Bicycle Therapist - beginning outline of bicycles I've owned/rented/used.

Craig K. Hassler/Bicycle Therapist - remembering bicycles I've owned/rented/used...a work in progress.... ~1970 through Oct. 1973. Sale, Victoria, Australia. One-speed, coaster brake, no training wheels or helmet. Gift from Santa Claus. Bicycled on sidewalk in front of house and in fenced in yard. Left bicycle in Sale when my father retired from Esso as a petroleum engineer specializing in offshore drilling. Jan. 1974 through June 1975. Merritt Island, FL. Sears, 3-speed, with fenders. Gift from Santa Claus. Commuted to 4th and 5th grades at Lewis Carroll Elementary School, ~ 2 miles one-way. Hand sanded and repainted in 1975 due to rust. Left bicycle in Merritt Island when we moved to Etters, PA. July 1975. Flagstaff, AZ. Rented tandem bicycle for one hour @ KOA Campground. ~1982 through ~1996. Etters, PA; University Park, PA; Southampton/East Hampton, NY. Raleigh, 10-speed road bicycle. Gift/hand me down from older brother. Sporadically commuted to classes as an alternative to walking from East Halls at University Park, PA while a Petroleum/Environmental Engineering student from June 1982 through May 1985. Bicycled 10 to 20 mile trips on summer visits to Etters (Central PA) from June 1982 through April 1986 with my father after he bought a Schwinn, 15-speed mountain bicycle in ~1982. Sporadically commuted to classes as an alternative to walking while a Marine Sciences student at L.I.U. – Southampton (~2 miles, one way) from July 1985 through May 1986. Day and weekend trips exploring the East End of Long Island’s South Fork July 1985 through August 1985, July 1986. Five-day bicycling/camping trip in southwestern Vermont, August 1986. Commuted 5 days/week to classes and one day/week to work at produce market (~4 miles one-way) in Southampton, NY from September to December 1986. Commuted to work (~1 mile, one way) at DeCristofaro Landscaping, Southampton, NY June through July 1987. Commuted to work (~1 mile, one way) at Raffel Cabinet Company, Southampton, NY. August 1987 through January 1988. Commuted from GSA yard in SE DC while living aboard R/V Marsys Resolute, to various locations where the Smithsonian Institution’s Marine Systems Lab had mesocosms, for groceries and entertainment from February to April 1990. One week bicycle/camping trip on Prince Edward Island, Canada, August 1990. Intermittent commuting (one mile, one way) to car pool site to work while working at East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery in Montauk, NY. Jan. 1993 through May 1998. I cannot remember what happened to the Raleigh. June 1998 through August 2000. Montauk, NY; Morehead City, NC. Schwinn, 15-speed mountain bicycle. Inherited from my father after he died unexpectedly. Commuted to work/car pool site (~ 2 miles, one-way) from marinas where I lived on my 25’ Cape Dory sailboat during the summers from June through August. Sporadic commuting to carpool to work (~1 mile, one-way) from 1999 through 2003. Sporadic commuting from Sag Harbor to Montauk after selling my home in East Hampton from May to September 2003. Hippie Steve of Beaufort Bicycles disassembled the bicycle, Floyd’s Auto Body sanded and repainted the frame and Hippie Steve put it back together with larger seat and longer handlebars allowing me to sit in a more upright position in 2004. Loaned bicycle to a friend. It was stolen while the friend visited a bar in downtown Morehead City, NC. ~April 2004 through August 2013. Morehead City, Carteret County, NC. Sun, 7-speed, aluminum frame, street crusier/hybrid. Purchased from Beaufort Bicycles while Schwinn was being reconditioned. Commuted (~2 miles, one-way) to Carteret Community College to work on six part lecture series as a consultant for East Hampton Town Aquaculture Department from December 2004 through December 2005 and while enrolled in the Therapeutic Massage Diploma program from Jan 2005 through July 2006. Used bicycle for grocery shopping, errands, visits to family in nearby Beaufort and Pine Knoll Shores, to pull trailer to pick up leaves from curbsides to create mulch for edible landscapes I created around my homes and to take my massage table to jobs at Gold’s Gym, Brookdale Carolina House and client’s homes where I provided Thai Manual Therapy treatments from ~May 2004 through ~May 2011. Bicycle camped from Washington, DC to Pittsburg, PA on the C & O Canal towpath and Great Allegheny Passage over two weeks pulling trailer with massage table to raise funds for American Diabetes Association in July, 2009. Sold bicycle to recycling center in Newport, NC for cash to leave NO Carolina after becoming outlawed in all aspects of my life from Feb. 2012 through August 2013. February 2010 through August 2013. Morehead City, Carteret County, NC. Electra, 3-speed beach/city cruiser. Purchased from Crystal Coast Bicycles, Atlantic Beach, NC to begin my “Bicycle for North Carolina State House” representing District 13, Carteret and Jones counties. Bicycled throughout the legislative district to celebrate the area’s unique progressive history, environment and activities people could do to take care of themselves as I worked to fund three projects with my campaign: 1. Non-motorized greenway connecting waterfront commercial district with western commercial district in an electric line right-of-way that passed by Morehead City’s schools proposing that students in the schools be involved in all phases of planning and development as a way of giving back to the community for the money it spent sending the students to school. 2. An oyster reef to create habitat, mitigate erosion and promote ecotourism opportunities for downtown Morehead City built by students at area schools as another “give back” opportunity. 3. An “Innovative Restroom” featuring use of rainwater for drinking/sink/shower needs, grey-water and humanure (buried) to water and fertilize an edible landscape and testing rainwater, grey-water, humanure, plants and soil for pathogens. Using locally available, manually repurposed recyclables for as much of the building as possible including bottles to create diffused lighting in interior/exterior walls, aluminum and tin cans cut and flattened into shingles for interior/exterior walls and roof. Finally paying people to manually pump water from a pond to a cistern on the roof of the facility and allowing that water to run down past a small turbine to generate electric on-site as needed thus creating a positive economic incentive for people to get exercise while demonstrating synergies of thermal insulation using a layer of water on the roof, on-site fire protection by hooking rooftop cistern to a sprinkler system, positive pressure on roof rafters, walls, and foundation to resist pressures created by strong winds and slowing water leaving the property carrying nutrients and sediments into the nearby watershed. Commuted to work at Cape Lookout Marine Sciences Charter High School (~0.5 miles one way) from late August 2010 through early Feb. 2011 where I taught Marine Sciences. I demonstrated to students “survival” skills of how to create edible landscapes watered with rainwater from the school’s roof after demonstrating how to calculate gallons of water roof generated per rainfall. Walked with students to nearby bodies of water identifying flora and fauna and provided life history information about each. Had students create their own textbook/journal noting time spent involved in each activity. Based student grades on how close their work in class came to paying back $6/hour being spent for them to be in my class. Demonstrated how to cut aluminum cans into shingles and shingle walls covered with lead-based paints as a low-cost alternative to mitigating lead paint and calculating value of labor for cutting cans into shingles if compared to asphalt or cedar shake shingles. Used proceeds from my “Bicycle for NC State House,” $400, not able to be used on three projects I initially proposed due to myriad laws prohibiting those ideas, to buy gardening equipment, used bicycles and birthday presents of running shoes, peace purse and healthy foods the school’s principal. Commuted to Harris Teeter where I worked in the Fresh Foods/Bakery section (~ 4 miles, one-way) from June, 2011 through August 2011. Commuted to Brookdale, Carolina House caring for my elderly mother 4 nights per week from August through September 2011 (~4 miles, one-way). Commuted to my brother and sister-in-law’s home in Pine Knoll Shores (~6 miles, one way) to care for my mother 4 nights/week while she was there from September to December 2011. Commuted to my job through Friendly Caregivers as an aid, caring for a man in Morehead City (~2 miles, one way) two nights/week from September through December 2011. Fell head forward over the handlebars and onto an asphalt road on left side of my head, zygomatic arch, after chain came off back sprocket when I stood up to pedal into the wind January 2012. Man driving a pick-up truck gave me a ride home where I cleaned off the cut. Fortunately I wasn’t wearing a helmet and didn’t have health insurance. Bicycled from Morehead City to Irwin, NC (~170 miles, one way) over two days in mid-January, 2012 for a meeting of Hope Floats, a Relay for Life team planning to kayak from Raleigh to Beaufort, NC to raise funds for cancer research. Bicycled back to Morehead City over two days in time for the Carteret County Relay for Life Team meeting where I asked that any money I raised be used to create non-motorized greenways on land and kayak trails in nearby waters to provide opportunities for people to get exercise while getting groceries, going to school, work, church and recreating on the water. While bicycling to and from Irwin, NC, I received several emails from the National Relay for Life people regarding the many positive benefits of exercise for preventing cancer among other diseases. In my request to the Carteret County Relay for Life Team, I reasoned that creating more infrastructure for people to use their body to do daily activities would be the “smoking gun” for fighting cancer. After noting that candy sales were down and providing all team members with plastic containers for their water, Carteret Coounty Relay for Life asked me to leave the team since they did not agree with my reasoning and would not be able to honor my request. Collected oyster shell from two restaurants in downtown Morehead City (0.5 miles, one way) and the NC Marine Fisheries Recycling bins (~2 miles, one way) and deposited shell on waterside of bulkhead on City-owned property to create an oyster reef to the southwest of Sugarloaf Island using my kayak from January through mid-February 2012. I was stopped twice on Saturday of President’s Day weekend in 2012 by the same police officer within four hours for bicycling and sitting at a nearby Bogue Sound beach. The first time the officer stopped me was at noon when my former partner and I were bicycling north on a nearby street in Morehead City. The officer said he stopped us because I didn’t have a reflector on the back of my bicycle trailer. My bicycle did. He also said that because my friend did not have a reflector on the back of his bicycle, yet he was wearing a reflective vest (I posted a photo of the scene on Facebook), we would be liable for any and all damages if we were hit by a motor vehicle. Four hours later, I was sitting at the beach about four blocks from our homes with an out of town houseguest who’d just returned to the shore from kayaking. The officer asked what we were doig there. When I replied, “It’s the beach,” he shared that the beach was private and because there’d been hundreds of break-ins in the area, we were now considered “persons of interest.” On Monday of President’s Day weekend I drove to the Morehead City police station and asked Officer Bernadette Morris about what I was told by the officer over the weekend. Her response: “He was likely just trying to scare you.” After that I drove to the East End of Long Island to look for work and help interested friends develop edible landscapes and help them with their home projects. My work as an aid for Friendly Caregivers was becoming increasingly complicated due to the nature of client’s health issues being beyond my skill levels. While in New York from February through mid-March 2012, I bicycled half way across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in mid-March 2012 on my way from Coney Island to Ocean Grove, NJ to provide Thai Manual Therapy to a friend living in NJ. I did not have money to pay the toll to get my car across the bridge. I was stopped by the Metropolitan Transit Authority who ordered me into their patrol car and picked up my bicycle in a wrecker. On the Staten Island side of the bridge I was charged with “Trespass.” The wrecker crushed the basket on the back of my bicycle, broke on my solar light string and lost the jar of peanut butter I had as food providing my fuel for the trip. After Metropolitan Transit Authority left, I got back on my bicycle and headed west on the Staten Island Expressway headed toward the Outerbridge Crossing. About six miles along that route a New York City Police officer asked me to exit. After explaining my situation, the officer noted that I was not allowed to cross the Outerbridge on a bicycle and directed me to use the Goethals Bridge. As I pedaled along the route he suggested, I could see that he was working his beat and checking on my progress. When I got near the Goethals Bridge he stopped and showed me how to access the bicycle land/sidewalk across. Eventually I made it to a NJ Turnpike Toll booth where my friends from Ocean Grove, NJ met me. I returned to Morehead City, NC when my former partner’s Uncle died suddenly of a heart attack and left bicycle in Southampton, NY. I received a letter in ~April 2012 noting that charges of “Trespass” had been dropped. Retrieved bicycle and other belongings I left in Southampton in January 2013. Gave bicycle to my former partner when I left North Carolina in August, 2013. May 2012 through July 2012. Morehead City, NC to Harrisburg, PA. Raleigh, one-speed, coaster brake, city/beach cruiser. Black frame, red wheel rims and white-wall tires. Purchased from EJW Sporting Goods in Morehead City for my “End of Times, Beginning of Life” Ride-In Campaign for President of the United States and bicycled from Morehead City, NC via eastern North Carolina, Eastern Virginia, DC to Harrisburg, PA over two weeks camping along the way beginning Monday, May 17th, 2012 at the start of Bicycle to Work Week. Bicycle commuted from tent I was allowed to use under I-83 Interstate bridge near the Susquehanna River, formerly occupied by bicycle mechanic for Harrisburg Bike Taxi who had moved into the owner of Harrisburg Bike Taxi’s attic after living in the tent year-round for two years, to City Island where bicycle taxis where stored (~1 mile, one way). I wasn’t making enough money at HBT to afford a place to live. My former partner in NC had agreed to purchase my 2007 Mini Cooper on time, but was unable to pay full amount so I felt fortunate to have the opportunity to use the bicycle mechanic’s tent. Bicycle was stolen while visiting a friend on Market Street near 17th Street one afternoon in July. Unfortunately I left it unlocked in the back yard. July 2012. Harrisburg, PA. One-speed city/beach cruiser. Burgandy frame with chrome fenders. Given to me by new bicycle mechanic for Harrisburg Bike Taxi. Bicycle commuted from tent and then city-owned warehouse space I found (~ 1 mile, one way) to City Islaand. I occupied the City-owned warehouse space to create gardens inside and out, and to store repurposed recyclables I removed from around the neighborhood and the riverfont park in Harrisburg. Bicycle was stolen while locked in front of the warehouse while I was speaking to workers at Appalachian Brewery next door about my use of the space since earlier in the day a Harrisburg Police officer asked me what I was doing in the building. After I explained what I’d been doing the officer said he was retiring in two weeks, had never wanted to be a police officer and that what I was doing sounded good to him. August 2012 through August 2013. Harrisburg, PA and to Richmond, VA. Schwinn, five-speed city bicycle. Green frame. Received bicycle from Recycled Bicycle in Harrisburg after I repaired the gear cable and put air in the tires. Used bicycle to commute to City Island and to collect recyclables and organic matter after gardening/weeding in Harrisburg City parks. Bicycled from Harrisburg, PA, starting at 8:00 p.m. Friday of Labor Day weekend and arrived Richmond, VA at 6:00 p.m. Sunday of Labor Day weekend in an attempt to return to North Carolina to see my 91 year-old mother one last time before she died. My brother-in-law picked me up in Richmond and drove me to Morehead City. Unfortunately my mother died at ~1:00 a.m. on Monday of Labor Day before I got to see her. I did not have enough money to rent a car or buy a bus ticket. Airlines, rental cars and buses, at that time, would not let someone else buy a ticket/pay for me. Sold bicycle to recycling center in Newport, NC for cash along with Sun, 7-speed and aluminum shingles I had created to leave NO Carolina after becoming outlawed in all aspects of my life from Feb. 2012 through August 2013. September through November 2012. Pine Knoll Shores to Morehead City, NC. Three-speed city cruiser. Yellow frame. Loaned to me by Spiro Pavlantos to use for commuting from Morehead City to Pine Knoll Shores (~5 miles, one way). Mr Pavlantos hired me to provide home health care and cleaning services 2 hrs/day, 3 days/wk after he was released from a Rehab facility due to having a fall as a result of a bladder infection. Mr. Pavlantos shared that he had to be retested for his NC Driver’s License when it expired due to his being over 90. He failed the eye exam and was directed to see an eye doctor who prescribed new glasses, Mr. Pavlantos noting that he didn’t see any differently with the new prescription. My Pavlantos also noted that when he returned to the NC DMV office he was ushered in to receive his new license with DMV officials noting that his eye doctor had called. I returned the yellow three-speed to Mr. Pavlantos after he suffered chest pains and called the ambulance and was prescribed new medication. Mr. Pavlantos was disturbed that I had run the dishwasher for his dishes without him telling me to do so. He also wanted me to give him his new medicines in addition to ones he had been prescribed due to his bladder infection. I was not allowed to dispense medicines to clients while an aide for Friendly Caregivers. Sensing that Mr. Pavlantos was unhappy with my decision to run his dishwasher when he hadn’t directed me, I became concerned about my liability should I dispense new medicines to Mr. Pavlantos should they produce a negative interaction with his previously prescribed medicines and resigned, leaving his bicycle at his home and walking to Morehead City. September 2012 through August 2013. Oxford to Bowling Green, OH; Morehead City, Beaufort, NC. Rhodes Car, four-wheel, two-person, human-powered, 7 speeds/person. Blue frame, white boat seats and tinted plexiglass windshield/roof. Purchased from Economics Professor in Oxford, OH for $3,500. She had purchased it directly from Rhodes Cars in Hendersonville, TN. After pedaling it around the hills in Oxford she realized it was too heavy for her to use on her own. I found out about it through Rhodes Car when I inquired about purchasing one and found there was a several month wait. Used Rhodes car to begin my “Rustbelt turning into Greenbelt Tour,” planning to pedal the Rhoades Car from Oxford to Toledo, OH then on to Detroit, MI through southern Canada to Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany, NY then through southern Vermont to Keene, NH and south through MA, RI, CT, then via ferry to Orient, NY and from east to west on Long Island, through New York City then south along the Atlantic Coast to Morehead City, NC. The purpose of the tour was to give people an opportunity to test drive the Rhodes Car in addition to celebrating the numerous gardens, art and renaissance of creativity sprouting in former rust-belt/manufacturing cities along the way. As I came of a rail trail into Bowling green on Friday night, the fifth day of my trip, about 200 miles from Oxford and having camped along the way, power from the axle stopped being transferred to the left rear wheel hub. Kind bicycle shop workers took apart the left rear wheel and noticed that the bearing was gone and replaced it. The final diagnosis of broken weld came after I rented a U-Haul truck, drove the Rhodes Car in it back to Beaufort. Hippie Steve at Beaufort Bicycles diagnosed the problem then sent me to a welder he knew near East Carteret High School. The welder created a weld around the hub circumference instead of in three spots and charged me $5 for his work. Hippie Steve accepted no money for his work. Within the week after having the Rhodes Car repair, as I waited on Bridges Street to turn into the alleyway to my home, Lieutenant Bernadette Morris of Morehead City Police yelled out of her patrol car window as she passed headed east on Bridges, “you’re allowed on the road with that” as she kept driving. The next day I pedaled the Rhodes Car wearing my Indian Wedding Shirt, rainbow flag, purchased in Harrisburg, PA as a seat cover for the bike taxi I used there during the summer, flapping behind the Rhodes Car as I headed west on Arendell Street to Carteret Community College to a “Dancing With Our Stars” event benefiting Carteret County Communities in Schools where my former partner was dancing with a former friend wearing the Indian Wedding Shirt he purchased when he purchased mine in Toronto after we helped his dancing partner and her partner get married in the backyard of my former partner’s close female friend who lived in Toronto. We’d planned to wear our Indian Wedding Shirts, pajamas and fun shoes when we got married but never set a date for a number of reasons. On my way to the event, I was pulled over by a Morehead City police officer and asked for my identification. Considering that I had: 1. been stopped three times earlier in the year by Morehead City Police Department, 2. filed a complaint of harassment with Morehead City Police Department, still unanswered, 3. Filed a restraining order against Morehead City Police Department at the Carteret County Courthouse in April 2012 for harassment due to being stopped three times within six weeks, twice on Saturday of President’s Day weekend by the same officer and again in mid-April 2012, 4. was told things that weren’t the law each time I was stopped by Morehead City police, 5. Been told at the hearing regarding my filing a restraining order for harassment against Morehead City Police Department by Morehead City Town Attorney that the judge could not hear the case because the Morehead City police department was not a legal entity, I did not have my id on my person and did not believe it was necessary for me to carry it on my person since I was not driving a motor vehicle. I also asked the officer for his name and badge number and if he could show me the statute he was using to stop me. He returned to his vehicle then after some time came back with a manual on motor vehicles opened to a page noting slowing the flow of traffic, or something to that effect. Interestingly at the time I was pedaling my Rhodes Car, 6 p.m. Saturday evening in October 2012, there was very little traffic on the road. After I explained to the officer that the information/data regarding bicycle safety, included in Morehead City’s Comprehensive Bicycling Plan completed in 2004 and Morehead City’s Comprehensive Pedestrian Plan completed in 2011 noted that pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists are safest when bicycles travel in the lane with the flow of traffic and that most negative interactions between motorists and non-motorists occur at intersections due to motorists being focused on other motor vehicles at the intersection and not able to see pedestrians or bicyclists crossing an intersection on sidewalks or bicycle paths until it was too late due to their speed. The officer then directed me to pedal the Rhodes Car on the sidewalk. I did so from near the intersection of 28th Street along the south side of Arendell Street to and through parking lots of the Carteret County Visitor’s Center, University of North Carolina Marine Sciences, North Carolina Marine Fisheries and through the Carteret County Community College, all draining into Bogue Sound, to the Carteret County Convention Center located on the Carteret County Community College campus. Discussion with North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles Inspector in Morehead City, NC about my use of the Rhodes Car on the roads in North Carolina.“You can use it on the roads as long as you stay to the right of the white line marking the edge, like bicycles.” Discussion with North Carolina State Trooper secretary at the NCDMV office in Morehead City, NC. Relayed my question to a NC State Trooper who left a voice mail on my friend’s cell phone, “You can us it on the roads as long as you stay to the right of the white line marking the edge, like bicycles.” Getting waved over by Morehead City Police officer after I drove Rhodes Car west across Radio Island/Morehead City high-rise bridge. Motorist behind me as I crossed the bridge complained to the Morehead City officer. Asking Morehead City Council at their December 2012 meeting for clarity on the law regarding the five times I was stopped that year by MHC police and what I was told. Mayor Jones responded that the beach at S. 19th Street and other road ends in Morehead City, NC are public. Speaking with Morehead City Mayor Jones the day after the city council meeting in his office explaining that I had hoped to open a Rhodes Car dealership and even manufacturing facility due to the area’s good year-round temperatures for bicycling, flat terrain and large elderly population that would benefit from using a Rhodes Car, larger and more stable than a two-wheeled bicycle. Deciding not to use the Rhodes Car since it seemed that it was creating an inconvenience for others and returning to using my Sun, 7-speed hybrid, aluminum frame. Response to my email to NC State House representative for District 13, Pat McElraft directing me to her legal team for an answer to my question about the Rhodes Car being considered a bicycle. Bicycling Sun, 7-speed to Morehead City from Beaufort in early December 2012 wearing yellow jacket and bicycling to the right of the white line marking the edge of the road as I was told by the NC DMV Inspector and NC State Trooper in November 2012. Having a Lowe’s Home Improvement truck headed west, in the same direction as I, pass me with oncoming traffic in the opposite lane, nearly hit me as we approached the Radio Island/Morehead City bridge. Bicycling to Morehead City Police Department and waiting to file an incident report listening to woman and adult special needs son file an incident report for a missing purse. Then being told, after Mother and Son left that I was not allowed to file an incident report because I wasn’t harmed and to talk to Lowe’s Home Improvement about the issue. Phoning Lowe’s Home Improvement using my friend’s phone, then driving my friend’s car to Lowe’s to make sure that manager got my message regarding Being directed to read the NC Driver’s Manual regarding “Sharing the road.” Reading the NC Driver’s Manual, Chapter 6: Sharing the Road and learning about the rights and responsibilities of motorists and bicyclists on the roads and that “Bicycles are allowed to use all of the right lane of a road but stay to the right as a courtesy to motorists.” That “motorists should only pass bicyclists if there is no traffic coming in the oncoming lane and giving bicyclists abundant clearance. The term “abundant” is not defined in the NC Driver’s Manual. Using Rhodes Car on back roads and to take home-built sea kayak on roof to nearby road ends/launching ramps from April through August, 2013. Sold Rhodes Car for $200 to have money to leave NO Carolina after having to defend myself to NC Superior Court for building an oyster reef for free using my kayak that was stolen and being told by Carteret County Health Department that my catching rainwater for my drinking needs and using grey-water and humanure (buried) to water and fertilize edible landscapes around two homes I co-owned with my former partner was creating such a public health risk I could be put in jail. In the first case, I was fined for taking oysters from polluted waters and taking undersized oysters when I called the NC Marine Fisheries to report that someone had stolen a 100’ long reef I had created from January thorugh mid- February 2013 by moving oysters from the pilings and bulkhead of Russell’s Marina near S. Ninth Street to 100 yards offshore of an eroding beach to the west of S. 19th Street. Defending myself to District Court, the judge, a person I knew from running beach races, ruled “guilty” with no court costs to me and filed an appeal for me since he believed oyster reefs to be beneficial and did not feel justified ruling on the matter, thinking it should have a trail with a jury of peers before the NC Superior Court. Five years of coliform data for the nearest station, 300 yards from Russell’s Marina, showed that coliform levels had never been above the values that would cause that area to be closed to shellfishing for that reason. (need to spend a little more time with this but not sure if it’s really necessary at this point. May need to edit what I’ve got already to create a more simplified outline of my bicycling experiences ) waters may have initially been closed due to manufacturing of asphalt and asbestos shingles at the NC State Port in Morehead City and the sha 300 the charges against me dropped at the NC Superior Court Hearing in July 2013 due to North Carolina Marine Fisheries not having data to support closure of the area I had moved oysters from to create the reef.

Journal 17: November 6, 2000 through October 6, 2001. So much of life seems to be about Fear. Fear can crowd out desire. Fear deadens mind and spirit. Fear is the chain that weighs me down to the inevitable grave. I am alive still, I know, but a wall separates me from life. I see people living, loving, hurting each other and always, always fading into the distance. Out of my escapable reach. Arms outstretched adn all retreats. Dried up and out, I long for the rain to wash me into the ground, at least back to my home. Perhaps the worms will love me as they love life itself as they knead me into hiome. How long I have waited for my homecoming, yet I have waited half a lifetime. Dry, barren, my skin is cracked, my remaining hairs turn to grey. I am older than my oldest sibling. I fear and surround myself in the cloak of death to spare myself pain and suffering. Can I separate myself from fear enough to love, enough to forget about self. To truely love, you must give up self. Give it to what? December 6, 2000. Crystal clear, cold blackness inside and out. Waves break on the sand; white crests are illuminated by a waxing moon. Last ballroom dancing class. I think it'll be smaller than usual group tonight. Quiet solitude at home and work. I'm into too much negative thinking since Thanksgiving. Morning walks before work have felt good, but I'm troubled about the land, thinking about selling the house and moving south, but to what? Another life filled w/ running too and fro thinking I'm helping others, but not really doing anything. I keep thinking that I need to start weight lifting or swimming at the Rec Center. I don't like how I'm thinking about myself and life in general. What's going on? I need a change, but am afraid that I'll be a junkie for never ending change. Cold creeps into the truck as I sit here writing, deep in my ceaseless thoughts. Too much thinking not enough doing. Will a plan help me out of this state? I need something, but don't know what, who or where to look. A drink before and w/ dinner the last two nights have helped, but I don't want to go too far down that road. Diagram for steps to the Cha Cha. Fun class. I reslove to go to Sugar Reef next Tuesday @ 7:00 p.m. for more Latin dancing lessons.

Journal 16: April 20, 2000 through November 23, 2000. Random notes and sketches on first few pages. April 20, 2000. Frank, Ollie (Renita and John's dog) and I were driving to work this morning and noticed the newest safety additions on the road to Montauk: white, plastic posts 50' apart w/ reflective tape at the top in the grassy areas in the few remaining sections w/out guard rails. We laughed and tried to figure out when they'd been added and then imagined the future safety additions. On the next page I sketched in pencil the road with wooden walls at the edge and tree limbs hanging over and titled it "Road to Montauk 2010"

Journal 15: November 3, 1999 through Juoly 4th, 2000. November 3, 1999. Visit w/ Tom in Pittsburgh eagerly awaited is now past. Good memories: sitting on the couch together reading. Having beers at the bar in Homestead. Sitting on the "deck" under the canopy of grape leaves w/ a few bunches of grapes still hanging on. Camping at Ohiopyle. Sitting by the fire. Sitting in neighboring stalls in the restroom, yaking away. Walking on the abandoned railway trail, swimming bare-assed in the cold/icy Yawk; then sitting on the rocks like lizards drying off, soaking up the sun. Meeting Tom's coworkers: Dana, Carey, Dennis and the barber, Carl. Checking out Pittsburgh connections to the past: 110 Dallas Ave (where Mom, Dad and Diane lived with Grandma and Grandpa Hassler when Dad got out of WWII and was going to school at Pitt for Petroleum Engineering), Homewood Cemetery (were the Grandma and Grandpa Page are buried.) Driving around some of the areas where Tome works and lives: southside, the slopes, Allentown, Squirrel (Town) Hill. Walking to get things: bagels and coffee, groceries, a movie. Seeing Tom's abode and getting some time to make a sketch through the window in his "office." Sitting here eating dinner, writing and listening to music and reflecting on the weekend is a good thing. I'm glad to take time like this. I realize the things I enjoyed most had to do with just being together. Walking in the rain under partially helpful Pirates umbrella was particularly enjoyable. The rain was still warm and knowing that soon I would be able to dry off made the experience less of a dash through the drops and more a stroll. I liked that. Tom's a good guy. I have to remember to tell people to move over so I can sit next to them instead of parking myself solo, then getting uncomfortable and kicking them off my couch/bed under the ruse of feeling tired. Why do I throw up obstacles to being "close" company w/ the people (friends/family) I'm visiting. Just because I'm sitting close doesn't mean I'm wanting sex; it just means I like being close. After the visit w/ Becky I realized that I like touching. The beauty I'm now realizing is that just because your touching someone doesn't mean it's a sexual thing. It also can be a loving thing. I'll have to remember this when I'm in NC for Thanksgiving. A good opportunity to take advantage of the family bonds and loving for touching.

Journal 14: June 3rd, 1999 through October 31, 1999. Red band of light above the horizon where the sun set. A norhtwest and slightly cooler wind is blowing, but now howling (yet). If it gets too strong and the boat gets too bouncy I'll head to the truck. Last summer on the boat taught me good lessons. Foremost if sleep doesn't happen on "Arianne" go to where it will. I'm feeling good right now. An eggplant parmigian hero, a tall boy Rolling Rock and a salad were my dinner. I bought this new notebook and a new pen plus some cool colored candles. The red light is fading and the lights of the norhtern end of the Lake are brightening. The Yacht Club, plus the marinas, etc in Coon's Foot Cove are bright. Lights from the hosues along West Lake Drive are sparse so far - it's only Thursday night. Tomrrow night and the rest of the weekend'll find more lights burning. Time to retreat below and light the candles, or maybe it's shower time. Shower time wins. Now I'm back below. Jazz from WPBX fills the cabin. Writing is lighted by the cool candles. A chianti bottle/candle holder started last summer and thoughtfully saved shines again with a turqoise candle adding wax to the layers of greens, blues, and purples from the last boating season. Started the Clam College again, this time w/ three sizes of clams and a replicate group to be run after this trial.

Journal 13, October 15, 1998 through June 1, 1999. Almost lost track of the date. Saw a movie at the (Hamptons) Film Festival- "20 Dates." Funny. Inspiring. Especially after being sullen today. Thinking about my evening ~1 1/2 hours w/ Kelly last night, at an "Opening Party" that she was covering. How many times do I have to revisit that glitterati scene to know that it's a world totally separate from mine? How many times do I have to get together w/ Kelly to realize that our worlds are so very far apart? I like Kelly. She seems original, but I doubt my judgement. I want to be loved by a woman, but somehow feel I have to settle for what ever calls me back. Have faith in yourself man. You need to ask women out. You need to ask many women out. How will you ever know who's right for you it you sit at home, alone, waiting for Ms. Right to knock on the freakin' door. Get on with it man.

Journal 12: September 1, 1997 to ??? notes from O.P.S. class in Fall 1998. September 1, 1997. Delaware River - Smithfield Beach Access. End of a canoe trip with Gary, Darcy, George, Hershey (Darcy and George's dog), Bo and I. We hordes are ascending the slope to whre vans and buses pick us up. Middle America on Labor Day weekend. Canoes of plastic garbage bags - some filled with the usual contents.

Journal 11: October 22, 1997 through October 12, 1998. Back of the bus, er plane. Physical Oceanography mid-term taken, and now me and my Halsey apple are sitting in the last row of a US Air - 737 at LaGuardia Airport. Gary has been kind enough to watch my buddy, Boris, for the next four days while I visit the Carolinas. I didn't sleep for very long last night. Test thoughts and house thoughts competed w/ each other for my attention. The moonlight coming through the skylight made me feel good. I felt awake then, but now the bays I didn't check are hanging heavy under my eyes. Living in the studio has inspired me with simple housing ideas. My conversation w/ Irene Kuzak about the property on Lion Head Rock Rd got the house "I's" yelling and shouting. Just when I thought I was safe and had them tucked neatly away in a back drawer of my mind, one phone call and now they lie scattered hither and yon around my convoluted grey matter. The key, of course, to this house puzzle is selling the land. Selling the land for a reasonable price. The prospect of selling before sometime in January (the time the Kuzak's will be listing their property w/ a broker) seems optimistic. Time, as usual, will tell.

Journal 10: March 24, 1997 through October 2, 1997 Frist three pages are simple ink sketches of Carrot Island, NC March 24, 1997 A strong wind's blowing at my vback as I sit facing the south lookng across to Shackleford? Last night Diane and I took a ferry ride out of Beaufort to watch the partial lunar eclipse. About 30 people whre on the ferry billed as a lundar eclipse/fishing outing. Scott fromt he Maritime Museum gave3 an intro to lunar eclipse talk at the museum before we headed out. "ASCENDING NODE" is what sticks in the spaces of my brain. That's why we don't have a lunar eclipse every time we see a full moon. the moon revolves around the earth it's orbit making a plane which varies over time. He gave an excellent demo of the moving plane with his arms as a plane wobbling around the earth. An interesting guy. He's recently finished a Master's working with Hans Pearl at U.N.C. Morehead. His thesis project looking at the effect of flow (?) on the ability of blue green algae to fix nitrogen. "Heterocysts" the cells in which anoxic conditions are maintained allowing nitrogen fixation N2 to NO3 to occur. Apparently, using a special chamber, he was able to quantify th type and velocity of flow around the heterocysts and was able to whow that ? certain flows (non-laminar) were enough to break the heterocysts. Overall these blue-green algae aren't found in open waters which would be subject to waves.

September 7, 1995 through March 14, 1997

Priorities: for work next fall. 1. Job in aquaculture in Carteret Co. 2. Grad. school at U.N.C. Chapel Hill 3. Teaching at Secondary level in Carteret Co. 4.????? 9-8-95 A week into September. The morning, is, or was, till summer sounds of stillness, crickets and other insects, maybe cicadas, chirping in unison creating a background chorus. Winds of yesterday afternoon have fallen off. Boris was restless this morning at 5:00 and now is gone. He seems a different dog these past few days, older. Almost makes me think he's had some stroke or something. Yesterday morning he was waiting for me to eat breakfast, by standing in the kitchen staring straight ahead into space, then he'd move to the living room and do the same thing. No coffee yesterday morning and geez what a grouch, and over-sensitive, I was. Caffeine and I are buddies now. One of the next things I have to work on now is the statement of background interests and future plans in Marine Science for Grad School. My clock shows 6:00. Bo cleans and scratches his native fauna of fleas. The sky is lightening but darkness overtakes my gaze when looking below the tree line. Background: As an undergraduate engineering student at Penn State University I found that my interest in biology surpassed my interest in engineering. Maybe I should start this project with an outline: I. Engineering to Marine Science. II. Marine Science @ Southampton III. Natural Resources Experience. A. Shellfish Management Survey. B. Flagging Wetland; fresh and salt. IV. Smithsonian. A. Collecting algae-covered corals. B. Working on the boat, maintaining collections. C. Helping out @ Biosphere II. Closed system. V. Aquaculture for East Hampton Town. A. First season growing out seed purchased from hatcheries. B. Subsequent seasons conditioning animals, spawning, larval culture, post-set culture. 1. Benefits of moving from a large-cultch setting to a micro-cultch setting. 2. Improvements in spawning bay scallops and continued problems w/ conditioning bay scallops. 3. Concerns regarding mortality. a. Survival of clam seed after rerlease to market size. b. Overwintering of seed in 2 bottom types. 4. Realization in conducting research of my limited knowledge regarding experimenttion, ie setting up a valid experiment, and using the proper statistical analysis. 5. A need to write for grants. VI. Future plans relative to Marine Science. A. Setting up own small-scale business in coastal North Carolina growing oysters and clams. B. Would like to develop a system whereby oysters could be grown to market size w/out great losses. VII. Interests. A. Gaining a working knowledge and ability to successfully write for grants. B. Be capable of setting up valid scientific research. C. Learn about Marine microbiology and the effects of marine microbes on shellfish culture in coastal N.C.

New Journal: May 1, 1994 through September 4, 1995. GOALS: 1. Finish painting and preparing "Seasoned" by May 8 for her sale next week. Still waiting for buyer 6/5/94. 2. Get truck started, possibly painted, and sell. Sold truck July 4th weekend. 3. Pay off land and interest owed with a portion of proceeds from above sales. August 18th. 4. Save $20,000 by May 1, 1996. 5. Buy a sturdy, practical, inexpensive, simple boat for travelling up the Hudson Riveer, through the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi through the Gulf of Mexico and up the intracoastal. 6. Make the trip previously mentioned in one year's time beginning May 12, 1996. 7. Write and sell short stories before and during #5 and #6. 8. Study for G.R.E.'s, Take G.R.E.'s Spring '95. Get scholarship based on scores. 9. Get a PhD. in Biology - Shellfish Biology from Duke. 10. Start up adn runa a small, non-polluting, profitable bay scallop and/or oyster growing company. 11. Build the sea kayak before May 1, 1996.

A new journal: January 1993 through March 1994.

Maybe it's because when Tom's around he's talking and telling new stories. New words and patterns that I haven't heard before. I think of Tom as an average guy like myself. When I talk to Tom I don't feel nearly as self-conscious as I do with John. I still can't figure it out yet. Maybe because John is the "boss."  I don't think that's it either. As he said quite some time ago, I'm intimidated by him. Made timid. But why? Am I trying to win favor, acceptance, friendship, good judgment? Maybe one, some, or all. Maybe because I think we're similar in many personal philosophies I put great weight on his words as some kind of guide. You know, though, that doesn't work and as you can see it creates weird pressures.

This talk with Tony (D'Agostino) on Friday while frustrating and time consuming could be used for my edification. "Think about what you say before you say it and consider your reaction to other reaction." Not with everything at least not the last part. I think I wanted to stick a needle in Tony's side about Dixie Lee Ray, which is okay but then my reaction to what Tony was saying about me wasn't okay. If was emotionally charged. The fact is, I was putting down a "favorite" colleague of his. Anytime you "dismiss" a friend of someone you better be prepared for the vituperative, venomous response. Cause you know damn well that is what you'll get. You certainly don't have the gift of oration like 95% of the people around you. Be aware of that fact. Not that you can't improve. But right now you're on ground zero or pretty close to it when verbal exchanges take place. Don't forget to laugh. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

The laughing is one thing that I forget about underlying all life. The grand joke of God playing a joke with life. We're all a part of him. All of us in our many forms. But when I forget that and think of US and THEM life becomes the dichotomy. Republicans, Democrats, Gays, Anti Gays, Pro-Choice, Pro-Life. Right to Bear Arms, Gun Control movement. When Sandy's on the phone with Gary don't get bent out of shape. They, we are all one. You think your survival depends on Gary's love. It doesn't. He is but one portion of God. You don't have to worry about his love anyway because he'll always love you, just as you'll always love him. God loves everybody because they are all him. What a light that casts on this life. Instead of being down about what Gary's dreams are, help him, but be honest. Friendship is love. I guess my survival does depend on being loved. Gary's love, Mom's love, Terry's love, Karen's love, Diane's love. They are all a part of God. I care if they love me. What happens when they aren't around to love? Cross that bridge in its time remembering that we are all God.

Journal Dated January 3, 1992 through January 18, 1993.

The journal is a gift from my friends Karen Krozlowitz and Rich Muller. Gary and I lived w/ Rich and Karen at 95 Pelham Street, Southamptn, while they dated during her Senior year at Southampton College. Their gift of journal also contained a book on sketching.

January 3, 1992

I dedicate this book to Rick and Karen. My friends.

I'm twenty-seven years old. A little more than ten years older than when I started keeping a journal. I think this gift from R & K appeals to me because it seem like the only way I can slow down the clock.

I never thought I'd have chickens. Maybe the three chicks in the coup by the compost pile won't make it to adulthood. Already a fourth (Thelma) was eaten by a cat (I think) at Mom's.

I hope they live.

If some friend looked into the future when I was seventeen and said, "ten years from now you'll be hsaring a house with two friends, a dog, a guinea pig and three chickens, I'd know without a doubt that that friend was crazy. If someone told me that three years ago I'd think the animal part a bit much. For some, unknown to me, reason I'm gravitating towards animals and vice versa. I'm thinking about hwat it would be like to have a wife and children. I've never seriously thought about that before.

Seeing Grandma (Hassler) in the nursing home has a lot to do with family thoughts. So did seeing all the family at Diane and Bob's. Talking to Vicki (Marsland, neighbor/friend from Sale, Australia. She, living in the U.K. visited over the 1991 Christmas holiday) about friends and how friends get married and have kids. "It's a natural evolution," she says. I like that natural evolution. Maybe the seeds of naturalness are ripening inside me. Instinct is guiding me without cognitive knowledge. The desire for church, family, friends, animals are the outward signs of the guiding instinct.

pencil sketch of Rowena, my guinea pig.

Working part-time at the East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery in Montauk, beginning late July 1990.


The town had purchased seed shellfish and was growing them in upwellers at the hatchery in Montauk. Water was pumped from Fort Pond Bay 300 yards to the building and into tanks that housed the upwellers. Upwellers are made out of PVC pipe. The first ones we made were 18" in diameter and 18" deep with a screen mesh on the bottom and feet to keep the screen off the bottom of the tank. Shellfish were placed on the screen in the upweller. Water flowing into the tank moved up through and past the shellfish, exiting at the top side through a fitting that went through the side of the tank. Thus shellfish were able to filter algae out of the water moving past them to grow.


Upwellers needed to be bumped at the beginning and end of the day to dissipate air bubbles that often formed on the bottom side of the screen. If upwellers weren't bumped and air built up, water coming in to the tank would not flow up through the upweller and out the side. Instead the upwellers would float and the water level in the tank would rise until it overflowed the top of the tank containing the upwellers.


Winds from the northwest also effecting upweller efficiency due to the hatchery's location on Fort Pond Bay, a large bay with long fetch to the northwest. After most low pressure systems moved through the area, high pressure systems, with strong northwest winds often followed causing large waves to break on the beach where seawater intake lines were located. Algae and other detritus stirred up by wave action would also clog the bottom of the upwellers, requiring seawater to the tanks to be stopped, the tanks drained and hosed down to remove the built up algae and detritus.


At this time we were also building the various components needed for larval shellfish culture. We made tables that conicals, 100 gallon, cylindrical tanks, would be placed in to grow the larval shellfish after they were spawned. We repurposed over 24 cylindrical 100 gallon, fiberglass tanks that we got from a defunct oyster aquaculture business that had used them to store lime, what they used to control starfish (sea stars) on their oyster leases. The tanks had a conical shaped bottom. We cut the bottom few inches off the tanks, then made a jig of a funnel to lay fiberglass around the bottom so we could place a hole at the bottom of the conical that could be plugged with a cork. A hole in the center of the cork allowed us to supply air into the bottom of the conical. When the conical was filled with seawater, air coming up from the bottom of the conical kept water, larvae and algae, that we grew and fed the larvae, circulating.


Since I was employed as a part-time contractor, I kept track of the hours I worked and the work I did. This record allowed me to complete accurate time sheets to be paid for my work.


The following are some abbreviations I used in my work descriptions:
UPW - upweller
BP - Bumped, as in bumping upwellers.
SK- Skimmed, the settling pond where water leaving the hatchery went before going through pipes,
        300 yards to a final settling pond landward of the beach at Fort Pond Bay. Nutrients in the water
        caused several species of green macroalgae to grow in the pond. Eventually the algae would die
        and become foul smelling so we skimmed the algae off on a regular basis to let it dry in the sun.
PD - settling pond described above.
B.C.T. - building conical table. We built 8 tables. Each table held three conicals. After building
              the tables we covered them with several coats of coal tar to keep them from rotting.
A.M/P.M. T. - Recording incoming water temperature in A.M. and P.M.


DATE, TIME IN/ TIME OUT/ LUNCH/ACCOMPLISHMENTS


7/30/90 12:00/5:00  12-2  SKPD. Afternoon temp, BPUPW


7/31/90 8:30/6:15   12-1 SK PD, Separated nailed boards, BCT, moved UPW tanks, w/ JA, (John Aldred) BPUW


8/1/90  8:00/11:30  SK PD, BP UPW, BCT


8/2/90  8:00/7:30  3:30-4:00  SK PD, BP UPW, BCT, worked on 5 hp pump w/ JA, Cleaned UPW, measured clams and distributed w/ JA and ST (Sue Talay).


8/3/90  9:30/5:00 1:30 - 2:00. BP UPW, moved cinder blocks (used to support upwellers, we hadn't built tables for upweller tanks yet), set up cleaning table, Put core samples into T.T. Cleaned up pipes in conical area.


8/4/90  1:00/2:00 Cut 2 pieces wood, BPUPW, SK PD.


8/5/90  12:30/3:30 BP UPW, Cut wood for 2 conical tables, weeded front loading dock.


8/6/90 8:15/5:30, 1:30 - 2:30, SK PD, BP UPW, Filled out Civil Service Packet, went to Town Hall, Bluff Rd., Riverhead Bldg. Worked w/ Rick (Salter) in p.m. Southampton Lumber for 2 x 4's and carriage bolts. Cut angled pieces for conical tables. Picked up A.C. (for algae room) from P.C. Richard's in Southampton, BP UPW. P.M. T 

July 1989

A hot day here in Etters, PA.

I've lost track of the days. I've gone through the beauracracy steps now I have no job and am on vacation until the middle of August.

I spent a week with the family at Diane and Bob's. Every body's gone back to their separate states and that is that.

I ran into a friend not long ago who has this problem. It's touchy and I feel funny writing about it here. But if not here then were? Let it out of the jumble of thoughts that are rolling around in my insides, yelling into each cell for help and resolution.

This friend, Mark, who I haven't seen for along time seems to be doing well from outward appearances. but as we talked I got the impression that he had something on his mind, something that was starting to work its way to the surface. He didn't seem to know how to handle it and asked if he could confide in me. I wasn't so sure I wanted to get into a heavy duty discussion. My resident assistant days were in my past and I wasn't sure I knew if I could successfully listen to someone.

I looked at the ground and then up to the sky just trying to buy time and figure out what was up and down. "Go ahead," I said almost daringly even a bit coldly.

"It's hard to start," he said. "I'm not sure how I got into this or why I want to get out."

"Into what?" I said.

"A relationship."

"That's a start."

"I love this person and we've spent three great years together."

"So, why are you questioning it?"

"First of all the other person is a guy."

"Oh."

"I'd like to say that I'm going through life to experience it. And now I'd like to move on. Sounds pretty cold and clinical."

"Well maybe that's true, but how does a negative label help you solve your problem? It doesn't. It just makes the problem harder to deal with."

"I guess I'm just afraid to deal with this. It's not the easiest thing to work through; another person's involved."

"Well if your unsatisfied with the way things are you owe it to yourself to spend some time working through it."

"You're right but I'm still kind of overwhelmed. We've tried to stop our being lovers and tried to focus on the friendship side, but sharing the same house makes it damn difficult to break out of old habits since neither of us is a real bar socializer - well at least not me."

"What does being a bar socializer have to do with this?"

"It's jumping a couple steps. If we don't go out how can either of us meet new people?"

"Hang on a second. I feel like I'm missing the point here. What's wrong with your relationship?"

"Nothing's really wrong with it. It's just that I don't want to believe that I'm gay. I don't think I am but if I'm having sex with someone of the same sex that means I'm gay. I don't want to be gay. So to not be gay you must go out with women."

July 25, 1986

Today the opel was dragged off to the junk yard - orange hazards blinking sadly as it went out of sight.

What a good car it was. I even got it to run again before the tow truck guy took it away. I can remember Dad working on it after we had it painted and then found it needed engine work. He did work hard on it. We pulled the engine out using his revered come-along hooked to the central beam downstairs. He ran to Harrisburg to have this part polished, the Clines to have the alternator repaired, to Wintermyer's junk yard for piston cap (the original broke on my way back from Florida in 1984, and Dad came to get me in Lumberton, North Carolina.) AAA in State College, towed in NJ when Barb and I drove to check out Southampton College for the first time. An auto repair shop in Altoona - the Opel broke down when Tom Miorelli, Barb and I were on our way back from Indiana University of PA where Tom and I had picked up Barb.