If you're passing this bus.....

If you're passing this bus....., originally uploaded by qwrrty.

"... you're probably on a bike."

Seen on Mass Ave in Arlington.

watering the river

slow day for the Bedford FD?, originally uploaded by qwrrty.

My usual route to work takes me over the Concord River between Carlisle and Bedford. On Friday I was enjoying a particularly lovely ride as I crossed the bridge, when I noticed that there was a Bedford fire engine parked at the boat launch... watering the river.

Here they are. See? Look! There's the water! Going into the river!

Any hints what might be going on here? The closest thing I could think of was some kind of water-laundering scheme, but I got hung up on the details. I'm open to ideas here.

it ain't the bullet, it's the hole

On Friday night I left work to meet keyne at Sei Bar in Medford.  I was on my way up Main St. at about 6:45pm when I noticed that there was a pickup truck in the middle of the intersection.  Then I noticed there was a mangled dirt bike lying in the street behind it.  There were also a lot of people shouting and yelling things at each other, and a man was kneeling in the middle of the street, cradling a boy around twelve years old in his arms.  The boy was conscious, and crying.

Someone yelled please, could someone call 911?  I did, and was told that Medford police had been advised.  Someone figured out that it would be a good idea to move the truck so people could get past it.  The driver ran to his truck to move it (someone screamed, "Don't let him get away!").

I stood around for a few more minutes, gawking, trying to figure out something else constructive I could do.  It occurred to me that it would be helpful for someone to direct traffic, but I wasn't sure of a safe way to do that with the injured party still in the middle of the street.  In a few minutes an ambulance arrived, with two cruisers and two fire engines (!) so I decided it was safe for me to leave.

After meeting keyne for dinner, I had to go back up the street to see what happened.  The police were still there.  Some officers were talking to people, and at least a couple appeared to be collecting evidence from the street.

I hate not knowing what to do.  It makes me feel a lot better about the kids' bike safety training that I took for MassBike last month.  But I would have given anything at that instant to have had first aid training.  And I have to say, being the parent of an active nine-year-old boy, that watching a scene like that unfold fills my gut with icy, sour terror.

I don't know what happened to the boy.  I called the Medford PD a few minutes ago.  The desk sergeant I talked to confirmed that he can't tell me anything about the victims of an accident.

I don't know what happened to the boy.