Friday Musette
Bicycle Commuting
I’ve had several people ask about bicycle commuting in the last couple of days. I’ve told them the hardest part is simply deciding to try it in the first place. After that, it’s just problem solving. There are people who’ve written volumes more about this than I ever could, so I’ll simply provide some references.
Tulsa Commuter and INCOG are local sites. The bikeleague is the League of American Bicyclists (LAB).
http://www.tulsacommuter.com/Bike.htm
http://www.bikeleague.org/educenter/factsheets.htm
(scroll down to the fact sheet choices under commuting)
http://www.incog.org/Transportation/Trails/default.htm
One of the best sites from the late Ken Kifer:
http://www.bicyclinglife.com/PracticalCycling/commuteguide.htm
Personal News
I’ve had a busy week, again. The first couple of weeks of school are always hectic. We’ve had open house at the middle school and the high school and an FFA meeting since my son is taking Ag this year (more on that later). There’s also the start of Oklahoma’s major religious festival – football season – with practices, scrimmages, and games.
But there’s more. Wednesday morning, Jordan woke up with a lot of abdominal pain. Mary and I thought he might have a bladder infection. She took him to the doctor later in the day. He diagnosed appendicitis. We took Jordan to the hospital, and the surgeon did a lapriscopic(sp?) removal of the appendix within a few hours. Jordan stayed in the hospital overnight. Mom didn’t get much sleep, of course, and we were there again early Thursday.
Let’s just say the last couple of days have been stressful.
Jordan has to see the surgeon again next week. I told him that he should still report to football practice and support the team from the sidelines until he can return to the field. “And you can always hang out with the water girls”, I said. The water girls are hot. The kid brightened up considerably at that idea!
FFA
Oklahoma is an agricultural state, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to find an agriculture program in the local school. Jordan wanted to take the course, and as part of it he had to attend an Future Farmers of America meeting. It was actually kind of fun with a camp-meeting atmosphere. It was definitely a hard sell, but the hokum made it almost charming. There were a lot of statements about making new friends, long-lasting friendships, and relationships that would be beneficial in both college and business. It sounded much like a fraternity rush party.
But Jordan put it in perspective, at least the perspective of any other all-American, red-blooded, sex-obsessed boy. “Look at all the hot Ag chicks, Dad!”
Methinks the boy has ulterior motives for enrolling in Ag.
I’ve had several people ask about bicycle commuting in the last couple of days. I’ve told them the hardest part is simply deciding to try it in the first place. After that, it’s just problem solving. There are people who’ve written volumes more about this than I ever could, so I’ll simply provide some references.
Tulsa Commuter and INCOG are local sites. The bikeleague is the League of American Bicyclists (LAB).
http://www.tulsacommuter.com/Bike.htm
http://www.bikeleague.org/educenter/factsheets.htm
(scroll down to the fact sheet choices under commuting)
http://www.incog.org/Transportation/Trails/default.htm
One of the best sites from the late Ken Kifer:
http://www.bicyclinglife.com/PracticalCycling/commuteguide.htm
Personal News
I’ve had a busy week, again. The first couple of weeks of school are always hectic. We’ve had open house at the middle school and the high school and an FFA meeting since my son is taking Ag this year (more on that later). There’s also the start of Oklahoma’s major religious festival – football season – with practices, scrimmages, and games.
But there’s more. Wednesday morning, Jordan woke up with a lot of abdominal pain. Mary and I thought he might have a bladder infection. She took him to the doctor later in the day. He diagnosed appendicitis. We took Jordan to the hospital, and the surgeon did a lapriscopic(sp?) removal of the appendix within a few hours. Jordan stayed in the hospital overnight. Mom didn’t get much sleep, of course, and we were there again early Thursday.
Let’s just say the last couple of days have been stressful.
Jordan has to see the surgeon again next week. I told him that he should still report to football practice and support the team from the sidelines until he can return to the field. “And you can always hang out with the water girls”, I said. The water girls are hot. The kid brightened up considerably at that idea!
FFA
Oklahoma is an agricultural state, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to find an agriculture program in the local school. Jordan wanted to take the course, and as part of it he had to attend an Future Farmers of America meeting. It was actually kind of fun with a camp-meeting atmosphere. It was definitely a hard sell, but the hokum made it almost charming. There were a lot of statements about making new friends, long-lasting friendships, and relationships that would be beneficial in both college and business. It sounded much like a fraternity rush party.
But Jordan put it in perspective, at least the perspective of any other all-American, red-blooded, sex-obsessed boy. “Look at all the hot Ag chicks, Dad!”
Methinks the boy has ulterior motives for enrolling in Ag.
posted by Ed W at 6:42 PM
2 Comments:
Ed,
Are the people asking about bike commuting strictly because of rising cost of gas in the Tulsa area or for some other reason?
I work in B.A., and some have been asking me too. Mostly because of rising costs.
Derek
Derek,
I think most of the interest is due to fuel costs. I've seen more and more people on bikes - too many of them riding on sidewalks or the wrong way, against traffic. When you tell them that riding a bicycle the same way as you drive a car reduces conflicts and makes cycling safer, they look at you in total disbelief. Still, we gotta try!
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