Wrecking Ball at the Y

If you have small children, and if they were anything like me (I am sorry), take them down to Riverfront Park today because it is a kid's dream come true. The river is churning and the Y is getting repeatedly whacked by a wrecking ball. The crane now sits where the old dispatch center used to be.

I had some problems with the video, but you can still hear some good thuds over the river chorus.

Cutting Edge Prosthetics

After an incident at work last week, I was sent this brochure.

It's hard to tell if this rookie cyborg was assigned to do car buffing work or industrial lighting. Maybe it's a laser bazooka. That would totally be worth it.

Signs of Spring!

Spokesman-Review gives world first glimpse of suspected MLK Bomber....

OK. I know this is not Breaking-News, or News-As-It-Happens, or Doppler-2000-Plus-Story-Tracker, but I've been busy!

Have you seen this man?

No, he wasn't a guest on King of the Hill or Beavis and Butthead. Here is a photo:


I usually like Molly Quinn's illustrations, but this looks like something that they forgot to task her with until 5 minutes before going to press:

If I were the judge, I think this would be my Christmas Card photo:

Maybe Molly has had enough of the S-R's crap. One can almost sense the desperation and anger in the close-up of the witness stand as it bleeds into the defendant's table. Symbolism?

Or maybe she has taken a note from Bill Keane and is on vacation, and "Little Molly" is filling in.


There is a story behind this story. Perhaps a "Konnect with Kleck" segment is in order. He's pretty sharp. The other night he talked about how he suspected something was not right when someone was calling senior citizens and asking them for their bank account numbers. Q6 keeps using the illustration of Harpham so maybe Kleck will investigate.

Funny Online Headline in this morning's SR

Household/Community Repair and Retrofitting

Spring, for me, if the usual time to start thinking about house repair stuff. Yesterday I met with Joel Williamson from The Spokane Alliance. Their latest project, one that has been going on for some time, is SustainableWorks. And, if you're thinking about any repair or retrofitting to your home this summer or spring, you may want to give them a call.

In a nutshell, you can get a home energy audit from them for $95 (fully refundable if they don't recommend any improvements) and includes installation of CFL light bulbs, shower heads and faucet aerators to start saving wasted energy $$$ immediately. This audit is a $650 value. If you decide to get some improvements made, they will act as the general contractor, and will put union workers to the task of doing the retrofitting you want done. The people doing the work are journey level workers who are receiving training and supervision while they make a living. SustainableWorks will even line up the financing and take care of all the paperwork for you. So what is the expected outcome of the project?

120 direct full-time jobs
25 apprentice positions and direct employment pathways
3,000 ton reduction of carbon emissions
$12 million in retrofit work.

To date, 200 journey level workers have received special energy systems training and 50 have been trained in energy auditing,

Throughout Washington, SustainableWorks has audited over 500 homes and completed over 200 retrofits. 85 of these retrofits have occurred in two neighborhoods in Spokane.

Your home must be in Lynwood-Edmonds, Shoreline or Spokane to qualify. Yes, if you own a rental, it can qualify too.

SustainableWorks is increasing good-paying union jobs, decreasing energy consumption and building up our community of Spokane from the grassroots. How cool is that?

If you want more information, you can click on the link or give them a call at 532-1688.

Labor Rally Last Friday

It was cold!

Two-hundred or so union members and their supporters showed up to wave signs at the triangle where Ruby, Division and North River Drive come together. I couldn't believe how many drivers honked horns and waved back. It was great!

It's easy to forget that Spokane has the labor movement entrenched in its founding and growth. No surprise that as union membership dwindled in Spokane, so did the general prosperity of the city. Mining, timber, the railroads, and of course, aluminum built a Spokane with a thriving middle class.


You can look it up for yourself. The overall prosperity of the individual in this country reached its peak coincidentally with the peak of union participation. Although, there weren't as many billionaires, failed banks, investment scams, unemployed, and medical bankruptcies either. Hmmmm.


The Wobbly Free Speech Movement put Spokane on the map for showing how much the authorities despised unions and how willing they were to persecute them. Look at some of the old newspapers from the time. The Spokesman-Review led the pack, calling for violence and worse against union members. The governor in Wisconsin is resurrecting this spirit, in a way that I don't think even the most fascist-leaning, turn-of-the-century Spokanite would have bought into.


Let's see Governor Walker, you give tax breaks to your benefactors to put the state budget into the hole. This deficit allows you to conveniently blame union employees and their meager pensions for the problem and go after their money, their rights and their political clout. Sad that so many who have been chewed up and spit out by these same forces continue to cheer on those who destroyed them and gleefully anticipate destruction for those who have fought on their behalf. Unbelievable that there are voters in Wisconsin who look to failing (education, health, employment, finances, standard of living) states in the south as their new model because it fits their Koch-brother-sponsored talk-radio, FOX News ideology.


Here in Spokane, the first gathering of firefighters to organize a union resulted in an instantaneous firing of those members, almost a hundred years ago. In fact, Local 29 - The Spokane Fire Fighters' Union celebrates its 93 year year birthday tomorrow. It was one of the original founding locals of the International Association of Firefighters, hence the low number of "29." They are now up to Local 4780.



There was a small article in the Spokesman-Review yesterday about the rally. Thank you SR! The TV news outlets, however, were pretty silent about it. Although on KREM, yesterday, they had a five-minute story, with an in-depth interview, about a guy who was waving a sign on Division to get people to come into a furniture store for a sale. It was cold outside. I kid you not. That was the story.

The Onion has nothing on us!

We Are One - Rally Today!

Corner of Ruby, Division and N. River Drive - 4:30 - 5:30 pm

We Are Wisconsin from Finn Ryan on Vimeo.

Cat and dog spooning - End Times!!

One more reason Time Bomb is a favorite store!

For many years I have been on a quest. I've haunted Value Village, Goodwill, Craig's List and eBay. Yet, I came up empty handed every time. Last weekend was the Spokane Firefighters Credit Union Dinner, otherwise known as "The Prom." I needed it and I needed it bad. But, I knew that, chances were, I would come up, once again, empty handed.

Value Village - nothing. I say to Sarah, "Let's just make one stop at Time Bomb. I think I am going to strike out again..." She agrees.

And there it was. One leisure suit. It looks like it was tailor-made for me. A Levis brand. It appears to be denim. No. Wait, It's double knit polyester! I can't believe it. What an incredible day.

Reactions at the dinner were mixed. From "Holy shit, where did you find that?" to "Oh. Hi, John."

It is amazing and, once again, Time Bomb ROCKS!!!!!!"

Oh yeah. Sarah looks pretty good too. Don't you think?

Decaying snowman waves goodbye to the Y as it is being dismantled

I believe this is the only remaining Christmas decoration from the old popular Hangman Golf Course extravaganza. The city sold the rest of the decorations to Coeur d'Alene where they cash in on them every year.

Every year, the snowman has more and more burned out bulbs, but he still waved to me on my way to work yesterday. Be of good cheer Brave Snowman! You still brighten my ride.

That's the river you hear in the background.

Swedish Swim Goggles

First read about these in Cool Tools here.

The first thing you notice about these goggles is that there is no rubber gasket between you and the plastic of the goggle. How do they maintain a seal? I don't know, but they do - better than any goggle I have ever used.

After the swim, my eyes don't look like someone has been punching them for the entire time (unless someone has). I bought a pair of nonfogs for about $3. They are super cheap and come in just about every color.

It looks like I have been shilling for SwimOutlet the last two posts. I wish. I like their service and they have a lot of stuff you aren't going to find around Spokane. I just returned something recently, so we'll see if the honeymoon is over.

Swimovate Pool-Mate Swimming Computer

For a long time I have been thinking there has to be a better way to count laps. I make my turn and then I say to myself the number of the lap I am now swimming. Or is it the lap number I just finished? Shit. Round down. Don't do that again. Turn. Arrrrgggggghhhhhh.

So, I found this watch. It costs around a hundred bucks. There is an upgraded version for $200.

When I opened the box I was amazed at how chintzy it felt. It had a plastic goodness to it that you might find in a watch costing 10 times less. The LCD numbers look like they may have been scrounged from surplus Soviet gopher trap detonators.

The confusing instructions were loaded with helpful hints like "If you find that the 'computer' did not count your lap, try extending your arm for a longer time after each turn. This is also a great way to take a little rest." Huh?

It was hard to ignore repeated warnings of - WHATEVER YOU DO - DO NOT, REPEAT, DO NOT - PRESS ANY BUTTONS WHILE "COMPUTER" IS UNDER WATER!!!!

So how did it actually work? It worked fantastically, thank you.

It just clicks off every turn you make. My only complaint is that it only records 99 "sets." It takes 72 "sets" in a 25 yard pool to make a mile. Not a big deal in that all you have to do is reset the watch after every mile. Of course, you will have to keep track of your overall miles. Maybe there is an underwater abacus available for this purpose. Note to self...

As seen on my ride to work yesterday

You can click the picture to make it bigger.

Great Training at the soon-to-be-demolished YMCA

Had a great drill at work the other day. We crawled around the YMCA for four hours on search and rescue missions. Wax paper in our face pieces prevented us from seeing where we were going. It was a great exercise in endurance, teamwork, communication and skills. We were only "on air" for one of the drills - the longest and most involved. We all sucked our 45 minute bottles down to the low air alarm! My knees are still a little sore as is my back! There were a lot of tight spaces to crawl through.

In between sessions, I poked around the building and wound up by the swimming pool. It suddenly hit me - all the hours I had spent there while my kids took swim lessons over the years. And now it looked like any other urban exploration derelict. Kinda weird. Kinda sad.

Anyway, Thanks to the SFD and Dean Pearcy for the great pictures. You can see more on the SFD's awesome blog here.

Phoenix

Was in Phoenix last week for the Affiliate Leadership Training Seminar, put on by the International Association of Firefighters. Great classes. Professional firefighters from all over the USA and Canada were there, so it was great to hear their stories.

The day was pretty full, but I was able to sneak out for a couple of runs - a short one before classes in the warm, dark morning and one after class in the warm, bright afternoon. I had been stationed at Williams AFB about 30 miles away, in the 1980s and I think this might have been my first time back. I really liked it. But you have to wonder about this giant net thing that they have erected in Phoenix:


Near as I can tell, it's some sort of crabpot/trap for bald eagles. I saw really big buffalo wings in many of the local eateries. This might explain a few things. Move over World's Deadliest Catch!

I have a soft spot for this building.

Yes, as a matter of fact, there is just one bag.

New addition to Dolphin and Unicorn Museum

Sometimes I have to walk my bike