I figured out the down side to the extremely nice weather we’ve been having….every twit in town with a bicycle is out riding it, screwing up traffic something fierce.  Check this:  This morning as I was driving to work I was stopped at a red light and a bicyclist peddles up in the lane beside me, slows down and looks both ways, then proceeds to just pedal right through the red light.  I gave him a couple ‘o toots of my horn AND HE FLIPPED ME OFF!  I see this every day.

I never have figured out why bicycles are allowed to ride in the streets in the first place.  Public streets are for MOTOR vehicles.  Bicycles have NO MOTORS!  Put ‘em on the sidewalk; they’re not used much.  (’Cause the kids are inside playing computer games getting fat and even more pasty.)  Maybe back in 19-ought-something when cars could only go 10 mph and bicycles could go 9 mph, and since most towns back then didn’t have sidewalks, it probably didn’t hurt to let them ride in the street.  Plus many people used bikes for utilitarian transportation.  In may parts of the world today…Europe comes to mind…bicycles are a much used method of transportation.  But tightly packed Europe and wide open Texas are NOT the same.  Around here people drive cars to/from work, school, running errands, etc.  They get on bikes JUST TO GET IN MY WAY!!!  They put on their goofy little tight pants and their little teardrop helmets and play like they’re riding the Tour de France.  Hey fruitloops, look around.  This is PLANO, TX, not friggin France!

I realize some of my KCL friends ride bikes (Fin comes to mind), but I’m confident he obeys traffic laws and is a considerate cyclist.  My rant is not aimed at them/him.

Did you know in Las Vegas you can’t be prosecuted if you run over a jaywalker on The Strip?  Hmmm….

S

I love this story:  A  Mr. Easton in Utah had a nice view of the mountains from his hilltop home until a guy purchased the lot just below him and started building a rather tall house.  Too tall, in fact, as it turned out it exceeded the maximum height allowed by city code.  As the new house ruined Mr. Easton’s view, he complained to the city and the house under construction was ordered to be rebuilt to a lower height.  The neighbor complied, but when he was rebuilding his home (at considerable expense no doubt) he made a “minor” cosmetic alteration.  Using some attic vents he…well…see for yourself:

This is now the view out of Mr. Easton’s windows as he looks towards his beloved mountains.  He complained to the city again but was told it violated no ordinance, so it would be allowed.

Maybe Brick O’bama should have invited Mr. Easton and his neighbor to stop by for a beer?

S

Yesterday was one of those days where everything went wrong.  On Wednesday night I reported our cable TV was out…AGAIN…and was told they (service provider Ygnition) would be out Thursday 8-1.  (They first said 8-5, but I told them I would ONLY be available 8-1.)  I was home all morning, washed clothes to pass the time, but by 1 they hadn’t showed.  K was still home for lunch, so she wound up taking the afternoon off to wait for the lyin’ numbnuts.  He finally showed sometime after 3pm.  In the meantime K had called Time Warner and signed us up for their service, starting Monday.  Adios Ygnition…y’all suck.

Then of course our new Apple iMac was out, although I’m confident they’ll make things right.  Even our KCL guru Matt says I’m “in good hands”, and I trust his opinion.

I met with M/M “R” yesterday to get their input on what they would like in their new home.  Trouble was the meeting raised more questions than it answered.  I just need to be more patient, I suppose.

Finally, our elevator is out of service until later this morning, so it was up and down 4 flights of stairs.  That’s especially tough at 6:15 in the morning, let me tell ya!

The one positive was the incredibly nice weather we’ve been having.  High temps in the 80″s?  Somebody pinch me!

Happy Friday, y’all.

S