A Penitent Driver

On my way to school this morning, I was almost right-hooked by a motorist who was presumably in a hurry. The speed limit was 25 and I'd be surprised if I was going any slower than 23.  I was in the bike lane when this girl came from right behind me (like most cars do) and turned right all of a sudden.  I can't remember clearly, but I think I saw her blinker and so jammed on my brakes.  I was able to avoid running into her.

Since I had a bit of time before I needed to teach, I followed the car into the parking lot (against the advice of law enforcement and some bloggers).  I finally got her to stop and roll down her window.  I asked her how valuable her time was.  She was nearly in tears.  She said that she saw me after the turn and felt terrible and she was convincing.  I told her that she only saved about 3 seconds by passing me and making the turn and that I could have been seriously hurt.  At that point I think she might have shed a tear.  I told her that everything's fine...I'm not hurt, she's ok, but to please please watch out for cyclists.  Not everyone rides as aware as I do.  And I thanked her for using her blinker (if that really did happen).

I can only hope that she changes her habits and tells her friends to watch out for cyclists too.

OSLC Welcome Statement

I got an email from my church "back home."  See excerpt below.  I've always felt that the church had this sort of philosophy, but it was nice to see it in writing.  When I was young and naive, I thought that all churches had an outlook like this.  I was very surprised to learn that some churches teach that God hates certain groups of people or used the pulpit for political purposes.



We welcome you to Our Savior Lutheran Church.  We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, black, brown or white.  We extend a special welcome to those who are crying newborns, squirming children, and frazzled moms and dads.  We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like some of us, who can't carry a note in a bucket.  You're welcome here if you're "just browsing", just woke up or just got out of jail.  We don't care if you're more Lutheran than Martin Luther, or haven't been in church since little Joey's Baptism.  We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast.  We welcome starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians and junk-food eaters.  We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted.  We welcome you if you're having problems or you're down in the the dumps or if you don't like "organized religion", we've been there too.  We offer a special welcome to those who are left-wing, right-wing, or middle of the road.  If you are only here because you are visiting grandma and she wanted you to go to church with her, we welcome you.  We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both.  We welcome those in flip flops or three piece suits.  We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now.  We welcome vacationers, snow-birds, year-rounders, seekers, doubters....and you!  We welcome you to Our Savior Lutheran Church, because we are a place of saints and sinners of all kinds who are here by the grace of God.

Pick #311

311 - "Don't Let Me Down" from 311

Democrats: Let's Ban Profits

This is one of the scariest videos I've seen in a while.  I'm not trying to bash Democrats...I would be just as appalled if this were Republicans.  I have no party affiliation.  People really don't understand the source of profits.  See comments after video:




Profit is value created for society.  In order to make a profit, corporations have to sell the product for more money than it costs to produce.  Firms must pay their inputs their respective opportunity costs in production. That's economist talk for "you have to pay people to work for you and you have to buy your materials."  The people will not work for you if you do not pay them as much as they could earn elsewhere.  Nobody will sell you material if you won't pay as high a price as some other person.  Therefore, the inputs are valued by society at the price that corporations pay for them.  The finished product is valued by society at its sale price (or more).  Therefore, profits are a MINIMUM amount of value created for society.

When Traffic Lights Lose Power: Spontaneous Order

This site has an interesting case study on the spontaneous order of traffic in New Zealand.  It involves filming traffic one day when the lights were out and then again the next day at the same time.  I haven't counted the number of cars in each video...I assume they're supposed to line up approximately.

I must say that I've been in areas where the traffic lights are out and traffic did not flow as smoothly over here stateside.  Perhaps it's due to the rule that you're supposed to treat the blank lights as a stop sign.  That rule impedes the spontaneous order.  In case you didn't click the link, I'm posting the video below.

Good Timing on Facebook Wall

No joke, this was perfect timing for Dillon and Erin.  View full size for funnies.

Pick #310

Marcel Marcel - "Pony and Moody" from Schlemiel EP

I could see this being used in a commercial...probably for a car