Keep on Bicycling

The trip around Lake Michigan continues, albeit very much slower than I had planned. Being flexible and altering expectations is key to ward off disappointment. On my fourth leg I rode into a steady headwind of 20mph, gusting up to 35mph. It seems that when I have time to ride the wind remains a constant. When I walked around the lake almost 50 years ago the wind was not much of a factor. As time goes on it is almost a certainty that the wind will either be coming from the side or my back. That will be a welcome relief. My lower legs and ankles are another issue. I can ride for 10 miles, even into the wind but when I stop standing without wobbling or falling down is a battle of will. I have to admit, if I was watching me walk I'd probably think I had been partaking a bit too much of the demon rum. I am determined though that whatever distance I can go on any given day, be it 2 miles or 100 miles, I will accept what it is. When I first decided to make this trip I planned to do it all at once. That is definitely not even a remote possibility due to time and other restraints. I was inspired by a lady that wrote a book about walking around the lake in short segments as her time allowed. If she could, so could I. I realized that it is either short segment trips or no trip at all. I'm good with that.

Met another cyclist named Gary. Originally from Indiana he fell in love with Michigan, it's cycling trails and just about everything else you can imagine. Interesting guy, works in food quality and testing. He was very encouraging regarding my rubbery legs even though he may have had a bit of a chuckle as I wobbled around in the parking lot at the end of my trip. One thing that got straightened out is the mileage. I've not gone quite as far as I had thought. The odometer I was using on the bike was set for another tire size and we got that adjusted so now it is very accurate. I believed I had gone 34 miles but in actuality it is 29. A little frustrating but then again something to be pleased with at the same time. My stamina and strength are improving with each mile. The next leg should bring me to the lake shore and then it's north to Grand Haven. I hope to do a little book promotion in each town if there is time. Joe's Story: The Book of a Lifetime is a good, fun, interesting and sometimes life changing book in the opinion of every review I've received.

That's it for right now. Today is decision day for several issues, should be enlightening to say the least.

Your dog, not mine

To me, all this to-do about dogs running loose and harassing us is a very interesting exercise in human behavior. Not being judgemental is rather difficult because I was directly involved but I am trying. In attempting to sort out the facts with as little emotion as possible:
All of us connected with the traumatic episode, to me anyway, are all nice people and otherwise good neighbors.
Absolutely no one feels inconvenienced or endangered except the two of us who were approached by "Buffy" and "Cuddles", two dogs running loose on public property.
From what I have heard and observed the two dog owners appear to have no remorse or accept any responsibility for the attack.
The premise is that the two offending dogs are only "yappers" and have never bitten anyone.
The general consensus is that I am taking offense for something that could have been easily avoided by not walking on the sidewalk in that area. In other words; I caused the altercation. Not only from the dog owners but several other people from the area that either witnessed the event or heard of it.
Those dogs are well loved by everyone and I am actually treading on thin ice by insinuating they are dangerous in any way whatsoever. It's almost blasphemy.
The police have chosen not to be involved any more than the possibility of a phone call. It's not their job, said the officer.
If a person sees an illegal act that can cause injury to another human being and does nothing, the law states that they are legally liable for any resulting injury.

So, what to do? From these observations I have concluded that:
We have the law and common sense on our side because our rights have been violated and our health and safety put in jeopardy due to neglect on the part of the dog owners.
According to city ordinance it is a violation to allow a dog to harass or approach or cause anyone to fear for their safety on a public sidewalk. There are legal and civil consequences for not restraining your dog.
If I push this further or press any charges, the entire neighborhood will shun me.

There is no apparent physical injury, I should be over the anxiety and able to sleep sometime in the near future. How important is it? Do I want harmony in the neighborhood I've lived in for 30 years or do I want to make sure we can safely walk our streets without fear from these and other dogs? Should I let "sleeping dogs lie"?

What is it that I hope to accomplish here? It is my practice to take at least 3 days to make major decisions whenever possible. We're all good people here so being the immediate threat is over I will do just that..........

demonstrations, "Joe's Story" and rationality

The pages of "Joe's Story: The Book of a Lifetime" are filled with rewards and penalties resulting from the decisions I and other people made in our lives. I am personally not fond of penalties but they are as much a part of living as anything else aren't they? Over time I've witnessed my share of demonstrations by those who feel they are being penalized in one way or another and it's not fair. History tells us that sometimes the demonstrators are right, but it also tells us that sometimes they are wrong. Have you ever participated in a public demonstration? Personally, I believe the right to demonstrate is an incredibly efficient way of expressing dissatisfaction with the status quo or those in positions of responsibility. Today we have no difficulty in finding a demonstration of some kind on the local, national or world news do we? Egypt is changing hands due to demonstrating crowds of citizens. Several other countries in the general area including Libya are experiencing the same civil insurrection. All of this will no doubt change the way business is handled in a big way. My questions: Both here in the States and abroad, "Are the demonstrators necessarily right? Will all the results necessarily bring rewards? Or, will they possibly bring major penalties? I think these are important questions to answer before we go sticking our foot in our mouth supporting someone Else's position.

Right here in Michigan people are demonstrating against some of the positions taken by our new governor concerning taxation. Usually the ones demonstrating are going to see a little less take home pay than they do now. Accompanied by some citizens that are being almost completely supported by taxes and will have to take on more responsibility for supporting themselves. In Wisconsin the demonstrators are rallying against paying for some of their own benefits from a tax base provided by tax payers with ever decreasing incomes. In Egypt the demonstrators wanted a different government. In Libya they want a different government. Those are just some of the reasons for recent demonstrations.

Are some people exempt from participating in this recession because they draw their money from the public coffers? Are some people unfairly taxed? Is it our position to stand behind a new government even if we don't have the vaguest idea who will be in charge and what they will do? How quickly should we defend demonstration simply because demonstrating is what we believe to be a fundamental right? there is an annual "naked" demonstration supporting public nudity, anywhere, anytime. Do you support that? Another annual demonstration supports legalization of pedophilia. How about that? In the Middle East several demonstrations support strict religious laws suppressing the rights of almost anyone under the penalty of death or dismemberment. demonstrations in India and Pakistan support the caste system, in South Africa they support genocide.

I support the right of all of us to do proper research, gather information and make rational decisions. Then we will reap our rewards or penalties without blaming it on others. "Joe's Story" is filled with that sort of thing. I'm just asking.........Joe

High school classes

Having been far removed from high school for a few years now I'm not quite sure what courses they offer anymore. Math, as I knew it may very well be outdated with the availability of electronic brains everyone carries around lately. I learned plus, minus, times, and division in grade school. Then, in high school it was algebra, geometry and trigonometry. Calculus was hinted at but I never took it up. English, American and world history, literature, health class including proper manners, social studies, government and science pretty much covered the rest of my studies. There is one class I failed to sign up for on time that I believe would have been extremely beneficial throughout my life, Speech class. From what I understand it involved public speaking, speech preparation and getting up in front of the class and putting words together in an understandable fashion without being embarrassed out of your wits. Debate class was part of it I think too.

I have always been intelligent and ready to learn but my problem came in that I all too often refused to learn what I wasn't interested in. Speech class wasn't on my list of priorities at the time. Especially in light of my being shy almost to the point of the ridiculous at the time. In retrospect, speech class was probably the perfect antidote for that problem of mine. I still have an inert fear of public speaking and what many would refer to as "microphone fright." Following the theory that fear itself is our greatest enemy I have faced the situation for better or worse by speaking in public on dozens of occasions. Just in case, I always make sure I have a someone nearby to take over in the event of brain failure. Yes, there have been a few times when my mind simply went blank and they had to maintain the momentum until I returned to the land of reality.

Another gremlin I faced through my lifetime is confrontation. Being a guy I am faced with the legacy of: Fight or flight. I'm not talking about physical violence here but rather the male tendency to bring normal disagreements to a higher decibel discussion to prove a point. I think I'd prefer to have learned debate in a more structured environment in my high school years. It probably would have prevented a lot of hurt feelings and broken relationships.

Times have changed and the education community has experimented with myriads of different theories. Not all of which have been successful, perhaps not even the majority. If I was in high school right now I'm afraid I'd be extremely confused as to what exactly was meant by a proper education. At least back then I knew what I was missing out on. Probably another class of great benefit I skipped because I thought it was for girls would have been typing. I'm typing this posting with two fingers. Not so speedy either. Live and learn I guess..........................Joe

Mentoring, who benefits?

Spending over 20 years in a mentoring program was quite a learning experience for me. Although the program was supposed to benefit the at risk young men involved, ultimately the learning encompassed everyone, the mentored and the mentor. Being young and in my prime when I first accepted the invitation, my expectations of success were based more on the "good always wins out over evil" movie theory than reality. It didn't take long for me to wise up. The very first guy took only 3 days to go back to jail. We had a chat about his lack of skills and how we were going to work on improving them, he got all upset, saying I insulted him. He went out the door and within the next 24 hours managed to steal money from his roommate, get drunk, steal a car, smash it up while being chased by the police and finally arrested for assaulting a police officer among other things. I felt terrible! I also felt at least partly responsible for his behavior. At that point I needed some mentoring myself to remember that, when all is said and done we are all responsible for our own choices. That guy chose to do what he did, I didn't cause it, I couldn't cure it.

At the end of the day, when a person goes to another, older, wiser, more experienced person for help, that person has to follow the advice they have been given. There were over 200 guys that were involved in the program in a little over 20 years. I watched as some listened intently, applied themselves, developed a strong work ethic, pulled themselves up and went on to succeed in life. While others spent their time giving me lip service just to return to their old habits and get into trouble again. You can't win them all. Just as I can't claim responsibility for their failures, I also cannot claim any responsibility for their success. The decision is theirs! Mentoring is a great opportunity for people to improve themselves. The people on both sides of the fence.

In my life, I can't count the number of times when, if I'd listened to someone else and done what they suggested, I'd saved myself a lot of grief.