on their road, and anyone crazy enough to step out of the protective cocoon of an automobile with it’s 10 different air bags is just plain asking for death by motorist suicide. Obviously, by emphasizing how dangerous cycling is, then it’s an excuse to embolden cops and cities to get more revenue by ticketing and harassing cyclists and pedestrians, even if they aren’t the ones causing most of the problems.
The problem with many of these cyclists organizations is they are primarily recreational in nature, most rarely leave the safety of the bike trail, or when they do ride, it’s on rural highways with wide shoulders and sunny weather in the middle of the weekend day primarily. When your a leisure cyclist, it’s easy to criticize people who rely on a bike to get around town in traffic. Commuting sometimes involves risks that you don’t have to deal with a leisurely peddle on a bike path. These cyclists organizations view owning a bike as something you do leisurely with family off-the-road. They don’t get that cycling may have dangers, but so does obesity, lack of exercise and fresh air, along with the harm that driving an automobile does with it’s toxic exhaust coming out of tailpipes and rubbing off their tires.
Internet Archive
While I have in the past used the Wayback Machine, I never realized what a jewel the Internet Archive is for finding historical books and very old music from the era of 78 RPM record. Along with many old computer games and programs, and emulators to run on their. Then there also is the New York Historical Newspaper archive, which is a great place to find old newspaper archives from across New York and piece together why things are the way they are now based on ways they once were done.
More and more gutters!
Apparently I looked at an advertisement for gutters, or hung my mouse too long over an advertisement for gutters, and my feed is full off ads for gutters once again. Not the kind you might find on a tie-stall barn but the kind that is common suburban houses to direct rainwater away from the foundation and doorways on wet days. Clicking on the ad brings you to an advertisement for leaf-fitter, as leaves in your gutter apparently are the bane of suburban homeowners, as they get wet, clog up, which causes the gutter to get heavy and fall off the roof, or if the gutter is made out iron, then rot out.
I am not opposed to gutters as they serve an important purpose but I seems like too often water collected on roofs is wasted. Some of it is the instance of suburban homeowners on their cheap asphalt shingle roofs that turn otherwise clean water into a chemical soup of oils and rock dust as the water drips off it. Quiet and slower at releasing the rain, it is taken away as a toxic stew and discarded into lawns and sewers. But what if gutters could be part of a rainwater collection system? Filtered for clean drinking water – or at least used for watering plants, gardens and livestock? It seems like a roof, and gutters could do a lot more then be some kind of woke suburban house accessory.
Frugal 🛍️
I am a member of one the Facebook Frugal Living Group. It has some many interesting discussions and viewpoints on what is frugal living, and what is worthwhile and not worthwhile to spend money on. Money is after all a means to get things people desire, and the range of priorities varies a lot from human to human – even those who are trying to save money.
Some people are frugal out of necessity – they are poor with limited incomes from their jobs or lack jobs all together. Others are disabled or sick, unable to earn much. Or they live in an area with few good paying jobs. But others choose to be frugal for conservation reasons – producing less garbage and using electricity to save natural resources. Some want more money towards further purchases like owning a home or a homestead.
There is an endless discussions on the merits of being frugal versus cheap. Often it’s not clear what the difference is, though cheap is often seen as taking a short-run view on situation, underinvesting in the future and personal relationships, and taking advantage of others. Still the prudent, frugal person can’t help but look at less expensive ways of doing things, weighting things with a lower initial price, and doing the math out to see if it’s worthwhile to choose that option over the more expensive one in the future.
Myself, frugality comes from a desire to be simple and to conserve. Both so I can save and invest more money towards my future, the homestead and retirement from government work. A dollar saved today and investing, has significant potential to grow in the coming years. But also I don’t like producing a lot of garbage or wasting resources unnecessarily. At the same time, I do like my truck and traveling, and that’s something I’m much more likely to spend money on compared to using much heat and light, home internet, or driving to work whenever I can ride my bike or take a bus, no matter the minor inconveniences.
So yeah, I ran over some shit on Erie Boulevard last night and put multiple punctures in my bike tire 🚲
Yeah, it was no fucking fun putting on the spare tube into he pitch black and catching an even later local bus home but I was able to patch up that badly damaged tube with a lot of rubber cement and chunks of rubber tube and it’s holding air again and the spare is off and ready to save my ass again hopefully not soon.
I’ve been talking for six months about getting new tires for my bike, 🚴 as the nubs are totally worn off the back tire and the front tire is compeletely cracked and crumbled, with pieces missing and you can see through the tire in part down to the tube which isn’t offering much protection though the fix-a-flat saves my ass most of the time with the little leaks. Hell I don’t know how many of the leaks I patched last night weren’t serious and would have been fixed with the fix-a-flat when properly mounted but the one that made me swap the tube in the dark certainly was.
I was actually up later then usual, by the time I took the even later local bus home then had dinner and patched up the tire. I was only up until 9 PM but that’s pretty late for me when most mornings I’m up at 4:30 AM or 5 AM to read and think. 🤔 I don’t use an alarm, I’m just use to getting up at that hour, refreshed with clarity in thought. ☕ Used the last of milk this morning, had some of the coffee black. Spent much of early hour reading the remaining, The Heart of the Homestead, mostly just to get it done as I have several more books to get through before they return automatically next Friday on Hoopla. Also plan to listen to more of Raising Goats for Dummies 🐐 on the way into the office. Need to top off my bike tires, shower 🚿 and then riding in. Hopefully the patches will hold good and I’ll make it both ways without having to swap tubes like I did last night.
Honestly it wasn’t the worse thing in the world, wasn’t like I had any plans for last night beyond more pea soup, homemade bread and bed 🛏️. Maybe didn’t get as much as sleep as I often do on a cold and dark winters night but it’s a Friday and I was still up bright 🔆 and early. Sunny and mild morning to start out what should be a good day. And hell, yesterday could have been a lot worse. I saw there was a crash on the expressway. 🚘 Truth is I really hate driving, though at some point if I ever want to move out of the city that will be a necessity as cars are the best way to escape the city, though park and ride can certainly help. Assuming Trump doesn’t cut even more of the funding for the busses 🚍 so the only service is left is only the “last resort bus” to the ghetto for those who don’t have any other choice but ride the bus because their too poor to drive. Unfortunately it seems like bus service is going that way lately. Soon the one bus at day will run from Arbor Hill to the Methadone Clinic, spray painted from to wall to wall with gang symbols, and be full of scary people covered with holes from all the needles.
I think I’m done with the green pea soup 🥣 after tonight. Any leftovers I’ll freeze. It’s been good but I’ve had too much of it the last few days. Not been as gassy 😲 since I got used to it and started eating reasonable portions. Tonight I want to soak the remaining two pounds of pinto beans 🫘 I have so I can enjoy them with many meals in the coming week. People might think beans make you gassy too but when they are a staple of your diet, you build the ability to process the fiber and starch. They’re inexpensive and a good source of protein too. May need whole wheat flour already again as I’ve been baking a lot and having a lot of pancakes 🥞 lately. This morning was oatmeal and Greek yogurt with banana and mango. Good stuff too.
Tomorrow looks good early, 🌲 for the first day of regular season. I want to get to the Pine Bush to ride, get a picture of the John Wolcott sign and visit thrift shops in search of more clothes for work. 👚 Get really nice stuff thrifting, you got to sort through the crap but then again the same is true with the overpriced crap you find at the Maul, and you don’t even have to go to stinking Maul with the gangs of horney teenagers running around, shoplifting and stinking of incense and processed food. 🍟 👃 Then I need to get another plastic milk bottle 🐮 for coffee on Sunday and rest of the week and stock up on a few other groceries not that my pantry is that bare but it’s good to have everything for the week. 🛒 Need to get soap 🧼 and maybe some shredded parm cheese 🧀 for certain meals.
And maybe get through some other books before Hoopla automatically returns them. 📚 I still have 10 November borrows to use up but I’ll get them later in the morning, maybe closer to Thanksgiving for my post-holiday trip to the North Country, 🦃 and in the mean-time finding reading 📖 material on Libby. I’ve been reading a lot about homesteading lately, maybe next month I’ll study more about construction 🚧 and building shit. 🏡 I just don’t want one of those woke plastic houses with the vinyl siding and asphalt roofs, with a 5 yard dumpster picked up weekly or for that matter an always full of plastic and stinking trash burning barrel. 🛢️ Really want to get away from all that plastic crap that is promoted endlessly, along with all the processed food that all I ever see is advertising about. Shit is far worse then occasional toke or drag on a cigarette. 🚬
