February in Seattle

As always, the middle of winter. Usually cold, gray clouds and rain. A different beauty than summer. However, this year's starting in a different way. We've had two weeks of sun and warm temperatures here in this northwest corner of the great Pacific Northwest! So, figures I, instead of sitting in the city, why not take advantage of it while it lasts. Get my warm leather and chaps, throw a few things in the saddle bags and the bike and me are ready to go! Heading for Olympia and the top of hwy 101. (Bummer! I forgot my cell phone!!)

Heading south on I5, the only break in the urban sprawl is the Nisqually Basin then right, onto hwy 101, past Mud Bay, the whole world starts to change. Deciduous trees and shrubs bare of leaves, tall furs. Rich colors dominated by green and brown. Visible boarders, fences and walls, further between and the Olympic Mountains on the horizon. On one hand, I'm glad there's hardly anyone else on this part of the road, the solitude is great. On the other, sharing in all this with others is great too. Coming from the other direction, another motorcycle. We exchange the ol biker wave. I know he's enjoying all of this as much as I.

Traveling north now, only a little more than two hours out of Seattle. Passing through little towns: Skokomish, Lilliwaup, Ayock, Hamma Hamma! (Why is it, every time I type a NA name on this here computin' machine, I get a spell check? What's with that?) Hoods Canal on my right, the foot hills of the Olympics on my left. Approaching Discovery Bay. The travel committee, by unanimous vote, decides on a little side trip up to Port Townsend, one of my most favorite places in the world. A day or so, hob-nobbing with old friends, meeting new ones, yah, why not!

The same thing in Sequim and Port Angeles. I have a friend inside at Calallam Bay, but the hard ass's wouldn't let me in for a visit, however, they did let me leave him a note. (I just had to put a stamp on it and drop it in a mail box!) Anyway, the whole trip went like this. Mostly great. It took me five more days to get up around Neah Bay then down to Grays Harbor. I love the Pacific coast this time of year. From Aberdeen, another eight hours of slow rolling, stopping to eat some mollusks and crustaceans along the way, back to Seattle.

Anyway, the point of all of this: This is why I live in Seattle. I do like the city but beyond that, I can pick any direction and in less than two hours and/or two hundred miles, I can be in a whole different world. Mountains, lakes, rivers, salt water, fresh water, farms or forests and mostly combination's of all. Even a whole different country! (Hello to my Canadian brothers and sisters.) I hope that where you live is as beautiful and diverse as where I live and that you are able to find and enjoy the beauty in it.
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Pay facebook?

Does anyone remember, a long time ago, when "pay" TV first appeared? People said; "why would I pay to watch TV?" The cable guys assured us the reason to switch was we would have totally commercial free TV!. Imagine that! Our last cable bill was somewhere around 200 bucks for which we received all that reliable Comcast service, and, we didn't miss a single one of those great Supper Bowl commercials!

The state of Washington will lock me up for 5 years if I play poker online but another of those commercials I'm paying to watch just informed me of the new Power Ball Lottery! When the state lottery first started, wasn't the money generated going to fund education? We got 2, count them, stadiums crammed down our throats in spite of what the voters wanted and now, the viaduct will be closed for 10 years while they shaft us again?

But, I digress! We don't pay for facebook because like Google, they make their money from their advertisers. For this to happen, the ads need to be seen. This is where we may have some influence. The fb group; I'm Quitting Facebook Once We have to Pay $3.99/month on July 9, 2010!, currently has some 90,000+ members. By joining and encouraging your friends to join, even if you don't intend to follow through, may increase this number to a point where it could generate attention from fb and their advertisers.

A second approach is to install the Firefox add-on: Addblock Plus. http://adblockplus.org/en/ This of course requires the use of Firefox, which, I also think is a good thing. With Addblock, you have the choice of allowing, or not, the displaying of ads on sites you visit. Personally, I don't find facebook's ads to be too terribly annoying and are sometimes even informative, and, knowing this is their primary source of revenue, I don't block them. But, I can, and, can make that option known.

Thirdly, I'm building my PC as much as possible, with free-ware. A good number of free-ware providers ask for donations and/or make available a higher level of service for a charge. I actually have, and do, make donations to causes and services I feel are worthwhile irregardless of tax benefits.

While I realize "pay facebook" is only a rumor, its good to be aware. Rumors start somewhere and sometimes are started as a means gathering information. If this be the case, these are a few proactive methods of response.

19th Century Technology

19th Century Technology

Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:10pm

Does anyone remember, way back, before Metro, when Seattle Transit ran the buses? All over town: Ballard, the "U" District, Westlake, down town. When they resurface streets, under the pavement your likely to find cobble stones and/or cable car tracks. We've long since abandoned cobble stones as 19th century technology but what about the tracks? Weren't they covered-over because they too were outmoded?

I've used Seattle's new Lite Rail system and for what it is, its ok. It was installed on schedule, at or under budget, had minor impact on property rights (on its current route) and is quiet and fast. When they start pointing the the tracks in other directions, I'm betting the only thing remaining will be 'quiet'. For example, rails cannot cross the floating bridges ,so, east-side access will have to be around the lake. That will probably screw up fast.

I've used Amtrak for trips to Portland and California. Its a leisurely and relaxing mode of travail unless you have to be at your destination on time. Rail transit has been in place for a hundred years or so back east. The Europeans and Japanese have rocket trains. San Francisco and Portland have in place systems. Even Tacoma has joined the party.

Looking again to the past, I think it was back in the 60's when regional thinking was labeled "Greater Seattle". One of my favorite journalists; Emmett Watson reversed the concept to "Lesser Seattle". This was basically an isolationist, exclusionary philosophy - like Oregon; come here to visit and spend your money, but don't stay. Even though ol Emmett is no longer with us, looking to the past for ideas, even ones that may have been good at the time, is still a strong and healthy concept in Seattle.

In conclusion, quoting John Sebastion: "I sure am glad I got a chance to say something about the music and the 'mothers' from Nashville." Hows that for looking to the past?