glightly

glightly, 3 months ago to cycling

We need at leasst 17 more people using the #BikeNite hashtag (on public posts) to have a shot of trending.

Why do I care? Because Mastodon isn't the greatest for discoverability. I think BikeNite is a cool community and I would like to see more cyclists able to find us and participate in this a/synchronous weekly structured chat. @mastobikes @fedibikes @bikenite #Cycling #BikeTooter #fahrrad

glightly, 4 months ago to cycling

Well, I just got a call from the trike specialist shop re the #CargoQuad saga. I'm closer to getting it back. At this point it just needs new tires and I'm going with an insert for puncture resistance so that will take a while to order in all the stuff in the right size. They're a pain in the ass to install so labor price is higher. But getting stranded as a disabled cyclist really sucks so I gotta pay the #CripTax

The shop has been great...more details later. #BikeTooter

glightly, 7 months ago to accessibility

"Ban cars" has to be matched by equal or even more zeal to make things accessible. It just has to be.

Because "ban cars" is not the same as "most people can go without cars". It is ableist to say "ban cars" before you've shown equal ire for inaccessibility. And, frankly, I haven't seen that from the "ban cars" crowd. So you sound like "fuck disabled people" when you say that. #Ableism #Accessibility

glightly, 7 months ago to cycling

I am so mystified by people wanting to get away from 'cyclist' - equating it with roadie. It's never meant only roadies to me. A 'cyclist' is a person riding a cycle the same way a 'pedestrian' is a person walking. #BikeTooter

glightly, 4 months ago to random

Last year the trailer park inspector came by and individually cited and scared tenants instead of citing the park for its violations.

I went to my state assemblymember's office about a culture of acting HOA-like to tenants while letting slumlords off scott-free. They did nothing.

Now I see this, which should be good news for the tenants, but actually scares me into thinking I'm going to get an eviction.

This is what the trailer-emptying of another trailer pad was about, I think. #Housing

glightly, 1 month ago to cycling

"That sign doesn't apply to me because I'm seeking profit" strikes again.

I've emailed in flagrante delicto photos of businesses flouting the law, but our business-owner city councilman (and now mayor) does not feel like holding business people to the same standards as poor people.

#BikeTooter #DavisCA #Cycling

glightly, 8 months ago to random

"LA vs. Belfast: How Do We Move Forward in a Divided City?"

Seems an odd comparison to me, but...

"Community leaders of Los Angeles and Belfast—two cities notorious worldwide for urban violence—join to discuss the persistence of racial and sectarian conflict in these two cities, strategies to reduce divisions that have worked and backfired, and what these two cities can learn from each other to find reconciliation." Zoom available.

https://huntington.org/event/la-vs-belfast-how-do-we-move-forward-divided-city

glightly, 2 months ago to random

Someone suggesting the best reason for free education is so that USians can know the value of democracy. Education should be free. But thinking that ignorance is the only reason fascism is rising is mistaken.

One of the big mistakes I made in my life was thinking that if only people could be educated to things, they'd make ethical choices. This is not necessarily true.

Check out the degrees among many of the people leading fascism in this country. It's not lack of education.

glightly, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to random

Something some well-meaning abled folks do is minimize disability. Instead of just letting the disabled friend/student/peer speak of how they're experiencing things, they'll quickly interrupt with "everyone's a little ____" "everyone's suffering" or "you'll overcome ___"

It's still the training of systemic ableism to short-circuit any real discussion of disability and ableism. Yes, disability is far more present than our society acknowledges, but you still needn't say "everyone's a little"

glightly, 1 year ago to random

WTF, man. If "moonsoons" in SoCal in Spring doesn't make you believe in climate emergency, I don't know what will. https://press.coop/@latimes/110376400427141428

glightly, 7 months ago to random

I don't know if others are experiencing this, but it feels to me like when you post something actually asking for answers (esp when it's from folks with certain expertise), you get a lot of answers that seem like the respondent hasn't seen the other replies to the toot already.

This happened to some extent on the birdsite, but it seems more common here. I feel its because conversational threading doesn't work as well on most instances - do you experience this?

glightly, 7 months ago to Vanlife

Q for scientists/med personnel with electrical expertise and electricians:

If you're someone who has to live in your car and don't have somewhere else to go and there's a heavy thunderstorm, what's your best course of action while sticking it out in the vehicle? #VanLife #TrailerLife

glightly, 11 months ago to random

The dyscalculia makes math pretty hard for me, but I'm pretty sure this math doesn't math.

glightly, 8 months ago to accessibility

This is a striking illustration of ableism. Even in the Fediverse, a "paradise" of alt text compared to the birdsite, it is still the minority of images that are made accessible through alt text & image description.

Get it together, abled people. #a11y #Accessibility

https://mastodon.social/@AltTextHealthCheck/111040738454305679

glightly, 4 months ago to random

The suitedness of a crop depends on what it originally evolved for, what it has been bred to do since, what the climate is, what the water needs are...and then what the law & culture are like because if you do not get law & regulation right, people can grow any crop badly and irresponsibly...as long as they can make profit from it. #Agriculture

glightly, 5 months ago to cycling

Since it's break, it's not a perfect illustration of why these racks are not accessible, but I'll try to explain. Imagine grocery store panniers on the recumbent, which is how I normally rode it to school. You can see there would not be much room there to clear other bikes. Much less room for me to get my body in there to lock it up.

My boom & front chainring goes into the next stand of racks. Someone did park there b4 & damage my bike

@fedibikes @mastobikes #BikeTooter #BikeNite #UCAccessNow

3/4 view of the two stands of racks, which are mostly empty because it's Winter Break. However, one can see that the bikes are very close to one another, don't leave room for a person, much less a fat person or someone with mobility issues, to safely get to the lock ring of the rack design. The front boom of my recumbent pokes into where the wheel of a bike parked at the facing rack would be.

glightly, 7 months ago to cycling

I'm so bummed Recumbent Cycle-Con doesn't come to the West Coast anymore, but at least I can watch this video.

This is my first time seeing a tandem trike!

#BikeTooter #Recumbent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jytezb02DCI

glightly, 9 months ago to random

Question (the intent of which is not to be negative, but highlight gaps people can try to fill): What "content" did you used to get elsewhere that you wish there were some/more accounts here that created that? Please boost and reply below:

glightly, 8 months ago to random

Tonight's DVD is Nomadland. I didn't expect it to cold open like that.

This might hit pretty close to home for me. #TrailerLife

https://youtu.be/zICxsKAUO0k?si=I564wVL2sSeVhRAW

glightly, 2 months ago to random

Today I was in Woodland, CA, which is the county seat of Yolo County. Many UC Davis folks live there as the rents & home prices are cheaper. It has a teensy bit of influence from Davis regarding cycling, but outside of its pre-automobile downtown, it is a fairly typical rural industry sprawl town.

This was the lovely walk I got to take while waiting for a repair. Note the developer annexing the entire sidewalk on the left. Where do wheelchair users go? Note how WIDE that stroad is #CarCentrism

glightly, 6 months ago to cycling

I've thought about using the cargo quadricycle to take my propane tank to the hardware store for a refill but didn't do it because it felt hard to do safely.

That didn't worry this person, who has put the tank (about 1/3 the size I have) on a furniture dolly improvised into a trailer. #CarryShitOlympics #BikeTooter

glightly, 7 months ago to cargobike

Hmmm. https://www.bikemag.com/ebikes/xtracycle-drops-new-expanded-lineup-of-cargo-electric-bikes #CargoBike

glightly, 4 months ago to academicchatter

Question for the in-the-know union folks (with background first): I'm pro-union, but my experience as a disabled worker in UAW 2865 was one of the most awful experiences of betrayal and abuse I've ever experienced in any field. Which union you're in and what their culture is matters.

Since a number of grad workers are trying to unionize, it might be good to talk about which unions currently have the most honest democratic cultures you know of? #Labor #HigherEd #UCAccessNow @academicchatter

glightly, 9 months ago to random

In folks' happiness at seeing outdoor dining replace auto parking during the early pandemic, they still aren't asking enough questions about why when we want cycle corrals, we're told every auto space is precious, but if a for-profit business wants them, cities usually cough them up gratis?

Yes, to less auto subsidy, but also yes to less subsidizing business people over all other members of a community. This example is Porto's Bakery and Cafe´in Glendale, CA. #PublicSpace

glightly, 2 months ago to random

My depression has really gotten worse in the last 24 hrs. And even though I have enough self-awareness to identify what likely set it off, that knowledge alone doesn't pull me out of it.

I know a lot of folks are going through a lot of stuff right now. We all deserve the resources to achieve well-being.