Sunday Drive, bike ride that is

Actually it was Monday bike ride (Memorial Day). Nooksack River quite high near Ferndale with snow melt from Cascades. River seen from Nooksack Dike bike trail. I went through Ferndale twice that day just riding around.

Waste of time?

At least it wasn't a waste of fuel. That's the nice thing about the Sunday drive concept on a bicycle. I did get hungry, however, but a supermarket solved that problem.

Friendly wave to the truckers who brought food to the supermarket.

Jumping from the frying pan into the fire

Frying pan of city center real estate got too hot and expensive so people jumped out into "drive till you qualify or can afford the rent" land. Then the fire of burning up fossil fuels with rising gas prices consumes them.

We need better planning. More density and destinations nearby in parts of suburbia. More public transportation. There needs to be some alternatives to having to choose between the frying pan and the fire.

Earth replica in 2008 Ski to Sea Parade

Planet Earth was in Ski to Sea Parade as part of an entry from the Restore.

Bicyclists from Mount Baker Bicycle Club and other sources were in parade also. The club shared a spot in parade with Community Car Share of Bellingham.

Car sharing and biking all go together.



While Earth did ride in a truck, bicyclists were seen with T-shirts saying, "be cool, stop global warming." We now have some bicycle taxi's in town.

Some one's 3 wheel bike with "electric assist" reflects my image in it's solar collectors.

Like last year, my bike had a sign saying "25 miles to the carton of chocolate milk."

Smart Trips and/or Mount Baker Bicycle Club had a spot in the 2007 Ski To Sea Parade. I went along for the ride. Here are a few images. Click on images for larger versions.

Someone got my picture.

Ellen's Smart Trips float.

The sign on my bike says, "25 miles to the carton of chocolate milk."

Solar power for a bike.

At the staging area.

Headed down the parade route.

To find out what Smart Trips is about, visit their web site.

Traveling to Mars

Phoenix Polar Lander is on a fantastic vacation. Wow, pictures from the landing site are far sharper than this image of Mars that I found in an old textbook.

Soon it will be time to look for some ice for the picnic cooler.

Congratulations on a successful landing.

No, they don't really have a picnic cooler full of beer and sandwiches on this unmanned mission. Still, they are hoping to find ice just under the surface. Ice that they can scoop up and analyze to learn a lot about the chemical composition of soil and ice on Mars.

Could life have ever existed on the red planet? That's one of many questions worth pondering.

Our frontiers of knowledge keep expanding.

The more we learn, the less we feel that we are at the center of the universe. It's good for humankind to have lessons in humility at times.

Enlarge my image to find some poetic writing about exploration from that old textbook. Maybe not that old, 1971.

To find more information and see much sharper pictures, visit phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/

Bellingham Towers in ground fog

I'm not sure why they call it "The Towers" as it's just one tower, but ground fog provided a neat affect the morning of Bike To Work Day 2008. Turned out to be a nice day.

Bellingham Tower was built in late 1920s as a hotel. It's now offices. Sign in foreground from a local bakery.

Too much self confidence?

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

Bike To Work and School Day in Bellingham 2008

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

Reasons why I am not biking to work that morning

I live so close, I just walk to work.

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

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

And Rome wasn't built in a day.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Like taking life one day at a time?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are people still going to shop there?

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

Worry, worry, worry.

Higher gas prices may help to break these patterns.

Having your cake and eating it too

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

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

Heating and cooling large homes takes gobs of energy also.

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

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

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

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

The logic makes sense.

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

We can always try, however.

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

Hydrogen fusion rather than nuclear fission?

Aw, the topic of another blog post some day.

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

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

Think vacuum tubes vs transistors?

Maybe life can mimic electronic technology someday.

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

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

We can gradually change inertia.

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

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

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

Is road trip tenting on the decline in America?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where can we camp?

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

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

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

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

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

Do automobile travelers still use tents?

One sees a few.

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

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

"See America, rent for the week."

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

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

Am I getting old or becoming a flabby yuppie?

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

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

Comparison

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

Big Ole Steam Whistle test at WWU

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

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

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

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

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

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

A few people came out of nearby buildings wondering what the sound was. One person thought it might be a line break at the boilers.

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

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

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

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

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

Careful bicycling down hill

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

Scary.

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

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

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

Scary.

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

Errands around town

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

AMA medicine's biggest side effect: cost

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

McCain's summer gas tax holiday idea full of potholes

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

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

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

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

Who is not thinking these things through all the way?

Obama Yoga

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

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

Rural like mural on side of urban like apartment building.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Less expensive" becomes their appeal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe I should write a novel.

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

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

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

Public transit would be just about everywhere.

More trains and less planes.

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

Automation could remain, but the human workweek becomes shorter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe I should write a novel.

My first Earth Day, 1970 at Pullman High School

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

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

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

Bio fuel debacle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let the Sonics go to Oklahoma

I'm not a sports fan anyway.

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

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

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

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

* Image of reader board at Whatcom Community College.

Obama's Bitter small town Americans comment

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

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

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

More people fighting over scarce resources.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twin Sisters near Highway 9 and Saxon Road

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

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

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

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

Are Oil Company Profits Justified?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, a recession can lower prices.

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

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

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

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

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

For instance, big tax breaks for SUVs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Early spring snow

An early spring slushy snow came to Bellingham. Snow is rare near the bay, but cool weather often persists late into season. Fourth of Julys with doors shut and furnaces running can happen, but late July through Sept can get pretty dry.

Refreshing chill in air felt during bike ride after heated sauna at YMCA with warm conversation. Bike ride might be too chilly otherwise, unless I get a new jacket.

A pink and white world. Japanese Cherry in the snow.

Lights out Earth Hour

On the radio I heard, "don't try this if you're driving." I guess you need your headlights. Wait a minute, who's driving if they are that concerned with the Earth?

Part of recently refurbished Lummi totem pole

With part of Whatcom County Court House in the background. Circles work together.

We're having an unusually cool (early) spring. It's too early to say all of spring will be unusual. I remember some other years with cooler than normal end of March weather. Snow mixed with rain. When I was a kid, my brother called this kind of weather "Snain."

A friend of mine from California is questioning global warming.

Is it global cooling?

There is always a lot of random fluctuation in weather from year to year. The weather is often weired because it's either warmer than normal or cooler than normal. Sometimes it hits "normal" right on the head.

Normal is just the average over many years. In global warming, the "normal" gets slightly warmer as years go by.

Sometimes cool weather feels cooler if one has been used to warmer than normal weather for a while. Also some of our recent migrants from California are thinking the weather is cool. Yes, it's probably cool compared to Sacramento.

Should Nuclear Power Enable Our Lifestyles?

Some folks see nuclear power as a great solution to the global warming / fossil fuel problem. It can be viewed as a convenient source of energy that doesn't emit CO2 gas into the atmosphere and also doesn't rely on declining fossil fuel resources.
Continued below.

Power lines near Enterprise, Oregon. Seen on my 2001 bike tour.
I often find my radio tuning to Bill Wattenburg (actually I'm tuning it myself). He's a weekend talk show host on KGO in San Francisco who often speaks the virtues of nuclear power in getting us out of our fossil fuel jam.
* KGO can be heard all up and down the west coast at night via ionospheric AM radio skip It's also on the web.

Sure, there's solar energy, wind power and some other "more idealistic" sources, but it seems like quite a few people feel that these things are not convenient enough to provide the vast amount of energy needed in our civilization; at least in the near future. Nuclear is already providing much of the electricity used in France, for instance.

I'm not against nuclear and I think it's likely to be part of the solution. On the other hand, here is a question I have been pondering.

"Is it better to fly across America in a jet plane, or ride your bicycle across America?"

Think about it for a bit. Fly across, or bicycle across?

Basically, there really isn't an absolute answer to this question.

It's better to fly across, if one is in a hurry and needs to get to the east coast with-in a few days to attend a wedding for instance.

On the other hand, what if someone wants to sample home cooking at various cafes all across Montana and North Dakota? Then the bicycle might be better. What if one is wishing to be in shape and fight the propensity toward obesity? What if one wants to take lots of pictures? What if one wants to have a good excuse to take several months break from the job routine?

I can think of a lot of reasons to favor bicycling. Still, I'll admit that the bicycle is a big part of my lifestyle. It wouldn't be the answer for everyone, nor probably most of the commerce that runs this society.

Still, much of this society seems like a rat race to me and it can be said that faster isn't necessarily always better.

It's time to have an honest dialog about many of the cultural assumptions we make. Is more consumption always better?

I know many folks who will say, "taking the train is better than flying, driving or bicycling."

Yes, I took the train home after bicycling across USA. Met many interesting people. Train is great for social life.
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Spring budding along Interurban trail south of Bellingham.
The nuclear power debate is a good context to bring up these questions about our culture of speed and consumption because there are a lot of people who have trouble stomaching the idea of nuclear power.

There seems to be no magic answer where we can continue the consumptive culture with no lifestyle change, but at the same time, refuse to use technological means, such as nuclear energy, to power that culture.

Remember, solar is "technology also." I'm thinking about some friends who say there can't be a "technology fix."

So, how about a lifestyle fix? Are these friends addicted to their cars?

There's an old phrase that goes, "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

Now you might be asking, "how can nuclear power run an airplane?"

There are several answers to that question as well. One being that nuclear could produce a lot of our electricity, rather than coal; thus freeing up more fossil fuel capacity (both in the atmosphere and the ground) to keep the planes running for a while at least. Keep things going for the next few decades.

Also, electricity can power vehicles directly (maybe not aircraft now days at least).

Hydrogen fuel can be made from an abundant source of power, such as nuclear. This can be a non carbon fuel for vehicles and aircraft.

Sure, I think wind, solar and other idealistic "green" technologies can offer more promise than some of the advocates of nuclear might be willing to admit; especially in the somewhat more distant future. On the other hand, it seems like nuclear will be part of the mix. A dialog about lifestyles and culture needs to be part of the mix as well.

Do we really need to live in such a fast paced, consumptive society? I hate to be dogmatic and say, "bicycling is better," but I think bicycling can play a bigger part of the mix. Also downsizing. Smaller houses, more compact neighborhoods, even shorter workweeks, less consumption, more quality social life and family time.

Many years ago, I heard another radio personality, Paul Harvey, speak disparaging about a possible future of "bearded bicyclists" versus the promise of some energy company.

I'm not too much of an alarmist against energy production, but show me where the bearded bicyclists are. I think they're sexy.

Worse fates can befall our society. I like slender cyclists, bearded or not.

Speaking of lifestyles and sexuality, let's not forget, reducing population growth. That's a big part of the equation that so often gets overlooked.

So many issues are interconnected, it's impossible for me to use compartmental thinking.

Solutions can come from quite a few different directions such as technology, but also cultural change.

Speaking of technology, radio is one of the more efficient things out there. KGO's signal, that brings me Bill Wattenburg's discussion of nuclear power, is 50,000 watts. At night (thanks to ionospheric skip) 50,000 watts can blanket the entire west coast of this nation. When I do the math and convert this to horsepower, 50,000 watts equals less horsepower than a lot of your average automobile engines.
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Radio is an old example of very efficient technology.

In this age of changing technologies, how much energy does day to day commerce require?

Think about it for a while.

Washington Mutual's ad in window. Whoo hoo

Boo hoo
Comment added in 2009 after bank failed.

Fifth anniversary of Iraq War

Actually it's "Iraq War Phase 2." Phase 1 started more like 17 years ago.

Remember Desert Shield? Then Desert Storm? Then the questions, "why didn't they go all the way and get Saddam Hussein?"

Well, now we know. It may even be worse after Saddam, if that's believable.

The more USA tries to fix things, the worse things get, it seems like.

Road to hell is paved with good intentions, or maybe tainted intentions.

Part of the problem is petrodollars going to dictators over the years. Going to terrorist groups. Seems like the situation is tainted by world demand for oil with it's heightened concern about the Persian Gulf.

Can our economy survive an interruption of Persian Gulf oil, or do we have to make sure, at all cost, that this never happens?

To some extent, maybe we need to address these issues domestically, rather than so much through foreign policy.

What type of transit and pedestrian planning do our local governments have?

I know people who have traveled the world by jet plane, but still haven't figured out how to get across their own town using alternative transportation.

Our domestic situation taints the way we deal with the world. Better domestic planing can lead to better foreign policy.