700 appicants for a custodial position

Made the news in Ohio, but it's not unusual.

Much of the time, here in Bellingham, WA. it seems like custodial positions at the university or school district can draw a hundred applicants at least. Especially as they pay a bit more than most custodial positions in the private sector.

Benefits and health insurance also.

State jobs.

Custodial work is not bad work. Can be fairly hassle free and low stress. Of course depends on situation.

All through the 1980s and beyond, I remember years when custodial positions at Western Washington University would draw huge piles of applications.

The school district and city would be similar.

Much of our local economy is what they call a "service economy."

Retailing, restaurants, lawn mowing.

Lots of waiters, waitresses and store clerks. Many of the jobs have been part time and not paying much more than minimum wage.

Of course, if one has low overhead, life doesn't have to be so bad.

Good health, free time, flexibility and then people say they leave Bellingham when it's time to look for a "real job."

The places I have worked have only had a few full time jobs and large staffs of part time workers.

Much of the local work force is students who work their job schedule around class schedules. Classes come first. After one graduates, life comes first and the job comes second. There are not that many jobs which are super inspiring.

State jobs tend to be more likely to have benefits and full time hours.

Welcome to the new economy.

Bellingham has been there for a long time.

It pays to have "low overhead," but many of the houses in this area are quite large and expensive.

There's a disconnect.

Seems like many of the homeowners are retirees who got into owning in other areas and times.

Local workers are often renters.

Then there are the much sought after state jobs.

Our economy kind of revolves around education and retirement.

Some say it's the result of not being friendly to industry. Yes, much of the industrial base has deteriorated and gone overseas.

Volunteer sector is the most dynamic and exciting part of our city's economy. In spite of recession, one still finds vibrancy at various gathering spots. Political meetings, discussion groups, folk music, dancing, festivals.

Very good news. Kepler on it's way

Successful launch of Kepler space telescope tonight. Kepler will stare at a patch of stars; over 100,000 stars, to look for flickering of the light. Flickering that might indicate planets passing across the face of the star as seen from Earth.

Very slight light winks.

Watching like a hawk, or even more intensely than a hawk, it will take an inventory of what's happening, wink and blink wise, around each of those 100,000 stars. Could be signs of orbiting planets even as small as Earth. Maybe even smaller.

They'll be able to tell more about planet size, distance from it's star and so forth. Getting an inventory of data points.

I think the first mission of this kind is the MOST satellite which, coincidentally, is based out of University of British Columbia not far from where I live.

UBC campus is a day's bike ride away from Bellingham up there in Vancouver, BC.

One other mission since MOST has a similar aim. France's Corot.

Kepler is, by far, the most powerful. We'll learn a lot.

Also this is a good way to create some jobs that are more interesting than serving coffee. How would you like that, with cream or sugar?

Ten years for domain name Theslowlane.com

Ten years ago, my Internet provider had been bought by another company. I decided to get my own domain name since it looked like my site was soon to be cast into the whims of corporate mergers.

Since 1995, it had been under the name of my dial up Internet provider.

Remember Pacificrim.net in Bellingham?

So what should my own domain name be?

Several ideas came to mind including "nudeworking," a word I made up to describe the type of networking I like doing around saunas and hot springs.

Back then, I was writing some mild homoerotic fantasies and adding them to my site. People encouraged me to write my safe sex fantasies as part of a workshop for safer sex that I was attending.

Workshops were from something called "Friend to Friend." Part of the funding even came out of Atlanta.

These fantasies may be a bit slow compared to our testosterone culture.

Slow.

That's an idea also. Like life in the slow lane.

Maybe The Slow Lane could tie it all together.

Bicycling is slower than race car driving. An intelligent conversation is slower than the quick blow job; which wouldn't really interest me that much anyway.

Armed with several ideas for domain names, I talked things over with the waitress at a local restaurant.

She had time, business was slow that day.

My waitress thought it over and said, "Theslowlane is awesome."

Both ideas, Nudeworking and Theslowlane were OK, but Theslowlane tied it all together.

Bicycling, voluntary simplicity, contemplation, conversation and yes, even mild, "aesthetic style" eroticism. It's all under one roof.

That waitress was appreciative of slowing down. Not long before our conversation, she did get a speeding ticket, however.

Speeding in Montana when that state didn't even have a speed limit!

How can that be?

Officers could still determine that one's speed was not reasonable and prudent for conditions.

She was going 100MPH.

I've crossed Montana at closer to 10MPH on bike trips.

No posted daytime limit for cars seen along Clark Fork River in Montana. 1997.

Theslowlane sounded good. Even easy to remember so I came home and punched it into the computer.

It was available.

Easy to remember and available on the first try!

Maybe no one wants to be in the slow lane.

I registered, but assigned it to the wrong web hosting company. That company wanted my site to be "www.that_company's_name.com/theslowlane/."

One of the other janitors, where I work as a janitor, gave me a magazine article that rated web hosting companies. I found the company where my site is hosted now.

It took a while to get the domain name transferred to another company where it could be "www.theslowlane.com."

Not much money was lost, just a little time.

Back then, web based domain name management wasn't as easy to do as now.

I remember sending a fax with photo ID to the domain name registrar. Fax line was almost always busy.

Eventually the change took hold.

Then it took a while for domain names to "propagate" throughout the system.

Like two weeks or so.

Those were the days, but I didn't complain. After all, it's about the slow lane.

By April of 1999, most of my site was under www.theslowlane.com and the heart of my web "empire" has been there ever since.

Time to walk

Started out as a bike ride till I saw a friend of mine walking around Lake Padden. I joined him for part of his walk. He takes long walks clear across town. I walked my bike and had a good talk.

A bit of ice on water surface and snow on mountains reflected in water. Enlarge.

Buying experiences, not things, may increase happiness

That was an interesting segment of February 13Th NPR Science Friday show.

Here are some of my thoughts related to the concept of experience versus material consumption.

It takes time to have experiences, but time is often lacking.

Experiences can take money, but many experiences don't take money. What they do take is time.

It takes time to have an experience whether it's a walk in the neighborhood for free or an expensive retreat to some fancy resort.

Time is something that's in short supply during prosperous times when Americans seem too busy with long work hours and commutes.

Now that the economy is slowing down, there's more time, but people wonder where their next rent or mortgage check is coming from.

Some people are glad to be unemployed if they are getting unemployment.

Unemployment gives folks time for experiences.

Being without a job means time for taking classes, travel, catching up with family and friends. Walking, bicycling, exercise or just sleeping in.

People shouldn't have to be unemployed to have the time for experiencing life.

We need balance.

Maybe a shorter work week is in order. How about the three day weekend?

Hurray.

Can't be legislated, but more people could opt for a shorter workweek.

Problem is, rents and mortgages are too high.

Folks have to work too much just to maintain these ridiculous property values.

What value are people getting from living in homes that are worth 1/2 million which were only worth $50,000 some 30 years ago?

Deflation might be a good thing if it makes living more affordable again.

With all this prosperity, maybe we could go to a 32 hour work week. Increase the amount of time for quality of life. Just let the property values fall.

I know it's easier said than done.

Why should we become slaves to all this foreign capital that has flooded into USA over the past few decades? This flood of capital has pushed everything up and made living in USA almost unaffordable?

Just default on it all and relax.

Even the material things we buy, these days, take time to use. Electronics keeps getting more sophisticated for little cost.

The digital camera, I just bought, costs a fraction of what one month's rent for a studio apartment is. At the same time, this cheap digital camera has so many bells and whistles that one must go on vacation just to have the time to learn it's many features.

To keep up the economy, we have to start buying, but we don't really have time to effectively consume what we buy.

Then all this consuming adds to global warming. We need more "time off" the economic tread mill.

I feel lucky that my rent is still affordable and my modest job is still healthy.

It's time to go out and take a walk.

Interesting bike racks at north side Bellingham Food Co-op

Bike racks made from old bike parts. Frames, gears, rims. They add an artistic touch to the Bellingham Food Co-op's north side store.

The north side store is new also. One could say it's "Bellingham Food Co-op version 2," borrowing lingo from computer software. Version 2.

Neighborhood is full of sprawl and traffic, but I find a way out there by riding out Eldridge, Marine and Bennett to Bakerview. Then into Cordota that way.

I'm more apt to use the downtown Co-op, but it's interesting to check out the new location.

Downtown has a similar bike rack now. It's purple. Link added april 6 2010.

Another kind of bike rack. This one at WWU campus.

Picture taken standing under the cover of a big new bike rack at Western Washington University.

Yes, I'm still boasting about bicycle things. Bicycling is a way to address so many of our economic problems from high health care costs to trade imbalances due to oil imports.

Problem of the settlements 60 minutes eye opener

I haven't realized how serious that problem is until watching this segment of 60 minutes on the Israel Palestine issue, January 26 2009.

Looks like there are so many Israeli settlements on the Palestinian West Bank that a Palestinian state wouldn't be viable. A network of security roads and checkpoints connect the settlements that are scattered all over the West Bank so the whole area is divided up to where mobility and commerce is nearly impossible.

It was an eye opener to see that segment of 60 Minutes which a friend of mine linked to from his Facebook presence. I don't have a TV, myself, but can watch the video clip on my computer.

In the past, I have had some sympathy for the plight of the Israelis, but it looks like the intransigence of those Israeli settlers on the West Bank is threatening to ruin the entire situation. Intransigence is usually bad where ever it rears it's head. Intransigence based on religion, what ever religion is involved, can be ugly.

Abortion is a red herring issue. Glad Obama lifts Mexico City policy

I'm glad Obama kept his promise to lift gag order that was imposed by Republican administrations against many of the family planning and birth control programs around the world.

Abortion is probably not the main issue, but it's a red herring and a political lightning rod. The debate over whether some of these programs also support abortion can derail support for the entire concept of family planning. That's only one part of a bigger picture. Family planning doesn't have to be about abortion. In an ideal world, something like abortion wouldn't exist because there wouldn't be unwanted pregnancy.

Various tools to reduce population growth will help the environment.

Abortion is only one of many tools that could possibly be used. Hopefully it's only a last resort and can be avoided. There are probably more effective ways to reduce the number of abortions than placing a gag order on the broad spectrum of family planning techniques that could hopefully be effective before unwanted pregnancy happens. Better family planning might even reduce abortion.

Starvation and famine is not pro life either.

Ironically some Republicans who preach pro life are also battling to keep the tide of population growth from immigrating to this country.

Here in USA, there is still more elbow room and lower population density than in many other parts of the world.

Average American lifestyles have large footprints on the environment.

As the world gets more crowded, a lot of the people who preach that population growth isn't a problem should really be changing their lifestyles.

Get rid of that car and the single family neighborhood. Start walking, bicycling or taking the bus. Soon there will be less room to park the car and less fossil fuels to run it.

The "parking" issue is especially noticed in our large metropolitan areas.

Maybe folks who live in North Dakota are laughing at me. They've still got some elbow room, but open spaces in North Dakota are needed to grow crops for the rest of us, not to mention there needs to be some places left for migrating birds.

Locavore's dilemma

Out of season apple tree.

There are people who want to only eat food grown close to where they live. Say 1 or 200 miles.

Supposedly better for the environment not to ship food around the world.

Well, apples can grow around here, Bellingham, WA., but they get kind of mushy when stored in warehouses for out of season.

In spring, which is not apple season here, we get nice crisp apples shipped in from places like Chile and New Zealand.

To buy local, one would want to make canned apple sauce for the off season. Would that take more energy, cooking the apples for canning than shipping the apples from southern hemisphere?

One would need lots of containers also. Cans are usually tossed after one use even though metal can be recycled.

Glass can be recycled, but how much energy does it take to haul to the recyclers? Glass can also be reused. How much energy does it take to wash out the glass containers for reuse each year?

How much storage do people have? What if one just lives in a studio apartment?

People often try to move out into a rural area so they can grow more of their own food. Then they usually drive more because errands are farther away than living in town.

Dependency on the automobile; weakest link in people's environmental program.

If you need a bigger house to store food, how much energy does it take to refrigerate storage and heat a larger home?

I'm not a locavore when it comes to food, but there are some good things about locavore living. It means doing business with your neighbors, often people you know, rather than producer and consumer being so far apart that there's no personal contact.

The new New Years, but this year Inauguration Day is big

This year, it seems like Inauguration Day is more significant than New Years Day.

January 20th also happens to be my brother Jack's birthday.

Did Obama train ride into Washington DC cross Thomas Viaduct?

It must have, but I haven't seen for sure. Momentous moment in history if it did.

Thomas Viaduct was built in the 1830s for B&O Railroad.

Back in the days when stone was still king in construction.

Viaduct has had a long history and is still in use today. Located at Relay, MD.

Someone I know is interested in railroad history and told me about the viaduct. I've never seen it myself. Or maybe I did go over it in 2nd grade when my family took the train to Washington DC.

Much of US history is also the history of technology.

In the beginnings, like Roman times, a great nation built with stone.

Steel came along later; the steel bridges and skyscrapers we experience today.

Composite fiber is becoming more common as time goes on. Boeing aircraft is even working on their "Dreamliner" made from fiber; basically.

And then there's fiber optic cable. Knitting the world together through the Internet.

History keeps adding new chapters. I'm glad Obama chose to arrive by train. The train is a neat way to go. January 20 is almost here.

Bush years bracketed in plane crashes

Many say that the 911 events defined the Bush Presidency. A few of his speeches, soon after 911, were lauded by many including a lot of democrats.

The nation was rattled.

There was even another plane crash that happened soon after 911. American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens on November 12, 2001.

Scary; as if the US wasn't being rattled enough. This was not terrorism, but an actual accident. The old phrase, "When it rains, it pours."

On Thursday, January 15 2009, The last major speech of Bush's Presidency was all but drowned out in news coverage of another plane crash. This time, a much happier outcome. All passengers and crew survived when that US Airways jetliner crash landed into New York's Hudson River. A miracle that everyone survived. The pilot now a hero.

Big news from New York pushed Bush's farewell speech to inside pages of newspapers.

During the Bush years, I am not aware of any other major commercial airline disaster in US after 2001. I'm sure some would try and credit this to Bush's watch even though his Presidency is now far from being popular.

Many things lead to airline safety and people often forget that folks are still safer on commercial aircraft than in their automobiles. Far safer.

Safety record of the automobile is devastating. It just doesn't make the big news.

Small plane crashes happen from time to time.

Many have forgotten that on January 5 2002, a teenager who was said to be inspired by the 911 attacks stole that Cessna 172 and crashed it into the side of the Bank of America Tower in downtown Tampa, Florida. The teenager died, but no one else was hurt.

Maybe he wanted to rattle America, but hardly a dent was made. The little plane was devastated, but that building survived. Only one office damaged. "File cabinets strewn about and broken glass on the carpet." Maybe even the desk and phone were trashed!

Hardly a footnote to America's prognosis for survival. The trash heap of history?

I'm glad Bush years are almost over with their mood of fear. The memories and references to 911. Let's hope nothing so shocking as 911 happens during the Obama years.

Can the economy keep growing?

I hear from some economist on the radio that US may need 6 million new jobs in the next (I forgot the duration) 2 years? Anyway, it's just to keep up with population growth.

Yes, population growth. That "not talked about" aspect of economics again.

US is struggling just to keep the jobs it has now. It's loosing jobs.

Rain, rain, rain in Bellingham area

This short video is the rapids of Whatcom Creek in downtown Bellingham under Prospect Street Bridge. Water pouring down creek as they let extra water out of Lake Whatcom. The creek is an outlet.

Sorry, I don't have another video of these rapids in "low creek flow" times for comparison.

Also, I'm still just learning how to use my new little camera. Amazing what features they can cram into a tiny camera for relatively low price these days.

Deflation can be a good thing

Some economists worry that deflation will cause people to stop shopping. They say, "why would people buy now when the price will be lower if they wait?"

We've already had deflation for many years and it didn't stop shopping. In the computer and electronics industry, prices keep falling. Next year's digital cameras are cheaper and they keep adding more features.

People keep buying them anyway.

Then, when the newer, cheaper versions come out next year, they buy again, sometimes tossing the old camera into a landfill.

Deflation doesn't necessarily stop people from shopping. Folks will figure, "if they wait till the price hits bottom, their lives will pass them by before getting a computer or camera." Their lives will pass them by before they get on Facebook, network with friends or send digital pictures to loved ones.

Of course doing these things aren't necessarily the "holy grail" of living, but those who buy electronic products haven't let deflation stop them from going ahead and making their purchases. Maybe it slows them a bit, but it doesn't stop them.

In house values, deflation could be a good thing also. Good for lower income people who may wish to enter the realm of home ownership.

Entry level prices for homes are way above the level that many working people in quite a few of our metropolitan areas can afford.

If house values come down, that's a good thing for aspiring first time home buyers.

Think "affordable housing."

Maybe this can help bring rents down also.

Of course deflation is hard on those who have already purchased and are watching their home values drop below what they still owe on the mortgage. Also hard for governments who rely on tax revenue from inflated property values.

Economics is never perfect.

For many years, we've had both inflation and deflation at the same time.

In 2005, I read that house values in Bellingham went up 23 percent in one year. That was the worse year for house value inflation locally that I'm aware of. Other years, though, it was around 10% while average wages didn't go up that fast.

Often wages are more influenced by the price of things like digital cameras. A realm where deflation resides.

Now it's "post 2008 bust" and the train wreck has arrived. Inflation and deflation have collided. People can't afford their mortgages from working in an economy of selling cheap items.

Deflation isn't bad. It's just that a lot of people have too much overhead.

High mortgage payments for inflated property, high medical care costs.

The problem isn't new, it's just that more people are noticing this now. The train wreck has arrived.

We've had a two tier economy for years. Really, it's a "multi-tiered" economy.

One of the problems with economists and all this talk about inflation or deflation is the fact that our economy doesn't inflate or deflate all together in one solid block.

Some things go way up in price and other things go down. Some things stay the same. That's normal life.

As these discrepancies become extreme and the economy starts pulling apart, it spells trouble.

Big gaps and chasms have been growing in our economy for years.

Discrepancy of incomes. Questions about affordability of housing and health care.

Worlds and realities splitting apart.

It's time to try and find ways to knit things back together.

Deflation can be one of the good things, if it means housing becomes affordable to more people. It isn't always easy however.

Maybe if people didn't have so much overhead, there wouldn't have to be such a frenzy to sell and buy products to pay the bills.

It's nice to buy new computers and digital cameras every once in a while, but I find that one needs to take a vacation from work, just to have the time for figuring out how to use these items.

Venturing into another year

Found this in a folder from last summer's walking along the bay. Zoom lens.

"Happy New Year."

Lots of future jobs in health care?

This assumes the health care industry can continue to be financed.

Walk along path from Jersey St. on Sehome Hill

We had a white Christmas. Rare in this area. Snow is melting now.

Why steam is still rising from old Bellingham Georgia Pacific site

It's a power plant. See also Future heating district for Bellingham?

Used to be for cogeneration when GP was still going. GP benefited from its waste heat. Now it's just a power plant (burns natural gas), but could play a cogeneration role in future waterfront development.

Steam rises part of the time when plant is in use.

Riding my bike around town snapping images. With energy issues making news, here is the cooling tower and power lines by Encogen power plant in Bellingham. Kind of like "found art." Modern art.

Rush Limbaugh forgets we're a flash in the pan

We had a white Christmas this year, rare for Bellingham. Glad we can still have white Christmases occasionally.

Heard a spot from Rush Limbaugh yesterday morning on the radio. Saying global warming isn't so bad, it's happened before; like 14 million years ago as evidenced from fossils in Antarctica.

I say, yes, the Earth has warmed and cooled over millions of years, but humans have only been around for a short slice of Earth's history. Maybe it was warmer several million years ago.

Still, we're worried about the next hundred years because we plan to be here for that period of time.

We weren't here 14 million years ago so no one (that I know of) "sweated it" back then.

The next hundred years is pretty important to us.

If we figure out how to curtail our greenhouse emissions, the Earth might give us the next 500 years of stable climate. That's enough time for our civilization to continue flourishing.

If there's going to be another "naturally caused" global warming trend in a few million years, we've got time to plan for it.

Will we even be around then?

500 years is a short time for nature, but a long time for us.

Do we want to bring on global warming now, just because we know it might happen again in a few million years?

That's kind of like saying, "cross in front of traffic now cause you know you'll be dead in 200 years."

Sure we've had ice ages and periods of warming over the millions of years, but there weren't ski resort operators looking at the sky wondering if snow is in the forecast so they can pay their debt on the new ski lodge.

In the next hundred years, the ski resorts and farmers are among us. We can't stand hearing them bitch.

Maybe, in less than 500 years, we'll be a space faring civilization anyway (if we're still around). Then we might not be so worried about Planet Earth. In 500 years, we might be elsewhere.

500 years is merely a flash in the pan compared to millions and billions of years, but these next years are important to us.

Santa seen in window of local bike shop

Bailing Out Homeowners?

I hope they help renters also with the broader issue of affordable housing. More money for HUD.

Also they shouldn't just help current homeowners. What about those who have already been foreclosed on and are no longer in their homes? Back to square one.

How about people who never bought in the first place.

How about subsidizing more folks to become first time home buyers? Someone like me could buy a condominium if there was a $50,000 grant to help defray the cost. On my income, I could possibly put up the other $50,000 based on borrowing with house payments being around 1/3 my income. The grant would be a good boost toward the bottom of our local condo market which still hovers over $100,000.

If they want more people to be homeowners, let's get some new homeowners in the market. Grants for renters to become homeowners? Government pay half the mortgage? Then when you sell, the government's $50,000 investment would stay with the condo to keep it affordable for the next owner. There's actually a program like this that I read about.

What about the folks that have already had their homes foreclosed on? They are now out of the market as if they were starting over again. How about giving them money to get back into the market? Like giving folks money who haven't bought yet.

The Federal Reserve can just print up all this money. More money in circulation leading to inflation eventually.

Inflation across the general economy can bring everything up to the level that property values are still at, to a large extent.

Either that or property values will have to come down some more.

One should also ask, "is home ownership the holy grail of life?" Should everyone strive to be a homeowner?

Or are we better off finding other solutions for some people; like affordable rent?

I've had a good landlord so far.

Another solution to the housing debacle is to allow more renters in single family neighborhoods. Let homeowners rent out rooms to help pay their mortgages.

That could help both renters and homeowners.

These changes would have to be done at the local level, but Obama can use the "bully pulpit" to advocate this.

Allow more density. It could reduce commute times also as more people could afford to live closer to work. Reduce traffic. Save energy.

Bump up density in many of the current residential zones. Wouldn't be as much of a problem if people weren't so dependent on automobiles.

Traffic? Parking in the neighborhood? Cars in the front yard?

It wouldn't look so bad if it was bikes inside the house or people taking the bus.

So many things interrelate.

Warm memories of snow holiday from school

Whatcom Creek in the snow at Cornwall Ave.

When school was canceled, my sister and I would cut out pictures of products from magazines. We each had a shoebox that we would drop our images into.

Our collections grew.

When school was canceled, there was more time to add to these collections.

Pictures would be snipped from magazine ads, articles and catalogs.

We were furnishing estates. There would be estate cars, color TVs, radios, CB gear, fishing rods, couches, love seats, bathtubs, furnaces, camping equipment, auxiliary power units, sonic depth finders (for boats), you name it. We'd collect it.

Drop it into the shoebox.

Just imagine, if not being able to go to work means one's estate can grow faster. More time to cut from the endless stack of magazines.

Those were warm memories that came back when I heard someone call a radio talk show describing how they spent the day that their kids couldn't attend school.

A snow day.

They stayed home and had "quality" time.

Opposite of our "on call 24/7" economy.

Opposite of the idea for getting rid of summer vacation and having school 12 month per year.

Let the estates be made out of paper. When school was out, we prospered.

US economy burdened with too much overhead

America, and also much of the rest of the world (not just America) reminds me of a family I met who traveled in a big RV. The wife couldn't open a can without the husband having to start up the generator as the can opener was electric.

We are burdened by high paid executives, yes.

Also expensive real estate creating a high cost of living.

Then there's health care costs.

Not only inefficient health care financing, but poor health in the population.

People working so hard to pay the cost of housing that they don't have time to live healthy. Working so hard to pay the cost of health insurance that they can't afford to be healthy. Can't afford the time.

Throw in long commutes also. No time for dance, exercise, in depth conversation or even a good night's sleep.

Not enough people ride bikes.

Much of the development is too spread out.

On top of this you toss in two wars so people can get to work (oil). More military spending than all other nations combined (from what I hear).

We have security worries gumming up the works, bureaucracy, law suites and more lawyers per capita than other nations. Fear of new technology. Fear of new ways for doing things.

We have more drive up coffee places. Hurry up and wait.

There's got to be better ways to function.

Some people would call me an elitist for criticizing the way people live and do business.

Jogging in the slow lane

When I'm in my 50s, how can I keep up jogging with a friend in their 20s?

Answer: We wern't racing each other. We were both just jogging together. If we had been racing, maybe he could have beat me, but we weren't racing.

Before going to some dance at a place called Purple Church, I saw one of the folks that I recognize from the dance at a cafe. We sat together and then jogged to the dance.

Ponzi Scheme shows peter principle rather than brain drain theory is correct

When institutions such as corporations, government agencies and universities jack up executive salaries, they are contributing to the Peter Principal rather than combating brain drain.

To combat brain drain, they say they have to offer big salaries to attract top talent to their organizations. Pay more rather than standing by as top talent is "brain drained" away.

I hear this theory all the time, especially expressed among educational institutions. It's articulated there, but applies to many forms of business and government alike.

Now we see what the very top of the pay scale is capable of. Yet another scandal. Both those who were perpetrators of the Ponzi scheme and the many "best and brightest" who fell for it.

The Peter Principle where "people tend to Rise to their levels of incompetence" seems more accurate most of the time.

If institutions weren't so burdened by fear of brain drain, they could save lots of money on executive salaries.

Maybe top talent doesn't always command top dollar.

Insisting that top talent requires top dollar is kind of an insult to the many folks who are so committed to their work that they, in some cases, even volunteer.

Normal weather feels colder if people are used to warmer weather

View at State and Magnolia Dec. 13.

It snowed some in Bellingham last weekend.

Pretty. Also pretty cold.

We have had several mild winters so this one is hitting people by surprise. It isn't even Dec. 21 yet.

I remember a few colder winters from years past. They seem less frequent in recent years, but it's still possible, thank goodness. Something to break the gray drizzle monotony.

Maybe we can blame global warming for feeling real cold. If cold weather is less frequent, then we aren't as used to it when it does come.

My room gets a bit cold, but jackets and an electric blanket help. My electric heater remains on low power since there are several things on the same circuit.

Car has big footprint and gasoline is hard act to follow

Someone sent this to a mail art show I compiled in the 1980s. I'm not sure where this picture was taken or what magazine it was cut out of. I used it in a collage.

There was an interesting segment of Science Friday on NPR Dec. 5 08. It was talking about the "energy density" of gasoline.

Hard to beat gasoline for energy output per pound. Our best batteries, so far, the lithium ion batteries only produce about 1 / 100th of the power per pound as gasoline.

Amazing! Pound for pound, gasoline is 100 times as much energy. No wonder our economy can't shake it's dependency on gas.

Hydrogen does better. Per pound it can have 4 times the energy of gasoline, but it takes up a lot more space. For unit volume, gasoline still has around 3 to 4 times the energy equivalent of hydrogen. In other words, hydrogen is light weight, but it takes up more space. Requires a bigger tank.

This was part of a book called "Physics for Future Presidents" by Richard Muller. He was interviewed on that segment of the show I just heard.

Reducing energy consumption is still the easiest way to go. We haven't found a miracle fuel that replaces gasoline yet.

Making the car lighter, of course, helps, but for safety, a pop can is light and crushes too easily.

I still like my bicycle which goes slow enough to not crush so bad.

My bicycle is especially good when I'm able to use trails and road shoulders away from the traffic.

Motorcycles are faster, but they go right in the traffic lane. Little protection.

Who's in a hurry anyway?

Public transit is good for both speed and safety.

Trains and buses are great and a friend of mine recently made airline reservations from Austin Texas to Seattle. He said the plane ticket was actually cheaper than the cost of gas if he were to ride his motorcycle all that distance.

Imagine that, it's actually cheaper flying that long a distance at least. That's because you're sharing the fuel bill with more than 100 other passengers on the plane.

Imagine how efficient trains or buses can be.

Even though I ride my bike, I've thought about an idea for a solar car. Yes, run the car on sunlight.

Problem is, solar panels need to be bulky to have a lot of capture area. Big capture area to power a car.

That doesn't work driving down the road since a car needs to be aerodynamic. Can't have a giant solar panel catching the wind.

So, have foldout solar panels.

Yes, park the car, then fold out your bulky panels and let it charge the car while you're at work. Fold it back up when you're ready to drive home again.

OK, you say it's too much work.

Also you're worried that vandals will damage your panels. Other cars might bump into you're bulky panel setup in the parking lot.

Then you're using the panels to charge that battery. A lithium Ion battery?

Able to store 100 times less energy than it's weight in gasoline. No wonder it hasn't caught on yet. Still good to do the research.

Experiment. I'm sure it will get better eventually.

Meanwhile, I'll still take the bus and ride my bike.

Market solutions for funding youth programs?

There's a large market that finds young people to be erotically attractive. How about selling erotic services, possibly even legalizing prostitution, to help fund young people and youth services?

Oh, you say the idea is preposterous?

I'm suggesting this as a critique of the concept of relying on the marketplace for everything. Is the market really the best solution in all cases?

Maybe employing youth in erotic industries isn't a bad idea for funding their services.

We do rely on gambling to pay for a lot of government and social services in today's economy.

Gambling on Indian reservations is a marketing concept that pays for quite a few things.

The state lottery is another marketing idea.

Some call the lottery a "voluntary tax on fools." Brings money to the state that doesn't have to rely on raising taxes.

I don't know if these are good ideas, but why not include erotic services in the mix? In another kind of society, the business of sexuality could be a money maker for government. An enterprise that's quite pleasurable as well.

Could add to the revenue for youth services that currently comes from government sources, volunteer donations, churches and so forth.

Better than the one arm bandit at some casinos. Better than scratch tickets.

Maybe it's not such a bad idea. Who knows.

On the other hand, we can't rely on market solutions for everything.

This society is kind of uptight about things like that. Also there's problems associated with exploitation.

Another thought for the trash heap?

Moving on, here's yet another idea.

In the early 1980s, there were psychologists on KVI radio in Seattle. It was a "call the psychologist" talk show.

Someone named Jennifer James was one of the on-air psychologists back then. She could analyze issues and help people between commercial breaks. I thought she was quite good.

President Reagan was in the White House. Funding was being cut for various counseling agencies.

I thought, "Government funded counseling clinics being cut back?, maybe radio psychologists could take up some of the slack."

A Novel idea?

So I wrote a letter to the American Enterprise Institute (a think tank leaning toward market solutions). Suggested pop psychology on the radio as a means to take the burden off of publicly funded counseling agencies.

They wrote back saying it was a worthy suggestion.

Thinking about this more, I realize some problems with putting the therapist's couch on the air.

Not enough time to really do justice to one's client callers. Hard to solve problems between commercial breaks.

Most radio counseling sessions were short as they had to "wrap it up to pay the bills."

Sell more refrigerators.

Regular counseling, in a psychologist's office, can be limited as well. Sessions often restricted to 50 minutes. "50 minutes with the clock ticking." Expensive also.

On the radio, there's usually even less time. There's practically no confidentiality either. Your session is broadcast to thousands. Names were anonymous though.

Another thought for the marketplace of ideas.

*Radio psychologists were on KVI in 1980s predating the current talk format.

When government becomes the consumer of last resort

Both Congress and President elect Obama are talking large stimulus packages. Government becomes the "consumer of last resort" and, if done properly, it can buy things we really need. Things like transportation infrastructure and affordable housing. The private market hasn't been bringing enough of what we really need.

Construction on Walton Place near downtown Bellingham.

A stimulus check as tax rebate might just go into the private market and get lost in buying imports. Do we really need more toys from China?

When government becomes the consumer, it can direct spending toward more long term needs that private market doesn't seem to buy. Things like roads and bridges. Research into cleaner energy.

I'm sure private markets do some of this, but it seems like government needs to set direction. Let private enterprise do the work, contracting and so forth while government buys.

Pictured above is a large crane working on local project of mixed and affordable housing. Crane was brought in this fall as lots of other projects faltered from the current economic crisis. This project is moving forward. Government is involved. HUD money I think.

Government can be the consumer of last resort. Also, hopefully, a wise spender.

Where does government get it's money?

I'm scratching my head.

Hopefully it doesn't have to be paid back.

The Federal Reserve prints it?

I'm sure government does owe lots of money, but somehow, it seems to get by ringing up more debt. Interest rates remain low.

There's plenty of capital, but government seems to be the only conduit that's trusted these days. I guess it's called priming the pump.