Paisley!

When I was in third grade, I hit the zenith of my fashion sensibility. My third grade photo shows bucktooth me sporting a green paisley shirt with an orange dickie. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically the business end of a turtleneck with no arms, and really no front or back beside the minimal fabric that will show inside the front of a button down shirt. Back in the day, there were no Walmarts. Clothes were expensive because the people who made them raised their families on their wages, right here in the USA. So, if you could get by with just the part of the turtleneck that showed, you did.

Anyway, for some reason, my fashion sense quickly faded shortly after the dickie/paisley combo. Maybe it was the beatings by classmates. Some of the girls were pretty tough. All I know, is I outgrew that shirt, and that was that. And now here I am typing, wearing a torn Spokane Zombie T-Shirt and a sportkilt that really needs to be washed. And I gotta tell you, I really don't like any part of a turtleneck anymore. They feel tight on my neck and they look shitty on me. Plus, if you can't find your shirt at Boo Radley's or Fish Respectin' maybe you should think twice about a new one anyhow. That's where I was.

Sarah gave me a shot at redemption the other day. She offered to make me a shop apron for working on the bikes. I have been wearing a regular BBQ apron and it allows about 3" of kilt exposure. Sometimes, grease finds those 3". For Sarah to do this was a pretty neat thing. She isn't really into sewing that much, even though she is extremely good at it and has made some cool things. If she could grow me a shop apron in her flower gardens, she would, but she offered to sew one, and I took her up on it.

So, here is the material:


And the apron turned out great!

At the fabric store, I noticed that they had more black velveteen being unloaded. Could it be that some more black velvet paintings are being created here? This could put Spokane solidly on the art map. I have a new BV canvas stretched, but I've been trying to learn me some water color pencil chops first. Been working on some trauma inspired poetry and watercolor combos. It is very cathartic.

THANKS SARAH!!!!

Maybe some bicycle chaps next? Maybe I'm pressing my luck?

Anniversary Ride

Three days ago, Sarah and I celebrated our 19th anniversary. So we thought a little ride and picnic were in order. I thought we were headed to Deep Creek and was very confused by Sarah's lead. She thought we were going to Fish Lake. And you know what? We were. And we did.



On the way back, another flat in the back, this time with a good-sized hole. So, I replaced the tire with a knobbier, heavier one. I was about 3 mph slower bombing down Regal this morning with the knobby. Hmmmm.


I have to say, it is really nice having the bag and basket on the Masi. I still really like the XtraCycle's big load carrying capacity, but on this ride I was able to carry sandwiches, wine, a cooler, a tarp, etc. and peddle kinda fast.

A heavy trip up a new street.

Took the Masi out for a 20 mile spin today to see how the new front rack set-up works with the saddle bag. Stuck 15 pounds in each. Hopefully, that's twice what I will be carrying for the next camping trip.

On the way out, I headed south on the newly paved Lincoln Street. All I could think about is what a difference a new mayor and a new city council made, since the repaving to the east.

I will never forget the day my family and I walked up the newly finished, but not yet open, Stevens, Ben Garnett, Grove and Bernard from Downtown to our home. We were anxious to see sidewalks where none existed before. We wondered about how much better this was now going to be for bikers, walkers and traffic. The answer came quickly. There were no changes. No sidewalks. No bike lanes until you got up to 14th where parking lanes could also be used by bikes if no one else was using them.

Best of all, many trees were removed. Studies showed that lesser-treed streets were streets that encouraged speeding. And that proved to be true. I remember the mayor at the time saying that there was nothing that could be done. The project had to go through without any changes to the street design. This was after they dug everything out - down to the dirt - the perfect, cheapest time to make changes. There was a lot of citizen input that was ignored or explained away. Everyone remembers the big save-the-trees controversy. In the end, laziness and arrogance carried the day.



Lincoln Street is a testament to what happens when you have a city government that listens to what people want and is unafraid to do work and to innovate. The swales in the parking strips will collect rainwater, filter it and send to Cannon Hill pond. In the picture you can see where these swales jut out to collect stormwater. This makes sense in a lot of ways, plus it looks really cool.

The street is still heavily treed. There are no bike lanes, but I think I will always prefer to travel on a street where cars go the speed limit, a street with some shade and one that at least looks interesting rather than travel on a standard Spokane street in a bike lane. I would wager that drivers on this street are going to feel happier than drivers on Bernard. I think I would rather have that too.

And speaking of feeling happy, I was very happy with the front rack. It did a great job of balancing the saddle bag. The bike climbed up many a hill and bombed down. It felt great!

Dreamtime Continues....

After the usual being up all night, mitigating bizarre conundrums (things that when related seem far-fetched, surreal and fictional) the parade continued on my ride home a couple of days ago.


A middle-aged fellow moving his belongings via the pitbull-ubiquitous BMX bike and shopping cart combo.


A pop-up camper work trailer/party hut modified for warm weather ops.

Upon closer inspection, this might have been the site of a release party for the new Starcraft II - Wings of Liberty.

I apple Spokane. Today, Every Day... your vote is needed again!

Click on the image to see the cellphone picture in greater detail. I don't think I have seen more misspellings, grammatical errors and just plain head-scratchers in so few sentences. Starting in the third person, the prose makes an interesting switch to the first.

Look, I know I have made my share of writing errors. However, the money that was spent on the printing and the mailing of these postcards should have made someone think about a proofread or two.

Bob's not the only one. There are a lot of funny campaign ads here in Spokane. Al French's are really busy, with way too much information in too many fonts.

The best was one from many years ago when Steve Corker was running for city council. The picture showed him sitting at a desk talking on the phone cradled upon his neck. One hand was typing on a computer keyboard and the other was dialing a cellphone. He was surrounded by a lot of gadgets. I guess they wanted to show he was a multi-tasking mother. It's sad when you see this from a run-of-the-mill politician, but Steve was also, at the time, an adjunct professor of marketing at GU.

I'll see if I can find that flyer. I save all the funny ones. I am adding Bob Apple's to the file.

This election, Steve Salvatori has the most clueless sign campaign. Life-size full body shots of him in his jeans, cowboy boots and sport jacket. The angle of his copy is that he is not a politician, and he's about fixing problems not politics. Gee, what a bold statement. I wonder if he is anti-pothole and anti-taxes. Maybe he's against bureaucrats and commies too. One hopes he will "trim the fat," as well.

That nobody draws mustaches on his signs or blackens a tooth or two is an affirmation that Spokane is one of the most civil places in the world. At least this is something we can be proud of.



Hang on. I'm getting a robocall from the defender of keeping Christ in Christmas, the bullier of school children and the guy who drew the obvious similarities between gay marriage and bestiality - JOHN AHERN!! Yes, he want's his old job back. Man, I love this time of year!!!

Xtracycle updates, Masi survival and the garden....

Switched to some skinnier tires for the XtraCycle this summer and am really noticing a difference. At just over an inch wide, they kick the ass of the 1.75 inch tires I previously had. The Monkey Light has not been put to much use lately because the daylight never seems to want to go. I think in a month or so I will be able to use it on my morning commute once again, sigh.

I recently added the France sticker to my already crowded XtraCycle backboard


When I ride my Masi CXR out into the hinterlands I like to be prepared. So here is my kit:


Inside is my house key, a $5 bill for emergency beer, a hand wipe, some benadryl in case of bee stings and a book of matches. Inside the paper (which could be used for tender) are some iodine tablets. I have ran out of water in some places where there are some creeks that have water of dubious potability. So, I can drop some tablets in a bottle filled with creek water and drink up. There's even an old ginger altoid. All that is missing is a condom and a cyanide capsule.


Speaking of condoms and cyanide capsules, here are some gratuitous shots of the box garden. My poppy eradication program has failed.

Had a France flashback the other day. Sarah and I went to see a movie downtown. Those of you who know Spokane know that it is not a real bustling place, usually. And so it was that afternoon. Yet, in five minutes we saw more obese people in Spokane than we did in five days in Paris (a place that hustles while it bustles). We wondered why that was. Food and booze were cheap enough in Paris. In fact, it seemed like food and drink consumption was the main event. Didn't see a lot of gyms there. Hardly noticed a jogger. There were some cyclists, but definitely that was not the norm. How is it that these people eat and drink whatever they want and yet they stay slim without pathological exercising?

Sarah had an interesting thought around this. She noticed that all the outdoor cafes' chairs faced outward to view passersby. Her theory is that the Parisians are continually checking each other out and would rather be dead than be seen as obese or wearing unfashionable clothes. As such they are ever mindful of their consumption. So, is this a good thing?

Whatever happened to Will and Penny Robinson?

Since I was 12, I've been a big Star Trek fan. Before that, I was a Lost in Space devotee. I remember watching the originals on our tiny Penncrest B-and-W TV. Sometimes, mom would even make TV dinners and we would eat them on TV trays in front of, yes, the TV. Very spacey-agey dining.

I had an older cousin who used to tell me she saw the final episode of Lost in Space and the Robinson family made it home to Earth. She then told me what happened to all the characters. I remember she said that Doctor Smith went to jail, of course, and Will and the robot procured jobs at a planetarium. I know, I didn't believe it either.

Whenever the Jupiter Two crashed on a different planet (one that always looked the same) the first thing the Robinson Family, Don and the Robot would do is place force field units around the perimeter. Doctor Smith would be off with an injured back so he couldn't help.


Whenever I ride my bike past this apartment building, on my way to work, the satellite TV dishes remind me of the Jupiter Two's forcefield units. By the time I arrive, I have conjured a down-and-out Penny Robinson sleeping it off on the couch inside. Will is her obese neighbor. They were famous for a while after returning to Earth, but partied a little too hardy. The robot became involved in nefarious dealings too. And they all wound up here. Looks like Penny has some grandkids, or maybe she parlayed her fleeting fame into a daycare. Who knew that their experience with hydroponic gardening aboard the Jupiter Two would have been the seed of this, their final crash.

The story changes every time. But one thing remains the same. Doctor Smith was a total success upon his earthly return and redeemed himself. Or did he?

A quick peak at the bike scene in Amsterdam, Bruges and Paris

Everything that I had heard about Amsterdam and bicycles turned out to be true. Dedicated bike lanes, most of the time separated by barriers from traffic. Bicyclists even have their own traffic lights.

There was a parking lot/parkade outside the train station that was incredibly packed with thousands of bikes.



All over the city, you can find bike rentals. You don't pay much for the day and can really see Amsterdam the way it was meant to be seen.

Of course, the Dutch bicycles are very stout and are usually single speed.

It is extremely flat and when you do encounter a rise in the road, you really know it riding these bicycles. Saw a lot of bakfiets, but saw more Dahon folding bikes there. Here's a bakfiet on steroids:

In Bruges, we rented bikes again. This time, we went out into the country along the canals and explored some windmills and an old church.

The Bruge bikes we rented had 5 gears. My chain came off along the way. Every bike I saw in Europe had chain guards on them. It's great but it can kind of slow you down in traffic when your putting your chain back on. The best thing about biking in Belgium is their beer.


I finally get the connection between New Belgium Brewing and their support of bicycling.

In Paris, there was the famous Velibe bicycle rental system.

I have to admit the traffic was a little daunting. Their idea of a bike lane is one that is shared with taxis and buses! And motorists make their own rules. Sarah got a dirty look and a Gallic shrug (the only one we witnessed) from a motorcyclist as he hopped the curb onto the sidewalk and she happened to be walking where he wanted to motor.

We never did turn a peddle in Paris. Walking and the Metro worked great though.

In Reims, they had set up a little museum in honor of the TDF's impending arrival with some interesting bicycles from the past.


We watched the finish of the fourth stage.

Yes, we noticed that the flag was backwards and fixed it before Tyler Farrar finished. Still, people didn't seem to recognize our state flag. Even when Ike wore it as a cape.

Back from Europe!

Rode around Amsterdam. Rode around Bruges and the Belgian countryside. Saw the TDF in Reims. Still a little jet lagged.

FIrst attempt at this classy medium...

Sometimes you have to make what you want because no one else will.

So it was with the black velvet painting of the Trade Winds Motel logo. This was a first attempt and I learned a lot. First attempt at building a frame too. That was a learning experience as well. I have about six subjects lined up to put down on black velvet. All these projects are done in the hopes of building up enough skill for a planned technically difficult (for me) culminating project - one which I am excited to do, but not good enough... yet.

Sage Advice and Dining Invite at the 7th Rail...

Have cruised past this sign for over a week now and just noticed the "EAT HERE - FULL MENU" tag at the bottom.

Years ago, we had a guy in full cardiac arrest here. Luckily, this bar is really close to the station. We were there in seconds.

We were running the code (I wasn't a paramedic yet, but was riding the seat as the acting lieutenant) when the crowd was led in a chant proclaiming the patient's name over and over again - actually screaming it. There were cheers and I think someone started "the wave" around the perimeter. The medics were getting a little flummoxed. I had to ask the crowd to kind of keep it down a bit. There was resistance. I suggested that they think of this place not as a sports bar (which it was at the time) but more of a hospital operating room. Was cheering and clapping, whooping and hollering and "the wave" proper behavior in an operating room? That won them over.

More importantly, the guy was dead (not mostly but fully) and the medics brought him back. He is still with us today. I know we have had another save there too, on a different shift.

All to say, the 7th Rail has plenty of words to serve, no matter what your appetite. And if you eat too much, we're right around the corner.

Life in the garden is good.

I am really on top of a lot of projects this spring. We had talked about enclosing our breezeway for the last six years or so. We finally hired a contractor who did the job and it is nicer than we ever thought it would be. With a solatube and lots of windows, it's a sunroom that will be much needed in the winter/early spring.


More raised beds in the garden was something I have been yacking about for years too. Now they're in and the crops are looking good. I sunk a mini deck behind the middle bed. It's just 3 by 4 feet - just big enough for two folding chairs. Here I am enjoying a beer in a rare unkilted moment.


This Twilight Beer is good. Although I was expecting more of a tie-in to the movie. Oh well.

Hey, at Rosauers you can buy plastic onions to put your real onions in:

Leonard Pitts says it best....

The news from the Gulf of Mexico continues to be tragic. Although this blog is Spokane-centric, I think what Leonard Pitts has to say this morning really applies well to our region.

We have a lot of folks who learned a mantra 30 years ago and still can't stop repeating it, much to the detriment of our nation and the Inland Northwest. It is nonsensical, childish and has been proven wrong time and time again. Yet, many of us have joined a bunch that seeks out "facts" to bolster the way they "feel," and we have a media that is much too happy to oblige. It sounds like a recipe for disaster and now we see what that recipe produces... again.

After you read this article, ask yourself why aren't our national news sources asking the governor of Louisiana, and other "conservatives" how they reconcile their talk with these results. Why won't anyone in the "liberal" media ask about Dick Cheney and the Bush Administration's role in this disaster, namely exempting oil companies from having a safeguard (one that other nations insist upon) that would have prevented this tragedy?

All to say, this is a national phenomenon that will be coming to a polling place (your mailbox) again soon. In essence, do you want to give the Bush Administration another chance?




Look at the results that we continue to pay for. Come on people, at some point you have to pay attention to what the people you want to elect vote for, stand for and who they carry water for. If you don't think it really matters, look to Louisiana.

I wouldn't be surprised that after the federal government bails out Louisiana, the same folks who voted Republican will continue to do so. It would be interesting to let them live by their philosophy and not spend a dime there. I think you would have people singing a different tune if they had to live with what they profess. But we are too responsible to let that happen. And in the lingo, we are "enablers" of those who continue to vote for this failed philosophy.

Here's the article and the title above is a link to the site.

Singing new tune in oil spill's wake

By Leonard Pitts

lpitts@MiamiHerald.com

``There has never been a challenge that the American people, with as little interference as possible by the federal government, cannot handle.'' -- Bobby Jindal, March 24, 2009

That was then.

This is now: 11 people dead in an oil rig explosion, fragile marshlands damaged, perhaps irreparably, uncalculated millions (billions?) in lost revenue for the tourism and fishing industries, and a short attention span nation transfixed by a compelling image from a deep sea camera, brown gunk billowing out from a hole in the ocean floor, Things Getting Worse in real time.

And Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, off whose coast this tragedy is centered, is singing a new song, starkly at odds with what he said last year in a speech before the Republican faithful. Now he's begging for federal ``interference.'' He wants federal money, federal supplies, wants the feds to help create barrier islands to protect Louisiana wetlands from oil.

Not to pick on Jindal. He is but one prominent voice in a chorus of Gulf state officials who once preached the virtues of tiny government but have discovered, in the wake of this spreading disaster, the virtues of government that is robust enough, at a minimum, to help them out of a jam.

One hears pointed questions about President Obama's engagement or lack thereof in the unfolding crisis. One hears accusations that the government was lax in its oversight duties and too cozy with the oil industry it was supposed to be regulating. One hears nothing about deregulation, about leaving the free market alone to do its magic.

You know what they say: it's all fun and games till somebody gets hurt. Well, the Gulf Coast is hurt, hurt in ways that may take years to fully assess, much less repair. And the sudden silence from the apostles of small government and free markets is telling.

The thing is, their argument is not fundamentally wrong.

Who among us does not believe government is frequently bloated, inefficient and bound by preposterous rules?

Who among us does not think it is often wasteful, hideously complex and redundantly redundant?

Yes, government is not perfect. Nor is it perfectable. As adults, we should understand that. Any bureaucracy serving 309 million people and representing their interests in a world of 6.8 billion people, is likely always to have flaws. Thus, fixing government, making it more streamlined and responsive, is and will always be an ongoing project.

But instead of undertaking that project, people like Jindal rail against the very concept of government itself, selling the delusional notion that taxation and regulation represent the evisceration of some essential American principle.

They wax eloquent about what great things the free market and the free American could do if government would just get off their backs.

One thinks of one's meat oozing with salmonella, one's paint filled with lead, one's car getting 12 miles to the gallon, one's self being breezily denied a job for reasons of race, creed, gender or sexual orientation and, yes, one's ocean covered from horizon to horizon with a sheen of oil.

And one shudders.

You see, government is not our enemy.

Government is the imperfect embodiment of our common will. That is a not-so-fine distinction Jindal and others like him have lost in the rush to stoke the sense of grievance that burns in some conservative souls. It is a distinction they recalled with great clarity as oil began spilling upon their waters.

As there are no atheists in foxholes, it turns out there are no small-government disciples in massive oil spills. No, with BP oil soaking the sands of his coastline, Bobby Jindal turned righteously to that big, sometimes bloated, often intrusive federal government, and asked for help. He said, Send money, send resources.

You will notice he never once said, Send less.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/29/1654166/singing-new-tune-in-oil-spills.html#ixzz0pXFLoIqS

Probably, the last bus I would get on. Really.

The Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End. This motto on a bus as it hurdles its way up Howard is not a real confidence booster. I have a National Lampoon book around my mess of an office that features a montage of bus plunge stories like this:

In fact there are websites and news stories dedicated to the phenomenon of bus-plunge reporting.

Would you want to get on a bus that the driver supposes himself an eschatological operative of End-Times prophecy? What might an angel whisper in his ear as the bus wheels edge ever closer to the precipice, Cecil B. Demille cloud breaks illuminating the driver's upturned eyes. The praise music blares in his headset to stifle the voices, yet they must be obeyed...

The fish symbol. Don't get me wrong. I made a living working in ministry. I officiate at weddings, and have a graduate degree in subjects theologic. Yet, the fish symbol always serves as a warning label to me. The only time I have bought a crappy used car was from a family that couldn't profess enough how Christian they were, and they had multiple fish symbols to prove it. They knew the car had two cracked heads, but didn't tell me. Likewise, I think businesses use the fish symbol to create a level of trust that one might not afford a "secular" business. And when they take advantage of you, it might make you think twice about holding them accountable because "they are good people." I am all for people pursuing their religious beliefs as long as it doesn't imperil others. I am just saying that if you put a fish symbol on your bus thinking that it is going to make me trust you more, it isn't. In fact, it makes me trust you less, a whole lot less.

The over-the-top American iconography is just plain pandering. It almost borders on satire.

RUN AWAY!

Bike to Work Week!

OK. I have kind of a confession to make.

I have biked, on and off, to work since 1980 or something. The last few years, I have only used my bike to get (unless I walked or ran) to and from work. However for the last year or so, I have not done much in the way of running errands on my bicycle.

I think because I was riding a lot for recreation and also running a bunch to prepare for some really long runs, getting on a bicycle to go to the hardware store, liquor store or greenhouse seemed like a lot of work.

I work 24 hour shifts a couple or more times a week. So even though, it sounds good, it's not that big of deal to say that I always ride to work. Now that my long runs are behind me for a while, I will start doing as many errands as possible on the bicycle.

So, I kicked it off today by running up to the Ace Hardware on Regal to get some charcoal. I also tried out the new Hiking Sport Kilt to see how it worked for cycling garb. I have ran in it and it worked good for that.

After riding, I would say I was glad to be wearing something underneath it. So why not just wear bike shorts to begin with? Other than the freaking-out-drivers factor (which is good), is there any reason to cycle wearing this kilt? Probably not. I think if one were biking someplace far away as a destination, it would be nice to wrap the kilt around and then drop the bike shorts once you got there. That would feel pretty good I think.
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Windermere Marathon

I had heard some bad reports of last year's Windermere Marathon, mostly along the lines that the course was not clearly laid out. Yes, pretty much the entire course was on the Centennial Trail, so it's pretty hard to screw that up, but apparently they did. It was the first year, though, and those kind of things might be expected.

Having trained a lot for the 50K RiverRun (awesome), Sarah and I decided to piggyback all those months of training and do the Windermere too. It was really expensive but they do bus you out to the starting at Post Falls and marathons are never cheap. We figured this was the second year, and they probably had it "dialed in" now. Beside, I really wanted to support this event. It would be great for the running community and great for our city.

Leaving from the arena, the bus ride out was perfect for the 7 am start. Everything seemed pretty flawless. There was a short starting delay to coordinate with the half-marathon which started at Mirabeau.

The first inkling that something was wrong was when my GPS watch showed that we were 0.7 miles into the race, but the race marker along the trail said "Mile One." It got worse. Eventually word surfaced at about Mile 23 that if you wanted to qualify for Boston you had to turn around at the finish line and run 0.8 back into the course. Sure enough, as I was .8 out from the finish there was a guy taking people's names and writing them into a notebook. Then after the names were written down and the 26.2 actually run, runners would walk or run back to the finish line (another .8) to get their medals. WTF?

I had no desire to qualify for Boston, but I did want to run a full marathon, so I crossed the finish line at 25.4 and then, as directed, ran back into oncoming traffic for .4 miles, turned around and crossed the finish line again for 26.2 - a true marathon's length. I sure as hell was not going to run 1.6 miles on top of what they were calling a marathon just so I could get my name written down in a notebook.

The Windermere Marathon is sitting in the fabled catbird seat. It goes along some of the most beautiful stretches of the Spokane River's Centennial Trail. Very little traffic control is needed. It passes through two states. The course is flat, so times will be fast. It takes place on the day of the Lilac Festival - a great evening of partying after the event. The weather this year was great. They have been given an awesome chance at creating a world class destination marathon.

Lots of great volunteers this year, nice shirts, beautiful medals, plenty of water stations, a great EMS response by the fire department and AMR as I saw IVs being started left and right during the finish (the second finish) on passed out runners.

Riverfront Park was a showcase for our city and for this race.

The organizers of the marathon had all this going for them and all we expected was that when we crossed the finish line, we had actually ran a marathon. How hard is that?

Cinco de Mayo and Bike Safety Week - El Chupacabra and the Reno Sheriff Dept's Timely Message!

RENO 911!
Bicycle Safety Week
www.comedycentral.com
Futurama New Episodes Funny Demon Zombie TV Show Funny TV Comedy Blog

Also important as we get closer to Bike to Work Week!

Cold tough guy in the gutter...

As seen on my ride home this morning.

Sarah is letting me share something personal with all of you.

When rummaging through her Bloomsday bag, Sarah found this very personal missive. She has given permission for you to read it.

Hey you've got chocolate in my peanut butter...

Yes, it was one of those Reese's moments when the chia seeds dumped on the butter. Chia never tasted so good and butter has never been better for you.