Wanted: Law Abiding Bicyclists

My co-worker Diana really got me riled up today. Not with anything work related. You see, she’s a very diligent “blogger” (is that an adjective now?) and her latest post was about some vigilante bicyclists here in Seattle. Here’s what she had to say:

“Yesterday a group of 100 bicyclists - called Critical Mass - were doing their monthly demonstration - they ride in a large group and block off cars to try and make a point that we should share the road. They blocked one driver from being able to pull out of a parking spot - he got nervous as he was surrounded - he nudged his car forward bumping into some of the cyclists - they in turn surrounded his car - banging on it - and ended up smashing the rear window, punching the driver through his open window, and slashing all 4 of the tires.”

Just last night I saw this same story on the news and I went on my own little rant to Angie about the bicyclists I’ve seen here in the Seattle area. It is my opinion that they (the bicyclists) themselves are the cause of most of their troubles. I am not exagerating when I say that 75% of the bicyclists I have seen in the Seattle area do NOT obey the traffic laws when riding. Yet the whole point of their "Critical Mass" protest is to make drivers aware of them and to get us to "share the road." Just this week I have seen bicyclists weaving in and out of traffic at their pleasure, riding between cars stopped at a traffic light so as to work their way to the front of the line, coming to a complete stop IN the bus lane and refusing to move when a bus comes along that needs to get through, running red lights, riding on the sidewalks when they otherwise would have to stop at a red light on the street...I really could go on and on. Bikers demand respect on the road, but I contend that they'll never get it until they start giving it.

Also, just a little note about their little “Critical Mass” rides. Their route has on a couple of occasions taken them right past my bus stop. I must say that the spirit that infuses these “bikers” while on their demonstration is quite hostile. It does not surprise me at all the way they all rallied together to attack the man in the car, causing extensive auto damage and personal injury. As they ride down the road, completely shutting down traffic, they spew forth loud-mouthed obscenities at people on the street watching them go by. Mind you, there are no cars in sight because they’ve blocked them all from getting on the streets. So they’re out there yelling and screaming at people who are waiting to take the bus. How much sense does that make?

In my opinion, these bicyclists at Critical Mass are out there looking for a fight, and when someone gives it to them they immediately turn into the poor downtrodden outcasts of society just trying to make the world a better place and just look at how the rest of of the world treats them. Poor, poor bicyclists, boo hoo.

As John Stossel says, “Gimme a Break!”

To Infinity And Beyond!

The conversation as it was reported to me:

Angie: “I love you, Austin.”

Austin: “I love you too.”

Angie: “I love you three.”

Austin: “I love you four.”

Skip a few steps

Angie: “I love you infinity.”

Austin: “I love you And Beyond!”

Absorbent And Yellow And Porous Is He

Okay, so maybe not so yellow or porous, but Austin is absolutely every bit as absorbent as his hero SpongeBob SquarePants. And maybe SpongeBob isn’t his hero, per se, but he does greatly enjoy watching him (to the dismay of his mother), so much so that even Lucas loves it now and stands there singing “SpongeBob SquarePants” over and over again as the theme song plays.

Forget all that, this post is not about SpongeBob. It is about Austin. He did/said something last night that had Angie and I rolling with laughter yet again. It was bedtime and the routine had been started. He was on the brushing teeth stage when this event occurred. Angie had started him out in the bathroom (of course), while I was sitting in the living room. As he began brushing his teeth Austin walked out into the living room, shoved the toothbrush to the side of his mouth, thus greatly extending his cheek outward, and loudly proclaimed, “This is ridiculous. I need a Reach toothbrush!”

Are you rolling yet? Well we were. If you don’t get the joke, perhaps you don’t watch enough television. Right now there’s a commercial out for whoever it is that manufactures Reach toothbrushes showing a guy brushing his teeth, except that in his attempt to reach the back of his back teeth, he repeatedly “misses” and jabs the toothbrush into his cheek. That’s when he exclaims something to the effect of needing a Reach toothbrush. What made it all the funnier was that Austin was absolutely dead serious. He really wanted a Reach toothbrush to be able to brush his teeth properly. He was so mad that he couldn’t reach his back teach and he just kept getting madder the longer we were laughing at him.

Exterior House Pics

As promised, here’s a few before and after shots of the house and yard:

Front of house looking South:

Before












During (kind of): Flower box in front of house is cleared out, but fence and shrubs in the background are still there. Notice the lovely extension cord hanging from the window!











After: Fence and shrubs removed in background












View from front door across the street:

Before: Note that you can't even see the fence that's hiding underneath all that shrubbery.













After: Shrubs and fence removed.














Front of house looking North:


Before













After














Southwest corner of front yard:
Before: Again, there's a fence rotting away underneath there somewhere.













After

So there you have it. One rotten old fence, numerous bushes and shrubbery, a rotten tree stump, and a random rose bush in the middle of the yard all removed. Notice too that our yard went from being fairly green to completely brown. We figure we'll start watering and taking care of it as soon as there's more grass than weeds. Until that time, well...

Now, on to the backyard!

Austin's Allergy Eyes

Just a quick note here as I finally brought some pictures from home today. I have some of the yard and the house. I’ll get to posting those later. Today I wanted to show some proof of Austin’s allergies. For a refresher, revisit our post of June 16th here http://crawford-crew.blogspot.com/2008/06/monkey-vision-eye-hurting-goes-to.html.

Keep in mind that this picture was NOT from when we went to the hospital. It’s a completely separate event, and you can see that we’re giving him some Benadryl to keep it from getting worse. The day we took him to the hospital for this same problem he was so swollen he couldn’t even blink his eyes.

So there you have it. Pretty gross huh?

Pushing 30

Angie and I both teach on Sundays. She teaches the Mia Maids and I teach the Teachers, so we both have the 14-15 year-olds. Last Sunday evening I was standing at the sink doing the dishes (shocker I know) and Angie tells me that she talked to her girls about me today and hoped that was okay with me.
“Well that depends,” I replied. “What did you tell them?”
She proceeds to tell me that her lesson was about influences in your life. How certain people, situations, and things can influence your thoughts, actions, and behavior. She used me as an example of how music can influence your actions.
You see, fairly early on in our marriage (and probably even before we were married to tell the truth), Angie became quite aware that when it comes to manual labor, I’m virtually no help whatsoever. I am simply terrible at manual labor. I openly admit this and it doesn’t bother me in the least bit. The way I see it, there’s a big difference between being a hard worker and being good at manual labor. I am quite dedicated to my job and my career and put in a lot of hours at work, but the fact is, I’m an accountant. That’s what I do. Manual labor is simply not one of my strong suits.
Anyway, back to the point. Angie knows and understands this about me, but she also has a secret weapon to use against me. The one thing that can and often does turn me into a manual labor working machine is listening to Metallica. For some reason, that music just gets me into a good rhythm and allows me to keep working for hours on end.
Back to the church lesson. Angie told the girls that when she has a project involving manual labor that she wants me to tackle, she sets the task before me, puts on my Metallica CD’s and leaves me be. That music totally has an effect on me, and, bad as it may be (the music that is, at least spiritually speaking), I’ve learned to channel that into getting work done, which, all things considered, is typically a very good thing.
So Angie’s telling me that she shared this with the girls, and I’m thinking, okay, no big deal. But that’s not where the story ends. She told them that she puts on my Metallica CD’s and that helps me to work hard and get the job done. She then proceeds to tell me that their stunned faces and silence clearly indicated they had no clue who Metallica is. One girl asks, “Who’s Metallica?” Another girl quickly adds “Oh that’s like really old rock music.”
OUCH!!!