During Wednesday’s Great Traffic Snarl, I heard several folks wish for a helicopter.
Ed Cullen says a bike can serve the same purpose:
“Riding my bicycle to work the morning after ‘The Day That Traffic Stopped,’ I was reminded how close we are to having a safe bicycle route from LSU neighborhoods to Bluebonnet Boulevard.”
He tells of taking “relatively safe” Stanford Avenue to Hyacinth, Glasgow and Perkins Road, “where I either ride in the street or get on the sidewalk, depending on traffic.
“The day after Melt Down, I opted for the sidewalk to Moss Side Lane (and enjoy that wonderful country lane in the middle of town), to Pennington Biomedical and a broad sidewalk that runs across the front.”
He says when the sidewalk ends, he gears down his mountain bike, rides across the grass to the light at Kenilworth Parkway, and crosses over to the medical complex streets around Our Lady of the Lake.
“Popping out on Essen Lane, I go the short distance to Anselmo Lane and from there to the newspaper.
“Put complete sidewalks or hike/bike paved paths along each side of Perkins Road, put in paths along Hyacinth and you’ve got a bicycle route that goes somewhere — the Lakes to Bluebonnet.
“We the people of Baton Rouge respond to crisis well. Averting crisis is where we need work.”
N.K. tells us bike riding is great for avoiding traffic jams, but does have its hazards:
“After my seven-minute bike commute Wednesday morning, I walked into work and heard all about the terrible traffic.
“Life got even with me: on the ride home, my bag caught my back wheel, shredding the bag, bending many spokes, and turning a quick commute into a ‘pleasant’ summer stroll.’ ”
Larry Sylvester says while he doesn’t have a “particularly horrible horror story” about the traffic jam, “I would like to commend the folks on Talk Radio 107.3 FM, who stayed with the talk show all morning giving updates and info to the listeners … they performed a public service that day.”
I concur — I found the information provided by Bill Profita, Matt Kennedy and crew helpful as I sought a way to work.
It’s nice to tune into talk radio and not have somebody yelling at me about politics.
Buddy and Betty Knox thank “angels” Lilly and Troy Johnson, who found Betty’s purse in a shopping cart at the Wal-Mart on College Drive.
Buddy says about an hour after Betty realized it was missing, “I received a call from my grandson, who told me Lilly and Troy had come by his house looking for my wife.
“They had found her purse and retrieved the address from her driver’s license. (We had moved recently and my grandson was in our previous home.)
“He gave them our new address, and they drove several more miles to our new residence, only to find we were not home. They left a note with contact information, then stopped by our homeowners’ association office and spoke with Becky, the manager.
“She contacted me, and I spoke with Lilly, who agreed to leave the purse with Becky.
“Way above the call of duty, even for a couple of angels.”
The Komen Baton Rouge Affiliate needs volunteers for upcoming events. To help, attend the “volunteers casting call” at the Womans Center for Wellness conference room, 9637 Jefferson Highway, at Bluebonnet, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.
Barbara J. Bilberry tells two stories about misheard words:
“My brother Charles, who lives in Dayton, Ohio, calls me and his twin sister, Elaine, and talks to us for at least four hours at a time.
“He asked us our plans for the remainder of the day. I told him I had no plans, but in the morning I had to get up very early to attend a workshop on how to work the polls.
“I told him that they pay me $200 to work the polls.
“He gasped: ‘What — $200?
“Is that all they pay you to work the poles? Well then, you need to go to another club!’
“The next morning, standing in a long line waiting to check in, I told my story to the young lady in front of me.
“She not only whooped, she told me her story.
“Her 78-year-old dad overheard her and her sister talking about taking Latino dancing.
“‘What?’ he shouted. ‘Lap dancing? Why would you want to do that?’ ”
Write Smiley at Smiley@theadvocate.com. He can also be reached by fax at (225) 388-0351 or mail at P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821.
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