Waiting for the third thing

[darkemeralds]

On the completely unscientific principle that things, good and bad, come in threes, I'm just waiting. Clyde had a flat time last week, and last night he--well, went all woogedy on me.

After a long, breakless day at work, I managed to ride across the river to the bike shop that's open till 7:00, where the problem was quickly diagnosed by a mechanic: broken spoke.

Broken spokes are usually caused by overloading. I had to remind myself that a) I haven't actually GAINED any weight since I started riding and b) this is the first broken spoke, so don't start freaking out unless it keeps happening.

Apropos of which (sort of), I just watched Jamie Oliver's impassioned, mostly fact-free, but strangely convincing TED prize acceptance talk about America's food problems. The part that shocked the shit out of me was where the young schoolchildren are unable to name the strange objects Jamie shows them--a potato, a tomato, an eggplant, and a beet.

Imagine not recognizing a spud.

Comments

[inalasahl]

The part that shocked the shit out of me was where the young schoolchildren are unable to name the strange objects Jamie shows them--a potato, a tomato, an eggplant, and a beet.
I am sadly not surprised, and it's not a problem that's unique to the youngest generation either. When I was in checker school, fully half our class time was devoted to recognizing produce. It was slightly more than a third of our final, too, and it was very, very difficult for people. People had an easier time memorizing the code numbers that went with each fruit/vegetable/herb/etc. than they did actually recognizing them. You'd think that rote memorization of arbitary word/number combinations would be difficult, but nope, is was telling things apart.

[darkemeralds]

Even I, quite a foodie, can't easily tell the difference between, say, a jalapeno and one of those somewhat bigger but also green and pointy peppers next to them (so I'm glad checkers are so well trained!) But I know peppers when I see 'em, you know?

It's just incredibly sad to me that food-eating adult Americans might not recognize a french fry or ketchup in their native forms.

[executrix]

Bikespam! http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/urban-bicycling-is-it-becoming-safer/

You know, I think it's hard for us as women to think we're entitled to take up any space. You're quite a bit taller than the average woman, but it is not by any means unusual for a man about your size to ride a bicycle. I'd blame the broken spike on the condition of streets not really optimized for cyclists.

[darkemeralds]

You are quite right that I don't outweigh the big man that Clyde's large frame was constructed for. That's just the shit that still goes through my mind sometimes.

Thank you, by the way, for the bikespam-by-mail! I've been meaning to thank you for it for a couple of weeks now, but the disconnect between things that come into my mailbox and my "real life" online is significant, so I apologize.

On the NYT blog article, I would tend to agree that urban cycling safety has improved in cities where cycling has increased, because it has increased. Awareness of bikes goes up in a variety of ways, and I can attest that I'm a MUCH safer driver WRT bikes since I started cycling myself.

(I also keep glancing for a left-hand rearview mirror when I'm walking, which, sadly, does not let me see what's coming up behind me.)