Freewheeling Friday: Not Like You!

     Here we are on another Freewheeling Friday!  The morning was beautiful, the temperature was perfect and today I defied the Cycling Gods by making the conscious choice that I would NOT let the traffic lights dictate my pattern.  I would determine my own destiny and ride the path I took yesterday to see if I could better my time!
     But let me explain today's pick of image.  I have to begin by a disclaimer.  I'm not really a DC Comics guy with the sole exception of my Flash and Batman t-shirts.  Mainly because they're just cool and I've had them for so long.  I think there's a quote somewhere that says, "Always be yourself....unless you can be Batman, then ALWAYS be Batman!"  It's sort of like this Snicker's Commercial:

    But I have to say I'm REALLY a Marvel Universe guy and as such I'm way too excited for this movie to hit:

     This is not to denigrate from so much of the rest of his work, such as his BRILLIANT performance of Richard III in The Hollow Crown series:

      And we can't forget his cult hit role as the famous detective in the Sherlock series.  Since there are so many clips to choose from, how about this one in which the actor himself shares his favorite Sherlock moments:



     So maybe I can't realistically be Batman, but being Benedict Cumberbatch would be completely cool!  But getting back to my ride.  So I defied the Gods and took my own route.  Of course, there is always an inherent risk in defying the Gods and today's consequence was I hit almost every light in my path.  Now normally that isn't too bad but today it probably slowed me down a good 1/2 mph on my total ride.  Be that as it may, because I took the slightly longer route today (as I did yesterday) I heard different songs appear on my playlist, including this one by Three Days Grace entitled "Just Like You":

And speaking of Three Days, here is a reminder why we wait three days to call from that philosophic soul Barney Stinson:

     But back to my point.  If you read the lyrics to the song, you'll see how much it ties into my post from yesterday.  As I listened to this song (it's got a really great bpm that helps me rev up my rpm), I realized that it encapsulates so much of the vitriolic rhetoric that has been going on in this election season.  Fakeness, hatred, anger, falsities spewed and I have made a conscious effort that as much as I love so many of my friends on the other side of the political aisle - I cannot be just like them.  I can't adhere to the hate mongering that is coming out.  The caustic rot that is being spewed is just too much and if I were to allow myself to believe all of that, I would become nothing more than a toxic spewing slug myself (sort of like a certain candidate for POTUS).  So I pedaled hard and reflected upon these things as I continued to wend my way towards school.  Going up Stillwell I heard another great RPM revving song and since Duolingo now tells me I'm 42% fluent in German I could actually understand most of the words:

Of course, watching the video it looks like something out of a Quentin Tarantino movie!  A little too blood and guts but from the lyrics you would never get that, unless of course you ponder upon that enigmatic last verse.
     There IS one image from the video that probably disturbs me more than any other image and that is the image of the needle being used, especially considering today one of my EMS friends sent me a link to this video:

    

     Overdoses have become an HUGE epidemic all across the country.  Again, I didn't want to post this on my Facebook page because I didn't want to start an entire political debate about what are the causes of drug addiction.  I don't really care.  What I do care about, as an EMT is that every time we get a call for overdose or "unknown" we have to automatically think that we may be getting called in for a case like this.  For a while Nassau/Suffolk Counties were considered the center of opioid overdoses but apparently a small town called Huntington, VA is now the "Drug Death Capital of the World". It's tearing families apart and we have to find a solution.  I don't care if you're Blue, or Red, or Purple - it's time to do something about it and keep our country from dying.
     Well, that's it for now.  I should get back to doing what they pay me to do - teach kids how to express themselves so hopefully they won't have to turn to drugs to feel better.


Stay well my friends and I'll see you on the road!