bike helmet

If a car hits a bike or a bike hits a car, it's going to be bad for the bike.

If the bike rider has 250 dollars in injury with a helmet or 50,000 dollars without a helmet, then the people paying the bill want to say something about it.

You and I are amoung those who pay the bill by paying our insurance and our taxes.

For my money, I want more money spent on bike lanes that are safe and car-free.

I ride to work - 12 mile round trip - and I enjoy it. I wear a helmet and a bright vest and I may or may not look fashionable to some people, but I feel safer and I think that I am.

I also drive a car and when I pass the bike park at 9th and West Avenue, I wonder about how many injuries have been caused by these mounds of dirt. Do I have any responsibility as a citizen of Austin for the maintenance and repair of these mounds? Am I also liable for damages to skulls? If one of the "Goth" bikers dressed all in black on a 20" bike swerves in front of me because he has lost his balance from shooting the finger at some enemy, I can only think that he has a place in the section of the cemetery marked "RIP, but I had the right-of-way!"

The "perceived" safety of a bike helmet is perceived because the car drivers "perceive" safety and are calmer. They may be belligerent assholes, but remember, "it's going to be bad for the bike."

Jude in News

Not to be upstaged by his famous sister, Jude's publicist found a way to praise Jude's pre-school
Jude in the News

I pick up Jude MWF from here. It is an interesting place. Today I will check on the mirrors.

Father's Day 2006

Finally got around to posting the Father's Day pictures of Colette and Zoe.



Father's Day 2006

one month old

Colette and Zoë will be one month old on the 17th. They are growing nicely and are very well behaved.

Paulette's broken foot is not healing fast enough with that velcro cast, so now she has a proper unchangeable cast and runs around the house on a leg-cart knee-wheels.

June 11 dinner

On Sunday June 11, Jude and I went to Zilker Park to use the playscape and ride the train and stuff. We then went home and started cooking supper. Everybody else showed up bit by bit andit was OK.

After supper I was in the front room with Colette and Zoë and one of them woke up and was a little cross. I picked her up and she was calm and looking around and smiling, so I figured this was Zoë, but when I checked with Heather, I found out that this was Colette.

Very good news.

The other news of significance was that Heather thinks they each sound like Trigger while nursing and doing other baby things. So Buttermilk wasn't a good choice for a name.