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Sunday, February 20, 2022

see beyond the road I'm drivin'

On Monday, I made a lousy batch of French press coffee.  I guess I wasn't paying much attention to my process, and it was really *bleccch*

I'd made the awful coffee for taking in to work, and it was there that I realized it was awful and just would not do for a rousing day of invigilating.  During a break in the action, I ducked out to get a cuppa from the campus coffee kiosk.  Nothing fancy, just hot and caffeinated, please.

The coffee kiosk is a satellite operation of a well-liked coffee shop downtown, but I'd never been to the downtown location.  Since they saved the day from my pressed sludge, got me going with a punch card (buy 9, get the 10th free), and it was an unseasonably nice day today, Magnum and I decided to bicycle downtown and check out the mother ship coffeeshop.

We often go out for coffee on the weekends and sort of fell into a rut of the same 2 or 3 places, so we were due for a new experience.  It was a beautiful day for a ride, so I'm glad we took advantage because temperatures are set to plummet this week.  

So we're out enjoying our coffee run, headed east near the university.  In my rear view  mirror, I saw a guy coming up beside us on his bicycle, so slowed a bit to allow him to pass.  The three of us continued single file in the bike lane going east until we approached the bike path that would take us north to coffee.

Turns out, Bicycle Guy - now in front of us - was also turning north (left) onto the bike path.  He didn't even check behind him for motorized traffic before beginning his left turn.  Keep in mind that we were all in the bike lane on the right side of the road.

It's like I could see it happening before it happened.  I saw two vehicles approaching from behind us, I saw Bike Guy starting to turn left... Luckily for him, both vehicle drivers were paying attention.  The one in front hit the brakes, avoiding a collision with Bike Guy, and the one behind hit the brakes in time to avoid a collision with everybody.  

I'd guess that Bike Guy was in his 40s or 50s, and not some cocky college kid being a daredevil.  He was an older guy riding an average bike.  He stopped among the burned rubber and just sort of,

"Oh, heh, sorry.  My fault", and waved the cars forward before proceeding onto the path.  

And I'm thinking, "C'mon, you're giving us all a bad rep", and "so everyone knows, I look behind before turning left!"

All that to say we tried a new coffee place because I  made a lousy batch on Monday.




I added a couple of people drawings to the sketchbook this week too.



One with a pen.



One with a pencil.




The randomness abounds.




5 comments:

Linda Sue said...

anything for a good cuppa.
Scary.
Your drawings are beyond cool, MS pencil Queen! Especially likeing the top guy because he is so much THAT! Great drawings!

Abby said...

Linda Sue, the top guy was fun. I was "drawn" to his pants. As always, you're too kind... I appreciate that 😊

betty said...

Enjoyed your drawings! I think you have talent in that area! Wow with the bike guy! If he was a cat, he would have lost one of his lives today. Thankfully he was okay!!

I like going out for coffee though we don't do it too often. That could be a blog post where we like to go. I avoid the big national chain that is on every corner and in every grocery store here and prefer the "mom and pop" ones around.

Enjoy the week ahead!

betty

Margaret (Peggy or Peg too) said...

Ooh just had this happen to me but it was a young man not paying attention. He also had on headphones. I don't think one should wear those while riding(or for that matter doing anything in public) I think he should be aware of his surroundings. If someone honked he would never had heard it and from the way he acted when he stopped traffic and cars veering off the road he was oblivious to it all. As you know I wear the ones that do not go in my ear so I can hear my surroundings. I think wearing headphones in the car or on a bike should be illegal. God I sound like an old lady don't I?

Abby said...

Betty, since COVID, we rarely go to restaurants. I think we just got out of the habit. Maybe just going out for coffee is more enjoyable anyway. We likewise avoid "the big national chain that is on every corner and in every grocery store" *wink*wink*.

Peggy, I agree - no to headphones while out among the masses. This guy didn't appear to be wearing any, he was just oblivious.
I think headphones in the car are already illegal? Should be for bicycles too IMO. Now, get off my lawn!