New automatic braking regs protect peds, Bike Month just a day away, and SaMo and Pasadena honored for best bike lanes

April 30, 2024 / / Comments Off on New automatic braking regs protect peds, Bike Month just a day away, and SaMo and Pasadena honored for best bike lanes
Just 245 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can. 

We’re still at 1,128 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

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On top of everything else, I’ll be having a small skin cancer today, no doubt a souvenir of decades of riding a bike when they still thought the sun was good for you, and and any lotion you might use was meant for tanning, not screening out dangerous rays. 

So the status of tomorrow’s post is to be determined at this point. Not because of the minor surgery, but whether I’ll survive riding the bus with an effed up shoulder and ribs. 

Hopefully I’ll bounce back and see you in the morning; if not, we’ll be back bright and early on Thursday. 

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There may be hope yet. Eventually, anyway.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, unveiled the final draft of a new regulation to improve traffic safety, requiring every new motor vehicle sold in the US to have forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection braking.

According to the AP,

The standards require vehicles to stop and avoid hitting a vehicle in front of them at speeds up to 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour). Also they must apply the brakes automatically at up to 90 mph (145 kph) if a collision with vehicle ahead is imminent.

The systems also have to spot pedestrians during the day and night, and must stop and avoid a pedestrian at 31 mph to 40 mph (50 kph to 64 kph) depending on the pedestrian’s location and movement.

Presumably, any system than can detect pedestrians should be able to protect people on bicycles, although that’s not guaranteed.

Or even required.

Yet another reminder that we remain an afterthought when it comes to safety.

However, the new regulations won’t take effect for another five years. And it will take decades before most older cars with more limited capabilities are off the roads.

It’s predicted the new regs will save just 362 lives each year, less than 1% of the more than 40,000 people killed annually on American roads.

But it’s a start.

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Metro offers a guide to next month’s Bike Month, including Metro Bike discounts for Bike Week, starting May 13th, and free Metro rides for Bike Day on Thursday the 16th. Although what’s missing is any mention of Bike Day activities, or the pre-pandemic Bike to Work pit stops to encourage more people to try bike commuting.

UCLA will observe Bike Month with a series of mobile bike repair services across campus, along with pit stops on Tuesday the 14th, and Wednesday the 15th.

Beverly Hills will mark Bike Month with a series of events, ranging from a month-long commuter challenge and a “May the 4th Be With You” family bike ride to the kind of Bike to Work Day pit stop Metro appears to have forgotten.

Pasadena will also celebrate Bike Month, starting with National Ride a Bike Day this Sunday, the annual Rose Bowl Ride of Silence on Wednesday the 15th, and refreshments at City Hall for Bike to Work Day.

Meanwhile, LAist offers a guide to living carfree in the City of Angels, including how to use your bike for transportation; you can listen to their podcast from last year on the same subject below.

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Momentum lists the 20 best new bike lanes in the US, topped by projects in New York and Redmond, Washington.

Southern California is represented by Pasadena’s Union Street protected bike lane at #6, and Santa Monica’s 17th Street at #16.

And it should come to the surprise of absolutely no one that Los Angeles is nowhere to be found on the list.

As usual.

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Gravel Bike California conducts a little recon for NorCal’s planned 300-mile Great Redwood Trail network.

Twitter post

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It’s now 132 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 34 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. Sheriff’s deputies in San Marcos will conduct an “ebike safety sweep” on Wednesday afternoon to educate riders on ebike safety, while ticketing any violations committed by ebike riders — including a requirement to ride to the right, which only applies if you’re traveling at less than the speed of traffic. If you do get a ticket, fight it, because an operation specifically targeting ebike riders rather than all road users suggests illegally biased enforcement. 

A road-raging Maryland man faces charges for attempting to run a pair of bicyclists participating in a charity ride off the road with his pickup, then pulling into a driveway and firing three blasts with his shotgun, apparently missing them.

No bias here, either. A writer for Strong Towns says Florida Governor Ron DeSantis isn’t wrong when he says “some activists want to make driving so miserable that people have to abandon their cars,” accusing a “significant percentage of safe streets activists” of being motivated by a hatred of cars and the people who drive them. Never mind that a “significant percentage” of safe streets activists are drivers themselves. 

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Local 

A 38-year old man was shot by an unknown assailant while riding his bicycle in Sun Valley Friday night, calling police after “noticing” he’d been hit by gunfire.

 

State

Irvine will host the city’s first-ever open streets event this Saturday, with a relatively petite 1.66-mile CicloIrvine from 11 am to 4 pm.

An Encinitas paracyclist is looking for donations to help her make it to a qualifier for the Paris Paralympic Games.

San Diego recommends five scenic bike rides, calling the city a bike rider’s paradise. Just remember your ebike won’t be welcome in Mission Bay. 

Good question. A Redwood City writer wants to know what happened to the award-winning plans for the city’s first bike boulevard, which seem to have disappeared without a trace from the list of upcoming projects.

Eureka explains to drivers how to operate their big, deadly machines after a pair of new bikeways currently nearing completion are finished. Because evidently, that whole “licensing and registration” thing they keep insisting should be required for bicyclists isn’t enough to guarantee the people who pass them actually know how to drive already. 

 

National

If you’re looking for a bargain on bikes, parts and accessories, Colorado Cyclist and Planet Cyclery are holding online going out of business sales with up to 30% discounts across the board. But look around and compare prices before you buy, because liquidators often jack up prices before they cut them.

McLaren IndyCar racer David Malukas may be regretting being one of us, because he lost his contract after missing the year’s first four races due to an off-season mountain biking injury.

That’s more like it. An Arizona man will spend at least 12 years of a 14-year sentence behind bars, after pleading guilty to negligent homicide and hit-and-run charges for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider; he was already wanted on outstanding state and federal warrants at the time of the crash. Which at least explains why he fled.

Autopsy results show a Colorado mom, whose body was found three years after she disappeared on a Mother’s Day bike ride, was murdered “by unspecified means,” and had been injected with an animal tranquilizer used to immobilize wildlife before her death; her husband was initially charged with her murder, but charges were dropped because authorities hadn’t yet found her body.

Christian music star Amy Grant discusses the Nashville solo bicycle crash that took her memory, and nearly her life, forcing her to relearn the words to her own songs while leaning on her faith and family.

 

International

Mathematically challenged website Discerning Cyclist lists five things people get wrong about road bikes, which turns out to be six.

Israeli Occupation War Cabinet minister, and former opposition candidate Benny Gantz is one of us, too, breaking his foot while riding a bike in Southern Israel. But at least he has the freedom to ride a bike, unlike most people in Gaza these days. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Sofia Gomez Villafañe and teammate Matt Beers won this year’s Belgian Waffle Ride in San Marcos on Sunday, with Courtney Sherwell and Caroline Wreszin rounding out the women’s podium, and Alexey Vermeulen and Petr Vakoč finishing second and third for the men.

Bicycling considers how collegiate cycling can save American bike racing. This one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if they block you. 

British Cycling demonstrates the track bike they hope will carry their athletes to victory in the Paris Olympics. Demonstrating once again that victory in Olympic track cycling depends at least as much on technology as actual talent.

Former Tour de France champ Geraint Thomas blames UCI boss David Lappartient and race organizers for half of the crashes in pro cycling, saying that level of carnage wouldn’t be accepted in any new sport. Although someone should tell him about all those people flooding ERs with pickleball injuries. 

 

Finally…

Now you, too, could host your very own bicycle museum, assuming you own a vacant building somewhere in the Twin Cities. Your next bike could have a very cool looking Bugatti frame, handcrafted from a design created by Ettore Bugatti himself 115 years ago.

And who needs to ride a bike, when your bike can ride itself?

Instagram post

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Thanks to David V for his generous donation to help support this site, and keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Or every day my internet works and I’m not too banged up to do it, anyway. 

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Strava ranks LA 9th for bike commuting, ActiveSGV named nonprofit of the year, and LA rips out Winnetka buffers

April 29, 2024 / / 3 comments
Just 246 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can. 

We’re now up to 1,128 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

………

We’re back!

Kind of, anyway.

It’s been a rough ten days, but I’m finally doing a little better after my unplanned visit to the ER. I’m still struggling with pain and a loss of mobility, but at least I can lift my arm again and hold my laptop without too much discomfort. 

I’ll try to keep bringing you the all latest bike news every day, but no promises until I can put this damn thing behind me.

And my apologies to everyone who sent me something while I was out last week. I’m just too worn out after writing this to go back and see who sent what, so please just accept my thanks, and I’ll try to do better going forward.  

Meanwhile, my adventure cycling, former Iditarod-mushing brother has made it to the Arkansas River on his cross-country bike tour, after riding out Saturday’s Oklahoma tornadoes in a cement restroom in a deserted roadside campground. 

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A new Strava report shows Los Angeles is a surprising ninth on a list of the top ten bike commuting cities in the US, behind Boston and above Denver.

We also have the longest average commuting distance of any of the cities on the list, at a whopping 9.5 miles per commute. Which suggests that people are actually replacing their lengthy car trips with their bikes.

It’s also worth remembering that Strava only tracks people who have the app installed on their phones, and misses a lot of casual and low-income riders. Which means LA probably has even more bike commuters than what shows up in their stats.

Just imagine what that could look like if we actually had safe streets to ride on.

Here’s the full list, courtesy of Momentum Magazine.

Riding the Green Wave: Top 10 Commuting Cities
  1. Portland, OR: Leading the charge with 36% of cyclists choosing the green commute.
  2. Chicago, IL: A close second at 37%, boasting efficient and compact commutes.
  3. Seattle, WA: Rain or shine, 35% of Seattle’s cyclists opt for pedal power.
  4. Washington, DC: The nation’s capital follows closely with 34% of cyclists commuting.
  5. New York, NY: The Big Apple’s cyclists alone have saved over 2.3 million kilograms of carbon.
  6. San Francisco Bay Area, CA: Sharing the same 36% commute rate as New York, the Bay Area stands tall.
  7. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MI: A robust 32% of cyclists in this region choose green commutes.
  8. Boston, MA: Boston boasts a 33% commute rate among its cyclists.
  9. Los Angeles, CA: Surprising many, LA cyclists average a significant 9.5 miles per commute.
  10. Denver, CO: With a 33% commute rate, the Mile High City is reaching new heights in sustainability.

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Hats off to ActiveSGV, aka Active San Gabriel Valley, named 2024 California Nonprofit of the Year for District 49 by Assemblymember Mike Fong.

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Good question.

https://twitter.com/gatodejazz/status/1783954841280331924

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It’s now 131 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 34 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A Singapore crash devolves into an ugly racist road rage incident, after a bike rider and a driver argue over who hit who in a crosswalk, before attacking the other’s ethnicity.

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Local 

I wouldn’t plan on riding Topanga Canyon above PCH anytime soon, after the recent rains caused a landslide that may not be cleared until fall.

Auto-centric WeHoVille calls on West Hollywood city leaders to share the pain of local residents whose parking spaces could be displaced by new bike lanes by giving up their own parking privileges.

Speaking of WeHo, the LA County Sheriff’s Department will conduct a bicycle and pedestrian traffic safety operation on Wednesday, ticketing anyone who commits a traffic violation that could put either group at risk, regardless of who does it. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits, so you’re not the one who gets written up.

 

State

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Calbike’s recent 2024 California Bicycle Summit, with advocates calling for speed cams, speed limiters on city-owned vehicles, and revising state law to allow for lower speed limits; Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry says there were just too many sessions, conversations and highlights to cover them all.

A 13-year old Ramona boy flipped himself onto GoPro’s elite team of professional athletes by nailing a triple backflip on his BMX and sticking the landing.

Thousand Oaks wants your input on proposed new bike lanes and pedestrian improvements on Hillcrest Drive.

Santa Barbara County is hosting their 15th annual “CycleMAYnia” next month, offering over 40 community bike events under the theme of “Spring is here. Bikes are in bloom.”

A Santa Barbara op-ed calls for bigger and better bike lanes to accommodate bigger and better ebikes in the years to come.

Paso Robles officially opened a new bicycle pump track yesterday.

Sad news from Bakersfield, where a bike rider was killed by a semi-truck driver who drove off afterwards, before returning to the scene after a short time.

A Marin state Assembly Member has scaled back his proposal for a statewide ban on anyone under 16 riding a throttle-controlled ebike, instead proposing a pilot program just in Marin County.

 

National

A writer for Outside says he never thought he’d own a cruiser bike, until he discovered the joys of riding with his kids.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever just kept going after running down a ten-year old boy riding his bike in Reading, Massachusetts. Seriously, what the hell kind of person could just take off and leave a little kid bleeding in the street?

New York is on track for its deadliest year in a decade, with 60 people killed by traffic violence in the first quarter of 2024.

A weekly New Orleans social ride is providing bicycle therapy for the mostly Black participants, who celebrate the joyful, healing space on two wheels.

A Decatur, Georgia man was sentenced to life plus 15 years behind bars for fatally shooting his neighbor for leaving his bicycle in the hallway — and bizarrely claiming the victim was spying on him through his smoke detector. Apparently, the state plans to prop him up an extra decade and a half to finish his sentence. Unless he gets time off for good behavior, since dead men seldom cause trouble. 

Just days after a bike-riding Colombian man was killed by a driver fleeing from police in South LA, the same thing happened in Florida, where a 20-year old Pompano Beach man was killed while riding his bike home from work by a driver fleeing from deputies attempting to break up a street takeover.

 

International

That’s more like it. City leaders in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan have had a major change in attitude, now more focused on improving safety for people on bicycles than worrying about the cost.

You may be able to legally ride through a red light on the leading pedestrian interval signal in California now, but don’t try it in Ontario, Canada, where it remains against the law.

A blind man is offering a warning about a new curb-protected bike lane in Manchester, England, suggesting the floating bus stop and high curbs pose a risk to anyone with limited eyesight.

A UK coffee connoisseur conducts a deep dive into the “mysterious” relationship between bikes and coffee, calling it the original energy drink.

A new study from a British bike subscription service finds just 5% of women bike to work in the country, compared to 20% of men, with nine out of ten women citing concerns of getting hit by a driver, road rage and feeling vulnerable bicycling at night.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, with the “stunning” La Seine à Vélo bicycle route following the banks of the Seine River through the Île-de-France and Normandy regions from Paris to the coast.

 

Competitive Cycling

Transgender cyclist Austin Killips discusses the heartbreak of confronting UCI’s ban on transgender women competing in elite women’s races, just days after the ride of her life in winning last year’s Tour of the Gila.

Rising 21-year old American pro Luke Lamperti is scheduled to make his Grand Tour debut at next month’s Giro d’Italia.

Spanish pro Carlos Rodríguez won the GC at this year’s Tour de Romandie.

Twenty-three-year old Dutch cyclist Frank van den Broek claimed his first career stage victory in the Tour of Türkiye, the country formerly known as Turkey, after the final stage was neutralized due to rain.

The Lidl-Trek women’s cycling team won the opening team time trial for Spain’s La Vuelta Femenina, followed by Visma-Lease a Bike and SD Worx-ProTime.

Velo says the revival of South Carolina’s Greenville Cycling Classic after eight years is proof that enthusiastic bike racing fans are still around.

 

Finally…

When you’re carrying meth and weed on your bike, just put a damn taillight on it, already. That feeling when the new bike lane reminds people of a crime scene.

And no, this isn’t a photo.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Man riding bicycle killed in Fullerton collision Thursday night; 4th Orange County bike death already this year

April 27, 2024 / / Comments Off on Man riding bicycle killed in Fullerton collision Thursday night; 4th Orange County bike death already this year

A bad week for Southern California bike riders got worse Thursday night, when a man riding a bicycle was killed in a collision in Fullerton.

According to the Fullerton Observer, quoting word-for-word from a press release from the Fullerton Police Department, the victim was struck by the driver of an SUV around 9:05 pm near West Orangethorpe Ave and Campus Drive, in the shadow of the massive 5 and 91 Freeway interchange.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding “in an unknown direction” in the leftmost lane on eastbound Orangethorpe when he was struck by the 19-year old driver traveling “at an unknown speed.” He died at the scene.

The driver remained at the site following the crash, and police don’t believe he was under the influence at the time of the collision.

The awkward phasing that the victim was riding “in an unknown direction” suggests he could have been riding against traffic, or illegally riding with traffic in the left lane. However, it could also mean that he was simply attempting to cross the street when he was run down.

It also implies that the driver didn’t see the victim prior to impact, or he would have seen which way he was going.

Anyone with information is urged to call Fullerton Police Traffic Accident Investigator Manes at 714/738-6815, or email jmanes@fullertonpd.org.

This is at least the 15th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Orange County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

Update: Innocent bike rider becomes collateral damage in South LA police chase; victim identified as Colombian man

April 24, 2024 / / Comments Off on Update: Innocent bike rider becomes collateral damage in South LA police chase; victim identified as Colombian man

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

We’ve seen a number of police chases in recent years that resulted in close calls with people riding bicycles, with riders nearly struck by fleeing drivers.

Now you can remove “nearly” from that statement.

According to multiple sources, a man was killed while riding his bike in South LA Wednesday morning, collateral damage to a burglary suspect attempting to speed away from pursuing cops.

The incident began when the suspect allegedly tried to break into a vehicle near East 48th and Central Streets in South LA, and attempted to flee in his car with the owner of the vehicle in close pursuit.

The LAPD took over the chase near 48th Street and Central Ave, pursuing the suspect through several area streets before he slammed into the victim at 46th and Hopper Ave around 6:12 am, while reportedly driving on the wrong side of the roadway.

The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was sent flying through the air, landing next to his badly damaged bicycle. A witness description suggests that he likely died instantly upon impact.

The driver lost control after the crash, smashing into eight other vehicles before rolling his car, coming to rest upside down in the street. He reportedly attempted to flee on foot before being taken into custody.

He will likely face yet to be determined felony charges, according to police.

One of which should be murder.

This is at least the 14th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the third in the City of Los Angeles.

And yet another tragic reminder of the dangers police chases pose to innocent bystanders.

Update: The victim has been identified as 46-year old Colombian native Jose David Monsalve Rojas. 

According to KTLA-5, 

A GoFundMe page set up by loved ones describes Monsalve Rojas as a father of five who left Colombia in search of a better life and had a dream, they said, of curing his daughter’s liver disease.

“Imagine, a regular morning now turned into a day we’ll never forget,” the campaign organizer wrote. “David touched lives in ways that words can barely capture. A soul so deeply devoted to his children.”

So far, the crowdfunding page has raised less than $700 of the modest $5,000 goal. 

Meanwhile, the speeding driver who struck Rojas with her Chevrolet Suburban SUV was ID’d as 23-year old Germaine Smith.

Smith is being held on $327,000 bond after being booked for felony evading causing death, as well as additional outstanding warrants,

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Traffic Group Detectives at 213/486-0690; information can be provided anonymously online or by calling 800/222-8477.

My deepest sympathy for Jose David Monsalve Rojas and all his loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , , ,

35-year old man killed riding salmon in Oxnard collision Sunday night; victim identified as Oxnard resident Joey Paquet

April 24, 2024 / / Comments Off on 35-year old man killed riding salmon in Oxnard collision Sunday night; victim identified as Oxnard resident Joey Paquet

Sometimes it helps to wait a few days to write something, because the story can change.

That’s what happened when a man was killed riding his bicycle in Oxnard Sunday night.

Despite initial reports that the victim was a 45-year old North Hollywood man, he was later identified as 35-year old Oxnard resident Joey Paquet.

According to an updated story from the Ventura County Star, Paquet was riding against traffic on Oxnard Blvd at the northbound offramp to the 101 Freeway around 9:40 pm, when he was struck by a driver turning right off the offramp.

He died at the scene.

The driver of the SUV remained following the crash and cooperated with investigators; police don’t suspect the driver was under the influence.

Anyone with information is urged to call Oxnard Police Traffic Investigator Raul Camacho at 805/200-5668.

A crowdfunding campaign to pay Paquet’s funeral expenses has raised a little more than $2,700 towards the modest $4,000 goal. Commenters on the page described Paquet as a bright light who brought kindness and positivity to their neighborhood.

This is at least the 13th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of this year in Ventura County.

And it’s one more tragic reminder to always ride with traffic when you’re riding on the roadway.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Joey Paquet and all his family and loved ones.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Move along, nothing to see here — ER edition

April 19, 2024 / / 7 comments

Well, that was fun.

Just hours after posting on here that I didn’t know how I was going to make it through the coming months, I found out when I found myself in the back of an ambulance hauling ass down Sunset Blvd.

As best as we’ve managed to put things together, I apparently suffered a sudden, extreme drop in blood pressure when I get up to use the bathroom, which dropped me down with it.

When my wife couldn’t rouse me, she called 911, and I spent the better part of yesterday morning in the emergency room.

They sent me home late in the day when a series of X-rays and CAT scans came up negative, concluding that nothing was broken, and my brain had managed to survive a sudden conversation with the floor.

Although I do have excruciating pain in my right ribs, and may have done further damage to my already torn rotator cuff.

Good times.

As for the sudden drop in blood pressure, the ER doc said it’s just one of those things.

Because of that pain, and the difficulty I’ve had just writing this, I won’t be posting a Morning Links update today. And I’m not even going to bother editing this, so if there’s some major screwup here, so be it.

As for next week, it depends on how I bounce back over the weekend, so stay tuned.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go to bed and whimper myself to sleep.

Category: General /
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