I miss this guy.

Okay, I have a bunch of random stuff that's on my mind and I need to empty out my head (hence the post title) before trying to tackle this toggle-multiple-checkboxes-javascript problem.

I'm sure I've complained about the W&OD trail before (browse the Bicycling category). When I say I don't like the W&OD, I mean I don't like the 90% of other bikers. Peds, runners, dogs, etc. all are fine. It's my fellow two wheeled comrades I have issues with:

1. This is a multi use trail, not a training track. That means YOU, tri geeks and wannabe ITTers. Blasting along at 25 mph, leaning on your aerobars and swerving in and out of trail traffic is pointless, not to mention dangerous to the rest of us. If you want to play Speed Biker, do it on I-66. (Or look for on-road bike routes.) Dumbass.
2. LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE ROAD. It's one of the first traffic rules you learn as a kid! (That, and hold a grownup's hand.) Not long ago, I saw this guy zip across two intersections without even looking. I know for a fact that both of these crossings aren't the type you can scope out without stopping. I at least slow waaaaayyy down so in case there is a car coming that I didn't see, I can stop in time. This guy didn't even look up! He just flew down the hill, across the road, then back through the next crossing and then swinging left onto the road. Dude. Are you TRYING to get killed?
3. Along the lines of looking both ways… people who are too lazy to stop and unclip from their pedals at a stoplight. I saw a guy who rode halfway across the crosswalk at Gallows Rd (against the light) and then started weaving in teeny little circles in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD while traffic was zooming by in both directions! Really… is your own life worth the 30 extra seconds you save by doing that?
4. Dudes that smoke cigarettes while riding their bikes.

Okay, I feel a little better now.

Second item. Last night I went to the DC United vs. Houston Dynamo [the postponed version of the postponed game] in hopes of seeing my home team trounce the 2007 MLS Cup Champions. No such luck. The first half (which I missed about 23 minutes of due to staying late at work) was pretty dismal performance-wise. In the meantime, a very large storm system was making its way toward D.C…. and the skies finally opened up around the 50th minute. The guys kept playing while we chanted even louder in hopes of boosting our flagging team's morale. Finally, 6 minutes later, the stadium lights went out (AGAIN! Fenty, we need a new stadium!) and play was halted. Meanwhile, we kept jumping up and down and cheering until the lightning/thunder forced us inside.

I decided to call it quits around 9:30, as the field had basically turned into a muckity mess and I was convinced they'd call the game in favor of Houston. Not quite. Turns out they decided to wait out the worst, squeegee the fields, and restart the game… two hours later. And we still lost.

To some degree, I'm not shocked — the Dynamo whooped our asses last Saturday at the SuperLiga game, and they're overall a very, very good team. It didn't help that the team is a) exhausted from the slew of recent matches, b) missing 20% of the roster due to injuries, c) without our $1.5 million Argentinean sensation due to excuse (b), and d) playing in a stadium that is 50 years old and is basically falling down around them. (That last part doesn't fit in with the other excuses, but I wanted to take the opportunity to point out that a team as hardworking as DCU deserves something that'll stay lit up for a full 90 minute game.)

A few weeks ago I mentioned I was planning on biking to work. I'm finally doing it, and so far it's been relatively successful.

This isn't the first job where I've rode my bike to work. When I was 18, I rode to my summer job almost every day (~12 miles round trip) and went through the entire summer on 1 1/2 tanks of gas in my car. (I had to get to the barn somehow.) A few years later, I rode to my summer internship at Pratt & Whitney (~16 miles round trip). In 2005, I biked to my job at EchoDitto (Fairfax -> Arlington), and then in 2006 from Rosslyn to Georgetown.

Anyway, it's about 21 miles round trip, and takes me anywhere from 40-50 minutes. Going to work takes longer than going home as it's 95% uphill and I'm loaded down with my lunch… sans daily can of Diet Coke. I figure I can do without the 12 extra ounces.

The only thing that really stinks is getting out of the Tysons Corner area. My office is basically gridlocked by Routes 7 and 123, the Toll Road, and 495. Essentially, in order to get to relatively safe roads, I have to be Really Careful: crossing Route 7 to the frontage road is one bad spot, then across 123, then Old Courthouse. I'd feel more comfortable if there were crosswalks there (have already put a call into VDOT in hopes they'll consider it, especially since the Dulles Metrorail extension is supposed to go right through there).

Since I am not super hardcore, I'm hoping to do this about three times a week… perhaps more, depending on how high the price of gas gets. But either way, it's nice to be out in the air and sunshine instead of stuck in traffic.

Hmm… a post that's not about biking, horses, or random stuff on Craigslist!

Lately I've been feeling really frustrated… mentally/socially/work-wise/etc. I feel like my life has stalled, and I'm going nowhere. My motto is, "Do what's right, not what's easy." In essence, I try my damnedest to be a good person. It seems that whatever I do, it's never enough, and I end up disappointed.

I'm not trying to be negative, but I'm really frustrated. I try to reach out to help and make other peoples' lives better. Whether it be holding the elevator door so the elderly woman shuffling toward it won't have to wait 10 minutes for it to return, or just giving up my entire weekend to sit out in the sun and volunteer at a horse event… I don't mind. If I see trash on the ground, I pick it up and throw it out. Simple stuff like that. I enjoy feeling like I've made a difference somewhere, somehow.

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." -Dalai Lama

But at the same time, I'm disheartened because when I try to reach out and be friendly to someone/make new friends, I get nothing in return. No acknowledgment, no consideration, merely a brushoff because really, who needs to be friends with a slightly dorky (albeit caring and genuine) person? I'm a nice person, but I will finish last. (Probably because I was too busy helping everyone else who's fallen down, needed their photo taken at the last mile marker, etc. ) Then I wonder where everyone went, and why I wasn't invited.

I want to be successful, I want good things to happen to me, I want to be happy.

I'm just trying to be a better person. My name is Kendall.

*Yes, I borrow that phrase from Earl.