I hate tweets that look like links to news articles but really are pitches to get you to subscribe. #

In general businesses place $0 value on your time. The worst are doctors. And then people whose name you don't know call you by your first name, and use a name no one but your (deceased) mother uses for you (the one on my birth certificate). This nameless person may possibly think they're being "friendly" but they're really being dominant. #

A bike safety idea. I noticed on my ride yesterday, a very nice day, in the week before Memorial Day, so lots of city folk are around, and they're out for a walk, in groups of 2 to 8 on the same roads I ride my bike on. They often occupy all the space, and move around a lot so it's impossible to know where I can safely go to get by them. I'm sure if I hit them they would get hurt, but unlike a car, I would get just as hurt. And I don't make much noise, so maybe they don't even hear me. I noticed that when a car approaches they get out of the way, presumably because 1. They can hear the car and 2. They know they'd get hurt and the car driver would just get a ticket, if that. I get a lot of thinking done while I ride, and I came up with a potential solution. I have a great little speaker mounted on my handlebar. It's small but it produces a lot of sound. What if, as I was approaching a group of such people, I switched the sound to that of an accelerating car, headed straight for them. It would be fun to watch them scatter! It would be a valuable teaching experience and it would get them out of my way, quickly. I would get the same respect a car gets. I really like the idea. All I'd need to try it out is a recording of an approaching car to play on my iPhone. #