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AG: Aunt Granny's Advice, or How to become an elderly cyclist:



 
 
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  #841  
Old October 28th 18, 03:27 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Joy Beeson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,638
Default AG: I met him again today


Last Thursday I was on my way from KCH to Goodwill, just turning right
off Arthur onto Park, when I saw a flashing green light at the end of
Arthur, near the Do Not Enter signs.

It's illegal for anyone to enter Detroit at Arthur, but whenever a
negligent suicide causes a train to block Winona, Market, Center,
Main, and Fort Wayne, people try, so there is some short-tempered
signage at the end of Arthur.

parenthetical remark
Just checked: Google Maps remains convinced that it's possible to
enter Detroit from Arthur *AND turn left*, but it's no longer the
preferred route from Byer Park to the library.
/parenthesis

Adding a flashing light to the mix isn't surprising, but *green*?

So I looked again, just in time to see a bicycle with a flashing green
headlight turn onto Ellsworth. So I *have* seen a flashing light in
daylight before I saw the bicycle.

Shortly afterward, he overtook me on Park and I saw that he also had a
blinky on the back of the bike. When he'd gained about half a block
on me, the blinky was no longer visible even though I knew where to
look for it. He was wearing a black backpack, but the neck and
sleeves of his orange jacket remained visible whenever the road
between us was straight until he turned off on Anchorage. I turned on
Anchorage too, but the distance that had been between us was greater
than the sight distance in either direction.

-----------

Today was my last Farmers' Markets Tour of the season. The courthouse
market will meet in the Center Lake Pavilion twice more before
Christmas, but the real market at the fairgrounds is done for the
year.

On the way home, just after crossing Market on Lindberg, I saw a
flashing green light on or near the foundry. This quickly resolved
into a bike rider about half that far away. His jacket wasn't orange
-- yellow, I think -- but I think it was the same guy. I didn't look
back to see whether he had a blinky.

A bit later I met a car with green headlights. This time I had time
to lift my brown/yellow sunglasses -- still green, but not so
strikingly green.

I'll be *so* glad when I can ride in prescription glasses! I failed
to find the optician today, but I looked on Grant by mistake for
Bronson. I *think* I'll be able to find it on Monday, if I'm healed
enough to get a prescription.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/


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  #842  
Old October 28th 18, 04:24 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
John B. Slocomb
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 805
Default AG: I met him again today

On Sat, 27 Oct 2018 22:27:00 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:


Last Thursday I was on my way from KCH to Goodwill, just turning right
off Arthur onto Park, when I saw a flashing green light at the end of
Arthur, near the Do Not Enter signs.

It's illegal for anyone to enter Detroit at Arthur, but whenever a
negligent suicide causes a train to block Winona, Market, Center,
Main, and Fort Wayne, people try, so there is some short-tempered
signage at the end of Arthur.

parenthetical remark
Just checked: Google Maps remains convinced that it's possible to
enter Detroit from Arthur *AND turn left*, but it's no longer the
preferred route from Byer Park to the library.
/parenthesis

Adding a flashing light to the mix isn't surprising, but *green*?

So I looked again, just in time to see a bicycle with a flashing green
headlight turn onto Ellsworth. So I *have* seen a flashing light in
daylight before I saw the bicycle.

Shortly afterward, he overtook me on Park and I saw that he also had a
blinky on the back of the bike. When he'd gained about half a block
on me, the blinky was no longer visible even though I knew where to
look for it. He was wearing a black backpack, but the neck and
sleeves of his orange jacket remained visible whenever the road
between us was straight until he turned off on Anchorage. I turned on
Anchorage too, but the distance that had been between us was greater
than the sight distance in either direction.

-----------

Today was my last Farmers' Markets Tour of the season. The courthouse
market will meet in the Center Lake Pavilion twice more before
Christmas, but the real market at the fairgrounds is done for the
year.

On the way home, just after crossing Market on Lindberg, I saw a
flashing green light on or near the foundry. This quickly resolved
into a bike rider about half that far away. His jacket wasn't orange
-- yellow, I think -- but I think it was the same guy. I didn't look
back to see whether he had a blinky.

A bit later I met a car with green headlights. This time I had time
to lift my brown/yellow sunglasses -- still green, but not so
strikingly green.

I'll be *so* glad when I can ride in prescription glasses! I failed
to find the optician today, but I looked on Grant by mistake for
Bronson. I *think* I'll be able to find it on Monday, if I'm healed
enough to get a prescription.



Cataracts?
--
Cheers

John B.
  #843  
Old October 29th 18, 01:35 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Joy Beeson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,638
Default AG: I met him again today

On Sun, 28 Oct 2018 10:24:02 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote:

Cataracts?


They were. I never thought to ask what they do with the old lenses.

Second follow-up is tomorrow; all they told me is that I *will* be
dilated.

Dave didn't have much trouble talking me out of riding to the
appointment. It's at the time I normally wake up, and I can put my
jeans on with all my stuff already in my pockets; my jersey has to be
loaded after I put it on. And I don't need five layers when I'm going
by car.

He claims that it won't be much trouble because he can drop me off and
come back later.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

  #844  
Old October 29th 18, 02:05 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
John B. Slocomb
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 805
Default AG: I met him again today

On Sun, 28 Oct 2018 20:35:03 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Oct 2018 10:24:02 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote:

Cataracts?


They were. I never thought to ask what they do with the old lenses.

Second follow-up is tomorrow; all they told me is that I *will* be
dilated.


Dilated? Or Delighted?

I had my eyes done one at a time so it didn't bother me all that much
although I didn't attempt to ride a bicycle or drive a car until I two
eyes functioning.

The doctors here give you one lens for close up and one lens for long
distance which tends to lead to reading with one eye :-)


Dave didn't have much trouble talking me out of riding to the
appointment. It's at the time I normally wake up, and I can put my
jeans on with all my stuff already in my pockets; my jersey has to be
loaded after I put it on. And I don't need five layers when I'm going
by car.

He claims that it won't be much trouble because he can drop me off and
come back later.

--
Cheers

John B.
  #845  
Old October 30th 18, 01:55 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Joy Beeson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,638
Default AG: I met him again today

On Mon, 29 Oct 2018 08:05:48 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote:

Second follow-up is tomorrow; all they told me is that I *will* be
dilated.


Dilated? Or Delighted?


As in "bring those sunglasses we gave you." Which is what I presume
she meant by saying "You *will* be dilated" twice.


I had my eyes done one at a time so it didn't bother me all that much
although I didn't attempt to ride a bicycle or drive a car until I two
eyes functioning.


I could see well enough to ride almost at once after each operation --
I could still wear my old glasses before the second -- but I don't
think much of operating heavy machinery in my present condition -- if
only because I can't see the road and the dashboard with the same
glasses.

The doctors here give you one lens for close up and one lens for long
distance which tends to lead to reading with one eye :-)


No danger of that with me, because the near-sighted eye is my
low-resolution eye. And my brain has had years of experience at
merging a fuzzy image with a better one. When I was keeping the
low-resolution eye closed the evening after the first operation, I was
astonished at how much it had been helping -- and not just with
three-D vision.

When the surgeon was working on my first eye, I heard him tell the
assistant that he was going to make it nearsighted "like she's used
to", and when he was working on the second, he remarked that he was
picking a lens for middle distance and "she's going to love it".

Finally understood "middle distance" in church this morning, when I
noticed that the people halfway up the aisle were sharper than the
preacher. I'd been thinking that everything more than ten feet away
was equally sharp.

I wear 1.5 reading glasses for close. Took surprisingly long to find
some -- I got them at Sherman & Lin's on the way to a serious hunt for
glasses in multiple stores. So I turned around and went home.

(Sherman & Lin's sells things other stores couldn't. It is not a
place to look for something specific, but I always stop.) (Unless I'm
on my way to the Farmers' Market, which closes at noon.)


Monday 29 October 2018

Got the prescription -- and the optician is open Wednesday, Thursday,
and Friday.

Oddly enough, I didn't particularly need sunglasses. Wore them anyway
-- after leaving; I wore reading glasses while waiting for Dave. The
large-print Reader's Digest is better than I remember it.

I took my nap early -- perhaps excitement, perhaps because I had a
very early lunch on account of having had only an eighth of a bagel, a
glass of milk, and a handful of pills for breakfast. (I had put two
food bars in my bag, but forgot to eat them.)

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/


  #846  
Old November 11th 18, 04:58 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Joy Beeson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,638
Default AG: Changing Seasons


While walking to a charity pancake breakfast at the church this
morning, I remembered that one skill one must re-acquire every fall is
the art of blowing one's nose without allowing any of the warm, moist
hair -- or snotty tears! -- to be deflected upward onto one's glasses.

Ah, well, vaso-motor rhinitis beats the deleted out of bronchitis,
which I'd be likely to get if my body didn't overdo moistening the
incoming air.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

  #847  
Old November 11th 18, 08:07 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Joy Beeson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,638
Default AG: Changing Seasons

On Sat, 10 Nov 2018 22:58:00 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote:


hair


Where did that "h" come from?


  #848  
Old November 13th 18, 04:00 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Joy Beeson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,638
Default AG: Changing Seasons


Had an early-morning follow-up exam today. Yesterday, knowing that
I'd leave the office a bit earlier than I usually get off when I go on
a ride, I packed the bike for a dump tour. Forgot to fill my water
bottles, but one was full and I filled the other at the hospital after
dumping a couple of magazines in the emergency room.

Back when I rode in near-zero weather, I used to blow into my bottles
instead of squeezing them, to keep ice from clogging my valve. Today
one of my bottles was too stiff to squeeze even though the temperature
was above freezing most of the time.

I just realized that there are three reasons I no longer go out when
the water freezes in my bottle. All these years I've been thinking
that it's partly because of all these years and mostly because I live
on a side street instead of on a state road that I shared with three
snowplow garages, two schools, two fire stations, one sheriff's
sub-station, the county dispatcher, and an ambulance squad.

While writing the above, I realized that it's mainly because I now
live a lot farther south. Nobody around here has ever said "It's
warming up!" after being told that the temperature was six degrees.

Unless he was using a lab thermometer.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/



  #849  
Old November 15th 18, 01:56 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Joy Beeson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,638
Default AG: Common Sense

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

I frequently use the Byer Farm Trail recreationway to get to Lincoln
Street. The Trail looks like a continuation of Lindenberg Drive, so
the builders put a gate across it, and widened the pavement for a few
feet to make it possible to walk around the gate.

About the time I became accustomed to riding around the shattered
remains of the gate, a large concrete block with a handle on top
replaced them. Each time I rode around it, I wondered whether a fire
truck or ambulance carried equipment capable of moving it. I think
half a dozen young men could move it without straining too much -- if
a sufficiently strong and stiff pole could be thin enough to fit
through the handle.

When I came through there yesterday, the portable barrier had been
replaced by a couple of bright yellow posts. I was pleased to notice
that the posts are either solid or capped, so that they won't core a
child who falls on them -- *and* they are tall enough that a child
*can't* fall on them.

I think an adult could, but he'd have to work at it.

I didn't look to see how they go about letting maintenance and
emergency vehicles in. Perhaps they didn't bother, since the trail
heads straight to the emergency room from there. You'd have to bound
over the grass, but there are no curbs in the way.

The new section of the Heritage Trail has half-gates, like railroad
crossings, secured by padlocks. I presume that maintenance crews have
keys and fire trucks have bolt cutters. The old section used to have
short folding posts in the middle of the trail, but they weren't
replaced when they wore away -- on this end, at least. I think the
Roy Street end has some sort of barrier.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/


  #850  
Old November 15th 18, 03:29 AM posted to rec.bicycles.misc
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,538
Default AG: Common Sense

On 11/14/2018 7:56 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
Tuesday, 13 November 2018

I frequently use the Byer Farm Trail recreationway to get to Lincoln
Street. The Trail looks like a continuation of Lindenberg Drive, so
the builders put a gate across it, and widened the pavement for a few
feet to make it possible to walk around the gate.

About the time I became accustomed to riding around the shattered
remains of the gate, a large concrete block with a handle on top
replaced them. Each time I rode around it, I wondered whether a fire
truck or ambulance carried equipment capable of moving it. I think
half a dozen young men could move it without straining too much -- if
a sufficiently strong and stiff pole could be thin enough to fit
through the handle.

When I came through there yesterday, the portable barrier had been
replaced by a couple of bright yellow posts. I was pleased to notice
that the posts are either solid or capped, so that they won't core a
child who falls on them -- *and* they are tall enough that a child
*can't* fall on them.

I think an adult could, but he'd have to work at it.

I didn't look to see how they go about letting maintenance and
emergency vehicles in. Perhaps they didn't bother, since the trail
heads straight to the emergency room from there. You'd have to bound
over the grass, but there are no curbs in the way.

The new section of the Heritage Trail has half-gates, like railroad
crossings, secured by padlocks. I presume that maintenance crews have
keys and fire trucks have bolt cutters. The old section used to have
short folding posts in the middle of the trail, but they weren't
replaced when they wore away -- on this end, at least. I think the
Roy Street end has some sort of barrier.


Shattered gates? So some motorist plowed through them?

I'm jealous of the path exiting the cul-de-sac. I'd like to see a lot
more of them, particularly between the modern swanky developments out in
the cornfields. Around here, those developments pop up on ex-farm roads
and are purposely isolated from each other to prevent cut-through
traffic. But the bad side effect is that kids can't bike to school (or
anywhere else) without dealing with a narrow road intended for an
occasional farm tractor, but now carrying lots of impatient yuppies in
BMWs.

I've been told the last lot on the cul-de-sac is prestigious and worth
thousands of dollars more to the developer. But I bet having easy
non-motorized access would increase the value of every home in the
development.

--
- Frank Krygowski
 




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