My new year’s resolution was to “drive to work less.” Seems pretty simple, especially when I already commute a few days a week on my bike. But when I told Monica this morning that I planned on taking the bus to work this morning she just about talked me out of it. I almost didn’t, but thought about my resolution and took the bus instead.

My first bus ride since working downtown went really well. We live a block from the busway and the EBA runs just about every 10 minutes and is a fast trip to Herron Ave. and Liberty. From there the walk is about 10 minutes. Very fast trip.

I only wish PAT had a pay as you go pass, not one that expired weekly or monthly. Once the weather warms up to above 20 degrees again I hope to be on my bike at least three days a week again, maybe riding the bus the other days.

The other evening after work as I was bundling for my ride home our vice president Shane asked me, “Is it worth it?” I responded with a chuckle and a yes.

Here’s why.

• It keeps me in shape
• It relieves stress
• It saves me money
• It saves wear and tear on my car
• It’s good for the environment

I had my 2004 Toyota Matrix inspected today and the only things it needed was a wiper blade and a pair of tires to replace the flat I had. I have a feeling I will own this car for a long time to come. It has never given me a single problem outside of standard wear and tear on the brakes, it gets good gas mileage and I can jam all if my stuff into the back of it.

On my way home today on Reynolds St. I was being followed by a Shady Side Academy bus driver from about Linden, and fairly close. We both stopped at the red on S. Dallas. As I pulled up to the stop sign at S. Lang and slowed he came within what seemed like a foot of me and I rolled through, pulled aside and let him pass me. Ten seconds later at the circle at Homewood Ave he slowed and put on his blinkers to let someone off. I slowed to let the person get off, but when it became clear they weren’t getting off anytime soon, I hopped the sidewalk to pass.

As I am passing the bus he yells out for me to come see him. I almost didn’t do it, but wanted to apologize to him and move along. He starts in on me how I should share the road so I try to tell him he needs to give me three feet when he passes and a little back and fourth begins.

He was clearly not happy with cyclists in general but I am not happy with how I handled the situation. I should have listened, apologized and moved on.

There was a heated conversation this evening about politics and at one point it turned to gun control and how Barack Obama was going to take away an American’s right to bear arms. This isn’t the first time I have heard this, in fact I have heard it about John Kerry, a gun owner.

So I did a little bit of research on my own.

Responding to District of Columbia v. Heller, Mr Obama pointed out that Justice Scalia (Appointed by Ronald Reagan) had, while ruling that the DC ban went too far, acknowledged that the right to bear arms is “not absolute and subject to reasonable regulations”.

He then says, “I think it’s important for us to recognize that we’ve got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally. And a lot of law-abiding citizens use it for hunting, for sportsmanship, and for protecting their families. We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets. And cracking down on the various loopholes that exist in terms of background checks for children, the mentally ill. We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measure that I think respect the Second Amendment and people’s traditions.”

Basically he leaves it up to municipalities to decide what to do.

I personally don’t own a gun, nor have I ever fired one. Even though I don’t trust the majority of Americans to do so, I respect and somewhat understand one’s right to own and carry a gun. But with this comes great responsibility. If you can’t go through a background check and wait a couple days or respect a law that requires a safety lock on all firearms then perhaps you aren’t responsible enough to own a weapon.

From my research all Barack Obama wants is reasonable control that will perhaps prevent another incident like the one that occurred at Virginia Tech.

I think that’s both reasonable and fair.

Monica and I came across this pug receiving a blessing from St. Francis of Assisi at a church we are considering for our wedding. I am not a religious person or one who believes in fate, but this seems all to perfect.

Dear Rich Lord,

I am responding to your article found at… Linking to the Bike Pittsburgh post rather than the article itself…

I commute to work on a bike three days a week and drive the other two so I see both sides of the story that you didn’t present. From my point of view both cyclists and motorists break the law daily.

I cant remember the last time I saw someone actually obey the posted speed limit, or didn’t witness someone floor it to get through a yellow light. Every day I see at least five people on their cell phone, not paying attention to the road or their surroundings.

I challenge any of your sources to give me a day when they don’t experience these things as well.

Your sources point out a small subset of cyclists in Pittsburgh who put themselves and others around them in danger with reckless riding habits. When I am on my bike I am defensive, safe and predictable as are the majority of cyclists I encounter daily. I slow at all stop signs and I stop and cautiously go at all stop lights when it is safe to do so. I don’t obey the laws exactly as they are written, but neither do 90% of the drivers I encounter.

I believe your contributors should take a long hard look at their fellow drivers habits before they choose to criticize the way cyclists share the road. Cycling is here to stay, we are not going anywhere. Time to get used to us and work with us to make our city a cleaner, better city.

Sincerely, Ryan Sprake

Except its only for jail broken phones only… Here is another case where Apple is getting in the way of developers. See also: GPS, updates, demos. Why won’t they allow someone to write a video app?

Qik Launches Support For iPhones Running Old Firmware