HayiWena

HayiWena, 23 days ago

@enobacon The bill for deferred maintenance of privatized railroads is past-due.

HayiWena, 25 days ago

@enobacon Thank you, this is wild. I'm too much of a weenie to hop curbs on my MTB. I did in my youth on my full rigid commuter, but now even tho I know how and I can time bunny hops just fine over cracks in the road and my 29er would probably roll over them anyway, I just am way too risk averse to hop >4" curbs. I'll take on a rock on a trail, but not a curb.

HayiWena, 25 days ago

@ai6yr I got this super light weight pannier for my road bike. It has handles. https://cleverhood.com/products/clever-pannier

HayiWena, 27 days ago

@meganL @skinnylatte As someone who likes to take the single track home from Costco on my GSD, I think the main thing that makes the Tern Orox ($6,500) preferable to say a Surly Skid Loader ($4,800) or something in the same class but cheaper is the ability to use your accessories on both bikes. I mean unless you're made of money and you want a belt drive Rohloff hub motor. I don't even know how much those cost, but the GSD version is double the base GSD model.

HayiWena, 27 days ago

@dr2chase @meganL As a Big Dummy owner who has also ridden that on single track (unloaded), I'm not sure the Big Easy is nippy enough for the kinds of adventuring the Oryx is targeted for. I can't think of a good low stand-over height option in a 26"+ wheel size intended for off-road hauling. The Oryx struck me as a really niche bike with a huge ticket, until I put two and two together with the accessories. I guess the Xtracycle RFA might be in the same class with the lowest step-over height.

HayiWena, 27 days ago

@enobacon Okay but now I want video of you hopping a curb on a long-tail ebike. That sounds like core strength that a body that had two c-sections an only dream about.

HayiWena, 1 month ago

@ai6yr My kid was in lockdown because of this guy. My friend reported on him recently. He was substitute teaching at our elementary school. He murdered his ex-wife and girlfriend today, the day if his child rape trial, and abducted his 1yo child. I hope the toddler is found safe soon. I'm struggling to find any generosity for this ex-cop who was protected by cop union record suppression BS. https://tumbleweird.org/elias-huizar/

HayiWena, 29 days ago

@ai6yr The school district said they hired him under an emergency substitute hire process, which is less rigorous. I think right now my neighbor is glad he's no longer the school district attorney. He made it through the three recalls (and all the associated FOIA requests) and quit to be a stay-at-home-dad and recover. This "hero" was one of our school board members who got recalled. https://www.knkx.org/politics/2024-04-22/washington-gop-republican-convention-semi-bird-dave-reichert-governor-election

HayiWena, 29 days ago

@ai6yr The #GoFundMe #MutualAid for one of the victims' families is here. One of her children witnessed her murder, another one has special needs. https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-amber-marie-rodriguez?attribution_id=sl%3A9600ba4a-a9e0-494d-ac90-fa25271be6b5

HayiWena, 28 days ago

@ai6yr Here is the #GoFundMe #MutualAid to lay the 17yo mother to rest. https://www.gofundme.com/f/lay-angelica-jelly-santos-to-rest

HayiWena, 1 month ago

@ai6yr Doubles as a "biking with kids" list.

HayiWena, 1 month ago

@meganL @ai6yr They are doing it how you're supposed to. I have no doubt they don't know that and are just being jerks, but yeah, zipper merging is better for traffic throughput. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX0I8OdK7Tk

HayiWena, 1 month ago

@meganL @ai6yr Actually, this video is better, if only because the first line is "boy am I glad I don't drive!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twfJjEjondU

HayiWena, 1 month ago

If you really want to pick into the behavioral science of creating change, you could start with Dr. Susan Weinschenk's How to Get People to Do Stuff. It's easy to read and well-organized. She covers all the things that whomever chose the title "Killed by a Traffic Engineer" got wrong. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16248733-how-to-get-people-to-do-stuff

2/13

HayiWena, 1 month ago

The first real problem with Killed by a Traffic Engineer is that the title is inaccurate--traffic engineers don't design roads. Literally, they engineer the TRAFFIC, how (mainly vehicles) move on roads. Think signal timing, queue lengths, merging and diverging, and interpretation of traffic control devices like signs. So yes, traffic engineers influence the design of roads, but they usually don't have the final say. They are a subject matter expert under a design manager.
3/13

HayiWena, 1 month ago

Another problem with Killed by a Traffic Engineer is that what ends up on the road is quite rigidly defined by the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). This is why in the past few years a lot of activism was focused on the update to the MUTCD. (IIJA now requires updates every 4 years.) One of the first things you learn as a student in a traffic engineering class is the legal difference between a Manual and a Guide. Who wrote the MUTCD? https://ncutcd.org/honorary-members/
4/13

HayiWena, 1 month ago

But anyway, what happens when you call a book "Killed by a Traffic Engineer?" When you mention death, you get people's attention. But you have to be careful how you wield that power, because mentioning death primes "pro-social" behavior. And people have some pretty rigid pro-social behavior around driving privilege and victim blaming for victims of traffic violence. Even if you're not a traffic engineer, the average person is going to feel sorry for the traffic engineer.
5/13

HayiWena, 1 month ago

So the title, "Killed by a Traffic Engineer" is really only going to productively get the attention of people who already agree with everything it says. They are the only ones who are primed by the allusion to death to empathize with the victims of traffic violence. What a horrible thing to say, right? Yeah well, those are our societal norms that we lean into when we read the title. The title alienates the people who need the content most.
6/13

HayiWena, 1 month ago

Even when you read the description of the book you have to get to the fourth paragraph before whomever was having a morbid party stops reminding you that you are a serial killer by virtue of your work as a traffic engineer or more generic transportation professional and you should read this book. https://islandpress.org/books/killed-traffic-engineer#desc
7/13

HayiWena, 1 month ago

And in addition to all the priming of your windshield-biased pro-social behavior, there is other alienating content. Like I said above, traffic engineers aren't in control of our streets. They make recommendations that get squished by the MUTCD or the windshield-biased managers above them. Safety absolutely is NOT an afterthought. If the author gets these fundamentals wrong, why would a traffic engineer or generic transportation professional read this book?
8/13

HayiWena, 1 month ago

@enobacon @bluGill We have a plug-in leaf blower that has a mulching vacuum mode, but alas, it only works on dry leaves.