DUDE! There's Right, and then there's DEAD right!

First off, Yes, I believe that bicycles and cars can share the road. BUT, they BOTH have to learn to "drive" defensively. Here's what's happened twice this month: A bicycle is in the bike lane, a truck is in the right hand lane. At the intersection, the truck signals to turn right, the bike is going straight. The truck does not see the bike in it's blind spot, and the bike continues to speed to the intersection. The bike hits the truck, and smash, the cyclist is crushed dead.

What's wrong? In my opinion, the cyclist did have the right-away, but he/she was passing a truck turning right. He/she, if they were riding defensively, would have slowed down enough to make sure the truck driver saw them, or stopped and let the truck turn, then proceed on through the light. Instead, they're dead.

Neither truck driver has been cited. Which is correct.

What the bicyclists don't seem to understand is that defensive driving rules apply to them too if they want to actually make it to their destination. Hello? A large garbage truck or cement truck has a blind spot of probably at least 50 feet, maybe more, and the driver is not going to see a little-bitty bicycle speeding up beside him - he's going to turn. And if the cyclist is not aware that the truck driver may not see them, and he/she doesn't plan ahead for this, a tragedy can occur.

In our case, twice.

"They deserve it" Idiots can't keep their mouths shut.

Just like in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina/Rita, et al, and the failure of the levees in New Orleans, the fires in SoCal are bringing out the worst of some people. Reading the emails on CNN today gave me SUCH A WARM FEELING about my fellow Americans. "They know that area has fires, they should move." "They're just asking for it, duh." "Why should I pay for them to fix their houses so they can just burn down again? My insurance rates/taxes will go up because of those RICH people in San Diego and Malibu." That one's my favorite - all those millions of people in southern CA are all rich. Gee, I guess ordinary, hard working people don't live there. Who would SAY something so stupid? On CNN - in print??? Just about everyone I know has relatives and friends in the affected areas - including me - my nephew and his wife are in San Diego, and no one I know is "rich". They all work hard, all hold. down jobs just to make the rent/mortgage and buy groceries. Gee, just like the rest of us, I imagine.

One of the idiots in the CNN emails said everyone should move to "safe" areas. And, where is that? He suggested Washington DC - where he lives. Right in the path of tsunamis, hurricanes, occasional tornados, wind storms, and a recently discovered earthquake fault line. So, that's safe? What a jerk.

I live in the Pacific NW where there are numerous earthquake fault lines - if the "big one" comes, I'm sure that idiot will be on CNN saying "those people knew an earthquake was going to happen, they should have MOVED."

I don't think there's a place in the world that's "safe" and if there were would you want hundreds and hundreds of millions of people crammed into that space? I think not.

Let the Minority pay for the Majority - Democracy in Action

The latest ballot measure here is for smokers to pay for Oregon's children's health care. Sounds good, right? Nobody likes sick kids. But then you read further and realize that the measure says that it authorizes a Constitutional amendment to make this unchangeable. So, smokers, through increased taxes on cigarettes, will FOREVER pay for children's health care in Oregon - the Legislature debated increasing EVERYONE'S taxes for health care but realized that it would make people mad and it probably wouldn't pass a vote. So, on to cigarettes - a minority of Oregonians supporting the majority because it's easier to add taxes to something everyone doesn't do than to increase taxes for everyone. I hope it doesn't pass, but I'm not holding out much hope for democracy.

Kind of stinks any way you look at it.

There was a Letter to the Editor in the Oregonian (local rag) that said it best - maybe we should vote for cattle ranchers to build a new bridge over the Columbia River? Or a tax on Trailblazer's tickets to pay for a new light rail line? Makes just as much sense.

Ach, these things drive me crazy.

Girls' Night Out

Nights, really. Six of us from work (okay, 5 plus my niece) went to Twin Rocks this weekend, an absolutely beautiful, unspoiled part of the Oregon coast with seven miles of long sandy beaches. We rented a large vacation home right on the beach - 5 bedrooms, almost one for each of us. It was fabulously sunny all weekend, with cool nights, and was SO MUCH FUN! We played games, walked on the beach, drank, drank, drank, watched movies, talked, read books...and not much else. It was both fun and relaxing and the time went by much too quickly.

February can't come fast enough!

As many times as I've been to New Orleans, I've never been there during Mardi Gras. I was there once during Carnival season (in January) and everyone was pretty festive, but it was nothing like I imagine (or have seen on TV) that being there during Mardi Gras would be. So.......I'm scheduled to go there in 2008! You CANNOT believe how hard it is to get a decent hotel near the parade route - I had to start looking last March right after Mardi Gras 2007, with the condition that I be either on the parade route or just a block or so off of it, and I found ONE place that had room. This is in a hotel I haven't stayed in before and they have all kinds of restrictions on people who stay during this time, and you have to sign a contract agreeing to a bunch of stupid things, but I did it, and I'm going. I can't wait. WE ARE RIGHT ON THE UPTOWN PARADE ROUTE! This means that we are right on St. Charles Avenue, and there will be 3-4 parades each day going down the street in front of the hotel. I imagine it will be a madhouse and we'll go bugshit crazy but I'm ready and willing to try it once.

I'm not sure about going to Bourbon St. at night - I know that during Carnival that's what you're "supposed" to do but I've been there, done that, and it was crazy enough then. I don't know if I need that kind of crushing vomit-spewing experience again. BUT, we'll be going with one person who has been there only once before but did not really experience the night life, and one person who has never been to New Orleans at all. I bet they'll want the whole experience and I won't be able to talk them out of it and no matter how bad they think it will be I know it will be worse.

I'm going for the parades.

Hot Damn, I LOOOOVE MAUI!

We went to Maui in July for my nephew's wedding. First time in HI for me, all 3 of my bros, and my friend Amelia. Can I just say? FABULOUS! Loved it! The wedding was so beautiful it was like watching a moving picture card romance. aaahhhhh

We stayed in Kehei, the wedding was in Wailea....gotta be rich to stay there, I can tell. We took a snorkling trip out of Lahaina to Molokini and Turtle Town (off of Makena) and saw oodles of blue fish, yellow fish, striped fish, black fish, and turtles. Very cool.

On Saturday (day after the wedding) broK and broS, Amelia and took a guided van trip down the Road to Hana. Twisty, curvy, dangerous, I can't imagine how so many tourists can take their rental cars down that crazy road - our guide said seven of them went off the road last year. It was so beautiful, there are no words. It's the rain forest side of the island and just breathtaking. And the black sand beaches are beyond lovely - framed by the rain forests and surrounded by crystal blue water and clear blue sky...just beautiful......

All in all? Wonderful trip.

My niece and I are going again in May. We can hardly wait.

Flying Time and Cruise Update

Heck, I can't believe I haven't posted here since last July. It's fuc*ing OCTOBER! Have I been too busy? No. I just kind of forgot how to get on here for most of that time and then kind of just forgot I had a blog.

Well, let's see, where was I last time I actually made an entry? I think it was December and I was just heading out for the cruise to the Western Caribbean. That? was fabulous. We left out of New Orleans after spending an extra two days there, we showed Bro S the town (but Bourbon just during the day, I don't think he was ready for night life on Bourbon St.). Then boarded the ship, which was wonderful. I'm totally hooked on cruising, by the way, it totally kicked ass, we never had to pack and there was food all day long, everywhere you went. Plus bars all over the place. PLUS a casino that was pretty much open all the time while we are at sea. PLUS PLUS fab shopping. It was like a little town with all the amenities- you never had to leave.

Anyway, our first stop was Cozumel. We hopped on a bus and took a tour around the island. Saw some minor Mayan ruins, walked on the beach in the rain, and had a pretty good time. Our guide's name was "Moi" which was pretty funny because we all had to wear little hot pink name tags with Moi written on them and to round us up they would call for "Moi" - and all of us in our little hot pink labels would go running. Oh. We also went to a tequila factor, which was pretty cool because we got to drink little samples of all the tequilas they made, and there were about twelve of them. Buzz, buzz. And the funniest thing? On the way to the factory we saw a couple of bright blue signs that said "pee pee station" with an arrow. And it turned out that the designated "pee pee station" was the tequila factory, and there's a great big huge sign out front with the name of the factory on it, and below the name in letters twice as high was "PEE PEE STATION." Cracked me up. I took a pic.

Anyway, back to the ship, and on to Guatemala. Which was actually pretty sad because it's sure a poor country. We were only in Puerto Barrios, and took a tour in a cute trolley, but I felt kind of bad because everybody on the streets looked kind of poor and I felt like a "rich American" come to look at the po' folks. I was actually kind of glad when we got back on the ship. I think in a couple of years, as more tourist money pours into that area, it will help strengthen the economy and the people will hopefully be able to make improvements in their living conditions. I sure hope so.

Next day, Belize. Loved it. We took a tour around Belize City, went to Altan Ha, a huge grouping of Mayan ruins, and back to the city to the Smoking Mermaid for lunch, which was really good. The ruins were fantastic, but I have a hard time reconciling the present with what it looked like in the past in my head. All I see is ruins. So somebody would have to show me a computer rendering of what it might have looked like in its heyday before I really have any idea. My problem, not theirs.

Took pics of a fantastic sunset leaving Belize (from our balcony, thank you - loved it!), then in the morning we were at Costa Maya, a built-for-cruise-ships shopping plaza/beach area/swimming pools tourist area. I understand there's a nearby town (not called Costa Maya) but we didn't see it. It was blistering hot - I felt like crap and almost melted from the heat. Thank God, we didn't have to walk back down the long pier to the ship because I would not have made it. They had cute little trollies running back and forth. Unfortunately, Costa Maya was totally destroyed last month by Hurricane Dean. I understand they're going to rebuild it but it'll be another year or so before it's open again. Too bad because we met a lot of really nice people there - I hope they're all OK.

A really nice day at sea to relax, and then back to NOLA. We had another two days to fart around, took a city tour to see some of the areas outside of the CBD and French Qtr. Went to the 9th Ward, saw where the Industrial Levee failed, saw the barge that came down on all the houses, basically saving some of them from the damages their neighbors suffered. The neighborhood is gone - there were a few people living there in their FEMA trailers, a few of the smashed houses and cars were still there, but most of the damage had been cleared away by that time. We went down the street where my friend lived on Napoleon, her house was destroyed by water damage, as were many, many homes along the streets in that neighborhood (Broadmoor?). There was destruction and construction EVERYWHERE once we left the Quarter. It was just amazing and heartbreaking.

We all have to keep reminding ourselves, this damage was NOT caused by Katrina, it was caused by the failure of the federal levees and the shoddy condition the feds allowed them to fall into. NOLA residents were lied to over and over again when they were reassured that the levees were in fine shape. Because they were not.

Ok, end of rant. The trip was fantastic, excellent, fantabulous, and everything else positive - I loved it. I want to cruise again. And again. If I was rich I think I would buy an apartment on one of those around-the-world residence ships.