jennandcarlos (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jennandcarlos) wrote,@ 2008-07-17 20:30:00 |
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Of Weddings and Biking / De Bodas y Bicicletas
Hello world!
This past weekend we traveled to PA for my cousin Chris's wedding. It was a really brief visit (in at 10am saturday, back on the plane at 4 on Sunday) but we had a really good time. Chris and I spent a lot of time playing together when we were kids since he and his brother Clint lived across the street from us. I sometimes think about how my kids wont get to be that close with their cousins, but thats another story.
El fin de semana pasada fuimos al Pennsylvania para el matrimonio de me primo Chris. El viaje fue muy corto (llegamos a las 10 de la manana el sabado, salimos a las 4 de la tarde el domingo). Cuando eramos jovenes, Chris y yo jugamos juntos mucho porque Chris vivio al lado de yo. A veces pienso en que mis hijos no va a conocer sus primos tan bueno que yo, per esto es una otra cuenta
It was especially cool since Chris and I have a lot of the same high school friends, so I got to spend some time with friends I havent seen in quite a while, as well as get to introduce my husband :-D
El dia fue especialmente bueno por que Chris y y tenemos muchos amigos mismos del colegio, entonces pude pasar un poco tiempo con mis amigos, y pude introducirlos a mi esposo :-D
Heres the sign outside the hotel where the reception was / Aqui esta el cartel del hotel del recepcion
Here we are at the house - Mom, Bethany, her friend Jamie, Carlos and I
Aqui estuvimos en la casa - Madre, Bethany y su amiga Jamie, Carlos y yo
Now some pics from the reception / Ahora algunas fotos del recepcion
The Clints! Clint III and Clint Jr, brother and father of the groom / Mi primo Clint III y mi tio Clint Jr, hermano del novio y padre del novio
The stylish Bethany / Mi hermana Bethany
The happy couple / Los novios
Bethany and Carlos dancing! / Bethany y Carlos bailando!
Miss Xena sleeping / El gato de mi Madre, Xena, dormiendo
And of course, Anubis! / y por supuesto Anubis!
One more pic from PA. The blue spruce tree in this photo is Tree Margret. My girl scout troop planted this tree when I was maybe 14
Una foto mas de Pennsylvania. El arbol azul en esta foto se llama "tree margret" Mi tropa de girl scouts plantamos este arbol cuando tuve 14 anos mas or menos
Now for some pics from Portland / Algunas fotos de Portland
Our cherry tree had 3 cherries. We think the neighborhood kids ate 2 of them. Here is the remaining one
Nuestro arbol de cerezas tuvo 3 cerezas. Creemos que algunos jovenes se las comieran. Aqui esta la ultima
Our red columbine / una flor se llama "columbine"
Our gardenias, thanks to Ceci (Carlos' aunt) for giving them to use :) / Nuestras gardenias, gracias a Ceci para regalar nos las
Thats all the photos I have, now to the bikes / Esto es todo de las fotos, ahora las bicicletas
Lately there have been a lot of bike related incidents here in Portland. It started out with this crazy guy smashing the car of a bike advocate with his bicycle in a drunken rage, followed by this crazy guy driving drunk and ending up with a cyclist on his windshield, followed by a cyclist that ran a red light and t-boned a truck now in serious condition in a hospital
And while looking up the links for the above incidents I found another from today - cyclist smashes bus window.
All of this activity happened downtown. I dont really see any behavior like this at all where I bike but all of these stories have everyone talking. As a person who spents more time in a car than on a bike (but lately a lot of time on a bike) I can say that at least in my experiences, both cyclists and motorists disobey the laws pretty equally. Yet as I read these stories day after day I cant help but think what the heck is wrong with these bikers? I passed a woman biking with a kiddie trailer on my way home. At first I was excited, but then as I got closer i noticed that she wasnt wearing a helmet, and when rang my bell to signal that i was about to pass she didnt respond.. because she was wearing headphones.. wearing headphones is illegal for drivers and bikers in Oregon for obvious reasons.
I think one reason we hear about all of this in Portland is because of the high percentage of cyclists - on average 6% of people in downtown ride bikes for transportation, and i think it can be as high as 15% in some neighborhoods. Statistically speaking more incidents are bound to happen there.
One thing that is unique about this situation is that cars and bikes can interact. To use the bike-clubbing incident as an example, lets assume you were in a car and the car in front of you ran a light. You might think 'what a jerk!' Now what would you do about it? Probably nothing. At the next light you would just be positioned behind the car, its highly unlikely that you would get out of your car and confront the other driver.
Now consider what happens with a bike and a car. Since a bike travels next to a car there is plenty of opportunity for interaction. When I drive and get frustrated at another driver I might say some nasty things, but usually my opinions are contained within my car. On a bike you are subject to (and subject others to) these opinions and feelings; there is no longer a cabin of metal to shield yourself and others from such comments, so people start communicating with eachother and can get into heated arguments
I have a hard time with this. Im trying to be more concientous of the comments I make while Im biking, but I have to admit im definitely a hot head when it comes to such things, ESPECIALLY if someone has knowingly tried to harm or scare me. I instantly want to take revenge and employ all methods of vocal and body language to convey that desire. And in the rare instance that I get to read someone the riot act for wronging me I always feel worse afterwards. Always. Im pretty sure I feel bad because I too am acting like a jerk.
It is frustrating when people dont follow the rules and put others at risk. Unfortunately no one (myself included) wants to hear that we are wrong, so confronting others about breaking rules almost always seems to end with vulgarities. I am personally trying to accept that I can be wrong, and trying to focus more on being at peace with others instead of having to be right all the time. I think if we all try to do this then these types of incidents will abate.
I still dont know what to do about confronting law breakers. When someone is doing something dangerous (like riding the wrong way in the bike lane) that could harm others I think its important to point it out, but what if the person flips out and tries to harm me for bringing it up? Its too bad that our society is in such a state. I dont know what to do really.
Hello world!
This past weekend we traveled to PA for my cousin Chris's wedding. It was a really brief visit (in at 10am saturday, back on the plane at 4 on Sunday) but we had a really good time. Chris and I spent a lot of time playing together when we were kids since he and his brother Clint lived across the street from us. I sometimes think about how my kids wont get to be that close with their cousins, but thats another story.
El fin de semana pasada fuimos al Pennsylvania para el matrimonio de me primo Chris. El viaje fue muy corto (llegamos a las 10 de la manana el sabado, salimos a las 4 de la tarde el domingo). Cuando eramos jovenes, Chris y yo jugamos juntos mucho porque Chris vivio al lado de yo. A veces pienso en que mis hijos no va a conocer sus primos tan bueno que yo, per esto es una otra cuenta
It was especially cool since Chris and I have a lot of the same high school friends, so I got to spend some time with friends I havent seen in quite a while, as well as get to introduce my husband :-D
El dia fue especialmente bueno por que Chris y y tenemos muchos amigos mismos del colegio, entonces pude pasar un poco tiempo con mis amigos, y pude introducirlos a mi esposo :-D
Heres the sign outside the hotel where the reception was / Aqui esta el cartel del hotel del recepcion
Here we are at the house - Mom, Bethany, her friend Jamie, Carlos and I
Aqui estuvimos en la casa - Madre, Bethany y su amiga Jamie, Carlos y yo
Now some pics from the reception / Ahora algunas fotos del recepcion
The Clints! Clint III and Clint Jr, brother and father of the groom / Mi primo Clint III y mi tio Clint Jr, hermano del novio y padre del novio
The stylish Bethany / Mi hermana Bethany
The happy couple / Los novios
Bethany and Carlos dancing! / Bethany y Carlos bailando!
Miss Xena sleeping / El gato de mi Madre, Xena, dormiendo
And of course, Anubis! / y por supuesto Anubis!
One more pic from PA. The blue spruce tree in this photo is Tree Margret. My girl scout troop planted this tree when I was maybe 14
Una foto mas de Pennsylvania. El arbol azul en esta foto se llama "tree margret" Mi tropa de girl scouts plantamos este arbol cuando tuve 14 anos mas or menos
Now for some pics from Portland / Algunas fotos de Portland
Our cherry tree had 3 cherries. We think the neighborhood kids ate 2 of them. Here is the remaining one
Nuestro arbol de cerezas tuvo 3 cerezas. Creemos que algunos jovenes se las comieran. Aqui esta la ultima
Our red columbine / una flor se llama "columbine"
Our gardenias, thanks to Ceci (Carlos' aunt) for giving them to use :) / Nuestras gardenias, gracias a Ceci para regalar nos las
Thats all the photos I have, now to the bikes / Esto es todo de las fotos, ahora las bicicletas
Lately there have been a lot of bike related incidents here in Portland. It started out with this crazy guy smashing the car of a bike advocate with his bicycle in a drunken rage, followed by this crazy guy driving drunk and ending up with a cyclist on his windshield, followed by a cyclist that ran a red light and t-boned a truck now in serious condition in a hospital
And while looking up the links for the above incidents I found another from today - cyclist smashes bus window.
All of this activity happened downtown. I dont really see any behavior like this at all where I bike but all of these stories have everyone talking. As a person who spents more time in a car than on a bike (but lately a lot of time on a bike) I can say that at least in my experiences, both cyclists and motorists disobey the laws pretty equally. Yet as I read these stories day after day I cant help but think what the heck is wrong with these bikers? I passed a woman biking with a kiddie trailer on my way home. At first I was excited, but then as I got closer i noticed that she wasnt wearing a helmet, and when rang my bell to signal that i was about to pass she didnt respond.. because she was wearing headphones.. wearing headphones is illegal for drivers and bikers in Oregon for obvious reasons.
I think one reason we hear about all of this in Portland is because of the high percentage of cyclists - on average 6% of people in downtown ride bikes for transportation, and i think it can be as high as 15% in some neighborhoods. Statistically speaking more incidents are bound to happen there.
One thing that is unique about this situation is that cars and bikes can interact. To use the bike-clubbing incident as an example, lets assume you were in a car and the car in front of you ran a light. You might think 'what a jerk!' Now what would you do about it? Probably nothing. At the next light you would just be positioned behind the car, its highly unlikely that you would get out of your car and confront the other driver.
Now consider what happens with a bike and a car. Since a bike travels next to a car there is plenty of opportunity for interaction. When I drive and get frustrated at another driver I might say some nasty things, but usually my opinions are contained within my car. On a bike you are subject to (and subject others to) these opinions and feelings; there is no longer a cabin of metal to shield yourself and others from such comments, so people start communicating with eachother and can get into heated arguments
I have a hard time with this. Im trying to be more concientous of the comments I make while Im biking, but I have to admit im definitely a hot head when it comes to such things, ESPECIALLY if someone has knowingly tried to harm or scare me. I instantly want to take revenge and employ all methods of vocal and body language to convey that desire. And in the rare instance that I get to read someone the riot act for wronging me I always feel worse afterwards. Always. Im pretty sure I feel bad because I too am acting like a jerk.
It is frustrating when people dont follow the rules and put others at risk. Unfortunately no one (myself included) wants to hear that we are wrong, so confronting others about breaking rules almost always seems to end with vulgarities. I am personally trying to accept that I can be wrong, and trying to focus more on being at peace with others instead of having to be right all the time. I think if we all try to do this then these types of incidents will abate.
I still dont know what to do about confronting law breakers. When someone is doing something dangerous (like riding the wrong way in the bike lane) that could harm others I think its important to point it out, but what if the person flips out and tries to harm me for bringing it up? Its too bad that our society is in such a state. I dont know what to do really.
