Today on the ride home I was digging the reduced humidity. Riding through less water has to make the ride easier. Less friction perhaps? Anyway, the ride was great and by the time I crossed the DC/MD border I knew I was home free. Not so lucky today.

As I approached the Mount Rainier traffic circle in the left lane I was scanning for cars already in the circle. No cars were there but there was a driver in the right lane who was also scanning for traffic before entering. We both decided it’s free so it’s go time. We simultaneously enter the circle in our own lanes and the driver of the SUV starts to cut me off. There isn’t anywhere to go except the curb or to slam my breaks which doesn’t seem smart (no time to see what’s behind me) so I yell out, “Hey! Watch out!!” She then scoots back into her lane and she continues traveling east on Route 1 while I continue to ride in the circle and exit on 34th.

So, lady in the black SUV, please don’t change lanes in the tiny traffic circle. It’s a two lane road not a single road for your SUV. If you must change lanes, don’t do it without looking to see if someone is there. I have a flashing headlight, a day-glow orange bike and an orange safety vest. I’m visible but you do have to look outside of your automobile.

On July 12th a van driver buzzed me since it seems s/he couldn’t wait a few moments to pass when there was more room. I can’t make out the logo on the back of the van but the plates are MD A168984. 

Music: “Robot Summer” by Gurdonark

After it happened, I rode across the street to the Mount Rainier police department to report the incident to an officer who promptly pulled the driver over (!) and brought him back to talk to me and ticket him.  Looking back, it feels fortuitous that everything turned out as well as it did.

Here’s the video (click on “HD” for maximum quality):

Music by BOCrew.

I recorded this buzzing near the strange intersection where Rhode Island Ave meets 7th and R  streets. The traffic going west on R was partially blocking the southbound traffic on Rhode Island. I continued past the stopped cars and since the light was red, decided to continue up to the front of the line of cars instead of hanging back with the gridlock.  That wasn’t such a good idea because as soon as I neared the front of the line the light changed and the drivers began to go.

I didn’t have a good chance to “take the lane” and partly because of that the driver of the Toyota Camry (MD licence plate GWR358) decides to give me a buzz rather than waiting for a clear 3 feet of passing space. If you watch closely you’ll see her pass me at the beginning of the video when she’s in the lane next to me (thank you). By the end she’s … well go ahead and see for yourself:

Music:”Valiha Trance” by 7thHeaven // 2010 – Licensed under Creative Commons

The ride on Friday was beautiful. Humidity was down, the sun was out and many bikers were on the roads.

It also happened to be my first ride with a new camera that let me capture this moment where I was nearly sideswiped by a Lexus SUV driver with MD plates AZ13868 as I rode in the bike lane on Q Street NW.  Watch as the driver swerves without signaling into the bike lane.   From what I could tell, the reason for the swerve was that the driver didn’t want to slow down as he was approaching another driving turning left onto 7th street NW.

The lesson today for bikers: beware of the driver’s blind spot, especially at intersections.

The lesson for drivers: don’t swerve into the bike lane, especially without signaling.

1. Go to wmata.nextbus.com.
2. Select your route, destination and bus stop and then a blue box at at the bottom of the page shows when the next buses will arrive. This is the piece we want to take with us to our iGoogle page.
   
3. Click “Update page address so that it can be bookmarked.”
4. Using your mouse, Right Click and  choose View Page Source in Firefox or Chrome or View Source in Internet Explorer or Safari. This opens up a new window with the source code of the web page.
5. The address needed is at the bottom of the page in an iframe tag.  The quickest way to find it is to press Ctrl + f to access the search function. Search for iframe.  The iframe looks like this:
   

   <iframe id="mainFrame"
   src="http://wmata.nextbus.com/customStopSelector/fancyNewPredictionLayer.jsp?a=wmata&r=42&d=42_42_0&s=7018&ts=6905&cssFile=http://www.wmata.com/css/nextbus.css&bookmarkableURL=http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/nextbus/arrivals.cfm#"
   width="80%" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto">
   </iframe>

6. Copy the web site address from the beginning through to the last part before “&css” because this is the direct link to the NextBus page for this route.   In the example below the part to copy is marked in red text:

   http://wmata.nextbus.com/customStopSelector/fancyNewPredictionLayer.jsp?a=wmata&r=42&d=42_42_0&s=7018&ts=6905&cssFile=http://www.wmata.com/css/nextbus.css&bookmarkableURL=http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/nextbus/arrivals.cfm#

7. Login to your iGoogle page and click on Add Stuff on the top right part of the page.  Use the gadget named “iFrame” and then add it to your iGoogle page.
8. Return to your iGoogle page, click the drop down menu for the new iFrame Gadget and finally choose Edit Settings.  Use the settings in this example below.  Most of the gadget’s default settings work but a few need to be changed:
   src: Paste the source link from step 6 here.
   Title: Give this gadget a name so it is easy to find on your iGoogle page.
   Height: The default height is unnecessarily tall.  Try a shorter gadget — 225 pixels worked well on my page.When you’re done click on Save.
   
9. If everything worked your iGoogle page will now include a gadget showing your favorite bus route showing when the bus will actually arrive.  Here is a screen shot of my iGoogle page with the new gadget showing NextBus for the 42:
   
10. Here is this same bus route embedded on this web page to give you a live example:

11. And if that isn’t cool enough — try going to your new iGoogle page on your iPhone or Android phone.  There you’ll find your new gadget in all of its mobile glory:
    

Let me know if you have any issues with this or know of an easier way to access your favorite routes quickly.

Thanks to heryandotus for sharing his custom NextBus page since it inspired me to figure out how to do the same thing for those who aren’t web monkeys [via].

This is what happens after dinner.  It’s a race to clean the sink and floors before bed time.

Writing a weblog today isn’t the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.   

 His ideas about why blogging is wasting time struck me and it felt freeing to allow myself to imagine ending the blog project and pull that plug.  Had I not been reading the story in bed I may have gotten up and sent the pixels that make up this web site off into oblivion.  The next morning it was time for breakfast and going to work so there wasn’t time to kill the blog.  Rather than acting on my impulse, I waited long enough that I finally came across Andrew Sullivan’s essay Why I Blog in The Atlantic and I may get back into it.   I re-read the essay tonight and his description of what blogging is and how it is so different for writers to be so exposed and honest is what stands out:

You have to express yourself now, while your emotions roil, while your temper flares, while your humor lasts. You can try to hide yourself from real scrutiny, and the exposure it demands, but it’s hard. And that’s what makes blogging as a form stand out: it is rich in personality. The faux intimacy of the Web experience, the closeness of the e-mail and the instant message, seeps through. You feel as if you know bloggers as they go through their lives, experience the same things you are experiencing, and share the moment.      

   It is this intimacy and immediate expression that is so fun to read and also to create.  I want to show you about how exciting it is to be out on the street the night of the presidental election.   I want to show you pictures of the mountains of dishes that I get to wash in our tiny kitchen.  I want to explore how to live in a city studio apartment as a newly married couple.  I want to show you interesting photographs of friends in the neighborhood.  I want to talk about interesting ideas raised in some of my favorite publications.  And I want to do it all freely and happily.Even if I enjoy reading blogs immensely I’m going to make an effort to share a little more.  Hopefully it’ll be fun for all of us.

We’re looking forward to seeing family and friends in December!