Ride @ MindSay

Since my time in Japan is now limited to that of "extended vacation" I have started looking back on my experiences and looking forward to how I can apply them to my life in America. One of the things that I have had to do in Japan is find alternate means of transportation. In America I was used to either driving myself to where I needed to go or bumming a ride off of friends. Unfortunately out here I have no motor vehicle and getting a native Japanese to give you a ride is nigh on impossible (I have a story about that, but I will save it for my next post). Of course I use the bus and train, but I also started riding a bicycle to get from here to there.

So after being bombarded with various flash cartoons explaining why I am killing the environment I thought, "well, I don't really care, but what the hell... maybe I'll still ride a bike to do errands when I get home. It's healthy and ecologically friendly." But here in Japan I live in a pretty big city... nothing is more than about two or three miles away. Any type of bike will get you to where you are going and you don't have to think much about pacing. In America I live in a suburb of either Chicago or Detroit, both of which are very spread out. I figured if I wanted to continue riding a bike in the States I should look up some tips on what to buy, types of bicycle, etc.

I looked up "commuter bicycling" and a couple variations of that phrase and came up with mostly personal web pages and forums discussing the use of a pedal bicycle as a commuting vehicle. Now, I had heard before that environmental people can be very annoying at times, and that those who ride bikes to commute are very "holier than thou". I didn't really believe it until I started reading the web sites. I looked up about 10 pages, and each and every one was written by a douche bag.

The first I saw was written by some old guy who goes on about how in order to really commute on a bike you must ride something like twenty miles a day and train on the weekends. Basically he is a true bicycle enthusiast who is trying to get others to become the same through a combination of guilt and oddly empty promises (you will be more sexually attractive if you bicycle more!) He also included one of the dorkiest things you can on a website, a list of "ways to know you are a cycle enthusiast". (I don't have the link at the moment, I'll post it when I find it again.)

The next site starts out telling you that you ride a bike wrong. Pretty much no matter what, unless you follow the same regiment as these people, you ride a bike incorrectly. Again the author comes off as a douche and tells you once again that in order to simply commute to work you must train in your free time. I also find it amusing that on both websites they list "companionship (ride with a friend!)" as a perk to bicycle commuting. I personally would never want to even hang out with these people, let alone ride a bike with them.
Douche bag #2's site:
http://www.bicyclinglife.com/PracticalCycling/commuteguide.htm

The forums were all the same: Bicycle folks complaining. They complain about other, "poser" cyclists, they complain about cars, they complain about not having bike paths, they complain about the bike paths they have... it's just silly. Occasionally they will have a thread about equipment or technique, but as far as I could see it always just degraded into a "my way is best! NO! MY way is best!" style argument.

So after doing some research I have decided not to continue my cycling when I return to the United States. According to everything I have read I will have to devote a fair amount of time to simply getting in good enough shape to ride a bike as a commuter, and after that I will have to use a lot of my free time to keep up that condition. Other bike commuters will cast a very critical eye on me and most likely judge me as a "fair weather" environmentalist or poser or whatever. Even if I did get into good enough shape, I would apparently become an elitist asshole with a subtle but biting sense of unwarranted self importance.

So there you have it, I have been convinced to use only motor vehicles by opponents of motor vehicles. A word of advice to commuter bicycle proponents: Don't tell people they suck at riding then say they should ride a bike. It's confusing.

Also, as a personal note, they never addressed my main excuse for not wanting to ride a bike: I don't want to and it wouldn't be fun.

-Maru!

"Some teenagers go to an amusement park and it is closed. They get in anyway and when a guard sees them, he comes over and asks them to leave, the park isn't open. The teens convince the guard to let them stay and to turn on some of the rides for them. They lure the guard into the zipper, and lock him in it and turn it on and laugh at him as he freaks out. Later, we see them climb up in this treehouse like thing made of wood, probably for a lineup to a ride. They are seen drinking alcohol and smoking weed. It is found that two of them ( a boy and a girl, I think a couple) plan to commit suicide together, by jumping off of this high up ledge. They spraypainted their figures on the ground and it switches to them walking up to it. The girl decides against it ( I think she is intoxicated), and/or a friend of hers brings her down, but the guy jumps and we see him on the ground by the spraypainted figures of the two of them. The movie ends with them getting into a car and leaving, the girl looking back distantly for a minute I think. "

Also somewhere in there, a guard sexually abuses one of the guys, a couple has an argument, etc. (Things that I don't understand, or see relevance, because I haven't seen the beginning.



I NEED to know what movie this is. It looks like a very interesting movie, and I should have been in bed, but I stayed up til the end. I saw the end of it one night out in the livingroom, very late at night. It ended about 3h00 or so I think. I'm pretty sure it was on CBC. If not, it would have been on CTV or Global, as I only have three channels. Any Ideas? I've searched google, movie sites, and youtube and I just can't find it! : (

Two nights ago, right after school, the kids and I hit the fields to get their combine rides of the harvest season!  And yes the kids are still in their school uniforms!

 

We hit the field with my Uncle and Cousin's and their hiredmen at about quarter till 4 pm and stayed out till about 8:30 pm.  I grabbed what pictures I could but I even went on a ride or two!  Felt like a kid again especially since I hadn't been in a combine since I was my kids' age and they weren't as fancy as what they use now!

 

1.  This is Coltin coming down out of the combine because he heard over the radio before Nick (the guy driving the combine) stopped that it was Supper time! 

 

2.  The kids eating in the back of Great Auntie's work truck!

 

3.  The men eating picnic style on the ground!

 

4.  Short lil woman near the big guy in a green shirt is my Auntie and the guy in the green shirt is my Uncle.  This picture is a nightly harvest ritual or it is just a nightly ritual for the hiredmen.  It is a coin gamble game.  I have no clue what the name is called but if your on site and you have a quarter your playing!  This was Auntie giggling over all the men getting all excited. 

 

5.  This picture is midflip of one of the times they are gambling.  Okay I had an altermotive of snagging a specific butt shot!  And trust me it isn't the flat one!  Heheheh who needs to buy a calandar of hot men when you can take unsuspecting pictures of men around you and make your own!

 

6.  This grumpy looking man is my Uncle.  My mom's second oldest brother.  He and I were on the way over to the farm to unload that rig behind him into the bins when his wifey, my auntie, radioed out and said she was 2 miles from the field with Supper.  So we stopped, got out and walked back over to where everyone else was at.  I love his shirt!  It is so my uncle!

 

7.  This is a view of the combine heads getting the corn from within the combine

 

8.  This is a combine view of the combine unloading the corn into the grain cart

 

9.  This is a combine view of another combine harvesting.  If you look closely at the top of the combine you can see the corn being pulled into the combine

 

10.  The grain cart unloading into one of the rigs.

Directly after yesterday's post I guilt-tripped myself into doing a few things. First I started laundry, spiffed myself up so I felt better superficially and asked Savannah if she wanted to go for a bike ride. She was happy to oblige.

We went down the road and went to the cemetery. It has lovely hills and is so peaceful. We puffed up the steep hills and "weee'd" all the way down.



Afterwards we rode down to the park down by the river. Savannah monkeyed around on the playground set while I swung a bit. I sat down on the roots of an aging overgrown tree and watched the river and meditated. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bug drowning so I precariously stepped on the slippery rocks and rescued it. Just as I was about to land on the sandy shore I slipped and made a big "sploosh". As it said: No good deed goes unpunished! Haha.

My overall feelings earlier dissapated ever so slightly enough for me to enjoy the weather, the honking of the geese and other wildlife that took me away from it all.



Savannah and I walked further down by the river and explored a little more. We found that someone moved a picnic bench to the shore. I asked her if she wanted to come picnic here before the weather gets too bad. She was happy to hear that! :D


The geese were beginning to take off to nest down for the evening and I knew it was time for us to get going. Especially if we wanted to take the "hidden" road back. (Interesting enough in the picture those specks in the water are the reflection of the geese flying overhead.)


We started on our way home filled with the olfactoral bliss and sometimes stench of the river during the season of fall. The vibrance of these leaves stopped me dead in my tracks. Though it was low light and difficult to capture I managed to snap a clear picture and continued on our way.

Soon we were out of the park and on the trail that lead home. Very quickly I became aware of the bustling city that polluted the sonance that was once peace. It actually sent a shudder through my body. I wouldn't let it depress me no matter how heavy the emotion. I decided that the bike ride was something I wanted to share with others. I was happy to remember that I had my camera with and I could. So that is the resulting video.