The first charity event I'm committed to this year is rapidly approaching and I haven't even started fundraising yet. It might be the only one this year--we registered for the 3 Day but I doubt we'll do it, because it's a spendy kind of thing and we have some home improvements to tackle--and the one for sure is the one I'll do this year and two more, maybe three. Stop when I'm 60.
Or not.
The for sure is the St. Baldrick's head shaving event in March. This is the only one I'll probably beg for donations, starting...now.
You donate, I get my head shaved and suffer the uncomfortableness of it for about 6 weeks, until it grows out enough to not look six kinds of weird.
It's for kid's cancer research, so please donate what you can. I will look like a goofball for something that does a hell of a lot of good for kids who are going through this. I set a goal of $1500 for this year, and I'd at least like to break last year's $1205.
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For about a mile and a half on my ride today, I was about 3 kinds of freaked out. I noted in my rear view mirror a car following; I expected it would speed up and pass me, but it stayed back there, creeping along at the same 14 mph I was going. When it didn't pass me, I made a hard fast turn onto another street, because of course I was imagining things, and it would keep going straight.
The driver turned onto the same street, and kept the same distance behind me. 14-15 mph on a 25 mpg street.
So I pedaled faster, looking for people. When I got to the end of the street I turned right, knowing my dentist's office was one more turn away, and if that SOB was still on my six, I intended on barreling in there.
I turned left to the street where the dentist is, he turned...and when he spotted the cop coming my way, he did a U-turn and went elsewhere. I was =this= close to waving the cop down, and in hindsight I should have. But riding in town just got a bit creepy.
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On the bright side, the manager of the pizza place where the Spouse Thingy and I often meet near the end of our rides asked the building owner about putting in a bike rack, and today he told us work will start in February. They're putting one in near the pizza place, and another at the end of the strip near the bakery.
It stemmed from a Facebook post not too long ago. The manager was online getting feedback, and I posted--not thinking anything would come of it--that a rack to lock up to would be nice, so I could destroy all the calories I'd just burned on a ride. He replied he'd make it happen. And damned, it's gonna happen.
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Today is the Spouse Thingy's last day off. Sucks that we didn't get to go to Disneyland, but we actually had a decent time at home. It rained a lot but we still managed to get several rides in--I think I'm at around 140 miles for the last 2 weeks--and we saw a couple of movies, purged a bunch of stuff from the house, and slept in a lot. Not too shabby.
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Because of the opening of Star Wars Land in Disney this year, it's probably going to be wicked crowded for the next 2-3 years, so I doubt we'll even try to go. I may be wrong, who knows. But I think we'll shoot for something different this spring, maybe Monterrey. Or Vegas. Or both.
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Also, I'm still contemplating Patreon. I kinda want to, kinda leery of it, mostly because of some horror stories I'm reading online. I'd just like a platform where I can share stuff I'm working on before it goes to print, an all-you-can-eat kinda thing for a freaking low monthly cost.
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And this guy has been helping lately. I think I'm glad I don't understand him, because his tone is pretty freaking critical and he doesn't seem to approve of the work Max and I are doing.
3 comments:
I suspect Buddah's issue is jealousy over big brother Max getting to help out. Since he's seen how much fun it is, he wants in on the action!
Suggestion on riding and being followed by creepy people. Know where your local fire departments are. Ride on in, usually people there. Also, spy a home where people are and pull into the driveway. Ask them quickly to pretend they know you since being followed.
I thought I was being followed once, pulled into my own street which is a dead end. Figuring I would get to the end, go around the circle, then leave the area again. Turns out the guy following me was the guy who had just moved in across the street with a car I hadn't seen before. Better safe.
I got followed once years ago....although I was in my jeep, so I wasn't as vulnerable as you were. Still, it freaked me out. Started when I was in line at the drivethru at Taco Bell. Saw some guy driving by on the street took a long look at me as he drove by which registered to me as weird (like he'd spotted someone he knew), then when I pulled out of the parking lot, I found he was following me. I took a circuitous route thru the Oakland hills (couldn't go home with him following me), he continued to follow me, at which point I headed to the police station. When I stopped to talk to an officer in the police lot I could see the stalker parked around the corner watching, and then he took off. Police did nothing and said they could do nothing; I suspect maybe he was getting off his shift and wanted to go home, and in Oakland, if it's not a homicide it's not worth futzing with. Waited in the police parking lot for a way long time before going home, but was freaked for days afterward.
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