Bike lanes, Shmike lanes.

$20 bluetooth bicycle music machine.

You can pick up a cheapo bluetooth player and put it on your bike. You have to crochet your own holder or procure an old sock.

LC Graduation 2013 - Eye in the sky!

Here is a link to some Lewis and Clark  2013 graduation photos. If you have some you want to share from a Spokane area graduation, email me your public photo link and I will get your pictures up.

Time is winding down! Make the best of it!

Like all of you, I have always had a lot on my plate. One of the things that I will be giving up at the end of this year is my involvement in my union's leadership. I feel like it is time for some younger blood and ideas. For over 10 years, I have been doing mostly PR and political stuff for my union (Spokane Firefighters Local 29) and have been on the executive board, except for when I took a break for paramedic school.

So, at the end of this year, I will be passing the reins of the newsletter, blog, facebook and twitter feed, as well as other responsibilities, to someone else.

I will be staying involved in local politics, mostly around peace, economic and justice issues, but from a more broader perspective.

Last week, a bunch of us from Spokane drove over to Tacoma to attend a funeral for one of their firefighters, Al Nejmeh, who died at work on a medical call. Our brother was originally from New Jersey and had lived quite a life. Beside being a firefighter, he was a peace, justice and ecology advocate who traveled around the world working to make it a better place. He was also an accomplished song writer, guitar player and singer. At the funeral, a retired battalion chief, in his Class A uniform, picked up a guitar and sang a song he wrote about this man - his friend. Wow. Very cool. You can read a little bit more about Albert Nejmeh here.

I will be writing more in this blog, as I am writing less for the union. I have some interesting projects which are starting to blossom right now and I will keep you posted.

Vertical hydroponic garden

Check! Will get it to solar and add fish later.


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Lots of little projects

This one is still under wraps.


Aquaponic garden start.


Aidan and I bottled Mugato Stout. Bare feet bonus.

Balsam root on the High Drive trails

A parade this morning...

With maintenance needed on the brush and medic trucks this morning, and the PL needed to go out on calls with, it was a convoy this morning with everyone in the station driving to the shop.

The great night crawler migration

We are back from Palm Springs. Liked it a lot.  But nothing beats riding your bike in the rain to work the day after our return. To top it off, the streets were full of night crawlers crossing (to get to the other side). No worms like this in the desert, except for the sandworms of Arakis. SHAI-HULUD!

Brewing and memories of brewing past!

Ike was home from college and helped me make a nice coffee and choco stout last week. We used hops from the garden too. I am going to bottle this stuff in 750ml bottles as opposed to kegging. Something nice about having the portability of bottles. And a bigger bottle encourages sharing.

That's five gallons of beer we have going there. Ike is a big kid.

Of course, he didn't used to be.

In the top picture, you can see that I have already started my garden - eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and squash.  I think the squash is getting ready to blossom. May have started them too early.

In other beer making and just making overall, I made my brother Joe a Big Sky Brewing baseball cap:

And then I made myself a fishing hat:

The fishing has been slow, the little that I have been out, but the crocheting has been a good time. Standby for the debut of the survival fez.

Grocery pilgrim refuge

Just about every day, Sarah and I walk down to the store to figure out what to make for dinner. The day before yesterday, we were checking out at the cash register and we could see a wall of water and wind outside. We tried waiting out the storm by the door. When we made it break for it, the hail started falling pretty hard.

We took shelter in Benniditos and had a beer and watched the storm pass. Nice! The walk home was in the sun.

So that's why that is called that!

Crocus

On a 10 mile run today. Had to stop and take pictures of the first crocus I've seen this year. They were in front of Unity Church on 29th and Bernard. Thanks for planting them!

Tis the season

I put up the Christmas lights right after Thanksgiving. I said I would light them every night and then take them down on the day the snow is off the lawn.

This is how I work. I am a spite-motivated, even against the elements of nature.

"Why do you still have your Christmas lights up?"

"I don't know... Maybe because it sure f*ck*ng looks and feels like Christmas. You think that might be it?"

You want winter, well you've got winter - all the way until today March 3rd. I know it will probably snow some more, but a deal is a deal. Yeah, tectonic plate drift really can set me off too.

Ben Garnett/Grove/Stevens walking and an old man rant...

There are three ways down the the hill. None of them are great. My least favorite is to head down Bernard which turns into Grove and depending on which fork you take, Ben Garnett or Stevens. The sidewalks end or shrink down to inches. Cars bomb up the hill for fear of losing momentum I guess. It has really turned into a dump, as well.

I imagine that revelers speeding back home from partying Downtown toss their empties in this convenient location. You have to admit, it is more of an upscale detritus.

I love Spokane, obviously. The reason for this blog is to share with others what a great place Spokane is. So, this is hard for me to say. But, here goes:

Spokane has really become a more dirty, more rough town in the last year or so. If you only get around in a car, the only reason you may agree with me is that you read about the almost daily shootings in the paper. If you walk or ride a bike, you've seen it (and smelled it).

Howard Street Downtown used to be a favorite route for me, but its decline has been swift and undeniable. The map store now is a convenience/beer store with the colorful characters that come with such an enterprise. Spokane Shaver? RIP. The Blue Spark's clientele now look like they just came from the Mayfair. Youthful panhandlers are now full-on and some of them are delving into the pedestrian hassling biz, just for kicks. Closer to the park, things are still OK. Boo Radley's, Atticus, Mizuna and The Steelhead are still holding the line. 

The Paulson Building has a used clothing store on the main floor. I like used clothing stores, a lot. Just never thought I would see one anchoring the Paulson Building.

Been spit on (albeit accidentally) by a youth who was practicing spitting in front of Riverpark Square.  This is a skill which apparently young Spokanites take a lot of pride in. Downtown is where one showcases this talent.

Shooting, stabbings, shit your pants, blah, blah, blah, every day. It is only February, folks. Summer is usually when things really get going in Spokane. When it heats up, hold onto your hats!

Does anyone have any idea of what has happened to our town? I think the obvious answer is that I have become a cranky old man.

What I have been doing

No ice fishing, lots of running, some union stuff, biking to work, working, and crocheting Daphne some bling.

Keeping summer going...

These next couple months, if I were wealthy, would be the months I would point the private jet south and vacate Spokane. It's that late-winter/early-spring weather and lack of light that seem to kick me in the head every year. A few years ago, I built the sauna to help out during this time, and it's been nice. This year, I tried some new tactics and techniques.  They seem to have really made a difference. Here's a product that I would recommend.

The Philips wake-up light is a $75 gizmo that, according to perhaps apocryphal Internet reviews, does as good a job as expensive light therapy lamps to combat the winter onslaught. The concept is fairly simple. If you want to get up at 6 a.m., the light starts to come on at 5:30 and gradually increases to full illumination at 6. Then the light stays on, and you have a traditional alarm,  radio or the sound of chirping birds. I opt for the chirping birds.

After I bought this, I realized I probably should have consulted Sarah first. But, as luck would have it, she had been thinking of us getting one as well.

The light inside the dome is halogen. I have been slowly getting us switched over to LEDs, all over the house. However, the halogen light seems to have a sunshine like quality to it - a very warm color. So, no plans to swap it out.

I can say that this winter I seem to have more energy and a better outlook compared to other years. Sarah says she feels the same way. Placebo effect? Maybe. I'll take it.

Ice and fire

The fish weren't biting this morning.

Happy fishing on Saturday.

Sarah and I went Ice fishing on Eloika Lake, Saturday. We caught some bass and perch.

Beautiful sunny skies.

The ice was interesting in spots - thin with slush underneath and then thicker below. Probably about 7 inches when it all froze up later in the day.

A bald eagle soared on past our fishing spot. A Fish and wildlife officer told us there is a quarry nearby where they dump roadkill. The eagles eat so much they can't fly. Sounds like an Elk, WA version of Coeur d'alene.

A guy was doing touch and gos on Eloika, in an airplane sporting skis. Not something you see too much of around here.

I am going to get out on the ice as much as possible this winter. Yes sir.

Trade Winds Demise?

If they tear down the Trade Winds, I will be a little sad. I always pictured this as a swank place in its day. What it became of in its later years was nothing short of a dystopic setting for a future world - Thunderdome, Waterworld, Planet of the Apes, Oz. And that was cool too.

It would be neat to see it revived. Maybe a Mister Uke-athon benefit to bring the leis back to 3rd Ave.? In the meantime, there is this. 

Shirts are no longer available on the website, but contacting Mr. Santini directly may render some results.