Retail dead zone? The automobile did it

Where GI Joe's and Good Guys were. Also, not pictured Circuit City empty.

Two empty box stores across one parking area have created what amounts to a retail dead zone in Bellingham. These were parts of chains that went under so maybe it doesn't say anything about local conditions, but these type of chains tend to locate in similar areas. Car oriented development. Also, of course, just more retailing than the economy can sustain.

Meridian Street near Bellis Fair Mall has created a wall of traffic that isn't pleasant to be in. Also not real easy to get across. Yes there are traffic lights, but the intersectionms are large. Not that friendly for bikes or pedestrians, of course, but those type of areas become less drivable also as traffic increases.

So it seems like some areas near Meridian (the main drag) could end up being in a "shadow of the traffic." Areas that are hard for people to cut across traffic streams to get to.

Car oriented retailing spreads out toward the periphery of the area while allowing the center to soften. It can be advantagous to locate right where the traffic first comes into the area. I've heard the term gateway before. Catch them as they are just coming off the freeway, or coming into town. Toward the center of car oriented development, the advantage softens.

With all the stores out there, people are tapped out before they get through the traffic into the center.

This is kind of what happened to downtown Bellingham many years ago when Bellis Fair Mall and other developments along I-5 really got going. Downtown became less accessible, sort of like a dead zone in the center. Back then, Meridian offered more space (for parking) and easier access for people coming into town from a large region.

Well now it seems like some of the central areas in the Meridian vicinity are starting to implode, like the downtown did in years past. Car oriented retailing needs lots of space, of course, but it also seems to seek "gateway" space. Be at the periphery where people are first coming into the area.

Sometimes I hear of threats by box stores to move out of town if they don't get favorable regulatory conditions in city limits. That political drama makes news, but there is also just the tendency to strive for being on the edge; the gateway.

Meanwhile, downtown Bellingham seems to be making quite a comeback. That's partially because there is more to it than just the type of retailing where easy parking is thought of as a prerequisite. Downtown is getting more residences. People don't need to drive here and park, they already live here.

Also some of the vibrancy I notice is people out doing things, not necessarily just shopping. A broader definition of vibrancy. It may not necessarily mean more dollars in the coffers.

In the last few years, I've noticed more residencies coming into the Meridian area as well, but you don't see a lot of people outside of their cars yet. Maybe that will come eventually if more trails and plazas get built.

Bellingham's nearly naked ride 2009

It couldn't be totally naked, but the ride was good. Fun with lots of smiles.

Maybe in future years, one step at a time, but this was a big step along what some people might call "that slippery slope."

There was also dancing. I say, dance your errands, ride a bike and have a good time.

Many thanks to Zack (pictured above) and others for smiling energy and organizational skills.

See more of my pictures from the local rides on Flickr.

Sunlit days and biking around

Early evening sun has unusual orange cast. Might be dust from Alaskan volcano? I ride up through the woods of Sehome Hill.

Like a Sunday drive with no gas consumption guilt. Instead, burning calories.

On another trip, I head to Ferndale and then back on the Nooksack River dike path. Highland Games is just winding down in Hovander Park. I climb tower and look down as vendors are starting to pack up. No cover charge arriving this late. Heard the last of the music. Stumbled upon this happening.

Below posted April 2009.

Barn at Hovander Park.

Litter in a wetland along South Bay Trail. Not what most environmentalists envision.

Saturday saw me bicycling from Bellingham to Mount Vernon. I wasn't even thinking I would make it as far as Mount Vernon or the Skagit Valley's "traffic clogged" tulip fields. I got a late start.

Went as far as north part of Mount Vernon. Through Burlington on sidewalk of "busy" Highway 99. Then turned around and headed back to Bellingham.

Things seen along the way, like flowering trees in people's yards, were the goal. I've been to the tulip fields other years.

Roads between here and Skagit County were quiet, but I could tell as soon as I got to the race track called Skagit Speedway that's along 99. Cars got more noisy. Vroom, vroom; mostly coming up from the south.

Coming back north, quiet returned as soon as I passed the race track entrance.

North of Burlington, I noticed a nice, new bike path along 99 for a ways. Just south of Chuckanut Drive crossing.

Happy for Hubble

Glad the shuttle is safely back on the ground even though it had to come to California, instead of Florida. A Florida landing would be cheaper turnaround, but weather had other ideas.

I'm looking forward to pondering more universal questions with the newly refurbished Hubble Telescope.

To get the shuttle back to Florida, they place it on top of a large aircraft and fly it across the nation.

Back when I was in college, they put the shuttle on top of a plane to test it for aerodynamics. This was sometime in the late 1970s. At the time, I was living in a sloppy rooming house full of college students. One of the students ask;

"Why are they flying two planes on top of each other?" "What a waste of energy."

I tried to explain, but her response was sort of like "don't confuse me with the facts." She didn't get it.

"What a waste, two planes on top of each other," she kept saying.

My own lifestyle is austere compared to many Americans, but I still value the ability to contemplate cosmic questions. One nice thing about outer space, we don't all have to go there to learn from it. We can send up a few public telescopes rather than each having to buy our own scope.

More chances to talk at the Bellingham Peace Walk

Last Saturday, there was a peace walk from downtown Bellingham to Fairhaven district; about 2 1/2 miles. Walking is a good way to talk to someone. I got a chance to visit with folks I often see around town. Folks I see at the Purple Church Dance, the Co-op and other places. When walking, there is more opportunity for conversation. In the end, there was dancing.

Some of the guys are cute and a lot of them dance with their shirts off. Who are these people? One might never know if there is no conversation. One might never know if people never took the time for walking.

Even if a peace walk doesn't "change the world" it's a friendlier way of life to walk. Walking means less dependency on Persian Gulf oil. I walked my bike in the walk and then biked home.

The sauna as a social outlet

Some people claim it removes toxins from the body due to excessive sweating.

I don't know if that's the case or not.

I know it can be a good social outlet as people are often friendly and talkative in the sauna. It's a nontoxic social environment, so at least it's less apt to be putting toxins into the body than, say, going to a bar, which is what many folks do for social contact.

Face to face contact, but not in a bar. Less toxic than many people's families, relationships, or the bar setting. Less likely to be around alcohol.

Pre cycle. Taking in less toxics in the first place.

As for getting rid of toxins, I don't know. Does mean more water going through body if one remains hydrated. It's too easy to get dehydrated, though.

Throughput.

Exercise is a good way to remove toxins from the body. Getting one's circulation up means improved blood flow to the many nooks and crannies of the body. That's probably the main thing, in my opinion. Getting the blood flowing through all the nooks and crannies. Nothing like moving, bicycling, walking, dancing for that.

Sauna may not be necessary for this, but it's a fun thing to do.

Just my opinion.

Waterboarding

Traditional liberals and conservatives debating. Radio talk shows humming. Maybe it's "water already under the bridge."

Imagine all the people bicycling to work

Like that John Lennon song. Sign at downtown Bellingham celebration station, Railroad and Holly. 2009 Bike to Work and School Day. Nothing wrong with a little idealism.

Looking up for good news

This is a pretty good period for astronomy and space exploration. US news has been covering the upgrade and repair mission for Hubble Space Telescope. Glad that mission is going well.

Not as well known, here in the states, is the European Space Agency's successful launch of both the Herschel and Planck telescopes from one Ariane Rocket. Launched May 14.

Planck will analyse microwave background radiation from the big bank and ponder questions about the birth of this universe.

Herschel will look at far inferred and a portion of the microwave, sub millimeter spectrum to see dusty areas, forming proto stars and so forth. Herschel has the largest mirror ever sent into space.

Hurray for the success of both missions launched from one rocket.

Then there is the Kepler, launched by NASA a few weeks back. It has just passed it's calibration reviews (this week). Now in the main "science" part of the mission.

This morning at around 6:30 AM PSD, I happened to be up for a while. I found a live video feed on the web from European Space Agency. It was covering the launch of Herschel and Planck.

Reminded me of following Apollo on television during my childhood.

Remember ads for "Gulf Oil?"

Helped bring us TV coverage of Apollo. Nice memories.

The Europeans seemed a bit different. More reserved than Americans. Also spoke with accents. It was kind of mystical to watch things live from a German version of "mission control;" especially that early in the morning (our time). The sun was just rising. Also good memories, like my childhood, only this time it's May 14, 2009 and I'm watching on the "magic screen" we call Internet.

Looking forward to new discoveries.

Will HD Radio ever amount to much?

Update October 2017.

Below article written 2009.

Last year, I wandered into a Radio Shack store to look at HD radios.

The clerk said, "An HD what?"

So I explained.

He might have thought I was dreaming, or making up this odd fantasy; like I was a street person wandering into the store.

When I said it was in the Radio Shack catalog, he looked it up and said, "Oh my god." "Learn a new thing every day."

HD radios weren't in the local store, but could be found in the catalog.

What is HD radio?

Thanks to "new technology," some stations can send out a highly compressed "digital signal" along with their regular signal. People with these special HD radios can get it; like decoding the secret message.

HD signals allow some options not available to standard radios. Higher fidelity, for instance. Also other programs besides the main program.

A good example is KUOW in Seattle. Regular radios just get KUOW FM on 94.9.

HD radios can get two more programming feeds. Basically one can get "KUOW1," "KUOW2" and even "KUOW3."

Wow. That's a lot more variety.

KUOW1 is the same "KUOW" that regular radios get, only higher fidelity.

KUOW2 is actually another station; KXOT from Tacoma. It offers a different mix of programs. Similar programs to KUOW's, but just added variety.

KUOW3 rebroadcasts the BBC from London.

That's 3 stations in the same place on the dial where regular radios only get one.

More variety.

Still, I don't know if that many stations are using the HD signal. Also those special radios seem fairly expensive and hard to come by.

Maybe Internet Radio will eclipse HD Radio?

Who knows.

HD could end up on the trash heap of technologies that never took off while Internet Radio becomes the new radio.

Why would this happen?

New bandwidth is becoming available for wireless Internet. This is especially true now that TV broadcasting is making it's switch to newer "more compressed" frequencies, thus freeing up spectrum for various signals.

Soon, I hear that wireless Internet will be available, for cheap, just about everywhere there's cellphone signal.

Wow. That means surfing the Internet in your car, only in my case, it's bicycle.

Sounds like a bad idea though. Shouldn't one be watching the road?

Well, "surfing" doesn't necessarily mean "computer screen." It can mean "Internet radio."

Yes, the car radio might soon be an Internet radio.

That would mean more choices of stations on the road. All stations on the Internet available to the car radio. This could be the ultimate "radio choice" panacea.

Variety is the name of the game, in my book. Adding more "program choices" to radio would be beneficial. A good benefit both at home and on the road.

Variety is most likely the main thing either HD, or Internet radio could offer.

To be able to pick up more interesting radio in places like eastern Oregon would be a plus. Geography can confine one to little choice beyond "Rush Limbaugh talk" or "Country and Western music."

Music?

Actually some of it might not be bad.

How about putting some interesting Seattle, or Portland stations onto the HD channel of eastern Washington and Oregon FM stations? How about even Idaho and Montana stations?

Bring the greater variety of urban radio to rural areas.

Maybe rural radio could be brought to an urban area for novelty. Listen to Montana cattle prices from your high rise condo in Seattle, or even New York.

It can be meditative.

National Public Radio has already done this, even before the advent of Internet and HD technology.

KUOW has its repeaters here in Bellingham and also one in Olympia. KUOW is on 90.3 FM in Bellingham. It's on AM in "Tumwater/Olympia."

The NPR station from Pullman, WA. (my childhood home) is extended to repeaters just about all over the state. There's even a repeater for that Pullman station here in Bellingham. The public radio network based in Pullman is called Northwest Public Radio.

Could HD work like these repeaters?

There are a lot of radio stations with the potential to offer 2 or even 3 HD signals. FM stations, that is.

From what I understand, AM stations are only allowed 1 program in their HD channel. HD gives AM "higher fidelity," but not more variety.

Maybe FM stations in the hinterlands are just sitting around wondering what to program if they were to go HD. How to fill all that extra bandwidth.

Could these various FM stations, in places like eastern Oregon, offer something more to their sagebrush territories than just country and western music?

Maybe they could pick up the feed of some totally different station and play it to the countryside. Some of those stations are pretty powerful. Larger service areas than just repeaters.

How about KUOW being available east of the Cascade Mountains? Broadcast from a Wenatchee station high on the eastern slopes of the Cascades?

How about Portland's alternative radio (known as KBOO) becoming an "HD choice" from some country and western boomer in someplace like Klamath Falls?

Variety.

When I was a kid, I remember listening to "clear channel" AM signals from all over the US. AM radio could travel great distances at night. They call that "ionospheric skip."

Nighttime AM was my variety, long before the Internet.

I remember tuning in stations like WWL from New Orleans, Louisiana. All on a regular radio in my parent's Pullman home.

Over the years, this variety of radio listening has been lost for the most part. The long distance signals have been "covered over" by more mediocre stations closer to home. Stations that are on the same frequencies as the clear channels; like FCC sanctioned radio jamming.

Many of the "local" stations are just repetitive feeds off national networks. How many places up and down the dial can one get the same "Coast To Coast" show at night?

Only thing unique to the station's local community; some jabbering ad run over and over again, or "rip and read" news via "high school student announcer intern."

Variety has been lost with the end of clear channel "across the USA" AM radio, but all is not lost.

"Variety" makes it's new entrance as those stations are now on the Internet; no doubt.

I still listen to talk shows from KGO in San Francisco via nighttime skip. It fades in and out, but works most of the time, if my neighbor doesn't turn on a lamp, or something, that makes horrible static.

Maybe a local FM station can think about carrying KGO programing as it's HD offering? That would make KGO easier to receive around local clutter.

I'd consider getting an HD radio then; if I could find one. Meanwhile, I can just listen to KGO on the Internet.

Since I wrote this in 2009 I have purchased an HD radio. The technology is still alive and probably doesn't cost that much for the stations to provide. Might as well add it to the multiple offerings available from broadcast, internet and so forth. In many cases it fill the need when cellphone isn't available or more costly. This last paragraph written 2017.

Eyes don't rot the same way

When cute guys appear, one can remember that

"Eye candy is candy which is not bad for your teeth."

Healthcare can be defined as education also

Sometimes they say education is the paramount duty of state government. This sometimes means cutting things like the Washington Basic Health Plan for low income people to spend that money for schools. In a broader sense, access to healthcare can be seen as education also. Learning from one's healthcare provider about better diets and lifestyles. Often a trip to the doctor can be an educational experience. Sometimes people learn they have high cholesterol; for instance, so dietary and lifestyle changes can be recommended. In some cases, medication is needed, but how can one even know these things without being tested? Can be useful education indeed.

Obama Chavez handshake, we still buy their oil

President Obama is getting flack from the likes of conservative talk show hosts such as Sean Hannity for being civil and shaking hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez isn't the kindest guy, but it doesn't hurt to attempt communication and civility.

Some folks think we should take a more antagonistic stance, but we are likely to just be a "paper tiger" if we take an antagonistic stance; we still buy Venezuelan oil.

As long as we're buying Chavez's oil, we're voting at the pump, so to speak.

Both Chavez and Obama are kind of over the barrel. Obama's country is dependent on the oil, Chavez's country is dependent on the money.

Being civil might as well be tried. It also gains points from other more moderate leaders in Latin America and around the world. Obama is playing to a big audience.

Being confrontational is an option, but that option looks kind of funny while we "vote at the pump" and buy their oil.

There are pictures of Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein during the Regan Presidency. Rumsfeld later became our defense secretary while we went to war against Hussein during the Bush Jr. presidency.

Oil can make strange bedfellows.

I've never driven a car.

Shorter school week. Shorter workweek

KUOW's April 13 show called "The Conversation" had talk about a 4 day school week. There's a proposal to allow 4 day school week in some districts here in the state of Washington.

Many of the callers seemed in favor. Is being done in parts of Colorado. Could even enhance education.

Main problem being what to do with kids on the day off when both parents are working.

Answer: 4 day workweek, in my opinion.

Here are some other tidbits I have found recently related to slowing down. Yes, I'm in favor of slowing down. Slowing at least moderately for a healthier life.

Recession can be bad news for some people, but good news for others.

City of Bellingham has been planning a repaving project on Forest Street for this summer. According to a recent Bellingham Herald, bids are coming in lower than expected for many road projects including the Forest Street repave. When contractors and materials are in less in demand, prices can come down.

Like the State Street repave of several years ago, they are also planning to go from 3 car lanes to 2 car lanes.

2 wider car lanes with a bike lane.

It's healthier.

No need to have 3 car lanes (6 lanes total with Forest going north and State coming south) It all ends up in 2 car lanes on the Boulevard anyway; within just a few blocks.

Then I remember recently chatting with a real estate agent in my favorite sauna.

He mentioned that property prices are still too high and should come down more so people can afford houses again. Lower prices might mean more real estate transactions as people will be able to afford to buy again.

In my opinion, property values have been way ahead of average wages. Declining values can hurt some people, but it wouldn't necessarily devastate the real estate industry. Realtors can still get a percent of sale.

The smaller sale that happens can be better than the bigger sale that doesn't happen.

America is still being bogged down from too much overhead, prices, land values, health care costs, interest on deficits, overpaid executives.

I don't mean to bog you down with too long of a list.

Loose sluts instead of slots

Someone doctored this billboard in Bellingham. I'm putting it under my funny signs label, but also makes sense to put it under "economics" given recent news.

Desire and devour.

Why cars can't really be green with today's technology

Instead of trying to make the car green, we should just be using the car less and trying to make our cities green with more density, transit and pedestrian amenities.

Green cars are kind of an oxymoron.

For instance, electric cars have a lot of technical obstacles to being green and practical. According to a December 5 NPR Science Friday show that I blogged about then, our best battery for storing power in a car isn't that good. The lithium ion battery only stores around 1/100Th the amount of energy that similar weight in gasoline stores. Thus the electric car doesn't have much of either power or range.

* That tidbit from a book titled "Physics for Future Presidents," by a Richard Muller.

Of course, we might be able to improve the battery, but I don't think that technology is here yet.

I would guess, most electric cars save energy by just being lighter and more aerodynamic. This means it's scary to be on the freeway around all those other heavy cars and trucks if you and your family are in a pop can.

No wonder bigger cars become more popular when gas prices are low, as gas prices currently are. Low compared to summer of 2008.

Then the power has to come from somewhere.

Coal power plants?

Nuclear?

Wind and solar are OK, but expensive and we get very little of our energy from those sources currently.

Hybrid "gas electric" cars are another idea.

From my understanding of the physics, these are better at lower speeds where there is stop and go driving.

Gas engines don't take well to "stop and go" so the hybrid allows the gas engine to run more steady and efficient while the electric motor takes care of the stop and go.

Also the gas motor can be smaller since it gradually builds up charge while electric motors provide those brief moments of "get up and go" for acceleration.

Electric motors provide regenerative braking for downhill.

Problem is, hybrids aren't much of an advantage at steady highway speeds; especially on the flat, from what I understand. If one is just driving down the freeway at 70 mph, that means pushing against the constant wind. At traditional highway speeds, one just needs lots of power over the long haul. I don't think the hybrid is an advantage here.

Maybe we need lower speed limits?

Then there's a whole raft of other problems associated with automobiles.

Space taken for parking and traffic means impervious surfaces; one of our biggest water resource problems.

The automobile makes sprawl more likely. Often sprawl is even mandated with parking requirement and zoning rules.

I can go on, and on.

Really, if we want a greener tomorrow, we need to change city planning so cars are less needed.

I bicycle, for instance. I live close enough to my work to walk. Our local transit is getting better. I'm a fan of density and pedestrian oriented city planning.

Changing lifestyles also. There is a whole lot more that we can do for a greener tomorrow than just bang our heads against a brick wall trying to come up with green cars.

For both safety and fuel efficiency, the answer isn't tiny cars, at least on the highway.

A better answer is public transit. Per passenger mile, the bus is both safe and green if close to fully occupied.

Cars can't really be green until we get even more advanced technology.

Maybe someday there will be a car that, for instance, takes up no space for parking. A car that one can fold up and put in their pocket when not in use.

Can Detroit build such a car? Asking for the improbable?

I went through Fargo, ND by bicycle in 1993

There was some flooding that year also. Not like this year. It was late summer when I took these pictures and more.

Sign coming into town from the west.

Red River spilling into a city park.

Pictures taken on my 1993 bicycle tour.

In 1998, I passed through Grand Forks, north of Fargo on another trip. That was a bit over a year from the devastating floods of 1997.

Home garden at the White House

Setting an example for a healthier America, I hear President Obama has had part of the White House lawn torn up for a garden.

I'm all for it. Could be a "shovel ready" way to improve health and reduce health care costs.

Also makes good fodder for March 26 Dianne Rehm show on Healthful Food. Problem is people keep getting derailed into arguments between "organic" versus "non organic."

I usually prefer non organic when it's less expensive. Apples, carrots and salads are healthier than the diets of so many folks, even if it isn't certifiably grown to organic standards. Sometimes lower food cost improves availability to wider range of incomes.

They talked about the problem of junk food being the only thing convenient to many neighborhoods; inner cities for instance (these days, inner city can mean expensive neighborhoods though).

How about suburban "so called" trailer trash areas?

When an AM / PM mini mart is the only place within miles, it can be hard to find things like apples. One can get potato chips, soda pop, candy, coffee, beer and cigarettes.

I often shop at the downtown Bellingham Food Co-op, but usually buy non organic if it's available and cheaper.

The co-op is known for good produce, but produce can need preparation. To keep things simple, I often just buy an apple, a carrot and a banana which can be eaten like candy bars. I also get salad greens which I eat out of the plastic sack.

Could grab a plate, but it's more putter.

My home is a room without kitchen.

Wish downtown Co-op was like Cordota Co-op with a salad bar, but I make due.

Downtown is near where I live, other supermarkets with big produce sections tend to be out by the freeway. Out in all that unhealthy sprawl.

I don't have garden space, but one can still eat healthier things than diets of junk food.

Garden space and fancy kitchens shouldn't be prerequisites for health. Also "yuppie boutique organic" shouldn't be a prerequisite.

Maybe "organic" is good for the environment, but regular produce, over junk food is a step in the right direction. I sometimes buy organic. Often the price isn't that much different.

Bellingham offers community garden space for those of us who don't even have large window boxes. If I had the time, I'd garden, but it's not high on my priority list.

More power to Obama's garden, however.

Hope people don't feel like it's all for the "elitist crowd" who can shell out more money for organic, have access to land, gardens and fancy kitchens.

Polyamory can mean a lighter touch

I've quietly slipped out of a few piles of cuddling people when the eroticism started getting more "hot and heavy." It's not hard to do and my absence isn't really noticed that much. At least the cuddling can continue while I step across the room and go back to another style of dancing.

One can do this with multiple people. It would be harder to slip out of a one to one relationship without the partner being disappointed or left in the cold.

I've been recently attending the meetings of a group that discusses various aspects of polyamory lifestyles. Basically, it just means eroticism can happen between more than just one other person.

People define polyamory in many different ways.

It can mean open marriages where there is a commitment between two people, but openness to another person in the lives of one, or both partners.

It can just mean partners are free to do things like date, interact, in some cases even just glance beyond the two person relationship.

It can mean groups of people getting together in various ways. Really, there are multiple definitions among the general public.

Once I heard a radio talk show where someone called to say she had caught her husband noticing another woman. She was outraged since there was a twinkle in his eye as he passed another woman on the street.

The talk show host was a psychologist and she had a great comeback. The host said to that caller, "you're husband's just married, but it doesn't mean he's dead." "Of course he's likely to have a variety of feelings."

For me, (which is what matters in this blog), eroticism is best when it's in the slow lane; one of the reasons why I chose "Theslowane.com" domain name.

Theslowane also relates to a slower, more contemplative, "bicycling" lifestyle.

For eroticism, mildly titillating experiences work for me. If there's touch, it's better when it's light touch, like putting one's toe in the waters of human contact.

I've found these experiences are more apt to come from gatherings of people, rather than single partners.

Popular opinion might think that sexuality which is more toward polyamory on the scale would also be more risque.

Folks will say, "if sex with one partner is high on the scale of intensity and being promiscuous, multiple partners just turns the volume up even more."

So goes popular conception.

Well, maybe not. Multiple people can spread and diversify the experience. It can be even less; in intensity that is.

American culture tends to have a bias toward, "the max." The climax, extreme sports, extreme experience, consumption and ultimately extreme hangover.

I've been to naked dances up in Vancouver, BC or down in Seattle where eroticism can be at various levels from quite intense to just being into the dance and music as a great form of exercise. In a room full of naked folks, there's nice scenery, good conversation. I don't notice pressure, or expectations to go beyond comfort zones.

One to one relationships are often held up by society as the highest in moral standards, but these can be filled with possessiveness.

In our culture where intensity is the norm, many people in relationships seem to devour one another. Often folks get devoured and then spit out from relationships.

In a small community like Bellingham, folks can be afraid to go out socially for fear of running into ex lovers out there.

"In a small area, be careful what bread crumbs of hurt you leave behind."

Then I hear that there are only 12, or less minutes of in depth conversation per day in the average American relationship.

Only 12 minutes!

That's not much for something I get great pleasure from. In depth conversation and getting to know someone.

I've had deeper sharing with seatmates on Amtrak.

So I wonder, what's the point being in the type of relationships that most people strive for.

I to be non judgemental. Relationships are better for some people. Intensity can be good.

I just know that I enjoy the mildly erotic dance of life with lots of variety, meeting new friends and also being able to take a break from it for enjoying solitude when my mood desires.

Government spending, budget deficits

Our state of Washington is possibly facing a 9 billion dollar shortfall over next 2 years. State and local governments looking for ways to save money.

One idea is to delay the reopening of Lowell School for another year after the remodel is done. It's closed now for the renovation anyway, so people have adjusted. Just don't open it right away after remodel and save money since people have already adjusted, supposedly.

Putting the school in mothballs for a while. Not literally, but figuratively.

Does sound like a plan that might not hurt too much and save some money, but, lots of neighbors are objecting.

What can they cut, that doesn't cause objections?

Federal government has the same problems.

People value the services government provides.

Also, I read they've raised quite a bit of private money and volunteer labor for playground renovation.

Springtime at Fragrance Lake

Just rode my bike south of Bellingham into the Chuckanut Mountains to Fragrance Lake. It's off come old logging roads in the east part of Larabee State Park. With turmoil in the news, it's good that Fragrance Lake is still there. It wasn't as quiet as this photo looks. People were fishing around the lake and their dogs were with them. Dogs are often not tranquil. One of the dogs I saw was dancing and having fun, however.

We can manufacture money domestically as Federal Reserve is doing

We don't have to import all our money from China and places like that. We can make it locally.

Wow.

The Federal Reserve has printing presses, or the electronic equivalent there of.

In an age when so much of the American economy is outsourced, local manufacture of money might spur local production of other things like oil. I read that one of the early consequences of the recent move to monetize lots of debt by the Federal Reserve is an increasing price for oil on the world market.

More money chasing after same amount of oil means inflation of prices in that commodity. Rising oil prices can increase domestic production from American oil fields, such as in North Dakota where there's still some oil, but it's expensive to extract. Also higher oil prices can boost alternative energy and use of alternative things like the bicycle. Boost health also.

Value of the dollar is starting to decline which can help American export industries.

So, printing money domestically could lead to making more of other things domestically.

Inflation created by new money can be a problem, but it's nothing new. The housing bubble of a few years back was inflation. Now, even after some housing price declines, housing is still expensive compared to what people, on average make for wages.

If the dollar declines, domestically produced things become less expensive relative to world markets. Then our export industry might increase.

During the housing bubble, America was awash in overseas money, oil and products. This situation may have spoiled us. It's like we have become more of a consumer economy and less of a producer economy.

AIG experience, more to discredit brain drain theory

From college presidents to corporate executives, one keeps hearing how salaries must be raised to keep the top talent from leaving the organization.

Top talent?

Talented at running things into the ground. Good at being greedy to the level of criminal behavior.

With AIG, one sees another aspect of brain drain theory. Retention bonuses.

When someone screws it up, you pay them more in hopes that they will stick around the company because you fear that they are the only ones who know how to unscrew what they've screwed up.

Good to see that Obama has endorsed UN gay rights statement

A step forward.

Last paper edition of Seattle PI came out today

I'm thinking about a funny ad I heard on the radio many years ago.

Television and newspaper are debating when television says, "you can't change channels on the newspaper."

Newspaper counters with, "ya, but you can't line the bottom of a bird cage with television."

Radio enters saying, "interesting debate;" like interesting debate you guys are having.

Radio ends up the victor since this ad is for radio advertising, versus television or newspaper.

Ad was before "Internet," or at least Internet being widespread.

The world keeps changing.

Hopefully, society will figure out a good mechanism to pay for journalism in the Internet age. Investigative reporting, fact checking, research and all the kind of stuff that's sometimes mundane, but needs to find an economic home.

The Internet has certainly been a boom for expressing opinion and increasing access to community discussion. With so many new things, it takes a while for business practices and mindsets to catch up.

Hope the on-line PI succeeds even though it has a much smaller paid staff.

It certainly is a golden age for interactive media at least.

In the park

A stage has been slowly taking shape in Boulevard Park. Many donations went into it. Looking forward to summer dances in the park.

Good article in Cascadia Weekly

Written by a friend of mine named Bo as a guest column in March 4 2009 Cascadia Weekly.

Cap and Trade, people don't cause sprawl cars do.

For instance there is one part of the article where it says, "Europe is so densely populated they had to implement good planning to survive, but the quality of life in Europe is very good." "Planning for people, not cars, makes for a richer life, not poorer."

He talks about nice apartment buildings in Germany where rent is affordable if tenants agree to not own a car. Money is saved not having to provide for parking.

Article says, here in Whatcom County, planners assume the need for 6 parking spaces per car. That's parking at home, parking at the grocery store, parking at work, parking at the theater, the bank, you guessed it. I assume.

He suggests a cap and trade system where growth in the number of cars in this area could be capped by permit to own a car. Folks wanting to relocate here could go without a car, or buy one of the permits from a local resident willing to give up their car.

I'd sell my permit to a new comer. I've never driven a car. I guess they would issue permits to current residents as of a certain date.

This would really help control sprawl, but it wouldn't necessarily need to limit the number of people moving here. People could live without cars. It could be very European.

He suggests a similar cap and trade system is working now for the number of commercial fishing boats allowed to operate in the area.

I like it when he says a self selection process would kick in. "People who love cars more than they love clean air and water would prefer to live in other areas."

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.