Will children have to pay back the debt?

When Regan was president, the federal debt grew to huge proportions. People kept saying, "our kids will be saddled with a huge debt."

Well now, a lot of those kids are adults. Kids of the Regan era are now grownups.

Are they having to pay back the debt?

Doesn't look like it. Debt is still growing.

This makes me suspicious. Will the debt ever need to be repaid?

Seems like people always say the children will have to pay it, but when those children grow up, the debt just keeps growing.

Wonder if it will ever need to be re payed?

Debt is the path of least resistance for the Federal Government since either raising taxes or cutting the budget causes an outrage.

People say, "don't raise my taxes," but they also say, "don't cut veteran's benefits," for instance.

Going into debt seems to be the path of least resistance. Seems like there's no consequences to running the federal deficit.

People have said that interest rates rise when the federal government eats up capital with deficit spending. I'm suspicious again. During GW Bush's big deficits, interest rates have been low. So low that the real estate bubble resulted.

Maybe they never have to pay off the debt. It doesn't even raise interest rates.

Just get the federal Reserve to print money; I guess. Only consequence is inflation from more dollars in circulation.

Interesting to note that until just this last year, inflation seemed to be only rampant in a few sectors.

Real estate values and health care, for instance.

In other sectors, inflation has been moderate. Other sectors such as food and consumer goods.

That's been up until this past year. Now things are changing again as energy costs rise.

* I'm still on my summer trips. This was posted from WIFI in a Portland, Oregon hotel room. Stay tuned for more trip details and photos. Hello from Oregon on this Labor Day weekend.

A trip through the mainland to the ferry dock could be the best part of biking Orcas Island

Just got back from the second of my small bike trips. Orcas Island via Anacortes and Skagit Valley.

Most of the charm was getting there on some quiet roads through Edison and Bayview State Park. Above picture taken from Padilla Bay bike trail has everything from a blue heron to the Anacortes Refinery.

The Journey is really the destination.


Several bakeries in tiny Edison offered nice smells and treats.


Old boats just sitting in the tiny Samish River.

More pictures below.

Pedaling through Skagit was nicer than the "destination" Orcas Island, itself. Roads on the island are kind of narrow and busier. I've noticed this, when I go to the Island. Yes, San Juan Islands are considered a bicycle destination, but really, some of the mainland is better.

Many bicyclists go to Lopez, rather than Orcas. It's flatter and more rural, but there doesn't seem to be many attractions there. Just riding around, which I do all the time anyway.

Orcas is OK; just a bit hectic.

One of my favorite attractions has been the Doe Bay Resort, on Orcas, with it's clothing optional hot tubs.

Haven't been there for a while, but paid a visit. Over the years, Doe Bay has gradually evolved to a bit tidier, but more expensive place. The clientele seems to have changed at the tubs, but it's still the home of friendly conversation. I used to enjoy the young hippie kind of energy that was there. Now that it's gotten more expensive, it seems to be drawing an older and more financially established crowd. One might be more apt to run into brokers than traveling folks right out of college. Still, I had a good time, but it's not what it was in years past. Tubs are lined with a more comfortable surface that looks like slate. The deck is a lot wider and more comfortable and most of the people are a bit wider as well.

Coming back on the ferry, one gets a better view of Mount Baker (if it isn't cloudy) than from Bellingham. At least with a zoom lens.


Of course, I don't want to attract too many people, and cars, with images of Mount Baker like you'd find in coffee table books. Riding past the oil refineries of Anacortes also offered some interesting images.

Ice caves at Big Four

I'm standing near this natural air conditioner.

Melting snow.

The Big Four Ice Caves is basically a pile of snow and ice that falls down from Big Four Mountain during colder months. At this lower elevation, the snow accumulation melts forming lots of little caves.

I just stood near the mouth of one. It's not safe to go in, unless you want chunks to fall on your head. Possibly big chunks. Killer chunks.

It's a nice two day bike trip from Bellingham. I'm taking several short trips in this area for my vacation. Bicycle trips, as usual for me.

People walk on the snow, but it's considered dangerous also. Could fall in a cave.

Water drops down into top of snow pile and disappears.

What happens to the water?

It must soak into gravel and reemerge as springs farther down the trail.

Looks like something disturbed the forest and smashed the walkway.

Detour.

Big Four is located around 30 miles east of Granite Falls on the Mountain Loop Highway.

Throwing down the bronze

I wanted the gold said Ara Abrahamiam as he threw down the bronze medal awarded during 2008 Olympics in Beijing. 2nd best, 3rd best, not enough. The bar, and expectations have gotten so high.

That's the problem with high stakes sports. Probably the rest of us are all losers since most wouldn't even qualify for the Olympics.

We're "over the hill." If you don't start training insanely at age 10, being in the Olympics is probably a pipe dream.

That would make a good book title.

"Over The Hill at Ten."

It's time to slow down a bit and enjoy the often overlooked pleasures of life.

Someone told me that Michael Phelps (US swimmer) started training at age 7. Did he have time for a childhood?

That someone also said he sure has a sexy body. I hadn't noticed yet. I don't have a TV. I do notice lots of sexy bodies around town. Just in the supermarket, parks, post office line. This is a college town.

People say that watching pornography is like unrequited love. Often overweight older men watching young studs.

That's OK if watching the Olympics is OK.

Sitting in front of the media, with no hope to actually participate.

What ever floats you're boat.

At the risk of being "second rate," I'll go out and ride my bike. No medals expected, but there might be some cute college studs to swim among out at the lake.

Does vacation have to prove or accomplish something?

And it's tempting to thumb my nose at news headlines saying Americans are taking shorter trips due to gas prices. Since I bicycle, my trip could be as long as ever. Still, I'm thinking of staying closer to home also. There is so much in this area, with-in maybe a 300 mile radius, that I normally don't have time to see.

Photo shows cool bike trail along Padden Creek in Bellingham. Old sandstone remnants of water system. Many don't discover these gems when they just fly over things or stick to the freeway.

For longer trips, I usually take the train back home from anyway. Amtrak prices have probably gone up, but not too bad. Main problem, I've run out of places that interest me with easy train connections back home.

How many times should I go down California Coast? So far, this lifetime, 5 times.

Biking east across USA takes at least 2 months. I usually only get around 5 weeks. Maybe some year, I'll add more leave of absence to vacation. 5 weeks might get me just past North Dakota and I'd have to take the train back just before the interesting part of the eastern states.

How many times should I visit Eastern Washington?

Some people suggest Colorado, but taking the train there means going to California first. Train doesn't do the diagonal.

Maybe the Amtrak ThruWay bus does.

There's always flying. People say it's an ordeal. My last flight was early 1980s, well before 911. Such a small plane that every seat was a window seat.

It was fun. The view, fantastic, but short lived.

Maybe flying is still OK. Shipping my bike and all of that. Takes some logistics. I'm supposed to be on vacation.

There's a lot of smaller trips around here to interesting cities, hot tubs, bike trails around places like Vancouver, BC, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, San Juan Islands, Olympic Peninsula. May even take train as far as Eugene. Also I plan to pass through Bellingham a few times and then head out again. Sleep in my own bed, rather than being away for several weeks solid.

Yesterday, I watched them tear down an old building to make way for mixed income housing. The old Walton Beverage Warehouse.

Some people are sad to see it go. Relic of an era when buildings weren't trying to be pretty.

I stopped and watched for quite a while. Also ate some blackberries that were growing through the fence. Glad I wasn't too busy. An interesting "happening" to stumble upon.

Wade King Elementary school looks like it's cutting it's way into the forest

From Yew Street Road, it looks like the new Wade King Elementary is pushing it's way into the mountains. New schools accommodating our growing city.

People can eat longer than they can drive cheap, there's still oil in the Bakken Shale. It's just a bit more expensive

If housing and other things can be real expensive, so can energy.

Biking through North Dakota in 1998, I passed quite a few oil wells in the hay fields.

My 1991 trip.

While offshore drilling and Alaska's Anwar are being debated, quite a few people don't even think about North Dakota. Where's that? Who's ever heard of Williston or Lake Sakakawea?

I hear there's an oil boom going on in that area. Even this article, from 2 years ago, explains things.

Supposedly, there could be lots of oil there. Some other articles have even suggested oil comparable to the reserves of Saudi Arabia. It's just more expensive to extract, but at over $100 per barrel it might be doable.

New technology, such as sideways drilling into the Bakken Shale.

Expensive.

It isn't strip mining. Just letting it drip out, I guess.

Reassuring news, in some ways.

At least we aren't likely to starve. There's still oil for agriculture and trucking. It just gets expensive. We can still eat.

What's hit harder than eating is driving; especially long distance commuting.

In the cost of food, "energy" is just one of several expense items. In driving, it's "the elephant in the room."

With shorter commutes, even driving might still be affordable.

I've never driven though. Bicycling really shines these days.

Living in town helps. I hope living in town remains affordable. Pretty soon, a lot more people may want to move to town.

I do bike long distances, but it takes time. My lifestyle in the slow lane. An "alternative lifestyle."

In 1998, I biked through Williston, ND. and had lunch at Lake Sakakawea. Out in the grasslands. I was on my way from Bellingham, Washington to the Great Lakes. Took 2 months and I came back on Amtrak.

The world was a bit different then. Oil prices were really low. Low compared to other things in our economy. China was still a big consumer, but less of a consumer than it is now.

1 billion 3 hundred million people makes a difference.

In the late 1990s, Asian stock markets tumbled. Those economies slowed down and oil demand dropped. This freed up lots of oil for the West.

Energy was cheap and much of America was booming. Not the North Dakota oil country, however. It felt kind of quiet, like a back water.

Meditative however.

Miles of hay fields. Not a lot of human excitement.

Don't need to pay $400 for some Buddhist "quiet the soul" workshop. Just bike across miles of hay fields.

Meanwhile other parts of USA were almost exploding. Real estate was going up out of sight. The dot com bubble was growing.

Places like Santa Cruz, California were getting expensive. Rents and house values were skyrocketing. Pushing poor working souls farther out into the boonies.

Longer commutes, but gas was cheap.

"Drive till you qualify."

Remember?

Energy complacency.

Of course Americans didn't really address the energy issue back then. It was "back burner."

Most of us somehow survived spiraling health care and housing costs.

Now it's energy's turn.

I'm not necessarily for or against drilling. I just keep biking. People have to do what they have to do.

Now the news is full of our presidential candidates who have stances that evolve with time.

That's OK.

Both McCain and Obama starting to see the need for some offshore drilling.

North Dakota also, I guess.

Obama talks about the need to transition into cleaner energy sources. Transition toward more renewable energy. Solar power. Wind.

Here's even a picture of a wind mill somewhere in North Dakota, but wind power is a different kind of windmill.

Campaign strategies must now be saying, "oil is still needed to transition us to better futures."

For the long view, McCain is a big advocate of "non greenhouse gas emitting" nuclear power.

I'm still for Obama, but "nuclear" might be needed as well.

Also windmills, solar panels, my bicycling lifestyle and a lot of other things.

Other parts of the economy have boomed and gotten pricey. Now it's energy's turn.

You say, what about oil company profits?

Well, maybe they'll invest them in a variety of energy sources. Sideways drilling. Even solar power. Can get expensive.

If houses can be so expensive in places like Santa Cruz, CA., I guess energy costs something also.

Old signs painted on side of building

Side of restored Hotel Laube on State St. in Bellingham. Building now used for affordable housing. View from alley between State and Forest. Chew Star Tobacco, notice, Coca Cola must have been painted later.

Biked to political discussion

July 23 I biked to a house near the corner of Noon and Smith Roads to a political discussion in someone's living room. Mount Baker was out and the air felt fresh.

Event was an LGBT (lesbian, gay bisexual, trans gender) gathering to meet Mark Flanders who's running for Washington State Legislature in the 42nd district. Mark seems like a really good candidate who is willing to discuss the issues and listen to ideas of people from many walks in life. Kelli Linville was at the discussion also.

There didn't happen to be a huge turnout, but enough. More time to explore topics in depth. Discussion went way beyond just so called LGBT issues to many things. Population growth, planning, peak oil, visioning what Whatcom County will look like in 50 years.

I don't even live in the 42nd district. I live near the line between 42nd and 40th, but it was well worth going out for an interesting discussion. Also a nice bike ride.

Exercise for both the mind and body.

A little bit more peaceful

In the past few months, I have noticed slightly less car traffic and a bit less noise. A few more bicycles. Higher gas prices, a blessing in disguise.

My friend Whoretense pictured in Faces of Bellingham

At Bellingham GLBTQ Pride Parade 2008. Pictured in Faces Of Bellingham. Turned out great that day of the parade.

Ignition Fire Troop that preformed at festival.


52 sec.

Why there aren't a lot of foreclosures around me. My perception

Seems like there's not very many "working first time home buyers" in Bellingham. Working people are more likely to be renters.

As for the homeowners, a large percentage may not even owe mortgages. Sometimes they payed for their house by just getting out the checkbook and writing a check. $400,000. Just write a check. They sold their house someplace else. In some cases, they inherited the money.

Yes, there's a disconnect between working people and the housing market. It's especially visible here.

Housing market seems like an escalator without the beginning rungs. If you got on it a long time ago when the lower rungs were there, you rode up with inflation. Now it seems like the lower rungs are out of reach for most working people.

Seems like there aren't many first time working home buyers in this area. Those are the ones likely to be on the precarious edge of foreclosure.

In some other areas of USA, the percentage of working home buyers seems higher.

Bellingham is often said to offer nothing much in the way of "career jobs." Nothing much outside of educational institutions who can't employ all their own graduates.

Local people are often students or retired.

Working people tend to be in the low wage service economy and don't try to buy, unless they've already been on that escalator for quite a while.

Ironically, this might mean less of a foreclosure problem.

Living can be fun anyway as money isn't everything.

Watch skate borders roll down Holly Street.

Then again, there can be foreclosure from people borrowing on their home equity. Trying to live off the vast amount of money they thought they had from selling a house. They're trying to start a business, or something. After that money runs out and the business doesn't really get off the ground, watch out. Trouble.

Are there more entrepreneurial business dreams in Bellingham than there are paying customers?

Should the vast supply of local massage therapists just give each other massages and not worry about money?

Yes, there is a disconnect between home values and wages. It's particularly evident here.

Now, thinking about the bigger picture, say the federal government decides to do big bailouts of various banks and bailout home buyers on the precarious edge.

I would guess, mass inflation would result.

Maybe it's better to just let home values fall till workers can afford to enter the housing market. Sure, a lot of folks are being shaken out of the market, but home prices have been too high. Many of these people just "got in" on too much optimism and deceptive lending practices from banks.

To do the bailout, government would have to borrow like mad. Borrow even more than it's borrowing now and it's like mad now.

Does that mean Federal Reserve just prints up the money?

Where does all that money come from? It seems that the government never has problems finding money to borrow.

Often I'm left scratching my head when I ponder the economy. Maybe the printing presses at the Federal Reserve just roll.

That means lots of dollars in circulation.

Inflation?

I assume eventually wages go up with inflation.

Imagine; bottom of the wage range being $35 per hour.

It's just the rest of the economy catching up with astronomical home values.

A candy bar for $10?

Then working people who are first time home buyers could afford houses again.

Either houses have to drop in value, or wages have to go way up for this large segment of our population to afford buying.

The home value escalator gets it's bottom rungs again? Economy back in balance? If the economy is ever in balance.

It's just money. It's just numbers.

Eventually we'll just retire the penny. Retire the nickle too. Make dimes the bottom rung. They're smallest in actual size anyway.

Just put another zero left of the decimal point and every thing's cool.

Real estate inflation can cause traffic when land for road building costs more

I keep hearing ads on radio from a group called Changepac in Olympia. Blaming Governor Gregoire for traffic remaining bad while gas taxes have gone up. They ask, "where is the money going?"

Well, costs of road building keeps going up. Land is now so expensive (look at the median price of a single family home in King County), it must cost a fortune to add more lanes to freeways.

Single occupancy automobile travel takes a lot of space.

No, I don't think you can blame the governor for that.

Population keeps growing, land, concrete, steel, asphalt costs keep going up. You get the idea.

There are many projects under construction or recently completed anyway, so I hear. For instance the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

Yes, it is time for a change, but not a change in the governor. Public transit can use the expensive space we have more effectively.

It's people that are the problem. Too many people. People want to have their cake and eat it too. Low taxes, but still expect top dollar when a new highway project condemns one's home.

Also people who expect everything to work, like it sort of did back in the 1950s.

Who's to blame?

Everyone.

I hear that when I-5 was built through Seattle, the city actually lost population from all the houses they bulldozed down in it's path. Back then, you could buy up houses for less.

When land was cheap, maybe you could "build your way out of congestion." Now it's more difficult.

That's where the money is going.

I doubt changing the governor would make much difference.

Pride Parade and Festival was great

1 min.

A friend across USA wanted to see me dancing, so I set my camera on a table at Rumor's Cabaret and pushed the button. This was during Bellingham Pride Festival 2008 before the bigger crowds came in to the dance floor. It was a fun day.

Before Pride, I was one of 3 people interviewed on KGMI Radio's PM Bellingham show. The interview was about 1/2 hour. Others were Betty Desire, of course, and Nick Milhoan from Whatcom PFLAG.

Cyclists yield to nudists, doctored sign

Someone must have doctored this sign that I saw along a bike path near the False Creek area as I was biking into Vancouver last weekend. I don't even think there's a nude beach in that area. Must be a story behind this, but who knows.

More images from my bike ride / Skytrain trip to Vancouver in future posts.

Survivalist food store, could be a sitting duck. Mobility might be a better survival skill

Since seventh grade, I've heard about the pending doom of civilization. Stock market volatility, gas prices rising, planets aligning.

40 years ago, a seventh grade classmate was learning edible plants in preparation for his escape to the forest.

Problem is, if everyone gets that idea, the forests will be trampled by all the new "survivalist campers." Edible plants will have been eaten.

Fast forward 40 years. Another friend suggests growing a garden and storing food. Storing lots of food.

Then he says, "keep it safe from the rats and the thieves."

Yes, the thieves. If civilization breaks down, thieves could be everywhere.

But I say, a "fortress food store" could be "sitting duck."

Here's another strategy for survival.

Mobility.

Yes, mobility and agility.

Being able to move at moment's notice. I don't have much space to store food in my rented room, but I've got well over 100 supermarkets and restaurants within an easy bike ride, or even walk from my home.

Survival might mean being agile and traveling to the places where fragments of civilization still reside. Some supermarket with auxiliary power, for instance. This could be running as a community food bank.

I don't think civilization is likely to totally crumble in my lifetime. It's been on the verge of that since at least my childhood. Hasn't happened yet.

"Community" does offer a lot of redundancy, diversity, resiliency and flexibility.

It's kind of like the insurance company model. Spread and diversify risk.

With hundreds of supermarkets and eateries close by, there's a lot of backup. Some will close, but others will figure something out.

Thieves and rats cold hit some food stores while others remain available. If you are relying on just your own basement pantry for survival, wouldn't you know, that's bound to be the one destroyed.

There are hundreds of different kinds of businesses within nearly a stone's throw of my place. Mobility, diversity and adaptability can be the key to survival if, as they say, "the shit ever hits the fan."

A future of fortified homes with shotguns and people living off canned goods in the basement might not be worth living for anyway. Maybe it would be exciting and cozy for a few days, like being snowed in, but that would get boring after while.

Flexibility, and getting around by bicycle, without much to carry; that's a survival skill; especially in this age of rising gas prices.

I've always biked, never driven my whole life.

For us aging "post war baby boomers," food isn't really the big worry. The worry is more likely to be health care.

Yes, health care.

If civilization ever does crumble, it will be just in time for us to need nursing home care and stuff like that.

Wouldn't you know, the timing is perfect. Like bread always falling with the butter side down. A lot of us are retiring just in time for Medicare to go bankrupt. That is, of course, unless they fix it. Maybe I should say "we fix it."

I'm confident that innovations can fix things. Even fix things like the "Rube Goldberg duct tape and bailing wire" health care system of the US.

Meanwhile, bicycling can postpone those health issues, for a while at least.

So far, everyone eventually passes from this life anyway.

Fires in California and elsewhere

I don't normally blame all the odd weather on global warming. Weather varies a lot anyway while global warming is a long term trend.

Still, I keep reading that US southwest is predicted to get dryer in most models related to global warming. Seems like more often than not, they're talking drier than normal down there.

Up here as well, but maybe not as pronounced.

Drier weather.

Also, so many people moving out into forested areas.

Population growth / people trying to escape cities.

More houses in fire's path. Also more things to start fires, like yard waste burning and getting out of control.

Living in a concrete jungle, such as the "city" has some advantages. Concrete isn't as flammable.

Generation of lost opportunity?

Article on Live Science indicates happiness is gradually on the increase worldwide, but figures for USA could be brought down by post war baby boomers.

Baby boomers are generally more miserable than other generations, but the difference may be so slight that it's not worth noting. A survey released June 25 from Pew Research Center shows boomers rate their lives on a scale of 1 to 10 at a 6.2. People over 62 years of age averaged out at 6.7 while the 18 to 41 age group rated 6.5.

6.2 for the boomers (age 44 to 62) is the lowest value in this satisfaction measure, but it could be an insignificant finding, or close to the margin of statistical error.

Still, it looks like the whole world is getting slightly happier. That counters many folks who think things are getting rougher. Maybe the world isn't "all going to hell in a hand basket."

Excerpting from article:

"It's a surprising finding," said University of Michigan political scientist Ronald Inglehart, who headed up the survey. "It's widely believed that it's almost impossible to raise an entire country's happiness level."

Denmark is the happiest nation and Zimbabwe the most glum, he found.

The United States ranks 16th.

The results of the survey, going back an average of 17 years in 52 countries and involving 350,000 people, will be published in the July 2008 issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. Researchers have asked the same two questions over the years: "Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, rather happy, not very happy, not at all happy?" And, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?"

A Happiness Index created from the answers rose in 40 countries between 1981 and 2007, and it fell in the other 12.

Scientists had thought happiness is stable over time when looking at entire societies." "Most previous research suggests that people and nations are stuck on a 'hedonic treadmill,'" Inglehart said. "The belief has been that no matter what happens or what we do, basic happiness levels are stable and don't really change."

So Inglehart's team was surprised that happiness "rose substantially." They speculate reasons for the sunny outlooks include societal shifts in recent decades: Low-income countries such as India and China have experienced unprecedented rates of economic growth; dozens of medium-income countries have democratized; and there has been a sharp rise of gender equality and tolerance of ethnic minorities and gays and lesbians in developed societies.

Previous research has found that happiness is partly inherited and that money doesn't buy much of it.

Yet the new survey finds people of rich countries tend to be happier than those of poor countries. And controlling for economic factors, certain types of societies are much happier than others.

"The results clearly show that the happiest societies are those that allow people the freedom to choose how to live their lives," Inglehart said.

A survey released last week found one reason America doesn't top the list: Baby Boomers are generally miserable compared to other generations.

So, I wonder what's wrong with us baby boomers?

Volumes of research and speculation must be out there, but here's my take.

Lost opportunity.

A big part of the baby boom generation started making news with promises for counter-culture. Being less materialistic, freer love, peace, environmentalism.

Well, it kind of sold out. Some of that idealism died in drugs and alcoholism. Other trends succumbed to yuppyism and the rising cost of living.

Still there is some of what once was called Aquarian conspiracy that's been integrated into mainstream society.

I even remember a book sometime back in the 1980s about Aquarian Conspiracy.

Things have stepped forward on stuff like gay rights and green technology, but expectations are high. Expectations often remain way out ahead of social realities. When that's the case, it seems like fertile ground for disappointment.

Still, the difference between 6.2 and even 6.7 rating for happiness isn't a giant chasm. It looks like post war is almost as happy as other generations.

We can hang in there as the world slowly improves. That is if greed and overpopulation doesn't destroy it first.

In my next life, after I'm reincarnated in some form, they will have finished that bicycle trail all the way from Bellingham to Mount Baker. It will be more peaceful than the traffic world of Mount Baker Highway. Still, Mount Baker Highway is tolerable for the most part. It's probably an improvement over being thrown from one's horse after she stumbled in a rut on some wagon road.

Burning calories instead of carbon

Serendipitously met someone in town who was headed to River Farm near Van Zant, WA. for a concert. Several bands were scheduled to play, there was camping, dancing and so forth.

Nice hot day. Ripe for a bike ride, so I headed that way myself. Yes, I could just go to Lynden or Ferndale to turn around and come back, but why not Van Zandt? Dancing around cute young shirtless guys. Nothing could beat that. Pleasant ride also.

It took 2 hours to bicycle that 23 miles and the breeze was refreshing. I spent about 4 hours at the farm with dancing and even some skinny dipping.

There were a few folks spotted among the gathering that I knew from around town and "Purple Church hippie androgynous dancing."

Rather than camping, I headed back to town that evening with lights blinking all over my bike. Got back by 10:45 to meet up with a friend who wanted to go Saturday night dancing at Rumors. More dancing, different music, different venue. Nice way to round out the day.

The friend who met me at Rumors talked about having driven down to Triangle Recreation Camp, near Seattle. That's America's largest member owned gay resort. Just about everyone at Triangle was sitting in RVs. My friend said it was kind of boring. Like "insular" life in the suburbs. Few tents, no dance or anything bringing people together was planned that weekend.

That was gay pride weekend in Seattle, so I guess most of the action would be down in the city. Nothing was planned for the campground. Hardly a soul walking the trails that day. Inside those big Rvs? Might as well be in the suburbs.

Sitting in the RV watching the DVD.

OK, living in a giant RV might be cheaper than buying a house these days.

Nice to have a dance and something to bring folks together, even if it isn't necessarily a gay campground. River Farm was joyous at least. Kind of funky with some old dumpy looking vans, tents and so forth.

I was one of 2 who bicycled there. There was at least one other.

Good news from out of this world

We need all the good news we can get. Actually it's from in this world. People developing science and technology.

Two recent unmanned space missions are just starting out and looking quite successful.

Soil sampling near the pole of Mars. They've found ice within reach of their digger gadget. The spacecraft works. Another one was lost near the pole of Mars in 1999. Being able to sample Martian ice and soil in vicinity of the lander is what they hoped for cause this lander doesn't drive like the now old Opportunity and Spirit Rovers that are still preforming on other parts of the planet. Ice and soil are both within reach of this lander. Looks good.

Now there's a new Gamma Ray Telescope in orbit. It's just being calibrated and soon to discover new things about black holes, dark matter and so forth. Working well. Gamma rays are the highest frequency of electromagnetic radiation we are aware of. New windows into our universe. In the early 1990s, we had the Compton Gamma Ray Explorer, but this one is much more sophisticated.

Some wonder why we ponder the cosmos when we are so busy with Earth's problems.

I'd rather do this than watch a football game or fight a war.

Many of these big astronomical projects are the result of international efforts, these days. Not so much USA patting itself on the back for a job well done. USA is still an important part of the picture, but many of these missions are the result of international collaboration at it's finest.

Someone I know feels we are really in trouble on this planet because global warming might be accelerating. Just wait till melting polar ice reveals trapped methane and releases it into the atmosphere. We're cooked.

My guess is, he wouldn't have much interest in Martian ice since we've got to worry about our ice.

I don't know if our global warming situation is that dire, but assuming it is, space science might be the only solution. If we're really going to fry in the next few years, we'll need to orbit a huge set of blinds between the Sun and Earth.

Levolor Blinds might be best, but I'm not working for the Levolor Blinds company. Maybe some other set of blinds would do.

Bicycling is still my form of transportation. An interest in discovery draws me to bicycling. Someone ask a friend of mine, "wouldn't biking through Eastern Montana be boring?" This friend said, "not boring to a geographer."

I've biked across Eastern Montana on a few trips. Discovered interesting flowers, thunderheads, soils, landforms, little cafes. I'll admit, Canadian CBC radio out of Regina was a help. Interesting talk. It seems like most people would just roll up their car window and shoot through an area like Eastern Montana as quickly as they can on the freeway.

An interest in discovery could help us get out of the day to day global warming rat race.

House values way ahead of wages

It seems like so many people say they ...

"Couldn't afford the house they live in if they had to buy it now."

The only reason why they can still afford to live there is the fact that they bought it years ago when prices were a lot lower. Their wages have not kept up with spiraling house values over the past years.

This means that first time home buyers tend to be priced out of the market, until houses come down in value, or wages rise dramatically.

No wonder houses are starting to come down in value.

That could be a good thing if it makes houses more affordable again.

Another side of the "not being able to afford the house you live in" coin is this.

"The house is worth less than what you owe on the mortgage."

That's most likely if one bought recently, or borrowed against the house just before the market starts to drop.

Basically houses were just too expensive compared to most other sectors of the economy.

Should the government try bailing this out?

If they think homeownership is that important, let them figure out how I could buy a house also. Buy a house without having to move too far from my job, or break my neck trying to work two jobs or stomping over folks on my way up the corporate ladder.

If my wages and savings remained the same, I could afford something in the range of $40,000 - maybe even $50,000. That's figuring about 1/3 of my income for house payments plus the savings I have for down payment.

I have a reasonably good job, by Bellingham standards. Not top dog, for sure, but not bad especially when one figures the benefits.

Problem is, there is nothing in this market, not even small condominiums; nothing even close to the $50,000 mark. Not that I know of at least.

Kulshan Community Land Trust has some experimental ideas that could be subject for another post.

Still, homeownership is not necessarily the "holy grail" for all of life. I have a very nice landlord and affordable rent within easy walking distance of work.

On a related note, someone just sent me a great column by Paul Krugman in the New York Times dated June 23 2008. Titled "Home Not-So-Sweet Home."

About how homeownership is not necessarily all its cracked up to be for everyone.

When home ownership is too much of a fad, that's one reason for the price being high. Everyone wants to do it.

Overpopulation, zoning rules and so forth push up prices as well. Also low interest rates have put a lot of cash into the market.

It's kind of like fake cash.

Most home buyers in this area seem to just get the money from the house they owned in the past, not from working.

Bottom line is, much of this home value inflation hasn't been because of wages.

Based on honest wages, can you afford the home you're now living in?

People at the top of the pay scale might be able to, but how about most of us? If not, how sustainable is this situation? Should the government try and keep the bubble going?

I think not.

There are other ways to cope, like living in a smaller space, taking in renters to help pay the bill, if you're a homeowner and zoning allows.

Solutions need to be sustainable.

Gay marriage is at least temporarily recognized in California

In Canada, gay marriage has been legal even federally for some time now. Has that society unraveled?

Canada may have even more civility and social cohesion than USA.

Canada is a good example of how things aren't falling apart, as far as I know at least. I live close to Canadian border. Canada looks pretty good.

I did hear on radio that California's new marriage law replaces language of bride and groom with "party A" and "party b."

Inclusive, but kind of barren sounding.

Maybe they should just add a few more words and say "bride and groom" or "bride and bride" or "groom and groom."

I've never planned to get married so it doesn't make a big difference to me. I'm glad people have the choice, but being single has some advantages also.

Variety in lifestyles, that creates a more diversified community.

One part of the American dream that's getting smaller, lighter, easier to carry and less expensive

Computers.

On a bike tour, I remember wandering into Starbucks to see if there was a computer for checking email. "You have to bring your own laptop to use WiFi," says the clerk. That was in the "classy" Stanford Shopping Center, near Palo Alto, CA.

Laptops were expensive and too heavy to carry on my bicycle, back then. Too heavy along with my tent, sleeping bag and so forth. Most shoppers darted in an out of jewelry stores buying gems for their lovers and driving SUVs back to their $500,000 starter homes.

With chain grease on my face, I felt like some street person wandering into that mall.

Kind of like a street person, but then I called someone from my new cellphone. A prepaid cellphone for just the summer.

It was my bike trip of 2004.

Now it's 2008 as people find they really can't afford $500,000 starter homes and SUVs are being dumped for gas prices. My bicycle still rolls and now there's a computer small enough to fit.

The Asus EeePC.

I paid well under $500 including sales tax. Less than many folks pay each month for rent. Now I can surf the web, watch Youtube, check email, use Skype at WiFi connections. Lightweight PC fits on my bike.

Runs Linux. It's a free operating system created by volunteers. I saved money by not installing Windows, which you have to pay extra for. Linux does the job.

I also looked at a few other even smaller gems, like the Apple IPod touch. The Asus really impresses me and I have often wanted to venture into the world of Linux.

Thanks to libraries for use of their computers while traveling, but more and more of the private Internet cafes require you lug along your own computer for their WiFi these days. Libraries are great, but they're often closed in the small towns I go through.

Computers keep getting smaller and cheaper. Now, even "car free," bicycling me can travel with one.

Fits in a pannier and slim enough to put other things around it.

Now if we can just learn to make "smaller and better" a mantra for other parts of the so called American dream, we can still make progress on this small planet.

You're supposed to be where? for exercise

A friend of mine just held his camera up and went snap. Dancing wild. One of the foam parties at Rumor's Cabaret where suds flow from a machine near the ceiling. Foam events are a few times each year. (Update 2019: Rumors nolonger has a foam machine). Other times without the foam, but still lights, music and energy. It's almost too much.

I'm not much of a bar person, but I sometimes go to the bar for exercise. Dancing can be some of the best exercise. Still, it's almost too crowded. Glad Washington State has made bar experiences smoke free, however.

For conversation, forget it. When the loud music's going at least.

I go to the sauna at YMCA for conversation where decibels are moderate. (Update: Bellingham Y closed the sauna in 2020). People often think of Y for exercise, but I think of the sauna which is more like a piano bar. A piano bar minus the piano and minus alcohol, where discussion can abound. There is exercise in various parts of the Y, but I usually get that elsewhere. I go to the Y like it's a piano bar and then I go to the bar like it's an exercise gym.

Funny.

Neither place I drink, except water. Don't mind paying a cover charge. How else can they keep it going if everyone was like me and just went for the pure water?

Water is usually all that's available at Purple Church; another local dancing experience. Purple Church is actually in some one's house. He bought an old church. Compared to Rumors, it's kind of like the experience of eating an apple versus the experience of eating a candy bar. Purple Church being the apple. Less intense. Maybe only one string of dim Christmas lights. No "laser, video." Less decibels, but of all it could still be my favorite. The sweetness of an apple, but it's not a candy bar.

I don't eat many candy bars, but after these experiences, from the drying heat of a Y sauna to the sweating heat of music, I often chug a lug a whole quart carton of decadently smooth chocolate milk.

Population problem more noticeable now

Population, in far parts of the world, isn't that noticeable to wealthy countries as long as most of the world's people remain poor and don't drive.

World population is more noticeable, now that more of the world is driving.

Price of oil is going up.

I ride a bicycle. Last time I bought gas was for a lawnmower when I had a lawn mowing job for an old lady who called me her "yard boy."

Some of my neighbors, here in USA, who drive, are now saying they may join me in my lifestyle.

Maybe overpopulation is good if it gets more people in USA to live like me.

Still, I think world population growth needs to be slowed down; especially as so many people wish to drive.

Back in the 1970s, my thinking was influenced by an organization called the World Watch Institute.

Come to think about it, that may have been when I had that lawn mowing job.

World Watch came out with a landmark paper linking feminism, population and the environment.

I was in college back then.

Still haven't shed my Bohemian lifestyle. I was never a "party animal," if that's what people think of when the word Bohemian comes up, however.

Today, I'm still "child free" and live in a room that's not much larger than my college dorm room was.

Now, I am glad to see another book come out from World Watch linking population, feminism and environmental issues. A more recent book which can add new energy to the discussion.

The book was featured May 29 on NPR's Talk Of The Nation Science Friday show.

Let's do the time warp again, only this time, pay attention.

Fox News as the fifth estate

For checks and balances, one might be tempted to say "that's putting the fox in charge of the hen house."

Saw this small car parked one day

Don't know much about it. Electric? Gasoline? Must get real good mileage. Great for one or two person commute without having to carry a lot of stuff.

Some folks wonder why Detroit can't make high mileage cars? Well, Americans tend to want to "have their cake and eat it too."

There's usually a trade off between safety and fuel efficiency.

Simple physics provides limitations. Of course one can strive to do better, but there are limits.

I have perpetually heard about the perpetual motion machine. The machine that government and corporations hide so it doesn't cut into oil sales.

Perpetual motion. Now that would be great mileage.

It's all Dick Cheney's fault. I voted for Gore in 2000 anyway.

In truth, one way to increase mileage is to reduce weight. Lighter vehicles do better.

I ride a bicycle.

Lighter cars get good mileage, but there are trade offs. If Americans want their cake and eat it too, they don't do trade offs well.

A smaller vehicle has less protection. I don't blame people for not wanting to be on the road around semi trucks and large SUVs in little cars.

It's the meat in the sandwich thing.

Motorcycles are said to be about the most unsafe form of transportation, but they can be fuel efficient.

My bicycle seems a lot safer, but I seldom go over 15 MPH and I am usually out of the traffic pattern. Thank God for shoulders and bike trails.

So I don't blame people for wanting the safety of larger vehicles. It protects the family.

Safety trumps fuel efficiency, especially if gas isn't that expensive.

How expensive is your life? Hospital bills can be real high compared to gas.

Detroit started making smaller cars in the late 1970s, but it takes time to retool the production lines. About the time they were retooled, gas came down in price compared to other things in the economy. Other things such as hospital bills.

When gas seemed high at around $1 per gallon, in the late 70s, one could still buy a house in Seattle for under $20,000. By 1998, gas was not much more, but try buying a Seattle home for under $300,000 then.

Late 1990s saw about the cheapest gas prices in human history. Cheapest, relative to other things in the economy. Cheaper than the 1950s in relative terms.

That wasn't a good time for selling small cars, in USA at least.

Clinton was in the White House, the tech boom was in full swing and Asian stock markets were tumbling.

Remember the late 1990s Asian stock market tumble? It was pretty much confined to Asian markets, but had the effect of slowing oil demand in that part of the world. That contributed to an oil glut on world markets. Cheap oil, at least for a while.

Bad time for Detroit to be selling smaller cars. That's when the SUVs were coming into popularity. You had the soccer moms, the security moms (or maybe they came after 911). Small car makers got burned.

Now we are in a different price environment. Gas is going up and small cars are coming back into demand.

Detroit can't tool up to make small cars in a day. It takes time to reinvent the production lines.

Going back to a 55 MPH speed limit might help demand for smaller vehicles. Collisions at slower speeds are less deadly.

Sure they can improve safety all the time. Airbags, real strong composite fibers in the frame. Still, there are always limitations to physics. Slower speed limits can help the safety of lighter vehicle users.

We just can't have it all. Maybe we can try, but there are limits.

For true safety and fuel efficiency, there is always public transit.

GLBT Resource Guide

My guide to gay community things in Bellingham has a new home. It uses the blogger system in a new way even though it isn't really a blog. Labels work well for customizing the guide under each topic, such as (for instance) "Churches."

Looking forward to the parade and main Pride day in Bellingham on July 13 2008.

It's actually a GLBTA resource guide. A stands for Friends of GLBT people. GLBT stands for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender.

A includes friends of other sexual orientations. Maybe it's a laundry list, but that's what being inclusive is about.

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.