Monday, July 18, 2011

Heat exhaustion soccer sadness and damned loose dogs


This weekend consisted of the above mentioned things. The first looming, the middle one crushing, and the last chasing behind.

Houston summer creates the perfect environment for heat related conditions. 20+ miles a day in daylight hours without a direct line feeding me lost fluids and electrolytes day after day catches up in a nasty way. I found myself watching the women's final light headed and depleted in the first half. Fortunately the intensity of the game helped rouse me. Unfortunately, US women were no match in penalty kicks.

A moment of silence for the glory the US women could have had.

...

Completely unrelated but omnipresent...loose dogs. Loose dogs are the scourge of my neighborhood, as well as countless other lower-income neighborhoods and it's gotten incredibly old. The reason this gets me goes beyond the simple irritation of getting the stool scared out of you by the sudden appearance of a snarling dog trying at best to run you off his turf and at worst to have your calf for lunch.

It angers me because despite the fact that I've had pets for as long as I can remember, I've worked with animals for the last 7 years and I often favor the company of cats and dogs over people, EVERY time I get chased the anger that wells up is enough to forget all that and throw my U-Lock right in the offending dog's muzzle.

The feeling dies down as soon as the chase stops but if that happens to me, I can only imagine the depth of ill-will that builds in people who aren't as animal friendly.

Which brings up an interesting similarity to bikes.

When I'm driving and I see a biker, I am courteous, I give him/her enough room and wouldn't think of honking or charging. I act this way because I know what the receiving end feels like. Drivers who have never ridden down a busy street or depended on their bike for transportation might not think twice of showing aggression toward bikes. People who don't own dogs and have only been chased or scared by them know only to regard them as a menacing presence.

But I digress. The point here is, really, I am more angry at the irresponsible owners that let their dogs wander the streets and chase anything that moves until they get run over than the dogs that threaten me with bodily harm. I would much rather thrown my U-Lock at these people than their dogs, but in the mean time, I suppose I might just have to switch back to the clip-less pedals for instant acceleration.


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