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Bob O’Brien

@obobme.bsky.social
247 followers 166 following 557 posts

Minimalist | Listener | Lucky in love | Dog scratcher | Neighborhood inactivist | Transportational cyclist

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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Choose wisely.
screenshot of side by side maps of Lake Ontario, including the US cities of Buffalo and Rochester and Canadian cities of Hamilton and Toronto. On the left, Google Maps uses the toponym "Lake America" in deference to a recent executive order, which does not take effect for three weeks and has no impact beyond US borders. On the right, Apple Maps retains the world-recognized name.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Heads up, #easterntrail users in Maine. Several large trees across the trail just north of Wainwright fields. Need to carry a bike or stroller over them.
A tree felled by a windstorm lies across a multi-use trail as 3 cyclists approach in the distance.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Non-word? #nytspellingbee is a wine snob.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Missed this one, which was on the list with no small amount of irony.
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Reposted by Bob O’Brien
Maine Public @mainepublic.org · 27/05/2026
The announcement comes in the wake of what District Attorney Jackie Sartoris described as the deadliest year on record for Cumberland County pedestrians in 2025. www.mainepublic.org/courts-and-crim…
mainepublic.org
Cumberland County will consider criminal, civil violations for more pedestrian or bike crashes
The announcement comes in the wake of what District Attorney Jackie Sartoris described as the deadliest year on record for Cumberland County pedestrians in 2025.
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Reposted by Bob O’Brien
natalia barbour @nataliabarbour.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
$4 will either get you a gallon of gas or four donuts. Pick your fuel wisely.
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Portland Press Herald @pressherald.com · 28/01/2026
ICE agents shatter window, leave 1-month-old baby, mother in car after Portland arrest * Free to access
pressherald.com
ICE agents shatter window, leave 1-month-old baby, mother in car after Portland arrest
Video shows federal immigration agents leaving behind an infant and broken glass after detaining a Guinean immigrant with no known criminal history.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
what's your response to this not being considered a word?
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
open.substack.com/pub/obobme/p...
open.substack.com
Retirement: Year One
I retired a full year ago.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
It’s always a good night when we pull the guest bowl out of the closet.
Guest water bowl for dogs with brown paw print motif on the outside.
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Reposted by Bob O’Brien
Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
What we call things reveals a lot about our priorities and biases. Graphic via @reenamahajan.bsky.social
Graphic noting that people walking are called “vulnerable road users” as are people cycling. While “vehicles” are considered neutral and normal. But what if drivers were called “dangerous road users?”
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
a bit on the nose that they don't consider this a word
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Happy #bonilladay to all who celebrate.
Vintage baseball card of Bobby Bonilla of the New York Mets
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Remembering when music came with visual art as well as audio.
Photo of a 1977 Crosby, Stills & Nash LP rear cover. David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash are harmonizing around a microphone, eyes closed and focused.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
I always appreciate TL's thoughtful perspective. But today, I had to marvel at that full paragraph that was one gigantic sentence - and completely readable. We're lucky to have a solid local sports reporter, and one who knows how to use all the punctuation tools for good.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
A reminder that current science doesn't always age well - from Wilmington NC Morning Star, 24 August, 1945.
1945 North Carolina newspaper article indicating that homes can be sprayed with DDT dust for pest control. DDT led to declines in bird populations and is suspected to be a human carcinogen.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
This year I've learned to order products and book services directly if that's an option, instead of using an aggregator. Puts more money in the provider's pocket, and sometimes earns extra perks.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Cheers to the Hearts fans taking @gpmetro.org 9A to the match. Stop is just a block away.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
To “live beloved & die regretted” sounds like winning to me. Except for the 18 years part.
Tombstone from Cashel. It reads “here lies the body of Anne Scully daughter to Darby Scully of Camas, who lived beloved and died regretted on 27 February 1810 in the 18th year of her age”
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Signs of change: line outside the local bakery - and it’s longer than the JBA winner one rn.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Well, yesterday WAS the 250th anniversary of Revere’s ride.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
The flicker feeding in my yard probably isn’t a great sign for my lawn’s health, but he sure is handsome.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
The Northern Flickers are looking for love this morning. #SpringInMaine
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Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
this is wild: vehicle capacity of freeway lanes dropped 10 percent as SUVs took over the road -- not just bc they are bigger. they also take more time and space to slow down and obscure other drivers' sightlines. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
How SUVs Are Making Traffic Worse
As larger, taller sport utility vehicles took over US roads, they also aggravated highway congestion, according to a new study. It’s yet another ill effect of “car bloat.”
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
It's jarring to see my home town shown in such a troubling light. Even worse if you spread the numbers over our small population. I'm no expert at this but think it's a story worth listening to and evaluating.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Genealogy is a good way to experience history. Found relatives in FL in the 1920s whose occupation was "turpentine". Learned this was a booming (and ugly) industry at the time in the pines of northern FL. dunnhistory.com/the-brutalit...
dunnhistory.com
The Brutality of Florida’s Turpentine Industry | Dunn History
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Satan’s Niece @krissychula.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
This is high art
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
The first bike ride of summer tire season always feels like flying.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
The Moon and Saturn are quite a pair in the western twilight over the trees rn.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
This was the bio of my mom from her college yearbook. She passed a few of those traits on to me - minus the eyes, I think.
college bio of a young woman. It reads "Ellery Queen fan....expressive eyes...nightly coffee drinker...hometown advertiser"
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
In case the meme culture thinks it invented this one, this is from a 1970's magazine hosiery ad.
1970's hosiery print advertisement showing a tandem bicycle with a woman on the front saddle and a man on the back. The man looks over his shoulder at another woman riding a bicycle wearing a stylish outfit.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
#bikesmeanbusiness for NoDa Company Store
several bicycles and bike trailers parked in front of a crowded outdoor patio
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Tesla cyber truck with FORD painted on the tailgate
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Attn Portland ME @gpmetro.org riders: @gpcog.org is looking for your input. Share your UX here: www.movingmaine.org/mati-survey
movingmaine.org
MATI Survey — Moving Maine
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Despite all the Space Mtn junk and deplorable fake child slaughter "humor", the 2nd half of this video is worth watching and thinking about.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
I found the apartment in CLT my mom rented after college. She lived there until enlisting in the Army in 1943. So cool to climb the stairs she did.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
During a recent trip to CLT #bikesmeanbusiness for this brewery in spite of no accommodation at all on the street. It would be hard to feel safe as a transportational cyclist in that city.
bikes parked at a brewery in Charlotte NC USA, including a baby trailer.four lane road in front of a popular brewery with broken pavement in the gutter and no bike infrastructure. Cars race by at 35 mph.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
PSA: Those born between '57 and '67 should check with your doc about measles vax. The version given to us was less effective than other years. I know: I had measles in college. It's no joke. I can't imagine getting it at my current age.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Theater marquee advertising Hundreds of Beavers on April 18
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Jeff Woodbury @revjaydub.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Thinking about picking up this little #PortlandME gem in the government's fire sale. www.gsa.gov/real-estate/...
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
I walk a lot off peninsula and many sidewalks are NOT good. The street isn’t a safe walking place but neither is an icy or flooded sidewalk. Portland man dies after being hit by 2 cars on Forest Avenue www.pressherald.com/2025/03/03/p...
pressherald.com
Portland man dies after being hit by 2 cars on Forest Avenue
The crash came a week after another pedestrian died after being hit by a car near the city's shelter on Riverside Street.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
My wife & I took the bus in town today for lunch, errands, coffee, shopping and dinner. We walked about 6 miles, bumped into family on the street. Good for our health. Good for the local economy. #TransitMeansBusiness
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
While I don't agree that the service is amazingly good or consistent, it is critical and worthy of fixing - not viewing transactionally.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Great story about the weird hockey community and a reminder that it's still a game. Who won was just a small side note. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/02/26/s...
bangordailynews.com
‘Really bizarre’ Maine high school hockey game features teams in same school’s uniforms
The Houlton team had forgotten their jerseys, so they had to borrow some from John Bapst.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Portlanders, don’t sleep on Yuri’s. A bright spot for coffee - and macarons! Bonus: open til 4:00.
A cup of coffee and a stylish white plate with pistachio and lemon macarons. All sit on a light wooden serving tray.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
It may be wishful thinking but I think the birds sense Spring is coming. Extra songs this morning.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Frog & Toad are a bit too on the nose these days.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
I’ve always been an old soul
4 year old me, looking like an old man sunning on a porch in a striped sweater, rolled up chinos and white socks.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Time goes by. The 20-somethings I first met on Twitter 15 years ago are now parents - some of them with kids as old as mine was then.
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Bob O’Brien @obobme.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Just reading that RISD Museum found the demo tape for Psycho Killer in storage. The "band" (The Artistics)was just Byrne & Frantz at the time. Sadly @bostonglobe.com doesn't allow any gift articles, which is bush league.
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