"Wall Street Journal 5/29/13 Pedestrian Superhero"

I really enjoyed this article about the Mexican guy who dresses like a superhero and protects pedestrians from all sorts of evils.  If there are no white lines painted as a cross walk then he paints them.  If vehicles are parked on sidewalks he moves them.

It definitely makes me smile, but it is a very serious issue both there and in the U.S.    I only see it getting worse.

Now that people are texting and driving  1500 super rams, the "ram" ifications of a driver hitting a pedestrian are even worse then before.  The police don't care and are in fact a part of the problem.

Just this morning I was nearly hit by 2 vehicles who drove into the ped walkway even tho' I had the right of way.  I yelled as loud as I could because the one driver had his window up.

I said: HEY YOU WAIT, I HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY! He heard me and came to a sudden stop.  He had not even seen me.

The only answer is to buy a car.

"Catch 22"

Not owning a car is a grueling, miserable existence.  Because i spend 5 hours a day transferring ,riding, walking and waiting.  I have to suck in second hand smoke at all the bus stops, and even if it is a pretty day the a/c on the bus will be set like a freezer.  I have to make sure the drunks don't f ollow me.

In Maryland, on the other hand, the road rage was so serious, it was terrifying to drive.

Manhattan would be a b#$%^ of a place to be without a car.  It is not pedestrian friendly and you would have to do alot of walking.  Walking is painful for me and this illness leaves me very weak.

I do not know what the answer is.  Certainly if i had the means i would get a car.............................

"Female Hitchiking"

So today was one of the most awkward rides i've had.  But it's worth it.  If you compare it to the stress of being hit on by a drunk man earlier today on the bus, i'd rather have the stress of hitchin.

I told the lady i was going west.  She said, well we are but we are only going downtown.  I said, that is where i'm going.  She hesitated so i said:  "It's fine to say no to me!"

"She said, well ok but you'll have to ride in the front.  Very expensive car very cushy.  The entire trip took 5 minutes.

They asked me where i'm going and when i told them they  repeated it as if it were unbelievable.

But it hurts to walk, and i'm probably particularly weak because i've been so many days without sleep, so i'm grateful for the ride as it saves me a boatload of walking time, and the stressors of Mountain Town's extremely pedestrian unfriendly sidewalks.

"Conditions for pedestrians are treacherous today"

So, after walking only a block i lucked out. Two women were standing outside of their auto.  One had just dropped off the other.

I asked if they were going past the market.  The woman who had just been given a ride said "the market is just right there!"  (she did not want her sister to give me a ride")

I said "just right there" is a 1/2 hour walk for a disabled person who has to traverse on the ice!

The driver said of course i will take you to the market.  So, on the way she says "I know my cough sounds scary but i am not contagious"  I said "don't worry everywhere i go everyone has a deathly sounding cough, just don't sweat it"

She said: "My sister is a writer and was away on a trip, i had to give her a ride"

I said "What kind of writer is she?  "Fiction or non fiction?"

the woman replied: "Oh neither one!  She's not THAT kind of writer!"  "She writes life stories, biography"

I replied "yes, that's what i do"

no response.

about 4 minutes later i get to my first destination.  But to get from there to the bus stop i had to walk in the middle of highway because of ice slush and flooded everything...............I am drenched to the bone even though i have 2 layers on.  No way i'll stay in Mountain Town for another winter.  Just too deadly for pedestrians.  Auto owners are clueless about what we go through.

Day 4 "house arrest"

Feels  like house arrest. Car in shop. Cant reach mechanic because his phone lines are down.  Or, did they take the phone off of the hook so they can get caught up on repairs they didn't get to do over holiday weekend? (i wonder)

My conundrum is, if I walk  N.W. route to the mechanic,  there is a good chance I'll get run over.  take the S,North route? there are some sidewalks. I'd have a larger distance to cover but it'd be slightly safer. Call a cab and have them take me to shop? Cab might not be willing to take a person just one mile. See, the carlessness adds such a grueling tone to one's day as you know from my blog posts that I wrote when I was carless.

Walk to cafe then hitch to shop? I never made it past the cafe. Couldn't work up courage to hitch up here. Did a little down in the city but up here ,well folks look at u like u have 3 heads if u ask for a ride as everyone up here has a vehicle, or so it seems. Even when i see folks walking there almost always 15 to 20 and male. Even that short distance that I completed felt miraculous because it literally took me 13 months to work up the courage to walk these country roads alongside vehicles, 4x4 hummers doing 80 mph and talking on cell phones.

It's 100 degrees and I see no humans actually outside. A mail truck drove by, and the ambo is passing me now. Ironically the ambo stops at the house I'm just a few steps from. I wave, for it is the same ambo crew that came to my house to get me yestrday.

The cafe i went to , well their a/c is down. By the time I completed my journey to the cafe I was lightheaded and having a hard time breathing. It hit me that even tho' I had not seen a weather forecast these are the sorts of conditions where they tell healthy and unhealthy alike to "stay indoors"

So, I spent a record 5 hours in the coffee shop finishing off a 700 page memoir that was a surprisingly easy read. Very compelling. "Stolen Innocence" Ironically, I had to pass the mormon church to get to the cafe and to get back home. Even on the walk home I see not one mortal outside. Not a single skateboarder at the skateboard park.

Nothing was resolved in the e.r. really. Blood work came back normal cept blood sugar being low. They thought it's because I've been skipping meals perhaps.

( A little sad I"m missing arts camp.)

But better schedule that mri as soon as I get car back. Im eager for answers. I have been researching brain tumor symptoms on internet, and fluid on brain symptoms on internet. I am determined to find somebody to help me do the living will paperwork. For, after my research I see that if I did have to go thru that sort of operation I might never be the same again in terms of memory, vision hearing, walking you name it...................

Considered renting a car today, but if they don't pick me up, it'll be a 25 dollar cab fare just to get to the rental car place. Or I could just take cabs from place to place to place. In the long run, say I were to make just 3 locals stops in a day via cab. At 10 bucks for each fare, I'd likely be laying out more money then with a rental car. And you have to sit outside for ong periods waiting for the cab. Internet confirms that there are cab companies even tho' I've never seen a cab out here.

But one mile is my absolute limit for concrete walking in this heat. It's killing my ankles and feet. No doubt it wouldn't be quite as hard if I had not gained all my weight back...................

Signing off for now