Better on a bicycle, not so good as a car bumper sticker

Saw this bike parked downtown.

Better to see this sign on a bike than on the bumper sticker of a car even though I wrote earlier, in this blog "if we keep consuming oil we might as well drill for it in our own territory."

I wasn't against Obama's plan to open up more offshore areas to drilling, even though I've never driven a car. Domestic production is still better than imports, but better yet is less consumption and more alternatives.

Oil well blowout in Gulf of Mexico is "rough seas" for the politics of oil drilling. Here in this area, people of Anacortes, WA. are still morning the loss of 7 workers in the Tesoro Refinery accident.

Even though it's better to produce locally, it's still best to figure out how to consume less fossil fuel.

Laura Bush killed a guy

Car accident in 1963 where she ran a stop sign, and the driver of another car going through the intersection was killed. This and more in former first lady Laura Bush's new book, "Spoken from the Heart." It's now in the news.

Makes me think of the horror stories hidden in so many people's lives about auto accidents. Some folks famous and powerful, others ordinary. So many have been traumatized that I think Americans would be too shell shocked to drive, but this isn't the case. People go right on driving, for the most part.

Roads have gotten safer over the years, I hear the highway death toll in US is down to a bit over 30,000 per year when it was closer to 40,000 several years back. News reports even come out saying it's the lowest it's been since 1954; co-incidence, the year I was born.

Safer roads, better drunk driving enforcement and safer cars have helped, but the carnage is still too high. Back in the 50s and 60s, seat belts weren't as common, but now we have distracted driving from cellphones and the like.

If this many people kept dying in workplace accidents, or terrorist attacks, imagine how outraged the nation would be. Car accidents are still a silent slaughter.

I just think people and society would be more traumatized by this. So traumatized that folks would be afraid to drive and there would be more planning around alternative transportation.

Hubble celebrates 20th anniversary

I say, "even if you don't live in a big fancy house, you can still say you live in a fantastic universe."

Descriptions below reprinted from Hubble web site.

Hubble's 20th anniversary image shows a mountain of dust and gas rising in the Carina Nebula. The top of a three-light-year tall pillar of cool hydrogen is being worn away by the radiation of nearby stars, while stars within the pillar unleash jets of gas that stream from the peaks.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)

Below:

A brilliant white core is encircled by thick dust lanes in this spiral galaxy, seen edge-on. The galaxy is 50,000 light-years across and 28 million light years from Earth.
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Last few posts, I've been on a "space roll." Just found out that this is the 20th anniversary of Hubble. Thursday was Earth Day and Wednesday was "first light" for a solar observatory.

I was a custodian at the Bellingham Yacht Club when Hubble was launched back in 1990.

Back then, something called "a spherical aberration" caused images coming back from the Hubble mirror to be blurry. Not as easy to fix as cleaning the mirrors in Yacht Club bathrooms with Windex.

Still, scientists were able to figure a "work around" and some good science came from Hubble, even in the early years.

Then Shuttle astronauts went on that repair mission in 1993 and solved the problem; not with Windex, but a set of mirrors, called COSTAR - "Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement."

Worked like a charm. COSTAR has since been replaced because Hubble's newest cameras have the feature built in.

Then there's "Coinstar."

When I get a jug full of nickels, dimes and pennies, I go to the supermarket and pour them into a vending machine called Coinstar. It tallies the coins for me. Much easier than counting out all those pennies by hand. Ah, technological innovation.

Today is Earth Day

This image of Earth from NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day, March 25 2007. Taken by Apollo 17 crew back in the 1970s.

Yesterday, I had a picture of the Sun. Also from NASA. They've got a lot of good stuff.

I'm going to an Earth Day dance.

Looking at the sun with our new eyes

Today was what they call "first light" for a huge new observatory that's looking at the sun with ten times the resolution of high definition TV.

Image courtesy of:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/ / CC BY 2.0

This video is fun to watch and the guy's cute also.

Here's a BBC news report.

I've been following SDO since it's launch in February.

Most people take the sun for granted, but it's quite something.

Just think, the Earth only gets a tiny fraction of the sun's energy. We're like a gnat just intercepting a tiny fraction. Most of that energy just pours out into space in all directions from the sun. Accountants would be horrified. All that energy going to waste. At least it isn't entering our defenition of "being employed" if it doesn't reach Earth.

There's certainly a lot of abundance coming from the sun. Most of it just radiating out into the vastness of space.

Rainbow in window at Garden Street Methodist

Biking past window on Magnolia St. side of Garden St. Methodist Church.

The Great Unleashing Event by Transition Whatcom

Parts of Bellingham High School housed "The Great Unleashing" last weekend. Sponsored by a network called Transition Whatcom.

Workshops, speakers, music and events revolving around how to live in a future with less fossil fuel.

Bellingham High School reminded me of an arcology that day. Arcologies are "city in one building" structures. This could be a "mini arcology."

I pictured that building full of apartments with the commons (pictured above) being an indoor "town square."

What a concept in our rainy climate.

It's normally just a school cafeteria, but a nice looking one with natural light. BHS was remodeled recently.

Wouldn't it be neat to live in a place like that?

I've often thought schools, malls and college campuses could make nice arcologies.

My thinking is a different direction from many other folks in the transition movement who talk about people growing food and going closer to the land.

Some folks have a rural vision, I have a more urban vision of the future.

I ask, "can the farmland hold all the people?"

Just one of many discussions that can get going.

That weekend turned the school into a "virtual city of thinking people."

I was ask to be on a panel for one of the many workshops. A discussion about "car-less in Bellingham and beyond?" I've never driven a car and survived so far.

We met in the "Staff Room."

Way back when I was in high school, wasn't the staff room where faculty snuck off to smoke?

There were many other events including a few keynote speakers in the theater.

Was a full house not that long before I took this picture.

Several bands brought music to the cafeteria where folks mingled and impromptu conversations broke out.

They say around 800 people attended Unleashing.

Cafeteria was closed, but Food Not Bombs had their table set up near the "food service" sign. They were one of many participants in the Unleashing.

Each Friday, Food Not Bombs rolls this table to the corner of Cornwall and Magnolia streets where people gather around 4-5pm for the Bellingham Peace Vigil. That corner becomes another place for mingling and conversation.

Transition Whatcom is quite successful in bridging on-line with face to face experience. It has an active social networking site, like a local Facebook, but also sposors events where people meet in person.

Both the on-line and face to face experiences enhance one another.

Xerox copy price remains stable for decades

Around 5 cents. Even when the machines were first introduced in March 1960.

I remember 5 cents per copy in the 1970s during my first experience with copy machines. Some machines were 10 cents per copy. Coin operated at the WSU library where I grew up in Pullman, WA.

Meanwhile, house prices in Seattle, WA. have soared from around 20 thousand dollars in the 1970s to approaching one million dollars for the same house today.

Amazing.

Diverging rates of inflation.

Fancy new bike rack made from old bike parts at downtown Bellingham Food Coop

Painted purple. Made by The Hub Bicycle Collective in Bellingham. Check out similar one at North side Coop.

Large Hadron Collider and the slow lane

Riding my bike and working as a custodian gives me lots of time to ponder questions like "where did the universe come from?"

March 30th was that historic day of first proton collisions in Hadron at 7 TeV.

It's interesting to follow the news and watch some of the videos from Cern Lab as they celebrate this event. Brings back childhood memories of the TV when Apollo astronauts first landed on the moon.

Nice to see scientists all over the world cooperating on something that provides more grist for pondering of cosmic questions. Much better than using their technical minds for waging war. Also more interesting than building shopping malls.

World universities turn out lots of educated minds and at times it seems like there's a glut of educated people for the job market.

After the Soviet Union crumbled, there was a scramble to try and find gainful employment for lots of physicists to keep them from having to find work in more destructive fields such as oil funded terrorist mills of the Middle East.

Keeping the Soyuz space flights going helps. One took off today for the International Space Station; for instance.

Some people grumble that these scientific efforts take lots of energy.

They do use energy, but not anywhere near as much as billions of people all over the world trying to live the "typical USA drive everywhere lifestyle." Look at the millions of "show boat homes" all over the place.

It seems like people don't want life to be mundane. If we start living in smaller places and use less energy, life does present the hazard of becoming more boring; especially if people start suffering withdrawal pains from previous lifestyles of driving and jetting around the world.

Pondering cosmic questions, by just reading interesting things on the Internet, can put more spice into our lives, even if we don't all live in showboat homes.

It's like a spiritual quest, wondering what's being discovered next about the laws of physics and the origins of the universe. One doesn't have to have lots of money, or be something more than "just a custodian" to enjoy that.

As long as we (USA) keep using oil, we might as well drill for it in our own territory

Obama's decree to allow drilling off more of our coastlines doesn't bother me. As long as USA is so dependent on oil, we might as well extract more of it locally.

On the other hand, I like working so locally that I can walk to my job. I never owned a car. Transportation accounts for 2/3 of our oil imports.

Some environmentalists feel that restrictions on oil drilling can force us to kick the habit, but that strategy hasn't seemed to work. Instead, it's like squeezing one part of a balloon that bubbles out another direction. Drilling for our consumption just goes overseas.

If we really want to cut back on oil consumption, as supplies diminish and the price goes up, we need to make living without a car more doable and affordable. I can do it, but my rent is affordable living near the heart of town. Some people can't afford to live where they can do their errands without driving.

We really need to think about affordable living, density, lifestyles, transit and urban planning. Also, of course, greener energy sources, but these transitions take time.

If we have a clear direction toward change, we can still get to a greener future, but since we've floundered on these things over the last 30 years, we've been burning more and more imported oil.

A bicycle alternative to Lakeway in Bellingham, WA. Fraser St.

Image, along Fraser St. Better alternative than Lakeway for bicycling.

School's out one day because of good weather

When Bellingham Christian School took a day off because of good weather, it made national news. I even heard something about it on NPR.

Opposite idea from having school run all summer and no summer vacation. A day off can be useful from time to time. Change from the routine for other kinds of learning. Time for friends and family, time for even resting. In the case of summer vacation, it's often time for travel.

I heard about a school, somewhere in USA taking a day off to see the sun when I was in grade school. That school was in a place with lots of clouds; similar to Bellingham. Good to hear of it happening again, this time in the town I live in; often cloudy Bellingham.

At Big Rock Sculpture Garden

Untitled, by Pat Kuehnel.

Commemorating the US. solders who saved many Korean children after the Korean War.

Some friends of mind had a leisurely picnic in Big Rock Garden Park. I biked up there and met them. It's hidden in a residential area off of Sylvan Street top of Alabama Hill. I rode up Barkley.

There are quite a few sculptures in the park.

Some of the Sebastian sculptures in Bellingham

Another one of 19 Sebastian sculptures temporarily on display around downtown Bellingham. This one in the lawn behind the library. Whatcom County Courthouse in background to the right.

While I'm out walking, here's another sculpture. Is it a giraffe or dinosaur? Probably a giraffe. Some would call building behind it a dinosaur, however. Many bland, square buildings came out of the 1980s. Civic Center Building was built as private offices in 1980. The county now has this building and is planning to move some of it's operations there, after renovating parts of it.

19 urban sculptures by "Sebastian," said to be Mexico’s most famous contemporary sculptor are on display in downtown Bellingham from February through October 2010. Sculptures are in town courtesy of the “Sebastian in Bellingham” Project.

They also make nice thumbnail images to spice up the gray type of my blog.

Paying China back

About the only way we can pay China back for all the goods it has sent us is to start shipping goods and services back to China.

Someone just forwarded an email to me about this impressive cargo ship called the Emma Maersk. Ship made in Denmark, but now part of shipping commerce across the Pacific.

Efficiency.

The Maersk can cross Pacific in about 5 days. It's 1302 feet long. Carries 15,000 containers full of products and only needs a crew of 13. Imagine, only 13.

A US aircraft carrier has a crew of 5,000, according to that email.

Then it says most of the containers go back to China empty. Yes, that email was about US jobs being outsourced.

I think, "maybe we can just sit back and let the 13 member crew bring us the goods while we go on welfare." Let China finance our government, which buying our debt basically does. And government is the largest consumer thus propping up US economy.

Maybe we have already paid off part of our debt to China and other world industrious powers.

Our military? Keeping the shipping lanes open including the Persian Gulf oil lanes to keep fueling the world economy.

Remember 5,000 crew to run an aircraft carrier and only 13 to run this huge cargo ship.

Also I hear industrial powers and think of the word industrious.

The industrious powers.

Work is good and being industrious is OK to a point, but things can get out of balance.

The way to pay China back is to start exporting our goods and services again.

Figure out how to lower our dollar, or something to balance world trade again.

Several connotations of obesity behind health care crisis

Obese corporate executive salaries in the health care industries.

Lifestyles leading to obesity among much of the general public increasing incidence of chronic disease.

An obese Congress mired in gridlock.

Out of control law suites and liability issues.

A president who is at least trying to sound the alarm, but even himself admits to sneaking in a cigarette now and then.

The post war baby boom "bulge in demographics" getting older. That's a bulge also.

Then there are the health care reform bills themselves. Heavy, thousands of pages and fine print. Could be good legislation, but large and obtuse are relevant adjectives.

You get the idea. Lots of things that aren't sustainable and need to be trimmed down, hopefully without too much pain.

Maybe pleasure trimming things down; like walking on a nice spring day if still possible.

Freight train passing through

Walking around town with my camera. Freight train passing through under Bay and Chestnut Streets. In background is smoldering remains of fire in Old Town. Image taken March 1 2010.

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.