Cold Turkey Vacations

Overworked Americans are now grappling with a new problem encroaching on their ever too short vacation time ... e-mail and cell phones that bring office duties to the beach and hotel room.

Articles abound calling on folks to go "cold turkey." Leave that cell phone at home, don't check e-mail while on vacation.

This might be one way to deal with workaholic behavior ...

Going cold turkey, but what about maintaining a "common sense balance."

Relax.

It's not the end of the world if technology can help us blend work and vacation a bit. An ideal job should be almost like being on vacation. Some would say an ideal job is sitting out on the beach, with a laptop, writing a great novel.

If our work could be a bit more leisurely and creative, then we wouldn't mind this encroaching, a bit, on vacation. Overworked Americans ought to find ways to relax and make working less stressful.

Work ought to be less about "the bottom line' as society should be less materialistic.

These ideas could also lead to shorter workweeks and longer vacations.

At the same time, people might be expected to do a few tasks, even while on vacation, like answering one or two e-mails.

During my long "bicycle tour" vacations, I enjoy checking back home with friends, and often co-workers. After bicycling all day, 60 mile days, the time spent at a computer inside some library, where the carpet looks and smells like the carpet of the building I work at, provides a nice break. It provides a bit of variety and balance.

Give dancing the green light

Pictured above are Ken and his wife, who I often dance around at something called the Purple Church. Ken must be getting close to 70 now? He still can look like a bright billboard proclaiming what fun dancing is.

Pictured below is another friend who is on the younger end of the age spectrum. He goes to the dance also, at times. I joined him for a bike ride out to North Lake Samish where he's pictured threading the wire of an MP3 player to his ear for music.


It is nice to be able to dance with people of many different ages and interests; rather than being confined to one partner; as in a couples dance. Great when the big group is dancing together, or everyone is by themselves dancing around one another.

When I was a kid, I remember the old roller skating rink, down in Lewiston Idaho, that my scout troop used to go to. There was a "couples only" light that would go on every fourth song or so. We had to sit on the sidelines during those periods.

I was never very good at skating anyway.

Shed those pounds

My weight loss program could have you losing several thousand pounds your first day.

Get rid of your automobile.

If this can be done, you may find yourself walking, bicycling, jogging more. A fitness program that is integrated into daily living is easier to stick with. Not to mention shedding all those car payments, insurance bills, gasoline bills, parking spaces.

Also quite a few people have a lot of junk in their cars; spent hamburger wrappers, paper cups, books, clothing, tools, what ever.

Trimming whos government fat?

I noticed the Bellingham Herald endorsed Mike McGavick (R), rather than Maria Cantwell (D), for US Senate. They say it was a difficult choice. I find they lean toward Democrats fairly often, but also toss a few endorsements in the direction of Republicans.

McGavick was seen as someone who might restrain federal spending more than Cantwell since some organization rated Cantwell poorly in that area. I forgot what organization.

If anyone, especially Republican, says they want to cut the budget, I don't believe it. I've heard it all before and I just don't believe it.

Our populace has become too addicted to federal spending, whether it is things like veterans benefits, or more lanes crossing the border.

If people really want to cut the budget, there is a candidate for that same Senate seat who would push for that.

Bruce Guthery, the Libertarian candidate.

Now Libertarians would really cut spending; for better or for worse.

Most Libertarians would bring troops home from the Middle East, reduce spending for such things as the federal "war on drugs." They would privatize and really trim a lot of things, but I am not sure if this would be the best idea either.

It seems like Americans have become addicted to our government programs. Look what's happening in Seattle at even the thought of closing extra schools. Just the thought has a few citizens going so far as to throw punches at the school board meeting.

I think I would vote for Cantwell if, for no other reason, putting Congress back into the hands of the Democrats might place a check on some Bush administration excesses.

Remember, it has been said that Bush "spends like a drunken sailor," and supposedly Republicans were the party of fiscal restraint.

Well, maybe Bush couldn't help it. On his watch were 911, Hurricane Katrina and a whole bunch of other things creating need for federal response.

The early Bush years also saw low interest rates. This makes borrowing easier and ever so tempting. Much easier than raising taxes or cutting programs that (let's admit it) people depend on.

Slashing the budget is not likely to be a comfortable thing to do. I doubt I would even recommend it, but if anyone were to do it, they would probably have to be the Libertarian candidate.

New city logo for Bellingham, okay

It's not really that bad, but it's one of those things they have "outside consultants," rather than local talent, do. Basically, it's too "professional."

No, the logo doesn't really have that toilet in the middle. I found this image in a local newspaper called "Cascade Weekly." They threw a toilet into the middle of the logo.

Great for a laugh.

The real logo has come home to a firestorm of citizen sniveling.

Still, I think differently than most people. The logo is okay. It's just too bad that so many things are done by "out of town professionals." City paid $25,000 to YaM Studios, of Seattle, for the design.

Quite a few things could have worked just as well for a logo. Even designs submitted, for free, from various sources; such as school children. Of course it would still cost some money to administer a contest for gathering logo designs.

Anyway, the "professionals" did it and not even local professionals.

Apparently, there are some rules against our city having a bias toward "buy local" in this kind of bidding process.

Some argue that the logo doesn't show the natural beauty of Bellingham. At the same time, maybe we shouldn't depict our city as too beautiful unless we want everyone coming here in search of natural beauty.

Logo backdrop could depict mountains, but it also looks like buildings, or houses. Yes, that's what a city is... buildings.

Then there's the thing that looks like a water pool.

Public works?

Drainage, water, sewage?

That's the stuff of municipalities and this is a logo for city government, not the chamber of commerce.

I think it's okay, but it's too bad that professionals (out of town consultants, handlers?) get to do so many of the fun things in life; like designing logos. Or maybe that isn't such a fun task in the face of public firestorm.

Congressman Rick Larsen in the living room

Sometimes you might wonder if your congressman sees your message. They do get lots of mail, but it can still make a difference.

With November 7th election coming up, Larsen has been visiting his district, including the living room of two friends I have.

It was the "OCTOBERFEST & FUN-RAISER! 42nd Legislative District Democrat's pre-election celebration and attitude adjustment party," hosted by Janis Walworth and Michele Kammerer on October 6.

Also on hand were state legislative candidates for the 42nd district Kelli Linville, Jesse Salomon, and Jasper McSlarrow.

Even though I live in the 40th district (Bellingham's environs straddles the line) I was still welcome.

Rode my bicycle out to the gathering.

On my way back, the moon was full and my LED lights were flickering like a discotheque. Good to have flashing lights for night riding.

Michele is active in Stonewall Democrats.

It was impressive to have all these "big political people" gathering in that living room rather than always thinking of them in far off "Washington DC." type places. Also a big step for Stonewall Democrats who were represented among the crowd as well.

I sure hope the Democrats can regain Congress and also make headway in state legislatures this November 7.

Maybe Democrats aren't totally ideal, but they are better than Republicans, in most cases.

As for third party candidates:

Someday it would be great if we could get "instant runoff voting." I think that's the type of voting where you can have a "second best" choice if there are more than two candidates running for a position.

It would sure reduce the problem of third party candidates becoming the spoiler.

Anyway, be sure to remember to vote.

Republican Ticket... That game called marketing

Yesterday, I received this card in the mail. A mass mailing from Whatcom County Republicans with candidates and issues they want you to vote for.

Well, the same day, headline in Bellingham Herald reads, "GOP withdraws support for Mayberry."

He's still listed on the card.

Oops.

His candidacy was dropped after it was discovered that he owed back taxes. From some businesses, that he owned through rough times, which basically lost money.

Maybe he was too much of a "sell yourself, show your positive side" kind of guy? Running for office might have not been the best idea, at that time.

Marketing.

The business struggles were listed on his web page, but not the back taxes owed. That was discovered later, as a line item in Bellingham Business Journal; according to the Herald article.

Anyway, cards were mailed out before this news appeared. I got mine the same day the news came out.

It was an interesting juxtaposition. That's why I'm writing this article.

It is fun to note that this is a bad year for Republicans. Bad news coming from all sides.

Now how did I get on the Republican mailing list?

That's another story.

It must be just a "mass mailing" to everyone.

There's a lot of "paper" from Democrats also.

Too much slick marketing.

Looking forward to my recycling bin trip, after election day.

Does recycling digest slick paper, or will that give the pulp makers indigestion?

Still plan to vote Democrat.

Hope I don't get mixed up and put my absentee ballot in the recycling bin by accident; with all those other "mixed papers."

I am glad, however, that all of Whatcom County votes absentee. No need to clutter the landscape, or the county budget, with polling places smelling of stale coffee.

School Closing Ruckus

Today, I woke up to the radio with news of a stormy Seattle School Board meeting. Citizens yelling, even someone getting punched.

Folks being hot under the collar when discussion of closing "their school" comes up.

But at the same time, how can we make government more efficient? By closing and consolidating redundant facilities.

Also, Seattle really has no place to grow. She is hemmed in by water and suburbs on all sides. Her only choice is to densify, to grow up into high rise development.

That usually means less kids.

The kid raising kind of folks are less apt to live in a city of high rises. A city with less backyards.

Out here in Bellingham, they are still building new schools. Bellingham still has some room to grow, but people are worried that it's turning into another big sprawling city.

The US, as a whole, is still growing. Surpassing 300 million, so I am sure there are many new schools, somewhere. It's just that the heart of cities, like Seattle, have no place to grow. Their demographics start to change to more apartment / condominium dwellers. More single people, seniors and so forth. That's good, in a way, but it means adjusting to change.

As demographics change, and taxpayers grumble about taxes, some schools will have to close. Planning can't be too rigid.

People just have to be more patient and not demand "having it all." There is an old phrase that goes,

"You just have to roll with the punches."

Hopefully it doesn't mean roll from the brawls at public meetings.

USA passes 300,000,000 population mark

More people, more need to curtail things like littering.

I was never a litterbug, but the first sign I saw that said, "thousand
dollar fine for littering" impressed me. It was on my 1988 bike trip to southern California. Somewhere around San Simeon.

"Wow, thousand dollar fine for tossing a candy wrapper."

Now, these signs are common place; even here in Washington State.

Over 300 million in America. I hope everyone isn't trying to find free parking at the mall.

Also on that 1988 trip I visited a friend in San Francisco. He marveled at an ordinary house which "sold for a million dollars."

Hard to believe. He even went out and got a picture of it.

Wow, a million dollars!

That was back in 1988. Since then, I've been on many more bike trips and million dollar homes are common; even in Bellingham.

Now it's just about everywhere; like the thousand dollar fine for littering.

This is especially true of lake front property. They aren't making any more of it and there are restrictions on building. Existing places are expensive with people saying, "get it while you still can."

A rat race in the making.

Near Bellingham, Lake Whatcom is our city's watershed.

Back when I moved to Bellingham, few people even knew that Lake Whatcom was the city's drinking water. They didn't really worry about it. Many houses were built around the lake.

Now there are more restrictions on everything. Farmland, wetlands, historic neighborhoods; will we be able to afford living anywhere?

Of course infilling; building up instead of out; can work, but people drag their feet on that.

Neighbors fighting apartments next door.

Living a less consumptive lifestyle looks good for the future.

Now that we have more people, there have to be more restrictions on things like open burning.

Will we miss these things?

Some folks do.

It isn't easy for politicians to shut off development in the Lake Whatcom watershed.

Sort of like trying to shut off a drippy facet.

People keep dribbling in, speaking of water.

Our watershed is definitely not "water tight."

Forget building a bonfire on the beach, or fishing without a licence. There are more restrictions on hunting, but maybe these things are good.

Who likes seeing a bunch of pickup trucks with gun racks?

There are some people who will miss that, however.

It was Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who came up with that phrase:

"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."

Now that our noses are getting closer together, our swinging must become more refined, more cultured, how about more dainty?

Bush painted himself into a corner on Iraq

Bush says, "stay the course" like someone painting the floor who didn't think of an exit strategy; the door.

Painted into a corner, he can't get to the door with out stepping across wet paint.

Some people might have thought the war, not the door, was a good idea.

Finnish the paint job that was never complete after Gulf War 1991 that left Saddam still in the painting.

Others think that paint job should have never been started.

It's an oil based paint.

Just think, if all that money, spent on the war, could be used for opening new doors; alternative energy, alternative transportation, alternative lifestyles.

imagine the look of that floor.

Idealistic? Maybe.

Things like those horrible events on 911 cover the idealism; like faded and irrelevant mahogany painted over with blood.

It's time for someone to try a new chore, not painted too far from the door. Rescue us from this horror.

Maybe the Democrats.

Foggy snow field in early autumn.

Quite a bit of snow sticks around all year near Artist's Point up at the end of the Mount Baker Highway. Several weeks back, the Bellingham Gay Men's Hiking club did a trip to Artist's Point. It was sunny in Bellingham, but foggy and mystical up there.

The Fox In Charge Of The Hen House

It's kind of fun to hear conservative Republicans destroy one another over the Mark Foley issue.

Sexual emails, but our society is kind of two faced about these things anyway. On the one hand, moral outrage, yet on the other hand, the city of Las Vegas has a motto that goes:

"What happens here stays here."

That's a very successful slogan, from what I hear.

What some people might consider dirt does sell.

If you want to succeed in the private marketplace, that Republicans often tout, you have to sell.

Of course some folks say the line must be drawn at age of consent, but even this is murky waters. Age of consent laws vary from locality to locality. I keep hearing (on the radio) that 16 is with-in age of consent for Washington DC. Some states have amazingly early age of consent laws for marriage. Some states even have differing consent ages for heterosexual and homosexual acts.

And, this is email, not even actual contact. At least actual contact has not been unearthed yet.

So it is kind of fun to watch the Republicans step into their own murky waters.

What problems being closeted can bring.

Of course Democrats also make political hay out of this, and just in time for November's election.

I love it.

Alcohol was a factor too.

This may be a stretch, but I just got a call from a friend of mine who thought she had found a "dream job."

Close to her home, good pay.

Then she discovered that the job was for some beer distribution outfit.

This friend is not a complete teetotaler, but she asked, "why couldn't the job be in a bike shop, or something?" She isn't real enthused about the promotion of drinking.

Well, there are a lot more beer and wine places than bike shops.

It is that disconnect between "what sells in the market" and "what people often hold up as ideal."

Human behavior, in the marketplace, does not match the social ideals that so many folks aspire to.

This disconnect can be a death nail in politics.

Speaking of mottos, Washington State has just scrapped it's new tourism motto.

"Say Wa."

Yes, that was really the motto, as of last spring. Consultants dreamed it up, but the motto never caught on.

Maybe it wasn't sexy enough.

I guess, it's back to our old motto, "The Evergreen State;" at least for now.

How about "The Evergay State?"

In 1978, (some time around then) I remember a "letter to the editor" in Washington State University's college newspaper.

That paper is called "The Daily Evergreen." Located in Pullman, WA.

This person suggested naming it The Evergay for all those "letters to the editor" being published on gay rights.

It was when WSU's campus erupted in an uproar just because a gay student organization was getting an office in the union building.

An office with a phone, no less, and who's paying for it?

Conservatives were grumbling.

Not Quite Naked Bike Ride Day, Quito Style

A friend of mine recently wrote from Ecuador.

Since Quito is too inhibited to passively allow a nude bike ride
protest, they did the next best thing; attach billboards with nude cyclist posters on their bikes. Even these "nude" cyclists on the billboards are discreetly shot so nothing shows.

Outgrowing the tax revenue

Bellingham Herald has been full of news about Whatcom County Fire District # 13 which is up in the north part of the county.

District officials are starting to say that they can not guarantee adequate levels of fire and emergency services to some of the new developments proposed in that area.

Lack of the district's guarantee can bring development to a halt.

A screeching halt.

What's the problem?

They don't have enough tax revenue for staff, equipment and so forth.

Is this the outcome of tax ceilings that have been imposed on local governments? Tax ceilings imposed from the state level?

Washington State has seen it's share of tax limiting initiatives. 601, 602, I forget the whole alphabet soup. Some of it may have been repealed, or thrown out, but much of that "straight jacket" remains.

I keep saying, "when land values and costs of living go up, the cost of government must go up as well."

"You can't have your cake and eat it too."

Then there is the anti growth people. They sometimes join conservatives in wanting to cut taxes. Cripple government so private development screeches to a halt.

Still, people keep having kids.

One of the developers was saying that the fire district needs to do it's homework better. Needs to come up with a more specific "wish list" of things to get, like new staff positions, trucks and so forth.

That's understandable, but (of course) they will probably need to hire a consultant to provide the more detailed list.

First thing on that wish list; another consultant's fee.

I got to thinking that people advocating tax cuts should do some homework also. They should provide a specific list of government spending that is not needed. For instance, if there is a tax cut proposal, let's discuss which government positions get eliminated, which services get cut. Maybe there really is fat in government, but let's be more specific.

In Seattle, the school district is trying to tighten it's belt by coming up with a list of "extra" or "redundant" schools. It's the famous "school closure list."

Every time that list appears, there is a "fire storm" (speaking of fire protection) from voters. They say, "don't close my school."

Air inversion day from top of Sehome Hill

Smog from Vancouver, BC and other places like Bellingham. One doesn't normally think of smog here, but we have it too. In reality, this layer looked a bit browner than in photo.

Cars, wood stoves, forest fires, you name it.

An air inversion can trap the crap against our backdrop of mountains. This happens occasionally. Image shows inversion layer from Sehome Hill in Bellingham. This is looking north across Fraser Valley with it's backdrop of mountains.

The Cute Congressional Pages

Maybe they are making a bigger deal out of former Congressman Mark Foley's sexually explicit e-mails than they should.

On the other hand, it is kind of fun to watch the Republican power structure crumble over this; and just in time for November's election.

What should the reaction of a page be to such an e-mail?

How about a simple, "It's kind of flattering but I'm not into it."

Yes the nation, and it's media, wants to make a big deal over this. It's interesting to watch the Republicans crumble.

This, on top of a whole bunch of other things that are troubling parts of the Washington, D.C. scene; like Woodward's book revealing so many mistakes that the Bush administration made in Iraq.

Yes, it may be a "media frenzy," but I'm glad I was never a Republican.

Now I must take that back.

For a very brief time, while I was a freshman in high school, I said I was a Nixon supporter. This was mostly to gall my older sister who was set against the Vietnam War.

While long hair was the "peace activist," look I came home from the barber with a crewcut. Walking in the door, I found my sister talking on the phone to one of her "liberal" friends. She nearly dropped the phone in the cookie jar as she exclaimed, "my little brother just got this ugly haircut!"

My days as a Nixon (just to get back at my sister) supporter were short lived. This was all before anyone had even heard of Watergate.

Hearing news about Congressman Mark Foley's resignation

Conservative Republican, sexual emails. Reminds me of a recent case involving the former mayor of Spokane, WA., Jim West, who has since passed away. He was a conservative Republican also.

Back in the 1970s, I saw a cartoon that showed some skeleton in the closet. The caption read:

"She waited too long to come out of the closet."

It was in a lesbian magazine.

Then there is the quote that goes, "America is an up tight virgin who knows she is a hoer at heart."

Something like that.

Was that Lilly Tomlin who said that? Maybe I should do a Google search and see.

Speaking of Spokane and the recent situation with the former mayor, here is an odd coincidence. Not that long ago, Spokane also had a congressman named Foley.

Tom Foley.

No relation and he was on the Democrat side of the aisle.

I once met that Congressman Foley, while I was in high school, myself.

Remember, I grew up near Spokane.

He was at some dedication ceremony and I found myself talking with him about classical music on the radio. Back then I thought my career was going to be in radio.

I even, sort of, remember the gist of the conversation.

We were talking about how hard it is for classical music and educational programming to survive on privately owned radio stations. Classical and educational programs tend to need government subsidy; or at least back then they did. It was the 1970s.

Now that may not seem to relate, but sex does sell in the free marketplace that Republicans advocate. One can say that educational content needs to be made sexy to become viable in the private media marketplace.

Infotainment?

Remember the virgin who's a hoer at heart.