Jul. 14th, 2009

walkitout: (Default)
We've been chatting with some of the folk we see in the neighborhood, when T. and I are out on our bikes. Here are some of the lovely little stories we have heard.

Mr. B., who works for the school, has access to the fitness room. One day, he was there alone but knew that some of his team would shortly be in the room. So he put 350 pounds on the barbell and then sprinkled his forehead with cold water. The kids drew the obvious (but false) conclusion.

His neighbor, M., got to spend at least part of last weekend on her older son's 12 foot sailing boat in Boston Harbor. Very fun!

A couple days ago, T. and I were at the intersection of Lothrop and Spencer when a couple cars came through while we waited at the side. As soon as they were gone, he chased the black car down Lothrop. We saw that Mr. and Mrs. B. were outside and stopped to chat. Turns out, he _recognized_ Mrs. B.'s car -- that was the one he'd chased. And today, when we passed their house, he noted the car's absence and said, "No car". Took me a minute to figure out what he meant.

On Saturday, one of the kids on Tuttle had a lemonade stand. The same day, an ice cream truck slowly rolled through the subdivision. Boy, did I wish I'd brought my wallet. But who expected _that_ on a sunny weekend day? Definitely living in a time warp. On Sunday, some other kids on Tuttle had a miniature yard sale.

Today, T. decided he wanted a ride home on my bike. I got him and his bike home just fine -- didn't even have to walk it on the sidewalk. My balance is good enough now for the load and even for his wiggling in the seat behind me. Turns out his fine motor skills have advanced to the point he can undo the requires-two-hands buckle on his Bobike Maxi. Hmmmm.

And I put his new helmet on him today. It has red flames. I'll upload a pictures, later.
walkitout: (Default)
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/driver-survey-finds-less-drinking-more-drugs/

Nice coverage, actually. I'm pleased. And the way they got the samples looks good, too. They pay for saliva and more for blood; if a driver refuses outright, they up the ante. If they think someone is impaired, they don't call the cops, but they do make sure they find another way home.

I think it's probably good that we've seen a shift from alcohol to other drugs; alcohol really, really, really messes with driving. It is hardly surprising that rates for alcohol are highest between 1 and 3 a.m. (bar closing hours), nor that it is more men than women, nor that it's mostly truck drivers and motorcyclists.

Of course we don't have a baseline to compare the drug use numbers to -- whether we have more now or fewer is a matter for speculation unfettered by data.

September 2025

S M T W T F S
  1 2 3 4 5 6
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Sep. 7th, 2025 05:47 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios