Yesterday, as I went to get into my car, I noticed something moving in the parking lot. When I looked closer, it was a little bird that was fluttering across the ground, then it would stop to breathe (panting heavily), then continue. I watched as it reached the curb, but it wasn't able to flutter enough to get onto the sidewalk, so it continued to slowly flutter down the curb.
I thought about getting gloves and picking up the bird, but I had no idea where to put it. I could tell that the bird wasn't going to live much longer and my heart went out to it. I recognized that the bird needed a mercy killing, but I didn't have it in me.
I left and when I came back, the bird was in the corner of the curb, unable to make further progress, waiting to die. I wish I could say that I thought of something noble to do, that I figured out some way to comfort the bird, or relieve it's suffering, but I can't because I didn't. I left that night, with the small thing, alone and dying in a cold parking lot.
When I got back this morning, the bird had died in the night. I'm sure it suffered to it's last breath and I feel like such an awful person because I wasn't able to end its suffering, but I guess I just don't have what it takes to switch my compassion over to action and it makes me wonder if I would be one of those people would would let a person get beaten to death in the street (or something similar) because I was too afraid to do anything.
Take this story for example:
166 People Walked By
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Rolling Thunder
I'm going to try a different tactic with the pictures on this one and see if it turns out any better.
First, let me give a little background on what Rolling Thunder is (keep in mind that you can find specific information if you look it up). I'm not sure what year it started, but I've heard that it started with maybe a few hundred motorcycles, and has grown to a few hundred thousand. The idea was to support POW/MIA efforts, showing that there are people who care and will stand up. The motorcycles pile up in the Pentagon parking lot and at noon, they ride around a specific (and sectioned off) route through DC.
This is the first time that I have been to Rolling Thunder. I had Linda on the back of the bike (pictured below) and we were with a group of nine bikes.
This first picture is me standing on a hill overlooking the sea of bikes in the Pentagon parking lot, staging for the ride. Linda and I went down into the edge of the crowd to get food, a T-shirt, and use the porta-potty. The line for food was long, but fast moving; the T-shirts were sold out except for XXXL, unless we wanted to pay $26; and the line for the johns were long and slow moving.
One of the guys in our group used to work for the Pentagon Police, so we had an "in" to cut near the front of the line when the procession started. This picture shows the line of law enforcement bikes that was parked right next to our "VIP" parking.
This is where we parked, and this is our group. If you look close, Linda is the furthest away in this picture, sitting in the grass.
Here's Kevin, the guy I mentioned before (he's super cool, btw). And I also managed to get the helicopter in this pic, which took off just before the ride started. That was pretty cool.
This is the very beginning of the ride. I don't have any mid-ride pictures though, because I was driving!
We rode around the city and it was amazing how many people were lining the streets just to wave and watch us go by. Btw, Linda's "job" for the procession was to wave to all the people as we passed, and she did it VERY well. :-) We ended up here, on the grass of a median, very near the Lincoln monument.
Here's a closer shot of where we were sitting. At one point, I ended up laying down under that tree and falling asleep to the sound of rumbling motorcycles. :-)
Here's the view down the street of the bikes that were coming toward where we were sitting. You can't see too much, but I think my favorites were the front half motorcycle/last half car and the old guy wearing a kilt that looked like he very well could have been Scottish.
Linda and I walked over to the Lincoln monument. This is a picture of Linda and the Washington monument, taken from the steps of the Lincoln monument.
Here's me standing in front of the Lincoln monument. Apparently I was in the hand-on-hip-pose mode today... Oh, and my tip for anyone visiting the monument on a hot day is to go into the book shop inside to the right, it's air conditioned. ;-)
So, after we rested a while (see above nap), we took off, back down to Virginia. Unfortunately with the roads being blocked off, and the traffic being bad, we ended up taking the rather scenic route through DC to get there. Oh well.
When we got back, Don and his wife Brenda, the two in the center of the next photo in black shirts, graciously hosted us with a very yummy bbq.
I wish I had gotten a better picture of Don's bike because he has a neat little side-car on it, but that's it in the background of this picture. And here's Linda visiting with one of the ladies that didn't go on the ride, but joined us for the bbq.
So, in the end it was good and I'm glad I went. Luckily it wasn't too hot and also luckily it didn't rain. I'm not sure I would want to go on that particular ride again, but I'll definitly be going on other motorcycle rides, hopefully that will allow the group to open up a bit more, instead of the constant stop-and-go.
I almost forgot, my favorite part was riding the interstate on the way up to DC and we would go under the over-passes that were full of people, waving and happy to see us go by. That was pretty cool.
First, let me give a little background on what Rolling Thunder is (keep in mind that you can find specific information if you look it up). I'm not sure what year it started, but I've heard that it started with maybe a few hundred motorcycles, and has grown to a few hundred thousand. The idea was to support POW/MIA efforts, showing that there are people who care and will stand up. The motorcycles pile up in the Pentagon parking lot and at noon, they ride around a specific (and sectioned off) route through DC.
This is the first time that I have been to Rolling Thunder. I had Linda on the back of the bike (pictured below) and we were with a group of nine bikes.
This first picture is me standing on a hill overlooking the sea of bikes in the Pentagon parking lot, staging for the ride. Linda and I went down into the edge of the crowd to get food, a T-shirt, and use the porta-potty. The line for food was long, but fast moving; the T-shirts were sold out except for XXXL, unless we wanted to pay $26; and the line for the johns were long and slow moving.
One of the guys in our group used to work for the Pentagon Police, so we had an "in" to cut near the front of the line when the procession started. This picture shows the line of law enforcement bikes that was parked right next to our "VIP" parking.
This is where we parked, and this is our group. If you look close, Linda is the furthest away in this picture, sitting in the grass.
Here's Kevin, the guy I mentioned before (he's super cool, btw). And I also managed to get the helicopter in this pic, which took off just before the ride started. That was pretty cool.
This is the very beginning of the ride. I don't have any mid-ride pictures though, because I was driving!
We rode around the city and it was amazing how many people were lining the streets just to wave and watch us go by. Btw, Linda's "job" for the procession was to wave to all the people as we passed, and she did it VERY well. :-) We ended up here, on the grass of a median, very near the Lincoln monument.
Here's a closer shot of where we were sitting. At one point, I ended up laying down under that tree and falling asleep to the sound of rumbling motorcycles. :-)
Here's the view down the street of the bikes that were coming toward where we were sitting. You can't see too much, but I think my favorites were the front half motorcycle/last half car and the old guy wearing a kilt that looked like he very well could have been Scottish.
Linda and I walked over to the Lincoln monument. This is a picture of Linda and the Washington monument, taken from the steps of the Lincoln monument.
Here's me standing in front of the Lincoln monument. Apparently I was in the hand-on-hip-pose mode today... Oh, and my tip for anyone visiting the monument on a hot day is to go into the book shop inside to the right, it's air conditioned. ;-)
So, after we rested a while (see above nap), we took off, back down to Virginia. Unfortunately with the roads being blocked off, and the traffic being bad, we ended up taking the rather scenic route through DC to get there. Oh well.
When we got back, Don and his wife Brenda, the two in the center of the next photo in black shirts, graciously hosted us with a very yummy bbq.
I wish I had gotten a better picture of Don's bike because he has a neat little side-car on it, but that's it in the background of this picture. And here's Linda visiting with one of the ladies that didn't go on the ride, but joined us for the bbq.
So, in the end it was good and I'm glad I went. Luckily it wasn't too hot and also luckily it didn't rain. I'm not sure I would want to go on that particular ride again, but I'll definitly be going on other motorcycle rides, hopefully that will allow the group to open up a bit more, instead of the constant stop-and-go.I almost forgot, my favorite part was riding the interstate on the way up to DC and we would go under the over-passes that were full of people, waving and happy to see us go by. That was pretty cool.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Where I live
I realized recently that not everyone can say "I'm going up to DC today" in a normal conversation so I figured maybe I should appreciate that a bit more. That said, I wanted to document one of the last times I went up, to the area near DC anyway.
This coming week, my company is participating in a large convention that is aimed at the military, and more specifically (I think) Navy. The convention is three days and three of the managers from my department will be taking turns manning the booth. I was offered a chance to go up with the crew to help deliver the hardware that they're going to need for the booth.
The place that the convention is being held is called National Harbor. It is very large and has a hotel built into the convention center. While we were unloading, we were taken through the large and long corridors that make up the underbelly of the convention center. It was so large that they have street names for the hallways and "Adopt a Corridor" signs labeling what group is responsible for tidying the areas. Unloading the trucks in the bays was done by a team of about a dozen forklifts all going every-which way. At one point there was a traffic jam because there were too many forklifts trying to go in different directions at the same time (and a couple of them had stopped to chat).
Near the hotel is a large covered area that looks like an in-door village with shops and restaurants. This is open to the public and while I was there, I saw a couple women with strollers looking like they were just going for a walk there.
Here are some pictures of the interior. The windows on the far wall is the hotel. The fountain was in front of that little house in the other picture. Keep in mind, it was a cloudy day, I can only imagine what it looks like when the sky is clear!
Outside the main building, there is a series of shops and restaurants that stretches for about 3 square city blocks. We walked down and ate at a sandwich shop (Potbelly's), but thought it was interesting that there was a restaurant there called Ketchup. Apparently they serve somewhat over-priced "typical American food" like hamburgers and meatloaf, but they bring 4 different kinds of ketchup when the food is served. I guess that's the kind of place you go to just to say you've been there...
The convention center is very near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which is a very large draw-bridge. I tried to take a picture of it, but I'm afraid with my little phone, it didn't turn out very well.
Also, here's a picture looking back at the convention center from the pathway to the restaurants (that's one of my managers in the orange coat).
In the end, it was a pretty laid-back day, nothing like I'm sure the center is going to have for the next few days, but it was nice to go see something new. :-)
(Sorry about the gaps in the post, I was fighting with the editing interface)
This coming week, my company is participating in a large convention that is aimed at the military, and more specifically (I think) Navy. The convention is three days and three of the managers from my department will be taking turns manning the booth. I was offered a chance to go up with the crew to help deliver the hardware that they're going to need for the booth.
The place that the convention is being held is called National Harbor. It is very large and has a hotel built into the convention center. While we were unloading, we were taken through the large and long corridors that make up the underbelly of the convention center. It was so large that they have street names for the hallways and "Adopt a Corridor" signs labeling what group is responsible for tidying the areas. Unloading the trucks in the bays was done by a team of about a dozen forklifts all going every-which way. At one point there was a traffic jam because there were too many forklifts trying to go in different directions at the same time (and a couple of them had stopped to chat).
Near the hotel is a large covered area that looks like an in-door village with shops and restaurants. This is open to the public and while I was there, I saw a couple women with strollers looking like they were just going for a walk there.
Here are some pictures of the interior. The windows on the far wall is the hotel. The fountain was in front of that little house in the other picture. Keep in mind, it was a cloudy day, I can only imagine what it looks like when the sky is clear!
Outside the main building, there is a series of shops and restaurants that stretches for about 3 square city blocks. We walked down and ate at a sandwich shop (Potbelly's), but thought it was interesting that there was a restaurant there called Ketchup. Apparently they serve somewhat over-priced "typical American food" like hamburgers and meatloaf, but they bring 4 different kinds of ketchup when the food is served. I guess that's the kind of place you go to just to say you've been there...
The convention center is very near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which is a very large draw-bridge. I tried to take a picture of it, but I'm afraid with my little phone, it didn't turn out very well.
Also, here's a picture looking back at the convention center from the pathway to the restaurants (that's one of my managers in the orange coat).In the end, it was a pretty laid-back day, nothing like I'm sure the center is going to have for the next few days, but it was nice to go see something new. :-)
(Sorry about the gaps in the post, I was fighting with the editing interface)
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