Be Pure or Die! The Republican Motto!

~ Guy Hall

(MSNBC) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed harsh restrictions on abortion into law on Friday, setting the stage for a court battle with pro-choice groups over the new requirements.

The new law would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of where a procedure is done and mandates ultrasounds for all women before the can get an abortion.

Planned Parenthood and Affiliated Medical Services has already filed a suit challenging the law, arguing that it violates the constitution’s guarantee of due process. Women in Wisconsin are already forced to listen to a presentation and wait for 24 hours between that appointment and actually getting an abortion.

Two of the four clinics in the state have said that they would have to shut down because of the law, leaving Wisconsin’s women with dramatically reduced options for essential reproductive care, particularly in the large rural part of the state.

Congratulated a friend on living in a state that mandates sexual assault.

Her: “Thank God for missing parts!!!”

Me: “Oh, I bet they figure out a way to criminalize that as well! Can’t have you women folk messing with the natural way of things! Be Pure or Die! That’s the Republican motto these days.”

Playing With Apps.

~ Guy Hall

Just installed Firefox for Android on my Nook! Looks to be working just fine. Oh yeah. Very fine. I’m happy now!

2013 Tour De Rook – Legs 8, 9, & 10!

~ Guy Hall

To the stats!

Leg 8; Thursday, June 27th, 2013

  1. Miles: 10.50Tour_Rook
  2. Time: 41.57
  3. Max Speed: 26.4 mph
  4. Average Speed: 14.9 mph
  5. iPod: Matchbox 20 – Exile On Mainstream
  6. Temperature: 68° F
  7. Wind: S 3 mph
  8. Humidity: 88%

Leg 9: Saturday, June 29th, 2013

  1. Miles: 11.15
  2. Time: 46.42
  3. Max Speed: 22.3 mph
  4. Average Speed: 14.2 mph
  5. iPod: Moby – Play
  6. Temperature: 72° F
  7. Wind: N 9 mph
  8. Humidity: 73%

Leg 10: Thursday, July 4th, 2013

  1. Miles: 25.62
  2. Time: 1.49.09
  3. Max Speed: 25.6 mph
  4. Average Speed: 14.0 mph
  5. iPod:
    1. Beatles – Abby Road
    2. Rolling Stones – Tattoo You
    3. Toad The Wet Sprocket – Dulcinea
  6. Temperature: 84° F
  7. Wind: S 10 mph with gusts up to 18 mph
  8. Humidity: 48%

Real quick about leg 10; it was a beautiful day for a nice, long bike ride. I thought about going all the way to Hinkley and back, but decided just about 5 miles shy of there to instead head east into Sandstone, then take the bike trail to Banning State Park, and finally head back west on Minnesota 23 where I turned north on Minnesota 18/Pine County 61/Old US 61 back home to Rutledge.

The other 2 legs were once again completed in the morning before work. Both were wonderful mornings, with little wind and nice temperatures.

Over all I am maintaining a pattern of riding. However, I would really like to ride every other day, not this 2 to 3 days apart crap I am managing currently. Part of the problem…… well most of the problem is my health. On Friday of last week I left work 20 minutes after getting there, I felt like complete crap. A head cold. I somehow managed a window Saturday morning where I felt good, hence the bike ride. However, I really otherwise felt crappy all weekend as well, and even into Monday. Now I think I have managed to get past whatever bug was kicking my ass, because I felt pretty damn good today.

 

What I Wrote

~ Guy Hall

Being a writer just means knowing what we don’t know and failing to find the words to describe what we don’t know!

07/03/2013: Edited to flow better when spoken.

2013 tour De Rook – Leg 7

~ Guy Hall ~ 1 Comment

To the stats!

  1. Miles: 11.74Tour_Rook
  2. Time: 45.10
  3. Max Speed: 19.0 mph
  4. Average Speed: 15.5 mph
  5. iPod: Led Zeppelin Mix
  6. Temperature: 63° F
  7. Wind: Calm
  8. Humidity: 100%

It was a bright, beautiful day with a blue sky. The grass was glistening with dew as I brought my bike out from the porch. Peddling my way to County 61 to head north towards Willow River the air brushed cool against my face.

I managed to get halfway between the town of Willow River and the facility where I work. Turning around I noticed the hair on my arms was glistening with dew, sparkling in the morning sunlight.

It was a wonderful, serene ride to start the day.

 

2013 Tour De Rook – Legs 5 & 6

~ Guy Hall ~ 2 Comments

To the stats!

Leg #5: Tuesday, June 11th, 2013;

  1. Miles: 11.47Tour_Rook
  2. Time: 47.34
  3. Max Speed: 18.8 mph
  4. Average Speed: 14.4 mph
  5. iPod: None
  6. Temperature: 79° F
  7. Wind: N at 5 mph
  8. Humidity: 32%

Leg # 6: Wednesday, June 19th, 2013;

  1. Miles: 13.60
  2. Time: 56.01
  3. Max Speed: 26.2 mph
  4. Average Speed: 14.5 mph
  5. iPod: Melissa Etheridge – Brave & Crazy (on repeat)
  6. Temperature: 81° F
  7. Wind: SE at 9 mph
  8. Humidity: 48%

There really is nothing to say. It seems I’m maintaining a good 14 mph average even with the sporadic riding. Unfortunately, the weather and my health have conspired to prevent me from riding my bike into work lately. I am hoping to do so Friday. I am also hoping to learn what is wrong with my sinuses soon. I have a CT scan tomorrow. At least the saline solution/antibiotic nasal rinse has knocked down the bacterial infection. I can breath a hell of a lot easier, and my post nasal drip is gone!

 

Oh

~ Guy Hall

And I am updating my Movable Type installation on my Rook’s Rant server. I am hoping that clears up some loading issues. If it works, I might be resuming political rantings over there.

And yes, now I have “Over There” ear-worming me into insanity.

Today’s Plan

~ Guy Hall

Well, first off – laundry. Drying my bedding except my comforter now. The comforter and two towels are in the washing machine.

I am contemplating doing some Mindfulness Meditation as I await the dryer’s buzzer. I believe a good primer for Mindfulness Meditation is “Wherever You Go There You Are” by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Maybe around noon I will take another bike ride. Weather.com and NOAA are forecasting sunny skies. I will see.

Oh, and I am planning on cleaning the rest of the house; vacuuming and mopping.

And then, when all that is said and done, I plan on overthrowing Western Civilization as we know it, replacing it with a John Cole utopia.

Now get off my damn lawn you rotten kids!

Okay, So It Is The Next Day

~ Guy Hall ~ 2 Comments

Yeah, I know. I know. I said yesterday that I would write a post about my health. Well, it is now today (yesterday’s tomorrow, in case anyone is interested) and I am finally getting around to another post about my health.

Over the years I have struggled with a lot of physical problems. If I had to take a guess, I would say part of it was the result of years of stress working at Cochran Center (a now defunct chemical dependency program) under a supervisor who was beyond toxic as well as some accidents and the lack of health insurance at various times in my life over the last 8 years. Normally I do not write about work, but this was from years ago, so I think it is safe to write about the horrible conditions I worked under back then.

Continue reading →

2013 Tour De Rook – Leg 4

~ Guy Hall

To the stats!

  1. Miles: 17.91Tour_Rook
  2. Time: 01.12.13
  3. Max Speed: 19.9 mph
  4. Average Speed: 14.8 mph
  5. iPod: Rolling Stones – Tattoo You (on repeat)
  6. Temperature: 65° F
  7. Wind: NNE 7 mph
  8. Humidity: 73%

I went up past Sturgeon Lake. What I was not expecting was rain. Weather.com said it would not rain until 2:00 PM. Well, guess what? They were wrong! I turned around just past Sturgeon Lake when it started drizzling. By the time I was on the south side of Sturgeon, it was raining hard. In fact, just to thumb her nose at me, Mother Nature decided to reduce the down pour to a sprinkle with in a minute of my getting inside my house. Sigh.

Anyway, I actually liked riding in the rain. There was no wind to speak of, and the temperature was just a bit cool to counter my sweating. The thing was, I had electronics in my pockets which would not survive a drenching. So, when I reached Willow River I stopped at Peggy Sue’s and wrapped them in a small garbage bag. It was a good thing too, because the protective cover for my iPod was starting to retain water. My phone managed to not get wet, which is a blessing! Anyway, I arrived home with pretty good stats.

One other thing; this year I have decided not to include any stats for when I ride my bike to work. However, I can say with certainty that it is 7.18 miles from my front door to the front door of where I have to sign in to start my work day. That is just over 14 miles each time I ride to work.

I also am going to write about my health, but in another post later today. At least, that is my hope. Until then, blog on!