Thursday, June 04, 2009

He who hesitates, avoids ending up on the hood of a car

This and other mussing of living in Washington, DC.

Wednesday morning I was walking to the subway to get to my personal training session. I was about two strides from stepping off the sidewalk and on to the crosswalk when this woman made a right hand turn. The light in her direction was red. She simply ran the light. She didn’t even bother to slow down. I don’t think at any time she was aware that I was there. I draw this conclusion from the fact that once she made her right turn she looked very startled to see me. I don’t think there is any question that if I had stepped off the curb she would have hit me.

As I’ve often said stop light and signs are to many people merely stopping suggestions. If they are in a hurry, they don’t stop. They don’t even slow down. In fact I’ve lost count of the number of times a light’s turned yellow and I hear cars speed up. They usually start into the intersection when the light is red. I have to say I’m surprised that more pedestrians aren’t struck. The moral from this is never to step off the curb right after the light changes and you get the walk sign.

Rain rain go away

It’s been a rather rainy spring. I seem to be cutting my grass all the time. As I’ve said before, I hate cutting the grass. It doesn’t take all that long to do but it’s enough time to be a pain. I also have to carry the mower through the house to cut the front or back. I suppose I could walk to around the alley to the front and vice verse but that would really be a waste of time. So after cutting the grass I have to vacuum the living room. Pretty strange.

I was hoping to start riding my bike to work this week but well the rain’s gotten in the way. I hope to ride at least two days out of the week. Tuesdays and maybe Thursdays. I might try it on one of the days I have a personal training session. I need to do a test ride to see how long it would take to get to the gym.

At least the rain is having a positive effect on the flower boxes out front. I do have to remember to water the one that’s on the far side and rarely gets much rain. As for the seeds I planted well they seem to be pretty much of a bust. There are a few that are still trying to grow. As we say in my family we’ll see.

I also hope the rain goes away for tomorrow. A bunch of us are going to go to a National’s game.

Why is there fragrance in sun block? I think instead of saying fragrance they say stench. I have to ask why do all sun blocks have that overwhelming clawing smell. How about an unscented version? Like the way laundry detergent has. After a long ride I come home reeking of the sunblock fragrance. Even after taking a long shower there is still the residual whiff of the smell. Please make something that has no smell.

On the Metro

I’ve notice more and more people eating on the Metro. And these are people who don’t look like tourists. I’m willing to give tourists a break. Just one more thing they are clueless about on the Metro. But these people eating well. Perfect example this morning where a guy was eating a piece of pizza. I guess it was breakfast. The Metro board decided recently not to allow food vendors inside the stations. I think that was a good idea. It’s just going to encourage people to eat and drink more on the trains. I don’t mind it all that much except if you sit down in a seat where a Coke’s been spilled and it’s all sticky. I had that happen last year. I happened to be in shorts and it was just a little painful getting up off the seat when I reached my stop. Food, in general, seems to make less of a mess than drink.

The other thing I’ve notice on the Metro lately, and this one does bug me, is people hogging seats. I don’t mind when the cars are empty but people seem to think it’s ok to hog the seats during rush hour. I’d say the majority of occasions another rider has to ask them to move their stuff. It shouldn’t have to come to that. Once the car starts filling up people should be moving their stuff.

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