Ideas for editorials from Theslowlane

Self confidence

2008-05-19T04:26:00.000-07:00

I lack the self confidence (or the stupidity) to drive and talk on a cell phone simultaneously. I don't drive anyway. I ride a bike.

Bike To Work and School Day in Bellingham May 16

2008-05-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

It may be the first day we've had hot weather on the day.

Bicycling through the air is cooler than "tromp, tromp, tromp," walking on pavement. Cooler than getting into a parked car that's been sitting in the sunshine.

Yes, they do have a great logo this year. Image taken from one of their posters. Vince is a good artist.

The big day is May 16. In case you wish to see the whole poster, to find celebration stations, here it is. Bellingham area Celebration Station locations. Aprox. 700kb.

Or you can find an even sharper version on Everybodybike.com web site, for a while at least. Find link to aprox. 5 meg. pdf

Reasons why I am not biking to work that morning

I live so close, I just walk to work.

I work at night so I will be walking home from work that morning, but I plan to stop by the downtown Bellingham celebration station and say hi.

See blog entries and video on past bike to work celebrations.

Carbon free and nuclear free conversation

2008-05-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

Weeds are the answer.

That's one point made by Arjun Makhijani from the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. He was interviewed today in the second half of KUOW's show called The Conversation. The Conversation, May 13 2008, second half.

Aquatic weeds basking in sunlight and growing in ponds of wastewater could yield up to 10,000 gallons of fuel per acre. Less liability and cost than nuclear power. Pumping wastewater from Los Angeles to arid spaces not currently used for crop production could hold great potential. Ponds with certain types of aquatic plants can produce a lot of fuel, I guess. This type of solution could power our future along with things like windmills and solar energy.

Still, I found myself disagreeing with one point Makhijani made in the interview.

When ask about things like changing lifestyles, reducing automobile dependency and consumption, he seems to feel that people will not cut back on driving. He doesn't think we can wait until we settle the values argument between cutting back consumption and "full speed ahead" that is going on in society.

Well, I don't think it's a case of settling a values argument. Our diverse society will never settle an argument of values as if it is a "one size fits all" proposition. Even if a percentage people cut back on driving it would make a big difference. This would not even have to be the majority.

It isn't necessarily a case of settling some values argument once and for all. It might be just a case of getting a percentage of society to do more bicycling and public transit.

In the long run, it did sound like he would favor lower consumption. He even mentioned Gandhi's famous line about being the change you wish to see in this world.

Still, it seems like Makhijani would feel that plug-in hybrid cars fueled by clean energy sources are a more practical short term solution than, say bicycling to work.

Farther down the road, there's some exciting electric vehicles on the way. He talked about a pickup truck that can go from 0 to 60 in 10 seconds and a sports car that can do it in 4 seconds.

Anyone have $100,000 laying around for something like a Tesla Vehicle?

Yes, the price of new technologies comes down over time, but gas and diesel prices are going up faster. For some people, bicycles and public transit will be more practical solutions in the short term. This is not waiting till society settles, once and for all, a values argument between speeding up and slowing down.

For a significant segment of society, lifestyle change is likely to be the only way. This is especially true as we go through the transition from a fossil fuel economy to cleaner energy technology.

In the short run, it's still going to get a lot more expensive to drive. A lot more expensive until we get those weed ponds, windmills and solar panels working.

It's especially going to get more expensive to drive if we start imposing things like carbon allowances on old style energy producers.

Making the fossil fuel burning enterprises, such as power plants and trucking fleets pay more for a nationally set up system of carbon allowances seems like a good idea. This was also was brought up in the interview. It would help level the playing field so clean energy can compete and develop.

Still, things like carbon allowances would likely add even more to the cost of living in the short run. Lots of people are trying to figure out how they can afford the commute to work.

For a large percent of the population, the bicycle and public transit will have to be the way to work as we make our way through this transition to cleaner and more abundant energy technology. In that process, many will discover that bicycling helps a lot of other things, such as one's health.

So the bicycle and "low energy consumption" needs more respect, even as technology promises an abundant future of clean energy.

PS. I saw a Youtube video on Tesla Roadster. Glad it's got airbags.

Sprawl happens one parking lot, business, home at a time

2008-05-12T15:37:00.000-07:00

And Rome wasn't built in a day.

Riding around town and country on my bike, I'm noticing some strip malls that weren't there last year. New ones along Pacific Highway in the outskirts of Ferndale, WA. for instance.

I don't mean to pick on those specifically. They are, after all, along the freeway, on a frontage road.

There have been businesses on that road in the past. Now there are more.

More ... or at least a few businesses and some empty storefronts.

The tail end of our local "early 2000s building boom?"

Sprawl seems to never be intentional. Few people say they want sprawl. It just happens one building at a time.

Like taking life one day at a time?

Life happens. It's not ideal, or at least that's what folks say. "Be realistic," they say.

One building is really not sprawl. Not sprawl until there's another one and another one and another one ...

One building is usually just some "business solution." A need for more space, convenient parking, highway access.

To a large extent, it's the convenience of the automobile and parking that "drives" this (pardon the pun).

I've often said, "if one could fold up the automobile and put it in a coat pocket for parking, the American landscape would evolve differently."

Sprawl isn't intentional, but it still happens, one place at a time.

Decisions by planners can feed sprawl, but often planners are kind of hamstrung by the political process.

Laws requiring parking space are part of this, but try changing the way it's been done and you get a world of worry.

Are people still going to shop there?

If there isn't enough parking, will there be overflow parking in nearby residential areas?

Worry, worry, worry.

Higher gas prices may help to break these patterns.

Having your cake and eating it too

2008-05-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

"Nuclear free" without being mostly "car free" also.

As long as people insist on driving as much as they do now, we will likely have to turn to nuclear power for our energy needs.

Heating and cooling large homes takes gobs of energy also.

Nuclear isn't necessarily that bad, but slowing down and consuming less isn't bad either.

I keep hearing that wind and solar power will just not be enough; in the near future at least.

Nuclear is likely to become a larger part of the energy mix. Possibly powering electric cars in the not too distant future.

KGO talk show host Bill Wattenburg has even blamed global warming on environmentalists. Environmentalists have blocked construction of nuclear, thus adding to the need for burning fossil fuel in energy production.

The logic makes sense.

Main point I make is that we can't have our cake and eat it too.

We can always try, however.

Maybe someday there will be a "magic energy source" with no downside.

Hydrogen fusion rather than nuclear fission?

Aw, the topic of another blog post some day.

While I'm not against atomic energy, I also say that slowing down and being less materialistic is a virtue as well.

Remember that newer electronics can use less energy and do more things than older electronics. Smaller, but still better.

Think vacuum tubes vs transistors?

Maybe life can mimic electronic technology someday.

Smaller homes? Closer and friendlier neighbors? Walking to work? Biking to work? Good public transit?

Am I idealistic? That's actually how I'm living now. It can be done, but inertia keeps people where they're at.

We can gradually change inertia.

Whichever way we go, we just can't have our cake and eat it too.

Car drivers who want affordable electric cars may have to bite the bullet and support nuclear energy, for a while at least. Until the more magic answer comes along, what ever that will be.

I also remember this phrase, "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

Is road trip tenting on the decline in America?

2008-05-10T03:13:00.000-07:00

Sure, you can still buy tents at the recreational supply boutique and pay plenty for them. These tents are used along wilderness trails.

What about tent camping on a road trip? Alongside the highway? Does the car driving public still use tents? Where does that leave me, as a bicycle tourist?

There are still places to camp, but I'm noticing less tent camping.

Maybe I'm wrong. Is this just my perception?

People who travel by car, on road trips don't use tents anymore. They've graduated to RVs. Yes, the big RVs with satellite dishes and all of that.

Energy in short supply? You'd never know it.

Seems like more and more campgrounds are for "RVs only."

Places that allow tents are still around, government run state parks and so forth, but RVs are taking over. Especially in the private campgrounds. Maybe this has always been the case, but it seems like private campgrounds are often just "RV parks."

Camping is getting more expensive and tent camping, even in some state, county and other parks is getting crowded out.

They must run all those RVs with plutonium generators. That's the way spacecraft are powered as they sail out to places like Saturn. Places too far from the Sun for solar panels.

Radio Thermal Generators. RTGs for short. Just kidding. They do work well in space however.

Bicycle touring still relies on tent camping. RTGs for the big screen TV are a bit heavy to carry.

Where can we camp?

I know, many bicycle tourists just "free camp." Don't bother trying to be "legitimate" in campgrounds. Who needs to pay the fee?

In regions that are specifically set up for bicycle touring, like that beautiful string of state parks along the California Coast with "hiker / biker" sites, it's great. Camp there for only $3 per night (last I checked).

Bicyclists still use tents and some areas subsidize, (basically roll out the red carpet), to encourage bicycle touring.

Hard to beat $3 per night in areas where "starter homes" may be in the million dollar range.

Energy shortage, recession, mortgage crisis be dammed. Much of America is still in the stratosphere.

Do automobile travelers still use tents?

One sees a few.

When I was a kid, lots of car campers used tents.

Now days, there are the "rent an RV" companies. I don't remember seeing those in my childhood. Now the road's crowded with them.

"See America, rent for the week."

An innovative idea. One need not own an RV to drive one. It must not be too expensive as the average American gets so little vacation anyway. A week or two of RV rental can't be too much.

So, I'm still the "odd ball" doing bicycle touring. Camping by tent, but I find myself staying in motels more often than in years past.

Am I getting old or becoming a flabby yuppie?

Motels are tempting when sleeping on the ground can cost around $20 while a small town motel might just be $38. One doesn't even have to pitch a tent and yes, it is fun to watch TV.

Maybe this is nothing new. In 1993, I found a place in North Dakota where it cost $7 to pitch a tent and only $10 for a basement motel room. That room was a bargain.

Comparison

2008-05-09T23:26:00.000-07:00

Myanmar's horrible military junta that doesn't allow aid into the country after the cyclone makes the Bush Administration's mistakes with aid after Hurricane Katrina look mild and innocent.

Big Ole Steam Whistle test at WWU

2008-05-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

May 4 2008, I biked up to campus with my camera. Waited and watched for several test blasts of the historic steam whistle called Big Ole.

Built in the 1890s, it served on Bellingham's waterfront at 2 different mills. Then moved to Port Alberni, BC. in the 1940s.

Modified in Port Alberni as it was so loud it broke windows.

In 1997, Big Ole came back to Bellingham as a historic artifact. A year or so ago, it was tested at the Encogen Power Plant on Bellingham's waterfront.

Still works, but has a strange moan after it's modification.

Recently installed on the steam heating plant at Western Washington University. They plan to use Big Ole as part of a campus emergency warning system. I read that it's not as loud as they would like it to be.

A few people came out of nearby buildings wondering what the sound was. One person thought it might be a line break at the boilers.
More information in both Herald and Western Front articles.

This is definitely a unique sound. I wonder if emergency warning sirens would work better if they had a standardized sound? Is there a protocol for emergency sounds, like the standardized number of 911?

On the other hand, maybe a unique sound gets more attention?

Is it better used for ceremony? Announcing a big festival on campus? At least festivals are pleasant events rather than than emergencies.

Of course there are things like fire drills, where one can experience the sound without having to have an emergency. It's usually hoped that an emergency will never happen.

Pullman's old fire siren

When I was a child growing up in Pullman, WA. there was the fire siren. A mournful wale who's pitch would go up and down if fire was in town. The wale was continuous if fire was rural.

Pullman's old fire siren was an eerie sounding thing. One thinks "air raid siren."

Our neighbor's dog, named Duke, would howl when it was running.

From the dentist chair in Dr. Bardwell's office (a scary place to be, on 2nd floor of Old National Bank Building) one could see straight across to the roof of the old police station where that siren was located. A drum full of fins that would howl as they spun through the air. There was a big motor to turn the drum.

That was memories of another siren in Pullman.

Back to the topic of Bellingham's Big Ole.

My camera didn't pick up the sound very well. Video 20 seconds.

Below sandwich board on High Street the day of the test.

Careful bicycling down hill

2008-05-05T04:11:00.000-07:00

I'm nervous going over 15 MPH. Maybe that's why I'm Theslowlane. Recently, a car pulled out into the right of way, basically running the stop sign as a cyclist was coming down Barkley Blvd. I'm not sure how fast the cyclist was going, but he was killed as the car pulled into his path and he slammed into the side of the car.

Scary.

The cyclist had the right of way. Details in recent Bellingham Heralds.

Still, I'm wary going down hill. There are a lot of unpredictable circumstances. Stones in the road, cars pulling out, car doors opening. I'm nervous going over 15 MPH. on my bicycle.

I'm also afraid to drive a car, period. One small mistake and one's life can turn to regret. A mistake by car is more likely to inflict harm on others. A bicycle isn't totally harm free to others, but harm is less likely. I prefer bicycling at my slow pace. Also seems easier to see who's around when one is on a bike; pedestrians, bikes, cars. Cars can have a lot of blind spots.

Scary.

In spite of all this, I still feel safe on my bike, going at my slow pace.

Errands around town

2008-05-04T02:30:00.000-07:00

A friend got my picture as I was on my way around town.

AMA medicine's biggest side effect: cost

2008-05-04T02:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, I basically believe in most of traditional medicine. The doctors I have gone to have seemed to exhibit common sense over the years.

This isn't true for all doctors I am sure.

Even the physicians I have seen will admit that avoiding the doctor is a good idea most of the time. Probably the biggest side effect of medicine is the high cost. This can actually cripple one's lifestyle. Folks often hold a job they don't like because they want the health insurance. Health insurance is getting rarer for the work force.

I like simple phrases like, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

There's also non traditional medicine, but be careful.

"Non traditional" may just be another thing with a cost.

I'm amazed how many pills, workshops and treatments are out there. Herbs for just about everything. It's dizzying just to go into a place like the Food Co-op and look at all the bottles. Trying to figure out which herb works for which gland can cause severe eye strain. All that fine print. Who's telling the truth? Some of this is useful, but it can also be just another layer of cost.

Many non traditional practices, like Transcendental Meditation, for instance, can be useful and are even suggested by a lot of regular doctors.

Good diet, exercise and low stress seem to be low cost no brainers.

I like soups with a bit of meat and lots of vegetables. Most Americans eat too much meat, but a touch of meat adds flavor.

One can say about meat, "a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down." Famous quote from Marry Poppins. Local Food Co-op often has at least one vegetable soup with a hearty touch of meat.

Exercise is easy for me. It's integrated into my bicycling lifestyle.

I can understand how exercise is more of a chore for some people though. I feel that way about brushing my teeth. A chore worth procrastinating and finding excuses not to do.

According to most dentists, brushing several times per day and flossing at least once per day is high priority.

I guess a dentist would see the entire world from the perspective of one's mouth, like an economist might see the whole world from the perspective of money.

At least my diet doesn't have too much sugar so I get by without too many mouth problems even though I'm not perfect.

Pothole ideas

2008-05-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hillary Clinton has jumped on the bandwagon with McCain calling for a gas tax moratorium. Obama has the best take realizing the potholes in this idea.

At least Hillary's proposal calls for a tax to make up lost "gas tax highway construction fund" revenue.

Make the oil companies pay that tax, rather than the consumer.

This idea does have a populist ring and may help Hillary in the polls, but who can define what's a windfall profit? It would be hard to administer. Also company costs are usually passed on to the consumer anyway.

Better to just raise the tax on upper income taxpayers. Then if we think oil company executives and top stockholders make too much, tax their personal incomes. When profits remain with-in the company, they might be justified to provide capital expense building new refinery capacity, for instance.

Really, the problem is too much consumption of oil. Americans drive too much and now China, India and other places are getting behind the wheel. Getting into the giant worldwide traffic jam. Cutting the gas tax McCain's way could add to the "pothole infrastructure deficit" if it doesn't add to the federal deficit.

Obama has the better ideas here. We really need to reduce consumption. Make our living arrangements more compact so errands can be more handy. Use bicycles and public transit more.

I live in basically a one room apartment, close to community life and the bicycle is my main transportation.

Some say this gas tax debate is a non issue as it's for summer of 2008 (almost here) and those candidates are not even in office yet. Well, It will probably come up again in summers of 2009, 2010, 2011 only gas may be lapping in the vicinity of $5 per gallon, $6?, $7? rather than $4.

It's only around $3.85 now, but what do I know, I ride my bicycle.

Obama Yoga

2008-04-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama is a different kind of name than past presidents. Getting used to this would be a stretch for mainstream society, but stretching can be healthy. It's the nation doing Obama Yoga.

Where will people of the city go in the world made by hand?

2008-04-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

Rural like mural on side of urban like apartment building.

Author James Howard Kunstler was recently interviewed on KUOW Radio about his novel titled "World Made By Hand."

Set after cheap oil basically runs out, the novel is about a future vision of society that's largely agrarian. People growing their own food in upstate New York.

Is this the life that follows our current world of suburban sprawl, interstate highways, box stores and Disnyworlds?

I doubt it, or at least I wonder what will happen to the people in places like New York City where there isn't that much land per person to grow food?

It's true that America's suburbs have a lot of problems. Over dependency on the automobile, encroachment on natural habitat, the list is endless, but part of what has driven suburban growth is nostalgia for a lost rural America.

Would Kunstler's "grow your own" vision just add to that nostalgia force for dumping more people into sensitive rural environments?

Suburbs provided the best of both worlds. Modern amenities, but still space for a garden, possibly even a horse. Some folks moved there so they could grow their own food, after collapse of society which has been predicted ever since I can remember, but hasn't happened so far.

It's time to retrofit our suburbs so they work more like the urban centers. The suburbs don't seem to be going away.

Now days, many are drawn to the suburbs by economics. They can't afford to live anywhere else. As traffic and other dysfunctional aspects of suburban life gets worse, the suburbs become less desirable and less expensive than urban settings.

"Less expensive" becomes their appeal.

In Kunstler's vision of a more agrarian society, I wonder what will happen to the urban dwellers who aren't currently spread out across the land and don't have access to soil. Rooftop gardens and vacant lots can help, but it's not enough.

Maybe I should write a "post cheap oil" novel.

My vision would be more recognizable to current American society, but consumption wouldn't be at such an extreme as it is in today's society. Taking the train more often, instead of flying, for instance.

Kunstler, himself, is a big fan of the railroad even though he seems to be flying all over the country promoting his book. While flying from one "book signing" to the next, he comments on the dismal state of America's airlines battered with rising fuel costs. He even suggests a future where electric power isn't even available so most of our high tech toys become trash.

From one extreme world to the next. Today's consumerism all the way back to the 18th century.

I'd say, "if we can have enough technology, organization and energy to run the train, we'll have enough electricity to run the Internet."

Trains can actually be quite impressive, technologically. Internet connections on board. GPS telling when the next train arrives. Good food on board.

It's true that air travel takes a lot more energy per passenger mile than railroads. Unless we can magically harness something like nuclear power and create some sort of hydrogen fuel, air travel is likely to remain in decline.

Maybe I should write a novel.

In my world, the suburbs would be retrofitted into denser, more urban worlds.

Automobiles would be rare while walking and bicycling would be the rage.

Public health would improve. People would be slimmer and sexier, in my opinion.

Public transit would be just about everywhere.

More trains and less planes.

Lifestyles would be less consumer oriented and more bohemian in nature. Folks would have more free time for artistic and cultural activities while living in modest spaces.

Automation could remain, but the human workweek becomes shorter.

"Work less, consume less, live more fully."

Percentage of the population raising families with kids would be smaller, but the fewer kids would inherit a friendlier somewhat quieter world. Eventually a less crowded world.

There would still be the kind of technology that doesn't use lots of energy. High tech electronics for the most part.

Food production would change to some extent, but most people would still shop for their food rather than grow it. Some folks would live on farms, but there would have to be quite a few farmland preservation rules.

Diets would become simpler in my post cheap oil world. Hopefully, people wouldn't be quite as obese as so many of today's folks are. Food from distant parts of the world would become somewhat more expensive, but it could still be available. Much of it would arrive in "sail assisted" cargo ships. Rooftop gardening would become popular, where roofs are strong enough to hold up the weight.

My vision of the world would kind of be like riding the train. Meeting lots of new friends in the dining car who marvel at how much friendlier people are on the train than on a plane.

I haven't had occasion to fly since the early 1980s. Haven't had any book tours with tight schedules.

Maybe I should write a novel.

My first Earth Day, 1970. Does it need coaxing to grow?

2008-04-22T20:34:00.001-07:00

1970, I was a freshman in high school. Art and humanities teachers led a tree planting day on the dry grassy bank down from the high school parking lot.

Pragmatic minded and I think more politically conservative, the biology teacher laughed and said he didn't think the trees would "take hold" there. Dry grassy bank was not quite the environment for that type of tree to thrive in; unless someone had time to constantly organize a "watering brigade." Leave it to the biology teacher to figure that out.

That Earth Day planting activity was a beautiful thought, but, sure enough, I think most of the trees died. Maybe a few took hold.

Pullman, WA. 1970.

Here in Bellingham, above image shows ivy growing naturally (by coincidence, I think rather than coaxing) in the shape of a heart. This is on the side of an old building near Bellingham's waterfront. Image taken April 2008.

Is Earth Day only a "feel good" thing?

Happy Earth Day and Earth Week. Really I guess it should be everyday, but maybe not all of the hype over it is pragmatic? Still there are a lot of planning and lifestyle changes that are taking hold and need to be taking hold.

Bike To Work and School Day is coming May 16 2008.

Gas prices keep going up,

2008-04-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

but they are still low in USA compared to most of Europe. I hear gas prices are around $7 per gallon in Europe, but their economies are doing even better than our economy. We are lucky to have Europe as an example. An economy that can thrive in spite of high gas prices. We will need to lean some lessons in lifestyles and planning from the Europeans.

Bio fuel debacle

2008-04-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, there are a wide variety of bio fuels, some better than others, but...

I've always been more excited about reducing dependency on automobiles all together rather than just fueling "car nation" with vegi-fuel.

Transit, bicycles, tele-commuting and denser urban living is the way to go.

In some third world countries, food is becoming real expensive due to competition between eating and driving. Fueling vegi-cars has taken food away from the mouths of people. This is a sad consequence of vegi-driving.

Here in USA, some environmentalists have predicted the demise of our food industry as well. High oil prices means less agri-business-trucking to the supermarkets.

Do they say we should all get cars and move out to the country where we can grow our own food, rather than living in the city where we can walk to work and the supermarket?

Here in the city, food prices have risen a bit, but it's not catastrophic, not here in America at least. We can adjust as we have a lot of agri-business-trucking infrastructure for wiggle room. Rural residents are struggling more with their high gas prices, but food prices go up more modestly.

In some third world countries, the food situation is far worse. Vegi-driving in USA and other places is literally robbing corn from the mouths of people in countries where there is less wiggle room in the "agri-business-trucking" economy to absorb the price.

I'd rather eat my vegetables and then ride my bicycle home from the supermarket.

Let the Sonics go to Oklahoma

2008-04-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not a sports fan anyway.

I've often thought they should name professional sports teams after corporations rather than the cities they happen to be residing in for the moment. Players come from all over, teams don't really represent the cities they play in anyway. It's basically all about national TV revenue and so forth.

College teams tend to be more about the region and city they are based in. Publicly owned. UW Huskies are not likely to move.

I don't follow sports that much even though I grew up in Pullman, WA. Home of the WSU Cougars who supposedly had a good basketball year, 2007-08 season.

I'd rather ride my bike, go dancing, do aerobics; something more interesting that watching a game on TV. Wait a minute, I don't even have a TV. A computer, yes, but no TV.

* Image of reader board at Whatcom Community College.

Civilization can survive without bottled water

2008-04-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

28 billion - Number of plastic water bottles purchased in the U.S. annually.

1.5 million barrels - Amount of oil used to make those bottles.

$11 billion - Amount Americans spend on bottled water annually.

16 percent get recycled annually.

2.5 million - Number of plastic water bottles Americans discard hourly.

Reprinted from Women's Health Magazine. I found it in Solid Solutions spring edition newsletter. Put out by Whatcom County Public Works Solid Waste Division.

I never felt good about paying for "just water," but I probably don't drink enough water anyway. I drink lots of juices and chocolate milk. It comes in cartons and bottles also, so I don't mean to call all you "water bottle yuppies" hypocrites.

If I do cut back on my habit of juice bottles and milk cartons its going to be just water. Yes, plain water from the tap. Tap water is good enough, it's just a bit boring.

Still, if it's going to be boring, I'd rather not pay for it in the store.

Sometimes I do pay for bottled water at the start of a bicycle trip through dry country. I reuse the water bottles as bike water bottles. Refill them with free tap water from parks and businesses along the way. Then I toss them after the trip.

A holiday for Cesar Chavez?

2008-04-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

Sure, I signed that petition. We need more holidays. Too bad they usually just end up being holidays for government employees and bankers, however.

Obama has talked a bit about political resentments rooted in scarcity. The advances for one group can be seen as sacrifices for another unless we figure out how to make it a "win win" for everyone.

Scarcity: There's only 365 days in the year. How many holidays can we afford and still "get the job done?"

There's a relatively new holiday for Martin Luther King. Some still resent this. Cesar Chavez Day would mean something to Hispanic Americans, also to labor movements.

How about a holiday for Chinese immigrants? Laotians? Gay people?

A politics of scarcity might worry about too many immigrants coming to America. Scarcity of land.

How about enough days in the calendar?

Still, I'm for more holidays. Americans tend to be overworked.

Here in the Bellingham area, people joke that "every other day is a Canadian Holiday."

Yes, there are a lot of Canadians who come down and shop in our stores. It's not always a holiday for them. Often they just dash down here after work, but Canadian holidays can mean great business for retail stores in Whatcom County.

We can use a few more holidays on this side of the border.

Here we are, hard at work in the somewhat "blue state" of Washington where our economy is still fairly strong.

More of America, who's now slipping into recession could turn "blue state" for "the prosperity from innovation," but it's also "advantage of a dropping dollar." Washington State benefits from an export economy which goes well with a weak dollar; for now at least.

To our south, Seattle's economy is still rolling due to export industries such as Boeing and Microsoft becoming more competitive on world markets as their products are priced in weak dollars.

Here in Bellingham, the dropping US dollar has made Canadian money worth more. We benefit from cross border retail.

Still, we're working, but it can feel like accomplishing little. Just more stores selling bricabrac and low wages. Building more "retail sprawl" in the county.

Hey, it's jobs.

Might as well have more vacations and holidays.

Too bad so many workers don't even get the holidays we recognize now, down here in USA. Veterans often work on Veteran's Day, unless they work for a bank or government. In the private sector, it can be "business as usual." "24 / 7."

Someone suggested Veteran's Day should really be a day off for veterans. A day off, whatever sector they work in. Not just a holiday for government employees.

So, a holiday for Cesar Chavez of farm worker fame?

Might as well, but let's try to make it "win win" for all.

My favorite quote from the Work Less Party of Canada is, "Workers of the world relax."

McCain's summer gas tax holiday idea full of potholes

2008-04-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Who's going to pay for the road and transportation construction during Presidential candidate John McCain's proposal for a summer holiday from federal gas taxes?

Much of this revenue now goes to road construction. Will this construction just grind to a halt laying off all those workers? Will future traffic gridlock just get worse due to lack of funding for transportation infrastructure?

Or will construction continue and just be added to the federal debt?

It's so easy to just promise everyone the world and then add it to the debt. Maybe there is no consequence from adding to the debt. It's just like plucking money from the money tree.

Who is not thinking these things through all the way?

Obama's Bitter small town Americans comment

2008-04-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

Comments he made at a San Francisco fund raiser suggesting working class people are bitter about their economic circumstances and "cling to guns and religion" as a result.

I think it was a good analysis, at least for some people. That dynamic exists. Maybe not for the majority of folks, but it's out there.

I can see that folks worried about rising cost of gasoline, housing, water would likely blame immigrants, for instance.

More people fighting over scarce resources.

It's a politics of scarcity as Obama mentioned in his speech about race when his preacher's statements were stirring up media comment.

Folks often see the gains of one group at the expense of another. This is especially true when there isn't enough to go around for everyone.

Maybe this dynamic is not how all "small town America" thinks, but it's out there. Obama's comments are insightful, though they may only apply to part of the population.

Too bad it's become a political football rather than being put into perspective.

It's true that no one can paint everyone in small town America, or anywhere else with the same brush. No one can put everyone in a box. Maybe Obama's comments are not even true for the majority of small town folks. On the other hand, they do seem to apply for a fairly large number of people. His suggestions can be the beginnings of interesting discussion rather than political football.

Anyone remember the book "What's Wrong With Kansas?" I've heard some interesting reviews of that book. The issues have some connection.

They were doing a show about blogging on Weekday over KUOW today. The "Obama Bitter" topic was tossed around along with some other subjects. Bloggers were invited to blog about it. I was thinking of writing about this anyway, so here's also my belated contribution.

Twin Sisters near Highway 9 and Saxon Road

2008-04-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

It was a nice day for a Saturday bike ride. Out Mount Baker Highway to Highway 9. Then south on 9 through Acme to Park Road. Took this image near Saxon Road. Then back into town along Lake Whatcom and Lake Louise Roads. Traffic wasn't too bad.

Along Mount Baker Highway, Rome Grange was celebrating it's 100 year anniversary. I got to talking to someone in Bellingham who suggested I go out there, rather than ride to Ferndale just to turn around and come back.

It was fun to stop by there on part of my loop and watch them record a radio drama for American Museum of Radio and Electricity. They also had another skit about the history of Rome Grange. A few antique cars were parked there as well.

Then it was on down the road for the rest of my leisurely route. I think around 45 miles, but I forgot to put on my odometer.

The thinking sphere of reader forums in mainstream media

2008-04-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

A great and fairly new outlet for grassroots discussion.

Some recent comments I have put into the "thinking sphere" have touched off quite a bit of follow up postings.

Bellingham Herald is very interactive these days with reader forums. Even letters to the editor generate comments, like the letter I had about high home values being out of since with the rest of the economy. Letter was published April 8 and 45 comments have added to the discussion as of 3:30 PM today.

In Astronomy Magazine, there was an interesting article about detecting gravity waves and the LIGO detector. I had a comment on that article which has generated some discussion.

My two bits in the thinking sphere.

Are Oil Company Profits Justified?

2008-04-05T01:34:00.000-07:00

Yes there really is an oil company in Idaho named Stinker. Billboard seen near Lewiston, ID. on my 2005 bike trip around Pacific Northwest.

The best way to deal with excessive salaries of corporate executives in most industry (not just oil) is to increase income taxes for the top tax brackets.

Oil companies are a good example of where personal income taxes can help the public sort out the economics. An oil company can have lots of capital expenses, like building new refinery capacity to keep up with rising demand. Profits can be invested into new refinery capacity, but they can also be siphoned off into executive perks.

Personal income taxes can discourage the perks while still allowing profits to be used for capital investment in the company. This might help our cynical public determine where the money is really going.

Many of the rising expenses of oil companies are legitimate, but when one sees the huge salaries paid to executives it creates distrust.

There are a lot of legitimate reasons why gas prices are rising. The world is reaching so called "Peak Oil" production. After this, production falls but demand keeps rising. Prices go up.

The best way to reduce oil prices is to cut demand. Not just US, but China, India and other places keep using more oil.

I'm sure you've heard all this before.

If we go into a recession, prices are likely to come down as demand cools. Prices would come down for a while at least.

Some right wingers say, "don't tax the rich, it will reduce incentive to get rich and bring on a recession."

Well, a recession can lower prices.

Here's one interesting aside. Not everyone's work is motivated by money. There are business owners who make less than their employees, but they are still motivated by the challenge of having one's own show. Higher income taxes might not always mean less incentive for this reason.

Becoming less dependent on oil is the best long term strategy for controlling oil price hikes. Being less dependent on automobiles would be a great help.

I've never driven a car. The bicycle is my main means of transportation. I always have to throw that tidbit of information in here.

For those who insist on driving, nuclear power and electric cars is one possible scenario. Another scenario is more solar energy and windmills.

Speaking of taxes, with-in our oil/car based economy, I've been hearing about some bad tax policies.

For instance, big tax breaks for SUVs.

They were talking about the tax break for SUVs on Gene Burns evening talk show over KGO radio (April 3).

Amazing what lobbyists can dupe Congress into. Tax incentives to buy SUVs which burn up more gas and lead to higher fuel prices?

Bad idea, but it does create jobs for someone. Detroit unions, automakers?

I hear that some recent survey showed the majority of Californian's say it is a good idea to base the price of car registration on fuel consumption. Guzzling cars pay more, fuel efficient cars pay less.

That's good, but here in Washington State, voters did the opposite a few years back. Tim Eyman's Initiative 695 attempted to lower license tabs to $30 for everyone; thus eliminating any difference between cheaper and more expensive vehicles.

Many of the more expensive cars are SUVs. That initiative passed with flying colors, but it's been modified by legislatures and local governments since.

Voters often shoot themselves in the foot. Washington State has also never voted for an income tax, yet people keep grumbling about the wealthy.

Hopefully Washington voters will be more enlightened in the future. Maybe bigger cars should pay more for license tabs.

Rather than basing license fees on vehicle cost (like was done in pre I-695 days), base it on fuel efficiency? Charge the gas guzzlers more? That's what the survey of (at least) California residents indicated, according to that Gene Burns show.

Of course some poor folks drive gas guzzlers as they can't afford the more efficient cars; especially the hybrids.

Also, now that the used car market is being flooded with gas guzzlers that folks are trying to unload, poor people are buying them.

People should just ride the bus or bicycles in my opinion.