@DrTCombs I wish there was an encouraging honk button because I always want to cheer on people cycling when I drive, but I know honking will not be interpreted the right way.
@sam wonders how to respond after a bad driver interaction:
Q6. When you have a dangerous interaction with a driver that doesn't involve a crash (drivers throwing things, pulling in front of you and getting out of their car and attempting to stop your bike, etc.) do you call the police, file a report later, get away and then do nothing, or something else? What factors go into making your decision?
@Brownian_motion@enobacon@ascentale@sam@bikenite I once had a cop next to me at a red light and I waved them down to show them someone ahead parked in the bike lane. They then drove up and gave them a ticket.
Of course I have seen far more cops using the bike lanes to pull people over or get around traffic, but it was nice to win one.
🤔 In the 80s, good, working class Americans* working blue collar trade jobs (plumber, electrician, drywall, roofer, etc), used to take their coffee to work in a thermos flask, and would get lunch from a nearby taco truck. Now in 2024, the height of California luxury is having a fancy thermos flask/cup, and convenient access to good tacos.
Blue collar workers in the US are disproportionately Black and brown. Bob the plumber is not blue collar. He owns the plumbing business. He's a millionaire.
@mekkaokereke I keep voting blue to get a taco truck on every corner but I still have to travel multiple blocks for tacos. I don’t know what else to do here.
The city’s transportation priorities are clear from its actions. While the streets and intersections are clear the pedestrians have to navigate icy sidewalks and giant piles of slush in the crosswalks. We can do better. #Urbanism#Michigan
The same rule applies here for residents shoveling their own sidewalks in residential areas. The photos I took were from downtown where the city handles cleanup. As you would expect, residential areas are even worse. I am still the only house on my street with a clear sidewalk.
@enobacon I use my leaf piles to narrow the street. I noticed that the cars went by much slower with my leaf pile bump out. Of course, I don’t put my pile out in December where they will sit all winter.
@enobacon I’ve tried that but I just have too many leaves. Oak leaves take forever to break down and there are 6 giant trees in my tiny city lot. They just start to rot and smell if they are all left there, even if mulched.
I mulch for the first few weeks but when they all come down it’s just too much.
It takes a real business genius to overpay for a company, mismanage it until the revenue drops to half of what it was then yell at the remaining advertisers on the site who are asking you to stop being antisemitic.
All of this ignores the fact that the math for Twitter being acquired at $44 billion meant it needed to be making more revenue at this time to be a viable business not less.
Okay so minimum reasonable effort winter bike errand time to the main shops (vs. the closer shops which have less), inside the front door to back inside the front door, bike put away etc, is 16 minutes.
That's respecting stop signs (Utah stop but you know), dealing with cars at the shops in a typical way (in which I had to wait for people pulling out into traffic lanes) and missing all stoplights on (very!) wet pavement which absolutely means slower because slippery, with basically one (1) trivial errand, dropping off plastic film at the grocery for recycling.
@moira it’s always an interesting comparison. I once timed out the trip to a restaurant I go to frequently and it ended up being about 7:30 by bike and 8:00 by car.
When you include the extra fun and health benefits for going by bike the decision becomes easy in the future.
@enobacon that is why I still use a car if it’s too far to bike or I am going with someone who has mobility limitations. Even IF public transit goes where I need to be and is running when I want to make the trip, it takes such an absurdly long time that it’s not worth it.
Truck owners use their vehicles for shopping, errands, commuting, "pleasure driving". Matches what I see around here: hordes of empty #trucks and #SUVs, the driver the only occupant, or parked where you don't need a truck or SUV, like at offices and grocery stores. Trucks have "become bigger, heavier and more tricked out...to the detriment of just about everyone around them." https://www.insidehook.com/autos/pickup-truck-owners-admit-dont-need-trucks
@jrefior too many people that don’t need trucks are buying them. Everyone that needs a truck has to buy one with a horrendous design that’s deadly for anyone outside of it and governments are too afraid to do anything about it.
@mbonsma ugh. It makes me so angry every time I see a pedestrian waiting when they have right of way. If someone starts to go when it’s my turn I always stare at the driver while I hold my arms out wide and just keep walking
99% of the time they stop but you shouldn’t have to be a bold idiot willing to walk in front of cars just to get their turn to cross the street. That’s no way to design things.
Yesterday, this cool kid--with her bright red bike, hot pink helmet, dual blinkies, and rotating rainbow wheel lights--waited at a high-viz crosswalk in a school zone while 7 adult drivers pretended not to see her.
@DrTCombs i have stepped out into crosswalks in our downtown to stop traffic for people who are waiting at crosswalks where they already have right of way. It’s insane how little respect drivers have for anyone who needs to cross their path.
@lori fuck. I thought for sure that was a satirical headline. What is the point of ripping out a freeway if you just replace it with a freeway that has a ton of conflict points?
OK I am reading #Reddit forums to learn more about taking care of #cats and I find it absolutely wild that Prozac is used as a way to manage cats. Is this a US thing, or widely done in the West cos I have not heard about it Malaysia!
Methinks that if cats need anxiety meds perhaps they are being forced to live in a way that they can't live with.
It is a heated debate, but sometimes I think it's not right to make animals live in a way that pleases us.
@liztai@philip I also have had medication for more physical reasons. One of our cats had surgery to fix urinary issues and we’ve taken others to a hospital for inpatient care.
I assumed this was about medication for behavior modification rather than that. I’d have to let Liz talk about the Malaysian culture around medical care for pets. I’d think in a wealthier country vet care is more likely but there’s lots of people here who can’t afford it and put down their pets if something goes wrong.