Flowering cherry brightens the day

Inertia, rather than love makes the world go around

The planet turns due to inertia. Also, inertia may be what runs governments and organizations. The world could use more love. Especially universal non possessive love.

Will people be bicycling in future centuries?

Bicycling wouldn't work for going between space colonies that may be built near the earth. Built as additions if our economy outgrows Earth.

Maybe people will bicycle within the environments of each space colony as well as still on Earth.

Also hard to say what humans will be like in several centuries. Will we still need exercise? Will our minds just be uploaded into computers and our lives be those of avatars interacting in cyberspace?

Still bicycling is pleasure even if one only need to take pills to tone a future body. Enjoyable like dancing is pleasure.

Hard to say whether this sort of artificial future will emerge, but in the present, bicycling is a wonderful way to get around here on Earth. Closer to what we remember as nature now. At least in the present and near future, bicycling is great.

Shorter workweek in BBC news

Someone in my friends list on Facebook posted this to his wall. Good idea even 32 hour week would be good.

Cut working week to 21 hours, urges think tank.

The foundation says the move would give more balanced working...

Olympics in Vancouver

Nice to see Canada showcase to the world. A great democracy where even gay marriage is legal. Better than when China was showcased (2008 Olympics) amid all the controversy over human rights abuses.  China produced a really big show. Big and regimented.

Maybe even Canada's show was too big. I had no plans to go near it, even though Vancouver is just a bike ride away (60 miles) from my place in Bellingham, WA. Rumors of sold out, expensive hotels abound. I'm not much for hype and competition anyway.

I think humbug, but opening ceremonies at BC Place Stadium was impressive. Especially the dancing and that whole audience waving lights. An ocean of lights across the stands. Like a show of democracy, or at least audience participation.

On some summers, I've biked past BC Place Stadium.  Normally I think of the Olympics as being far away. 

No plans to go near it and glad that the hype and expense remains, for the most part north of our border. 

Still, the world can learn a lot from Canada.

Obama's space proposal better than a strip mall

Privatizing human space flight is a good idea.

Can private enterprise do something loftier than the vast array of services we're accustomed to at strip malls from Starbucks to laundromats?

With government as a farsighted consumer, yes it can.

Obama's proposal for the future of US space travel could be a good blend of public and private initiative.

Government doing what it does well; long term vision (hopefully). Spending public dollars on things people wouldn't normally reach into their wallets for on the way through the drive through. Tonight's dinner and the quick cup of coffee make cash registers ring from market forces, but what about long term visions like going into space? Maybe not, except for some notable private ventures like SpaceShipOne.

That's where the long term interests of government can help out. The public sector can reach into a large wallet without expecting short term profit.

Government as a consumer can be motivated with long term vision, while private companies come up with a variety of innovative ways to get the job done.

Private enterprise can offer a better solution for human spaceflight than NASA's own government bureaucracy.

Obama has proposed scrapping the Project Constellation which seemed like kind of a repeat of Apollo moon flight technology. Constellation was part of the vision outlined by President Bush which would have had astronauts returning to the moon and preparing for travel to Mars.

Apollo was great when it flew, but maybe there's something newer than a slightly modified rerun of past triumph.

Constellation would have been expensive and it wasn't getting enough funding to continue without threatening to cannibalize other parts of NASA's budget. Other parts that are doing exciting things like looking for planets around neighboring stars in the galaxy.

There is a lot of intriguing science that is mostly coming from unmanned missions such as Kepler's search for extrasolar planets.

On the human spaceflight frontier, I remember reading something about SpaceShipOne's reentry system. It worked like a badminton birdie for slowing down the spacecraft upon reentering our atmosphere. This innovation seems less cumbersome than the heat shield of tiles on our Space Shuttle.

It's time to turn human spaceflight over to private enterprise, but keep the long term vision and wallet of government handy.

Old KWSC radio tower

Memories from my childhood. I drew this recently.

Old KWSC radio tower in Pullman, WA. before 1970.

Only example of a radio tower with both guy wires and self supporting structure that I've seen.

Lower half of the tower is self supporting with no guy wires while the upper half uses guy wires that are stretched over 4 spacer bars. The wires were attached to tower's midpoint; kind of like a ship's mast.

Old KWSU Tower picture from WSU Libraries Collection.

Around 1970, this tower was replaced by the current KWSU tower that is west of town. Present tower is an example of guyed support from the ground up with no self supporting section; more typical in AM towers of modern times.

Call letters for KWSC were later changed to KWSU.

Before 1970, transmitter was in an old house quite a ways from the base of the tower. That house was down a hill and across an arterial called Stadium Way.

A long feed line from transmitter to tower presented some idiosyncrasies.

One day, the station was knocked off the air when someone practicing archery hit the line with his bow and arrow. I think it made national news, if my memory is correct.

Riding along Stadium Way in my parents car met having KWSC bleed in all up and down the dial of the car radio while passing under the transmission line.

The station also bled in on phone lines in Troy Hall where my dad had his office. Mozart would often be in the background of his phone conversations.

That was during my grade and middle school years.

Photo below taken from hillside several blocks east of where that tower stood. Tower was torn down in late 1970s or early 80s.

Right behind Troy is Johnson Tower where I visited a psychologist from late 8th grade through my high school years.

Trip through St. Joe's psychiatric ward was not bad, kind of like summer camp

December of 2009 was my first and (so far) only time in a mental health unit at a hospital. St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham. I've seen therapists before, but never been admitted to a hospital.

Sleep deprivation was a big factor putting me into the hospital. Road construction near where I live was interrupting my normal sleep time. I should have gone to a part time work schedule during that month, of construction, but I didn't realize what was going to happen to me until too late.

Part of the reason why I'm in the slow lane is an inability to take the fast lane with it's hectic pace. It's not just "low carbon footprint," there are some medical reasons why I choose the slow lane as well.

Rather than just preaching at others about their fast lane living, I also marvel at it. "How can they juggle so much and not literally go into the nut house?"

I couldn't do the "long term commute, double job and take classes at the same time" routine.

Often, the inside of my mind feels like a fast lane.

The mind can be a microcosm of the nation.

Yes, it seems like there's a country in my head. Decisions made by committees of "voices," different interests jockeying for influence, an internal dialog.

There's even a stock market in my head. Am I having an up day?

Sometimes it feels like radio talk shows are jabbering inside me. Discussing how things in the real world will "play in the Peoria" of my inner world.

Remember that phrase, "how will it play in Peoria?"

Try driving with this going on in your head. Could be worse than a cellphone.

No wonder I don't try driving. Bicycling is slow enough for me.

What put me in the hospital

Early December 2009, the radio show in my mind sounded very real. Audio voices rather than just thoughts.

Normally, I realize that all this morass of thinking is just thoughts, but in December, the voices sounded more real.

Hallucinations.

It sounded like talk show personalities were having a discussion about my life in my ear.

Strange.

I was worrying a bit more about work and other things. So called normal folks might not react the same way, but worry is fairly common for me.

For most of a week, my life remained fairly normal, but voices and other odd things would come and go.

Then, as I awoke on December 12, I couldn't tell if it was a dream or reality.

Last time I remember such a daze was after a marijuana brownie in the early 1980s. That's why I don't use pot much, it was a paranoid trip, but that was back then.

This was something else and there were no drugs in my system.

Most of December 12, I was in a confused state. My mind was spinning with thoughts about possibly entering something like a parallel universe.

Eventually, I was wondering the streets of downtown Bellingham in a daze.

Soon a friend found me.

Good thing a lot of folks around town know me.

He ask, "are you OK?" and my answer had his wife dialing 911 on her cellphone.

Next thing I knew, the ambulance was there.

It was surrealistic.

Then I thought I might be making a movie about randomness in the universe as I rode in the ambulance.

They rushed me to Saint Joe's Hospital, North Campus.

In the emergency room, they were trying to figure out what was wrong.

I wasn't much help talking a mile a minute about random parabolas and wondering if I was in Quito Ecuador, for some reason.

My guess is, they wanted to run tests to see if I was on drugs before doing much because adding anymore drugs to my system could be bad.

Well, the test came back that there were no drugs or alcohol in my system so they started some medication.

I got better and was talking more rationally to the nurses. Then started to fall asleep, which is what I needed most.

About that time, a Whatcom County mental health specialist became available so a nurse woke me up again to talk to him. I think he came to help plan the follow up strategy for what happens after leaving the emergency room. Should I be released? What kind of follow up should there be?

Being woken up again put me back into the crazy state and I didn't make any sense talking to him. After he went to consult with other staffers, I left the bed and crouched on the floor which had nurses scrambling. Eventually they got me back into the bed and I got a small shot to the leg. An anti psychotic and probably an anti anxiety mix.

My last memory of that odd day was being wheeled down some hall, but I was soon sound asleep. That's what I really needed most.

When I came to, a few hours later, my rationality (if it exists now) was back. It felt good; like waking up from a bad dream. It was next day and I was in a quiet hospital room. It felt good to be back to normal thinking again.

Sleep was the cure.

Involuntary confinement to the psychiatric ward wasn't bad

Next, I ventured into the hall from my room. "Yes, this is the hospital." "There's a nursing station to the right."

As I wondered what would happen next, a kind man approached me and said, "would you like the newspaper?" It seemed like having a complimentary paper at some classy hotel. They looked around the coffee tables in the hall, but no interesting newspaper was found.

More interesting than a newspaper, at that point, was the followup plan for me that they decided on. They decided to get a commitment to the psychiatric ward. This was located at Saint Joe's South Campus (since that time, the psychiatric program been moved to Main Campus). They explained that state law only allows them to commit someone to 72 hours, or less, unless there is a hearing, so I would most likely be in less than 72 hours since I seemed to be coming out of what ever that episode was pretty quickly.

It meant another ambulance trip down to South Campus, but I wouldn't have to pay for any of it because it was legally a non voluntary confinement. The cost of that South Campus stay was covered by government. I think the whole plan was partially based on hospital staff people looking for ways they could get me some services and save me money. There was some brainstorming about community resources going on and this seemed like the best, and least costly idea for me.

I went along with the idea. I was doing well enough, at this point, that they could have released me, but the paperwork and the inertia was already in place to head down to South Campus.

I called in sick from work. If nothing else, being sent to South Campus is a break from one's daily routine. Sort of like going on vacation.

Photo: Saint Joe's Hospital South Campus. Program has since been moved to Main Campus, so I hear.

South Campus was like a summer camp. I had my own room. There was meal time, group time and art class. There was various appointments with a public defender, social worker, psychiatrist and plenty to keep one occupied.

I called it "Club Med;" a take off on the resort called Club Med, but in this case the med stands for medical. Club Med resorts used to have a radio ad calling themselves "the antidote for civilization."

Everyone seemed quite nice including the patients. The social worker was especially good.

Really, it was like a summer camp. Structured interaction.

There were quite a few rules, but not enforced harshly.

With no Internet access on the ward, I figured out how to put my Wednesday Dinner announcement out, from inside the unit. It was a short newsletter just to say where that week's dinner was located. Taco Lobo in Bellingham.

Problem solving is one way toward mental health. I used the phone to call one of my newsletter readers and talk him through the process of putting out the newsletter. He checked his email and confirmed, by phone, that the newsletter had come out. Then the social worker at the hospital offered to get a print out for me from the ward office computers that were off limits to patients.

Two confirmations that the "work around" worked.

Art time was most interesting. People used coloring pens and then shared the meaning of their creations. One of my art pieces I did was about an old radio tower in Pullman, WA. where I grew up. Folks on the "outside" should have art sharing time more often.

I got out of South Campus early. They released me before the full 72 hour confinement order was up. No need for a detention hearing. That would have been scheduled if they had wanted to keep me over 72 hours.

Several folks gave me the "high five handshake" for getting out early.


Photo: Sign for things at South Campus. I don't see "psych ward" listed. "Behavioral Health Services" must be a more politically correct title.

It was a bit sad leaving as there were some good folks at the "camp," both staff and patients. On the other hand, I was glad to get out and start putting my life back together.

Did I leave my heater on when I left my home that strange day? Could I get my desk top computer running again? For some strange coincidence, my computer gave out that day.

A good excuse to have Christmas Vacation that year.

They offered me taxi service, but I wanted to walk. It wasn't far back to my home.

I was released with a bag of forms and artwork. Luckily not a bag of bills.

My employer found that I had accrued 35 sick days over the years I've worked as a custodian. Paid sick days. He said, "Enjoy the holidays."

Christmas vacations were good memories from grade school.

I didn't plan to burn up all my 35 days, but taking around 12 days made the holidays for me.

Too bad so many people have to work right through the holidays, I took a break. It was more like a holiday than sick time. Remember, mental illness is different from physical illness. One of the first things I did was get on my bike and head out to Larabee State Park. Quiet along the trails.

Back home, quiet is what the doctor ordered. Time to catch up on sleep. Also fielding calls, emails and Facebook comments form various folks and family members.

Do I need ongoing medication?

White noise from fan of this air filter helps sleep.

The doctors listened to my suggestions on medication. There's lots of pills for sleeping, anti anxiety and anti psychosis available. I didn't want to get dependent to any of these things so I just decided to have a light anti anxiety pill available. 1 MG tablets, Lorazepam.

Some mornings (I sleep in the morning due to night shift work) I sleep fine without any pill. If sleep is difficult on other mornings, the pill helps. About a year after getting out, I didn't get a refill on the pills and don't need them anymore.

Rebuilding a bit

During Christmas Vacation, it was time to go shopping for myself. Maybe this sounds selfish, but time to bolster my being.

I was still using old glasses without the earpieces. First ear piece had fallen off a few months ago, but glasses stayed on. Just before going into hospital, second ear piece fell off and new glasses had just made it to my "to do" list.

These are still just reading glasses from the supermarket. Good enough. I'm a bit far sighted.

These are Dr. Dean Edell Glasses. Cost less than $20. What a difference clean lenses can make.

Strange co-incidence

My desktop computer gave out also. It's last functionality was early AM on December 12. When I woke up the next noon in a weird state, my computer stopped working also.

Corrupted boot disk? Ghost of a person I knew who had died? My own illness infecting the computer?

Back from hospital, I tried to reinstall Windows, but to no avail.

At least my data is backed up on CD Rom and all my web pages are on-line.

Next idea; carry computer down to store and see if they can figure it out.

I had another computer that could serve as a backup.

My Asus notebook which is used for checking mail from WIFI spots during bicycle tours.

Problem is, I forgot the WIFI password to get into my own modem.

Run to the Swan Cafe for WIFI?

No, how about sorting my box of computer stuff.

There I found the document with the password. Part of getting well is taking the time to organize my things. There's the old phrase "garbage in, garbage out."

Soon I was up and running with Linux as that's what the Asus was using.

Email, Facebook, Skype and all working again on this Linux desktop.

Even my wooden desk had been neglected. Still standing but wobbly with a broken leg.

Hardware Sales has computer desks of various styles. I walked out there and bought one. Could have rolled it down the street about 1/2 mile, but such treatment is hard on casters.

Another desk was still in the box. How does one get a large box home from the store without a car?

They let me borrow a dolly and I rolled it all home from the store. Then I rolled the dolly back.

Meanwhile, computer store calls and the verdict is, "no problem with boot sector." Everything on hard drive is fine, but several things on motherboard gave out. They could replace a few chips and get things running again, but it's a "work around" patch at best. A patch to get new technology talking to the old technology inside the motherboard. Technology has advanced so far since I got that computer.

For not that much more money, I could have a brand new computer with 4 times the memory and processor speed of my old system.

The old system did well surviving 4 years in the harsh environment of my room where it often must warm up in 55 degree air. Temp change can be hard on microchips. Also lights can go out when downstairs neighbor plugs toaster into wrong plug.

Time to also get a surge suppressor with storage battery backup. Helps me ride out the few minutes when breakers in this building snap.

Since that year, I've moved into a nicer apartment. Moved as of 2013. Luckily my rent remains reasonable.

The computer store had my old Windows XP back up and running. I brought it home to reinstall my programs from CDs and the net.

I had plenty of time to get this new computer going and assemble my new desk. It really was like a Christmas vacation.

The rest of Christmas "Vacation;" actually sick leave.

Then there were some parties to go to.

Christmas and New Year's Dinners were buffets at Best Western Inn (glad the buffet staff was still working).

There was a Solstice celebration, and a friend's New Year's gathering.

After New Year's, my Christmas vacation was over and I was back to work all refreshed; for a while at least.

Taking time off and getting enough sleep is a good idea. I may have a lower tolerance for not getting enough sleep than most people. We could all use a few breaks at times. Society doesn't have to be a rat race.

Digital TV without cable

Here in Bellingham, it works if one has a clear view toward the mountains north of Vancouver, BC. I get 4 digital TV stations from Vancouver.

Bellingham also has 2 commercial channels from the top of Orcas. KVOS, Channel 12 and a shopping channel called KBCB.

Out of Vancouver, there are 3 commercial stations and the CBC (Canadian National Broadcasting Network). I like CBC Radio, so now I get CBC TV.

Why bother? It's mostly all on the web anyway.

Just thought I'd try out my handiwork and see if I could follow the instructions. I haven't watched TV, but now maybe I'll watch some.

There's good instructions on a web site found from Google search. Make your own antenna with things many folks have around the house, like coat hangers and aluminium foil.

It works, only I used chicken wire instead of aluminium foil. I happened to have some and it's less apt to tear. Still provides the reflective background for TV signal.

Also, on my version of the antenna, the coat hanger elements can be moved closer or farther from the chicken wire. Don't know if that helps or not. It's strapped together with bungee cord and can slide back and forth along two dowels that are perpendicular to the chicken wire square.

Here's CBC television.

Most of the time, I listen to radio and use the Internet.

Making the antenna might be more interesting than what's on TV, most of the time. At least it's something to do.

Now I can watch a bit of TV and not pay for cable which is not common in Bellingham. Almost all of Bellingham is on cable. We are behind the Chuckanut Mountains from Seattle TV signals.

Laser technology celebrates 50 years

According to NPR Science Friday show which I listen to on the web.

In my childhood days of the late 60s, lasers were revered in the media for their violent power. Ability to cut through thick walls of steal, ray guns, warfare.

Little did we know, back then, of the more peaceful application for laser beams; transmitting gobs of information. Quietly pulsing under our feet through cables of fiber optic, lasers carry the conversations of the world. Millions of Youtube videos, e-mails, Skype calls, television shows and internet radio; the laser has made it possible.

Yes, it can still cut steel, can even be used in warfare, but information technology is what I see most often in 2010.

Pat Robertson and the local GOP

Pat Robertson is getting a lot of deserved flack for his comments about Haiti in 2010.

Imagine, in 1988 Robertson was nominated as the Presidential candidate from the Republican Party of Washington State. His followers packed the party caucuses that year.

Washington didn't have a presidential primary, but used the neighborhood caucus system to field delegates to the state and national party conventions.

It was said that an "invisible army" of Christian conservatives dominated the state Republican caucuses and Robertson became the nominee that year.

Only in Washington; not Washington DC. of course. West coast state of Washington.

Most of the other states went for Bush senior and he became the Republican nominee who then ran against Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis.

The GOP in Washington had to be different that year. Oh well, it's variety.

I went to the Democratic Caucus and put in a vote for Dukakis that year.

It almost rhymes.

Go to the caucus and vote for Dukakis.

Remembering 1988.

Bellingham based Horizon Bank first FDIC takeover of 2010, so I hear

There's got to be a first bank failure for 2010 somewhere. Might put Bellingham on the map, for 15 minutes at least. 15 minutes of fame.

Horizon Bank is now part of Washington Federal. The FDIC is doing it's thing and supposedly that transition will be seamless for customers and most employees except for the top, so I read.

I haven't used that bank so it's still, basically, just a news item to me.

I felt like I should do a blog entry about this even though I don't have anything significant to add. Not hard to get some images. This momentous news item is just a few blocks away.

Notice old sign covered over with new name on plastic tarp. (Tarp, like TARP funding?) No pun intended. They'll likely mint new signs later.

I have a lot of thoughts about economics in this blog, but not much related to this bank.

Several years back, I wrote about the proposed development on Chuckanut Ridge that Horizon Bank was involved in.

They used to say, "Look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls." Now they say Google it.

My image is a dictionary rather than an encyclopedia, but that's what's handy to photograph right now. Similar concept.

Green light for bicycling into the new year

Lights in the spokes of my bike for safety and festivity.

Biking around town slow enough to appreciate the color.

Closeup of storefront Christmas tree in Fairhaven district.
Happy New Year

Less clutter for the new year

My bank now offers the option to receive it's monthly statements on-line. I take it. Less paper to clutter my small room.

A PDF file, or something like that to neatly archive into one of the folders on my drive, taking up mere molecules of space. This helps for living in a "small footprint place."

It's not a "paper trail," but I trust the system is still transparent and accountable. After all, it's just money anyway. Maybe I should be more worried. Money is one of America's Gods. Still, what's a little money?

So far, I've never had any problem with bank inaccuracies. Of course, maybe I'm not paying enough attention. I don't always read the mass of paper that's been burping out of the financial institutions, mutual funds, insurance companies and so forth I deal with. It's kind of mundane and the type is a bit too small.

Grey type isn't that motivating. Maybe they should sprinkle a few shirtless "college boy bank tellers" into the statement.

And I don't have that much money anyway. Just a dab, here and a dab there. Not like owning a quarter million dollar Bellingham home.

Hope all the financial institutions I deal with can go just about paperless in the next while. This pile is headed off to recycling. It's from just a few months.

I could use the space.

Facebook helps me work around a communication handicap

I have a lot of information stored away in my mind, but retrieval tends to be slow. I'm sort of a Slowlane kind of guy. This can be a handicap in fast talking social situations where it takes me a while to catch on what's being said. Often I think of the best response about 15 minutes after some one's comment, long after the conversation has veered to other topics.

In the world of fast moving sound bytes, I'm lost. Recognizing the lyrics of most songs, I'm lost. Fast moving facial inflections and knowing when to bat the eyes is a total mystery to me.

So Facebook comes to the rescue.

In Facebook, I can see people's comments and think about what to say, or whether to respond at all. The blinking cursor can be very forgiving. If it takes a while to formulate a thought, the cursor just sits and waits patiently. As I'm thinking, the cursor doesn't suddenly find that it's cell phone is ringing and duck out of the conversation.

Yes, Facebook and other Internet vehicles, such as email, are "talking to machines," but it's really talking to people at the other end of the machines. It's slowing down the social interaction enough to give someone like me time to come up with a useful response.

Back in the early 1980s, I remember going to an exhibit at Pacific Science Center in Seattle about computers and the handicap population. TTY for the hearing impaired and so forth. It was crude compared to today's technology, but still quite interesting and potentially liberating for many.

My slight mental handicap has sometimes been described as a form of asperger syndrome. The mind functions, but misses a lot of things in a fast paced environment.

That doesn't mean I don't get out and meet people face to face as well. Many would say "face to face is better than Facebook." Bellingham has a lot of community gathering places near where I live; for instance, conversation at the YMCA sauna is often quite focused and intelligent. A bit slower and more intellectual than, say, fast moving gossip at local bars. Try listening to conversation over blaring techno music.

In many face to face discussions, it can be hard to get a word in edgewise. This can even happen at the Y sometimes especially when one or more real talkative folks tend to dominate. There are ways to work around that problem on Facebook and other on-line environments.

Remember, sometimes talking through the machines helps us organize our interaction with other people.

I feel blessed to have a lot of both on-line and "real world face to face" conversation. The slower, more deliberate talking or writing works better for me.

I don't have a TV, so when I see television in places like motel rooms, it amazes me. Information moves so fast and the world becomes totally fragmented into sound byte segments. This must influence the way a lot of people relate to their friends.

One's stomach can be turning as the TV describes a graphic murder; blood splattered on the wall and then, with snap of the finger it's on to "how's the Seahawks doing?

If I do watch TV, I tend to gravitate toward slower and more focused outlets like the National Geographic Channel, C-span or a local community's public access channel.

Merry Christmas, that house glows again

I blogged about a Bellingham house on December 31 2006. Glowing again this year in LED splendor. I captured just a slightly different perspective.

Maybe the house isn't that great, but it's noticeable at least. Depends on your tastes. It's rush, rush time for some folks at least.

I haven't rushed to my home town where my two sisters reside just to do the one day called Christmas. How much time do we get off work?

Still, my sisters inadvertently gave the gift of their polyphonic voices on my answering machine. Both saying "Hello Robert" from phone extensions in different parts of our childhood home, it sounds like a friendly choir.

Another of many celebrations

I've got some leave time off work, people who are actually willing to fill-in for me and a bit of extra money. I can have Christmas "fun time off" this year; like during my childhood when school let out for the holidays.

Not to sound selfish.

I hope others can take holidays also. Part of the season's greatings is about rest.

Time to go to Bellingham Winter Solstice Celebration which is just one of many things to do around the holiday season. Bellingham has many solstice celebrations. This one at 7:15 PM, December 21 in Blodel Donovan Gym at the park off Electric Avenue.

Merry Christmas. Many say Christmas comes this time of year as early Christians were trying to copy the successes of Roman solstice celebrations.

When starting a new business, piggyback some ideas from already established enterprises.

Smart power grid, 1980s style

Obama's style of talk about building a smart power grid was not as evident in the 1980s when I worked as a janitor in the restaurant called Pizza Haven, here in Bellingham.

I like Obama, but even back then, we had what was called a "smart power meter" installed at Pizza Haven by the power company. It could also be called a "demand meter."

Our smart meter ran at different rates, depending on situations it encountered. The goal was to make power more expensive when it's being used during times of peak power demand on the grid.

Internet connectivity between what some might call "energy brains on the grid" was less evident back in 1980s. Still, the goal of making power more expensive during peak demand times was fairly straight forward.

Of course, the world keeps getting more complicated, but back then there was a consistent peak demand.

For instance, in the morning when folks get up, turn on lights, push up the heat, take hot water showers and heat up their stoves for breakfast power demand is high.

The meter had a clock in it so as to charge more for power during certain morning hours.

I don't know if this was true, or not, but I guess one could even put a thermometer in such a meter. With a thermometer as well as a clock, the smart power meter could not only tell what time it was, it could estimate how cold weather was here in the Pacific Northwest.

Colder temperatures could mean more people making their heaters and furnaces work harder across the land. The smart meter could jack up our power cost even more, if our restaurant was using power during that peak demand time as well.

You ask, what was the advantage of having such a meter for us at the restaurant?

We got lower overall cost of power throughout the whole day. As long as we behaved ourselves and tried to avoid adding our power demand during peak power demand hours on the grid.

That meter could be seen as kind of a little threat, to help us remember "The big picture."

The big picture being our power company's struggle trying to keep everyone's lights on through the peaks and valleys of demand. "Through thick and thin," so to speak.

Now, we live in a more complicated world than ever. Obama talks about hooking all the brains, on the power system together. The brains like our little smart meter.

Maybe it's not that big a deal over what we could already do, but the tasks seem to keep getting more complicated. Also we have some new tools, such as more internet connectivity.

After Copenhagen

The leaders can't do it for us. It's up to changing lifestyles at grassroots levels and new technology. Leaders can be better examples, though than jetting off to Copenhagen, even though Copenhagen is a nice city.

Cash for Caukers, hard and soft poem, porn?

Tarp money left over. Good news. Took less than expected to finish that job.

Republicans wish to give it back to China and other bankers.

But, Obama wants Americans to have another job.

Cash for Caukers.

More stimulating.

Needed for warm and cozy.

(I hope it's for renters also).

Calking windows, helping to foster survival of economy, given news from Copenhagen scientists.

Stimulate economy for sure. Stimulate.

Is your cauk soft or hard?

KGO radio, in San Francisco, is the main ABC "News Talk" affiliate for all of northern California. KGO must know how to succeed in business.

When a home improvement show on KGO was talking. Talking, about cauking. They were discussing hard and soft cauks.

Someone noticed it sounded like cock.

Oh, no. Was that inappropriate? How's the FCC? Is that one of those 7 little words? We (speaking of KGO) are still on the air, not just on cyberspace.

But, don't be uptight.

They made it into a promo.

I wasn't even listening to that show, but heard reprocussions afterwards.

A cute little promo with words like, "is your cauk hard or soft."

Then an announcer doing the tag line:

"Our shows are always informative and sometimes inadvertently X rated."

KGO knows how to get more listeners and stimulate the economy in a "private enterprise" way. They turned that into a promo.

Like America's banks which were said, before the 2008 crash, to be more "flambouyant" than (for instance) Canada's banks.

Is it a lie to call carbon dioxide a health hazard?

We breath it everyday, but when we also get enough oxigen, we're healthy.

Carbon dioxide is an "environmental hazard."

It's a STRETCH to say "health hazard." Why do they have to do this?

Why can't EPA address environmental hazards? Why do these environmental hazards have to be defined as health hazards before EPA can act?

I don't know, I'm no lawyer.

Or, here's an idea. Here's the STRETCH.

Cars spew out lots of carbon dioxide and they also kill tens of thousands of Americans each year in auto accidents as well as obesity.

Cars are a health hazard.

Is that the STRETCH they are using?

Probably not, but here's an interesting thought. "There's "cause and effect," and there's also "correlation."

It works.

Is this what they are thinking? I'm no lawyer.

My own energy cap is the circuit breaker

China, US and other countries are discussing numbers with Copenhagen Climate Conference on it's way.

It isn't likely to mean much till differences start trickling down to the grassroots level.

I've got my own "energy cap." It's the circuit breaker.

My room has one wall socket feeding a network of extension cords and surge suppressors. It all has to fit under 15 amps (around 1,500 watts) or the breaker goes plunging everything into darkness.

Computers and compact lights don't take much energy so that part is fairly easy.

The heater is a bit more challenging. I have a great portable heater for one room, but it stays on it's lowest setting - 600 watts. There's also a 900 watt setting and both switches equal 1,500 watts.

600 watts is the safest setting to keep the breaker happy.

Oh, I forgot to mention, one or two plug ins on the same breaker are scattered around in my neighbor's apartment. That means less than 15 amps for me, depending on what they've got plugged in across the hall.

No problem, I just wear jackets in the house and the sun warms my south facing window, on sunny days. Climate here is quite mild so we get very few days below freezing.

There's some residual heat from other parts of the house. The other apartments have radiators that run from the gas furnace. For some reason, this room doesn't have that.

Still, it works out quite well. I'm out a lot anyway and usually turn things off unless I'm home.

Living near downtown Bellingham, the world is my living room. There's warm saunas at the YMCA, dancing, biking and the symbolic warmth of having many friends.

One thing that really helps back home is an electric blanket. It can keep one toasty without heating the whole room. Draws roughly 180 watts.

I don't drive, but all the warm showers and saunas that I enjoy take energy.

Possibly my biggest greenhouse sin is chocolate milk, however. I drink lots of it. Dairy industry is local (for the buy local advocates), but supposedly a greenhouse gas emitter.

Maybe someday, I should switch to soy milk.

Find me a tasty, less expensive soy milk product and I'll see.

Those who head off to Copenhagen and run the numbers aren't going to be able to accomplish much unless "we the people" are up for changes.

Incidentally, from what I hear, the city of Copenhagen offers many examples of living with a low carbon footprint. A compact European city with lots of windmills and bicycles. Maybe Copenhagen can be a learning experience for the world.

TV challenged

People say I am TV challenged since I don't watch TV. I'm often at a loss when the conversation goes to TV shows and actors. It's not really my world. I'm the same way with movies and sports.

Who's Tiger Woods? Well, I sort of knew. Something to do with football? No golf.

First proton collisions at Large Hadron Collider took place earlier today

Congratulations.

In plenty of time for Christmas. They were hoping to get collisions before the Christmas holidays. Looks like they've been good. Santa even brought that stocking stuffer before our (USA) Thanksgiving.

More presents (1.2 TeV per beam) await opening under the tree before Christmas and even bigger packages (3.5 Tev) after New Years.

What's inside the packages, behind the wrapping?

Pieces for the cosmic puzzle that is slowly taking shape; like the farm scene puzzle my brother started one Christmas. Maybe before too long, we'll be able to make out part of the barn.

I envisioned a gift to the earth of bright light emitting diodes during a closing circle. That was during the closing circle for a discussion which was sponsored by Transition Whatcom. The discussion dealt with moving toward a low carbon footprint economy.

I see technology as one of the important tools toward a sustainable world.

Others in the closing circle envisioned gifts to the earth of cool forests, singing people and so forth. My vision was different, but it got a good response.

My envisioned gift to the earth to help it cool down. LEDs rather than fires.

LEDs make good bike lights also.

Water on the moon

Possibly good news for future space missions to use. Easier than carrying it up there.

Maybe it's too spread out and hard to extract, but at least it's there.

Also has science value. Core sampling in some very old ice. Learn more about the history of the solar system?

Also in the news.

Large Hadron Collider in Europe has successfully sent a proton stream around it's entire circumference. Another step toward the high energy collisions between protons that will teach us more about matter, space, time and other cosmic questions.

One justification for science. It's a jobs program for intellectuals.

I've noticed that the local job market seems to be over saturated with college educated folks. Many work as waiters around here, for instance.

Nothing wrong with a simple life. Not everyone has to be in a big field, so to speak, but it does seem like there is a glut of educated people out there.

Better to ask cosmic questions than make bombs with that unused talent pool.

We need more science projects to employ the flood of educated people pouring out of schools these days. Pouring out into economies dominated by places like Walmart.

Bike light retrofit

It's that time of year again. Days getting shorter. Good to have lights on your bike.

This bright wand full of LEDs runs on 3 AA batteries.

It's not really designed for bikes. I got it at Fred Myers several years ago for only $20. Bright and handy.

It's actually a shop light. Designed to hang among pipes, or whatever. There's a retractable hook at the top.



Remember old shop lights with the dangling cord? LEDs make it easier. Less worry stumbling over the cord. Bright light runs maybe 3 hours on one set of batteries.

This can't be much of an ad for the light company, however. All I see is a sticker on the bottom saying "the designer's edge." Behind battery compartment door, the type is in German. Who made it?

Oh, I just found out. The Designers Edge lighting company.

I made a loop from bungee cord. Stretchy so it's easy to shove light into stretchy circle of cord to be held with friction.



Text added Sept. 2012.

Light for only $7.95 in bucket at grocery / hardware (everything) store in Rainbow, Oregon.

The only store in town (town?), but it had what I needed including a bucket with these LED shop lights. Wow, the price has come down. Got my first shop light of this style back in 2008 for $20. This bucketful had them priced at under $8 apiece. Technology keeps marching on. I think even better than the previous design. I retrofitted it with foam padding and a bungy cord to make a great bicycle headlight.

Seattle defeated anti gay Initiative 13 in 1978 Seattle Times front page picture

Hopefully Washington State can celebrate the passage of Referendum 71; preserving the domestic partnership bill that was passed in Olympia, but challenged at the ballot box. Looks like 71 is ahead, but more ballots are being counted as I write.

Ballot box victories for gay rights may be somewhat rare, but not unprecedented. Usually human rights are extended by court or legislative action rather than popular vote, but Referendum 71 isn't a first.

In 1978, Seattle voters rejected an initiative to repeal that city's non discrimination in housing and employment ordinance which had been extended by the city council to cover sexual minorities.

Pictured above, November 8 1978 Seattle Times that I happened to keep.

In Seattle, a group called S.O.M.E. for Save Our Moral Values mounted their campaign to repeal the ordinance.

Initiative 13.

It was defeated with a sound margin.

Notice the angry look on the face of one of SOME's proponents beside the celebration of gay rights activists.

I remember a brochure from one gay rights organization saying, "Stop SOME before they become many."

That same election day, California voters rejected Proposition 6, otherwise known as the Briggs Initiative. Prop. 6 would have singled out gay people to ban from teaching in the schools, among other things.

Hopefully Referendum 71 can be added to the list of ballot box victories for human rights.

Note added later. Referendum 71 passed in favor of preserving domestic partnership.

Ghostly building in downtown Bellingham

Scroll down for pictures of fire in 1976 Western Front.

Top floor burned in the 1970s and has remained vacant ever since. Bottom floor is a tavern. Can you guess which building this is?

Happy Halloween weekend.

Leaving my art class at WWSC (now WWU), I saw a massive column of smoke over downtown Bellingham. Running down the hill past my sister's house, I knocked on Judy's door. She came running also, toward the fire.
Continued below:

Western Front newspaper, November 1976.

Watching from across the street, we got there just as the roof was caving in and a fireball rose to the sky.

Then, Judy started walking back home and I wondered why she was leaving the drama. She said she just remembered leaving her front door wide open as she ran from the house. Went back to shut the door.

I stayed till smoke turned to hissing steam.

Now the embers long cooled, that place sits quietly as downtown Bellingham scurries around it. Few pay attention to those upper floors that are like a carcass left over from that violent event.

Bellingham fire department has a coffee table book of local fires with a picture of this fire also.

Happy belated Birthday Arpanet

Precursor to Internet, Oct 29 1969.

This was not Arpanet (probably) or me. From my early 1970s high school annual. A teletype at Pullman High School connected to the Washington State University computer that was across town. Notice the rotary dial for phone connection.

Back then, I thought computers were just for mathematicians.

Pictured is a math whiz who's name I forgot, but I think I remember he'd moved to Pullman from Orofino, Idaho.