First snowcthulhu of the season. Nice work Ike and Aidan!

Casualty of the budget?

With a placard reading "STAIRS CLOSED," these steps at Cliff and Lincoln are always cabled off well before the snow starts. This means that people have to step over the cable on the top and the bottom to use them, oftentimes plummeting to their deaths (maybe not physical deaths).

The city usually outlaws the stairs when the leaves start turning.

When you outlaw the stairs in the snow then only outlaws will stare at the snow.

Here is a creative solution they came up with a couple of years ago for the Perry stairs:

It's a good compromise.

What's new pussycat?

It's been a while since I posted. A lot is going on!

1. RUNNING - North Central and Lewis and Clark move on to Nationals. LC's Kenji Bierig won Border Clash last week. NC and LC runners are still out there in the cold and snow prepping for the big one. For all of us mortal runners, Turkey Trot is tomorrow.

2. BIKING - First real snow commute of the season yesterday and the day before. Amazingly slippery going uphill. Over 10 percent grade, I was pushing my bike.

3. WORK- Busy with the usual. Almost all of our calls on the big "BLIZZARD 2010" day were alcohol related. One shirtless fellow tried to get into some lady's van while she was backed up on Maple. Scary enough, but more scary when we saw him running across Maple, pants around his knees sporting a homemade g-string.

4. UNION- Local 29 leadership has been in negotiations for months with the city to prevent layoffs. Last week the city accepted an offer made by Local 29. Right now it is being voted upon by the membership. We'll see what happens.

5. SAUNA- Awesome! However, I had it up to 180 yesterday and when I poured some water on the rocks, I think I burnt the top of my head a little. It looks like a sunburn (but it's not).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

LC's Kenji Bierig wins Nike Nationals NW Region!

Pretty choppy video, but it looked like Kenji hung back until the very end and then poured it on to win! LC is poised to win this thing!!! Great job Kenji, Ike and the whole LC TEAM!!!

UPDATE: North Central placed First! Lewis and Clark placed Second! I would say that means Spokane, once again, is the Number One city in the Northwest for high school XC! Eisenhower from Yakima placed Third. CONGRATS TO NC AND LC!!!! Both go on to Nationals!!!

Watch the Nike Regional XC Championships online!

Coverage starts at 11am. I am not sure what the order is. All I know is our boys start at 1:30 pm. You can watch online here.

As seen in the "newspaper" this morning.

Good luck parodying this!

On to State!!

Lewis and Clark High School's Cross Country Team has done really well this season. They tied for first at Regionals with Eisenhower's team from Yakima. The tie was broken by the sixth runner from Eisenhower, so Eisenhower won. LC still continues on to the 4A State Championship this weekend.

LCHS is a 4A school. And, of course, North Central High School (3A school) remains a powerhouse - last year they were the number one high school cross country team IN THE NATION. This year, when LCHS and NCHS have competed against each other this year, it has always been close, with wins going in both directions. The Power Ade Fab 50 ESPN Rise Poll makes special notice of LC's team yesterday, as well as NC's.

I think Spokane has to be seen as the number-one high school cross country town in the nation. All the other 3A and 4A Spokane high schools are right up there with LC and NC too. There is a real kinship among them that I think comes from the heart of what makes these guys so good. At the beginning of every meet, you see the competing schools cooly gauge each other before the gun is fired. At the end of the run, you see all the runners celebrate each others' efforts with genuine joy. You really don't see that in a lot of sports.

Of course, I am writing this as a proud dad. I'm not only proud (more admiring and inspired) of the accomplishments of my son and the entire team, I am moved by the incredible work these guys have done to get here. Running year-round, every day - twice a day, in the dark, in the heat, in the snow, on the ice and on the steep, hot, trails, these guys have shown so much heart and so much dedication that I have to admit I am getting a little choked up as I type these words.

In a place where lunacy and laziness of thought and deed seem to now hold sway, in a time where instant gratification and an almost Alzheimer-like amnesia seems to have stupefied those around us, I look to the work, the dedication, the humbleness and the smarts these guys display - day in and day out - and I feel so good about the future of us.

Thanks for the example and the hope, all you high school runners!

Ride to work this morning...

Feisty winter ahead!

Bicycle, Bicycle, Bicycle, Bicycle Rights! And that ain't right...

Spokane Police Guild Billboards - Looks Like They Will Start Profiling Ninjas...

A target specific graphic

I have seen the black and white smaller version of this newspaper ad for a medicare supplemental plan over the past few weeks, Yesterday, I had the pleasure of viewing the full page insert.

"F@#k the ice cream cone! I wants me the big ass medical sundaes. Mmmmm Mmmmm."

Ironic if it doesn't cover diabetes, bariatric surgery or heart issues,

I can't help but think there are some ad agency types who thought this was pretty funny when they came up with the concept... I hope.

And that's a strawberry, not a cherry, on top.

Weird Locker Room Encounter and a cry for help that you can answer.

I was in the locker room the other day, getting ready to go swimming. There was a guy standing in front of my locker. His back was to me. He was furiously pecking at his blackberry. I managed to squeeze in (to the space in front of my locker). As I opened the door, it sort of woke him up from his typing.

"Stupid f#$cking people. I am so sick of this shit. I am trying to sell my coach on ebay and these assholes keep wasting my time. They involve me in these long conversations and then they say, 'I better ask my wife if I can buy this!' Grow a set!" The guy was shaking mad.

Well, what else could I say but, "Heh. You know people. They will be people. That's too bad." WTF? This guy was very worked up, and I, by this point, was almost naked.

"Are you a liberal or a conservative?" he asked while still typing on his blackberry. I was now stepping into my swim suit.

"What? Are you asking me, or are you typing that in your blackberry?"

"I'm asking YOU. Are YOU a liberal or a conservative?"

I replied, "I guess I am into common sense."

"Good." was his response, "Here I want you to have these." And he handed me a stack of these stickers.


"Put these on all the air dryers in restrooms."

I studied these stickers for a moment and then I asked, "Is this about President Bush?"

He stopped typing. His face got really red and he stared at me. "No! This is about Obama! Every time he uses a teleprompter, 20,000 small businesses close their doors!"

Okay.

Back to typing. "Do you think I should put something on the ebay ad that tells these gutless wonders to talk to their wives before they call me?" I said, "Sure."

Then I went and swam my mile. As I did, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of person unloads on a total stranger in a locker room like that and then asks their political leanings? I think the answer is that a person like this is called "the base" of a certain political party.

In the end, I wondered, How can I help this poor, lost, and possibly violent soul out? I think I have the answer. Thanks to A.J., I have the link for this guy's ebay ad for his motorhome (coach). It is a steal at just over $100,000. If you are interested, or just want to shoot the breeze with this guy, why not email him or give him a call. BUT PLEASE DO NOT, I REPEAT- DO NOT - MENTION THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO ASK YOUR WIFE ABOUT WHETHER YOU CAN BUY THIS OR NOT. This really seems to set him off and it would be a shame to cause him any more stress. Here is his ebay ad. I hope you can help him out. Maybe a couple of us can go in on buying it together.

Odd "Spockan" video

I don't know why, but I found this intriguing.

Sad news - bicycle vs. minivan

Please visit the Cycling Spokane website to keep up on this. The Spokesman-Review had a story earlier in the day that was very critical about the possible bike lanes on Second Ave.

Then they had this accident - one in which a driver (with a suspended license with an expired license) pulled out from a stop sign and critically injured the cyclist who had the right of way. The newspaper articles here and here are vague enough to make it look like the cyclist's fault. After the article in the morning, the haters who comment after the story got refueled in the afternoon thinking that it was the bicyclist's fault.

Great idea, Spokesman-Review, to potentially rile up motorists, who are already feeling stressed with road construction, and will see the lone cyclist as an easy target for their rage.

Big fence at Cannon Hill Park

Earlier, I saw a bunch of little kids running around in orange jumpsuits. There was a picnic table with a birthday cake on it. The icing on the cake said "Get Mo! Happy Birthday Maurine."

Some parents have a very sick sense of humor. It looks like they cleaned up the place pretty good, except for the fence.

If you could get your hands on some decent taxidermy, fun could be had by all.

Bike Lanes

Okay, so I have been wondering how to blog about this and not sound like an ungrateful jerk. How to broach the subject...

It just so happens that the majority of my route to work now has bike lanes. I am talking about Howard Street. I have kind of an overall ambivalent take on bike lanes. I don't like being corralled into an area where I have to worry about people opening their car doors. Also, I don't like the idea that now I am no longer part of regular traffic - I am relegated to a kind of super sidewalk.

On the other hand, bike lanes are a visible sign that a community gives a shit about bicycling. The bike lanes on Howard are nice in that they actually take you a great distance, unlike the ones on 29th or Cascade. I believe, too, that bike lanes will get a large part of the population feeling that it is OK, maybe even safe, to ride on the street (in a bike lane). I was hopeful that these lanes would get a lot of cyclists off the sidewalks too. I think the jury is still out on that one.

I have to say, I have seen more people commuting on bikes now that there are lanes. So, I think I am good with bike lanes and sharrows and all the other bike infrastructure, after I do the calculus. Thanks to everybody who made these lanes a reality. Like so many recent good things in Spokane, these came about only with a big tide change in the city council and the mayor's office.

So my attitude toward bike lanes is not what I am feeling kind of sheepish talking about. There are two items which have left me feeling a little perplexed.

Item One. I was riding my bike to work one morning, proceeding up Howard. At the intersection with Boone there were about 10 people with walky-talkies. At least three total intersections were barricaded with multiple personnel guarding each intersection. Of course, I rode through. As I did, I worried that maybe the president was coming to town and I was now being targeted by the secret service. After work the next morning, there was the striping for the new bike lanes. Some of this striping has since been removed.


Then a week later, there were even more people - a lot of people doing the same thing between Riverfront Park and Boone on Howard. This time, I was told by one of the legions to ride on the sidewalk, so as to avoid messing up the striping. So, I did. I still feel like I need to go to confession.


All to say, the overkill of people working on Howard for the striping seemed bizarre. Now, I know that there are (as D. Rumsfeld would say) things I know that I don't know. I am often on the receiving end of the question: "Why do two big fire trucks and an ambulance show up for medical emergencies?" It's a pretty simple answer when you are in the know, but perplexing when you are not. So I was thinking maybe I am just ignorant about the whole striping process. Yet, I couldn't help myself from wondering, in a fine conspiracy moment, if maybe the anti-bicycle forces actually made this project more expensive, more inconvenient and more of a visual spectacle than it needed to be, in order to negatively sway public opinion. I decided that was ridiculous.

Then one day I rode my bike downtown on Howard - no bike lanes yet. The next day - POOF - bike lanes. WTF? How did they do this part so fast, with all the parking spaces and traffic to contend with? So there's item number one.

Item Two. The shape of the bicyclist's head on the reflective road painting seems familiar to me. What are THEY trying to say about bicyclists?

Dr. Smith still at large...

Engine Three responded this morning to a call at a place I had previously blogged about. Here's what happened.

Here's the place:


Here's the previous post.

Had to divert my ride this morning because of all the police tape.

Spokesman-Review article on bicycling and walking...

This morning, there was a good article about biking and walking in the paper. It talked about the benefits of exercise built into one's daily life. In other words, walking and biking instead of driving.

The paper lately has had some very "duh" stories. Polls show that the east side of the state is more conservative and northern Idaho seems to vote more Republican than the rest of Idaho, that kind of thing. I kind of lumped this exercise story in there with those, but then I read the comments after the story - it seems like all the commenters are anti-exercise and anti-cycling. Check it out!

I have been pretty busy lately with union work and other writing projects. I have a big blog post percolating. In the meantime, check out this salad made from stuff in our garden!