Pain in the Rear

For the third time in the last year or so, I have been rear-ended by a woman. That is, my car (truck) has been hit from behind by a woman not paying attention. The latest was a 19 year old woman who hit me while I was going 35 mph in a 35mph zone (very heavily patrolled by the cops). I had my cruise control set so as not to attract the attention of the donut eaters, when WAM! A sleeping Ian bolted awake (it was 4AM) and asked "What was that?". I pulled over and the latest crasher pulls to my side, rolls down her window and asks "did I hit your bike?". There wer 2 bikes on the hitch rack and indeed she hit one of the bikes. She also smashed my Rhode Gear bike rack. At first she tried to leave: I insisted she stay. Then she wasn't sure if she hit me: the cop showed her the big dent in her bumper, and I had plastic shards fron her car sitting on my bumper! She agreed to settle for 250 cash and we wouldn't involve her insurance company. She was supposed to pay up by Friday. If she doesnt have a check in tomorrow's mail, her insurance company will be called: then she will get to pay with a higher insurance premium. I guess she too inexperienced to realize I'm doing her a favor by allowing her to pay directly. Incidentally, Yakima has taken over Rhode Gear so if I have to deal with her insurance company, I will take my smashed Rhode Gear rack to the bike shop and replace it with a Yakima equivalent, which goes for 300-350! I would have replaced my rack with a generic one but if she's not helping me, I won't help her (or her insurance). Stay tuned.

I'm Back!

After a not so brief period of time away from my computer, I have now returned. Moving gets a lot harder the older you get. I guess adjustment in general becomes more difficult as we get older. You'd think it might get easier, as we try more new things, have more experiences upon which to draw but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Seventy five days! That's how our summer has been. That is, we have had 75 days this summer where the mercury hit 90 degrees or better. It's been one of the hottest summers Raleigh has seen. The previous record for 90 degrees plus days was 73, set back in 1953. August was collectively the hottest month ever recorded in Raleigh. The high 2 days ago was 101: another record heat day. We have had many heat records broken. The high today was ONLY 86. No more 90 days forecast for the immediate future.
We still need about 20" of rain to make up for our rain deficit. We are only supposed to water our grass on Wednesdays now (5AM-10AM). Don't tell anyone but I have a whole bunch of law-breaking, habitual grass waterers in my neighborhood.
The hot weather has put a slowdown on bike riding too, and that's a real shame. I have spent the last month however, riding the streets around Holly Springs, getting to know the local roads. I have a number of potential routes plotted now to take visitors on. We do have some hills here: in fact, you can't get ouit to the west side of town, for good in-the -country riding unless you chug up a few hills first. Never fear though: we will set a nice easy tempo through these areas. That's it for today!

A foot fetish??

Recently, I had a patient asked me a question I've been asked before, in a numberof roundabout ways. She was a middle aged mouthy sort from New York (a place I don't love...see above). Anyhow, she said "why did you become a foot doctor- do you have a foot fetish?". I replied with the following: first of all, there is no such thing as a foot fetish. A fetish is defined as sexual pleasure derived from an INANIMATE object. The foot of course is not an inanimate object and therefore one by definition cannot have a foot fetish. About this time, Miss Mouthy was turning red as she realized how insulting her question was. Next, I explained that I had no sexual interest in the foot whatsoever (she got even more red). Finally, I explained that I just happened into the specialty due to a convergence of circumstances. Any more questions, lady??

I Love New York

No, not the show with Flavor Flav and those chicks from the hood! But the promotional phrase on coffee mugs, t-shirts, magnets and any other cheap, made-in China souvenir you could imagine. Anyway, having just returned from the Big Apple last night, I have to disagree with the sentiment. I don't love New York. Maybe its the traffic, the noise, the crowds, the concrete, the high cost of living. Maybe its all those things. I guess its an OK place to visit, but I sure wouldn't want to live there. In fact, I feel sorry for the people who have to live there.
I'll take Holly Springs any day. Give me an acre or .4, where I can watch the dog chase a ball, or some streets I can walk down without being hit by a bus. Or some country roads where I can hammer with 50 or 60 of my closest bike riding friends on Sunday afternoons. By the way, since this will be the first post on this blog, welcome. I hope you return often to read other posts. Let me know what you think. You can sign up to be alerted via email when a new post is added. I might post once a week or so. Thanks!