Doodle Head

"Last minute Joe!  You have to do everything at the last minute!"  I remember my dad growling that at me once when I was burning the midnight oil to get a term paper done.  To be sure, he was right; I always waited till I was down to the wire before starting on things I had to submit for a grade.  (For the record, I generally got A's.) I can only imagine the choice words he might've had if he'd checked out my college notebooks in which I doodled more than anything else.  I'm an auditory learner.  As I insisted to more than one professor, it only appeared that I wasn't paying attention.

The current blog header here features a doodle I worked on for a few days, adding to it now and then when I had a few free minutes.  The full doodle takes up an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of standard tying paper.  I guess I'd better add it here as a picture because when I change the header this post won't make much sense...

My scooter rides are a lot like my doodles.  Just as the pencil or pen tip moves toward no seeming particular end, so does my front wheel turn more often than not to take me in a direction in which I'm not necessarily  planning to go.  And, when I put down the stylus, just as when I park the bike, I can look back with a bit of a smug smile and take delight in what I've done or where I've been.

I took the BV in on Tuesday for its annual inspection plus an oil change, and to have the drive belt replaced 2,000 miles past when it was due.  I dropped it off without making an appointment because the weather was supposed to be lousy all week (which it was) and I hoped they'd get it done within a week or so.  They called on Wednesday to let me know that the drive belt would have to be ordered and that it should be ready on Friday or Monday.  I figured that with my typical luck what would translate into them calling next Wednesday.    I was wonderfully surprised when they called today, Saturday, to let me know that I could pick it up.  As soon as I finished my lunch I ran down to get it!

Though it would have been a nice day to ride I'd already made plans with others to head to an apple festival at a not too distant orchard.

A paper on which to draw.  A crisp apple.  A scooter ride.  Being loved.  My needs are simple and I wallow in their fulfillment whether manifested humbly or with fanfare.

What's So Hard about YIELD?

My dad - I love him dearly, but he has this pontificating tone of voice that makes me want to smack him sometimes, especially when he's totally wrong about something yet making it loudly known that he's the only one who's right.  "I always come to a complete stop at a yield sign!" he barked some time ago in that unmistakable basso profundo that implicitly insists that you do the same.  A decent argument ensued between dad and the rest of us about how it's not safe to stop if there's no reason to because the guy behind you, having no logical reason to expect you to stop if there's nothing coming, might plow into the caboose end of your car.  But, there's no convincing dad.

That's one wrong action to take around a yield sign - to stop completely when there is no traffic impeding one's entrance onto a road.  But there's another practice that drives me even more batty - folks moving from the driving lane into the passing lane to "be nice" and allow the guy coming up to the yield sign free reign.  

Now I'm not against being nice while driving.  I like it when somebody cuts me a break at a long traffic light and motions for me to turn left while he holds up the oncoming traffic piled up behind him.  Likewise, I often do the same for others and am often presented with the opportunity to do so when entering my own street which abuts such a busy intersection.  

What I am opposed to is having some dimwit cut in front of me as I'm zipping along in the passing lane to allow somebody to enter from the on ramp while slowing me down in the process.  I had that happen to me a number of times in my travels this past weekend which is why I'm bellyaching about it here and now.  Sure, the guy who's moving over is being nice to the person coming onto the highway, but it's at my expense!  And, it's gotten to the point where folks almost seem to expect everybody to move over for them without their having to observe the spirit of the yield in the first place.

How about from now on we all do what we're supposed to do at a yield?  Stop only if the steady flow of traffic on the main road warrants a stop, and go when it's safe to go without expecting everybody already on the road to move over for you.  Or would that make too much sense?

Mildly Moist

I shot this picture last week when I got to work.  I'd left the house on the bike not realizing till I'd made it to the street from the back yard that a light drizzle was falling.  At that point I wasn't about to trade the cycle for the car so off I went hoping for the best.  I didn't get too wet and that was very good 'cause I'd've been miserable all day if I had.

I just remembered now, on Monday evening, that yesterday afternoon while I was out riding just for the fun of it I had a great idea of how to tie this photo into an introspective discourse to share with you here.  Unfortunately, that's all of the memory that came back to me and I can't recall what it was about being wet upon which I'd wanted to expound.  If it comes back to me I'll rush back here and type it up.  For now, though, all you get is the picture and my admitted chagrin.