How much do I need to hold up my reputation as a bicycle tourist?

Nice autumn rains are back. I was thinking of doing a several day bike tour, but the long range forecast turned wetter. That trip could have been just to uphold my image as a bike tourist. A rainy forecast is another excuse to cancel that plan. Instead, I did my day trip to Birch Bay as the weather was sunny on Monday.

People keep asking "Do you have any long trips planned this year?"

I keep saying that there are so many social things to do in Bellingham, not to mention all the stuff I want to do online, that holding up my reputation as a bicycle tourist gets more difficult. It's like juggling a lot of things, motel reservations, weather, routes with less traffic and so forth. I still plan to do some long distance trips in beyond my 71st birthday, but doing it just to prove myself isn't that appealing anymore.

It could be old age, but my legs and my lungs are still fine. I am getting tired of riding alongside all that traffic. These days, I plan routes carefully with bike trails and lightly traveled, or better shouldered, roads. I take transit with the easy to use bike racks on buses. This can skip me over less desirable areas. In years past, there were no County Connector buses. We have them in this area now, but they are very rare in areas like Eastern Washington.

In past years, I wanted to prove myself by pedaling the entire way, such as when I took 2 1/2 months off and ended up in Massachusetts. Even with my ability to take a bus, with my bike, to Mount Vernon for just 1 dollar (senior citizen rate, $2 general), I still prefer to bike most of my distances, mostly because I take so many pictures. My trip to Birch Bay was all from pedaling my bicycle and I got over 100 photos. I used to pride myself riding all the way to Seattle, but now I take buses at least as far as Everett. Most roads, in North Snohomish County, are pretty bad.

In the past, there was less traffic, but I also got through North Snohomish County by riding on the wide shoulder of I-5. I could still do that, I guess, but traffic is flying by at over 70 mph. I still remember the days of the 55 mph speed limit due to the 1970-80s energy crisis. Snohomish Centennial Trail is wonderful, but getting to its north trailhead is a bit challenging. I might as well take buses to Everett, in south Snohomish County, and then ride in the more friendly urban areas around Seattle. Those urban areas have bike paths and quiet residential streets galore.

Long trips and leave of absence was great while I was working. My night shift job as a custodian was a bit mundane and the trips were a good excuse to take time off work.

That job was a good job, however. Nice people, low stress and a good cause. I was on the custodial crew of the YMCA.

My avocations of bike travel, writing, and the gay community life were more interesting than just the job, itself. Now that I am retired, I still seem to have a life filled up with gratifying things to do.

I'm glad I did those ambitious trips during my younger, working years. Many people wait till retirement to follow their dreams. I may have been living in my dreamworld all my life.

I may have been in a dreamworld, but I did work. I wasn't in a high end position. Rents were quite affordable back then. Now I am in subsidized housing, but I still pay (I think) around 2/3 market rate for my little studio apartment. My subsidized rent calculated based on my income.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying life in Bellingham.

In some cases, a slower economy might be better.

An expanding GDP isn't always good news. If the GDP goes up, it could be just due to inflation. This doesn't necessarily mean progress.

Some people think an ideal world would not have money, but I don't go that far. I think money is a needed tool to keep track of the math. Instead I just think a high GDP should not be the bottom line goal. Health, happieness and good stewardship of the planet should be the bottom line. These things can be measured also. In some cases, a slower economy might be better.

Some economists do call this Triple Bottom Line Accounting, I hear. I apply it to the whole economy.

Higher GDPs and faster growth, just measured in dollars, isn't necessarily better. It can also mean higher costs of doing business and more hardship for people as well as the environment.

I do find economics interesting, so I still think about money, but I don't see it as a god or the ultimate goal. I see it as a tool for running business and government, but the ultimate goal is not just money.

Could stagflation bring back the alternative thinking of the 1970s?

It looks like US and world economies are returning to the stagflation that defined my college years in the 1970s. Inflation and stagnation at the same time. Rising costs for fossil fuels and other natural resources drove inflation along with a slowdown in the economy.

That was also an era when we started to try and adapt the economy to a limited planet. Alternative energy, transportation and alternative lifestyles were coming into style.

Since then, more oil was found and technology was able to create new kinds of wealth. A turn toward more "traditional" values for a growing economy remained in mainstream thinking. An economy still dependent, for the most part, on fossil fuels. This has brought us to where we are now.

I'm fairly disappointed that we never made the changes, on a real large scale, that were talked about 50 years ago. There have been lots of innovations around the edges, but mainstream life and business practices haven't really changed that much.

Now that we face another fossil fuel crisis, I wonder how it will pan out? Will the spirit of idealism and change that existed, in my little bubble during my college years, come back into style?

A future world with far less obligatory need to find work.

I saw an article recently from Fortune Magazine that said, OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla predicts today’s 5-year-olds won’t ever need to get jobs thanks to AI.

There are still big dreams about the future. “People will still work on the things they want to work on, not because they need to work.” I'm sure there's a downside to this, but it does make me somewhat envious of 5 year old kids.

My envy of youth could be a sign of optimism about the future, but maybe I shouldn't be envious. Looking at my own life, work was kind of an afterthought for me. Not being as motivated by money, family obligations, or car expenses, my working career was pretty laid back. Much of my energy went into unpaid interests, writing, photography and bicycle touring. For the most part, I did what I wanted to do during my working life which was not that much different than my life in retirement.

While some people found their jobs gratifying and felt they made important contributions to society, others felt like they worked their assess off and ended up with little to show for it. My job didn't take a lot out of me and I felt that it made a valuable contribution to society, in a modest way at least. I worked on the custodial crew. Not necessarily a job of fame and fortune, but meditative and friendly at least. I liked the organization I was working for, the YMCA.

Trump's bait and switch. Now it's get used to sacrifice. Since we are ask to do it anyway, it's better to sacrifice consumption for the environment, however.

Concern over inflation is one thing that powered Trump's campaign. Now it looks like "bait and switch" as tariffs are likely to add to inflation.

So there's a new promise? Short term sacrifice for long term gain; localizing production. Is that even worth it? Manufacturing doesn't create lots of jobs given automation.

It may be a case of making lemonade out of lemons; the lemonade is reduced consumption.

I know it will hurt a lot of people, but my thought is that reducing consumption can be a good thing overall for the environment and the long term human condition. You're given lemons, you make lemonade. This is not what most Trump supporters had in mind, but there is the law of unintended consequences.

Maybe most cars are lemons anyway. Trump only won by a very thin margin. Economic angst can turn popular opinion and elections on a dime.

Adjusting Social Security to our increasing lifespans, but American lifespans are decreasing now.

It makes sense to raise the age of retirement to maintain solvency of Social Security in a world of increasing lifespans. Problem is, lifespans, in USA, are now decreasing. Maybe that can be turned around, someday, but for the past few years, lifespans have been decreasing. Seems like the rat race is sending Americans to an earlier grave.

The many reasons do get discussed from overwork to income inequality to gun violence to traffic accidents to drug use to suicides to the pandemic and so forth. Many changes are needed in our culture. Higher quality of life and less materialistic pursuits would help, in my opinion. I seem to define quality of life differently than a lot of people. For instance, free time and connection to friends brings quality of life. Health and time for going places by bicycle is quality of life for me.

Worry about 5G's effect on human body could be a distraction, but there may be other problems with the rollout.

Seems like folks who worried about 5G's effects on the human body were barking up the wrong tree, but now we are learning about other problems with 5G.

Interference with other technologies that use airwaves in the microwave spectrum. Weather forecasting, satellite communications, research and the recent safety concerns about certain aircraft altimeters.

Stepping on the economic accelerator to roll out 5G causes some problems. I like science and technology, but the pressure to keep up with rising living costs and to keep jobs going can cause problems; like the phrase "don't let the grass grow under your wheels."

Then there is the worry that astronomers have about so many satellites, from Elon Musk and other sources, bringing interference to dark skys for astronomy. Interference in both the microwave spectrum for radio astronomy and reflected light for optical astronomy.

Interesting article How 5G wireless networks could send weather forcasting back 50 years. From Grist.

These ideas could be better than Universal Basic Income, but still in the spirit of UBI.

A Universal Basic Income could endanger vital public services in favor of a meager income. Money for just the UBI would likely not be enough to cover safety net needs such as housing and healthcare. Support for those things could be taken away to make way for the UBI in a limited government budget.

With so many of the jobs paying less and less, as time goes on, compared to other sources of income, such as real estate, investments and retirement, the concept of a UBI is appealing. Problem is, it may not be the best way to provide for people's needs.

Housing assistance, universal healthcare, affordable college and good transportation might be better ways to supplement low wages than just writing everyone a check.

Seems like wages, from work, are declining as a percent of the total economy; influences of things like automation, globalization and wealth discrepancy.

One ought to be able to hold a job that is still needed in society, daycare work; for instance and live adequately. Maybe even raise a family; if so desired.

UBI would be one path to this, but probably not the best path. A strong social safety net might work better, in my opinion. Also in the opinion of this article.

Things that might be better than Universal Basic Income, but similar ideas

A Universal Basic Income could endanger vital public services in favor of a meager income. Money for just the UBI would likely not be enough to cover safety net needs such as housing and healthcare. Support for those things could be taken away to make way for the UBI in a limited government budget.

With so many of the jobs paying less and less, as time goes on, compared to other sources of income, such as real estate, investments and retirement, the concept of a UBI is appealing. Problem is, it may not be the best way to provide for people's needs.

Housing assistance, universal healthcare, affordable college and good transportation might be better ways to supplement low wages than just writing everyone a check.

Seems like wages, from work, are declining as a percent of the total economy; influences of things like automation, globalization and wealth discrepancy.

One ought to be able to hold a job that is still needed in society, daycare work; for instance and live adequately. Maybe even raise a family; if so desired.

UBI would be one path to this, but probably not the best path. A strong social safety net might work better, in my opinion.

Instead of the UBI, maybe have guaranteed jobs programs. There should be enough work for everyone that needs a job. There are still plenty of things that need to be done. Environmental cleanup, infrastructure, tutoring, teaching English as a second language, daycare, helping the elderly; whatever.

The private market doesn't always prioritize these needs on its own so government can guarantee a job.

In some cases, the job can be done for a private company; like a sub contractor; rather than government bureaucracy, but funding might still have to come from the government if the private marketplace doesn't provide that.

Health insurance could be provided, if we continue to have health insurance provided by jobs; rather than just from citizenship.

For folks that have partial disabilities; including mental problems, the jobs could compassionately work with the person to try and ease them along. The idea of a sheltered workshop.

People with severe disabilities could still live on just public assistance without a job.

For some people, their "disability" is mostly just that they don't have a good enough resume to compete in the competitive job market; especially when the job market is tight. Folks should be guaranteed a job, rather than falling farther and farther out of the system. Folks out of work end up with deteriorating resumes, as time goes on, due to lack of current experience. Often they have deteriorating attitudes and health as well.

A jobs program is a good idea, especially if the private market is not able to hire all the people that need to work or provide the services and infrastructure that society needs.

My thoughts related to this article. The danger of good intentions.

As society progresses, our tolerance for early death diminishes. Over 225,000 deaths from COVID-19 is less acceptable now than in the so called "good old days."

In many ways, society is becoming loss tolerant of early and preventable death. I've read that the 1918 flu pandemic killed roughly 675,000 Americans. This, out of a total population of only around 104 million. Society's response to control that epidemic was slow at start. It was more "business as usual" than today.

So far, this epidemic has killed around 225,000 Americans out of 325 million total. There have been more measures, early on; such as here in Washington State, to try and stop the spread.

Our prevention measures haven't been as good as they could be; especially at the national level and in certain states. The 225,000 death toll is appalling to our modern sensibilities.

Seems like some of the folks, who would want us to go back to business as usual, could bring us to a higher tolerance of death than most of society is accustom to in modern times.

Some will argue that death from the forced slowdown of our economy could be worse than that from the virus itself. The increased poverty, isolation, domestic violence and so forth.

These things are harder to measure as they are spread across many death rates and categories of statistics; versus a death toll from the virus itself which is easier to pinpoint.

Few politicians, in today's world, would want to have a high death count under their watch; especially if it can be blamed on something they did, or didn't do.

In today's society, we have better technology to prevent death. Along with the better technology comes less tolerance for unnecessary death.

Given the understanding of infection today, we could do better than we have done, up until now. A more robust social safety net would help. People shouldn't be loosing their health insurance and having to go homeless during a pandemic. Businesses should be able to operate with reduced crowds and pay their rent and fixed costs, but rents and fixed costs have gotten too high.

We could adapt to this situation better, but the high cost of life, in America, makes it more difficult. More generous fiscal support (Congress willing to spend money) is needed to prop things up.

Part of the problem is the many past years of low interest rates. People don't have much in the way of "rainy day savings." Money in regular "liquid" bank accounts doesn't pay much when interest rates are low.

Low interest rates have, instead, encouraged a mountain of private debt which still needs to be serviced.

Now it looks like more government debt is needed to prop up the other debts that businesses and individuals have incurred. Quite a few economists say that government debt isn't as much of a problem as they've thought in the past.

This is debatable, of course, but there is an emerging school of economics called "Modern Monetary Theory." Popular among Bernie Sander's camp, and in other places.

MMT places less worry on government going into debt. Rather than looking at the debt total, since government can create its own money, these economists watch for signs of inflation. If we are now in danger of deflation, spending can happen.

This thinking may be partially the result of years of high deficits and low interest rates. Interest rates remain low, so what's the worry?

I feel that the low interest rates have pushed up fixed costs, such as property values, while other things in the economy; such as most wages, have lagged behind.

Technology has pushed down the cost of many goods and services including the need for labor. It's time to try and rebalance.

Government bailout continues to be needed as businesses and individuals, that have been lured into high debt and fixed costs, struggle.

We could do better if we had an economy that could shift into lower gear more easily. Lower gear for a temporary period. Being able to survive on part time work, for instance. Then we could better ride out this situation till vaccines and cures become available. Ride things out as technology continues to advance.

Shifting into lower gears could help us adapt to climate change as well. There is always some economic disruption when transitioning to something new. Transitioning to clean energy; for instance.

We can do better looking forward.

I've often thought that around 35,000 Americans, dying each year in traffic accidents, was an appalling cost of "business as usual." This figure is out of step with other safety measures in our modern society; such as workplace safety and building codes.

Future generations, riding in safe self driving vehicles, might look back on our current highway death toll the way we look back on the high death toll, due to cholera, before better treatment of drinking water.

The death toll, from the corona virus pandemic, is much worse than the steady background of car crashes. It is a temporary and unique situation. Future generations could look at this death toll with horror the way we now view the 1918 pandemic.

Years ago, I think negative news was less available, so, to tell the truth, I never even heard of the 1918 flu pandemic until more recent times.

I'm assuming that future generations can still make progress over what we have now if we can put technology to good use and control looming threats such as climate change.

Pounding the round peg into a square hole means the hole changes also

This graphic, that is said to be from the National Museum of African American History and Culture, has got me thinking about how I, personally, fit into what is considered mainstream society.

Admittedly, I'm white, but I got to thinking about how I fit, or don't totally fit, what's thought of as mainstream.

See below graphic, more of my thoughts.



Here's a few things excerpted from this graphic as related to my personal experiences.

Nuclear Family.

I'm gay. I'm also not personally into the committed "two person style" relationship idea. It's sometimes thought of as a middle class model with white picket fence and all.

Emphasis on scientific method. Linear thinking, cause and effect, quantitative emphasis.

I basically believe science, but I was never that good at math. I'm more into speculative, creative thinking, but I avoid claiming that my hunches are, necessarily, scientific fact. I defer to the scientists.

I tend to believe the scientists tho I may not have the credentials to make my living that way.

I'm open, at least, to ideas, such as from religion, that aren't necessary always sticking to scientific evidence. There is a lot we don't know and I like to entertain speculation at least.

Protestant work ethic. Work before play.

I'm not really into that. I prefer part time work. I think I'm more noted for what I do on vacation (bike touring) than what I do at work.

My life isn't about striving for more money, but I am fortunate in many ways. I have no family to support (back to my ideas about relationships), my health is good, I don't own a car (or better yet a car doesn't own me), my rent has been affordable and the community I am in values more than just money.

At times, it can seem like a lonely course, but, in Bellingham, there are a lot of people who seem to value their non paid interests more than their jobs.

Time. Follow rigid time schedules.

I am seldom in situations where I have to show up right on time. I have a lot of free time and follow serendipity quite often; like when seeing someone unexpectedly in the park and then taking the time for an hour long, unplanned for conversation.

I often don't have goals.

Justice.

I tend to think the system favors property owners.

Competition.

I tend to avoid competition.

Communication. Avoid conflict, don't discuss personal life, be polite.

I tend to avoid conflict and I am polite, but I do often talk about my personal life.

I'm posting this as I contemplate how society, itself, has to stretch and change to accommodate variety. This includes some of our deep assumptions about what's normal and even what's logical.

I don't necessarily think society is evil. I buy a lot of it, but there are a lot of things I don't buy, so to speak. Society needs to be able to accept a wide range of skills. For instance not everyone is a technocrat. Can people still afford a place to live? I often find that marginalized folks, even the homeless have interesting stories to tell and things to offer.

I found this graphic in this article. Article was interesting also, but I tried to follow the link to what I thought was where the graphic came from. Couldn't find the graphic on quickly scanning a few pages.

I think article relates to how many people, of minority background, do measure up in our society and it is kind of a put down of the successful minority folks to gloss over this, as if all minority folks are destine to being the victims.

I see that point, but I also see some room for criticism of society as a whole. Assumptions about what the good life and the proper goals for life are.

Thinking about the degrowth movement. Saving the planet by working less. I'll add. and / or embracing better technology.

I found an interesting article in Vice. The radical plan to save the planet by working less.

The degrowth movement makes lots of sense to me. First time I've seen the term degrowth, but I have been a fan of voluntary simplicity and shorter work week for many years. Quality of life and work / life balance is progress to me. There's more to progress than just increasing wealth and / or population.

That being said, I also am a fan of Technological progress. Technology might be able to help us squeeze more wealth out of the planet like converting to green energy, using efficient technologies like LEDs and possibly (dare I say this) nuclear power. Better yet, hydrogen fusion.

Still, the technology isn't solving everything. We do need to redefine wealth and learn to live in better ways. That's where shorter workweeks and more things like bicycling come into play.

I just realized a pun at the end of my post. "Shorter workweek and more things like bicycling come into play."

More time off. More time for play. Also adequate sleep and better relations with friends and family. Less rat race.

From comments on this post when I put it on Facebook.

I'm surprised that the word "greed" doesn't even appear in the article.
Maximus Gray.

I fully agree with this. What also goes along is the proverb phraise; you hate the job that you are stuck in traffic to, but you need the job to pay for the car that you are trapped in!
Mark Allyn.

How too much easy money in the wrong places can make income discrepancy worse

The world awash in money, but it doesn't necessarily help. I watched this very interesting documentary on You Tube from DW German TV. It lays much of the blame for income disparity on low interest rates and the flood of money mostly available to big time borrowers. This situation fuels real estate inflation, corporate mergers and national debts. It means small savers get practically no interest on regular savings in the bank due to low interest rates. It doesn't do much to help startups or new innovations as banks tend to favor big outfits with recognized track records for loans. Doesn't do much for needed infrastructure either as governments borrow and then feel the pressure to pay back the debt leading to austerity measures.

In my opinion the easy money, low interest situation is created for basically two reasons. To reduce unemployment and to help indebted governments remain solvent. I think that both of these goals could be addressed in different ways.

As for unemployment, society does have an addiction to materialism. More wealth is seen as the solution to every problem. Instead, maybe we could aspire to a philosophy that I saw on a protest sign one day.

"Consume less, work less, live more fully."

Solutions, such as working less, could be seen as improvements to society. Less economic activity to harm the environment, more free time for quality of life things like friends, family and volunteer activity. Less harm to environment at least until green technology can be in place. A way to buy time for the earth while waiting for green technology. To some extent, unemployment can be addressed with better distribution of wealth and work. Shorter working hours, more flexible schedules, job sharing. This could take some pressure off the need to stimulate the economy.

I don't feel like we have to go back to the dark ages, however. Prosperity is good, but, like so many things, it needs to be balanced with other values.

I realize that there is the danger of a downward economic spiral if people strive to work less, earn less and consume less. Consumer spending props up the economy. This philosophy of less consumption would need to be applied carefully. Applied as just one part of a balanced picture.

Reducing consumption shouldn't be that hard as a lot of technology pushes that direction anyway. Miniaturization. Like going from incandescent lights of the past that were energy hogs to LED technology. Solid state electronics versus the vacuum tube. Telecommuting versus driving.

Seems like technology keeps advancing whether the economy is booming or not. Advances in manufacturing can reduce the need for hard work. We are awash in low cost products to buy and free information on the internet. The big problem is that certain important things, like housing and healthcare, have become so expensive that living the less hassled life becomes improbable. One must work two jobs just to rent a studio apartment in many cities. This is a problem caused by too much money inflating certain sectors of the economy while other sectors bring abundance at low cost.

Idealistically, the true bottom line should be quality of life, not just amount of income, but it's hard to strive for that quality when an astronomical rent is due. In spite of great abundance due to prosperity, we seem to be facing a problem of inflation in certain sectors such as housing that is fueled by too much money. Money in the wrong places.

As for the problem of funding governments, here are some ideas that people might think are "off the wall." I've read some of these suggestions before so they aren't just out of my hat. Of course collecting taxes is the idea way, but given Republican style politics in the US and other places, tax collection is difficult. The need for government spending continues anyway as even Republicans want bigger defense outlays and practically no one favors big cuts in things like Medicaid.

Since central banks are printing money anyway, why can't they just give part of that money to governments? Yes, just give it for free. At least part of the time. Give it out rather than loaning it to be paid back. If they want to stimulate the economy, why can't they just print the money and give it to the government to spend on infrastructure, scientific research and other "big picture" needs of society?

I think a lot of economists would think this is a preposterous idea that would lead to uncontrolled inflation. Well, the world is awash in money now and we have high inflation in many sectors today, such as housing. In some cases, governments are so far in debt, that money isn't likely to be paid back anyway. Even if the money is given to governments for free, central banks can still, conceivably, cut back on that money supply to curb spending and inflation.

Maybe the central banks could provide government revenue as a combination of loans and free money.

Maybe I'm a bit cynical about Republican tax cuts and spending (military) plans. We might have to give up on the idea of paying back the loans. That admission could rock the economic boat, but we really have to rethink economics anyway.

We should figure out some soft landings and thoughtful transitioning of in our way of doing things. Hopefully we can avoid panic.

My friend who pirouetted from intel to retirement in Bellingham Washington

Here's a unique video. It depicts my friend Mark Allyn pirouetting from Intel to retirement in Bellingham Washington. Also I've included my own description of this journey based on the stories he tells.

Mark worked for Intel Corporation in the Portland area. His retirement plan was to move to Bellingham.

While his Bellingham plans waited, he continued working not sure exactly when he was going to say goodby. Around the time when he learned that the rent on his Portland apartment was scheduled to go up, he decided to set the date. This, among other reasons was a good time to retire so he gave notice to both his landlord and his employer.

Part of his plan was to ride a bicycle from Portland to Bellingham. He had his processions shipped to his new home ahead of time.

As an avid bicyclist, he had been commuting from his apartment in Portland to work at Intel's Jones Farm campus which is out in the suburban city of Hillboro. The last commute to work was to be the first leg of his bike ride to retirement in Bellingham.

Looking forward to this adventure, he showed up for his last Monday on the job. It was the start of his final week. When he arrived that morning, he noticed a few buses parked in front of the campus. When Mark got inside, he quickly found out that Intel was in the middle of a massive employee layoff. All the conference rooms were booked processing layoffs. The buses were there because they were still hiring a few folks and there was no space for new employee orientation as the conference rooms were being used to process layoffs. On that day, new employee orientation must have been like, "welcome to the company." "Now Get on the bus, don't look." "We'll take you someplace else for the welcoming."

On that last week, Mark could have been the happiest person in the company as he was planning to retire anyway. Thus this video. Dressed in clear plastic he did pirouettes down the corporate hallways. People might have been envious, or maybe they were wondering what kind of fool was this? They may have thought it was something to lighten the somber moment during layoffs.

His last day of work was the first day of his trip to Bellingham. That day started with his normal commute, but he was leaving his apartment for the last time. No need to return to the apartment where rent was scheduled to go up. Ready to leave the job where the layoff was in progress. Looks like the work-a-day world, he was leaving behind, was starting to deteriorate.

After the goodbys, he bicycled toward Bellingham making it as far his first motel stop in Longview, WA. It was a dreary, rainy afternoon as he left Hillboro and headed up Oregon Highway 30 along the Columbia River. He entered Washington State via the Lewis and Clark Bridge into Longview. As he ceremoniously walked across that bridge, clouds parted and the sun came out. A large rainbow appeared. It was truly a "we're not in Kansas anymore" moment.

His ride to Bellingham took several more days which turned out to be beautiful and sunny.

Since then, he's enjoyed doing lots of creative things and volunteering at places like the Spark Museum of Electrical Invention.

Jobs and the economy can expand to accommodate immigration, but is there enough housing?

Trump wants to deport a lot of refugees from Central America and so forth, but this reduces the number of workers and consumers in the economy assuming most of the refugees are worker/consumers. Could make reaching his targets for economic growth more difficult. A larger population adds to the economy. On the other hand, it can also exacerbate the housing shortage. Seems like the economy can grow to accommodate more people as there are more consumers and jobs. It has a harder time providing the housing. Part of that is NIMBY ism. Good planning can address this problem. A larger economy can also add to the carbon footprint. That's where planning for a green economy comes in. Growth of world population is starting to slow down, but growth is still a reality.

Trump's new economic advisor, Larry Kudlow is a pro growth economist who has been a radio talk show host. He's been pretty much pro immigration differing with his new boss on that one issue. New workers and consumers add to the American economy. On his radio shows, he seemed to never discuss the housing shortage. He also never talked about climate change. I would guess he wouldn't be friendly toward ideas such as shorter workweeks or reducing the rat race of life. Personally, I think much of the economy is like spinning wheels on ice. I like to see progress in technology and so forth, but we can have less rat race. Again, the key is good planning.

Values Voter Sumit to bring latchkey children and a furniture future

At the Values Voter Summit, Trump spoke about parents who sacrifice to work 2 or 3 jobs for the furniture and future of their children. Now the meme "furniture future" is going around. That's America for you.

I say, what about spending time with one's children? If people are strapped having to work several jobs, they have less time for their kids. Sacrifice is a virtue, but something is wrong when parents have little time because they have to face long commutes and more than one job just to pay inflated rent and mortgage payments, let alone furniture costs.

A few years ago, I remember the concept of "latchkey children." That was children who would wear their house key around their necks and had to fend for themselves since the parents were seldom around.

When I placed this comment on Facebook, one of my conservative friends commented about her fond memories of coming home from school to her mom who was getting things ready for dinner. She wrote, "a perfect childhood" about that memory from the 1960s and early 70s.

Today, the two income household is more common. America's obsession with wealth and productivity has increased over the years. In Trump's speech before the Values Voter Summit, hard work and sacrifice was seen as a virtue. Work and sacrifice is good, but something is out of balance. Work life balance gets ignored. For instance, property values, in many locations, have gone too high for the average worker to keep up. That and other factors have led to overwork and a rat race society for many people who still work.

In this blog I write about things like better planning and urban density for shorter commutes, trying to tame house value inflation and rents so they come back into balance with the rest of the economy, healthier living and lower medical costs, work life balance. Goals that mainstream American culture needs to place more emphasis on.

One of my liberal, and I will also say gay, friends on Facebook wrote, "The Values Voter Summit is everything that is wrong with America in one place."

With self driving cars, the commute could be part of the work day, rather than added on top of the work day.

I just got to thinking, when the self driving car arrives, it can be a big time saver. People can work in their cars as they are being driven to work, by the car. The commute can become part of the work day. If society is smart (tho I'm not holding my breath) folks would need to spend less time at the office since they can get much of their work done on the way to and from the office. Time at the office could still be used for interactive, face to face things such as meetings. Some of the rest of the cubicle time could be done in the car. This could free up more time for family life and so forth. Today, people have both the long work day and the long commute on top of that. If cars must still prevail, the cars of the future must be run on green energy, however.

Maybe we should call it First Nations Day? Other ideas for renaming the day

Less of a tongue twister than the politically correct "Indigenous People's Day" for renaming, "re branding" Columbus Day.

First Nations is a term used in Canada. Hand it to the Canadians to come up with good ideas.

Going another direction, how about calling it Exploration Day? Columbus wasn't the greatest guy and he wasn't necessarily the first to "discover" America. Besides the native peoples, there were the Vikings who sailed well before Columbus. Possibly there were even Chinese and explorers from other nations as well. I was even learning about the Vikings back at my grade school in the 1960s. The Viking were upstaging Columbus and I remember my teacher saying that Italian Americans were incensed with the (then) speculation that others got here first.

Exploration Day would preserve an original intent of a day to commemorate exploration. It could be modern exploration like giving NASA more respect. Scientific exploration. There have been lots of explorers besides just Columbus.

My idea of Exploration Day isn't likely to gain any political traction. Native Americans have already got a foothold on the idea for renaming this day and they deserve respect as well. Maybe we need more holidays. Give native Americans a day and have an exploration day as well. We could always use more holidays; less work days. Most people work the holidays anyway.

A relaxed time on the tea bus

I'm pictured, sitting in the background while a local musician is in foreground. We're having tea and conversation on the Tea Bus while it was parked at Farmer's Market in Bellingham. Pictured on the tea bus's blog. It was serving tea and community. I met some interesting people including the owner, Guisepi Spadafora. Tea Bus was also at Western Washington University where it made headlines in Western Front.

See about Guisepi's visit to Bellingham on his blog.



Posted earlier on April 13


Parked near the Saturday Market in Bellingham last week was a portable tea house in a van. The tea is free. It's a way to meet other folks and promote conversation. A slower pace of life. I stopped in and met a few folks. Nice idea. It doesn't have a fixed schedule. It will just come back "sometime." Makes its way around the country to various communities and events. The owner lives on less money than most people require. There's a donation jar, but it's hard to find. He is working on plans to run the vehicle with waste oil from restaurants. It was a nice place to relax and meet some other folks. Good conversations.

Interesting web site also Free Tea Party.

Don't work too hard