MY RULES!
 
Okay, anyone who knows me knows that I have all sorts of ideas and rules how life should be lived. These same people that know me know that I can be a total hypocrite.  Minutes after giving a mental ticket to a driver on a cell phone I too will be driving down the road on a cell phone (well, I do not drive that often and I infrequently talk on the cell phone when driving, but it does happen ((well, has not happened since the 'hands free law' has gone into effect in DC)))
This hypocracy extends......we all hate the people who blow off the queue to merge and go to the front of the line, well I do not do that, but I have pushed my limits on occassions....and as usual I try to rationalize of justify my behavior. Perhaps I will say....I am not a commuter....so why should I be caught in your commuter traffic, this is just one day when I happen to be out driving to a bike race after work or something to that effect. When really we all know that my excuse is the same as anyone elses....I am more important than anyone else.
Now with the headphone thing.....well.....it happens.....I too break my own rules....WRITE ME A FUCKING TICKET!!! I have gone for long rides and felt the headphones to be escential. I have been on long hikes and found them escential....I have been in exotic places and found them to be....well, not escential, but a pleasant additive. But, for the most part, headphones can be a detraction, if I were on the peak of a mountain or the top of some ancient ruin I think the sound of the birds or the howler monkeys or the silence itself would be far greater music than I have in my cd collection . The main point is that in a heavily populated area (like the multiuse trail) there is no justification for headphones while on the bike, they are just plain dangerous.  The same goes to the chinser car drivers with headphones, it is not only against the law, but it is against common sense.....get a real car stereo and get a life.
My rules and hypocrisy go further...
It steams me when I am on the Rock Creek trails and I see someone trail blazing, yet I am perfectly comfortable riding my bike right past the "no bikes" sign.  Sure, this too can be rationalized, the cars that pass me too fast and too close send me for the woods, but in actuality, these rationalazations are just that, rationalizatuions not justifications. I try to keep the excuses to a minimum and stay my path. I may not be a model citizen but I feel I am a good one. My life is dictated by an effort to be a courteous individual with moments of assholic behavior tossed in, it is tough for one to fight their nature. In my mind I believe that I am a more positive contribution to the world than a negative and that my balance is more for the good than the bad.
It is not my goal to go out and ruin anyone's day, so why are people out there trying to ruin mine?
 
 
 
 
As usual my rants twist and turn and go no where fast....
 
I no longer have the time to proof read my posts
well, I seldom had the time before
but now
I have less and less time for such things
 
read down below I had a piece last night that looked like it was going to be good
but needed some fixing
why not edit it for me
and put the final draft in the COMMENTS section
thanks
appreciate it