It's Black and White

We'll, it's amazing what you can get done when you don't have a full schedule of classwork hanging over you head.  In a stroke of inspiration last week, I cranked out two environmental posters.  I'm open sourcing them which means that I hope someone sees them and uses them. No permission needed.  Let me know if you have any ideas that we can develop together. -Jason

 Save the Wells- A play off of the 80s slogan Save the Whales

Buy Local - An attempt to stop and make you think 

why we buy organic when we can

Man vs. Machine

I believe that bicycles are the transportation of the future, or will at least a big role in it. I would like to offer more insight on our blog about the ins and outs of bicycles, but to do that, I'm going to turn to my friend and avid bicyclist, Kenny Cotten. -Jason

Why I ride

I ride a bicycle for many reasons. I ride for fun. I ride for fitness. I ride to save money. But one reason stands out above all. I ride for advocacy. You see, I advocate cycling as it is my legal right to share the road. It is also a means of reducing our carbon footprint. It is a means to reducing a litany of health problems. It is a means to reduce stress and burn anxious energy built up throughout my day. It is so many things to me. I want to share my story with you, why riding a bike safely is so important to me.

Invisible me

You see, about four years ago, I was involved in a hit and run accident on my way home from work. It was a cool March afternoon and all was right in my world. Until, POW! I was lying on my back in the middle of an intersection. I remember hitting the ground hard and thinking that this was very bad. I knew my left knee was dislocated and my elbows were bleeding badly, but what I didn’t know yet was how I ended up in this dismal situation. I was hit from behind by a person in a mini-van. The individual was talking on the cell phone and I presume never saw me.

Now before you get all upset about poor little ol’ me, I want to share my part in the fault of this accident. You see, I had just begun commuting to work on my bike. I knew very little about the law as it relates to operating a bicycle on public streets. I had been riding with my earbuds in and my music volume loud. I was also riding on the sidewalk and entered the intersection at about 15 mph. I was basically invisible to the motorist. So I share the blame in the accident.

I came away from the accident utterly dismayed that I almost died and was shocked at how little humanity is left in this world. Not a single person at the intersection bothered to render aid or check to see if I was okay. Beckley and Ninth Street is a killing zone I discovered. The motorist watched me stumble from the wreck and then screeched toward the highway! WOW!

A Proposal

I would like to begin a series of posts on how a person might manage to avoid this situation and actually share the road with cars while enjoying a childhood pastime. So I leave you with this, riding a bike is no more dangerous than it was when we were kids, it just seems that we are merely mortals after all. -Kenny

Kenneth Cotten has been a European Import Auto Tech for the past 17 years. He's taught Automotive Technology at W.H. Adamson High School (Dallas, TX) for the past eight of those years. He drums for two locally performing bands, and works part-time for a custom bicycle manufacturing company as the sales and marketing specialist. Kenny has been married for over 14 years and has two young daughters (6 and 9). Four years ago, Kenny quit driving a car as he discovered it is not a necessity for him here in Oak Cliff... so long as he has a bike.

Change we can believe in...

An airplane wing works by one great concept which at its simplest is this: The pressure under the wing must be greater than the pressure on top of the wing to induce a change in altitude. As a mechanically inclined person, I understand this without much thought. The wind moves over both sides of the wing at the same time. The wing, also called an airfoil, has a different shape on the top half which makes the speed different which lowers the pressure. A greater pressure on the bottom lifts the airfoil much like your hand under any object you hold. To change the height of the plane, we simply change the pressures on the wing.

This concept is universal. A hydraulic piston in a construction backhoe must experience a "pressure difference" in order to actuate the assembly. A car engine works by combusting a fossil fuel which in turn applies pressure to its piston. Water comes out of your faucet because the pressure on the pipes is greater than the pressure on the sink side. There must be a "pressure difference" to induce a movement.

So why all of this talk about pressure? There’s a saying: People won’t change unless the pressure of change can overcome the pressure of staying the same. That’s right. People hate change. In order to INVOKE change in another human being, you must change the physical circumstances OR MORE SPECIFICALLY change the way that person perceives the circumstances to actually be.

I write this piece in the midst of the Gulf Oil Crisis. I hear both sides of the congressional isle hammering away at the BP executives accusing them of destroying this environment. Fur is flying in the halls of congress and for what? Folks, they’re badgering the wrong people. It’s US. WE are the reason that BP is down there in the first place drilling for that oil. WE are the ones who choose to buy a home 15 miles from where we work. We are the ones who import our produce and groceries 1000 miles or more from where we live. We are the only creature lazy enough to drive to the gym so we can claim to work out.

I’m sick and tired of people pointing at each other and arguing over what the best course of action for our environment or that Congress should do this or that. I put as much faith in Congress to fix the problems with the environment as I do the companies sponsoring the people in Congress. I will make the change in my house and I will lead my family on this course. I have no faith in my government anymore to put the needs of the people above their own.

The question now is... will we change because the pain of change is coming in the form of higher gas prices and famine, or because we perceive the pain of change is already here in the form of what we're doing to our environment. Change is coming, better to make it on your terms. -Jason

UPDATE: Not 24 hours after I made this post, an article came out in CNN which was in line with what I was saying.

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