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Three grouchy things
Feb. 6th, 2007 12:53 am1. I am afraid of my own kitchen. Last year saw two mouse invasions (including one I saw scurrying across the counter several times) and a giant cockroach invasion, and I am thrice shy. Every time I walk in the kitchen, I look for scurrying. I won't even go in there too late at night. A little skittishness after the event is one thing, but it's been a few months since the last instance--but I know that, when winter is over, they'll be back....
2. I'm beginning to hate dogs. Oh, they may be fun once you get to know them, but when I walk around a neighborhood with dogs it's like having a bunch of people yelling "Bug off! Bug off!" (or a ruder variant) at me constantly. I just read it as hostility, and it makes me feel hostile in return. Worst are the three dogs next door, who bark at me when I'm in our breezeway (i.e. still inside our house). They suck. I stare and growl back at them on occasion.
3. Thanks to the one driver a week who thinks that bicyclists should ride on sidewalks (an even bigger laugh when you see what Dallas sidewalks are like), I'm not overly fond of cars these days either. It would be a lot better if I could imagine drivers as being nice people, and write off the occasional jerk as the outlier s/he is. But of course I go the opposite way. I don't let it affect my riding-- no dangerous stunts simply to teach someone a lesson-- but it does affect my mood. (The main drags around here don't have any shoulder to speak of, so I'm forced to take up one lane of a four-lane road. It's actually safer for me, because no one can conceivably squeeze by me and stay in the right-most lane, but it does upset the occasional driver, particularly during rush hour (which I avoid when I can). I try to think that any jerk who honks/yells at me is already pissed off by my presence, and so I've already gotten "prevenge".)
So yeah, I'm a fruitcake, but other than that things are OK. :)
2. I'm beginning to hate dogs. Oh, they may be fun once you get to know them, but when I walk around a neighborhood with dogs it's like having a bunch of people yelling "Bug off! Bug off!" (or a ruder variant) at me constantly. I just read it as hostility, and it makes me feel hostile in return. Worst are the three dogs next door, who bark at me when I'm in our breezeway (i.e. still inside our house). They suck. I stare and growl back at them on occasion.
3. Thanks to the one driver a week who thinks that bicyclists should ride on sidewalks (an even bigger laugh when you see what Dallas sidewalks are like), I'm not overly fond of cars these days either. It would be a lot better if I could imagine drivers as being nice people, and write off the occasional jerk as the outlier s/he is. But of course I go the opposite way. I don't let it affect my riding-- no dangerous stunts simply to teach someone a lesson-- but it does affect my mood. (The main drags around here don't have any shoulder to speak of, so I'm forced to take up one lane of a four-lane road. It's actually safer for me, because no one can conceivably squeeze by me and stay in the right-most lane, but it does upset the occasional driver, particularly during rush hour (which I avoid when I can). I try to think that any jerk who honks/yells at me is already pissed off by my presence, and so I've already gotten "prevenge".)
So yeah, I'm a fruitcake, but other than that things are OK. :)
