AaA: aAA bike move

as mentioned in an earlier posting, i'm moving to north portland as of the 15th of january and am hoping to do the move via bike. here's the information. if you'd like beginning coordinates, give a buzz and i'll send the info. your way! happy for anyone who'd like to join in this most auspicious event.

AaA:aAA

to A. . . and A. . . : an Alliterative Address

after allocating an adequate aepoch at Ashlee and Associates' abode, an adventurous about-face approaching alternate accommodations ascends. aliments available apres activity, and ale also administered after advance accomplished. alliterative accessories applauded (author's aunt to accord alliterative adverts).

(translation: after wiling away about 1 1/2 years at “the red door”, home to backyard movie nights, a new neighborhood with fabulous new roommates beckons. we’ll have tasty nibblins before the move and food accompanying tasty beverages at the end of our excursion, a refreshing way to celebrate a shared accomplishment. NOTE: it's going to be a longer bike move than some recent ones and a little uphill, but anyone with a backpack or trailer or baguette basket is welcome to come. grab a few coathangers or a spoon or two, and we can make a lovely winter parade!)

Commencement Clock: saturday, 13 january, 2007 @ 1:00pm

Beginning Bearings: SE 28th Ave. near the Clinton district

Ascertained Area: A. . . and A . . ., absolutely!

Dress Details: down-like, drenchproof digs describing down-to-earth dimensions and deftness definitely de rigueur.

Contact Coordinates: comment, compadre!

thank you, BonB

just found this write-up about a recent transportation-related film extravaganza at the Bagdad in the Oregonian by Joe Rose and repost it here. the apples he mentions were leftover donations from BonB the day before. i don't remember having been quoted in an article before. what fun!

and here's a poster for Junk to Funk on december 2nd. Ashlee, my roommate, has graciously agreed to wear my design, which means i need to spend this weekend making it look a little better than it does. it is going to be great fun, and i can't wait!

PTT: statement

just about to swing out to our second Portland Traffic and Transportation class, a joint venture by p.s.u. and the p.d.o.t. wonderful!
last week we got to meet Sam Adams, portland's transportation commissioner, who spoke for about an hour about the responsibilities, limitations and current proposals presented by his office. we have the greatest transportation manager on the planet!
our homework for today was to provide a statement of a possible final project we want to pursue. here's mine:

(nonbinding, preliminary, quite possibly logistically impervious)

Project Statement

AREA OF FOCUS

I would like to focus on road-sharing education, primarily between bicycles and motorists. Laws affecting bicycle/motorist usage are changing with far greater rapidity in the State of Oregon than most road-users can track. Misunderstandings in regard to rules of the road are one of the most frequent causes for frustration and collision between bicyclists and drivers. By promoting legal transportation education, we can create safer streets.

PROJECT

Driver and bicycle user manuals are two independent DMV publications with very little commonality, and I would seek to change that. We can provide an updated, integrated road manual offered by the DMV that can be used by all users of roadways in order to create mutual awareness of road-sharing rules. This could also involve developing an easily implementable system for continuing education, and here is the wishlist:

*integrated DMV Road-User Manual to replace Bicycle and Driver Manuals

*bicycle rule integration into DMV tests;

*requisite bike legal clinic attendance for all parties in bike-car collision cases;

*optional fine waives/reductions for bike-borne fines in return for bike legal clinic attendance;

*law change updates provided to media to be mentioned during traffic reports.

hmmmm . . . a little too bold? dependent on swiftly moving bureaucracy? and again i say hmmmm . . .

a near miss

the following is an emailed rampage i unleashed on two of my hapless friends, Corey and Nicole, after a near miss between my beloved Sparky and a car in northwest portland. a few edits have been made to protect innocent eyes. it is a testament to Nicole and Corey's copacetic nature that they are still speaking to me at all. i am also ashamed to say that i posted something FAR more benign on bikeportland.org after some guilt and shame caught up with me.
here we go:

okay, i must vent.
i was on my way to REI (they have a clearance sale, and i needed a floor pump), and there was a road closure in front a few blocks. a subaru came up and drove past me on my left (i was in a bike lane) and then turned right in front of me and then stopped directly in the bike lane. i mean dead stop for absolutely no reason. i skidded to a stop just before flying into her rear window.
i was so angry i slammed my hand on her rear window before riding around her (she was STILL parked in the bike lane, by the way). she rolled her window down and told me "that's what blinkers are for. you should be more careful". i replied that it's hard to see the blinker when the person's coming from behind and cutting you off in your lane, and she snottily made a few comments and then said, and here's the clincher:
"you give bikers a bad name". i was speechless, mesmerized by her audacity and her unbridled assurance that her driving was completely flawless (when in fact had she done the same with a car she would have a great deal to answer for). that speechlessness, of course, lasted about a nanosecond. needless to say, i pointedly invited her to get out of her car, but she was already starting to drive off.

i hate drivers sometimes. not all, not most, actually. just brunette former cheerleaders who think that the tonnage around them gives them license to drive whatever way they choose regardless of traffic law (and had she stuck around i . . . well, first i would have rearranged her pert little nose . . . but THEN i would have graciously offered her my copy of "pedal power" with all traffic regulations regarding bicycles therein for her perusal and, one hopes, her ultimate enlightenment).
but i got to REI. and i got my pump at 25% off. it's orange. and makes me happy. or will make me happy after i'm done with murderous rage.
give bicyclists a bad name. the impertinence!

love,
-s

okay, so there was the rage-stricken biker that you see on the news (i can still work up into a lather when i think about it for too long). just would like to follow up with a tale of coming together through adversity that happened the following monday morning. Sparky and i were waltzing around ladd's circle on our way to work when a silver economy car turned in front of me. i veered as much as i could without hitting the parked cars and ended up getting hooked by her passenger-side rear-view mirror and taken along the front of her hood for a few yards (still riding my bike). she stopped, i landed on the pavement, then got up to check on Sparky and my paddle, expecting another lambast from another haughty motorist, to be honest. instead i heard a bashful, "i'm so sorry. i didn't see you there." the driver was out of her car and shaking a little with her hands out to me. she asked if i was alright, and we ended up hugging each other a lot and asking if the other was okay. we talked a bit about how it's difficult to see bikes, that the laws are always changing and so it's difficult to know where to look or what to do, that we'll both be more careful next time. she didn't even LOOK at her car for damage until she was about ready to get back in. i don't know who that woman was, but i hope good luck is strewn before her like rose petals for the rest of her life! it was such a reversal from the near-hit the week before that i was able to appreciate her candor and generosity of spirit even more.

hot rocks with maple

CROWDED CAREENING
it occurs to me that i have forgotten to relay a swell bus tale from a few weeks ago. Robin, a swinging chick who is also a teacher at bai da wei, has occasionally accompanied me to my swimming hole at xian guanchang. the first of our tandem submerged exploits began with the single most crowded mode of transportation i have ever been in. many buses in changchun are actually glorified (i use the term glorified lightly) minibuses that have no maximum capacity. on this particular occasion, there were so many people on the bus that no one budged as we careened around roundabouts and plunged into stophood at red lights. there is usually a person to take money at the door, and his task on this venture was to jam people in and yank people out of the bus. at one point there were so many people that he could not rejoin the bus' swelling population and the door closed on him. the bus driver, oblivious to his comrade's screams over the din of his disgruntled cargo, started driving on. the money-taker/yanker/pusher banged on the door to little effect, since the occupants were so crammed in that they could not reach the handle to pull the door open. he finally had to rush in front of the bus to get the driver to stop. i wish i could have gotten to my camera.

HOT ROCKS WITH MAPLE
this past tuesday was spent in the company of Shea and Maple, a new friend of Shea's and hence a happy acquaintance of mine. many teachers have been on the lookout for a bona fide bathhouse/sauna that didn't peddle more services than one would care to explain to mother. Maple knew of such a place and was kind enough to invite Shea and myself to attend. such bliss! we got white pajamas and unlimited use of the milk sauna and oh-so-warm showers. one room had a pile of hot rocks and a stretching session led by an instructor. there was another room with hot pebbles that you could pour over yourself and sleep on, with an adjacent area for sleeping or swinging under heat lamps. the wooden swings under red light seemed so dreamlike, so peaceful and quirkily well-placed. when we were all taking a final shower before joining the clothed world (shea took a sauna), i happened to have a conversation with a woman who was stunned by my white body. she asked if i was married, complimented my chinese, and asked if i would like her to introduce me to a good-looking boy of hers. she asked Maple the same thing about 5 minutes later and i wondered if it was the same boy or if she had a list of eligibles somewhere in her purse. it has to have been one of the most memorable afternoons in changchun for its other-worldliness. the feeling lasted just up until the time that my wet hair froze upon contact with the outside air. the best part was that i saw no flesh-peddling (if you don't count the woman tring to marry maple or myself)! woo-hoo! anyway, i believe a group of us are planning to go next time. will keep you posted.

i was planning to talk about learning chinese chess and discussing the triathalon in chinese during a recent swimming escapade and a televised christmas program i am probably going to take part in and the new teacher whose pluck is immeasurable, but i suppose this will all have to wait. time to study a bunch of characters and prepare for the next day of slinging english with a bunch of aspiring young minds. hope all is well.