Intimidation...

I've said that as sports go, road cycling discriminates against timid people. Easily cowed individuals won't ride on the road in the first place, and those who ride in traffic are thick-skinned people. A honking horn doesn't scare them. It's more likely to invite retaliation.

Maybe it's the full moon this week. Maybe it's a case of Starbucks overdose. Maybe there's a 50% off sale at the Oklahoma Asshat Emporium. I've been honked at more in the last couple of days than I have in months. My route hasn't changed and it's been weeks since my start time changed.

A white pickup went by with horn blaring and the driver yelling something unintelligible out the window. Between the wind, tire and engine noise, and Doppler shift, do they really think we can hear their inanities? A red Corvette buzzed by my handlebar, just inches away, then turned into a subdivision. If you're planning to annoy a cyclist, do it in a car that is a bit less conspicuous. All that nice, red paint and breakable fiberglass would be an easy target for a u-lock.

A black SUV drove by on a four-lane road this morning, horn blaring. The driver pulled into the security gate at work. I was seconds behind. The SUV flew through the lot and I lost it for a moment around a building. But I found it in a few seconds. There were a dozen people walking in the area. One of them had to be the driver, but isn't it funny how quiet they get one they're outside the protection of all that steel and glass?

Yes, I know. I'm such a whiner today. There were many more incidents, but those three stand out.

I've exceeded my frustration threshold for more than a week now. There are 4 'dog' computers sitting on my bench, and despite hours of troubleshooting, poring over schematics, and soldering new components under a microscope, I've come up empty. So the daily commute has been an enjoyable release of tension. Cathartic, in fact. I won't go into the boring details about troubleshooting. It would only devolve into more whining. Those annoying motorists provide a focus for some of this pent-up frustration, but I'm not going to give into temptation and "get medieval on their ass." Lurid fantasies will do. Besides, as yesterday’s post pointed out, I’m a ‘Kyle’!

So, for a change of pace, and to give my mind some recovery time, I've been working on MD80 handsets today. Trust me, sometimes a little mindless drudgery is a good thing. Although, after working on these for a while, I've been leery of using any public telephone. There's an astonishing quantity of food, makeup, and nasty-looking gunk inside these phones! I wear nytrile gloves at the bench and wash my hands frequently.

The weekend looks to be better. Normally, I hate painting, but Mary and Lyndsay decided to re-do the kid's bathroom, so I'll be in there tomorrow. Again, it's a change of pace, and I need that. Besides, I get to use the BIG tools, brushes and rollers, screwdrivers and wrenches, and after spending the week working under a microscope, that's a welcome change.