Cars vs. bikes

Since we live in a city where bike commuting is as common as riding the bus, I wanted to share an experience that should keep us all aware of the responsibility we share as drivers and also as cyclists.

Mark and I wanted to visit the Fremont Brewing Company Friday to pick up a growler of beer for our weekend trip to Portland (for consumption AFTER the trip of course). We were three blocks away from our house and, crazily enough, discussing how easy it would be to accidentally hit a cyclist when Mark said, “I think that car just hit that bike!” We were a block away from the collision and couldn’t initially tell if anything had happened but as we drew closer, we saw the cyclist on the ground surrounded by about three people.
At first glance, the cyclist didn’t appear to be in too bad of shape – he was obviously a bike commuter and was wearing a helmet but it was apparent that his leg was the primary concern. Mark asked if the car who hit him had stopped and he said yes and pointed to the other people standing around him, one of whom was on the phone with the medics. I felt so bad for them – two guys who looked like they had just gotten off work and had not seen the cyclist crossing the street onto which they were turning.

If ever I’m injured, I now know how long it takes for the medics to get to our neighborhood – about five minutes, though it seemed like much longer. We had to stay around for about 40 minutes so the attending officer could ask Mark for his version of events, and at that point we knew the beer would have to wait until another day.

It’s so easy to stop paying attention for even a moment, but that’s all it takes. Darkness and rain makes it even more difficult to see cyclists, even if they’re wearing reflective gear and have bike lights. So let’s all be careful out there!

From hygienist, with love

I went to a scheduled teeth cleaning yesterday and received the most vigorous scrub-down I’ve ever experienced. Granted, I’m not the most regular at flossing but still. I feel like the hygienist was trying to teach me a lesson: This is what you get for not flossing! I’m gonna make you BLEED! As if that wasn’t enough, I was berated for not wearing my nightguard regularly and then told a terrifying story of someone who didn’t wear his nightguard and ground his teeth over time to the point where the roots are now exposed. I suppose now the challenge is to actually find my nightguard and remind myself what it was like when I DID grind my teeth – pain pain pain! The next challenge is to hide it from the hubby at night so he still thinks I’m perfect. Naturally. :)

Midweek Tidbits

The Oscar noms are out! Nom nom nom nom nom. Could we expect some pushback on the exclusion of Christopher Nolan from the Best Director category for "Inception"?

The creator of the game "Angry Birds" is launching a physical version of the game.

While I might not recommend this response to a mugging, it is certainly admirable!

Mark Zuckerberg: HACKED.

The world's highest restaurant opened in Dubai, knocking Toronto's 360 Restaurant to second place.

Remember that bright blue wall?

We attended a birthday party at an apartment in our Eastlake neighborhood this weekend which reminded me of our old one-bedroom off Lake Union. The apartment was certainly very similar in that it sat about a block off the lake, had a somewhat similar floor plan, and even had the same Seattle neighborhood map on the wall! Physical similarities aside, I couldn’t help but think of our first year of marriage in that tiny little box of an apartment with the bright blue wall.

But as much as I loved our first year in that teeny space, I’ve enjoyed being able to spread out in our current roomier apartment. When we can get in, that is. The house was built in 1908 and the front door lock has been getting more obstinate by the day. Yesterday was its last hurrah and I had to call Mark to let me in. I felt better when I heard that he couldn’t open the lock either, and neither could our downstairs neighbors! Thankfully, both of our apartments have additional entrances but the apartment above us has no other way into the house other than the front door (and a fire escape but I’m not sure if it’s in use) so we’re hoping it gets fixed soon! As we went to bed last night I made a $1 bet with Mark that our upstairs neighbor, Aaron, would ring our doorbell to let him in, but it didn’t happen so I suppose I owe Mark a dollar…

Midweek Tidbits

In the aftermath of the Tucson shooting, a psychologist examines the difference between psychosis and a normal person's response to political rhetoric.  Another psychologist explains the research that is showing a link between geography, "cultures of honor", and violence.

This year's Celebrity Apprentice promises to be out of control.

"The Office" will soon be Carell-less... will the world end?

The response of Egypt's Muslims to the attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt is inspiring and should serve as a message of hope to the world.

#26 Double Feature: Chicken in a cashew sauce with a lentil-rice pilaf

Let me begin by saying that I was almost positive this was going to turn into an epic fail.

Onions played a starring role in both these dishes, and when I tasted the cashew sauce (containing an entire yellow onion) I gave Mark free rein to eat leftovers from nights past. He tasted the sauce – a blend of onion, cashews, garlic, ginger and cayenne pepper – pronounced it “not too onion-y” and ate a whole serving, along with the onion-infused pilaf. What a trooper!

This was also my first experience making a tadka, which is the method used for quickly transferring the flavor from spices to the whole dish – this is done by heating the cooking oil until it starts to smoke, then throwing in the spices (whole cumin seeds for the pilaf), and stirring constantly. With cumin seeds, you have to quickly cover the pot because they’ll spatter for a few seconds when you add them to the oil – so keep that lid handy!

Substitutions/omissions: I only added half an onion to the pilaf instead of the whole, out of sympathy for my onion-opposed man. Half was plenty.

Mistakes: This was intentional, but I didn’t remove the tenderloins from the chicken breasts like the recipe instructed. Because of this, I believe, the cook time nearly doubled.

Repeat? If I made the chicken dish again, I’d reduce the ginger – I thought it was pretty strong. I wasn’t in love with the chicken though so it might not make a comeback. The lentil-rice pilaf is a definite repeat but I’d probably cut the recipe in half – two cups of rice and lentils makes a ton of leftovers!

There are moments...

... when I hate this city and want to move to a sunnier place.

Yesterday was one of them. The Australian Open has started and international tennis tournaments always give me the urge to dig out my racquet and head for the court. I was minutes away from calling a friend to join me when the rain started. Rain rain rain. You barely have time to make a decision here before the sky opens up. Plus, all the courts are outdoors so even if it ISN'T raining, the courts are most likely still wet. And on the occasional stretch of sunny days, Seattleites get so dang opportunistic like OMGIT'SSUNNYWHEREISMYRACQUET. Cue the mad rush to the park.

January is cruel.