Tuesday, August 31, 2010

If You Were Riding the Bicycle #3 - 4 Way Right

4-Way stops are interesting little studies in human interaction. People get really angry when others mess up the first-come-first-go order of the things. For those of you that don't know, a 4-Way stop is an intersection with four stop signs. Those arriving at the intersections take turns proceeding based on the order of arrival, and in the event of a tie the vehicle on the right wins. Bicycles blowing through these types of intersections really mess up an already tenuous sense of order.

Over the last year or two while I have really reduced my queue jumping and I will merge with traffic and line up like everybody else at a 4-Way stop. The introduction of bike lanes has made this process harder for me, particularly when it comes to right hand turns...


Going straight or left, I would merge about 3-4 cars back and behave like a car at the stop, bike lane or no bike lane, since I would prefer to get through it uninjured. Before the bike lane, I had trained myself into doing right hand turns the "First Way". Before the bike lane, most queue jumpers wouldn't do it at speed, and there were fewer of them since it was tighter and more dangerous. I have gone back to the "Second Way" lately because I think the greater danger lies in cyclists overtaking on the right.


What would you do if you were riding the bicycle?


R A N T W I C K

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Shoutout

Remember that "How's My Driving?" sign I've been riding around with? I had gotten no contacts other than Dave until yesterday, and it was something "live" as I rode along.


I got video and audio, but you will have to go the big old "How's My Driving" responses page in order to see it.


Hey, I'll take what I can get.

R A N T W I C K

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Are You #%^&1n' Kiddin' Me #3

There's an ad that has been running for a while that drives me insane every time I see it. I suppose everybody wants to feel young, or at least younger. But this?




Come on! I guess I could handle some sort of other condiment, say, salsa or something, being characterized as edgy. This, however, is Miracle Whip. Saying that Miracle Whip is cooler or more hip than almost anything else on the planet, including mayo, is the stupidest idea I've seen in a long long time.

Normally I would drift off into a tangential discussion of some kind, but this ad leaves me feeling so crusty I'm just gonna leave it there. Sandwich spreads are not people, nor are they loud, or hard core. I mean, really... Are You #%^&1n' Kiddin' Me?


Spread the Love,

R A N T W I C K

PS - Always late to the party, I now realize that many others, some with actual audiences, have already made fun of these commercials. It would seem I am completely lacking in tangy zip, because I posted this anyway. Oh, one more thing: who the hell uses polaroid cameras any more? Where does she buy film? Don't all cool young people own iphones? And where are the fixies? Don't ad executives know what's hip? Man, I really am clueless.