Last week, I passed the six-month mark for unemployment. In the time since I lost my job, I've attended job fairs, went on some interviews, and oh yes, taken a few Cisco classes, and even got my CCNA certification.
You'd think these would be worthwhile endeavors, but I have yet to even get a job offer.
I interviewed with Walgreens last week for a help center position. Thought I interviewed pretty well, and I did reasonably well on this skills assessment. The job offered training. It was an entry-level sort of thing. I figured with my certification and my prior background learning stuff in telecom, I'd be a good candidate for the job.
Turns out Walgreens didn't figure the same thing. They notified me this morning via email.
I'm supposed to hear later today about a contract position with AT&T, and hopefully, hear about a second interview from a company in Oak Park. Ideally, I'd like to get the job in Oak Park, as the office is about a mile from my apartment. I could walk to work every day.
But, with the six-month mark past, I know my unemployment money will run out soon. Real soon. I still have some cash stashed aside, but I don't want to dip into it.
It's a frustrating thing being unemployed. I've polished my resume and taken classes to supposedly make me hireable. I keep asking myself what good it's done and what good am I if I can't even get a job. I know, I could work at Walmart or some other job, but I've been out of college over 10 years. I have a degree and some allegedly valuable experience and training. How am I gonna keep looking for a job if I'm stuck somewhere doing basic crap all day?
Parents and some friends have told me I've done good by getting my CCNA. I try telling myself that it wasn't worth it to move to keep my old job.
Look where I'm at now: jobless and scrambling to find something before the money runs out. I believe the term is desperation.
I really don't know what I can do anymore.
31 March 2008
30 March 2008
WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
Watched Wrestlemania with a few friends earlier tonight. One of the main matches on the card was Ric Flair against Shawn Michaels. The gimmick used lately for Flair is the next match he loses would be his last match. It's pretty appropriate considering Flair is approaching age 60, and some critics say he should have given it up a long time ago.
I know, I know, rasslin's scripted and such. Still, if you've ever even watched a pro wrestling match, you probably know about the influence Flair has in the business. I recommend y'all watch Flair's Hall of Fame induction speech. For all the stuff he's done over the years, he showed a great deal of humility and thankfulness to those that supported him. It's good stuff.
Then, I recommend you watch his match with Shawn Michaels. It was easily the match of the night, which is saying something when the two participants are a combined 100+ years old. Some of the other top acts in rasslin' could learn a few things about how to run a match from Michaels and Flair. It's one of the best matches I've seen.
Anyhoo, it was good stuff, so check out the videos while you can.
I know, I know, rasslin's scripted and such. Still, if you've ever even watched a pro wrestling match, you probably know about the influence Flair has in the business. I recommend y'all watch Flair's Hall of Fame induction speech. For all the stuff he's done over the years, he showed a great deal of humility and thankfulness to those that supported him. It's good stuff.
Then, I recommend you watch his match with Shawn Michaels. It was easily the match of the night, which is saying something when the two participants are a combined 100+ years old. Some of the other top acts in rasslin' could learn a few things about how to run a match from Michaels and Flair. It's one of the best matches I've seen.
Anyhoo, it was good stuff, so check out the videos while you can.
29 March 2008
Still more on the Holy Name protest
Supposedly, the suspects are free on bail. Major news outlets still haven't reported if they were free or not, but supposedly, these nuts have walked amongst their fellow nuts since their arrest.
I know, I suppose I should just let it go. Still, it's nuts like these jerks that make me think there really is a war going on between the left and the right, and that I need to do something to protect myself against quacks like this.
For all the good it's done, I've continued posting on the Chicago indy media website, only to have most of my posts deleted. So much for open debate and such. I suppose that's what I should expect from people who terrorize a church in the name of the first amendment.
Anyhoo, here's my latest post, under the name The Notorious P.I.G.:
One other thing here. While the first amendment does include protection of free speech, it also includes the right to practice religion freely and to peaceably assemble. I'm no lawyer or anything, but I haven't seen anything that says the right to free speech outweighs the right to practice religion and assemble peacefully.
That's why I remain angry about what the protesters did last Sunday. In my mind, it seems they took it upon themselves to show that their freedom of speech is more important to them than the freedom of others to practice religion.
Illinois, especially Chicago, traditionally votes very heavily for Democrat candidates. The state was carried by Al Gore in 2000 and by John Kerry in 2004 in respective presidential elections. Chances are a good portion of the people inside Holy Name on Sunday already opposed the war and have cast votes supporting candidates that wouldn't have as much of a war policy as Bush.
Also, an usher's hearing aid was damaged by the demonstration, according to reports. Are the protesters willing to make restitution to the usher, so he can get his hearing aid repaired or replaced?
Of course Cardinal George agrees with the message of peace. Several reports have also shown that he disagrees with the method in which that protest was delivered.
I still fail to see the point of these folks basically preaching to the choir. Many folks, especially folks in that church, were already against the war. By protesting in this fashion, the protesters have likely turned the more moderate elements of this country against them. Sure, I know there are people who approved of this, but honestly, to rally more people to your cause, you shouldn't go into a church and do what these six did. You need more moderate folks to help your cause, and you alienated them by the protest.
It's good to see folks citing quotes and statistics on here. But, in the words of Samuel Clemens: "There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics."
I know, I suppose I should just let it go. Still, it's nuts like these jerks that make me think there really is a war going on between the left and the right, and that I need to do something to protect myself against quacks like this.
For all the good it's done, I've continued posting on the Chicago indy media website, only to have most of my posts deleted. So much for open debate and such. I suppose that's what I should expect from people who terrorize a church in the name of the first amendment.
Anyhoo, here's my latest post, under the name The Notorious P.I.G.:
One other thing here. While the first amendment does include protection of free speech, it also includes the right to practice religion freely and to peaceably assemble. I'm no lawyer or anything, but I haven't seen anything that says the right to free speech outweighs the right to practice religion and assemble peacefully.
That's why I remain angry about what the protesters did last Sunday. In my mind, it seems they took it upon themselves to show that their freedom of speech is more important to them than the freedom of others to practice religion.
Illinois, especially Chicago, traditionally votes very heavily for Democrat candidates. The state was carried by Al Gore in 2000 and by John Kerry in 2004 in respective presidential elections. Chances are a good portion of the people inside Holy Name on Sunday already opposed the war and have cast votes supporting candidates that wouldn't have as much of a war policy as Bush.
Also, an usher's hearing aid was damaged by the demonstration, according to reports. Are the protesters willing to make restitution to the usher, so he can get his hearing aid repaired or replaced?
Of course Cardinal George agrees with the message of peace. Several reports have also shown that he disagrees with the method in which that protest was delivered.
I still fail to see the point of these folks basically preaching to the choir. Many folks, especially folks in that church, were already against the war. By protesting in this fashion, the protesters have likely turned the more moderate elements of this country against them. Sure, I know there are people who approved of this, but honestly, to rally more people to your cause, you shouldn't go into a church and do what these six did. You need more moderate folks to help your cause, and you alienated them by the protest.
It's good to see folks citing quotes and statistics on here. But, in the words of Samuel Clemens: "There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics."
26 March 2008
More on the jerks who disrupted Easter mass
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the level of stupidity and dishonesty that comes across from these asswipes. Take a good look at the links that claim that bail was posted for all of these candidates. There's no independent verification from any of these, just posts by someone called "Holy Name 6."
Sure, that sounds really truthful. Still being unemployed, and having plenty of time between job searching and hoping someone actually calls me, I've checked the Tribune, the Sun Times, the AP and a few other well-known publications. Not a single one has yet stated for the record that any of the six accused posted bail.
Also take into account that the total combined bail for these folks was $160,000, and they needed to post at least 10% of that to temporarily free all six. I know that folks can take out loans, scramble for cash, borrow and such to get that money within a certain amount of time. But this was a pretty big story, and news organizations will trip over themselves to be the first to bring any update on a story to the public. Wouldn't the Trib post a small blurb on this?
Anyhoo, these clowns have written an op-ed piece calling for Cardinal George to forgive them and for the city to drop all charges against the six. I agree with the forgiveness, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't stand trial for what they've done. "Render unto Caeser...", and so on.
If you want to burst a vein in your forehead, please, continue reading what these nuts say.
Also, here's a response from me to their propaganda. I'm sure it'll get deleted, but I like to have fun at others' expense:
Please. The six suspects got exactly what was coming to them, and have more coming still.
You people claim you want peace through reason, yet you use violence to accomplish your means. Sure, no one died or was seriously injured, but you violated the worshippers' rights by doing what you did. You used terror to make your point. Disrupting the service was inherently violent. Spraying what at the time was an unknown substance on others at the church was inherently violent.
Perhaps I should be able to do the same thing to you. I know! I'll rub dog crap all over you in a symbolic gesture of showing the world that you're full of it.
But hey, you won't get hurt by it. By your logic, that makes it acceptable, right? Right?
Right.
Martyrs are people who died for worthwhile causes. If these six had died, they'd be up for a Darwin award.
But, you don't care about this anyway. All you'll do is keep believing your own propaganda, never bothering to see that things aren't always as black and white as you make them out to be.
24 March 2008
Catholic Schoolgirls in Trouble after interrupting Easter mass
Quick note: I was raised Catholic but no longer go to church on a regular basis, mostly out of laziness.
Anyway, when I heard about this, I was disgusted. Easter Sunday is the holiest day in the church calendar, and for these assholes to disrupt the service in this fashion just pisses me off.
Please, don't get me started on any first amendment/freedom of speech stuff. Trust me, the clowns who've littered message boards on this have all claimed that what these mooks did is protected speech.
Thing is, the first amendment also includes the freedom to peaceably practice religion and gather, which the jerks listed in this story interfered with when they decided to pull this stunt.
What really kills me about this group is that they were mad at Cardinal George for meeting with President Bush and Mayor Daley for a luncheon a few months ago. I suppose they equate the lunch with being a Bush sympathizer.
I don't get it. Aren't church leaders supposed to meet with politicians to accomplish whatever they can for the church, and by default, the people of the church? Should church leaders just refuse to sit down with any leader who does something that some obscure group somewhere opposes?
Of course not.
I understand the antiwar sentiment. I understand the need to protest. I don't understand the need to interrupt a service, desecrate a church and assault your fellow man just to get your point across. There was a 70-year-old man, an usher, who was in tears after this happened. He'd suffered from cancer and from what I remember, only recently returned to serve the church. Did he really have to endure that?
Is this kind of stuff really necessary to make people pay attention? Is it really necessary to protest violence by using violence?
At any rate, these folks should get what's coming to them: fines, and hopefully some jail time. They've already spent a night in the clink at 26th and California, and that makes me feel all warm inside. Maybe someone in the jail will be nice enough to throw a blanket party for them.
Protest the war if you want, but don't assault others to get your point across.
Makes you wonder if anyone even takes anything other than the "eye for an eye" message to heart anymore.
23 March 2008
It's Their Language, We're Just Borrowing
From BBC Sports Talk Comment Board:
YOU HAVE BEEN WELL AND TRULY STUFFED!
comment by oldninianpark (U8550739)
posted 43 Minutes Ago
cracking grasp of English there numb nuts
YOU HAVE BEEN WELL AND TRULY STUFFED!
comment by oldninianpark (U8550739)
posted 43 Minutes Ago
cracking grasp of English there numb nuts
18 March 2008
A Curious Side Thought
Ever notice how some are wringing our hand about Obama's minister's inflammatory statements without pausing to ask if there's any merit to the assertions?
Statements like this have been said for as long as I can remember, ergo a group of people must deeply believe them.
If the statements were patently untrue, they would be thoroughly discredited and discussion no longer considered. But they are not. They are maintained in a manner that approaches condescention.
If those statements wrong, why do we refuse to challenge them?
Wouldn't you?
Statements like this have been said for as long as I can remember, ergo a group of people must deeply believe them.
If the statements were patently untrue, they would be thoroughly discredited and discussion no longer considered. But they are not. They are maintained in a manner that approaches condescention.
If those statements wrong, why do we refuse to challenge them?
Wouldn't you?
12 March 2008
Affront
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that not everyone is a fan. Maybe
he's a little bit disillusioned about D&D? Or he never really did play it..."
http://www.slate.com/id/2186203/?GT1=38001
It's pieces of crap like this guy that make me hate people.
The fact that he has an opinion about gaming does not bug me. Sure, he's a gaming snob. So he prefers GURPS over the d20 D&D system; that's a legit choice. I understand people that make that preference. GURPS, for those that don't know, is an acronym for Generic Universal Role Playing System. In a completely imperfect nutshell, it's like D&D but not restricted to killing orcs and goblins. You could make a game where everyone is a 1920's gangster.
I can even understand the people that dislike D&D. I personally think D&D has gotten out of hand, too many options and ways to play a character that appear to be more ways to fool a DM into letting a player do what they want than working within the system. Too many books, too many alternatives. But I don't hate the game; rather, I let people to their version of the game and I to mine. Everyone is happy.
But his argument goes a step deeper. He expresses anger for the dead man's product, laments what has become of that product, and sneers at the current state of gaming. To read it, you would think that D&D should just shrivel up and die, and that everyone enjoying the games that they do should shake their collective fists in moral outrage because, well, it's just a vehicle for 'hack and slash' gaming. Not just in RPG, but in table top, miniatures, and especially video games. He cries about experience points (the reward that allows a person's character to gain power) being tailored to games of senseless killing, etc.
You know where he's coming from early in his article when he busts out a reference to Star Trek conventioneers having known about (his point) for years.
To this guy, I would wonder if the only games for which he would be happy would be How To Host a Murder and Live Action Role Play. That way we could see how committed he is to his craft, how clever and successful he is in character, and what a fine actor he is.
Bullshit.
There is a place for hack and slash in the world; if there wasn't, it would not have sold nearly as well as it has (Warcraft, Diablo, Oblivion, and these are a small few of the modern titles!). This guy sounds said that his little corner of gaming doesn't get the recognition he believes it deserves, and it's all Gary Gygax's fault. So he'll spit on the grave of a man.
I'm not sainting Gygax by any measure. But hating a man who was first to generate what evolved into virtually every form of modern gaming because you aren't getting your due? That's not sad, it's pathetic. Attitudes like that, when expressed, are what keep gamers in the social basement. That and the bathing thing that some gamers seem to have forgotten.
Please. Be too good for our games. And then do us a favor and shut up. There are more creative people on my side than yours, merely because your article paints virtually the entire gaming community as idiots. Go back and impress people with your 19th century American lexicon. I'm sure that is a big hit amongst the three other people at your parties. I'll go to GenCon instead, where thousands of people enjoy Hack and Slash and laugh and get drunk and give their imaginations a marathon workout for days.
You know, those idiots that play that tired Gygax game.
he's a little bit disillusioned about D&D? Or he never really did play it..."
http://www.slate.com/id/2186203/?GT1=38001
It's pieces of crap like this guy that make me hate people.
The fact that he has an opinion about gaming does not bug me. Sure, he's a gaming snob. So he prefers GURPS over the d20 D&D system; that's a legit choice. I understand people that make that preference. GURPS, for those that don't know, is an acronym for Generic Universal Role Playing System. In a completely imperfect nutshell, it's like D&D but not restricted to killing orcs and goblins. You could make a game where everyone is a 1920's gangster.
I can even understand the people that dislike D&D. I personally think D&D has gotten out of hand, too many options and ways to play a character that appear to be more ways to fool a DM into letting a player do what they want than working within the system. Too many books, too many alternatives. But I don't hate the game; rather, I let people to their version of the game and I to mine. Everyone is happy.
But his argument goes a step deeper. He expresses anger for the dead man's product, laments what has become of that product, and sneers at the current state of gaming. To read it, you would think that D&D should just shrivel up and die, and that everyone enjoying the games that they do should shake their collective fists in moral outrage because, well, it's just a vehicle for 'hack and slash' gaming. Not just in RPG, but in table top, miniatures, and especially video games. He cries about experience points (the reward that allows a person's character to gain power) being tailored to games of senseless killing, etc.
You know where he's coming from early in his article when he busts out a reference to Star Trek conventioneers having known about (his point) for years.
To this guy, I would wonder if the only games for which he would be happy would be How To Host a Murder and Live Action Role Play. That way we could see how committed he is to his craft, how clever and successful he is in character, and what a fine actor he is.
Bullshit.
There is a place for hack and slash in the world; if there wasn't, it would not have sold nearly as well as it has (Warcraft, Diablo, Oblivion, and these are a small few of the modern titles!). This guy sounds said that his little corner of gaming doesn't get the recognition he believes it deserves, and it's all Gary Gygax's fault. So he'll spit on the grave of a man.
I'm not sainting Gygax by any measure. But hating a man who was first to generate what evolved into virtually every form of modern gaming because you aren't getting your due? That's not sad, it's pathetic. Attitudes like that, when expressed, are what keep gamers in the social basement. That and the bathing thing that some gamers seem to have forgotten.
Please. Be too good for our games. And then do us a favor and shut up. There are more creative people on my side than yours, merely because your article paints virtually the entire gaming community as idiots. Go back and impress people with your 19th century American lexicon. I'm sure that is a big hit amongst the three other people at your parties. I'll go to GenCon instead, where thousands of people enjoy Hack and Slash and laugh and get drunk and give their imaginations a marathon workout for days.
You know, those idiots that play that tired Gygax game.
09 March 2008
The Guy Who Asks You To Work On Sunday
I never wanted to be 'that guy.' At first I hated 'that guy,' then I began to understand 'that guy' didn't do it out of spite, 'that guy' didn't want to do it, either... and then I became 'that guy.'
'That Guy' is the person that asks you to work on a Sunday.
I've been working almost every day since I returned on a project that I have no love for and that I would walk away from in a heartbeat. Some people thrive in the intense atmosphere, some people really turn out spectacular work under pressure. I don't know any, but I've heard they exist.
This project has burned through 2/3 of my company, subject one guy to work so hard he hasn't recovered from his flu for over a month. The site is an hour from where I live, and then I get to work 10-12 hours, drive home, sleep, and do it again. The client is using the opportunity to treat us like crap during the entire time. And why not? It's what we get paid for, to take the crap they don't want to or can't give to their own employees.
I'm not even the project manager. But I'm 'in charge' today. So that means I get to make sure people are coming to work on a Sunday. When I interviewed with these people, I said I would work 16 hours a day during the week, but would not work weekends. I'm now working 12 hour days and weekends. Hell, even union employees get two days off every two weeks.
I've worked weekends before, and I've not had a problem with it. This issue isn't about working weekends for me, but the prolonged requirement that I will be needed to work weekends. At least two past this one, possibly more. There's a semi-defined goal, but it shifts hourly during the week. I don't even know if what I'm working on is still legit anymore.
So put yourself in my shoes. You don't want to be there but you know the only way for you to achieve your goal is to be there with as many people as you can muster. Then you get a call. One of the guys scheduled to work Sunday is not coming in. Last minute notice. You make a request that the guy send you the file he's working on in an email. He says no, he won't fill your request, he doesn't understand why he needs to do that. The other guys on the team don't get along and only one is helpful to you.
I let his boss know, and I let his project manager know. It's all I can do.
I know that managment is about getting people to do work. What they don't tell you is that it's more to get them to do work they don't want to do. Motivation. It's hard to motivate people when you are not motivated yourself.
So the next time you are asked to work a weekend, or outside of your normal scope of work, remember the person that asks is only a jerk if they're not in there slogging it out with you.
'That Guy' is the person that asks you to work on a Sunday.
I've been working almost every day since I returned on a project that I have no love for and that I would walk away from in a heartbeat. Some people thrive in the intense atmosphere, some people really turn out spectacular work under pressure. I don't know any, but I've heard they exist.
This project has burned through 2/3 of my company, subject one guy to work so hard he hasn't recovered from his flu for over a month. The site is an hour from where I live, and then I get to work 10-12 hours, drive home, sleep, and do it again. The client is using the opportunity to treat us like crap during the entire time. And why not? It's what we get paid for, to take the crap they don't want to or can't give to their own employees.
I'm not even the project manager. But I'm 'in charge' today. So that means I get to make sure people are coming to work on a Sunday. When I interviewed with these people, I said I would work 16 hours a day during the week, but would not work weekends. I'm now working 12 hour days and weekends. Hell, even union employees get two days off every two weeks.
I've worked weekends before, and I've not had a problem with it. This issue isn't about working weekends for me, but the prolonged requirement that I will be needed to work weekends. At least two past this one, possibly more. There's a semi-defined goal, but it shifts hourly during the week. I don't even know if what I'm working on is still legit anymore.
So put yourself in my shoes. You don't want to be there but you know the only way for you to achieve your goal is to be there with as many people as you can muster. Then you get a call. One of the guys scheduled to work Sunday is not coming in. Last minute notice. You make a request that the guy send you the file he's working on in an email. He says no, he won't fill your request, he doesn't understand why he needs to do that. The other guys on the team don't get along and only one is helpful to you.
I let his boss know, and I let his project manager know. It's all I can do.
I know that managment is about getting people to do work. What they don't tell you is that it's more to get them to do work they don't want to do. Motivation. It's hard to motivate people when you are not motivated yourself.
So the next time you are asked to work a weekend, or outside of your normal scope of work, remember the person that asks is only a jerk if they're not in there slogging it out with you.
04 March 2008
A sad day for gamers
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/03/04/national/a103425S84.DTL&tsp=1
Not in the article:
Fortunately, once the ritual is complete he will return as a lich with his soul being kept in an enchanted Ball glass jar. His realm, not surprisingly, will blight the life out of Lake Geneva- not that anyone would notice........
or
He didn't really die, he just got trapped in the Astral Plane.
or
He failed his System Shock check (1st ed) / fortitude save (3rd ed).
However you slice it, whether you thought he was a genius or not, a very creative man that started the ball rolling for hundreds of thousands of people to enjoy cheap beer, cheap pizza, rolling non-traditional trinket-like dice, and explore a creative side that the monotony of every day life tries to beat out of you has passed, and now can take his place in legend.
The game passed him by, but without him the game would not have existed.
Not in the article:
Fortunately, once the ritual is complete he will return as a lich with his soul being kept in an enchanted Ball glass jar. His realm, not surprisingly, will blight the life out of Lake Geneva- not that anyone would notice........
or
He didn't really die, he just got trapped in the Astral Plane.
or
He failed his System Shock check (1st ed) / fortitude save (3rd ed).
However you slice it, whether you thought he was a genius or not, a very creative man that started the ball rolling for hundreds of thousands of people to enjoy cheap beer, cheap pizza, rolling non-traditional trinket-like dice, and explore a creative side that the monotony of every day life tries to beat out of you has passed, and now can take his place in legend.
The game passed him by, but without him the game would not have existed.
02 March 2008
Cycling, cynicism, etc. Addendum
We have the same phenomenon out here, but in much more rampant form.
See, out here the first four of Maslow's hierarchy of needs are met by most (basic needs, safety needs, psychological needs, and self-actualization).
But to those that suffer from attaining self-actualization, well, hey-- anything goes out here, anything at all!
So when I pursue the following path of logic:
We need to conserve fuel; we should ride bikes; cars should share the road; cars don't share the road; car drivers are jerks; jerks that waste fuel are less than human; I should attack those less-than-humans who drive cars so that maybe they'll realize their error and not drive their cars!
you get things like this!
(pro bikes) http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/05/12/18415019.php
(neutral) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/12/BAGIEPQ4IU69.DTL
(editorial) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/04/04/BAGF7P12RN23.DTL
About Maslow:
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/maslow.htm
About the bikers:
http://critical-mass.info/
See, out here the first four of Maslow's hierarchy of needs are met by most (basic needs, safety needs, psychological needs, and self-actualization).
But to those that suffer from attaining self-actualization, well, hey-- anything goes out here, anything at all!
So when I pursue the following path of logic:
We need to conserve fuel; we should ride bikes; cars should share the road; cars don't share the road; car drivers are jerks; jerks that waste fuel are less than human; I should attack those less-than-humans who drive cars so that maybe they'll realize their error and not drive their cars!
you get things like this!
(pro bikes) http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/05/12/18415019.php
(neutral) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/12/BAGIEPQ4IU69.DTL
(editorial) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/04/04/BAGF7P12RN23.DTL
About Maslow:
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/maslow.htm
About the bikers:
http://critical-mass.info/
Cycling, cynicism and responsibility
About a week ago, a 29-year-old man died while participating in an unsanctioned, illegal bike race through Chicago. He ran a red light, and some poor guy in an SUV (who had right of way, incidentally) drove into him. You can check the story online at www.chicagotribune.com, or just use a search engine. For some reason, I'm having link problems.
Police didn't charge the SUV driver with anything.
You know, I really can't feel bad about the guy who died. Sure, call me cold and heartless, but the guy was participating in an illegal race and, by the way, ran a red light.
Rules of the road apply to everybody. That's one of the things that infuriates me about this area. Folks familiar with Chicago, especially the yuppie/Lincoln Park aspect of it, will know about the sense of entitlement that so many people seem to have around here. From motorists who cut you off to bikers who swerve between cars to pedestrians who just walk into the middle of the street and expect you to stop for them, it's a recipe for disaster.
I've read some of the online posts about the accident, and am amazed at the level of arrogance and contempt shown by some folks, whether they were motorists or cyclists. No wonder there's so much crap on the road when so many people have an "us against them" mentality.
It seems the race organizers still plan on running more legs in the Tour Da Chicago. I'm not normally a fan of the lawsuit, but I'd really like to see these jerks get fined, put on trial, and sued by the driver of the SUV. They're encouraging a race that's illegal, and through its "competitive spirit," further encourages bikers to deliberately break the law in order to win. This group didn't just their own lives at risk, they put the lives of motorists and pedestrians at risk, just to satisfy their need for an adrenalin rush.
The one person I feel for in this whole thing is the SUV driver. He has to live with the burden of taking a life, even though he wasn't at fault. I hope he's able to get through this.
::edit:: By the sound of it, Chicago police are not going to press charges against the race organizers. One of the few times I want them to bloody someone up, and they just can't. Pity.
::second edit:: I'm gonna crusade to get this guy nominated for a Darwin award. He's worth it.
Police didn't charge the SUV driver with anything.
You know, I really can't feel bad about the guy who died. Sure, call me cold and heartless, but the guy was participating in an illegal race and, by the way, ran a red light.
Rules of the road apply to everybody. That's one of the things that infuriates me about this area. Folks familiar with Chicago, especially the yuppie/Lincoln Park aspect of it, will know about the sense of entitlement that so many people seem to have around here. From motorists who cut you off to bikers who swerve between cars to pedestrians who just walk into the middle of the street and expect you to stop for them, it's a recipe for disaster.
I've read some of the online posts about the accident, and am amazed at the level of arrogance and contempt shown by some folks, whether they were motorists or cyclists. No wonder there's so much crap on the road when so many people have an "us against them" mentality.
It seems the race organizers still plan on running more legs in the Tour Da Chicago. I'm not normally a fan of the lawsuit, but I'd really like to see these jerks get fined, put on trial, and sued by the driver of the SUV. They're encouraging a race that's illegal, and through its "competitive spirit," further encourages bikers to deliberately break the law in order to win. This group didn't just their own lives at risk, they put the lives of motorists and pedestrians at risk, just to satisfy their need for an adrenalin rush.
The one person I feel for in this whole thing is the SUV driver. He has to live with the burden of taking a life, even though he wasn't at fault. I hope he's able to get through this.
::edit:: By the sound of it, Chicago police are not going to press charges against the race organizers. One of the few times I want them to bloody someone up, and they just can't. Pity.
::second edit:: I'm gonna crusade to get this guy nominated for a Darwin award. He's worth it.
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