So far in Bellingham, low overhead plans seem to work better in the Central Waterfront Redevelopment District.

Some recent pictures of Bellingham's central waterfront redevelopment area.

The informal Container Village seems to be working well. Drawing people and activity. Low overhead and flexible. Small businesses in the container buildings seem to be thriving, during the warmer months at least. I think most of them close down for the winter, however.

Second story rooftop space on several businesses. Digester tanks from old pulp mill are now part of the artistic cityscape.

Other plans for higher end developments have proceeded much more slowly than expected, from what I gather. The flexibility of containers and lower overhead planning is a benefit.

2nd of 3 planned condo buildings. For sale signs in many windows.

3rd of 3 condo buildings.

It may be a long while before the 3rd building proceeds farther, as the second one still has lots of units for sale.

I sometimes jokingly say I hope there is reincarnation so I can see how this neighborhood turns out as it's been a decades long transition.

First of the 3 planned condo buildings looks more occupied.

Doing some AI research and my own memory of local news, I think the plans for larger projects, to help pay off costs of bringing the central waterfront into public use, have not panned out as soon as hoped. Much of the work, so far, has been paid for by environmental cleanup grants and government capital projects.

Still, there are long term plans for larger capital developments, but this may be much slower in coming than originally thought. Meanwhile the more informal, lower overhead flexible plans have proceeded bringing activity to the waterfront; the former site of Georgia Pacific Pulp Mill.

Many popular concerts and events around the container village.

A recreational bike track called the Pump Track. Tiled pulp storage tanks in the background left over from the pulp mill days.

An affordable housing project has been built in connection with a local nonprofit. There are plans for phase two.

Heat and hot water for major projects, including the condo buildings, comes from the waste heat of a small power plant. Encogen was first built when the pulp mill was running. It's natural gas turbines need cooling so it was originally planned as a cogeneration plant for electric power and to provide steam for the pulp mill. This could save fuel that GP normally burned in its boilers.

When the pulp and paper operations closed, the power plant was sort of left high and dry, so to speak. No one needed the excess steam, so they added some steam turbine technology for more electricity and to use waste heat off the gas (jet engine style) turbines. Still much of the heat is dumped out to the cooling fans.

Some of that heat is now used in the new waterfront buildings. When the power plant isn't running, I assume there is some gas boiler in the system to continue providing heat.

A major railroad track runs through the district. The sound of trains may bring pause to purchasers of high end residential. Relocating the track to the perimeter of the district would be expensive, plus there are many residential developments on the bluff above the perimeter.

Toward the end of the pulp mill's time on the waterfront, the railroad was working on a plan to relocate the line around the mill to reduce possible conflict between trains and factory vehicles, such as forklifts. Those plans were dropped, I guess, when the mill closed.

When the mill closed, a friend of mind said, "no point going around a ghost town."

As with all neighborhoods, they are always in a state of becoming. Some cathedrals, in Europe, were under construction for over a century.

There is lots of talk about sex, but anger is our most morally troubling emotion.

There is lots of talk about sex and morality, but I think anger is the most morally troubling emotion we have. Each emotion has it's moral consequences and pitfalls including sexuality, but anger seems to be the most anti social of all.

Our emotions are part of our being. We are said to be an animal species.

Emotions need to be filtered through our intellect for living in society, however. Some people say, "speak and act from the heart instead of from the head" (the heart being emotions), but another saying applies here as well. That saying is "be careful what you ask for as you might get it."

I tend to avoid anger if possible. In fight or flight I tend to favor flight. That strategy has worked pretty well for me.

I do get anger at times, but it's usually short lived. I've found myself swearing at a car that came close to hitting me or a dog that was chasing me. The reaction is almost subconscious as it usually happens before I'm aware of it. Then I'm sometimes surprised and think, "I yelled that?"

Most of the time, I try and avoid those situations if I can help it.

When growing up, I remember having some debates with people. I thought folks should not get angry. Other people would say that anger is a healthy emotion. They would say that there can be constructive anger and how anger is expressed is what matters, not that anger is bad.

Some would also say that you had to let anger out, or it would build up inside you, like in a reservoir. I think that theory has been debunked to some extent, but trying to fix the situation that makes you angry is still needed, rather than just letting someone walk all over you.

I used to say anger was bad, but justified if someone got mad at you. Then you had a right to get angry back. That was a little rule I articulated during childhood.

Since then, my ideas have become more nuanced, but I still have similar thoughts. I realize now, that anger is an emotion that is part of us. It's like sexuality, fear, sadness and other emotions. Though emotions are a part of being human, they are often problematic. This is why I think, today, that anger is the most problematic of our emotions.

During childhood, I also remember saying that anger leads to wars. Other people would counter by saying that, "war is a different topic." They would say that, "war is politics, economics and so forth, rather than anger."

Now I realize that war, between nations, is sort of a stretch to a different context than just plain anger between individuals. I still hold to some of those ideas, however.

Maybe a more convincing thought is that anger, between individuals, can escalate to more destructive things, like bar fights and violence. Those escalations happen all the time.

During my childhood, I didn't think about that point. The connection between anger and escalation to more violence at a personal level is a closer connection than war, but war is still in my discussion.

Today, many people are saying, "there is too much anger in politics." The connection to war is still there, though a bit more distant than my childhood ideas.

I think that anger isn't a good tool in politics. It tends to bring pushback so the side with the most power usually wins.

Anger can also lead to internal strife and factionalism within a political movement. Sometimes these internal conflicts, within a movement, are called "the circular firing squad."

For many people, anger is a motivation to get folks off the couch and out in the streets, or maybe to get out the vote. Yes, it does motivate, but I still see it as not normally a good tool for political change. There are other tools. Anger often just brings retrenchment and "doubling down" on the other side, rather than change or more understanding.

Yes, anger is a natural emotion, but it tends to be more problematic than other emotions, like sexuality. Sexuality can be problematic also and it does tend to get most of the limelight in terms of discussions about morality.

I put in a vote for saying that anger is our most troubling emotion.

Remembering the people and buildings destroyed by hatred 25 years ago.

Picture I took at end of my 1993 bike trip which got me as far as Hudson, NY. Then I took train back home changing trains in NYC, the only time I've been in that city.

I stayed 1 night and walked around a lot. Didn't go up to observation decks as it seemed like they were up in the fog. This image taken while I was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. My bicycle was being shipped back to Bellingham from Hudson.

I walked across the plaza and quickly walked through a lobby, 1993.

During childhood, I had a big interest in buildings and city planning. That interest is still with me to this day. I wrote to quite a few places for information, including Rockefeller and the World Trade Center. I still have a box of brochures from many places.

Here depicts state of the art technology from around 1971.

Without accepting some changes in consumer expectations, changes at the top have little support.

When gas prices go up due to environmental regulation and taxes, it seems like more working people turn to the right both in USA and parts of Europe. Yellow Vest protests in France and populist support for Trump in USA.

Now that Trump's war on Iran is pushing up gas prices, the opposite may be happening, working masses turning to the left.

Grassroots dependency on fossil fuels means that politics at the top has a big effect. Regulations and taxes, from the top, are passed along in higher prices and more inconvenience to average people. This is a big reason why I believe that changes in lifestyles, at the grassroots level, needs to be there also. Not just top down down solutions, such as taxing the oil industry.

When fossil fuel production gets restricted, people, who are still dependent on fossil fuels, tend to turn to the right advocating lower taxes and less regulation. Today, however populism's swings has brought us Donald Trump with his war on Iran and higher gas prices.

Grassroots changes, rather than just top down solutions, are needed. One grassroots solution is for ordinary people to turn out and vote.

Even if people dismiss the power of lifestyle changes, a lifestyle that includes voting is needed to create the top down solutions anyway. We can't rein in the power of the super wealthy and large corporations if voters don't consistently support those kind of solutions.

For decades, it seems like we have oscillated between top down Republican ideas of deregulating business and left leaning ideas of regulating and taxing business. Both are top down ideas.

The people's personal lifestyles creates power in mass also. It moves mass markets and influences government with voting. That tends to be more what I talk about. Lifestyles make a difference as well as just how the top is arranged.

One of my recent posts got lots of views on Facebook which is still a useful tool.

My Facebook post from September 5 about various map projections has seemed to go, at least somewhat, viral. It's been forwarded 25 times and seen by around 15,000. At least that post is getting out and about. I set my preferences on Facebook so people, beyond just my friends list, can see what I share.

I also put things on this blog for a few more viewers not using Facebook and for archival use. I sometimes call Facebook the McDonalds of the internet. Hard to beat it's continued convenience and popularity. Nothing is perfect, but it can be a good tool. Some people don't like Facebook, but people also use oil companies and claim they don't like them either. I don't drive.

If the US wants to look at the world using a Mercator map, here is the US using a Mercator map.

Besides just the name of a lake, maps are making more news. The UN has adopted a new map, versus the "old standard" Mercator Projection map.

The US government, under Trump, has rejected the new worldview. Ironically, the US (lower 48) is usually not depicted by Mercator in most maps. They use yet another projection.

If the lower 48 were shown by Mercator, the northern states would look much larger than the southern states.

Another projection that most Americans are used to for the lower 48; not the Mercator.

Mercator maps tend to make things look larger near the poles while things closer to the equator look smaller.

Mercator map of the world distorts sizes near the poles and usually cuts off Antarctica completely. This map shows Mercator sizes versus actual sizes.

Showing the round earth on a flat map isn't easy. I learned about map projections, as a geography major in college. Nothing depicts the globe accurately, except a globe itself which is harder to carry around.

Mercator projection showing Antarctica.

Another style of map showing more equal areas, but less accurate shapes.

The new world map the UN is adopting.

Maps I found searching the web.

My other blog entry about Mercator Projections and the Cold War.

Violence and anger are usually counterproductive.

I often think that if the October 7th 2023 Hamas attack against Israel that killed so many civilians had not happened, maybe Trump would not be president today.

That attack led to Israel killing many more people as it retaliated against Gaza. Moderate Democrats, in USA such as Biden and Harris, lost votes for not taking stronger action against Israel. Many people, on the left, did not vote in the 2024 election feeling there was little difference between the candidates.

This allowed Trump to get back into office with his even more unfriendly policies toward the Palistinians.

Trump's extreme executive power given by this Supreme Court and this Congress.

It's too bad how much executive power Trump has taken advantage of. This, because the Supreme Court has almost given him dictatorial powers when it over rides lower courts that have tried to restrain him. Congress hasn't done much either due to Republican majority.

Normally geographic names are handled, in the US, by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN): Established by Congress in 1890. Trump's executive orders can override that so things can be named by his whims.

Names within the US aren't necessarily accepted internationally. In some cases, countries disagree, like in 1982 during the Falkland Islands conflict between UK and Argentina. The UK called that territory the Falkland Islands while Argentina (which was trying to take it by force during the Falkland Islands War) called it Islas Malvinas.

Google Maps is following it's normal protocol off the cliff, so to speak. Google Maps determines geographic names based on local laws and official government mapping sources within each country. For disputed territories or bodies of water with varying names, Google follows a long-standing policy to display local, legally recognized names to users residing within those specific jurisdictions.

Other mapping entities, such as MapQuest and Apple Maps do it differently. New York State and many other public and private entities can it differently as well.

One person, Trump, is exerting lots of executive power over what has normally been decisions made within the US by community via entities, such as the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. Before a recent Supreme Court ruling, these parts of the US government have had more independence and were less dependent on the whims of one person.

When I start a conversation about Lake Ontario, hardly anyone notices.

Anything Trump says starts worldwide discussions. I hate to add to that process, but I'm falling for it also. I decided to share some pictures of Lake Ontario, a focal point of discussion in today's news since his plans to rename it Lake America.

Here's some of my memories which will, at least, be seen by a handful of people. Memories from my longest bicycle trip across the country in 1991. Going east by bicycle, in two months, and back home on Amtrak in 3 days.

Looking out over Lake Ontario from Fort Niagara, NY. during my 1991 bicycle tour.

By the way, this was built by the French in 1727, then became British after French Indian War. Then became American after Revolutionary War. Fought over in The War of 1812. Now a peaceful New York State Park.

Niagara Falls between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

Lake Ontario from CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario. I crossed part of southern Ontario, Canada on my way east. Took a transit side trip into Toronto for one day from my 2 night campsite at Confederation Park near Hamilton, Ontario.

From CN Tower's outside screened deck. Better pictures from inside deck through the glass.

The view from the CN tower is spectacular. It casts a long shadow.

Not the best picture. My bicycle and Lake Ontario in the background from around Rochester, NY.

Yes, a real politician in Upstate New York, back in 1991. I had to put this in for laughs. I can think of jokes about Trump and outhouses.

Years later, Rob Outhouse wrote me a nice letter when he found this on my trip website. My photography does make small waves.

Should Canada put a surcharge on oil it sends to US and call it a carbon tax?

I've been listening to the news from both sides of the US Canadian border about the tariffs. Trump gone rouge as usual.

We do get lots of oil, natural gas and electricity from Canada. Maybe Canada could add a surcharge to the oil they send? Call it a carbon tax? That would really make Trump mad.

Maybe I shouldn't suggest it even though I don't drive. It would be a double tax to us in the Northwest as we get some of our oil from Alberta through Trans Mountain Pipeline. Washington State already has cap and trade which is kind of like a carbon tax so it would be like a double tax for Washingtonians.

We get much of our natural gas, here in the Pacific Northwest, from Canada also. Yes, the building I live in uses natural gas in its boilers for heating. My little studio apartment, nestled in a big building, is pretty efficient.

Eastern Canada gets some of their oil and gas from the US, as there aren't pipelines from Alberta to Eastern Canada that don't at least run part way through the US.

We're shooting ourselves in the foot and China is likely laughing, or feeling sorry for us.

In search of a good little radio for bicycle touring.

I found the best radio for my bicycling. Thinking I would have to buy from Amazon as radios are a rare item, web searching also directed me to REI, a local retail outlet where I could pick it up here in Bellingham.

People often say, "why not use the smartphone for everything?" Then they run down the battery trying to do everything.

For long trips, I find just an old fashioned radio is useful. It can play for hours preserving my phone battery for other things. I just put the earphone into one ear as it's always good to use the other ear for traffic. This sometimes means cutting off one side of stereo earbuds.

REI is an outdoors and camping store so a durable simple radio fits their inventory. It's also on Amazon and other places, but most local retailing doesn't do much for obscure products like radios anymore.

Speaking of new technology, I also have an HD radio. I use that more at home. It gets special HD signals that old fashioned radios don't get. We have a few HD stations in this area. It's portable also, but I found out it's picky on what type of rechargeable batteries it takes.

The batteries it likes are digital themselves. They have electronics to stabilize their voltage output. The battery electronics creates so much static that my fancy new radio doesn't work on the AM band. It works okay on house current, however.

We live in a complex technological time, but I do find technology interesting; at least if one has some patience. Patience is in short supply in modern times.

Rechargeable batteries are better for the environment than throwaway batteries. I recently learned that rechargeable batteries put out less voltage than the throwaways. That's why my HD radio kept turning itself off with regular rechargeable batteries. I got some special batteries for it from Amazon (good luck finding them locally). Then I discovered the static problem.

I can use those rechargeable batteries in bike lights so all is not lost. My new radio just takes the regular old rechareable AA batteries, but it doesn't get the special HD signals. That's not a big loss.

First world problems, but not really. I hear that there are more smartphones than toilets in Africa. Technology can be complex, but people keep wanting it, or at least the prosperity it implies. AI helped me navigate the complexity of this situation.

Glad I at least have some patience and interest in this kind of stuff. The Prosperity, that people seek, provides these things. I still don't wish to open the Pandora's box of automobiles, however.

Will there ever be enough money?

The national debt just reached 40 trillion dollars. No wonder they are pushing AI. It's seen as a possible "cash cow." There is an overwhelming need for money.

Money is just a number. Not a real product or resource. We can just create more money with entries into a computer, but that leads to inflation. Yes, we've been creating money for many decades. It's called "quantitative easing." It's created inflation, but it seems like most of the inflation settles into asset values, for instance home values. Home values have skyrocketed, in most locations, since my college days.

Other things have gone up also, stocks, healthcare costs and so forth, but things go up at different rates. Some things go up faster than other things. I remember Xerox copies costing around 5 cents a copy back in my college days. They are about the same cost today.

Technology has given us many bargains not even dreamed of in my college days. Lots of wealth is not necessarily measured in money. What can a smartphone do versus it's modest cost?

We have lots of products and services that we didn't have years ago, but do we feel that we are wealthier? It seems like there is a growing split between the those who own assets and the rest of the economy of goods and services. Owning lots of assets, like the billionaires have, makes one very wealthy. It's hard for the rest of us to keep up even with all the new things we have that didn't exsist during my college days.

The first rungs on the ladder are hard to reach and the path forward to higher rungs is spotty. Many fall off into homelessness and then need more government spending to stay afloat yet they often do have smartphones that NASA engineers never dreamed of having years ago.

A smartphone does not necessarily create the sense of home. It's still not "enough." It seems like there is never enough. It's not counted that much in dollars. A smartphone can be sold for less money than one month's rent.

I think people take money too seriously. It's a tool, but it isn't a god. Everything can't be fixed with just tax cuts and / or revving up the economy to super prosperity. The massive data center buildout isn't likely to create a pot of gold either. AI can be a useful tool, like any technology from the automobile to the electric lightbulb.

Maybe they can just print up enough money to subsidize the masses so we can all keep up with the billionaires. So we can pay the rent. We all move forward on a never ending treadmill, but I still think the main focus should be quality of life. That isn't as easy to assign a number to, but there are some indexes that come close. Indexes like health and happiness indexes.

Some European countries seem to do that better.

Europe means well, but still suffers from climate change, as in the good guy finishes last.

I often hear that third world countries suffer more from climate change that is caused by first world countries. Still, all that shaming of first world countries doesn't seem to move the needle toward transformational change.

Meanwhile many, in third world countries, are struggling to build first world economies, including the mistakes that the first world has made. Conservative religious values that push procreation versus alternative lifestyles were prevalent in the first world of the 1950s. They are still being promoted in much of the third world.

Automobile based transportation systems are still being built in much of the world. Even where people, in the third world, do better than USA for use of public transit, many still say they would rather drive if only they could afford a car.

Military spending, as a large percent of national budgets, is huge in many poor countries. Yes, the US tops the list in total military budget, but as a percent of GDP it's down in the list. There are wars all over the world, including a civil war within Sudan that is often under the radar of US media.

Europe has done a good job with public transit, alternative energy and social freedoms, yet due to climate change being a worldwide problem, it may be suffering more than just about any other part of the world. I think of the phrase, "the good guy finishes last."

Still, it seems like just about everyone, in the world, wants to progress toward prosperous, technological societies. European countries offer some good examples of greener societies that are still considered livable and prosperous.

China seems to be doing well in making a green transition, though it's not such a shining example of human rights.

The US still has great innovations happening in many corners, but the right wing mentality, controlling our government, is pushing the other way. I think the right wing mindset is rebelling against criticism of our consumptive economy.

Vacant lot in Fountain District on Meridian.

Bellingham is still quite spread out with quite a bit of vacant land. Still, the land is very expensive these days.

I remember, when I was in college, I did a project where I ranked cities and towns in Washington State by size of land area versus population. Bellingham had a lot of land compared to its number of people while Pullman, where I grew up, was a lot more compact. That was in the 1970s.

Bellingham is infilling more now. Pullman is compact due to it being a university town with lots of dorms and apartments.

My experiment with an AI assisted cartoon.

I have some ideas for cartoon punchlines, but not much skill in drawing. So, I tried out AI to draw a cartoon based on one of my ideas.

Here is what I got. Not bad, but I added a few things and altered the layout a bit using my old graphics program called Neopaint. AI generated what's in black while I added what's in red.

Then I ask, "how much power does it take to generate this image?" It takes about as much a it takes to charge a smartphone. More than just asking a simple question as image generation takes more power. Video generation takes much more power.

Really, not that much except that so many people are using AI, that's a lot of smartphones charging. Still not a lot compared to heating and cooling a home or driving a car; my favorite nemesis.

Bicycle touring in my retirement years, but not as much as during my great vacations while at work.

For a few years, I've had some arthritis in just one ancle. It bothers me some while walking, but not while bicycling. Bicycling is still my means of transportation and it still feels good. These days, there are more wildfires effecting areas I used to do long tours in.

Another situation, in my retirement years, is prostate cancer. I have a mild case of that which is treatable. It's serious enough so treatment is recommended, but still only in one area. I'm getting radiation treatment. A 28 weekday schedule of treatments from late July to the end of August.

There was a time when mid to late summer was prime bike touring season for me. Not anymore. Smokey late summer is when my treatments are happening this year.

Typical smoke pattern with Western Washington sometimes under morning clouds while much of the rest of the country seems to be burning.

This map was before the big Spokane fires. Today, because of that and other fires in places like Okanogan plus British Columbia, the smoke and fires are even worse. I'm okay riding through some smoke, but crossing Eastern Washington is another story.

Mid to late summer travel isn't that appealing. Climate change and the increasing amount of traffic on highways creates a new normal. Yes, bike paths are improving, but many rural areas don't have them. Cities, like Bellingham and Seattle area become more appealing by comparison.

Back when I was working, I cherished my long vacations and leaves absence for bike tours. My custodial job, at YMCA, was low stress and nice people to work with. Still, it was a bit monotonous. I'm glad I did a lot of that bike travel during my working years. I still plan to do some, depending on circumstances and the weather.

So far, the treatments are going well and the cancer is curable.

There are so many fun and social things to do in Bellingham that being on the road is less appealing. I'd miss something for sure. We can't clone ourselves.

I live within one and a half miles of Peace Health Saint Joe's Hospital campus where I get the treatments. I usually ride through Cornwall Park.

Biking to the clinic. Each day's treatment just takes a few minutes.

Part of a nice stainglass art piece at the clinic.

See some of my photo memories from bike touring as well as local rides

If I lived in Michigan, after the Senate primary election.

Whether far to the left, or moderate, I would still vote Democrat as Democrats just about all vote, in Congress, to curb Trump nearly running everything by dictatorial means, such as executive order.

Too bad the far left does win in primaries due to the danger of Republican's far right more likely winning in the general under those circumstances. There are lots of disagreements over things like support for Israel that can fracture a party, but one Senator is only one voice. All the Democratic voices should stand together to put limits on Trump's executive power at least.

Would a state income tax make it harder for the Seahawk's to recruit top players?

I'm for higher taxes on the rich, but I realize that there are consequences to everything which effect the masses of voters. We can't "have it all." For instance, high taxes on high incomes might make it harder for the Seahawks football team to recruit top players. An income tax might make our state less competitive in that arena, but what do we really value?

I value things like good parks and schools more. I value safe bike paths more than just having a winning team that people just watch on TV.

What are your priorities, winning teams owned by billionaires or good local parks?

Harder to deny the drought effects of climate change than just the few degree temperature rise.

Wildfires are getting a lot worse in recent years. The summer dry season is getting longer in many regions. More droughts and in other areas more floods.

I think this effect from climate change is more noticeable than just the few degrees of temperature rise.

Bicycling on sidewalk is sometimes safer. There are often more pedestrians on the street than on the sidewalk in our car dominated culture.

In some places it seems safer to bike carefully on the sidewalk. I prefer the street, if there is a space for bikes, but sometimes the sidewalk is safer.

I prefer the street, or road if it has a shoulder.

There's often more pedestrians in the street by parked cars than on the sidewalk. It can be easier to see a pedestrian on the sidewalk than when they are darting out between parked cars on the street, not to mention sudden door openings. I tend to go slow in this type of area.

It seems like almost one out of every 4 cars is backing out when there is nose in parking. Bikes can be squished between backing cars and moving traffic.

Often one has to go to the sidewalk to push the walk button for activating the stoplight. It can be hard for the system to detect a bike on the street.

When making a 90 degree turn, I prefer not using turn lanes, but crossing, one street at a time, to each corner. I'm not in a hurry.

A new bike idea for crossing the bulge in a sidewalk. On F street in Bellingham. I sometimes ride across the sidewalk bulges instead of going around the bulge which pushes me into traffic. This new sidewalk bulge accommodates that.

Should there be a curb cut here?

At this place in the west part of Longview, Washington the sign recommended riding on the sidewalk. Image taken 2011.

Lots of people walk on trails that are for mixed use. Not that much different than sidewalks. A speedlimit is the best way to keep things safe (if it's followed). This is also the best way to regulate electric bicycles. It's easier to have a speedlimit than to try and figure out what type of motor qualifies for trail use. Motorized wheelchair? How about handicap access? Skateboard? What type of motor does the bike have? How much of it is pedal assist.

I'm in favor of motorized bikes, though I don't yet feel I need one myself. They increase use of bicycling due to their extreme popularity. Almost half the bikes I see, these days, are the motor assisted pedal bikes. Much of US culture is too fast. I prefer life in the slow lane; the name of my blog.

Sign I saw a few years back in downtown Moscow, Idaho.

Shop online or shop local through Bellingham traffic trying stores that all sell the same thing, not what you need if it's too specialized.

Crazy map of my errands today. I was enjoying it anyway. I was looking for a new kind of battery, but ended up ordering it from Amazon. Local stores don't have it.

Going by bicycle. Bellingham is mostly bicycle friendly, but some retail areas are more car-centric. Riding on sidewalk to avoid traffic in some areas. Beautiful day.

There's plenty of stores sprawling out in different areas and lots of traffic. No wonder people shop on Amazon. I tried to shop local, but eventually let my fingers do the walking, as the old ad for the Yellow Pages went; fingers on my computer keyboard.

Nice day to be out riding around the city. Some of this map shows other errands, but most is the battery search.

This new type of battery is a standard AA rechargeable battery, but it turns out it has to be a new kind of battery; lithium ion rechargeables with their own special charger.

Most rechargeable batteries are metal hydride and it turns out they provide lower than 1.5 volts. I have a new HD radio that needs the steady 1.5 volt current from each of it's 3 batteries. Not 1.2 volts, which most standard rechargeable batteries provide. The radio turns off in protest if the voltage is too low.

The new type of battery offers a more reliable 1.5 volts till it shuts off and asks for a recharge. It's the digital age.

HD radios can pick up the digital signals from some stations that offer more than one program on their signal; like CBU HD 1, Vancouver, BC or CBU HD 2.

Radio interests me and isn't that expensive. Most people just rely on their phones now for all of this, but I still use radios. It can give the phone battery a rest.

As Google traced my routes. I forgot to turn on Bikeometer app, but Google's got me covered. Lower GPS sampling rate, however.

Hardware Sales is a good store, but they don't have it, yet at least.

I also tried Best Buy, at north end. Bought some because I forgot my glasses to see the fine print. They were the wrong kind so I took them back adding to my miles. No wonder I seldom use a gym.

Then tried a specialty battery store in a different area before going back home and ordering online.

Clear cool day with view of Mount Baker over retail parking lots. We haven't yet been hit with hot weather or wildfire smoke. - yet at least.